Waffle Gone Wild

I haven't seen Dr. No-Share in quite some time, but in reality, I see him every half-year because he is my dentist.  Beyond that, we used to eat out often since he was on my softball team.  But it has been years since we sat down and had a meal.  Over a year ago, he wanted me to try a place in Kits called Waffle Gone Wild.  However, we never got around to it.  In fact, it has since closed that location and moved into their new digs on Canada Way near Boundary.  Finally, we made it out for some brunch a few weeks ago.

Our plan of attack was to order one waffle from each of their categories starting with the Maple Bacon with cheddar cheese, mixed greens and balsamic vinegar.   Although advertised as bacon bits on the menu, what we actually found was crispy strips of lean bacon sandwiched in between 2 slices of cheddar inside a waffle sandwich.  The waffles were a bit lighter and less sweet than other liege waffles I've had, but they were still soft and aromatic with a pleasant chewiness.  This "sandwich" was pretty tasty.  

From savoury we went with sweet in the Apple Blossom with freshly cut apple slices, cinnamon and caramel sauce.  Again the waffles were light and mildly sweet where the caramel sauce did the heavy lifting in terms of the sugar content.  It wasn't aggressively sauced, so the whole thing still had some tang from the apples and impact from the cinnamon.  Lastly, we had the Strawberry Heaven Deluxe with dark chocolate sauce, coconut waffle, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.  From the picture, I was expecting a large serving, but it was ultimately as small as the apple blossom.  Despite this, it was still quite good with a balanced amount of ingredients.  Overall, from the 3 items we tried, Waffle Gone Wild provided a pleasant experience in a location where waffles aren't normally found.

The Good:
- Light, soft and not-too-sweet waffles
- Balanced amount of ingredients
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Portions are on the smaller side but sufficient

Beijiang Restaurant

At one point in time, the majority of Chinese restaurants in Vancouver over-represented Cantonese cuisine.  In the 70's and 80's, there was not only limited diversity in Chinese cuisine, there was a general lack of Chinese restaurants.  However, as we moved into the 90's and into the 21st century, we began to see more Shanghainese, Taiwanese and Szechuan joints.  Recently, there has been a run of Northern Chinese restaurants (could have something to do with increased immigration from Mainland China).  We were invited to try Beijiang Restaurant located in the former Dragon House.  They have been around since 2009, but at a different location.

We started off with their most popular and as it turned out, the strongest dish of the meal in the Dapanji Chicken.  Presented on a large platter, it consisted of Xinjiang style braised chicken and potatoes served with house-made noodles.  This was aromatic even before we dug into it.  The sauce was spicy with a balanced amount of savoury and sweet elements.  With a touch of numbing spice and hits of cumin, the chicken was full-flavoured with some natural sweetness.  Texturally, the meat was on the chewier side due to being free-range.  When we were half-done, they added house-made noodles to soak up the rest of the flavourful sauce.  I found them a bit soft, but still with some chewiness left.

Next, we were presented with the Hot & Spicy Basa Fish Soup that was very similar to the classic Szechuan Water-Boiled Fish.  This was chock full of big tender and buttery basa fillets which were bathed in a mildly spicy broth.  When a bite contained a Szechuan peppercorn, there was some appealing tongue-numbing spiciness.  However, by itself, the broth was rather mild, yet at the same time, the rest of the spices did come through.  Another on point item was the Lamb BBQ Skewers as they were completely coated in spices, in particular cumin.  The lamb was cooked just right where it was succulent and tender.  There was no absence of rich flavours, however, I would've liked to see a bit more charring.

Moving away from spicy, we had the Crispy Singing Rice served with a starch-thickened broth.  I really enjoyed the toasted rice as it was light and definitely crispy without any hard portions.  When doused with the sauce, the rice softened up without becoming a mush.  I found the sauce to be pretty mild but not bland.  All of the ingredients, including the veggies were cooked just enough retaining an appealing texture.  Presented on a sizzling cast iron plate, but lined with foil, we had the Stir-Fried Beef.  I would've personally liked the beef searing on the hot plate without the foil, but it was still tasty.  Each slice was large and buttery with a savoury and tangy sauce barely clinging on.

An interesting dish was the Stir-Fried Cumin Lamb and Naan.  It consisted of aromatic and crispy pieces of naan that were not heavy.  Rather they were somewhat airy and fried beautifully.  There was some impactful flavours from the plethora of cumin and spice.  There was a decent amount of fatty and tender thin slices of lamb.  On a similar note, we had the Stir-Fried Lamb Shoulder with fried buns.  The saucy and flavourful lamb was the beneficiary of sweet caramelized onions and peppers.  It was tasty stuffed within the crispy mantou, but they should've soaked up the oil as it became pretty greasy to eat.  Overall, I enjoyed my meal at Beijiang as the proteins were on point and well-seasoned.  Something different than that usual Cantonese spots especially on a cold day.

*All food was complimentary*

The Good:
- Impactful spices
- Something different
- Well-portioned

The Bad:
- A little pricey
- Could've been spicier (but can ask for that)
- Somewhat greasy

Yook Korean Grill BBQ & Bistro

In the opinion of many, the next big food trend in Vancouver is Korean cuisine.  Now, it doesn't mean there will be a run of new traditional Korean restaurants opening up all over the Lower Mainland.  Rather, we are seeing more Korean influences on local cuisine as well as an increase in modern Korean eateries.  My recent visit to Maru Korean Bistro is a perfect example of this where there are creative twists on traditional favourites served up in a modern and clean dining room.  Another new spot to hit the town is Yook BBQ on Nanaimo at Broadway.

I was recently invited to try the place out along with Amy, Grace and Maggi.  They have put quite the effort to transform the dingy dining space of the former Vietnamese restaurant to create a modern and inviting room.  We were started off with some Banchan in the form of kimchi, pickled daikon, stewed potatoes, Napa cabbage and salad.  Everything was pretty much as expected except for the kimchi as it was more sour than spicy.  The first item to arrive was the Seafood Tofu Soup with a bevy of well-prepared octopus and shrimp, silky tofu and a raw egg.  Texturally, the soup was on point with the aforementioned ingredients.  In terms of taste, there was an impactful spiciness from the pepeprs as well as the brininess from the seafood.  I would've liked to see more developed flavours from the soup base though.

The best dish of the meal was the BBQ Kalbi which was served in a slightly larger portion to accommodate all of us.  These were large and nicely caramelized with a certain smokiness accented by a rich sweetness and spice.  I found most of the pieces to be buttery and melt-in-my-mouth tender, yet there were a few chewier pieces.  However, it was by no fault of the restaurant as short ribs can often be different texturally depending on the piece.  Another soupy dish was the Rice Cake and Dumplings.  This was slightly sweet and pleasant tasting, yet it lacked depth.  The rice cakes were on point with an appealing chewiness while the dumplings were also quite good.  I found them meaty and dense with a thin dumpling skin.

Majestically plated like many of its counterparts, the Bossam consisted of the usual sliced boiled pork belly, kimchi radish and pickled daikon.  I would've preferred some napa cabbage to wrap the belly though.  As for the belly, it was sliced thick which made it more meaty in texture.  The fat was nicely gelatinized while the flavours were mild.  The radish could've been even spicier, but it was crunchy and did the job.  Our last dish was a take on Bibimbap  with spicy pork.  The chewy and sticky rice was texturally on point while the veggies were also quite good.  I found them to be on the greasier side though.  The pork was on the drier side and could've used more spice.  Overall, Yook BBQ has plenty of potential due to its location (no immediate competition nearby), food quality and modern dining space.  Since it just opened, some more refinement in terms of seasoning and flavours are needed.

*All food was complimentary*

The Good:
- Nice dining space
- Ample portion size
- As observed with other tables, service is responsive

The Bad:
- Soup bases could be more impactful

Matsuzushi

Generally, it is pretty easy to get a cheap Japanese meal in Vancity.  There are so many "value" spots that serve up big portions and oversized slices of sashimi, one could fill up for less than $10.00 each.  However, we all know this is not the optimum way to enjoy Japanese cuisine and in fact, it upsets many foodies.  For me, there is a time and place for this type of "Japanese food" and I won't be a food snob against it.  By the same token, I do enjoy the occasional authentic experience.  Now that is not as easy to find and even harder is a place that is reasonably-priced.

Well, there is such a place, but it resides in Port Moody.  Great for those in the tri-cities area, but a little out-of-the-way for those Downtown dwellers (I used to be one).  Suggested by Sharon, I visited the place with the $22.00 nigiri Omakase menu in mind.  $22.00?!?!?!  Yes, this is not typo. If you sit at the bar, you will be served piece-by-piece a la Maumi-style.  We sat at a table and received everything at once including mantis shrimp, hamachi, prawn, toro, salmon, ika, ebi, kanpachi, aji, abalone, oyster and negitoro cone. Without going into too much detail, the sushi rice was on point being chewy and mildly-seasoned.  Other than the mantis shrimp, all of the fish and seafood was sweet and appealingly textured including the buttery and bright hamachi.

For my daughter, she was content with an order of the Sockeye Salmon Sashimi.  With a few pieces on one side and a flower design on the other, this was no different than the one we had in our Omakase.  Hence, it was sweet and tender with a firm resistance when eaten.  Simple plate of food, but good due to the fish quality.  My son doesn't eat raw fish, but gladly downs Tamago Nigiri like a champ.  These were house made where it was soft and not dense (like the value premade versions found at non-authentic Japanese restaurants) while lightly sweet.  Combined with the chewy sushi rice, this was  good.

Of course he couldn't dine on tamago only, so we got him a Chicken Teriyaki Donburi.  Loved the simplicity of the dish as there wasn't senseless sprouts or other veggies.  Rather, it was plenty of tender chicken atop chewy rice.  The sauce was not overwhelmingly sweet nor salty where there just enough of it.  Only downside was the chicken skin as it was flabby and fatty.  This was the only thing we didn't like about our meal which means it was pretty solid.  Considering the reasonable pricing for the quality of food, this is a place where you can visit often without breaking the bank.

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing for the quality
- $22 Omakase!
- Friendly couple

The Bad:
- Slow everything because it is only them operating the place

Insadong

Wow, it sure has been awhile since we ate at Insadong. Despite its close proximity and generally reasonable prices, there were just other places to go.  Yes, one of the biggest obstacles is their renowned crappy service and equally frustrating parking lot.  I swear their service buttons are only for decoration... On the other hand, they do serve up decent eats in large portion sizes that continues to draw people in.  With that in mind, we ended up heading there since my daughter was craving Korean BBQ for her birthday meal.

We decided on the Combo Meal for 4-5 people which included the usual Banchan.  We liked that our favourites were all there including the stewed potato, bean sprouts, kimichi, pickled daikon and cucumber kimchi.  I thought the potato was pretty balanced, not being too sweet, but it was undercooked.  Too tart for our liking, the kimichi was only mildly spicy.  The combo also included a pickled daikon roll which was crunchy and tangy.  Topped with smoked salmon and little bits of seafood, the Seafood Salad was actually quite good. The greens were fresh and the dressing was bright, sweet and acidic.

Interestingly, our Tofu Soup arrived when we were well into our meal.  It was mild-tasting with big chunks of soft tofu. Onto the main event, we had a selection of Marinated Meats including both types of short ribs, beef, spicy pork, chicken, mussels and shrimp.  I found the meat quality to be quite good especially the short rib as it was nicely marbled and when cooked, was buttery and tender.  The spicy pork had a sweet kick while not being overly fatty.  However, I felt that the marinade for the rest of the meats was pretty aggressively where things were overly sweet.  No matter, all was good when a scoop of rice, bean paste, raw garlic and jalapeno was combined into a wrap with the romaine lettuce.

As if we didn't have enough meat already, we also ordered the Bossam.  Sometimes, I find that pork belly for this dish to be fatty rather than gelatinous.  This one was actually quite good being fairly lean, but there was enough gelatinized fat for a buttery texture.  The pork belly was mildly seasoned on its own, but naturally, with the addition of the fermented shrimp sauce and spicy radish, it was pretty tasty.  Back to the combo, an order of Bulgogi Japchae also included (but we had a choice between that and a pancake).  I thought it was a bit wet where the noodles became too soft.  It tasted good though being not too sweet and balanced in saltiness.  Suffice to say, we didn't finish all this food even though we had 4 of us and the 2 kids.  Generally, the food was above-average and as mentioned, the prices were reasonable.

The Good:
- Above-average eats
- Reasonably-priced
- Decent portion size

The Bad:
- Place needs a cleaning
- Service isn't terrible, but it is sparse
- Insufficient parking lot

Banh Mi Bar

Banh Mi and New Westminster don't really come to mind when we are looking for that addictively and inexpensive Vietnamese sandwich.  More often than not, we look towards Kingsway in Vancouver or to Banh Mi Saigon on Victoria Drive.  So after sharing some plates at Patsara Thai, Big D and I decided to take a stroll down Carnavon to check out Banh Mi Bar.  Yes, a store in New West dedicated to only Banh Mi!  Unlike Banh Mi Saigon, this place has a more modest menu.  So it was easy to get a feel for the place with my order of 3 sandwiches.

Naturally, I was going to get the Cold Cut (Dac Biet) with the usual cold cuts, pate, pickled daikon and carrots, cucumber, hot pepper and cilantro.  I found the bread itself to be fairly airy and crusty while toasted up nicely.  Inside, the amount of ingredients was generous as I got a little of everything in each bite.  The one thing I would've liked to see was maybe more punch in the form of extra butter mayo and fish sauce or Maggi.  The House Special was exactly the same as the cold cut except with the addition of meatball.  There wasn't a huge amount of it, mostly due to the fact the sandwich was already stuffed full of meat.  I did try a nugget of it separately and it was moist and mildly seasoned.  I opted to add some Sriracha, although it is not something I usually like in a Banh Mi, and it was a bit overwhelming.

For my last sandwich, I went for something a bit different in the Pork Patty that featured the classic sweet and savoury slice of fatty processed meat.  Indeed it was juicy and featured the requisite rebound texture.  It was on the sweeter side, but that was balanced off by the rest of the ingredients.  I actually enjoyed this sandwich the most as it had the most impact.  Overall, the sandwiches at Banh Mi Bar were pretty good, especially out in New West.  I personally would've liked to see more flavour, but that can easily be rectified.

The Good:
- Airy and crusty bread
- No shortage of ingredients
- Super nice owners

The Bad:
- Could use more impact (add more fish sauce or Maggi)
   

Tentatsu (Burnaby)

For some people, the proliferation of "value, non-authentic" Japanese restaurants is a complete negative.  As much as I love authentic, simple and properly prepared sushi, it is not truly a sustainable habit if one isn't made of money.  Therefore, when it comes to the everyday "on-a-whim" meal, these well-portioned and inexpensive Japanese restaurants remain popular with the majority of diners.  Food connoisseurs can cry foul and whine all they want about this phenomenon, but it will continue to exist much like the many chain restaurants we have in town.  One of these restaurants is Tentatsu, where we checked out their 2nd location in Burnaby.

A bit messily plated, the Assorted Tempura was actually on point.  Each piece of veggie including sweet potato, yam, broccoli, carrot, mushroom and zucchini were cooked properly and were graced with a thin layer of crispy batter.  There was very little greasiness to be found, even on the bottom of the plate.  As for the ebi, it was buttery with a light snap.  For $6.95, the Chicken Teri Don was massive.  However, there was a bit too much rice (this will be the trend for the meal) in relation to the chicken.  That is not to say there wasn't a lot of chicken because there was.  It was fairly tender and nicely lacquered with teriyaki sauce.  Underneath, the rice was a bit soft and there was not enough sauce to flavour the entire bowl.

Majestically plated on a mini-wooden boat, the Tentatsu Sashimi was large in size as a whole and pieces in general.  I'm personally not a huge fan of massive slices of sashimi as it detracts from the texture and really, it shouldn't be a 2 or even 3 bite exercise.  I can't deny the value here as there was more than enough Atlantic salmon, albacore tuna, snapper, hokkigai, ebi and oyster for $18.95.  Texturally, the fish was actually decent with the salmon being better than the tuna.  I found the ebi to be surprisingly sweet and buttery.  Remember what I said about the abundance of rice?  Well, that was completely evident with the Nigiri (Tamago, Unagi and Hotate) as this was the most I've ever seen for this type of sushi.  There was easily double the amount of a typical nigiri.  The rice was a bit soft too which made things texturally unappealing.

The same theme continued with the NYC Roll with spicy tuna topped with chopped scallop and bonito.  The layer of rice on the outside of the roll was thick and a bit mealy due to the moisture.  I found the spicy tuna to be quite nice actually, which lessened the blow of the rice as the flavour was impactful enough.  The buttery scallops on the outside were also surprising, but they were somewhat overwhelmed by the combination of sweet mayo and a honey mustard type dressing.  The most excessive use of rice was with the Aburi Salmon Oshi as there was 1/2 more than other versions.  Hence it ate dense and the salmon was overwhelmed.  It was decent though, but the sauce was a bit too mayo-tasting without any smokiness or char.  As you can see, the food at Tentatsu was average with some highlights.  Not surprising given the pricing and value-aspect.

The Good:
- Cheap, even more so than Sushi Town and Sushi Garden
- Large portions
- Nice dining space

The Bad:
- Everything was pretty average at best