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For those who get confused about which Richmond night market is which, things are much clearer in 2016. You see, the International Summer Market has rebranded into Panda Market. It features less vendors as before, but there is still no shortage of food stalls to be found. One of the positives of being a smaller operation, it is less crowded and parking is easier to find. Oh and there is no entrance fee either. We were treated to a ChineseBites event where we were able to sample a selection of treats from various vendors.
Along with Sean and Amy, we started off strong with the Fried Whole Squid doused in sweet chili sauce. This monstrosity was from the aptly named Sea Monster. It was tender with an appealing chewiness and coated with a super crispy batter. It was a tad greasy, but hey, it was deep-fried! As much as there seemed to be too much sauce, the whole thing remained crispy and not overdressed. Continuing on the same theme, we had a mixed plate of Fried Squid and Grilled Squid from BBQ Squid. The texture of the squid was much more chewy and "snappy" than the whole squid. That didn't mean it wasn't good, just different. I found the fried squid to be firmly crunchy while the sauteed squid had a nice spice and savouriness.
Along with the squid, we had Popcorn Chicken from TW Traditional Snacks which was nicely prepared. The deep fry was uniform where the exterior was crispy-to-crunchy. I liked how they removed the chicken skin, so that there wouldn't be any non-rendered fatty parts. The chicken was well-seasoned with a purposeful amount of saltiness while the meat itself was succulent and juicy. We also got the Takoyaki which were rather large in size. They were rather soft, including the outside, but not in a bad way. The texture was almost creamy in a thick way. It tasted good though.
With what was probably the highlight of the night, we were treated to 2 Skewers each of chicken and lamb (from Xin Jiang A Fan Ti Halal BBQ). We requested them to be spicy and they came as such. However, the heat level wasn't to the point where the other spices and flavours were obscured. In fact, the cumin was rather prevalent as well as the natural meat flavours. We found both meats to be tender and almost juicy while nicely charred on the outside. As for the Pork Okonomiyaki from Pie Pie, we found it rather thin and doughy. Hence, it really didn't have the classic texture we were looking for. Despite the presence of pork and cabbage, we didn't get much of those textures or flavours.
We got the first of 2 Hurricane Potatoes from J&J and it was pretty decent. Coated with starch, it ensured that there was a bit of crispiness to go with the tender and thinly sliced potato. We found it a touch greasy while adequately seasoned. Had to eat it hot though as it wasn't as good when it cooled down. One of the most popular and interesting treats at the market is the Chimney Pastry from Top Dough. I've had one of these before at Transylvannia Traditions and this one was not as good. With that being said, the outside was firmly crunchy and the caramelized sugar provided a sweet crunch. However, on the inside, the dough was a little underdone.
For some inexplicable reason, the Be Fabulous booth didn't allow for us to choose our item and gave us probably the least desirable thing they had on the menu in the Corn Cake. Well, it was to no one's surprise that it was one of the least memorable items we had. It was dense and lacking in flavour. The only thing going for it was the sweet pop from the corn niblets. Interestingly at the Shanghai Special booth, we got an order of the Pork Schnitzel (think Taiwanese deep-fried pork cutlet). That is truly international! It wasn't bad with a crispy breading that wasn't overly greasy. Inside, the pork was a touch dry, but ultimately tender and well-seasoned.
One of the more surprising items was the simplicity of the Fried French Toast from It's Toasty. Well, it didn't look like much with oil glistening from the surface. However, one bite and just past the lightly crispy exterior, the bread was super soft and fluffy. In between the 2 slices of bread was a mango jam that wasn't too sweet, but provided a nice kick of flavour. Onto a familiar dessert, we had the Mango Shaved Ice from Mangoholic. I wasn't a huge fan of the gritty ice, but the mango was solid, being ripe and sweet. The ice cream was pretty decent too as it was creamy and just sweet enough.
Despite the fact it is a franchise, the Warm Pretzel from Mr. Pretzel was money. It was soft and not overly heavy with an appealingly chewy texture. Loved that it was dipped into copious amounts of butter as it was tasty! Even though I was full by now, I still kept picking at it. We got the veritable Bubble Waffle from Ying Kee and it was okay. I liked the crispy exterior shell, but inside, it was too bready for my liking. Flavourwise, it was a little one note being rather sweet where the caramelized aroma from the cooking process was somewhat missing.
With our second Hurricane Potato, it came with a side of Taiyaki from Twist Potato Korean Waffles. Although the first potato was good, this one was even better since it was crispier and the selection of powdered flavours and also sauces made things more interesting. We went for half cheddar and half white cheddar. Some added garlic mayo the mix and it was apparently tasty, but I just didn't want to deal with the mess. As for the taiyaki, there wasn't anything necessarily amiss with it, but I much prefer the croissant version from Snowy Village. This was one was crispy, but lacking in flavour and overall texture.
One of the best sweet items we tried was the Cheese Tarts from Cheese Tarts (yes creative name...). We got one each of the regular and the lavender. I found the fillings in both to be creamy yet not overly heavy. There was definitely hits of cheese while not being too sweet. As much as I can't stand lavender anything, this was not too strong where the cheese flavour still came through. Another dessert was the Mini Donuts (with Reese's Pieces) from Mini Donuts (another creative name). Funny how we couldn't really taste the Reese's Pieces despite seeing them dusted on top. The donuts were still sweet while being soft and warm.
The most novel item of all was the Smoking Sundae from Sweet Lips. The dry ice contained in the double-cup surely added a flair to the drink, but only in visuals only. As for the drink itself, it wasn't offensive nor awesome. With that being said, it wasn't too sweet and pleasant enough. Worth a try if you want people to look at you. 2 more drinks came courtesy of Totoro Bubble Tea and Shake Shake. We got the Milk Tea with pearls and a Lychee Slush also with pearls (even though we asked for jelly). Since we asked for half-sweet, the milk tea was mild-tasting. There was not a very strong tea flavour though. On the other hand, the lychee slush was very sweet as we got full-sugar. It was also a bit icy.
One of the first drinks we got was a Lemonade from Happy Lemon. We were given the option of adding a flavour shot, but stuck with the original lemon. It wasn't overly sweet and had a nice tartness, but for some reason, there was a certain aftertaste. A familiar item was found at Cocoro in the Deep Fried Oreos (found also at the PNE). Of all things strange that are deep-fried, I actually don't mind these as the soft oreos work with the batter. Sure, they're sweet, yet a the same time, they resembled a soft crispy whoppie pie. Well, there you have it, we tried nearly everything a the Panda Market and came away with very full stomachs.
*All food and beverages were complimentary*
The Good:
- Smaller venue, less busy
- Easier time finding parking
- Not entrance fee
The Bad:
- Smaller venue also means less choice
- Less vendors in general
My love for In-N-Out Burger can often be misunderstood. You see, to some, it seems like that I love In-N-Out over any other burger I've had. That cannot be further from the truth. I've had much better burgers, but they usually cost more money. For me, you really compare things that were never meant to be compared in the first place. Now, that brings us to Caliburger. Okay, I know what you're going to say, "but they are a copycat chain!". Yes, they technically is true, my visit to the Seattle Caliburger taught me to think otherwise. I believe both are good in their own ways and are really not alike at all (despite all the references and similarities on the surface).
I was recently invited along with Sean, Sharon and Grace to sample the menu at their new location on Thurlow at Robson. As mentioned in my previous visit to the Seattle location, I found the burgers to be good with fresh meat and produce, but the whole thing was a little lacking in salt. But if one added bacon, it solved everything. So hence the Bacon Cheeseburger (not Calistyle). Well, even without the bacon, they seemed to have gotten the seasoning right here as there was enough saltiness to go around. My only wish is that the bun was a bit softer. As for the CaliDouble, we did get it Calistyle which adds cheese, grilled onions and Cali sauce (think spiced up Thousand Islands). To me, Calistyle is the way to go as there is more varied flavours from the sauce and grilled onions. Furthermore, the added moisture softens up the bun too.
We also tried their Cali Chicken Sandwich with both the chipotle BBQ sauce and the avocado mayo versions. For me I found the chicken to not be necessarily dry, but not succulent either. There was enough sauce and ingredients to make up for it though. My preference was the avocado mayo as it was milder. The BBQ sauce was sweet and spicy. The most shocking thing to come out of this tasting was the CaliBello Mushroom Burger - I loved this more than anything else I had! Being a meatatarian, this was totally blasphemous! The panko-coated portobello mushroom was a beautifful thing. Crunchy outside and tender on the inside, I didn't miss the meat with every bite I took. It was dressed in a Calinaise that had a hint of mustard. I would gladly order this again.
Of course we had beverages with their Milkshakes (flavours left-to-right: chocolate, vanilla and strawberry). These were definitely thick and not lacking in flavour albeit rather sweet and artificial tasting. They were fairly creamy with no ice crystals. Oh and I forgot to mention the Fries! For me, I like them crispy and these were close, however, personally I would ask for them to prepare it extra-crispy when ordering. Call me boring, but I like my fries plain instead of Calistyle. So from this tasting of the entire menu, my favourite was shockingly the CaliBello Mushroom Burger. On the other hand, the CaliDouble was not too far behind (Calistyle). Remember what I said about not comparing despite the similarities to IN-N-Out? You really can't because Caliburger is not In-N-Out, just look at the menu, it's different (and pricier too, mind you it's in Canadian dollars).
*All food and beverages were complimentary*
The Good:
- That CaliBello... I'm sold
- Solid burgers
- Add bacon, it's good
The Bad:
- Bun could be softer (although when served hot, it's okay)
- On the pricier side
I've been eagerly awaiting the grand opening of Fable Diner for quite some time since my experiences at Fable have been generally positive. Trevor Bird's second restaurant was to occupy the space left by the long-standing Reno's. I drove by several times to see nothing but ongoing renovations and actually forgot about the place up until I got a message from Ned Flanders. He tipped me off that it had opened on the Canada Day long weekend. Well what a perfect place to eat after our Monday night softball game!
We made it out before their temporary closing time of 10:00pm (hours will change shortly after they are up and completely running). Seeing how R2D2 shares the same ravenous appetite as I do, we decided to share some items starting with a Milkshake made from Birchwood ice cream. We actually got the vanilla, but the picture shows Jude's strawberry. This was actually quite good being creamy (a touch on the milky side) and easy on the sugar. As for our food, we started with the Ketchupless Cottage Pie consisting of ground beef, sour cream, mustard, green onion and cheddar. It sure didn't look like a lot of food for $15.00, but in the end, it was filling and tasty. R2D2 remarked that the whipped potato topping was creamy and fresh, where it didn't leak out any excess moisture. Underneath, the beef filling was tender with just enough silky sauce. It was very savoury and full-of-depth without being overly salty. The tang from the sour cream and sharpness of the cheddar were quite apparent.
We ended up choosing the FD Burger with 2 x 3oz patties, pickles, Fable sauce, iceberg lettuce and tomato over the Reno Burger (with only a single 3oz patty). One look at it and we were super confused how an extra 3oz patty, produce and a bit more fries warranted an $8.00 premium over the $7.00 Reno Burger (for a grand total of $15.00). With that being said, it was a pleasant burger that resembled a Double Caliburger except with a more mild sauce. Burger patties were well-seared and still moist. Fries were on point once again being crispy and hot. Seeing how an appie would cost almost as much as another main, we went for the Grilled Cheezus with onion jam, cheddar, Swiss and fontina. We added the braised beef cheek option to bring the sandwich price to $9.00 + $6.00 = $15.00. Yes, this was not a cheap sammie, but it worth it though. The sourdough was well-buttered and hence, super crunchy on both sides. In the middle, the onion jam was impactfully sweet while the beef cheek was melt-in-our-mouths tender and gelatinous. Even the braising juices were silky and super flavourful with a natural meatiness.
Bam Bam decided to go for 2 items beginning with a bowl of Tomato Soup with grilled sourdough and white cheddar. Creamy and only lightly tart, the tomato soup resembled a bisque. It was well-seasoned without feeling like they used a tonne of salt. However, what brought the whole thing together was the super-crunchy sourdough with a generous amount of melted sharp white cheddar. Dipped into the soup and there was a good mix of flavours that just worked in harmony. For his second item, he went for the FD Poutine with roast duck option ($8.00 + $6.00 = $14.00). Wow, this was on point with the same crunchy fries with pillowy soft potato in the middle topped with a grainy Dijon gravy, aged cheddar and roast duck. Full-of-depth, the gravy had layers of flavour including a light tanginess to go with a rich savouriness. Add in the sharp cheddar and the silky duck, there was not much to dislike about this dish.
Judes opted for the Pulled Pork Sandwich with coleslaw, BBQ sauce and a tempura onion ring. This was actually a pretty good value for $10.00 since Judes couldn't even finish it (well, R2D2 and I could've!). I was able to sample this as well and the pulled pork was moist and not dried out. I liked how it was sauced just enough that the whole thing wasn't a sloppy mess while still providing a sweet tang and moisture. As expected, the coleslaw added the necessary crunch, but the onion ring was a surprising ingredient where it provided an extra layer of crunchiness that was hot in temperature over the cold slaw. Boss Woman went off the board and had the All-Day Breakfast Plate sporting 2 sunny side eggs, thick sliced bacon, toast and smashed potatoes. The highlight of the plate was the fatty thick pieces of bacon that were sinfully rich and super tender. Potatoes were nice too being crispy while totally potatoey and soft in the middle.
Poor Bear had to wait for all of us to finish eating before he got his food due to an error (they took one of the items off the bill as a result). He also had the FD Poutine, but without the duck option and it was pretty much the same except lacking a bit of body due to the absence of meat. Fries were still on point while the gravy was maybe even more apparent since there wasn't any duck silkiness on top. Probably the best thing we had for the entire meal was his Loaded French Toast served with Nutella mousse, candied walnuts and banana slices. The thick cut of brioche was fluffy and well-soaked to create a rich, yet still relatively light texture. There was so much flavour going on with the butteriness of the bread, caramelization of the egg wash, sweet crunch of the walnuts, aromaticness of the banana and best of all, the lightly sweet and completely fluffy Nutella mousse. As you can probably guess, we were pretty happy with the food at Fable Diner. Flavours were developed while execution was generally spot on (pretty impressive for a brand new restaurant). Our only concern would be the price of the FD Burger as it didn't make any sense.
The Good:
- Impactful and developed flavours
- Pretty bang on execution
- On point service
The Bad:
- Portions were generally pretty modest
- Price of the FD Burger wasn't shocking per se, but didn't make sense in relation to the Reno Burger
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For those who get confused about which Richmond night market is which, things are much clearer in 2016. You see, the International Summer Market has rebranded into Panda Market. It features less vendors as before, but there is still no shortage of food stalls to be found. One of the positives of being a smaller operation, it is less crowded and parking is easier to find. Oh and there is no entrance fee either. We were treated to a ChineseBites event where we were able to sample a selection of treats from various vendors.
Along with Sean and Amy, we started off strong with the Fried Whole Squid doused in sweet chili sauce. This monstrosity was from the aptly named Sea Monster. It was tender with an appealing chewiness and coated with a super crispy batter. It was a tad greasy, but hey, it was deep-fried! As much as there seemed to be too much sauce, the whole thing remained crispy and not overdressed. Continuing on the same theme, we had a mixed plate of Fried Squid and Grilled Squid from BBQ Squid. The texture of the squid was much more chewy and "snappy" than the whole squid. That didn't mean it wasn't good, just different. I found the fried squid to be firmly crunchy while the sauteed squid had a nice spice and savouriness.
Along with the squid, we had Popcorn Chicken from TW Traditional Snacks which was nicely prepared. The deep fry was uniform where the exterior was crispy-to-crunchy. I liked how they removed the chicken skin, so that there wouldn't be any non-rendered fatty parts. The chicken was well-seasoned with a purposeful amount of saltiness while the meat itself was succulent and juicy. We also got the Takoyaki which were rather large in size. They were rather soft, including the outside, but not in a bad way. The texture was almost creamy in a thick way. It tasted good though.
With what was probably the highlight of the night, we were treated to 2 Skewers each of chicken and lamb (from Xin Jiang A Fan Ti Halal BBQ). We requested them to be spicy and they came as such. However, the heat level wasn't to the point where the other spices and flavours were obscured. In fact, the cumin was rather prevalent as well as the natural meat flavours. We found both meats to be tender and almost juicy while nicely charred on the outside. As for the Pork Okonomiyaki from Pie Pie, we found it rather thin and doughy. Hence, it really didn't have the classic texture we were looking for. Despite the presence of pork and cabbage, we didn't get much of those textures or flavours.
We got the first of 2 Hurricane Potatoes from J&J and it was pretty decent. Coated with starch, it ensured that there was a bit of crispiness to go with the tender and thinly sliced potato. We found it a touch greasy while adequately seasoned. Had to eat it hot though as it wasn't as good when it cooled down. One of the most popular and interesting treats at the market is the Chimney Pastry from Top Dough. I've had one of these before at Transylvannia Traditions and this one was not as good. With that being said, the outside was firmly crunchy and the caramelized sugar provided a sweet crunch. However, on the inside, the dough was a little underdone.
For some inexplicable reason, the Be Fabulous booth didn't allow for us to choose our item and gave us probably the least desirable thing they had on the menu in the Corn Cake. Well, it was to no one's surprise that it was one of the least memorable items we had. It was dense and lacking in flavour. The only thing going for it was the sweet pop from the corn niblets. Interestingly at the Shanghai Special booth, we got an order of the Pork Schnitzel (think Taiwanese deep-fried pork cutlet). That is truly international! It wasn't bad with a crispy breading that wasn't overly greasy. Inside, the pork was a touch dry, but ultimately tender and well-seasoned.
One of the more surprising items was the simplicity of the Fried French Toast from It's Toasty. Well, it didn't look like much with oil glistening from the surface. However, one bite and just past the lightly crispy exterior, the bread was super soft and fluffy. In between the 2 slices of bread was a mango jam that wasn't too sweet, but provided a nice kick of flavour. Onto a familiar dessert, we had the Mango Shaved Ice from Mangoholic. I wasn't a huge fan of the gritty ice, but the mango was solid, being ripe and sweet. The ice cream was pretty decent too as it was creamy and just sweet enough.
Despite the fact it is a franchise, the Warm Pretzel from Mr. Pretzel was money. It was soft and not overly heavy with an appealingly chewy texture. Loved that it was dipped into copious amounts of butter as it was tasty! Even though I was full by now, I still kept picking at it. We got the veritable Bubble Waffle from Ying Kee and it was okay. I liked the crispy exterior shell, but inside, it was too bready for my liking. Flavourwise, it was a little one note being rather sweet where the caramelized aroma from the cooking process was somewhat missing.
With our second Hurricane Potato, it came with a side of Taiyaki from Twist Potato Korean Waffles. Although the first potato was good, this one was even better since it was crispier and the selection of powdered flavours and also sauces made things more interesting. We went for half cheddar and half white cheddar. Some added garlic mayo the mix and it was apparently tasty, but I just didn't want to deal with the mess. As for the taiyaki, there wasn't anything necessarily amiss with it, but I much prefer the croissant version from Snowy Village. This was one was crispy, but lacking in flavour and overall texture.
One of the best sweet items we tried was the Cheese Tarts from Cheese Tarts (yes creative name...). We got one each of the regular and the lavender. I found the fillings in both to be creamy yet not overly heavy. There was definitely hits of cheese while not being too sweet. As much as I can't stand lavender anything, this was not too strong where the cheese flavour still came through. Another dessert was the Mini Donuts (with Reese's Pieces) from Mini Donuts (another creative name). Funny how we couldn't really taste the Reese's Pieces despite seeing them dusted on top. The donuts were still sweet while being soft and warm.
The most novel item of all was the Smoking Sundae from Sweet Lips. The dry ice contained in the double-cup surely added a flair to the drink, but only in visuals only. As for the drink itself, it wasn't offensive nor awesome. With that being said, it wasn't too sweet and pleasant enough. Worth a try if you want people to look at you. 2 more drinks came courtesy of Totoro Bubble Tea and Shake Shake. We got the Milk Tea with pearls and a Lychee Slush also with pearls (even though we asked for jelly). Since we asked for half-sweet, the milk tea was mild-tasting. There was not a very strong tea flavour though. On the other hand, the lychee slush was very sweet as we got full-sugar. It was also a bit icy.
One of the first drinks we got was a Lemonade from Happy Lemon. We were given the option of adding a flavour shot, but stuck with the original lemon. It wasn't overly sweet and had a nice tartness, but for some reason, there was a certain aftertaste. A familiar item was found at Cocoro in the Deep Fried Oreos (found also at the PNE). Of all things strange that are deep-fried, I actually don't mind these as the soft oreos work with the batter. Sure, they're sweet, yet a the same time, they resembled a soft crispy whoppie pie. Well, there you have it, we tried nearly everything a the Panda Market and came away with very full stomachs.
