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When I get the itch for Korean eats, I merely make the short jaunt over to North Road. There you will find an array of restaurants that I cannot pronounce nor remember one from another. Therefore, with a name like Hanok, it is almost a relief because it is easy to remember and it doesn't require me to go round and round in the parking lot trying to find it. Yes, it is in plain sight, easy to spot and according to some, serves up decent eats that does not necessarily require a small loan.
However, that never stops me from ordering too much and running up the bill. It is further exacerbated when my stomach does the thinking rather than my brain. But before we got to the stuff we ordered, we were served the usual Banchan which included seaweed, sprouts, daikon, kimchi and a green salad. Nothing particularly amiss here, but I would've liked to see some stewed potatoes. Onto our first dish, we shared the good sized portion of the Bossam served with pickled daikon and spicy radish. There was a considerable amount of sharpness and spice from the garlic which helped elevate the mildly seasoned pork belly. I found the belly to be more meaty than fatty while the daikon and radish added tang and sweet spiciness.
Onto 2 soups, we dug into the Beef Rib first. It was mild-flavoured as expected (since it was served with salt on the side), yet still had a meaty essence as well as a decent amount of collagen which afforded a certain silkiness. There was no shortage of tender slices of beef that were fatty and super tender. Our next soup was the traditional Ginseng Chicken that featured 2 large legs that was more prominent than the broth. This was a pretty mild soup (but yes, we put salt into it and it tasted pretty good), with only minor hints of ginseng. The chicken was actually quite succulent.
I insisted on getting Japchae, even though it is generally a defaultish dish compared to other things on the menu. Turns out she was right because this version was pretty standard. With that being said, there was a decent amount of thinly sliced tender beef and veggies. The noodles were nicely chewy and not overly wet nor sweet. The dish was easy on the grease, but also easy on the seasoning too. On the other hand, the Stir-Fried Tripe was bursting with impactful flavours including an in-your-face gaminess. I was okay with that since there was an equal amount of sweetness and spiciness. As for the texture, the tripe was on point being chewy with a rebound, yet tender all-the-way.
Our last dish was the Grilled Beef Rib with bean paste, carrots, romaine lettuce and peppers. I would've liked to see some raw garlic slices, but then again, there was enough with the bossam. The rib could've used more char despite the caramelized sweetness. The meat was succulent and tender with a meatiness. The meat was marinated well enough that I could taste it through the lettuce, carrot and peppers. Overall, I thought the food at Hanok was okay while being priced much like all the other Korean restaurants nearby. Of note, we found the service to be quite attentive and courteous, despite what others have said.
The Good:
- Decent eats
- Surprisingly attentive service
The Bad:
- A bit pricey, but no unlike the other restaurants nearby
- A little on the sweeter side
The last time I visited a Boiling Point, it was for late night eats at the Burnaby location. As much as the hot pots were fairly good, I felt that the standard versions were a better value than the more expensive deluxe hot pots. One thing that limited my thoughts about the place was that we only tried 3 versions. However, with a ChineseBites tasting for the newly opened Surrey location, this was the perfect opportunity to try practically all of the available options, including 2 new flavours as well. I ended up sitting at a table with Rick, Diana and Grace as we shared 8 hot pots.
To kick things off, we had 2 appies including the Kimchi Tofu. I guess this was a play on the Taiwanese tofu dish with preserved egg on top, but employing kimchi instead. This was a non-offensive and pleasant enough starter, but it wasn't exactly that interesting. The individual components were fine as the tofu was soft while the kimchi was tart with some spice. Next up, the Garlic Pork Belly looked rather ordinary and plain. How wrong was I as this was a tasty offering. The tender thinly-sliced pork belly was bathed in as sauce that was very garlicky, sweet and somewhat spicy. It was a flavour explosion in my mouth.
Onto our first hot pot, we gave a new flavour a try in the Pomelo. Now I was expecting a certain amount of tang from the broth, but this ended up to be overly sour. I personally love sour things like vinegar, lemon juice and sour candies, but this was too much for me. I really couldn't taste anything else other than a faint background sweetness. As for the ingredients (pork belly, mini-octopus, baby scallops, fish cake, enoki, seaweed, tofu and napa cabbage), they were fine except for the rubbery scallops. From there, we moved onto a more familiar broth in the Korean Bean Paste Soup. Hidden within the mildly spicy and salty broth and underneath the crown daisy was kimchi, fish, fish cake, pork belly, fish tofu, zucchini, mushrooms, seaweed and noodles. The best part was the aforementioned instant noodles (normally found in kimchi bowls) as they were chewy and had soaked up the broth.
Heading into something more standard was the Beef Hot Pot. Naturally, this one had a distinct meaty flavour due to the raw beef cooking in the broth. There was a bit of spice from what tasted like satay seasoning which gave way to a sweet finish. I found the ample amount of beef to be buttery and tender while the one-half of a meatball was a bit chintzy. Other ingredients included bean curd skin, vermicelli, meatball, crab stick, tomato, tofu, enoki, fish cake and of course the napa cabbage. Next, we had one of the bigger deluxe hot pots in the Thai flavour ($4.00 premium). This was a bit sour and sweet with a touch of spice emulating a Tom Yum broth. The Winter melon soaked up the sour notes as well as the napa cabbage. There was an array of seafood including head-on shrimp, clams, mini-octopus, fish ball, taro, squid and crab complimented by napa cabbage, enoki and maitake mushroom.
Continuing with the heat, we got the Lamb Hot Pot garnished with a raw egg on top. Despite the visuals, the broth wasn't actually super spicy. With that being said, it got progressively spicier as it boiled. The lamb slices were fatty and buttery, yet did not take on much flavour of the broth. Rounding out the hot pot was pork blood, cabbage, fish cake, vermicelli, crab stick, clam, pickled mustard greens, maitake and enoki mushroom and tofu. We continued on with a more mild hot pot in the Japanese Miso. Compared to the previous broths, this one was almost refreshing. We found it full of flavour yet not too salty at the same time. Although you cannot see much in the picture, the ingredients included cabbage, udon, sliced pork, enoki, clam, fish ball, fish, oyster mushrooms, crab, tofu skin, soft tofu and egg.
Our last 2 consisted of the Curry Fish Ball and Spicy Taiwanese. As light as the broth appeared, the curry fish ball did exhibit curry-like flavours that was balanced off by an equal amount of sweet and savoury notes. This was not very spicy nor heavy on the curry. In addition to the fish balls, there was a raw egg, corn, tofu skin, cabbage, vermicelli, pork, enoki, crab stick, mountain yam and string beans. Ending off strong, the last hot pot was spicy as its name suggested. In fact, this was the spiciest of all with lingering heat. In addition to the thai and miso, this was also considered a bigger deluxe hot pot. Hence, there was a bevy on ingredients including cabbage, instant noodles, beef, enoki, clam, fish ball, cuttlefish, pork intestine, pork blood, tofu skin, maitake and iced tofu.
Now with all these boiling pots of broth and spiciness, we didn't only just drink water... For myself, I decided to try their Hokkaido Milk Tea with pearls. I only got it 1/4 sweet and it was plenty for my tastes. In fact, it allowed the rich aromatic tea to really shine. I would say this is one of the more intense tasting milk teas I've had of late. For dessert, we were served a selection of their Snow Cubes consisting of strawberry, taro, pudding and matcha. I ended up with the taro and it was subtly sweet with the essence of taro. The cube was firm and I ended up chewing it. Texturally, it was creamy and a bit gummy at the same time. Unlike my previous visit to the Burnaby location, I was able to try nearly all of the broths available at Boiling Point. For me, I'm happy with the less expensive versions at $10.99 for lunch and $11.99 for dinner.
*All food, beverages and gratuities were complimentary*
The Good:
- Distinctive broths for all tastes
- More than enough food for one
- Surprisingly good milk tea
The Bad:
- More pricier hot pots really get up there
- Meats should be placed not as a clump in the hot pot, hard to separate and eat
After dropping off some of our Trophy cupcakes at Girl Smiley's house in Cloverdale, we were ready for a late dinner. But where? Yah, the area is not exactly the hotbed of culinary greatness, but hey, there must be some decent eats as the place is a growing community. Oh and yah, we weren't looking for a chain restaurant nor fast food either. Therefore, we settled on the nearby Denji Sushi, since Viv had just tried it a few weeks ago while she was visiting their house.
We started with the Assorted Tempura which arrived neatly plated as a fairly large portion. Consisting of 4 ebi, sweet potato, yam, golden squash and green bean, it was interesting to see no carrot. No matter, the tempura was prepared masterfully with a thin batter than was lightly crunchy and easy on the grease. We thought the slices of potato and yam were ideal in size which ensured that they were cooked through while still retaining texture. As for the ebi, they were still buttery and meaty after the deep fry. I didn't like the green beans as they were old and stringy. Next up was the Assorted Sashimi that was neatly arranged with sockeye salmon, albacore tuna, flounder, hokkigai, hotate, tako and tai. I thought the tuna was pretty good as there was a noted sweetness. The flounder was a surprise (as it is not often served) where it was firm and fresh-tasting.
For our sushi rolls, we got the Futomaki and Spicy Salmon Roll (as well as 2 tamago for my son... yes, he is beginning to eat sushi...). We found the rice appealingly chewy with a mild flavour. The futomaki contained freshwater eel rather than the commonly found imitation crab in the GVRD. We weren't fans of the spicy salmon as it was overprocessed having a slurry consistency. It did taste good though. For the kiddies, they shared a Chicken Teri-Don which was pretty large in portion size. The rice was a bit soft, yet not too wet. On top, there was a large piece of deboned chicken leg that was succulent and well-seasoned. Unfortunately, the skin was rather fatty and unappealing. In the end, Denji served its purpose and was fairly good with all things considered.
The Good:
- Generally carefully prepared food
- Friendly service
The Bad:
- On the pricier side
- Smallish sushi and sashimi
Posts
When I get the itch for Korean eats, I merely make the short jaunt over to North Road. There you will find an array of restaurants that I cannot pronounce nor remember one from another. Therefore, with a name like Hanok, it is almost a relief because it is easy to remember and it doesn't require me to go round and round in the parking lot trying to find it. Yes, it is in plain sight, easy to spot and according to some, serves up decent eats that does not necessarily require a small loan.
However, that never stops me from ordering too much and running up the bill. It is further exacerbated when my stomach does the thinking rather than my brain. But before we got to the stuff we ordered, we were served the usual Banchan which included seaweed, sprouts, daikon, kimchi and a green salad. Nothing particularly amiss here, but I would've liked to see some stewed potatoes. Onto our first dish, we shared the good sized portion of the Bossam served with pickled daikon and spicy radish. There was a considerable amount of sharpness and spice from the garlic which helped elevate the mildly seasoned pork belly. I found the belly to be more meaty than fatty while the daikon and radish added tang and sweet spiciness.
Onto 2 soups, we dug into the Beef Rib first. It was mild-flavoured as expected (since it was served with salt on the side), yet still had a meaty essence as well as a decent amount of collagen which afforded a certain silkiness. There was no shortage of tender slices of beef that were fatty and super tender. Our next soup was the traditional Ginseng Chicken that featured 2 large legs that was more prominent than the broth. This was a pretty mild soup (but yes, we put salt into it and it tasted pretty good), with only minor hints of ginseng. The chicken was actually quite succulent.
I insisted on getting Japchae, even though it is generally a defaultish dish compared to other things on the menu. Turns out she was right because this version was pretty standard. With that being said, there was a decent amount of thinly sliced tender beef and veggies. The noodles were nicely chewy and not overly wet nor sweet. The dish was easy on the grease, but also easy on the seasoning too. On the other hand, the Stir-Fried Tripe was bursting with impactful flavours including an in-your-face gaminess. I was okay with that since there was an equal amount of sweetness and spiciness. As for the texture, the tripe was on point being chewy with a rebound, yet tender all-the-way.
Our last dish was the Grilled Beef Rib with bean paste, carrots, romaine lettuce and peppers. I would've liked to see some raw garlic slices, but then again, there was enough with the bossam. The rib could've used more char despite the caramelized sweetness. The meat was succulent and tender with a meatiness. The meat was marinated well enough that I could taste it through the lettuce, carrot and peppers. Overall, I thought the food at Hanok was okay while being priced much like all the other Korean restaurants nearby. Of note, we found the service to be quite attentive and courteous, despite what others have said.
