Pink Elephant Thai (Marine Crossing)

With the new Marine Crossing development at the Southern terminus of Cambie in full swing, there might be some action in a part of town that only could be described as sleepy.  There's a T&T Supermarket as well as Cineplex anchoring the whole complex that features the last Skytrain stop before heading into Richmond.  Of course an array of restaurants followed, including the newly opened Pink Elephant Thai.  It brings a bit of Downtown flair which is not normally seen in these parts.  I was invited for to check the place out along with some other bloggers and Instagrammers.

With all the food at the table already, I decided to dig into the appies first.  Since it was fried and getting colder by the second, I tried the Calamari that was aggressively battered.  Due to the proper deep-fry in the hot oil, it remained crunchy until the last piece.  At the same time, the squid was not dried out and in fact, was rather tender while retaining an appealing chewiness.  The dip on the side was not even necessary as the squid was well-seasoned on its own.  However, the savoury tanginess didn't hurt things either.  Next, I gave the BBQ Pork Jowl a go.  These pork cheeks were marinated enough that once again, they didn't need the dip.  With a proper sear on the grill, the flavours were both caramelized and smoky.  Texturally, the cheek was classic tender and bouncy chewiness.  The dip was another good balance of sweet, tangy and spice.

We were served both versions of their Thai Hot Wings and seeing that one looked spicier than the other, I sampled the Chili Basil first.  These were fried until the skin was completely rendered being crispy, even after being subjected to being tossed in sauce.  Inside, the meat wasn't exactly succulent, but it wasn't dry either.  Much like the other appies so far, the side of dip wasn't necessary as the flavours were pretty impactful with an initial sweetness followed by a touch of heat and aromatics.  As for the Red Curry wings, they were much more saucy, hence the skin was no longer crispy.  Yet, being rendered, it wasn't fatty either.  There was a touch more spice with this one, but at the same time, an equal amount of sweetness brought balance.

Onto something different, we had the Floating Market which was tempura-battered spinach leaves with cashews and prawns.  Despite the initial greasiness of the batter, the firm crunch was appealing.  The spinach wasn't really a factor in this dish other than serving as a vessel for the deep-fried batter.  The dip was necessary in this case as it was the main flavouring agent.  It was very similar to the other dips so far except with a touch more tartness followed by a syrupy hit and spice.  

Moving to the bigger items and in particular the starches, I served myself a helping of the Pad Thai Traditional (I served others as well!).  As much as the menu stated there was tamarind, I didn't really get any big hits of tang or zip.  Rather, it was a bit bland and sweet.  With that being said, the noodles were chewy and well-executed.  The large prawns were meaty and had a light snap.  The rest of the ingredients were there too including the peanuts, egg, sprouts and pressed tofu.  On the other hand, I really enjoyed the Goong Ob Woon Sen served in a clay pot.  These mung bean noodles were expertly prepared being chewy and glutinous.  With a spicy sauce on the side, there was a good compliment of flavours including sweet, savoury, tart, spicy and a certain umaminess.

An interesting dish was the Khao Soi, where my initial thoughts was that it was too bland.  However, that was when I placed a portion on my plate (not the best thing to eat noodles with sauce or soup with).  Hence, I took the whole bowl and took some big chopsticks full including spoonfuls of the broth.  There and then, I was able to taste the aromatics from the coconut milk, the curry and the chili oil.  With that being said, I still think the one at Longtail is better.  Our only curry was represented by the Oxtail Red Curry.  Although on the sweeter side with a bit too much palm sugar, the dish itself was a winner.  Rich, creamy and aromatic with only a bit of spice, it ate well with the rice.  The oxtail itself was super tender and glutinous from the fat and tendon portions.

Looking like another noodle dish, the Pad Ped with Chicken featured a tonne of julienned bamboo shoots along with mushrooms, Thai chilis, basil and bell peppers.  Although bamboo shoots can be pungent and overwhelming, these were rinsed enough to prevent that.  I enjoyed the crunch of the shoots as well as the sweetness from the stir-fry to go along with an equal amount of saltiness and spice.  The last noodle dish was the Pad Kee Mao Prawn that featured a richly-flavoured sauce that was equally salty and sweet.  I liked how it wasn't greasy nor too wet which ensured the noodles would retain an appealing chew. Once again, the prawns were on point with a buttery snap.

For dessert, we were served Mango Sticky Rice and Deep-Fried Banana with Mango Ice Cream.  I thought the sticky rice was decently textured being glutinous without being too dry nor wet.  It was mildly sweet while the mango was somewhat tart.  The deep-fried banana was nicely prepared with a crispy tempura crust.  However, the ice cream tasted more like mango candy than mangoes. In the end, I enjoyed the food at this location of Pink Thai. Okay, I know that they take Thai dishes and make it their own style.  But in the end, if I just ate the food as just food, it was pretty good with impactful flavours and on point textures.

*All food, beverages and gratuities were complimentary*

The Good:
- On point textures
- Impactful flavours

The Bad:
- For the food snobs, yes, they do take some creative liberties
   

Qoo Cafe

Here we go with another ChineseBites adventure with Emily where we could order as many dishes as we could handle.  With that freedom, eating with Emily is just plain dangerous to one's health.  She would do the entire menu if no one stopped her!  That girl can flat-out eat!  How she stays thin is a complete mystery to me...  Maybe she drinks the same water Mijune does... Anyways, this time around, we we visited Qoo Cafe in the former location of Flo on Granville Street.

We ordered dishes in waves with the first few that included the Rosemary Lamb Chops and Chicken Nuggets.  I liked how the lamb was not over-marinated where it still retained its natural meat texture.  Too many times, Chinese restaurants marinate it like they do with their beef and it becomes a bouncy-textured mess.  This one was tender, natural tasting and succulent.  However, I would've liked to see more char.  As for the nuggets, they came is a strange shade of orange.  One bite and it was clear they dusted them with togarashi.  That meant there was a definite spiceiness to go with the saltiness.  The meat wasn't exactly juicy, but hardly dry either.  On the exterior, the batter was slightly thick, but nicely crunchy and easy on the grease.

Up next, we had the Stir-Fried Prawns with chili and garlic.  I found the prawns to be slightly overdone where the meat was a touch dry and chewy.  However, the shell was fried nicely as it could be eaten whole without any issue.  Hence, all of the wonderful flavours from the garlic,chilis and salt were apparent .  For our first large item, we tried the Chicken with Abalone Sauce.  The chicken meat itself was decently tender and moist for free-range.  Naturally, it was slightly chewy due to that fact.  It was seasoned enough to stand on its own without the sauce.  We felt there was too much sauce which was not really necessary as it didn't add anything to the dish.

We then moved onto some HK-Style cafe items including the Curry Lamb and Ox Tongue Spaghetti.  The curry was creamy and thick with the richness of coconut milk.  There was noticeable curry-like flavours going on (and I mean like Chinese-style), but there was not much spice involved.  The large chunks of lamb ranged from a bit chewy to completely tender.  The fried potatoes were soft and didn't disintegrate due to the cooking process.  Served in shreds, the ox tongue spaghetti was very mildly seasoned and in fact, with the significant amount of fresh tomatoes, it tasted more like tomato beef (another popular Chinese dish).  Other than that, the tongue was tender and the spaghetti was not overdone. I could've done without all the peppers as they dominated the flavour profile.

Of course when it comes to HK-Style cafe classics, one cannot do without the Baked Pork Chop Rice. It was no surprise that the tomato sauce was almost exactly the same as the spaghetti dish.  With that being said, there was more of it, so there was a subtle tang to go with the natural tomato taste.  I personally would've liked to see more ketchupiness to it.  As for the pork chop, it was meaty while tender.  I found the fried rice base to be chewy and just right for the amount of sauce.  We then had something more luxurious in the House Special Lobster with Rice Cake.  This was a bit surprising as the lobster itself was quite good.  It had a rebound texture and tasted naturally sweet and salty.  There was some spice thrown in from the wok toss as well.  Not sure about the rice cake as they were a bit greasy though.

Heading back to some carbs, we got the Stir-Fried Rice Noodle with Beef in Fine Shrimp Sauce.  Interesting sounding dish, yet at the same time, it looked and tasted very familiar.  There was a good amount of spiciness to the dish, but at the same time, we didn't get much shrimpiness nor any other distinguishing flavours.  We liked the tender slices of beef as well as the properly cooked noodles tough (albeit greasy).  We also got the Thai Style Grilled Chicken Rice, which arrived smoking hot from the wok fry.  As a result, there was a decent amount of caramelization and nuttiness.  However, for something that has Thai in the name, the rice was not all that flavourful.  We wished it had the same pop as the noodle dish except with more salt.

Our last 2 items consisted of their Mix & Match Specials.  The first plate included Charbroiled NY Steak and Chicken Steak with black pepper sauce.  Although thin, the steak was almost medium-rare (it was more medium).  It was sufficiently tender though.  The chicken steak (deboned leg) was juicy and succulent with crispy skin.  I found the black pepper sauce to be on the saltier side, but definitely peppery.  The next plate had a Pork Chop and Beef Short Ribs with mushroom sauce.  The pork chop was tenderized enough that it was not dried out as well as being flavourful.  It sported an attractive and crispy sear.  With a buttery chew, the short ribs were pretty good while also being marinated enough.  I found the mushroom sauce to be a bit too thick, but okay.  So after trying all these dishes, it was pretty clear that the portions are generous while the execution is pretty consistent.  On the other hand, flavours could've been more tight.

*All food and beverages excluding gratuities were complimentary*

The Good:

- Large portion sizes
- Proteins were more or less on point
- Okay pricing 

The Bad:
- Flavours could be more refined
- Menu could be more focused as it tries to cover too many bases