Posts
Congrats to the winner!
Honjin Ramen
At one point in time, many of the new ramen shops in town were opening up in and around Robson Street. Yes, it still remains the highest concentration for those noodle shops, but things are slowly changing. We are finding more spots located outside of Downtown and in fact, outside of Vancouver in general. One of the newest to join the fray is Honjin Ramen located within restaurant row adjacent to Zone Bowling in Coquitlam. One look at their menu and other than being brand new in a spot not known for ramen, their prices are bucking the trend with most bowls under $10.00.
We decided to check it out for lunch one day since it was rather rainy and definitely seemed like a good time for soupy noodles. With only 4 main choices, we ordered them all with my son doing the classic Shio with bamboo shoots, half-egg, corn and nori. Clean and clear, the chicken broth was pretty light naturally accented by salt. The noodles were thin, yet al dente while the fatty chashu melted in his mouth. As evidenced in the picture, the ajitama egg was a fail as it was almost fully cooked. My daughter had her favourite being the Miso with all of the same ingredients including green onions (unlike my son who didn't want them). As expected, this broth was more robust with the addition of fermented soybeans. However, it was very "misoy" as the fermented saltiness was really apparent. For those who like it overpowering like that, then you will love it. 
For myself, I tried the Tan Tan Men which was probably the most flavourful of the bunch due to the addition of spice. The broth was creamy due to the fat and sesame paste. Unlike the Szechuan version, this was more of a soup than a sauce. Hence, the flavours were less concentrated. As like the other bowls of ramen, the noodles were perfectly al dente. Viv went for the one that nobody else ordered being the Shoyu Ramen. At first, we thought this was the miso ramen due to the cloudiness of the broth. Turned out that this was one actually as impactful as the miso. There was of course the saltiness of the shoyu mixed in with the meatiness of the broth. It ate a bit greasy, but on the other hand, there was depth due to that.
On the side, we had the Chicken Karaage which arrived as a modest portion. What it lacked in size, it made everything up with execution. Each nugget of dark meat was bursting with juiciness and adequate amount of seasoning. On the outside, it was crispy and not greasy. In the end, we agreed the ramen was decent for Coquitlam and was very well-priced. Portions were on the smaller side (hence, in line with the pricing), but enough for lesser appetites. A good option for a quick meal before a movie (like we did).The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Decent
- Good service
The Bad:
- Smallish portions
Haan Korean BBQ
We ended up getting 2 Short Plates and 1 Beef Rib. For the amount of meat that we got, I thought the pricing was fair. The meat quality was actually quite good with plenty of marbling. Since it was sliced thin, the beef cooked rather quickly, but it wasn't as tender as it we had hoped for. Ont the other hand, the beef short rib was buttery tender and since it took longer to cook, developed a smokier char. Served with our meals was the usual condiments of romaine lettuce and Banchan. Of those, we found pickled daikon, potato salad, bean sprouts, spicy pickled turnip and kimichi. Nothing particularly amiss about these as the kimchi was spicy and full-of-depth. I would've liked to see stewed potato though.
Not to be outdone, we also added the Gamjatang Hot Pot served on its own burner. This was quite good as it was loaded with meaty and tender pork bones. The broth itself had a good spice with legit perilla seeds. Hence there was good aromatics and depth as well. Hidden within, there was also some veg and tender nuggets of potato. To top it all off (if we didn't have enough food already), we added the Bossam. This was also well-executed with buttery and meaty slices of pork belly complete with spicy radish and a curiously small amount of cabbage. Overall, we found the food at Haan to be quite good and fairly priced. Of course Korean BBQ is never a cheap proposition, but this was okay comparatively.The Good:
- Fairly good eats
- Fair pricing
- Service was decent for us
The Bad:
- The regular beef was not as tender as it appeared
Rosa's Cucina Italiana
When it was suggested that we go dine at Rosa's out in Port Moody, I was rather indifferent. You see, my last visit (which was a long time ago) didn't elicit any strong feelings for a return engagement. Not that the food was terrible by any stretch of the imagination, it just wasn't memorable. Sure, the walls are littered with celebrities and yes, it has got the strange location and "hidden gem" written all-over-it. So why not, I can give the place another chance to prove why it is so popular where they often have a daily mini-Anton's lineup. 
We kicked things off with a large Caesar Salad that definitely lived up to its namesake. It sported fresh and crunchy romaine hearts that was moderately dressed. We could definitely taste the ample garlic as well as the Parmesan cheese. However, there wasn't enough anchovy and Worcestershire sauce for impact. Furthermore, the salad ate rather greasy (as you can see from the glistening picture). Another shared appie was the massive serving of 4 Meatballs. I thought these were good, but not great. The amount of bread in the mix created a mushy texture that wasn't meaty enough for our liking. However, not all was lost as the tangy tomato sauce did have impact.
We ended up sharing some pastas including the Spaghetti & Italian Sausage. Although the portion sizes at Rosa's doesn't compete with Anton's, it is still large in their own right. On the top, we found 2 large uncut Italian sausages. These were meaty and lightly spicy with the finish of fennel. As for the pasta, it was al dente and well-portioned. I thought the sauce was nicely zesty and tangy, yet the pool of water at the bottom of the plate lessened my enjoyment. I made sure we got the Spaghetti Vongole as it is probably my favourite pasta. This one featured a tonne of baby clams which ensured a certain brininess. We chose garlic and oil sauce and it was definitely garlicky. I thought it wasn't as greasy as it could've been which in turn made this one of the better pastas of the night in my opinion.
I wasn't a huge fan of the Homemade Gnocchi in cream sauce though. It was awesome that the gnocchi was house-made, but it was rather dense and heavy. With that being said, it wasn't terrible either, so let's not go to that extreme. I guess the fact it was bathed in a rich and extremely creamy sauce (also cheesy) didn't help the dense gnocchi. I think a tangy tomato sauce would've been a better match. Our last pasta was the Spaghetti Carbonara which was actually quite good. As with the other dishes, the pasta was al dente while enveloped in a creamy and cheesy egg sauce. There was enough bacon for a salty richness. Overall, the pastas were pretty much like the first time I had them - not bad, but not great either. What was particularly unsettling was another customer was being extremely rude to our table for taking pictures, but instead of calming the situation down, the staff did nothing. I understand that it creates a spectacle of sorts (and can be annoying to others), but no need to be rude about it (it was borderline harassment). That literally and figuratively left a bad taste in our mouths.The Good:
- Some pleasant dishes
- It's got that hidden gem personality to it
The Bad:
- Not really worth lining up
- Staff were not responsive to a rude and harassing customer
This Blog is 10 Years Old!
Isami Sushi
With the kids attacking the Salmon Sashimi shortly after I took a picture of it, Viv and I were only able to wrangle one piece from their ravenous appetites. Considering the price ($11.00) and quality, this was a pretty good value. For a non-value type of Japanese restaurant (ie. Sushi Town, Sushi Garden, Sushi California), the sashimi here was inexpensive, well-portioned and buttery. We were all giggling at the typo on the menu that read "shopped scallop cone" rather than Chopped Scallop Cone. My son actually wanted one, so we ordered it. As evidenced in the picture, they didn't skimp on the baby scallops as the thing was an almost perfect 50:50 ratio of rice and scallops. They were lightly dressed, buttery and sweet. He found the sushi rice to be on the softer side, but still chewy and mildly seasoned.
Trying to change it up a bit, I decided to try out their Unagi Battera. Neatly constructed, but a little loose, each piece fell apart as we picked them up. There is a fine line between being too densely packed and too loosely constructed, so in general, it was still fine. As such, the texture of the rice was softer and fluffier, but still with some chewiness. On top, there was an ample layer of buttery unagi that wasn't over-sauced. We weren't interested in getting any specialty rolls, but wanted something bigger than the traditional ones. Hence, the compromise was in the Special Maki consisting of tuna, salmon, salmon skin, cucumber, avocado and flying fish roll. This was 10 pieces large and stuffed with plenty of filling. I though the roll was pretty standard (besides being big) and ate quite well with the right textures.
Originally, I was going to give the Chicken Karaage a go, but it appeared we had enough food already. Fate would have it, Popper ordered it and offered me a piece! Exactly what I had on my mind... Beyond the crispy rendered skin, the meat was succulent and had a certain umaminess to it. We couldn't put our finger on that particular flavour, but it was appealing. For some reason, it was served with a salad (not that we were complaining though). Usually, my daughter can easily down an order of Gyoza all-by-herself in addition to eating other items. However, she only ate half of one this time around. For me, it sort of made sense as the filling was rather mushy. There was a pleasant hit of ginger though and the dumpling skin was delicate while seared quite well.
As always, we got the Assorted Tempura, but this was a bit different where they added 2 pieces of fish with the usual ebi and veggies. I found the batter to be pretty thin, especially on the veggies. So much so, you can actually see the veggie underneath as seen in the picture. Despite the minimal batter, everything was still crispy. Arriving on a cast iron plate, the Beef Yakisoba was not sizzling. Why serve it on such a plate if you don't do it right? Anyways, this was pretty average in my books. I found the noodles almost not cooked enough being not overly hot and somewhat too chewy. They were also pretty greasy which made for a not-so-appealing mouth feel. The dish ate dry as there wasn't enough moisture. Lastly, there was a lack of flavour which might've had something to do with the dry noodles as well.
Trying something different, we had the BBQ Mixed Seafood. Okay, if the picture looks more light a seafood motoyaki, then you are right. What they did was BBQ the seafood and then chopped it up and baked it with a creamy sauce. We weren't really fond of this either as the seafood was overdone and not smoky (despite the BBQ). Lastly, we had to add a Mini-Chirashi Don since my son was not satisfied with the amount of food we ordered. Well, this was a fabulous deal at $12.00. This was topped with plenty of sashimi which was fresh and visually appealing. It ate well too with chewy sushi rice underneath. So overall, our visit to Isami Sushi yielded generally decent food at very reasonable prices. Not sure about the cleaniness of the place though, they might want to look into that.The Good:
- More than acceptable food
- Reasonable prices
- Fairly good service
The Bad:
- May need to keep an eye on the cleaniness
Ryan's Chinese Restaurant
If one was looking at the front of Ryan's Chinese Restaurant, it would be very confusing to see Wah Lun Chinese Restaurant staring back at them. Yes, that is the old name of the place and in fact, they have gotten rid of the big sign that is adjacent to their parking lot. Maybe they just haven't had time to change it perhaps? Well, it has been almost a year since I've been noticing "Ryan's" atop the receipts, so I'm not sure why they keep the old signage. Whatever the case, we've been stopping by the place after swimming at nearby Eileen Dailly for the past year. Finally, I decided to suggest it to the guys after Sunday Morning hockey.
A testament to the good-sized portions, we didn't finish all that we ordered. It probably had to with the amount of carbs as well including the Lo Mei Gai (Sticky Rice in lotus leaves). These were so large that they barely fit into the steamer. In addition, the layer of lotus leaves was rather thin, meaning that there was a considerable amount of soft sticky rice. There was a good ratio of ground pork and shiitake mushrooms as well as the requisite cured sausage. I thought there was just enough balanced seasoning. Continuing with the carbs, we had the XO Stir-Fried Daikon Pudding Cake. This was on point with medium-sized cubes of semi-soft daikon cake that was appealingly crispy on the outside. They were well-seasoned on their own with cured sausage and dried shrimp, but the light toss of XO sauce added a spicy brininess. We found the dish to be not very greasy and the bean sprouts were perfect, being cooked but still crunchy.
Yep, the carb fest continued with both the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll and the Beef Rice Noodle Roll. Although the shrimp noodle roll was haphazardly constructed, it featured the same good qualities as the beef noodle roll. Soft and almost buttery, the rice noodle retained an elasticity. Inside, the filling featured smaller shrimp, but they were texturally fine having a light rebound while completely seasoned. On the firmer side, the beef was still soft with a bounce and had just enough greens. Staying with the rice theme, we carbed-up even more ordering the Chicken & Sausage Hot Pot Rice. Although the amount of tender chicken was adequate, they could've added a few more pieces. I found the rice to be fairly wet underneath the chicken, but decently chewy and dry everywhere else. This was only an okay dish compared to the rest.
Finally onto some dumplings, we had the Ha Gau (Shrimp Dumplings) and Siu Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumplings). Sporting a medium-thick dumpling skin, the impressively large ha gau were relatively good. The skin featured a certain level of elasticity, yet at the same time, it was a tad oversteamed. Inside, the shrimp filling was buttery, moist and subsequently loose. There was a subtle snap texture, but overall, it was on the softer side. It was mildly seasoned where I could taste the natural essence of the shrimp that was complimented by sesame oil. We weren't as enthused about the siu mai as the chunks of pork were too meaty where it lacked the classic bounce texture. There was plenty of shrimp though and that provided some of the rebound missing from the pork. It did taste good with a sweetness balanced by equal saltiness.
Being on the firmer side, the Beef Meatballs were rather robust in texture. It did exhibit the classic bounce, yet at the same time, it was too dense. We would've preferred there to be more starch and baking soda to lighten up the meat where it would be more buttery and airy. With that being said, it was still fine with only a bit of cilantro while the seasoning was just enough (that doesn't usually matter since it is served with a side of Worcestershire sauce). Continuing on the theme of large portions, the Deep Fried Taro Dumplings were massive. The main reason for this was the thick layer of soft mashed taro. On the other hand, there was an equal amount of moist ground pork filling that was described as being in a Portuguese sauce, but really, it was more curry (needed more coconut milk). Whatever the case, it was good with a crispy exterior which was only mildly greasy.
Although the Steamed Spareribs with Crystal Noodles appeared to be another carb-heavy item, it really wasn't. Made from mung beans, the noodles are actually pretty low in carbs, but that didn't prevent them from being filling though. The noodles were perfectly chewy and not oversteamed. As for the spareribs, they were a bit overtenderized where there was no longer any meatiness nor rebound texture. We could've used more soy or more residual juices from the spareribs as the dish ate bland. Our last savoury item was the Shrimp with Garlic Spring Rolls. These were very good being served hot and crunchy. They were easy on the grease while the filling was full of buttery shrimp that had a moist snap. The garlic really came through as well as the ample amount of seasoning. I appreciate the side of sweet & sour sauce as I believe it goes way better than Worcestershire when it is mainly shrimp rather than pork.
Off to some offal, I had to get my usual favourite being the Steamed Beef Tripe (Honeycomb type). This featured uniformly-sized slices of tripe which were fairly well-rinsed. Hence, it wasn't overly gamy, but did retain some "flavour". The seasoning was pretty spot on giving hits of spice, sweetness and saltiness. Texturally, the tripe was buttery tender with a light chewiness. With a similar flavour profile, the Phoenix Talons (Steamed Chicken Feet) were good as well. Kept as a whole rather than being cut up into 2, the chicken feet sported an appealing hue. The skin was soft with a chew while underneath, the cartilage and fat was plump and cooked down (but not melted). These were pretty textbook. 
We don't usually go for the Deep Fried Squid, but decided to for some reason. It was a good choice though as each piece was on point. The desired texture was achieved being slightly chewy, somewhat meaty and tender throughout. Lightly battered, the squid was crispy on the outside. Everything was complete with a wok-toss of garlic, peppers and salt. I particularly enjoyed how this dish was not greasy despite the cooking process. Something that was rather "meh" was the Seafood Yee Mein Hot Pot. It was as if they merely tossed the par-boiled noodles with a bit of seafood and veggies and dumped into a hot pot. It wasn't sizzling nor were the noodles tender. Rather, they were dry and chewy as well as being extremely bland.
For dessert, we had the Sweet Salted Egg Yolk Buns. As you can see in the picture, the custard inside was pretty watery. Hence, we couldn't really do a good picture without it splattering all over the place. it did taste good with a muted sweetness and the umaminess of salted egg yolk. The bun itself was fairly light and fluffy other than the chewy exterior. In the end, Ryan's Restaurant satisfied what a Dim Sum meal should be about. It wasn't outstanding, but given its location, there is not much to complain about when it comes to the food. Solid neighbourhood spot.The Good:
- More than acceptable Dim Sum
- Well-portioned
- Decent amount of choice for a small place
The Bad:
- A little pricey this class of restaurant
- Needs renos
- Service can be spotty
