Gala Cafe

Late night eats are always welcomed after a hockey game, especially one that don't involve a drive-thru .  However, there was one place I avoided despite being open into the wee hours of the night.  9 Dishes, with their array of spicy offerings was not the best idea prior going to bed.  Hence, we never made it out to the place before its closure.  However, Gala Cafe, tucked in Old Orchard Mall in Burnaby has resurrected the aforementioned 9 Dishes.  Emily and I decided to check it out one day in hopes of a tongue-numbing experience.

In an unexpected fashion, we were given a blank order sheet to write down our order.  Also, we served ourselves when it came to water and tea refills.  So essentially the place was a de-facto counter service restaurant. We dug into the Cucumber with Garlic first and it was definitely fresh and crunchy.  But it was lacking in impact, especially with the mild garlic and slight savoury notes.  Next up, we had the Shredded Pork Stomach with soy, cilantro and chilis. As flavourful as it looked, the dish was actually rather tame.  Despite this, the pork stomach was appealingly chewy and properly prepared (not too gamy).  There was a nice combination of soy, spice and background sweetness.

Something Emily really wanted to try was the Chicken in Chili Sauce (or more commonly known as Mouth-Watering Chicken).  It definitely looked legit being immersed in chili oil with scallions, cilantro, peanuts and sesame seeds.  Hence there was a spicy aromatics to go with the tender and meaty chicken.  On the other hand, we felt the flavours didn't necessarily pop, rather it just lightly coated the chicken.  We could done with spicier, but it was a good dish nonetheless.

For our larger items, we tried the Braised Chicken with Potato and Peppers (since the table beside us seemed to be enjoying it).  This was a massive offering and completely justified the $15.99 price tag.  It featured tender nuggets of potato (that didn't melt into a mush) and large pieces of chicken leg (which were still juicy with flavour penetration).  The dish was indeed spicy (with peppers and Szechuan peppercorns) and savoury with plenty of depth, but once again, we could've done with spicier.

Continuing with even more peppers, we had the Szechuan Water Boiled-Fish that looked promising.  We felt the quality of the fish was spot on being buttery soft and flaky while maintaining a bite.  Even with a bevy of crushed Szechuan peppercorns, the dish did not cause much tongue-numbing (if at all).  Now with that being said, it was delicious and very appetizing despite this.  It just might be that we are spicy freaks, whereas many would find most of the dishes plenty spicy.  In the end, I mulled over whether the place was worth a return visit.  I concluded yes, because we could always ask for spicier.

The Good:
- Well-prepared eats
- Generous portions

The Bad:
- Service, what service?
- Could be spicier  

Pink Pearl

Going for Dim Sum during the holidays can often be even busier than the regular weekend rush since people are either off work and/or it is a great way to meet up as friends and family.  Since we were planning to do some dim summing on Boxing Day morning (which was also on a Saturday), we went for something less obvious and most likely less busy - Pink Pearl.  Yes, we fully knew that we were giving up some quality for pure convenience and minimal craziness. Mind you, last time I was here, it was with the MIL, so there was a whole lot of craziness in memory only.

Since the place still employs push-carts, we were able to grab food pretty quickly.  Okay, let me rephrase that...  The pushy push-cart ladies ensured that we ordered food and ordered it ASAP!  As much as push carts can be novel, it can also compromise the integrity of the food, which it did for both the Haw Gow and Spinach Dumplings.  It is true that the dumpling skins were too thick and possibly too dense, but the fact they had been sitting around exacerbated the problem.  On the other hand, the shrimp filling was decent with a mix of whole pieces and some mousse as a binding agent.  There was a considerable amount of sesame oil essence to go with the ample seasoning.  With the spinach dumplings, it was essentially the same except for the addition of soft spinach.

As much as the pushy push-cart ladies wanted us to order every dumpling under the sun (even ones that were already on our table!), we held firm and went for some other items instead.  They included the Phoenix Talons (Chicken Feet) and Steamed Pork Spareribs.  Despite disheveled-looking, the chicken feet were actually pretty good. Both the fried skin and cartilage underneath were soft and plump while not melting away.  There was a good balance of savoury and sweet with some garlic and peppery notes.  As for the spareribs, they were not exactly salty, but the flavours were so intense, it could only be the result of a good amount of MSG. Hence, the pumpkin underneath soaked it all up which made each bite rather flavourful.  Texturally, the meaty ribs exhibited the classic bounce texture.

At this point, we were asked again if we wanted more dumplings including the Sui Mai.  Even with clearly 2 steamers of such in plain view!  WTH?  Anyways, these contained almost an equal amount of pork and shiitake mushrooms.  Therefore, the dominant flavour was the pungent rehydrated meatiness of the shiitakes.  The chunks of pork were fairly soft with only a bit of chew.  I liked there was very little fat.  From meat dumplings to Beef Meatballs, the texture was pretty much on point.  There was the desired rebound from the processed meat, yet there was still some natural meatiness remaining.  There was a minimal amount of green onion and some bits of water chestnut adding some crunch.  The whole thing was mildly seasoned with only a touch of sweetness, but we were dunking it into Worcestershire sauce anyways. 

With the current trending moving away from one large Lo Mei Gai in favour of either 2 or 3 mini-versions, it was a complete surprise to be served the ol' skool portion.  The benefit was a more uniformly moist, yet glutinous sticky rice.  Underneath, there was a bevy of ground pork, dried shrimp and shiitake mushrooms.  Ultimately, this was one of the better items we had.  Another decent offering were the BBQ Pork Buns.  They were large and filled with plenty of lean BBQ Pork.  It was sauced with a balanced amount of sweet and savouriness where the colour was quite appealing (love that allura red E129!).  As for the bun itself, it was fluffy and light while mildly sweet.

Onto a few deep fried dishes, my son really, really wanted the Deep Fried Taro Dumplings.  Since these were sitting in the push cart for who-knows-how-long, they weren't exactly hot.  As such, the crispy exterior was compromised where the layer closest to the soft mashed taro was rather dry.  Other than that, the dumpling was not very greasy with a meaty filling that was well-seasoned.  The kiddies were not feeling it for the regular spring rolls and specifically requested the Shrimp Spring Rolls instead.  So we ended up getting 2 plates piping hot from the kitchen.  Good thing too as it didn't suffer the same result as the previous taro dumplings.  Hence, they were hot and crunchy while easy on the grease.  Inside, the shrimp/mousse filling was bordering on salty, but tasted quite good.  Texturally, the shrimp exhibited a buttery snap.

An interestingly-prepared dish was the Bean Curd Skin Rolls.  Normally, this would feature a pork filling that would be either fatty or tenderized.  However, this one was pretty meaty and almost beef-like in texture.  No matter, as there was a good amount of wood-ear mushrooms to break up the monotony.  This was rather salty in my books since the sauce on the outside was already pretty flavourful. Another ol' skool dish was the Assorted Beef Offal featuring honeycomb tripe, lung, brisket and some daikon.  The stewed offal was pretty "new" which meant nothing was melting while the textures were on the chewier side (especially the brisket).  Furthermore, the whole thing was rather gamy since the dish was very mildly seasoned.

Onto our last 2 dishes, we had the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll first.  It sported fairly firm rice noodle sheets that resulted in a rather still roll.  Inside, there was a modest amount of whole shrimp which were well-salted and exhibited a meaty snap.  By itself, the rolls were plenty seasoned, but the sweet soy added even more flavour.  Lastly, we had the Baked Egg Tarts for dessert.  These were decent even though being a bit underbaked.  Lacking colour and a consistent flakiness, the tart was mostly crispy with defined layers.  There was a butteriness that was complimented by the silky and sweet egg custard.  As much as the Dim Sum service at Pink Pearl was acceptable, the overall consensus was of "meh".  But we expected that due to our choice of venue.

The Good:
- Okay pricing
- Spacious
- Lots of parking

The Bad:
- Meh food
- Pushy push cart ladies

Campagnolo Roma

Sometimes fancy doesn't necessarily translate into "having a good time".  On the other hand, it really depends on the acitivity.  Now, we're not talking about Iggy Azalea fancy as in "champagne spillin', you should taste that".  I can't believe I just quoted Iggy Azalea...  Anyways, Viv and I wanted to enjoy a meal by ourselves, but didn't really want to spend Cioppino's-type money unless they "better get my money on time, if they not money, decline".  Gawd, I quoted her again!  So...  we headed to nearby Campagnolo Roma instead.

Although we didn't care which item arrived first, the actual appetizer did hit the table before everything else.  It was the Smoked Octopus Salad with potato, arugula, jalapeno and garlic chips atop a squid ink vinaigrette.  As expected, the star of the show was the octopus which exhibited a mild smokiness while being a tender chewy.  We thought the flavours worked in harmony including the spicy sliced jalapenos.  The dish could've done with less olive oil though.  Sitting in a significant amount of liquid, the Spaghetti Carbonara was really peppery.  Good thing we like pepper, because for some, it could be considered out-of-balance.  We enjoyed the al dente noodles as well as the salty bits of bacon and Parmesan cheese.

Our second pasta was the Rigatoni all’amatriciana with cured pork belly in a spicy tomato sauce.  We found the the rigatoni to be chewy, yet softer than the spaghetti.  Although the tomato sauce did not lack impact, it wasn't particularly spicy.  I would rather classify it as zesty with a good amount of tang which was balanced off by the massive amount of pecorino on top.  That combined with the pork belly made the dish rather salty (but still good).  Our last item was the Pizza Margherita which featured a crispy crust from the edge to nearly the middle.  The dough was properly seasoned where it was appealingly chewy after the initial crunch of the crust.  I would've liked to see more charring though.  We enjoyed the tomato sauce as it was tangy and fresh-tasting.  Overall, this re-visit to Campagnolo Roma was decent all within a casual environment (and no, it wasn't fancy).

The Good:
- Reaonably-priced
- Okay eats

The Bad:
- Pastas are a bit saucy
- Not the most spacious of places  

Rainbow Butterfly

With all the available choices for Dim Sum in the GVRD, most of the best one reside in Richmond.  However, driving to Richmond takes a long time and driving in Richmond makes me want to play GTA for real.  So on Christmas Eve, we went East into PoCo to re-visit Rainbow Butterfly.  Yes, I realize that Dim Sum and the Tri-Cities go together like Christy Clark and honesty, but our last meal there was decent.  Besides, we didn't want to fight any crowds in terms of traffic nor lineup.

The meal began with the iconic Haw Gow (Shrimp Dumpling) looking rather opaque.  One bite and it was pretty apparent why as the dumpling skin was thick and a touch doughy.  Beyond that, the skin was still appealingly chewy whereas the filling was a mix of bits of shrimp and shrimp mousse.  Texturally, it was too soft for my liking, but the bits of shrimp were okay.  We found the predominant flavour was actually shrimp which may appeal to some, yet may be too "seafoody" for others.  The Sui Mai (Shrimp & Pork Dumplings) didn't show up next, but it just seemed like a good place to talk about it.  There was actually  no shrimp in the dumpling I had, but the texture was decent with chunks of well-seasoned pork and some pork fat that had a rebound texture. I didn't noticed much variety in flavours other than salt and sugar.

For some reason or another, my son was itching to eat the Fried Taro Dumplings despite it never being his absolute favourite item for Dim Sum.  Well, I guess he was onto something here as these ones were pretty good.  Despite the lack of colour, the exterior was lightly crispy while not greasy (possibly new oil?).  Beyond the substantial layer of soft taro, the chunks of pork were rather meaty (and somewhat dry) in texture, but that didn't make or break the dish.  It was mildly seasoned where a bit more salt would've brought some flavour to the taro.  The Baby Bak Choy with bean curd sheets in broth was pretty mild in its own right, but that was pretty much the point of the dish.  Sitting in a watery lightly-seasoned broth, the bak choy were minimally crunchy.  We found the bean curd sheets a bit too soft and disheveled-looking.

Initially, I ordered the Jelly Fish with Shredded Chicken since my daughter loves the dish.  Well, that was all for naught as she refused to eat it when it arrived.  *Sigh* #firstworldproblems  We thought it was a pretty substantial portion for $5.95 consisting of appealingly chewy bands of jellyfish and strangely cut strips of not-so-appealing chewy chicken.  Although the dish wasn't exactly salty, the wonton crisps underneath soaked up all of the seasoning which in turn made things salty.  If they took away the chicken, or actually served hand-shredded chicken instead, this would've been a good dish.  Up next was the Salty Donut Rice Noodle Roll.  Interestingly plated in a random fashion, it was generally decent despite the somewhat dense donut.  We found the rice noodle roll to be just a tad thick, but not overly doughy.

On that note, the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll featured the same thick noodle and since there were a few more folds, it was a bit doughy.  Again, it wasn't enough to kill the dish though.  Inside, there was a modest amount of shrimp which were neither too soft or overly crunchy either.  In the end, the dish needed the sweet soy since the shrimp were mildly seasoned and were not as shrimpy as the ones found in the haw gow.  Not normally an item we order during Dim Sum is congee since we never finish it.  This time around, we had the Fish Congee and it featured a broth that was closer to home-style where it was lightly seasoned and also lightly thick.  This wasn't necessarily a bad thing though.  As for the ample slices of fish, they were fairly flaky and moist.

Moving onto 2 more fried items including my son's favourite, we had the Shrimp & Garlic Spring Rolls. I think he ate nearly the whole dish and if it weren't for us denying him the last piece, I wouldn't have even had a chance to try it.  When I did, the exterior was crunchy and easy on the oil while the shrimp filling was similar to the one found in the haw gow.  This meant there was minimal snap quality while mostly inundated with garlicky shrimp mousse.  Next was a dish we rarely see on Dim Sum menus these days (but was popular in the 80's) in the Shrimp Toast.  Although not super crunchy, the toast portion was surprisingly not soaked in oil (I guess that goes hand-in-hand).  On top, the shrimp mousse was aided by an aggressively layer of sesame seeds which provided a nutty crunch.

Texturally odd, the Bean Curd Skin Rolls were super meaty and dense.  In a strange way, it wasn't particularly off-putting, but it was not great either.  You see, the pork filling was lacking moisture where it took on a beef-like quality being chewy and almost mealy.  Fortunately, the plentiful wood-ear mushrooms helped break up the monotony of the meat.  In turn, the roll did taste meaty and really benefited from a dunk into the Worcestershire sauce.  Although the Phoenix Talons (Chicken Feet) didn't look promising, they actually worked out.  They appeared to be scrawny and stiff, yet in reality, the skin was plump while the cartilage was soft (but didn't melt away).  Despite the lack of sauce on the plate, not only were the chicken feet moist, they were also well-seasoned with a garlicky sweetness.

Another texturally interesting dish was the Beef Meatballs.  If one never had this item before, they would be hard-pressed in believing there was any beef used at all.  Reason-being was that the beef was aggressively processed where a good amount of starch was added.  Hence, it had an almost gooey texture.  Yet once again, it didn't really kill the dish because that also meant the meatballs exhibited the classic rebound texture as well.  The rebound texture was also prevalent in the Steamed Pork Spareribs, albeit in a totally different manner.  Chewy and firmly bouncy, the meat attached to each rib was well-seasoned.  Despite this, I could still clearly taste the pork.

Also chewy in a firm rebound manner was the Steamed Beef Tripe.  For me, I thought it was appealingly chewy with plenty of moisture and flavour.  However, for some others (like my mom), it could've been softer.  I didn't think the tripe was overly gamy, hence, the overall flavour profile was rather sweet with some savoury notes.  Lastly, we had the Steamed BBQ Pork Buns which featured a soft and fluffy exterior.  Inside, the ample lean BBQ pork filling was well-seasoned with a sweet and equally savoury sauce.  We didn't end up ordering any dessert since we had too much food left on the table.  In the end, this revisit was a mirror image of the first - decent Dim Sum out in the Tri-Cities area.

The Good:
- Decent for PoCo
- Fairly large selection

The Bad:
- Small restaurant with pre-existing booths, long lineups during peak times
- Not expensive, but not cheap either