Grapes & Soda

Another mid-January and another start of Dine-Out Vancouver...  If you were expecting a post with a DOV preview (like last year), you've come to the wrong place.  As much as I see the value of DOV for many people and the fact it has definitely improved over the years, I don't usually participate.  So to celebrate the beginning of DOV 2016, Viv and I visited a non-DOV restaurant in the newly-opened Grapes & Soda.  This decision was also partially influenced by the fact we have reservations at Famer's Apprentice the following week (they are sister restaurants).

We actually arrived pretty early being able to take advantage of their happy hour.  In addition to $7.00 glasses of wine, we jumped on the reduced price on the Seared Albacore Tuna with quinoa, herbs and lemon dressing.  Buttery, appealingly soft and nicely salted, the tuna was on point all-the-way.  Unfortunately, the quinoa was sub-par being soft and lifeless.  At the very least, the impactful acidity from the lemon kept things bright.  Also on the happy hour menu, the Okonomiyaki was topped with a cabbage and apple slaw drizzled with a house-made mushroom teriyaki and spicy mayo.  Lightly crispy on the exterior and completely soft in the middle, the flavours were subtle including the woodsy teriyaki sauce and the slightly acidic slaw.

Moving away from the happy hour menu, we went for the Braised Chuck Flat with trumpet mushrooms and atop caramelized onion foam.  As much as the meat was completely lean, it was moist and fork tender.  The braise was able to penetrate the meat where there was uniform flavour that was natural and meaty.  This was accented by the sweet onion foam and the firm Earthy chew of the mushrooms.  At first, I didn't notice the daily feature of Foie Gras Torchon with grilled brioche, wild greens and fig jam, but when Viv pointed it out, I was all over it.  Texturally, it was on point being buttery and rich.  However, it was far too salty for my liking.  Even with the addition of the syrupy sweet jam, the flavours didn't balance.  We found the grilled brioche to be firm enough while retaining an airy softness.

Our final item was the Stuffed Bone Marrow featuring beets and served with crostinis.  Normally, bone marrow would be heavy and greasy, but with the addition of beets, this was lessened to a degree.  I found the beets to be only mildly sweet.  They were a touch heavier due to the absorption of the bone marrow fat.  I liked how they didn't overseasoned the mixture so that we could taste the bone marrow.  Based on these dishes (and there were not many more on the menu), we thought Grapes and Soda was a pleasant and reasonably-priced spot for some shared bites to go with our beverages.   This could easily be a place to visit on a regular basis.

The Good:
- Small focused menu of little bites
- Reasonable-pricing
- Attentive service

The Bad:
- Very tight quarters

Legend House

My search for the best Szechuan Water-Boiled Fish as part of the Chinese Restaurant Awards brought me out to Legend House in Coquitlam.  It has been a long time coming because many have remarked that their XLBs and Beef Roll are pretty solid, especially for Coquitlam.  So on a rainy Winter day (pretty common in the GVRD), we set out into Coquitlam (where I actually resided for 7 years, and boy has it changed...).

Arriving first was the Shanghai Rice Cake that could give Nicole Kidman a run for her money.  A simple addition of dark soy would've both made its appearance and flavour more appealing.  Rather, the taste was incredibly mild while sporting a noticeable amount of grease.  On the positive side, the rice cake slices were appealingly chewy while the cabbage remained crunchy.  Legit in looks and in execution, the Beef Pancake Roll was on the money.  Flaky, fatty and crisp, the pancake ate as good as it appeared.  With only a slight amount of chewiness after the initial crunch, the pancake held a balanced amount of thinly sliced and tender beef shank.  This was accented by just enough scallions and hoisin.  If this was last year when we were looking for the best beef roll, this would've won in my books.

Interestingly, we had originally ordered a Szechuan Beef Noodle, but instead we got just a Beef Noodle with some hot sauce and mustard greens.  It was some quasi-Taiwanese beef noodle dish.  If we ignored what it was supposed to be, the entire dish was okay.  The big chunks of stewed beef were tender and moist while the hand-pulled noodles were nicely chewy.  As for the broth, it was rather light with only the slightest amount of meat flavour.  Something that looked a bit odd was the Seafood & Snow Pea Stir-Fry as there seemed to be barely veggies on the dish.  It was mostly basa, squid and prawns, not that we were complaining.  We found the basa to be flaky and moist while the squid was purposefully chewy and the prawns were cold-water crunchy.  The only complaint we had for the dish was the goopy starch-thickened glaze and lack of wok heat.

As per the Chinese Restaurant Awards, the main reason we were here was to try the Szechuan Broth Braised Fish.  This large bowl contained a good amount of tender and flaky slices of basa sitting in a balanced broth atop crunchy sprouts.  For some, they might've considered this dish to be far too mild as the spice level was conservative, even with the noticeable amount of Szechuan peppercorns.  Sure, there was some heat and tongue-tingling moments, but they were far and few in between.  But if we judged it solely on taste and not spiciness, it was actually quite good with lots of garlic.  Something that was also good was the Xiao Long Bao.  Featuring a semi-thin skin that was a bit dry, it held in the considerable amount of soup.  There was a balanced amount of salt and sweetness, but other than a bit of ginger, there wasn't any xiao shing wine flavour.

Lastly, we had the Pan Fried Buns that featured a filling that included hand-chopped meat and green onions.  It was super savoury with a tender meatiness which is usually not associated with this type of Dim Sum.  This was more akin to the Meat-Stuffed Pastry found at Lin except the outside was only seared on one side.  This pretty much summed up most of the dishes we had at Legend House - close, but certain creative liberties were taken.  However, they do have some pretty good XLBs and a solid Beef Roll.  So if you order wisely, your meal might be decent at Legend House (otherwise, it is hit and miss).

The Good:
- Pretty decent XLBs
- On point Beef Roll
- Free covered parking

The Bad:
- Hit and miss overall

Yan's Garden

Last year, we did some impromptu Dim Sum at Yan's Garden out on Lougheed at North Road.  Generally, it is not a place I would plan to visit since the service can range from poor-to-obscenely rude.  While the service was bearable and the food was decent (especially for the area), I didn't end up doing a blog post.  Call it indifference, but we didn't return anytime soon.  Fast forward a year later and we met up with Popper and Popette at the aforementioned Yan's.  Lo and behold, one of the former managers from Victoria Seafood Restaurant greeted us.  Maybe good service (or just average) would be in our future!

Since they still employ push carts, we got a bunch of things including one of my favs - the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll.  Although quite uniform in appearance, the rolls featured fairly thick noodles and hence the resulting firm texture. Yes, the thick noodle meant that each bite was relatively doughy and dense. As for the shrimp filling, it wasn't cold-water crunchy, rather it had a meatiness that was accented by a significant amount of sesame oil. On the other hand, the Black Bean Spareribs were not bad. As much as they were adequately seasoned, there wasn't a whole lot of black bean (which wasn't a big deal). The meat itself had a nice rebound texture where there was little in the way of cartilage pieces.

Next, we had the standards being the Haw Gow (Shrimp Dumplings) and Siu Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumplings). Emulating the filling from the rice noodle roll, the shrimp in the haw gow were more meaty rather than cold-water snap. The filling was somewhat loose too as it fell apart after one bite. They didn't shy away from the pork fat either as it was noticeable, leaking out of the dumpling. Again, there was a definite sesame oil hit with each bite. We found the skin to be rather doughy and chewy. We weren't huge fans of the siu mai as the meat was too soft where it was missing the classic rebound texture. It appeared they overprocesssed the filling, but then again, the big chunks of pork fat were still there being none-too-pleasing. As such, the overall taste was of pork.

For the kiddies, they got their usual Lo Mei Gai (Sticky Rice Steamed in Lotus Leaves). These were packed rather tight where the sticky rice became dense and somewhat lacking in moisture in spots. On the other hand, there was a good amount of ground pork that helped alleviate it. Like the sui mai, that also meant there was a natural pork flavour to the dish. Next up was the Scallop & Shrimp Spring Rolls. Surprisingly, my son didn't flinch much when we said that he was eating scallops. In actuality, the scallops were good while the shrimp was moist and exhibited a light snap. Again, there was too much sesame oil. On the outside, the wrapper was rather thick, but crunchy nonetheless.

Although the Beef Meatballs looked a bit lifeless, they were in the end pretty decent.  The classic rebound texture with a buttery bounce was evident where retaining some meatiness.  I liked the mix of water chestnuts and very little in the way of green onion.  Hence, I could taste the dried orange peel aroma.  As scrawny as the Phoenix Talons (Chicken Feet) appeared, they were actually quite good.  The exterior skin stayed intact while being moist and plump.  The same could be said about the cartilage and fat underneath.  Flavourwise, the dish was rather mild with only a background sweetness to go with the garlic.

My son loves almost everything from a deep-fryer (except for veggies), so we got the Fried Glutinous Dumplings and the Deep Fried Taro Dumplings.  He didn't mind either, but they were not without faults.  As much as there was a tonne of ground pork filling, the glutinous dumplings were oil-soaked and lacking crunch on the outside.  With that being said, they weren't bad with a soft and appropriate exterior layer.  As for the taro dumplings, the outer shell was a bit stiff and dry while only being lightly crispy.  Inside, the taro was soft and well-seasoned.  Again, there wasn't any absence of ground pork filling.

We found the Beef Honeycomb Tripe to be somewhat gamy due to the lack of seasoning.  In fact, it was almost as if they didn't season the dish as we could really taste the cow!  With that being said, the tripe was practically the ideal texture being buttery soft while maintaining a significant chew.  Okay, we realize that Xiao Long Bao at a non-Shanghainese restaurant is never a good idea, but these were decent for what they were.  Besides, my son has take a recent liking to them (about time!).  The dumpling skin was relatively thin albeit wet.  Inside, the modest amount of soup was sweet while the meat was tender and non-gritty. 

Our last savoury dish was the Baked BBQ Pork Buns, but in reality, they could've been a quasi-dessert too.  They were pretty sweet with a soft bun encasing lean BBQ pork.  The glaze was syrupy (in a good way) which added both enough moisture and flavour.  Now for the actual dessert, we got the Mango Pudding with a splash of condensed milk.  Frankly, I never go the condensed milk part (yes, I realize it is a Hong Kong thing).  As for the pudding, it was rather stiff, while lightly sugary.  There was some mango essence, but not particularly strong.  Hey, it was a typical Dim Sum mango pudding...  For the rest of the food, it was decent with some hits and misses.  Of course, with not much competition nearby, Yan's continues to do well.  About the service...  well, it was okay, but indifference definitely reigned supreme.  But I guess I'll take indifference over rude any day.

The Good:
- Decent for the area
- Fairly spacious restaurant

The Bad:
- Indifferent service
- Hit and miss

Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar

Okay, I'll admit it.  Despite being impulsive with my online purchases and seemingly endless eating adventures, I pause when I see restaurants charging around the $40.00 mark for their dishes.  I guess there is this psychological barrier around $30.00 when the thought of "is it worth it?" creeps in.  That would be the case when Boulevard replaced Fleuri in the Sutton Place Hotel on Burrard.  So it took me over a year to finally visit the place, albeit on my dad's coin (hey, he said pick a place for my birthday!).

So we had to start with their Seafood Tower for 4 (just because it was the most expensive appie on the menu).  We did opt out of the lobster supplement though for an extra $55.00.  However, the tower was more than generous with a dozen Oysters, Wild Sidestripe Shrimp Ceviche, Albacore Tuna Tataki, Read Island Mussel Escabèche, Dungeness Crab Louie, Snow Crab Legs and Wild Shrimp.  The highlights were the fresh, sweet and briny oysters and the large meaty shrimp.  Although I enjoyed the mini-Crab Louie, the bits of lettuce were too small while the crab was in little strands.  The same could be said for the Tuna tataki.  It was buttery and dressed in just enough ponzu, but the pieces were minuscule in size.

As per Mijune's recommendation, we also got the Crispy Chicken Wings bathed in fish sauce caramel and sambal chili with pickled vegetables.  Of course she was right as these wings were addictive.  They were super crunchy with well-rendered skin while maintaining a good level of juiciness.  But the thing that brought it all together was the sticky and sweet sauce that had hints of smokiness and spice.  Despite being seen as a garnish, the pickled cauliflower and turnips provided the necessary acidity to balance off the sweetness.

Onto our mains, Viv went for the featured Lobster Cavaletti with slow cooked leeks, double-smoked bacon, lobster emulsion, shaved black truffle and of course 1/2 lb. of poached lobster.  This was rich and brimming with lobster essence due to the meat and emulsion.  Properly al dente, the cavaletti held up well to the moisture and acted as the perfect canvas for the combination of ingredients including the salty bacon and woodsy truffle.  When presented with the kid's menu, my 8-year old daughter looked at us and exclaimed it was "boring".  So she ordered off the regular menu choosing the Wild Salmon with leek cream, warm celery root/apple slaw and onion cracker finished with dill oil.  As much as the salmon was tender and moist throughout, it had a strange sous-vide texture.  It wasn't buttery and flaky as we would've liked.  Beyond that, the flavours were nice though with subtle notes from the chive butter and leek cream.  The aromatics from the dill oil did not intrude as everything on the plate let the delicate salmon stand on its own.

For myself, I had the Duo of Paradise Valley Pork. For me, this was by far the best dish of the meal.  Buttery tender, juicy and well-brined, the pork tenderloin was perfectly medium.  Combined with the silky and rich demi, there was a depth-of-flavour that resonated its ingredients (red wine, bones and butter).  However, the pork cheek was even better being soft, fatty and tender.  The chanterelles added some Earthy meatiness to an already rich meat.  Even the pomme fondant was expertly prepared being soft while not disintegrating.  With the addition of butternut squash cubes and deconstructed brussel sprouts, there was some vegetable heartiness to go with the meat as well as providing some colour to the dish.  From the best dish to probably the most pedestrian, my mom inexplicably ordered the Farmcrest Free-Run Chicken. Brined and seemingly with a sous-vide texture, the chicken was rather lifeless and devoid of any distinguishing flavours.  On the other hand, the jus made up for it with a rich and full-bodied demeanor.  Furthermore, the braised Swiss chard with bacon was plenty salty and flavourful as well.

My dad had probably our second favourite offering being the Bouillabaisse with lobster, local rock fish, saffron, rouille, gruyère and olive oil crostini.  Typically, we would expect a fairly light and thin broth, but not in this case.  It was slightly thick and full-flavoured with a measured saltiness balanced by natural sweetness and a touch of saffron.  The fish couldn't have been prepared any better being buttery and flaky while the lobster was on point.  My son actually ordered off the kid's menu and when he asked if I wanted to take a picture of his chicken strips, I declined...

For dessert, we shared 2 including the Alpaco Chocolate Soufflé made with Valrhona chocolate and served with vanilla sauce.  This was pretty good with an evenly raised souffle topped with silky chocolate.  While the exterior was lightly crispy, the inside was airy and light while exhibiting appealingly bitter chocolate notes.  The whole thing was still rather sweet especially with the addition of the vanilla sauce.  Our second dessert, the Tarte Tatin was a nice balance of flavours.  It featured gala apple confit atop a flaky and crispy pastry.  With beads of sweet apple puree and tart apple pieces, there was a balanced sweetness.  When it was all said and done, we had dropped almost $450.00 including tax and tip.  Was it worth it?  It really depends on what dishes you order. 

The Good:
- Some real stellar dishes
- Excellent service
- Nice dining space

The Bad:
- Expensive
- Some portion sizes were pretty small

Noodlemania (presented by Vanfoodster)

After sharing 4 slices of pizza at nearby Nat's New York Pizzeria, Emily and I arrived early at Platform 7 to lineup for Noodlemania registration.  This was to be a tour of 5 places sampling a carb-heavy array of noodles spread around town.  Yes, downing some carbs before a carb-fest wasn't exactly the best thing to do, but hey, we like to eat and as I'm beginning to find out, Emily can outdo me in that regard!  Mijune, you'd better watch out, there are some worthy challengers around!

At Platform 7, we were given a choice of beverage and I had an Espresso.  It was rich and flavourful with a noted bitterness and bite.  We also had a choice of cookie and we decided to get one of each including the Salted Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter and Cranberry Chocolate Chip.  We found them rather dry, but the cranberry one was thicker and chewier.  I didn't like the peanut butter as it was dry and not very flavourful.  After that, we made the quick jaunt over to Linh for a bowl of Northern Pho served with pickled peppers and garlic.  The broth was rich and flavourful with a noticeable meatiness.  Spiked with enough green onion to cover the top, there was a certain herbal aromaticness.  The pieces of shank were tender featuring soft tendon portions.

After that, we made the decision to head into Downtown, specifically to Che-Licious and their platter consisting of Southern Pho and Pork Salad Roll.  Made without the aid of MSG, the broth was still meaty and impactful.  The flavours were clean and I found the star anise finish in check unlike my initial impressions last year.  Noodles were chewy and the meats were sliced thin being tender.  We actually didn't dig into the rolls, but I've had them before.  However, according to Emily, the pork was over-salted.  Over at Grotto, we were served a plate consisting of Squash Ravioli with sage and brown butter & Housemade Gnocchi on a smoked chicken and mushroom ragout.  Firmly al dente with smooth and sweet squash, the ravioli was on point and nicely seasoned by the brown butter.  I though the gnocchi was a bit aggressively seared, but still good.  It wasn't particularly flavourful on its own, yet the ragout was very nice with Earthy notes that overshadowed the smoked chicken.

After an eternal wait at U & I Thai, we were presented with Spaghetti Kee Mao and Guay Tieow Tom Kha Gai.  Frankly the spaghetti was not very good since it was far from al dente and completely devoid of flavour.  Furthermore, it wasn't even remotely warm.  The soup noodles were way better being aromatic and coconutty (although the noodles were mush).  A wedge of lime would've helped liven things up.  Our last stop was at Bubble Waffle House where we were given the choice between Beef Noodle Soup (in fish broth) and Laksa.  The noodles were excellent with an appealing chewiness while the broth was very fishy (in a good way).  The Laksa was surprisingly decent for a non-Malay restaurant with a coconutty spiciness.  At this point, I was full, but not bursting.  Maybe Emily's appetite is rubbing off on me?

*All food was complimentary*

The Good:
- Diverse selection
- Enough food

The Bad:
- Extreme distances between some spots
- Specific to this event, the wait and U & I Thai was 45 minutes and even longer for the food

Nat's New York Pizzeria

There we were...  cruisin' down Broadway prior to Noodlemania, with empty stomachs.  That was a very precarious situation as Emily and I were in the danger zone.  Yes, the time just before a feeding, but being famished at the same time.  What to do?  Wait til Noodlemania starts or eat something beforehand, even though that would mean way too much food?  Well, there wasn't much debate as we stopped in front of Nat's New York Pizzeria for some pre-carbs prior to the main event full of more carbs!

We decided on 2 slices each where I chose the Meat Deluxe and Spicy Mushroom.  Seeing the usual ingredients in a deluxe, but with just lots of it, we found pepperoni, green and red peppers, mushrooms and onions.  This loaded pizza surprisingly didn't get soft nor wet due to the heavy duty thin crust that was more crunchy than chewy (might've been due to the reheat).  I personally loved the spicy mushroom as it lived up to its namesake with chili flakes, jalapenos and big meaty slices of mushrooms.  It ate rather hearty for a non-meat pizza.  There was a noted spiciness from the first bite that lingered way past.

Emily's 2 choices included the Chorizo Mushroom and BBQ Chicken.  Not as spicy nor impactful as we would've expected, the chorizo did eat heartily with lots of toppings that included an equal amount of mushrooms.  Again, the crust stood up well to the amount of ingredients.  Lastly, the BBQ Chicken consisted of chicken bits, red onion and peppers.  We liked how they were conservative with the sweet BBQ sauce.  I personally would've liked to see less onion as it dominated both texture and flavour.  Overall, we were satisfied with the slice pizza we ordered.  I didn't necessarily bring back memories of my past visit to NYC, but it did the job for a reasonable price.

The Good:
- Crust stood up to the toppings
- Lotsa toppings

The Bad:
- Due to the reheat, the crust wasn't as chewy as I would've liked