Pepino's Spaghetti House

I'll be blunt here - I wasn't the biggest fan of Nick's Spaghetti House.  Sure, I realized that it was ol' skool Italian-American, so no one could expect stuff found at Ask for Luigi or Savio Volpe.  However, for me at least, it wasn't prepared particularly well nor did I find it a very good value.  To many of the loyal clientele, I was completely wrong and should be struck by lightning for saying such blasphemous things. Well, it is a moot point now as Nick's has been replaced by a snazzier spot in Pepino's Spaghetti House.  However, they pay homage to Nick's keeping that particular style of Italian food alive with their simple, yet focused menu.

Jacqueline and I hit the place up on a busy Friday night to see if their version of Italian-American food was any better (although she had already tried the place out on her own).  Normally, complimentary Bread is not particularly exciting, but I had to include this in the blog post due to the side of butter.  Okay, the bread was soft and fluffy, but the creamy butter ensured we got a second helping.  It was appealingly salty and we ended up slathering it liberally.  We did end up with an appie being the Calamari with garlic sauce.  Although this didn't look particularly sexy, the thick strips of squid were super tender while retaining a chew.  Lightly crispy, the thin layer of batter was nicely seasoned and none too greasy.  What brought everything together (other than the lemon) was the creamy and extremely garlicky dip.

Naturally, the one dish we just had to order was the Spaghettoni, Meat Balls & Gravy.  They really should rename it meatballs with a bit of spaghetti because that would be a more fitting description.  Look at it!  Those baseball-sized meatballs were meaty while not dense.  They were mildly seasoned where the heavy lifting was left up to the tangy and just-salty-enough sauce (or gravy as the menu puts it).  The pasta itself was perfectly al dente while also properly seasoned.  My only wish was for more spaghetti to go with the ridiculous amount of meat.  On that note, the House Lasagna was equally robust with more than enough tender meat stuffed between each layer of pasta.  This was finished off with tart tomato sauce and plenty of melted mozzarella cheese on top.  Again, this was a very generous serving that we couldn't finish.

The best dish of the meal by far was the Chicken Piccata.  It really wasn't complex, but the execution was flawless.  Juicy and succulent, the deboned chicken leg featured rendered skin that was also very well-seasoned.  On that note, every bite of chicken was a literal smack in the face of tangy lemon and capers with a delicious saltiness.  Underneath, the crispy potatoes were exactly as advertised taking equal billing as the chicken.  So this was only a small taste of Pepino's and it was impressive enough that I would totally go back.  That wasn't even in my mindset before dining there.  Consider my mind changed.

The Good:
- Careful execution
- Food is just plain tasty
- That butter

The Bad:
- Although portion sizes are definitely fair, the prices are on the higher side
- Room is retro and snazzy, but very tight

Ban Chok Dee (Maple Ridge)

Early on in this blog's existence, I had visited the Langley location of Ban Chok Dee way before all of the social media hype.  We came away satisfied and surprised that good Thai food could be found way out in the burbs.  In more recent times, Ban Chok Dee has increased its social media presence and participated in challenges.  I've been back quite a few times since then and in fact, have been a judge for a few of the challenges.  With yet another judging of the Wing Challenge presented by Vanfoodster, I decided to head out to their Maple Ridge location to see if: a) the food is still good and b) how does it compare to the original restaurant.

In terms of distance, it really didn't make a difference for me driving out from Burnaby, but the new location is pretty convenient right on Lougheed Hwy and just off the Golden Ears Bridge.  We didn't drive all the way out for wings, so we ended up having a full dinner.   Since they were expecting us for the Wing Challenge, they started us off with 2 amuse bouche.  Whimsically-plated, we had the Fried Prawns doubling as little birds in a nest.  These were meaty with a moist snap.  Underneath, one of them was sweet mayo while the other was a mix of galangal, ginger, lemongrass, lime, peanut, palm sugar, chilis and coconut.  This was spicy and sharp from the ginger.  Next, we had a Mango Salad with crisps, kaffir lime leaves, chilis, fish sauce, galangal, lemongrass and red onion.  It resulted in a sweet and aromatic combination that was also tangy.

Onto the reason we were here, we were served 2 orders of the Boneless Wings Stuffed with Tom Yum.  On the side, it was served with tamarind strawberry sauce and taro chips.  This was certainly an interesting creation where the initially, the strawberry sauce concerned me.  However, it was completely balanced off by the tamarind being tangy, sweet and lightly spicy.  The wings themselves were succulent with a shrimp tom yum centre.  There was definite spice and the essence of kaffir lime leaves.  I also found the pickled cauliflower a nice touch as it added more acidity (which I personally love).

Onto the regular menu, I ordered a dish I've had before at the Langley location - Cured Dry Pork Ribs.  For $12.00, this was a healthy portion of appealingly chewy ribs that were meaty with little cartilage and fat.  Being salt-cured, there was plenty of flavour to go with the caramelized smokiness.  On the menu, it suggests you have a tall cool one to go with this and I completely agree, this would make a great bar snack.  For our curry, we went with something different in the BBQ Duck Lychee Curry.  Pictures doesn't really do this dish justice as it was rather large.  Contained within a deep bowl, there was a creamy coconut curry that was sweet with the essence of lychee and also lightly spicy.  With every ingredient in one bite (a bit hard to do, but necessary), there was the pop of lychees combined with the roasted duck and the crunch of the bamboo shoots.  We needed to get another bowl of rice to take advantage of all of the sauce.

The next 2 dishes could be considered standards on any Thai restaurant menu (in Vancouver) - Chicken Cashew Nut and Pad Thai Goong.  Generously portioned, the stir fry of chicken, cashews, pepper and onions was sweet, caramelized and mildly spicy.  As evidenced in the picture, the peppers were still vibrant and crisp.  If you thought this was a big plate of food, the Pad Thai was even bigger.  We would've preferred that the rice noodles were more chewy, but it didn't make or break the dish.  Although there was a pronounced sweetness, an equal amount of tamarind tang and spice balanced everything out.  All of the usual ingredients were there including meaty prawns in this case.  This last dish pretty much exemplifies what BDC is about - great-tasting and well-portioned Thai food at a reasonable price.  Considering its location, there aren't many other places that can make that claim.

*All food excluding gratuities was complimentary*

The Good:
- Huge portions, which means good value
- Tasty food
- Modern and spacious

The Bad:
- Flavours were on the sweeter side, but then again, you can ask for more spicy
- Pad Thai noodles could've been chewier

Joe's Grill

For all the unique and fancy eats that are available in Vancity, we often forget about the basics.  Yes, lost amongst the poke bowls and Downtown brunch spots, there are little diners that dish up your typical greasy spoon breakfast.  One of the more well-known joints is Joe's Grill sporting 4 locations in Vancouver.  I frequented the West 4th location when it was still open where I could get a filling, well-made breakfast for pocket change.  So when we made our way to the Drive after Sunday morning hockey at Britannia, I was surprised to see a location right across the street.  Going down memory lane, we went basic with Joe's Grill.

Since the seating was at a premium, we waited a bit for a table.  We also waited awhile for our food too, but that was well worth it since they didn't merely slap things together.  Dr. Dre went for the Avocado and Tomato Benny served with house hash browns.  This was surprisingly composed dish where the effort put into making it really showed.  Softly toasted, the English muffin stood up to the creamy Hollandaise that was buttery and rich.  It could've used a touch more acidity though.  The ripe avocado added even more body to the dish while the bits of tomato cut the heaviness with some tang.  On the side, the hash browns were fantastic being crispy while soft in the middle.  They were beautifully caramelized and browned.  Kaiser Soze went for the 3 Pancakes with 2 sausages and strips of bacon.  He also added 2 eggs for good measure.  Boy, this was a lot of food where the pancakes were thin and fluffy while the rest of the items were prepared to his liking.

Milhouse went with the Corned Beef Hash that featured the same fantastic house made hash browns.  Hence, we knew it was going to be good.  Mixed in with the crispy, yet soft chunks of potato (with the skin on), the well-seared corned beef was aromatic and a bit crispy on the edges.  Combined with the peppers and onions, this was a solid hash that wasn't overly greasy.  His scrambled eggs were not bad as they were not overdone.  For myself, I went for lunch with the Reuben with fries.  The bread was extremely buttery which also meant it was super crunchy.  There was enough corned beef and sauerkraut for impact.  The accompanying house-cut fries were super crunchy while retaining some potato goodness inside. So judging by the pictures, you can clearly see that this wasn't some fancy breakfast.  However, it was well-made and well-priced.  Sometimes the basic is all that you need.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Overall well-made food
- Decent service

The Bad:
- Very few tables
- Food takes awhile to arrive

Kamei Royale

With all of the newer restaurants in town, we often forget about the long-standing ones.  Some of  you wonder why they are still in business and some, you may have not even bothered eating there since they are not plastered all over social media.  If I think way back to my youth, THE place to go get Japanese food was Kamei.  It was at the Broadway Plaza location that I first tried sashimi and I've never looked back.  It's now an Ebisu, but that is still part of the same restaurant group.  So when it came time to choose a nicer Japanese restaurant to take Viv's dad for Father's Day, we went ol' skool and made a rez at Kamei Royale in Downtown.

We kicked things off with the Deluxe Assorted Sashimi featuring beautiful slices of hamachi, sockeye salmon, albacore tuna, Atlantic salmon and tako as well as uni, ebi and hokkigai.  This was carefully prepared and consisted of supremely fresh items that you can clearly see in the picture.  Textures were on point and the natural sweetness really came through.  Nothing here was average.  They fried the prawn heads for us upon our request.  We also got a dozen Oysters to whet our appetite.  These Royal Miyagis were shucked properly without any shell fragments or damage to the oysters.  They were sweet and lightly briny with plenty of juices residing in the deep shell.

Onto more sashimi, we got the Unagi Sashimi Boat with albacore tuna, Atlantic salmon, hokkigai, California roll, dynamite roll, assorted tempura and a mini-unagi don.  Again, the sashimi was on point as the previous order we had.  As for the maki sushi, it was decent with chewy rice and carefully constructed rolls.  As for the don, it was a nice little treat of chewy sushi rice topped with buttery charred unagi.  It was sauced enough to flavour the rice.  Presented on a multi-level wood board, the Deluxe Sushi Platter included tuna, salmon, kanpachi, hamachi, ebi, hotate, ikura, uni, tamago and unagi.  On the bottom, there was a Mango Paradise Roll. Not trying to sound repetitive, but the nigiri were fresh with properly textured and seasoned rice.  As for the roll, it was carefully constructed and the mango was ripe.

I saved my commentary about the Tempura for our actual order of the dish.  Strangely, it arrived quite a bit after the boat.  Wouldn't they have fried it all together?  Anyways, it was crispy and light despite the visuals.  Interestingly, the pieces were rather large including the huge ebi.  It was buttery and had a light snap.  Okay, the fact that our orders of tempura (one in the boat) arrived so far apart was already strange.  How about our 2 orders of Gyoza...  Not only did they not arrive together, they were 20 minutes apart!  Huh?  Well, they were not worth waiting for though.  They looked sloppy and ate as such.  Although they were aggressively seared, the gyozas were not crispy and in fact, were very greasy.  Some were torn on top side (bottom side in the picture).

Onto some rolls, we had the Samurai Roll which was essentially a California Roll topped with unagi, black & red tobiko and unagi sauce.  Think of it as a variation of dragon roll.  Again, this was neatly presented and constructed.  The roll was tight, but overall, it wasn't dense. Loved that it wasn't oversauced, so the flavours weren't too sweet.  Since torched sushi is now a standard item these days, we decided to try their Salmon Oshizushi.  Their version included both Atlantic and sockeye salmon, ikura and a light mayo sauce.  Of course this wasn't as good as Miku's, but it was pretty respectable.  The sushi rice was on point while the salmon was fresh and noticeable (partly due to the absence of overpowering ingredients).

To add more carbs other than rice, we got the Nabeyaki Udon loaded with a bevy of ingredients including clams, mushrooms, spinach, carrots, fish cake, egg and ebi tempura.  We found the noodles to be appealingly chewy while the dashi broth to be fairly bland with only a touch of sweetness.  The Chawan Mushi didn't actually arrive last, we just decided to get a few orders at the end.  This was pretty on point with silky egg custard where there was very little water floating around.  Hidden inside, the large prawn was meaty and had a sweet crunch.  Flavours were subtle but there including the background taste of sake.  This a pleasant end to a surprisingly solid meal that wasn't as expensive as we envisioned.  Funny how we forget about places like this.  Maybe I should find some other good oldies too.

The Good:
- On point service
- Solid eats
- Carefully prepared food

The Bad:
- Prices are a touch higher, but it is Downtown and good quality
- Gyozas were terrible
- Dish expediting was strange (same items came out at different times)

Ho Yuen Kee

Ever since Old Buddies closed their location on Alexandra Road in Richmond, it meant that their famous wontons could only be found at their original sister restaurant, Ho Yuen Kee.  So what's the problem you may ask?  Well, the Fraser Street location is indeed more convenient for me and I don't have to fight with luxury SUVs either, but the whole reason I avoided the place was their equally famous service (or lack of).  Alas, I returned to the place recently with Nora, Lesley and Joyce and had some of their greatest hits.  A month later, I was back at it with my co-rec hockey team to celebrate the end of the season.  This post focuses mainly on the most recent dinner, but I included one dish from my first meal as well.

What else would we start with other than their legendary Wontons?  We got the large order and I swear, there were like 40+ of them (the picture shows the remainder after the first round).  They used to be a whole lot bigger (like 2 times the size), but I think they made that up with quantity.  No matter, they were still very good and did not disappoint.  Comprised mostly of shrimp and a bit of mousse, there was a firm rebound that had a great mouth feel.  In addition to the natural brininess, there was plenty of sesame oil and a touch of white pepper.  The broth itself was fragrant and flavourful, if not a touch salty.  The meal prior to this, we actually did something different and had the Fried Wontons.  With the same great filling, these were juicy and texturally-pleasing.  There was a firm crunch to the wrapper which was a great contrast.  It was served with a side of sweet and sour sauce.

Okay, remember that one dish from the first meal?  It was no other than their signature Lobster with Sticky Rice.  There are many other versions out there, but they were one of the first places to do it in Vancity.  This was solid as usual with chewy rice supplemented by sweet pops from the corn niblets.  Of course the rice was the beneficiary of the lobster juices and sauce.  The lobster itself was prepared just right being bouncy and sweet.  One of the more surprising dishes we ordered was the Shredded Chicken Salad with wonton crisps, julienned veggies, pickles and jellyfish.  I normally associate this dish with nearby Koon Bo, but this was a more-than-respectable version.  This was actually 2 orders (as you can't order only one) combined into one plate.  The textures were all there including the tender chicken, bouncy jellyfish and crisp veggies.  However, the amount of cilantro was a bit excessive as it dominated the flavour profile of the dish.

Since we were on their greatest hits, it was only natural that we got the 2 courses of Peking Duck as well (in fact, we did it for both meals).   The first course featured crispy skin where the fat was well-rendered.  With that being said, the layer of fat was not very significant to begin with, hence they had used the right type of duck for this application.  Since the fat was negligible, the layer of meat underneath was impactful and added more substance to the wrap.  About that wrapper, the crepe was medium-thick, yet not doughy.  It didn't dry out even when the last one sat out for most of the meal.  The second course was the Duck Lettuce Wrap which was well-portioned.  In fact, the chunks of duck were abnormally large.  Not sure if they were just lazy or they meant to make it that big.  Whatever the case, it made for a robust filling for the wrap.  It was subjected to enough wok heat where there was caramelization while the veggies stayed crisp and most importantly of all, there was minimal moisture.

Onto 2 staples of Cantonese meals where there are children in attendance.  Yep, we had the veritable Sweet & Sour Pork as well as the Peking Pork Chops.  Although the plate of sweet & sour pork was paler than Taylor Swift at the beach, it ate a whole look better looked.  Sure, some red food colouring would've made it more aesthetically-pleasing, but do you really want to eat all that dye?  With that being said, it could've used a bit more vinegar since it was mostly sweet.  As for the texture, it was aggressively fried, so some pieces were still slightly crispy while others had soaked up plenty of sauce.  For some reason, they decided to add enough food colouring to make the Peking pork chops a deep shade of red.  We liked how the pieces of pork were bite-size rather than the whole chop.  The pork was tender while retaining a meatiness where the sauce was both sweet and tangy.

As requested, I added some veggies to the mix including the classic Gai Lan with Beef.  Underneath the plethora of beef, the large stalks of gai lan were cooked just enough that they retained a fresh crunch.  There was no chewiness since the gai lan were not old or dried out.  As for the slices of beef, they were tender without being over-tenderized.  The dish itself was not overly oily comparatively while the moisture on the bottom of the plate was minimal.  In terms of seasoning, I found the dish to be flavourful without being over-the-top salty.  Continuing on with the veggies, we had the 3 Types of Seafood with Broccoli.  Once again, the veg was wok fried properly where it was fully cooked, yet still crisp.  Seasoning was similar to the previous dish where it was impactful without being salty.  All the seafood including the shrimp, squid and scallops were texturally on point.

As if this wasn't enough things in a shade of green, we also added the Stir-Fried Pea Shoots with garlic.  Although the portion size was modest, much like the other dishes, the execution was consistent.  It was just as good as the dish I had only a few weeks prior.  There was enough wok heat to caramelize the flavours and activate the aromatics from the garlic.  Hence, there was very little moisture left on the plate.  Each tender pea shoot was still lightly crunchy.  To balance all these veggies, we really had to get some protein and that we did in the form of a whole Crispy Chicken.  Clad in a beautiful golden hue, the crispy skin was well-rendered.  Underneath, the meat was tender, including the breast.  There was a light brine that added some saltiness to the meat as well as keeping it moist.

For the kiddies and also acting as our carbs (since we didn't order any rice), we got a duo of stir fried noodles.  The Stir-Fried Flat Rice Noodles with Beef was a fairly solid dish.  It was only moderate greasy (as this dish can often be oily since the noodles can stick to the wok otherwise) and was well-seasoned.  The noodles were not clumpy and still nicely chewy.  There was a good amount of tender beef, but equally, there was too many sprouts.  Our 2nd noodle was the Stir-Fried Yee Mein, which is typically found at the end of Chinese banquets.  This was another good version where the noodles were chewy and subjected to enough wok heat.  There was no moisture at the bottom of the plate which was another indication of proper wok temp.  One thing I would've liked to see was a bit more colour (dark soy) and a touch more saltiness.

For some strange reason, the last dish to arrive was the Fish & Tofu Hot Pot.  Despite the usual lettuce underneath to "prop" up the fish, there was actually quite a bit of fish as you can see (the lettuce is also there to prevent sticking and burning at the bottom).  The fish was buttery and flaky while the fried tofu was silky.  There was a good amount of salty garlickiness in the starch-thickened sauce for impact.  As you can imagine, the 2 meals I had at recently at Ho Yuen Kee were solid and consistent.  The portion sizes were adequate, but probably a bit smaller than other equivalent restaurants and the pricing is a tad more as well.  On the other hand, solid execution and consistency makes up for it.

The Good:
- Solid eats
- Signature items are really good
- Consistent

The Bad:
- Service is so-so
- A tad pricey for this class of restaurant
- Portion sizes are small, but not very large either

Oka-San Kitchen

Okay, this post on Oka-San has been nearly a year in the making.  We've actually dined here on 4 separate occasions.  Finally I decided to get down to writing the post!  The whole reason we've done so many return visits is due to the kiddies absolutely loving Spam Musubis.  Actually, I remember picking up one every morning while Viv and I were in Hawaii back in 2004.  A few Summers ago, the kiddies got their first taste of it in Hawaii and they've craved it ever since.  In addition to musubi, they serve other Hawaiian favourites with a Vancouver twist of course (like many other different cuisines).

Unlike our first visit, we decided to try their creamy srirracha Poke Bowl over the original.  For me, I think both are good, but if you wanted a kick, then the spicy one is the way to go.  Instead of the aromatic sesame oil, it was replaced by a mildly spicy creamy dressing that was just enough to coat each piece of buttery fish.  The rice was chewy and slightly dusted with togarashi.  Added into the mix was wakame, crispy seaweed, lettuce, avocado, crab meat, cucumber, tobiko, mac potato salad, red onion, radish and pickled ginger.  As such, this was one hearty bowl with varied textures and flavours.  Everything seemed to work well with each other but I thought there was a bit too much red onion as it was pretty pungent.  To be honest, there was too much stuff to make this a legit poke bowl (should be fish and onion only), but it works in Vancity.

We got other Hawaiian dish in the Loco Moco featuring a hand-made beef patty atop rice and smothered in a mushroom and onion gravy.  It was served with potato wedges and potato mac salad.  The large beef patty was meaty and lean with bits of sweet onion strewn throughout.  I thought it was nicely seared with caramelized flavours while the gravy on top was flavourful and rich.  Once again, there was far too many onions in my opinion as it tended to throw the flavours out-of-balance.  Maybe I'm being too picky, but I would've liked a classic mac salad on the side rather than it being mixed with potato.  Also on the table was Chicken Teriyaki with Ebi Mayo and Tuna Tataki.  Chicken was tender with only a touch of sweet sauce.  It definitely could've used more. 

My son went to his go-to dish - Spam Musubi.  Yep, the last time we were in Hawaii, he ate these like there was no tomorrow.  As simple as these can be (essentially sushi rice topped with seared Spam and held together by nori), this has to be one of the better versions in town.  In fact, there aren't many places that serve this period.  The rice was chewy with the right amount of moisture while the Spam was caramelized with a sweet tangy glaze.  They added a piece of fluffy tomago on top for good measure.  These were a lot more filling that one would expect.

Of course this wasn't the only thing he ate, so he went ahead and had his other favourite being the Unagi Don with a side of Tuna Tataki and Wakame Salad.  Again, the rice was on point with a chewy and not too wet texture where the buttery unagi helped flavour most of it.  We could've used one more piece though.  The tuna tataki was buttery and soft while seared just ever-so-slightly on the outside.  Loved the sweet, salty and tangy dressing that also had sesame oil.  My daughter wasn't in the mood for most things on the menu except the Masago Spaghetti.  Portion size was modest, but the execution was good with al dente pasta enveloped by a fairly creamy sauce that had a bright brininess from the masago.  Not sure of the onions though as it was a bit strong for the sauce.

Lastly, we tried their Butter Mochi Cake which was semi-sweet and aromatic.  Loved the crispy exterior textures giving way to the soft and slightly chewy interior.  So from all these visits, we can definitively say that the food at Oka-San is generally good.  Sure, some creative license has been used on the dishes here, but nothing is offensive.  Prices are on the higher side, but the quality makes up for up.  However, one of the biggest issues is the time it takes for the food to arrive.  Yes, in "Mother's" restaurant, it should take more time as she puts her love into making the food.  On the other hand, don't expect to get out of there with a quick meal.

The Good:
- Unique food as not many places serve Hawaiian cuisine in Vancity
- Food is generally carefully made
- Super-friendly people

The Bad:
- Pricey
- Food takes a long time to come out