skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Sometimes, heading into Downtown Vancouver is not very practical. First, you have the traffic. Second, many of the parking spots have been eliminated by bike lanes and certain right turns as well. Third, it might actually be far away for some people. Therefore, if one wanted the Downtown experience, particularly a steakhouse, it generally means The Keg. But hold on there. We do have some other options including Chop in Richmond. Recently, I was invited to check out some of their most popular items.
We started with some appies including the marinated Steak Bites. Served on the side were dijon-BBQ dip and horseradish aioli. Caramelized and seared appealingly on the outside, the sirloin bites were tender with a nice meatiness. There was a noticeable pepperiness on the outside and a considerable amount of saltiness from the marinade. I found the horseradish aioli very necessary to bring down the salt content with a soothing creaminess and a slight tangy kick. Next, the Albacore Tuna Tataki was served on a bed of daikon radish, jalapeño peppers & edamame. It exhibited a fresh sheen that was confirmed by its sweet buttery texture. There was no absence of impact from the soy garlic lime vinaigrette as well as wasabi aioli and togarashi. The dish could've done without the peppers though as they were pretty overwhelming.
Served with crispy and airy crostinis, the Beef Carpaccio sported seared tenderloin, capers, arugula, lemon truffle aioli, extra virgin olive oil & shaved Grana Padano. I liked the bright colour of the beef as it looked fresh and vibrant. Sliced super thin, the tenderloin really did melt-in-my-mouth. I enjoyed the restraint used with the truffle as it was evident without being too strong. When eaten with the crispy crostinis, there was a mouth-satisfying textural contrast.
Onto the mains, we had the Slow Baked Salmon with butternut squash purée & arugla pesto and herb quinoa. The salmon was so soft, buttery and barely done that we mistakenly thought it was sous-vide. Texturally it was on point and I didn't mind the slightly pink interior. However, when fish is cooked so slow, caramelization on the exterior is often missing, which meant the flavours were pretty mild. Somewhat of a surprise, the Half Oven-Roasted Free Range Chicken was both attractive to look at and a delight to eat. I found the meat to be succulent (even the white meat) as well as being nicely seasoned. Furthermore, the skin was well-rendered and tasty on its own. The basil lemon pan jus added an extra shot of flavour and moisture to the already tender chicken.
As for the steaks, we were presented with a selection of sustainable 28-day aged beef. The New York Striploin was done a beautiful medium rare with an even and aggressive sear on the outside. This resulted in a slightly crispy exterior with a good deal of smokiness. The steak was well-seasoned and richly meaty in flavour. It was fairly tender with a few chewier parts. My favourite of the bunch was the Smoked Rib-Eye that delivered on the promise of smoky flavour as it really came through. The smoke was pretty strong, but that was fine for me since it was impactful. Furthermore, the steak was also done a perfect medium-rare where it was tender and juicy.
Lastly, we had the Bone-In Rib-Eye with garlic and shallot confit. This was a massive steak that was a little more rare than medium-rare. As such, the meat was pretty juicy while being a touch chewier. It tasted great with the aromatics provided by the confit though. From the items we tried, most were quite good. Naturally, being a tasting, they were probably on their A game, but as I've said before, chefs are only as good as they can be. Therefore, Chop remains in my mind a decent option for steak if you didn't want to head into Downtown Vancouver.
*All food, beverages and gratuities were complimentary*
The Good:
- Decor is consistent with Downtown steakhouses
- On point steak
- Non-steak items were good too
The Bad:
- Not unlike other steakhouses, it is not a cheap night out (but beef is expensive ATM)
- Meat was tender for sure, but could've been even softer IMO
Of all the places we were planning to eat at while in TO, there was one high on the list - Richmond Station. Co-owned by Top Chef winner Carl Heinrich, the place has great reviews and personal recommendations from friends. The actual deal-breaker was not actually on the aforementioned reason. Rather, it was that there were things on the menu our kids were interested in eating. Yes, when traveling with kiddies, tasting menus and the such are not very practical. "Dad! I don't want to eat this foie gras...".
We were able to secure a reservation and enjoyed a private car ride courtesy of our stay at the Park Hyatt all the way to the restaurant (so that is how the rich live...). To begin our meal, we went for one the kiddies would love in the Crispy Polenta Fries. These were a hit since the contrast in textures was on point. Super crunchy on the outside while soft and pillowy on the inside, these were well-seasoned and cheesy. The truffled aioli was not super pungent which was good as it didn't overwhelm. For the adults, we shared the Duck Liver Pate served on pretzel toast with apricot chutney and maldon. Smooth, airy and creamy, the pate was well-seasoned with a balanced amount of duckiness, sweetness and cognac. The maldon helped round out the flavours as well as the sweet chutney. The only thing I would've liked to see was a crispier toast.
For my main, I had the Pan-Seared Skate Wing which was prepared as well as one could hope for. It was buttery and soft while sporting a crispy exterior. It was also properly seasoned while complimented beautifully by the tart and creamy Hollandaise. Underneath, the aggressively crispy potatoes held up to the moisture while the squash rode the line between soft and firm. Completing the plate was a salsa featuring red onion which was just pungent enough without being too sharp. Viv also had fish in the featured dish being the Roasted Wild Spring Salmon. This was also expertly prepared with crispy skin while flaky and moist. It sat on a bed of sweet corn and bacon chowder graced with smaller pieces of crunchy potato. For me, I love the pop of fresh corn and the saltiness of the bacon. I would've liked to see the chowder even richer (but that is just me). The crunch from the potatoes was a nice textural contrast to the rest of the dish. On top, there was a celery salad and garlic scape.
For my son, it was all about the Stn. Burger with lettuce, beet chutney and aged cheddar on a milk bun accompanied by rosemary fries and dill pickle. Since they grind their meat to order, we were able to get it medium-rare (yes my kids were taught to not eat anything well-done). The result was an extremely juicy and meaty-tasting burger. We thought the soft milk bun was the right texture to stand up to the moisture while not being too dense. The sweetness of the beet chutney worked well with the pickled onions in our opinion. My daughter ended up with the Scallop Capellini with red pepper rouille, fennel, bacon, parmigiano, cherry tomato and pea shoot salad. Loved this pasta as it was fresh and sauced just enough with a tangy creaminess accented by salty fatty bacon and the crunch from the fennel. The cherry tomato provided pops of tartness and the large amount of buttery scallops made this a fulfilling dish. As you can ascertain, we enjoyed out meal at Richmond Station which was reasonably-priced to boot.
The Good:
- Solid eats
- Not skimpy on the portion size
- Attentive, yet relaxed service
The Bad:
- We liked the focused menu, but for some a little bit more variety might be preferred
- Food is not light, but we liked it
The good ol' Lonsdale Quay (pronounced "key" not "kway") has been a place we have visited on many occasions. It's got a killer view of Downtown Vancouver, even when it is raining (which is like half of the year at least). There are markets that sell produce and seafood and of course, places to eat. I'm pretty familiar with the food court, but there is so much more (including restaurants and now a brewery). I was contact recently to do a food tour of sorts to savour the fall flavours of the market.
Our first stop brought us to an ol' favourite of mine - The Soup Meister. Now, let me get this out of the way first... I do not believe this is the best soup I've ever had, but it is the best combination of quality, care, price and portion that I've come across in the GVRD. This time around, I chose the Italian Wedding Soup and unlike many of the versions out there, the meatballs were large and exhibited a natural meatiness while being lean. The soup itself was not overly salty and the veggies were not cooked to a mush.
Next up was the Green Leaf Brewing Company where we were served a flight consisting of Amber Lager, Lloyd's Lger, Pie Hole Pale Ale and Animal Farm IPA. For me personally, I enjoyed the first 2 lagers because they were clean and went down easy. These paired well with the sweet pizza and equally sweet salad. The other 2 were more hoppy and would've went better with something robust like fried chicken wings or a burger.
At the same time, we were served a slice of Turkey, Cranberry & Brie Pizza and Kale & Roasted Yam Salad from Bowen Island Pizza. I liked the crust as it was semi-thin, chewy and well-seasoned while not dense. The little pops of cranberry were welcomed. I found the salad a bit undressed, but that was a whole lot better than the reverse. I thought it was a pretty classic kale salad though. We headed over to Sharky's Chophouse next for a piece of sirloin steak and mash potatoes. Pretty solid medium-rare Sirloin Steak for myself being tender and well-rested. The mash was light and airy while nicely seasoned.
Strolling back towards the main entrance, we watched a demo at Olde World Confections on making Candied Almonds. We were served a batch made earlier (and allowed to cool) and these were crunchy from the candied exterior and the actual nut texture. Smoky and sweet, these were addictive. After that, we ended off with a glass of Reserve Riesling at Artisan Wine paired with a pear, blue cheese, and walnut cracker. Smooth and sweet, the riesling went well with the mild pear and sharpness of the blue cheese. This was the proverbial fitting end to a nice overview of the available eats at the Quay.
*All food and beverages were complimentary*
At first, we weren't planning on having any Dim Sum in TO. Think of it, we are from Vancouver where there is arguably the best Chinese (specifically Cantonese cuisine) in the world. However, I never want to be complacent, so I just had to head into Richmond Hill to try out one of the best in Dragon Boat Fusion. Love how the drivers here are so confused and terrible, just like in Richmond, B.C.. Also loved how the parking lot was a disaster with no parking spots available for the amount of customers. This led to people fighting for spaces and doing all kinds of dangerous maneuvers. Ah yes... #RichmondDrivers = #RichmondHillDrivers
After a 45-minute wait (at 1:00pm on a weekday), we finally snagged a table. Getting right down to the food, we had the Haw Gow complete with a whole head-on shrimp in their signature square steamer basket. Although a bit thick, the dumpling skin was okay being chewy with a slight rebound. I found the filling to be very good with a buttery snap and the essence of both shrimp and lobster. The Siu Mai were on point too with large bouncy shrimp mixed in with chunks of pork that were mostly exhibiting a rebound texture. The whole thing was spiked with dried scallop which added an aromatic brininess to an already well-seasoned dumpling.
For the kiddies, we got their obligatory Lo Mei Gai (sticky rice) which was dry on the outer portions, yet moist and glutinous in the middle. However, when mixed together, everything seemed okay especially with the generous amount of ground pork filling that featured dried scallop and a certain floral quality. Also for the kiddies, we got them their fave being the Donut Rice Noodle Roll. This was good as the donut stayed crunchy throughout while the rice noodle was soft and thin retaining a good elasticity. The large amount of bonito flakes on top made the entire dish more fishy than usual. Loved the warm bottle of sweeten soy provided on the side.
I didn't end up getting any tripe this time, but I did substitute it with Beef Tendon. So everything was offal in the world... (sorry, this was a very bad pun). This consisted of consistently large pieces of tendon which were generally soft, yet some pieces were a bit more firm. The dish was sweet with some savoury notes. A similar tasting dish was the Ox Tail which was also sweet and fatty. The large pieces of ox tail could've used more cooking time as they were not really that soft. Rather, the meat was on the chewier side while still gelatinous and fatty.
Also exhibiting the same flavour profile except with the addition of more garlic and black beans, the Phoenix Talons (chicken feet) were completely on point and delicious. Each claw was plump and buttery with attached skin. Underneath, the cartilage was soft, yet not melted. We thought the flavours were very appealing and impactful. Unfortunately, the Spring Rolls were terrible. Served cold and not crunchy at all, the textures did not work. In fact, the filling didn't either as the overwhelming amount of cilantro killed everything else inside.
Another so-so item was the Steamed Pork Spareribs on rice noodles. Nothing wrong with the noodles nor with the seasoning. We liked the pepperiness as well as the salty black bean because the rice noodles were the beneficiary of such flavours. However, the spareribs were completely over-tenderized where there was no meat texture left. The meat merely disintegrated with one chew. For dessert, we shared the Thousand Layer Cake which was excellent. Pillowy soft while still retaining a resistance, the cake was layered with duck yolk custard which was just sweet enough while being spiked with coconut. So how did this one Dim Sum meal compare to Vancity? I would say it was pretty comparable and the price point was reasonable as well.
The Good:
- Above average eats
- Reasonable-pricing
- Decent service
The Bad:
- Wait is rather long (good for them I suppose)
- Decent service, but still hard to flag someone down
Posts
Sometimes, heading into Downtown Vancouver is not very practical. First, you have the traffic. Second, many of the parking spots have been eliminated by bike lanes and certain right turns as well. Third, it might actually be far away for some people. Therefore, if one wanted the Downtown experience, particularly a steakhouse, it generally means The Keg. But hold on there. We do have some other options including Chop in Richmond. Recently, I was invited to check out some of their most popular items.
We started with some appies including the marinated Steak Bites. Served on the side were dijon-BBQ dip and horseradish aioli. Caramelized and seared appealingly on the outside, the sirloin bites were tender with a nice meatiness. There was a noticeable pepperiness on the outside and a considerable amount of saltiness from the marinade. I found the horseradish aioli very necessary to bring down the salt content with a soothing creaminess and a slight tangy kick. Next, the Albacore Tuna Tataki was served on a bed of daikon radish, jalapeño peppers & edamame. It exhibited a fresh sheen that was confirmed by its sweet buttery texture. There was no absence of impact from the soy garlic lime vinaigrette as well as wasabi aioli and togarashi. The dish could've done without the peppers though as they were pretty overwhelming.
Served with crispy and airy crostinis, the Beef Carpaccio sported seared tenderloin, capers, arugula, lemon truffle aioli, extra virgin olive oil & shaved Grana Padano. I liked the bright colour of the beef as it looked fresh and vibrant. Sliced super thin, the tenderloin really did melt-in-my-mouth. I enjoyed the restraint used with the truffle as it was evident without being too strong. When eaten with the crispy crostinis, there was a mouth-satisfying textural contrast.
Onto the mains, we had the Slow Baked Salmon with butternut squash purée & arugla pesto and herb quinoa. The salmon was so soft, buttery and barely done that we mistakenly thought it was sous-vide. Texturally it was on point and I didn't mind the slightly pink interior. However, when fish is cooked so slow, caramelization on the exterior is often missing, which meant the flavours were pretty mild. Somewhat of a surprise, the Half Oven-Roasted Free Range Chicken was both attractive to look at and a delight to eat. I found the meat to be succulent (even the white meat) as well as being nicely seasoned. Furthermore, the skin was well-rendered and tasty on its own. The basil lemon pan jus added an extra shot of flavour and moisture to the already tender chicken.
As for the steaks, we were presented with a selection of sustainable 28-day aged beef. The New York Striploin was done a beautiful medium rare with an even and aggressive sear on the outside. This resulted in a slightly crispy exterior with a good deal of smokiness. The steak was well-seasoned and richly meaty in flavour. It was fairly tender with a few chewier parts. My favourite of the bunch was the Smoked Rib-Eye that delivered on the promise of smoky flavour as it really came through. The smoke was pretty strong, but that was fine for me since it was impactful. Furthermore, the steak was also done a perfect medium-rare where it was tender and juicy.
Lastly, we had the Bone-In Rib-Eye with garlic and shallot confit. This was a massive steak that was a little more rare than medium-rare. As such, the meat was pretty juicy while being a touch chewier. It tasted great with the aromatics provided by the confit though. From the items we tried, most were quite good. Naturally, being a tasting, they were probably on their A game, but as I've said before, chefs are only as good as they can be. Therefore, Chop remains in my mind a decent option for steak if you didn't want to head into Downtown Vancouver.
