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My first visit to Torafuku was not that long ago, sometime back in May. I came away from the experience with mixed feelings. On one side, I enjoyed the creativity and unapologetic boldness of the flavours. By the same token, the generous use of seasoning and sauces meant ingredients got lost in translation. With that fresh in my mind, I was curious to see the changes on the Fall menu as I was invited along with Nora, Grace and Jenn to try it out.
Other than the few veggie small plates, we sampled the whole menu including The World is Your Oyster featuring oyster motoyaki with shallot & ginger salsa, crispy tempura bits, bonito flakes and served in a jar filled with smoke. Naturally, there was a light smokiness to the buttery and briny oyster. There was some spice from the ginger salsa as well as some saltiness from the bonito. I would've liked to see a few less greens as it detracted from the tasty oyster. Addictively tasty, the segments of corn on the cob in the Miso Corny sported plump, sweet niblets that were doused in plenty of miso butter and spiced with togorashi. There was a certain smokiness from the char that help balance the sweetness.
From the sweetness of corn, we moved onto something much more savoury with the Get in my Belly. There was a lot going on inside the nori cone including the chewiness of the sushi rice, crunch from the cracklings, the light salty crunch from the pork floss and the fresh snap of the cucumber. To top it all off, there was the usual salty brininess from the furikake as well as the well-seasoned pork belly. This was on the saltier side, but I didn't mind that. Next, I tried the Calamari 2.0 which I had on my previous visit. This featured a gluten-free batter which was firmly crunchy while only slightly glutinous on the inside. The squid itself was a tender chewy texture that was on point. There was just the right amount of angry tiger sauce (similar to chili oil sauce) to provide some spice and saltiness. Rounding out the dish was the balancing sweetness of the corn niblets, saltiness of the squid ink sauce, buttery mushrooms and semi-sweet plums.
Continuing on the fried theme, we dug into the Quack Addict which were essentially duck spring rolls. Partnering up with the meaty duck, we found enoki mushrooms and carrots topped with crispy capers, scallions, chili oil and plum sauce. These were decently crispy despite sitting for awhile as we took pictures. The duck filling was meaty with the crunch of carrots. I thought the saltiness of the capers nicely accented the sweet plum sauce. There was a background spice provided by the chili oil. Unlike my initial visit, I found the Rye So Messy Wings to be on point. The aggressively crunchy batter revealed rendered skin and juicy meat. On the exterior, they didn't overdo it with the gochujang nor mango glaze, hence the wings stayed crunchy while not being overly sweet nor spicy.
Our last 2 small dishes consisted of 2 hand-helds in the Taco Time and Bun Me. For the taco, it contained pulled pork hock, miso, pickled onion, crispy shallots, nori and salsa verdé. I found the pork to be tender with a meaty chew. The flavours were varied with a certain herbaceousness combined with a lingering spice. However, the salt content was rather high and it somewhat obscured everything else. The Bun Me featured a slice of slow-roasted beef brisket with root beer BBQ sauce and marinated green cabbage. This was a bit difficult to eat as the brisket a bit chewy. Not that didn't mean it wasn't tender nor succulent though. There was some sweetness from the BBQ sauce as well as a crunch from cabbage.
Something that was remarkably different than the first time I had it was the Lucky Tiger Ramen. Instead of a tomato soup, we found the firmly chewy Korean-style ramen mixed with cucumbers, beansprouts and mustard infused radish with Yong Yong’s special watermelon sauce. For me, I enjoyed how it was far less saucy and wet than the previous version. Also, it was refreshing as a cold dish. There was an appealing aroma from the sesame oil as well as an equal amount of spice and sweetness. Add in the crunch from the veggies and silkiness from the egg, this dish was varied in textures and flavours. Onto the poke bowl aka Dr. Octopus & Mr. Tuna, we found octopus and albacore poke salad, pickled veggies, pine nuts, sesame, house made spicy sauce and torched miso mayo atop flavoured rice. This was pretty good featuring chewy rice topped with tender, albeit salty, tako and firm tuna. The star of the show were the sweet and salty pickles which brought the dish alive.
We then moved onto some larger pasta dishes including the one veggie item we ordered - Veggie Tales. As it turns out the combination of house made pappardelle pasta, wild kale, foraged mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, toasted hazelnuts, grated parm and yuzu butter was one of my favourites. Although it was a tad greasy, the chewy noodles were appealing and flavourful due to the Asian soy-based seasoning. There was a certain Earthiness to the dish accented by the tart pop of the tomatoes and crunch from the nuts. Probably the most anticipated dish of the night was the aptly named Unicorn with you guessed it uni and corn. The house-made fettuccine was al dente, yet even more greasy than the previous dish. However, that was mostly due to the ample amount of butter (within the veloute). In addition to the sweet uni, the extra pop of the corn was balanced off by the good amount of cheese. Rounding out the dish were tomatoes, clams and sorrel.
Tasting strangely like something I've had before, the Don't Be So Cheeky sported sake-marinated halibut cheeks with trumpet mushrooms, veggies, sour apple and cucumber nage. After a few bites, it occurred to me the sauce tasted like cold-pressed juice. This was a nice revelation as it was bright, clean and refreshing (with a hint of smoke) compared to the aggressively seasoned dishes so far. The cheeks were tender and springy where the sake marinade did not degrade the texture. Featuring a large bone, the Give A Dog A Bone was fairly large in size. The ample bone marrow was on point being buttery and Earthy while the slices of Luc Lac Beef were tender while retaining its natural texture. They were salty though with an equal amount of sweetness. Loved the crunchy potato noodles underneath.
Off to dessert, we were served a platter consisting of Count Chocula, Good Morning Vietnam and Last Samurai along with Sesame Street. These were not very sweet as the promised flavours on the menu came through. My favourite of the bunch was the Count Chocula since it had the most uniform taste with a nice bitterness from the chocolate accented by the tang and sweetness of the raspberries. The crunch the rice crispies didn't hurt either. Overall, this visit to Torafuku was better executed than the last time. Proteins were on point while any carbs were prepared properly too. I still think their overall seasoning is a little aggressive, but then again, the rest of the diners at the place didn't seem to mind.
*All food and beverages were complimentary*
The Good:
- Bold flavours
- Creative
- Ok pricing
The Bad:
- I found it a bit overseasoned
For those in-tune with the food scene in Vancouver, it comes as no surprise that the veritable buffet isn't really a thing here. Yes, do have buffets, but they are far and few in between. For the ones that do exist, one would have a better time visiting any random cafeteria. However, that doesn't mean there isn't a market for the all-you-can-grab mystery items. Case in point, The Buffet at the River Rock keeps drawing them in as exemplified by their constant lineups during dinner (in particular, the weekend seafood buffet). A ChineseBites even brought me back out there for the first time in 6 years.
Totally ignoring the salad bar, I attacked the cold seafood display consisting of Shrimp, Clams and Mussels first. These had to be some of the plumpest clams I've ever seen. Occupying the entire shell and then some, the buttery clams were on point being briny and sweet. The mussels were smaller, but still fine being cooked just right and also briny sweet. However, the shrimp were so-so as they were overdone and full of unappealing veins. On a related note, the Salad Bar was pretty bare despite its size. I guess they did this on purpose as there weren't many people visiting it anyways.
Next, I went for a pair of plates including a whole one dedicated to Snow Crab. I found these to be fairly decent with still-moist meat that was not incredibly salty. On the other hand, there was no mistaking the butter content as every bite exhibited a certain richness. I would've preferred dungeness but then again, that might raised the price exponentially. In the same section, we found Salmon, seafood polenta, some veggies and a pasta. Incredibly, the piece of salmon I had was buttery and flaky while Viv's was rather dry. Chalk it up to the typical buffet dilemma with fish as the longer it sits, the more cooked it gets. The most surprising item was the polenta as it was sweet, seafoody and delicious. Texturally, it was a bit runny.
One of the best items at the buffet hands-down was the Prime Rib. Cooked rare, one could get the ends to avoid the bloody centre. However, I was all about the rarer portions and it was perfect. The meat really did melt-in-my-mouth and it was well-seasoned as well. As you can tell in the picture, the prime rib was super fatty, which helped the cause. There was a wealth of condiments including the usual au jus and horseradish. In the same carving section, the roast chicken was a real surprise as it was succulent and well-seasoned.
The last time I visited the buffet, I remarked how unappealing the Chinese Food section was and it appeared nothing had changed. It was almost an afterthought where the only thing worth eating was the squid as it was buttery and bouncy with a nice chew. Otherwise, the sweet and sour fish featured doughy batter surrounding overcooked fish. I wasn't even sure what the brown saucy thing was on the right hand side. It said it was lamb, but it sure didn't taste like it.
For Dessert, no one could accuse them for a lack of variety. From popsicles to hard ice cream (from GFS, but still decent), there was also a section with many plated desserts. I thought the cheesecake was creamy and nicely flavoured, but the crust was overly buttery. The deconstructed lemon tart was interesting while the chocolate mousse could've used more sugar. Okay let's be serious here, I could go on and on regarding the faults about this buffet, but in reality, it IS a buffet. So expectations have to be realistic. The bottom line is that there is very little competition and choice when it comes to this type of buffet and there were some good items to be found mixed in with some things you can just choose to skip.
*Visit was complimentary*
The Good:
- Fairly large selection
- On point prime rib and roast chicken
- Lots of desserts including popsicles and hard ice cream
The Bad:
- Sub-par Chinese food
- Hit and miss seafood
So what is the first thing that comes to mind when we think of McArthurGlen? Okay, let's see... Airport, Richmond, Designer, Luxurious, High-End, Airplanes... How about food? Ever since it opened, there have been gradual additions in terms of restaurants and food choices including Caffe Artigiano, Neptune Wonton, The BiBo, Japadog, Hugo's Churros and Ryuu Japanese Kitchen (with 2 more in the works, Qoola being one of them). When phase 2 is completed, there are even more on the horizon.
For now, we were invited to try 4 of them as a means to exhibit the other side of the outlet mall. We started off at a familiar name in Japadog. Here we were presented with a tray consisting of 3 classics and 3 newer items. These included their most popular items being the Terimayo, Oroshi and Okonomi. There were also 3 I've never tried before in the Ebi Tempura, Love Meat and Avocado. For me, the Terimayo still rocked with the tasty combination of mayo, teriyaki sauce, onions and nori. We were also served their Shaked Fries in 4 flavours - Aonori, Butter & Shoyu, Ume, Katsuo and Shichimi & Garlic. I've had these before and they are relatively crispy considering that they are tossed in wet ingredients. I personally love the shichimi and garlic due to the spiciness and also the butter & shoyu.
From there, we walked next door to Ryuu Japanese Kitchen where we were served Takoyaki, Philly Roll and Dragon Roll. Surprisingly, my favourite item was the Takoyaki as it was warm and appealingly soft with a tender pieces of octopus. It was dressed just enough for flavour without being too saucy. I found the sushi rice for the rolls on the softer side, but it was hardly mushy. The rolls were carefully constructed where they appeared clean and stayed in one piece when picked up. I preferred the dragon roll since I've never been a fan of cream cheese in my sushi.
If we weren't a satisfied with some of the bites we'd had so far, our appetites were easily quenched at The BiBo. In addition to both Meat & Cheese Boards, we were served 2 different pastas including Gnocchi with a creamy sauce & Italian mushrooms as well as Ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach served with Italian datterini tomato sauce. I found both pastas to be on point where the gnocchi was tender with only a mild density. The ravioli was al dente and not over-stuffed where it maintained its texture with every bite. I preferred the tomato sauce more though as it was bright and flavourful.
Moving onto the Neapolitan-style pizzas, we were served 4 of them including the Margherita, Diavola, Montanara and Crudo. For me, the classic and simple Margherita did the trick for me. Its simplicity meant the crust stayed more dry where it was thin and chewy with a semi-charred exterior. I also enjoyed the Montanara with only a touch of truffle which was enhanced by the porcini cream. The Diavola was a bit salty due to the pepperoni, but the pizza stayed dry which meant the crust was not soggy.
Our last stop was at Hugo's Churros where we sampled the soon-to-be-released Hot Chocolate dip with churros. This was addictively tasty with a thick and rich chocolate dip that was purposefully sweet. It featured marshmallow fluff on top which made the mixture sweeter (otherwise, the chocolate alone had a nice bitterness). The crunchy churros went well with the silky hot chocolate. We also had the Gelato with churros and this was a pretty sweet concoction. I found the gelato to be richly creamy though.
The Ice Cream Sandwich with pistachio gelato was certainly an interesting dessert. Crunchy while holding up to the ice cream, the churro sandwich was pretty sweet. For me, I much prefer the classic churro all by itself. Hugo's certainly makes a really good one and it's too bad that I live far away from them (or is it a good thing?). These 3 treats were a fine way to end an introduction to what one can dine on while at McArthurGlen. As we were leaving, we could see more to come. Maybe I'll just have to come back for those and some churros...
*All food and beverages were complimentary*
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My first visit to Torafuku was not that long ago, sometime back in May. I came away from the experience with mixed feelings. On one side, I enjoyed the creativity and unapologetic boldness of the flavours. By the same token, the generous use of seasoning and sauces meant ingredients got lost in translation. With that fresh in my mind, I was curious to see the changes on the Fall menu as I was invited along with Nora, Grace and Jenn to try it out.
Other than the few veggie small plates, we sampled the whole menu including The World is Your Oyster featuring oyster motoyaki with shallot & ginger salsa, crispy tempura bits, bonito flakes and served in a jar filled with smoke. Naturally, there was a light smokiness to the buttery and briny oyster. There was some spice from the ginger salsa as well as some saltiness from the bonito. I would've liked to see a few less greens as it detracted from the tasty oyster. Addictively tasty, the segments of corn on the cob in the Miso Corny sported plump, sweet niblets that were doused in plenty of miso butter and spiced with togorashi. There was a certain smokiness from the char that help balance the sweetness.
From the sweetness of corn, we moved onto something much more savoury with the Get in my Belly. There was a lot going on inside the nori cone including the chewiness of the sushi rice, crunch from the cracklings, the light salty crunch from the pork floss and the fresh snap of the cucumber. To top it all off, there was the usual salty brininess from the furikake as well as the well-seasoned pork belly. This was on the saltier side, but I didn't mind that. Next, I tried the Calamari 2.0 which I had on my previous visit. This featured a gluten-free batter which was firmly crunchy while only slightly glutinous on the inside. The squid itself was a tender chewy texture that was on point. There was just the right amount of angry tiger sauce (similar to chili oil sauce) to provide some spice and saltiness. Rounding out the dish was the balancing sweetness of the corn niblets, saltiness of the squid ink sauce, buttery mushrooms and semi-sweet plums. 
Continuing on the fried theme, we dug into the Quack Addict which were essentially duck spring rolls. Partnering up with the meaty duck, we found enoki mushrooms and carrots topped with crispy capers, scallions, chili oil and plum sauce. These were decently crispy despite sitting for awhile as we took pictures. The duck filling was meaty with the crunch of carrots. I thought the saltiness of the capers nicely accented the sweet plum sauce. There was a background spice provided by the chili oil. Unlike my initial visit, I found the Rye So Messy Wings to be on point. The aggressively crunchy batter revealed rendered skin and juicy meat. On the exterior, they didn't overdo it with the gochujang nor mango glaze, hence the wings stayed crunchy while not being overly sweet nor spicy.
Our last 2 small dishes consisted of 2 hand-helds in the Taco Time and Bun Me. For the taco, it contained pulled pork hock, miso, pickled onion, crispy shallots, nori and salsa verdé. I found the pork to be tender with a meaty chew. The flavours were varied with a certain herbaceousness combined with a lingering spice. However, the salt content was rather high and it somewhat obscured everything else. The Bun Me featured a slice of slow-roasted beef brisket with root beer BBQ sauce and marinated green cabbage. This was a bit difficult to eat as the brisket a bit chewy. Not that didn't mean it wasn't tender nor succulent though. There was some sweetness from the BBQ sauce as well as a crunch from cabbage.
Something that was remarkably different than the first time I had it was the Lucky Tiger Ramen. Instead of a tomato soup, we found the firmly chewy Korean-style ramen mixed with cucumbers, beansprouts and mustard infused radish with Yong Yong’s special watermelon sauce. For me, I enjoyed how it was far less saucy and wet than the previous version. Also, it was refreshing as a cold dish. There was an appealing aroma from the sesame oil as well as an equal amount of spice and sweetness. Add in the crunch from the veggies and silkiness from the egg, this dish was varied in textures and flavours. Onto the poke bowl aka Dr. Octopus & Mr. Tuna, we found octopus and albacore poke salad, pickled veggies, pine nuts, sesame, house made spicy sauce and torched miso mayo atop flavoured rice. This was pretty good featuring chewy rice topped with tender, albeit salty, tako and firm tuna. The star of the show were the sweet and salty pickles which brought the dish alive.
We then moved onto some larger pasta dishes including the one veggie item we ordered - Veggie Tales. As it turns out the combination of house made pappardelle pasta, wild kale, foraged mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, toasted hazelnuts, grated parm and yuzu butter was one of my favourites. Although it was a tad greasy, the chewy noodles were appealing and flavourful due to the Asian soy-based seasoning. There was a certain Earthiness to the dish accented by the tart pop of the tomatoes and crunch from the nuts. Probably the most anticipated dish of the night was the aptly named Unicorn with you guessed it uni and corn. The house-made fettuccine was al dente, yet even more greasy than the previous dish. However, that was mostly due to the ample amount of butter (within the veloute). In addition to the sweet uni, the extra pop of the corn was balanced off by the good amount of cheese. Rounding out the dish were tomatoes, clams and sorrel.
Tasting strangely like something I've had before, the Don't Be So Cheeky sported sake-marinated halibut cheeks with trumpet mushrooms, veggies, sour apple and cucumber nage. After a few bites, it occurred to me the sauce tasted like cold-pressed juice. This was a nice revelation as it was bright, clean and refreshing (with a hint of smoke) compared to the aggressively seasoned dishes so far. The cheeks were tender and springy where the sake marinade did not degrade the texture. Featuring a large bone, the Give A Dog A Bone was fairly large in size. The ample bone marrow was on point being buttery and Earthy while the slices of Luc Lac Beef were tender while retaining its natural texture. They were salty though with an equal amount of sweetness. Loved the crunchy potato noodles underneath.
Off to dessert, we were served a platter consisting of Count Chocula, Good Morning Vietnam and Last Samurai along with Sesame Street. These were not very sweet as the promised flavours on the menu came through. My favourite of the bunch was the Count Chocula since it had the most uniform taste with a nice bitterness from the chocolate accented by the tang and sweetness of the raspberries. The crunch the rice crispies didn't hurt either. Overall, this visit to Torafuku was better executed than the last time. Proteins were on point while any carbs were prepared properly too. I still think their overall seasoning is a little aggressive, but then again, the rest of the diners at the place didn't seem to mind.
