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Back in 2012, our family went on a cruise aboard Holland American's Oosterdam sailing from Seattle to Alaska. It was our second time doing that itinerary and according to Viv, "2 times too many!". Yah, she is more of the active traveler and seeing trees, ice and wildlife is akin to looking out our backyard in Winter. Despite her poor attitude towards the trip, we still had a good time and ended up meeting 2 new friends from Seattle, Scout and Lola (not their real names... LOL). We killed it onboard slaughtering the competition in every trivia session. Ah yes, Viv was having a jolly ol' time... So almost every visit to Seattle, we meet up with them. This time around, it was at their suggestion - Marination Ma Kai in West Seattle.
Other than the spectacular view and outdoor dining space, Marination also boasts an array of Hawaiian eats. Before we got to that, we ended up with something more typical of spot right near the water - Fish n' Chips with miso tartar sauce. Panko-crusted, the fresh fish was flaky and moist. Although the coating appeared to be thick, it was actually light and crunchy. On the side, the house cut fries were on point being crispy with plenty of tender potato goodness inside. Impressively gigantic, the Pork Katsu Sandwich sported slaw, red onion, mayo and house-made tonkatsu sauce on a ciabatta bun. Crunchy and meaty, the pork cutlet was thick and tender. The mix of tangy slaw, creamy mayo and sweet tonkatsu sauce provided layers of flavour. The robust bun kept everything together.
Of course we had to get the Spam Musubi because if we didn't the kids would have a hairy cow. Not that they wouldn't eat a hairy cow that is... So for good measure, we also got the Portuguese Sausage Musubi as well. I personally enjoyed the regular Spam Musubi since it was familiar and the texture was complimentary to the chewy sushi rice. Not that the sausage wasn't good, it was meaty and nicely spiced, but the robust nature of the meat made the musubi heavier than usual. Underneath the good amount of kalbi beef and sunny side egg was Kimchi Fried Rice. This was further finished off with green onion and furikake. Adding the meat component on top of the rice made this a hearty dish where the chewy and well-seasoned rice was spicy and tangy.
Trying to cover most of the menu, we also got both the Kalua Pork and Spam Sliders complimented by slaw and nunya sauce (mayo, gochujang, garlic and green onion) served on a soft Hawaiian-style roll. Once again, my preference was with the spam as it was one solid piece of meat that was familiar with its buttery soft texture. The saltiness really helped balance the slaw. Again, it wasn't as if the kalua didn't taste good. In fact, the tender pork was really yummy and it ate like a pulled pork sandwich, just without BBQ sauce. Lola also got the sliders, but added a Kalbi Beef Taco on the side as well. It was served on a corn tortilla and topped with slaw, pickled jalapenos, sesame seeds and nunya sauce. It sported the same well-seasoned beef from the rice we had as well as the same slaw and sauce from the sliders. Tasty little bite.
We ended things off with Hawaiian Shaved Ice in a mix of Mango and Lychee. This was not as sweet as it appeared, but flavourful enough that we could discern what it was. Nice and refreshing and while it ain't as fluffy as Korean bingsoo, it was good in its own right. Reminded us of grabbing shaved ice in Lahaina. That would probably be the best description of the place. A taste of Hawaii right by the water that emulates the island experience. With reasonable prices and a killer view, there is not much to dislike about the place.
The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Large portions
- Taste of Hawaii
The Bad:
- Limited parking
- Can get pretty busy and you will be without a seat
We all know the poke craze that has hit Vancouver in the last few years, but other than a few outliers, most have been "salad-type" poke operations. No, we haven't been blessed with many places that serve up authentic poke (which is basically fish, onion and soy-based dressing) without all the random ingredients. However, in an about-face, we find the "Godfather" of poke, Sam Choy, amping up poke and other Hawaiian treats at Sam Choy's Poke to the Max in Seattle. Seeing that piqued our interest and made it our first stop for food.
About that poke, we went for the Mo' Betta Shoyu featuring salmon, shoyu, sesame oil, unagi sauce and wasabi aioli. This was accompanied by 2 scoops of rice, ginger, pickled veg and wakame salad. It was pretty much straight up poke except for the 2 sauces. Honestly, we could've done without them as they not only made the whole thing too heavy, it also muddled up the flavours. We didn't even know what we were eating due to the strong unagi sauce. Beyond that, the salmon was excellent as well as the condiments. Following the same theme, the Reconstructed Musubi was a complete mess in our opinion. Splatted obscenely by the same 2 sauces, it totally took away the enjoyment form the seared Spam, egg frittata and chewy sushi rice. It was unnecessarily messy and once again muddled.
On the flip side, the Big Kahuna Kulua Sandwich was a hit. The pork was plentiful and tender. Unlike some other versions I've had in the past, the meat was moist and not overly fatty either. In addition to the Hawaiian sweet bun, there was coleslaw, namasu, cilantro and aioli. These added a bright crunch as well as sweetness and tang. On the side, the furikake fries were pretty damn tasty. They were lightly crispy and somewhat greasy, but the taste of the nori added appealing umami. Lastly, we had the Garlic Moco (instead of the Loco Moco) featuring garlic fried chicken, garlic sauce, grilled onions and a sunny side egg. This was also tasty with impactfully flavoured crispy chicken. That alone was worth the price of admission. We were so-so with the mac salad as it the pasta was too soft. At the end, we were torn as to whether we enjoyed our meal or not. If I had to choose one or the other, it was more of a miss than hit for us.
The Good:
- Plenty creative
- Loved that fried chicken
- Kalua sammie and fries were on point
The Bad:
- Too many sauces on the poke and musubi
- Why can't they keep things more simple?
Congrats to Vivian Truong for winning the $100 GC!!! Please DM me at admin@shermansfoodadventures.com with you mailing address and choice of restaurant. I will send that to you ASAP. Happy eating!
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
For all of the Korean restaurants located in the GVRD, there is a surprising lack of good options for Korean BBQ. Yes, I'm sure we can name quite a few, but compared to places like L.A. and NYC, there aren't many great ones to be found. Of course it could be partly due to the smaller Korean population, but it isn't as if Korean food is a mystery here. In fact, I find it quite popular and somewhat of an "it" thing for the past little while. So when we wanted to do Korean BBQ, but didn't want to head to the usual spots (including the now not-as-good Insadong), we made our way out to Haan Korean BBQ in Coquitlam.
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
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
A decade. Can you believe it? I surely can't. Over the last 10 years, I've had my fair share of delicious food and well, not-so-delicious food. I try to say it as it is without being an a-hole about it. Sure, there are those who say I'm not critical enough and those who say I'm too critical. Well, we can't please everyone right? Besides, I'm not in it to please anyone but myself really. So in the words of Frank Sinatra, "I did it my way"! I really appreciate the friends I've met along the way as we've shared food and many laughs. Am I going to do this for another 10 years? To be honest, probably not. In fact, my dedication to the blog has been waning. I will continue posting as much as I can, it might not be as frequent as every other day though. I am excited about my Japan trip in 2020 as well as a road trip/possible cruise in 2019, so there will be plenty of content I want to share with you. But for now, I'd like to celebrate 10 years with another giveaway for a $100.00 GC to a restaurant of your choice. Just leave a short comment (doesn't have to be nice... LOL) and your first name and last initial. Winner will be announced on November 8th.
Posts
Back in 2012, our family went on a cruise aboard Holland American's Oosterdam sailing from Seattle to Alaska. It was our second time doing that itinerary and according to Viv, "2 times too many!". Yah, she is more of the active traveler and seeing trees, ice and wildlife is akin to looking out our backyard in Winter. Despite her poor attitude towards the trip, we still had a good time and ended up meeting 2 new friends from Seattle, Scout and Lola (not their real names... LOL). We killed it onboard slaughtering the competition in every trivia session. Ah yes, Viv was having a jolly ol' time... So almost every visit to Seattle, we meet up with them. This time around, it was at their suggestion - Marination Ma Kai in West Seattle.
Other than the spectacular view and outdoor dining space, Marination also boasts an array of Hawaiian eats. Before we got to that, we ended up with something more typical of spot right near the water - Fish n' Chips with miso tartar sauce. Panko-crusted, the fresh fish was flaky and moist. Although the coating appeared to be thick, it was actually light and crunchy. On the side, the house cut fries were on point being crispy with plenty of tender potato goodness inside. Impressively gigantic, the Pork Katsu Sandwich sported slaw, red onion, mayo and house-made tonkatsu sauce on a ciabatta bun. Crunchy and meaty, the pork cutlet was thick and tender. The mix of tangy slaw, creamy mayo and sweet tonkatsu sauce provided layers of flavour. The robust bun kept everything together.
Of course we had to get the Spam Musubi because if we didn't the kids would have a hairy cow. Not that they wouldn't eat a hairy cow that is... So for good measure, we also got the Portuguese Sausage Musubi as well. I personally enjoyed the regular Spam Musubi since it was familiar and the texture was complimentary to the chewy sushi rice. Not that the sausage wasn't good, it was meaty and nicely spiced, but the robust nature of the meat made the musubi heavier than usual. Underneath the good amount of kalbi beef and sunny side egg was Kimchi Fried Rice. This was further finished off with green onion and furikake. Adding the meat component on top of the rice made this a hearty dish where the chewy and well-seasoned rice was spicy and tangy.
Trying to cover most of the menu, we also got both the Kalua Pork and Spam Sliders complimented by slaw and nunya sauce (mayo, gochujang, garlic and green onion) served on a soft Hawaiian-style roll. Once again, my preference was with the spam as it was one solid piece of meat that was familiar with its buttery soft texture. The saltiness really helped balance the slaw. Again, it wasn't as if the kalua didn't taste good. In fact, the tender pork was really yummy and it ate like a pulled pork sandwich, just without BBQ sauce. Lola also got the sliders, but added a Kalbi Beef Taco on the side as well. It was served on a corn tortilla and topped with slaw, pickled jalapenos, sesame seeds and nunya sauce. It sported the same well-seasoned beef from the rice we had as well as the same slaw and sauce from the sliders. Tasty little bite.
We ended things off with Hawaiian Shaved Ice in a mix of Mango and Lychee. This was not as sweet as it appeared, but flavourful enough that we could discern what it was. Nice and refreshing and while it ain't as fluffy as Korean bingsoo, it was good in its own right. Reminded us of grabbing shaved ice in Lahaina. That would probably be the best description of the place. A taste of Hawaii right by the water that emulates the island experience. With reasonable prices and a killer view, there is not much to dislike about the place.
