Memory Corner

I'm apologizing in advance for my impending rant...  You see, I really do not understand people who take recreational sports so darn seriously...  I was having probably my worst softball game in quite some time and I knew it.  I took ownership of my mistakes but some new guy on our team decided to add his opinion in between every inning.  In fact, he felt the need to let me know out loud during the game (for everyone to hear) that I was doing something wrong.  Suffice to say, that didn't help matters.  Afterwards, we headed to Memory Corner in Richmond to hopefully make better memories...

Since I was feeling quite low, I didn't notice we had ordered 2 types of chicken nuggets.  The first one was the classic Deep Fried Crispy Chicken with plenty of basil and interestingly green onions and whole garlic cloves.  In big chunks, the meat was succulent and super juicy.  The exterior was lightly crispy and well-seasoned with salt and white pepper.  We were quite surprised at the portion size as we struggled to finish it.  The other version was the Deep Fried Spicy Fermented Bean Curd Chicken that featured a much crunchier coating.  Furthermore, in addition to the sharp aroma of the fermented tofu, there was significantly more spiciness.  Due to the smaller size of the nuggets, the chicken was a touch more firm, yet at the same time being moist.

From these 2 dishes, we moved onto to the Sesame Sauce Noodles.  Although not looking very interesting, this was our favourite dish of the night.  With a bevy of firm noodles, there was a proper amount of sesame paste for flavour.  There was enough saltiness and equal sweetness to provide balance which resulted in an aromatic bowl of noodles.  From dry noodles to soup noodles, we tried the Tomato & Beef Tendon Noodle Soup.  The best part of this was the broth.  Even visually, it was obvious that they had put some time into it as there was depth and meatiness.  The tomato was not very strong, but it did show up in the finish and aftertaste.  Again, the noodles were toothsome and held up well even until the last strand.  We were indifferent with the meat as it was on the chewier side.

Predictably, Boss Woman insisted we have the Shrimp and Egg Fried Rice.  I swear she subsists on those 2 ingredients alone...  Well, this was the least interesting item in my opinion.  I thought the shrimp were nice being big and cold-water crunchy, however, the rice itself was a bit too wet for my liking.  Moreover, there was a general lack of impact and flavour.  Fortunately, we ordered the 3-Spice Chicken, which naturally went well with the rice (although it came with a bowl of plain rice too).  Following in the footsteps of the other chicken dishes, this one was well-portioned as well with tender pieces of dark meat (with no filler).  I found the taste to be more sweet than anything else with only a touch of tartness.  There was a bit too much sauce which somewhat diluted the flavours.

Lastly, we tried the Stir-Fried Lamb with Satay Sauce, partly because there was 2 whole pages dedicated to lamb.  We thought this dish was okay, but not particularly memorable.  There seemed to be more vegetable than lamb itself, which only helped lessen the impact of the lamb as well as making the dish watery.  We were expecting rich impactful flavours and were ultimately left with a fairly bland vegetable dish.  But even with that, the dish wasn't bad and in fact, most of the food was good and well-portioned.  We'd consider returning again.

The Good:
- Fairly large portions especially for Taiwanese
- Decent eats
- Reasonable pricing

The Bad:
- More wok-heat would've improved 2 of the dishes
- Service was friendly but fairly inattentive

Banh Mi Saigon

Despite the love of Banh Mi in Vancouver, it is surprising to see very little in the way of new contenders in town.  We have the usual in Ba Le, Tung Hing and Kim Chau, but nothing exciting in the last couple of years.  Of course, this leads into the newest place in town - Banh Mi Saigon.  Dedicated to serving up sandwiches with freshly baked in-house bread, the place has been super busy since opening.  I decided to finally check it out on hot summer day (the place is smoking hot due to the oven) to grab some Banh Mi.  In addition, they serve up iced coffee and che.

I decided to go for the Special Dac Biet consisting of ham, headcheese, meat ball, meat loaf, pate, mayo, soy sauce, pickled daikon & carrot, cucumber, cilantro and jalapeno pepper.  This one ate much like it sounded with plenty of ingredients.  I found that the amount of pate combined with the meatball and meatloaf added enough moisture and meaty gaminess.  Hence the sandwich was flavourful and fulfilling.  The Cold Cut was very similar to the special except for the meatball.  Hence, it ate pretty much the same with a little less soft meatiness.  Again, the smear of pate was quite noticeable as well as the fish sauce.

I returned 2 more times to sample as many banh mi as I could take.  Continuing on the theme of the first 2 subs, I tried the Meatball.  As expected, it was like the special dac biet, but without the cold cuts.  Hence, it was still meaty, but in a softer manner.  The meatball rode the fine line between being soft and meaty.  It was mildly seasoned where the onions didn't overwhelm.  Lacking a bit of impact was the VN Bacon banh mi.  Unlike the other subs so far, this one didn't seem all that fulfilling.  I guess the fattiness of the bacon didn't register as "meaty" and the light texture of the Vietnamese ham couldn't make up for it.  Moreover, flavours were pretty mild where an extra splash of fish sauce would've helped.

The same could've been said about the Lemongrass Pork where I could clearly see the meat, but the sub didn't eat like the first 3.  To be fair, the special cost $4.50 while most of the other subs are less.  The biggest issue was the lack of flavour, in particular, the lemongrass.  Somehow, the partially dry pork was lost in the sandwich.  On the other hand, the Marinated Pork (at $4.50 as well) was impactful both in terms of filling and taste.  There was more than enough sliced sweet pork patty for each bite. On my first visit, I ended up waiting 30 minutes for the sandwiches because they were baking bread and waiting for them to cool down.  Hence, it was crusty and obviously very fresh.  I personally would've loved to see it a bit less dense, but that didn't make or break the sandwich. In total, I've visited the place 5 times in 2 weeks and everything has been consistent. Ultimately, Banh Mi Saigon has the right combination of fresh bread and ample ingredients representing a good value with all things considered.

The Good:
- Freshly baked bread
- They don't skimp on the ingredients (on most subs)
- Impactful pate

The Bad:
- Bread could be less dense
- Generally busy, can take awhile to fulfill your order

L'Abattoir

To be frank, I've never been much of a brunch person.  Something about it just doesn't interest me.  Possibly it could be the lack of imagination with the menu options.  Even before setting foot into many of the restaurants that serve brunch, I could probably name off the available options.  Let's see, there will be an eggs benny, a 2-egg breaky with choice of protein, a veggie omelet of some sort and let's not forget about a good ol' hash.  But when I got an invite to try out L'Abattoir's brunch service, I was intrigued.  Seeing how their dinner service is generally on point, I was interested in what they offered on a weekend morning.

Even before we got down to ordering, we were offered a choice of pastry.  I went for the Pain au Chocolat while Viv had the Raspberry Jelly Donut.  Both were made in-house and the freshness was quite evident.  I found the pain au chocolate crispy on the outside whereas the inside was a little dense.  There was just enough chocolate to taste without making the whole thing too sweet.  As for Viv's donut, it was fantastic. Fluffy and light, the donut was filled with a raspberry compote that was devoid of seeds while full of natural flavour.  It was mildly sweet which was fine by us. My choice of drink was their featured cocktail, the Honey Basil Dubonnet with lemon.  This was refreshing and light which was the right compliment for a Summer morning and brunch.

To get a sense of the menu, we went for 4 dishes including the Poached Eggs with Smoked Pork Belly.  This featured a homemade English muffin which was toasted until it was crunchy.  As evidenced in the picture, the poached free-range egg was perfectly runny while sporting completely cooked egg whites.  On top, the cheddar sabayon was fluffy and light while mild in taste.  As for the pork belly, it was thick-cut and meaty.  Since it was aggressively seared, the exterior was crispy and aromatic.  As a result, the meat was a little dry.  Our next dish was also the best of the meal being the Shrimp Frittata.  On top of a thin and silky egg base, there was buttery shrimp, lightly crisp potatoes, hollandaise, smoked pepper puree and arugula salad.  Often a frittata can be heavy, but this one was so easy to eat.  I would gladly eat this dish again.

Moving on, we dug into the massive Full Breakfast consisting of 2 eggs, duck sausage, pork & beans, sauteed mushrooms, boudin noir, rösti and buttered toast.  The best part of the plate was the boudin as it was rich, yet not heavy.  The little nuggets of pork blood were light and buttery.  Finished with an aggressive sear, there was a nice caramelization which was accented by fresh cracked pepper and salt.  We thought the duck sausage was meaty and appealingly gamy.  It was moist and meaty.  Although not prominent on the dish, nicely firm beans were fantastic with bursts of acidity and sweetness. If that wasn't enough food, we saved the Breakfast Burger for last.  It was constructed of a quarter pound patty, hashbrown, aged white cheddar and fried egg.  Thick and juicy, the patty was full of flavour with bits of red onion complimenting the abundance of natural meatiness.  This was complimented by the sharp cheddar and mayo (with bits of onion and pickle).  At the conclusion of our meal, we were pretty stuffed (mostly because we ate 4 dishes) and satisfied.  L'Abattoir did brunch justice with their expected carefully crafted eats which were tasty and interesting.

*All food and beverages excluding gratuities were complimentary*

The Good:
- Well-prepared eats
- Familiar dishes done differently
- Balanced cocktails

The Bad:
- On the pricier side
- Generally not a light meal (but good for those who want it rich)

SY Farm Market

After a hiatus in my goal to try all the Chinese BBQ joints in the Lower Mainland, I made an impromptu stop at SY Farm Market on Hastings.  When I say impromptu, I really mean it as in "make a last minute lane change and turn onto a side street".  No, I didn't cause an accident nor cut-off anyone in the process.  Now on the other hand, next time I'm in Richmond, I will do the opposite because when in Rome...  Now back to the Chinese BBQ, the random stop was because I didn't have anything to cook for dinner and this was the best way to make it simple.

I picked up some BBQ Pork which was mostly lean with some fatty portions.  I found the meat to be slightly dry due to the cut of meat.  It was still sufficiently tender though.  Unlike the one found at HK BBQ Master (which I always use as a baseline comparison), this one was not charred enough nor was balanced in flavour.  It was more salty than sweet.  Overall, a serviceable portion of BBQ Pork, but not memorable.  I also got half a Soy Sauce Chicken and it was fantastic.  The skin was in a beautiful dark soy hue while the meat was moist and juicy (even the white meat).  I found that the soy cooking liquid had penetrated the meat, hence, it was flavourful on its own.  The size of the chicken was rather substantial as well.

Since I was going to use a portion of the BBQ Duck for stir-fried noodles, I decided to get a whole one.  The skin was nicely rendered and crispy while sporting a decent roasted hue.  Both the breast and thigh meat were succulent and well-seasoned.  Furthermore, I found that the duck was quite meaty since there was a substantial amount of meat after deboning.  On another visit, I picked up the soy chicken again and also the Roast Pork.  The meat was a tad on the drier side while being pretty salty.  The crackling was decent being a firm crunch.  So after trying out the main proteins, I will definitely come back for the soy sauce chicken and BBQ duck.  Not so sure with the BBQ pork or roast pork though.

The Good:
- Reasonably priced
- Really good soy sauce chicken

The Bad:
- Pork products are average

Cake-Ya

Driving along Clarke Street in Port Moody can mean one of 2 things.  Either you are avoiding traffic on St. John's during rush hour or you have the intention of visiting some of the business that line the street.  Unless you were in the mood for Rosa's (not sure why the place is so popular), the other obvious choice would be Cake-Ya.  Coincidentally, I was on Clarke Street heading towards Barnet Hwy when I made a last second decision for some purin.  That jolted my son, who was in the backseat.

So what exactly is Purin?  Well, if you try real hard, you'll get "pudding" after many attempts at mispronunciation.   Yes, it is the Japanese version of a creme caramel, except the preparation is not exactly the same.  After years of without Cake-Ya, I felt the time had come.  Going for the Original and Coffee flavours, the purin itself was smooth, rich and devoid of air bubbles.  The aromatic and sweet caramel underneath added a certain smokiness and sugariness to an otherwise mild-tasting purin.

Another item that I can't get enough of is their version of Cheesecake.   No, and there is no lineup here like Uncle Tetsu (not available locally yet).  It isn't exactly the same, but this one is just fine for me.  The texture was light, fluffy and rode the fine line between rich and airy.  It wasn't very sweet, but the cream cheese flavour and texture truly came through.  I also got the Chocolate Cake which was on the drier and denser side.  It wasn't too sweet either while adequately chocolaty.  The kids were a bit indifferent towards it partly due to the dry texture.

One thing my daughter did enjoy was the Strawberry Roll.  This light sponge cake was filled with a good amount of whipped cream and fresh strawberries.  The sweetness factor was on low where I could taste the delicate egginess of the cake and the natural sweetness of the strawberries.  I didn't end up getting any cookies nor the daifuku this time around, but I really should visit Cake-Ya more often.

The Good:
- Delicately crafted treats
- Friendly people
- Something different

The Bad:
- Not particularly cheap
- Hidden location

Angie's Malaysian

My visit to Angie's Malaysian out on Edmonds was inevitable.  Well, naturally it was gonna happen since I love the cuisine.  Rather, so many of my friends (mostly from Brunei) either know the owners personally and/or have already been there, I was being recommended frequently.  So when Big D suggested we head there for lunch one day, it happened sooner than later.  Once inside the little eatery, we were warmly greeted by people who really seemed to care about their customers.

We started things off with an order of the Roti Canai.  When it hit the table, we were a little concerned with the lack of colour and blistering on the exterior of the roti.  Indeed our concerns were realized when we found the roti to be on the doughier side without the classic contrast in textures.  On the other hand, the curry dip was good being flavourful with a definite kick and background sweetness.  Next up, the Curry Laksa was pretty good.  We found the broth to have a balanced amount of coconut milk which ensured a certain level of aroma.  With a squeeze of lime, there was also an appealing acidity accented by just enough heat and sweetness.  One thing we would've liked to see was some shrimp and some more dried shrimp flavour in the broth. 

Our last dish, the Mee Goreng, also happened to be our favourite.  It was subjected to a good amount of stir-frying where there was carameliztion of flavours.  We liked how there was a restrained amount of sweetness from the ketjap manis which enabled the spiciness to come to the forefront.  With the good amount fried shallots, there was an extra layer of aromatics and crunch. The slippery noodles were toothsome while the ample amount of bbq pork added body to the dish.  Of course, this was not enough food to get a sense of the place, so Big and I returned along with Slick for more dishes, including the Pulot Panggang which was sticky rice filled with sambal, dried shrimp and coconut.  A touch dry, the sticky rice was definitely aromatic from the coconut milk, but was lacking in filling which resulted in a muted briny saltiness.

Next up, we tried the Hainanese Chicken featuring de-boned chicken thigh meat.  Being such, the meat was soft and super moist.  It was flavourful on its own with a mild soy essence.  The skin was buttery while underneath lay a small amount of gelatin.  One thing that could've been better was the rice as it wasn't particularly tasty on its own (despite the soy on the bottom of the plate). With a brief intermission from rice dishes, we had the Seria Kolomee with fish cake, BBQ pork, ground pork and fried shallots.  We enjoyed the aromatic shallots as well as a hint of sesame oil.  The noodles were slippery while still toothsome.  We felt there was enough impact without being reliant on salt.  I'm sure it would've been even better if we added the side of pickled peppers.

Putting Big D in charge of ordering means more food, so we also had the "national dish" of Malaysia - Nasi Lemak.  Sadly, this was the weakest dish of the bunch.  The rice was not particularly fragrant, in fact, it was rather dry.  Furthermore, they ran out of chicken leg and substituted it with a chicken wing (they did inform us of this).  Whatever the case, we thought they should've added another wing.  The side of sambal sauce was a somewhat mild, but still aromatic.  I wish there was more of it though. Moving onto a more fulfilling dish, the Curry Chicken was much better.  This was a fairly large portion featuring tender nuggets of chicken bathed in an aromatic and mildly spicy curry.  Overall, we enjoyed our 2 visits to Angie's.  There is room for improvement, but considering the price point, Angie's is definitely an option for those seeking Malaysian (with Brunei influences) cuisine in the area.

The Good:
- Nice family-run operation
- Reasonably-priced
- Some pretty good dishes

The Bad:
- Some dishes are small in portion size
- Further refinement is needed

Beach Bay Cafe

 I have fond memories of the Raincity Grill as it was a Vancouver staple in English Bay since 1992.  Viv and I enjoyed several meals in the past as well as her birthday brunch where we took over 1/3 of the restaurant.  But that was then and this is now.  The sad reality is that the location needed something brighter and more dynamic.  Enter Beach Bay Cafe with plenty of natural light adorning the clean interior.  This is a total 180 from the dark 80's look of Raincity.

I was able to try out the place with Sean (as his +1 for the Westend BIA Instagram takeover) on a nice Summer day which really helped highlight the awesome location right at English Bay.  We began with the Chicken Liver Mousse on Toast.  Smoky and charred, the toast was the first thing that hit my palate, but then the creamy and sweet mousse kicked in with the benefit of mildly tart cherries and a kiss from the chervil. I would've liked the toast to be slightly thinner though.  Next up was the lightly pickled Mackerel with fava beans, mustard greens, crispy shallots and mint dressing.  I found the fish to be buttery and nicely charred.  It was pickled just enough with a sweet acidity that was accented by a sprinkle of sea salt.  The crispy shallots added an aromatic crunch, but I wasn't sure of the fava beans because the chalkiness didn't do anything for the dish.

When Sean mentioned we should really try the Summer Vegetable Salad, I thought he had lost his mind.  Well, I guess my mind was permanently lost (if it weren't already) because this was a fine salad.  Consisting of snap peas, radish, carrots, yellow zucchini and lettuce with an oyster emulsion,   everything was fresh and vibrant to the eye as well as to the palate.  The sweet crunch of the veggies was accented well by the silky and subtle emulsion.  There was an appealing crunch from the crisps where there was a lingering bacon aftertaste.  On the topic of aftertaste, the Risotto exhibited a strong vinegar taste from start to finish.  Somehow, there was too much cider vinegar in the crab custard which essentially ruined the dish.  Too bad really as the rest of it was quite good including the firm Carolina gold rice and crispy chicken skin.

Onto the mains, we shared the Grilled Pork Chop with charred kohlrabi, English peas and blackberry sauce.  The chop was well-executed being just done with a touch of pink.  Rich and sweet, the blackberry sauce did go well with the moist pork, but maybe some salt or more wine finish would've provided more balance.  The next dish, Black Cod a la Plancha with green tomatoes, grilled cabbage and zucchini, was my favourite of the meal.  As much as black cod is a forgiving protein, this one was masterfully prepared.  It was buttery and flaky with a delicately crisp exterior.  In addition to being well-seasoned, the fish was the beneficiary of acidity provided by the pickled green tomatoes and the tartness from the sprinkle of sumac.

For dessert, we tried both the Pistachio Cake and Lime Tequila Semifreddo.  Too bad the piece of pistachio cake was so small because it was fantastic.  Aromatic, lightly sweet and balanced in texture (not too soft, not too firm), it was complimented by the grassy sorrel sorbet on top.  Raspberries and white chocolate namelaka rounded out the dish.  As for the semifreddo, it was smooth and soft, yet it retained its shape to the very last piece.  It was mildly sweet with enough tequila for effect but not overwhelming. I personally would've liked to see more lime though.  Other items on the plate included fig leaf cream, angel food cake, graham crumble and blueberries.  These 2 refreshing and light desserts ended off a relatively good meal.  Sure, the risotto was unfortunate, but 7 out of 8 is a good batting average.

*All food and beverages excluding gratuities were complimentary*

The Good:
- Outstanding location (for people watching and the view of English Bay)
- Bright, modern and minimalistic interior
- Above-average eats

The Bad:
- A few more refinements are needed