Dallas Pizza & Souvlaki

There have been many a post that has started like this, "I've been meaning to try this place for along time...".  However, I think my visit to Dallas Pizza & Souvlaki has been an eternity since I knew about it.  You see, I went to high school with the owner's daughter (not sure if they are still the same owners anymore) and she was encouraging me to try the place.  Fast-forward many, many years later, Emily harassed me enough to actually visit the place for their roast lamb.  Oh fine, I guess I should go before it moves again (it moved to the complex next door due to development).

So on my way back home, I picked up a bunch of goodies including the appetizer version of the Calamari.  At first I was shocked at their prices (especially for a take out joint), but upon opening the box, it made sense as it was stuffed full.  Unfortunately, the actual product was not very good.  The squid was dry and chewy while the batter was a bit too aggressive (albeit crunchy).  I also got a medium sausage and pepperoni Pizza which was loaded with toppings.  There was so much cheese on the darn thing, the grease soaked the entire bottom of the box.  Not sure if that was appealing or not, but this was one hearty pizza (that also featured plenty of meat).  The crust was pretty basic, but it was serviceable being on the denser side.

Okay, we also had the small Chicken Souvlaki because we already had the pizza part of their restaurant name, so we had to get the other.  I'm not sure if this was actually the small as there was 2 large skewers of chicken breast meat.  It was moderately grilled where the meat was not caramelized enough while being somewhat dry.  It was seasoned nicely though.  The rice was chewy and flavourful for this dish (more wet with the next dish).  We really liked the lemon potato as it was impactful with a nice tang.  Onto the main event, the Roast Lamb, it was very good.  Props to Emily for the suggestion.  It was a large portion that was fatty and succulent.  It was well-seasoned with enough saltiness and garlic.  However, when they added some of the braising liquid to the rice, it not only made it soft, it was super fatty.

Our last dish was the Lasagna which sported even more cheese than the pizza.  Hence, this ate heavy with plenty of grease.  It wasn't bad though for this type of establishment as the noodles weren't overly soft while the sauce was tomatoey with an appealing tang.  Okay, I'm gonna stop talking about this or anything else Dallas has on its menu.  Why?  Because it is really all about the roast lamb.  It is probably the best in the city and well-portioned.  Sure, it's pricey, but I believe it is worth the cost.  As for the stuff, well it's average and actually a bit pricey when dealing with the regular prices.

The Good:
- Excellent roast lamb
- Huge portions

The Bad:
- Kinda pricey for takeout
- Everything else other than the lamb are average at best  

BLVD Bistro

It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to call Vancouver a brunch town.  Yup, for some reason, people are willing to shell out upwards of $20.00 (and sometimes beyond) for glorified breakfasts.  Sure, there are some spots that serve up more interesting eats such as Yolk's, Red Wagon and Medina, but most, if not all charge a premium.  I'm not saying that I do not enjoy the occasional meal at the aforementioned spots, but the lineups at the last 2 doesn't do it for me.  Hence, it brought me to BLVD Bistro in North Van.  Okay, the lineups still exist here because they only have 3 tables for 4 available, but their menu is game-changing (as they proudly state).

Due to the lack of seating, we gave up the first time and returned the week after.  We still had to wait for about 30 minutes... on a weekday!  Anyways, I got right down to business with the El Paella de Patron.   One bite, and it was clear that this was a winner.  The saffron really came through as well as the fattiness of the chorizo and pork belly.  Due to the pan-fry with the oils, the rice was crispy and nutty with a touch of smokiness. Runny and free-range, the the fried egg helped provide some moisture to compliment the crunchy rice.  The portion was a bit small, but it wasn't devoid of meat either.  For my son, he wanted the Steak n' Eggs.  I was skeptical of his choice, but he ended up eating most of it.  After sampling it myself, it was no wonder as the 5 oz. flat iron steak was perfectly medium-rare and buttery tender.  It was well charred and seasoned with a lemon compound butter.  The cubed hashbrowns were aggressively fried where they were crispy while still potatoey inside.

Viv decided on the Upstream Eggs Benny that featured a large brink of savoury potato bread pudding underneath the cold-smoked steelhead lox and poached free-range eggs.  At first, I was concerned at the heaviness of the bread pudding when combined with the Hollandaise.  However, this wasn't the case as it soaked up the perfectly runny egg yolk and lemon chive Hollandaise becoming soft and almost fluffy.  As for the Hollandaise, it was airy and light with a balanced amount of acidity.  They didn't skimp on the buttery smoked salmon either.  Our last item was the Pulled Pork Pancakes with maple bourbon syrup.  These slightly dense, yet still fluffy pancakes sported a appealingly crispy exterior that held up well to the moisture.  The pulled pork was tender and meaty while slathered in a smoky hickory BBQ sauce (tasted similar to Bulls-Eye).  This was balanced off by the sweet and boozy bourbon syrup. Okay, I'll get right to the point here...  Sure, BLVD Bistro is not exactly cheap nor is there enough seating, but really, it's worth the visit.

The Good:
- Something relatively different located in a unique spot
- Well-prepared eats with quality ingredients
- It's got this hidden-gem homey quality

The Bad:
- It's not cheap
- Very small, you'll have to wait  

The Moose

For myself, I try to always judge food based on many factors other than taste alone.  Sure, good food should be the premise behind eating out, but sometimes, the price point, atmosphere and service are often considerations as well.  So if something is really cheap, I can overlook some deficiencies.  Places such as The Warehouse are a perfect example where some dishes are pretty average, but for $5.00, I'm not going to put up much of a complaint.  Hence, Princess Leia and I went in with that attitude as we went for lunch at The Moose (albeit $6.00 per item here).

When the cost of food is so low, I tend to get a bit greedy.  Therefore, I went for 2 items including the Moose Burger.  Despite the price, I wasn't a huge fan of this as the meat patty was crumbly and overly soft.  The worst part was the bacon as it seemed like they merely slapped it on the flattop long enough that it was no longer raw.  If I had to compare, The Warehouse makes a better burger.  I also got the BBQ Ribs which were serviceable.  The meat was tender while retaining a rebound chewiness.  There was quite a bit of sauce slathered on after-the-fact, which meant the ribs were actually not that tasty on their own.  As for the sides, they sucked.  The mashed potatoes were mealy and tasteless while the veggies were greasy and overdone.

Leia had the Creole Chicken and it was equally disastrous.  The chicken breast was obliterated being dry and chewy.  There wasn't much inherent flavour other than a bit from the blackening spices on the outside.  She had the exact same sides and they were of course terrible. Okay, I realize the place only charges $5.95 for all food.  So my expectations should be based on my rant in the intro.  However, we really didn't enjoy eating the food, even if they had given it to us for free.  Hence, we'd rather spend more money for better eats next time.

The Good:
- Cheap
- We got decent service

The Bad:
- Food sucks as things were just not prepared properly

Black Rice Izakaya

Eating with Milhouse and Lionel Hutz can be a very enjoyable experience.  Is it because they are great conversationalists?  Well, if one enjoys listening to Lionel Hutz's never-ending yammering about his exploits (hmm...  kinda like Lionel Hutz!) or Milhouse's self-deprecating humour (wait...  Like Milhouse?).  No wonder those are their nicknames!  Anyways, the real reason dining with them is so awesome is that they will eat anything and at any location.  Hence, heading into Downtown for some late night Izakaya after Friday hockey was no problemo.

Just to make sure (after recent fails), I called ahead to make a rez (even though we really didn't need one).  Another perk having them as dining companions is that they let me order!  So we kicked things off with the Chicken Karaage with nanban sauce.  This was a fair portion of succulent nuggets of dark meat that was coated in a lightly crispy batter.  It was inherently well-seasoned, but did benefit further from the nanban.  However, I would've liked to see more tang to balance off the sweetness.

Onto one of my "must-haves", we tried their version of Ebi-Mayo with buttery mayo and bacon bits.  Unfortunately, this was not to my liking.  I found the mayo to be uninteresting and lifeless.  Even the bits of chewy bacon didn't do much.  On the other hand, the fried ebi were decent having a meaty snap while coated with a light batter.  Another so-so item was the Black Rice Roll consisting of Pacific black cod, avocado,
cream cheese and sweet bell pepper wrapped in black rice.  We thought the firm and robust black rice was not a good match for the delicate black cod.  The fish was over-matched by the firm texture of the rice while the bell pepper may have not been the best choice of condiment either.  The raw flavour of the pepper ensured that the cod would not only be overshadowed texturally, but also taste-wise.

Arriving in a sizzling hot stone bowl, the Beef & Assorted Mushroom Ishiyaki seemed a bit small in portion size.  On the other hand, I guess that helped ensure the rice would be able to form a crust.  That it did and the right amount of sweet shoyu afforded a certain level of caramelization as well.  Nutty, chewy and browned, the rice was appealing in texture while the beef was succulent and tender.  The combination of peppers, onions and mushrooms added both aroma and umami to the dish.  Another solid offering was the Chef's Sashimi Salad.  There was actually more sashimi than mesclun greens.  There was a combination of tako, seared tuna and salmon, tai and albacore tuna.  I particularly liked the seared tuna as it was buttery and fairly sweet.  Normally tako can be a bit chewy for a sashimi salad, but they sliced it thin enough in this case.  As for the dressing, it was probably a bit too creamy, but it did have enough acidity.

Whenever I see Aburi Salmon on the menu, I tend to order to see how it compares to Miku.  Well, the one at Black Rice was rather ordinary.  With that being said, there wasn't anything wrong.  In fact, the sushi rice was nicely chewy while the salmon on top was buttery.  However, the sear was far too weak and sauce was not impactful.  They should've put more sauce and torched the whole thing with more gusto.  Our last dish was the Tuna Tartare with garlic crostinis.  This was fairly enjoyable since the tuna was buttery and soft.  It was accented by avocado and a creamy dressing. It wasn't particularly sweet nor acidic though (it was just there).  Nice textural contrast between the crispy and airy crostinis and the soft tartare.  Overall, we were satisfied with our late night "snack" despite some issues here and there.  We still prefer the classics such as Hapa, Guu and Kingyo, but Black Rice is an option as well.

The Good:
- Serviceable food
- Decently comfortable for an izakaya

The Bad:
- A bit pricey
- Depending on the server, we either got attentive or completely indifferent   

Libra Room

Once upon a time, I bought a Groupon for the Libra Room offering up 2 appies and 4 entrees for $40.00.  Good deal, especially since it could fit into our late night eating schedule after Friday hockey.  Well, to keep a long story short, we never made it out to the Libra Room in the allotted time, so I was stuck with a $40.00 credit.  That was 3 years ago...  So when Viv and I set out to use up the monetary value of the Groupon, we were notified that they had changed ownership and it was no longer valid.  #$)*#)$*#)$*#  Didn't matter though, we still decided to eat there.

These days, it's pretty standard to see deep-fried brussel sprouts dressed in balsamic, parm and other tasty seasonings.  However, when the "Fried" Brussel Sprouts hit the table, we were pretty surprised to see they were stir-fried rather than deep-fried. As much as they looked bland, they were far from it.  With just a quick kiss of heat (cooking), the sprouts were tender and still crunchy.  There was enough salt from the bacon, parm and spice from the chili flakes to create some impactful flavours.  Next, we had the Blackened Tuna which was seared evenly on the outside.  It wasn't buttery per se, but it was indeed rare and meaty.  The coriander crust was not super impactful, but the apples did add some crunch and sweetness.

We then went for the seafood in the form of the Seafood Linguine blessed with a plethora of large plump mussels and cold-water shrimp.  The linguine was a touch past al dente, but hardly soft.  The thin cream sauce was aggressively seasoned where it added even more impact to the already properly salted pasta.  There was a bit of brininess from the mussels which added a taste of the sea.  We continued with a whole order of Mussels in a Portuguese broth with chorizo sausage, fried kale, white beans and marinara.  Although this was rather zesty, the whole thing was far too salty which meant it overwhelmed any other seasonings.  Mussels were big and plump though, like in the pasta.

Our last dish was the Hot Wings that were lightly dressed in hot sauce.  Hence, they weren't really all that spicy.  We found the meat to be tender but hardly juicy while the skin could've been rendered down more. Despite this and a few other minor issues, we felt the food at the Libra room was more-than-acceptable.  Given that there is live music and open late for those night owls.

The Good:
- Decent eats
- Fair portions
- Live music

The Bad:
- A little agaggressive with the salt