Oak & Thorne

Let's be honest here.  As much as Oak & Thorne allows kids in the dining room before 8:00pm, it really is a pub/bar for adults.  You can see that in the clientele and the vibe once you enter the place.  However, that didn't stop us from doing so regardless!  Let's just say there were some things on the menu that the kiddies were very interested in eating.  Although the packed house was predominantly adults, there was a smattering of children  here and there.  I did remarked to my kids that this would be the place they can go hang out with their friends when they grow up...  LOL...

Ah yes, the Mac & Cheese Bites with aged cheddar and American cheese, panko crust and San Marzano tomato sauce  This was one of the dishes they had their eye on and it didnt disappoint.  Beyond the crispy and not overly greasy crust, the tender noodles inside were not too soft.  There was definitely enough cheesiness to go around where it bordered on being salty.  However, the side of tomato sauce helped offset that with a mild tanginess.  We also got a couple of the Scotch Eggs with sage pork sausage, ale infused soft boiled egg, panko breadcrumbs and sweet and sour tomato relish.  Although the egg itself was nicely runny (maybe a bit too runny), the sausage was curiously bland.  It was tender and moist while being a fairly thick layer.  We really didn't like the relish underneath as it was one note and wasn't really appealing.

For myself, I had to get the Deep Fried Pickles with sea salted fries, horseradish aioli and chipotle mayo.  I thought these were on point since the breading on the outside was crunchy, not greasy and the right thickness.  It didn't overwhelm the pickle while at the same time was robust enough to stand up to it too.  I wasn't expecting fries to come with it, but they were good being crispy and thin.  Of the 2 dips, I thought the chipotle mayo was the better match with a creamy spiciness.  My daughter wasn't particularly hungry so she settled for the Cream of Mushroom Soup.  This consisted of Roasted forest mushrooms, vegetable broth, filone croutons, olive oil, scallion and fresh thyme.  It was definitely woodsy and full of mushroom flavour.  However, the soup itself was a bit thin.  If it had been thicker and creamier, we agreed it would've been spot on.

For myself, I went for the Loaded Burger sporting Hand pressed patty, American cheddar cheese, smoked bacon, sautéed mushrooms, an over easy egg, secret burger sauce, iceberg lettuce, tomato, red onion, ketchup and pickles on a potato bun.  I really enjoyed this burger as the components were all quite good.  Bacon was crispy, patty was charred and fairly moist while the egg was messily runny.  The whole thing didn't really stay together and I needed like 6 napkins.  Viv went for something lighter in the Fish Tacos featuring beer battered Canadian cod, cabbage, pickled red onions, jalapeños, cilantro, chipotle mayo, fire roasted salsa, guacamole and house made tortilla chips.  Loved the fish as they were large in size and the batter was crunchy.  It was thick in spots though.  We didn't like the salsa as it was thin and one note.

My son had the Spaghetti and Meatballs with slow cooked house made meatballs, San Marzano tomato sauce, herbed ricotta, Grana Padano and fresh basil.  We found the pasta to be al dente which was a positive.  However, that ended there as there was not enough sauce to properly lubricate the spaghetti as it got clumpy.  Moreover, there wasn't enough inherent flavour from the sauce to create any discernible flavours.  Lastly, the meatballs were dry and hard.  So the food was pretty hit and miss at Oak & Thorne, but as a whole, decent considering it is a bar/club.  If you pick the right dishes, the experience could be a good one.

The Good:
- Nice vibe, is a club after hours
- Some good dishes

The Bad:
- Somewhat hit and miss
- Upstairs is unnecessarily dark

Bobii Frutii

I've said it before and I'll say it again, when a marketplace gets saturated with a product, one must do something different to stand out.  This would be completely true with bubble tea.  There are so many choices for bubble tea in the GVRD, it is gets a bit repetitive and frankly monotonous.  I swear some places survive on location alone and the fact they are the only game in their immediate area.  Others do so on their good name.  Bobii Frutii is a new spot in Richmond that does have following internationally but is relatively low-key with its opening back in October 2018.  Location-wise, they are tucked in a corner off #3 Road in the same plaza as Boiling Point.  Their main selling point is their instagrammable drinks that sport vibrant colours as well as quality ingredients that are not artificial in any way.

I was recently invited to try several of their drinks including 2 of their pancakes as well.  Possibly their most beautiful one has to be the Mermaid's Tears featuring mango, lemon, honey, milk and butterfly pea coloured bobii.  This was refreshing and almost floral with a semi-sweet hit of mango and the tang of lemon.  I would say this was rather mild-tasting compared to the visuals, but at the same time, it was far from being bland.  Again, loved the colours and the natural butterfly pea colouring didn't introduce any bad aftertaste.  As for the Souffle Pancakes, they were quite good.  Unlike the one I had at Dazzling Cafe (they were underdone with wet batter), these were cooked all-the-way-through without being dense.  As much as the chocolate ganache looked sweet, it really wasn't.

With the requisite matcha offering, we tried the Uji Snow which was also nicely layered with matcha, milk and original bobii.  I found this to be delicate with the milk bringing down the bitter aftertaste of the matcha.  Hence, this was more subtle than anything, especially with its mild sweetness.  Some might find it too light, but for me, it was perfect.  Pandora Treasures was also a beautifully coloured drink consisting of lemon and honey with both butterfly pea bobii and original bobii.  This had a unique flavour that was also slightly floral.  The lemon was very noticeable but tempered by the honey.  Again, the drink was restrained in terms of the sweetness, but again, it wasn't flavourless either.  The bobii were nicely texture being chewy with plenty of give.  With chocolate au lait and butterfly pea bobbi, Dare to Dream was like a deluxe version of chocolate milk.  Of course this was more chocolatey and less sweet (more dark chocolate notes).  

One of the fruitiest drinks was the Don't Want to Grow Up with strawberry and mango slush sporting milk and yogurt.  It was a fairly smooth blend with a touch of iciness.  Flavours were definitely there but not sickingly sweet.  By virtue of the yogurt, the drink had a certain tangy creaminess.  One of my favourites was the Grapefruit Oolong Tea made with fresh juice.  This was the perfect balance between tea and juice in my opinion.  Usually, fruity drinks often taste like juice but the tea gets completely lost.  Not in this case as the oolong really came through, especially at the end.  However, it wasn't so strong that the grapefruit juice wasn't impactful.  In fact, it tasted quite strong.  The sweetness was completely dialed in as the tartness of the grapefruit was not overpowering and at the same time, the drink wasn't syrupy.  The last drink of this trio was a plain Oolong Tea with bobbi without milk. Good tea flavour that was definitely there but not bitter.  Much like the other drinks, there was sweetness, but moderate.  Overall, I was impressed with the drinks at Bobii Frutii.  Normally, I have to ask for less sugar at most bubble tea spots because the default is very sweet.  I didn't have to do this here and in fact, the flavours spoke for themselves.  Yes, the drinks were pretty to look at too.

*All drinks and food were complimentary*

The Good:
- Totally IGable drinks
- No artificial colours or ingredients
- Not too sweet

The Bad:
- Sizes are on the smaller side, but enough
- Hate the parking lot, good luck finding a space

Kitcho Izakaya

I'm sure it hasn't been lost upon most people that the price of eating out has gotten pretty expensive in the past decade.  Yes, inflation is a real thing and the operational costs of restaurants are only getting higher (wait til the minimum wage gets up to $15.00...).  However, that isn't the only reason for the higher prices either.  There has been an increased appetite for higher-end pricing for all types of food including the traditionally more moderately-priced Asian cuisine.  Sure, you can attribute it due to influx of wealthier immigrants, but there has also been a shift towards more refined experiences for all types of food.  This is most apparent in Richmond where we find expensive everything including my most recent visit to Com Vietnamese and Haidilao.  Now we can also add Kitcho Izakaya to the list.

I recently visited the place prior to my visit to Bobii with Emily, Nora and Joyce.  We each started off with probably the best dish of the night being the Uni Chawanmushi. Although the chawanmushi was small in size, that didn't stop them from topping it with a large piece of fresh uni.  I found the egg to be fluffy and mildly-seasoned with minimal excess moisture.  Hidden within, there was a tender piece of chicken, mushroom and a large meaty shrimp (oxymoron I know...).  After this, we ordered a bunch of items, but the server seemed more interested in helping another table and actually left halfway into our ordering.  That probably explains why some of our Nigiri was messed up where they left a few items out.  The stuff that actually showed up was Salmon, Bluefin Tuna, Amaebi, Hamachi and Foie Gras.  Can't say anything bad about the fish quality because it was excellent.  The knife skills for some of them could've been better though.

We took our chances on the aburi sushi where we got both the Salmon and Ebi Oshi.  Sporting 7 pieces each, these definitely looked the part with an attractive char and generally appetizing appearance.  One bite and yes, these were pretty legit with chewy sushi rice topped with buttery shrimp and equally buttery salmon.  On top of that, we found a creamy mayo that was nicely caramelized.  The salmon featured the classic thinly sliced jalapeno while the ebi had a dollop of impactful pesto.  Just to sample a bit of everything, we got the Assorted Sashimi featuring hokkigai, hamachi, salmon and tuna.  This was fairly straightforward with the same fresh and texturally on point fish as the nigiri.  Although the buttery hamachi was good, I felt they sliced it far too thin.  This wasn't merely about value, but the thin slice didn't eat particularly well as a result.

One of the more surprising dishes was the Mentaiko Tofu.  That wasn't something I would've ordered, but thanks to Joyce, we each got a really tasty bite.  It featured a fried tofu square topped with a mentaiko that was creamy and rich.  It was briny and sweet which went well with the crispy tofu.  In my opinion, the key to this dish was the amount of mentaiko on top as it was enough to completely flavour the blank canvas.  Off to some robata, we had the Ton Toro that was sliced thin and dressed with grated daikon, green onions and yuzu ponzu.  The tender slices featured the usual buttery bouncy texture that was slightly smoky.  Tangy, sweet and salty, the dressing was enough to ensure this was a tasty dish.

Staying with robata, we also got the Beef Mushroom featuring a thin layer of beef wrapped around enoki.  Again, there was more than enough charring to create a caramelized smoky flavour.  As much as the thin slice of beef was cooked thoroughly, it was still tender with crispy bits.  Inside, the enoki was cooked just enough where it retained a bite and exhibited its classic earthy notes.  As much as Beef Short Ribs can be a standard on many grill menus, the one here was a highlight.  Sure, it could've used a bit more char, but the flavours were still caramelized.  Best thing about the ribs was that they weren't overmarinated so there was still a fatty beef taste.  Maintaining a meaty texture, these were buttery tender.

The Soft Shelled Crab was not our last dish, but I decided to put it at the end (wanted to keep the robata stuff together).  Not trying to repeat myself, but this was also executed properly.  Beyond the light crispy batter, the crab was moist, briny and sweet.  It was served with a ponzu dipping sauce.  So in the end, we all agreed the food at Kitcho was pretty darn solid with little to complain about.  However, there are a couple of serious caveats to this.  First, the pricing is far too high in our opinion, especially given its location (not in Downtown).  Second, the service was not up to the level of their pricing either.  We were rather confused and appalled that our server left halfway through our ordering to attend to a more "affluent" table (they ordered more expensive stuff).  Hence, our order was messed up as a result.  Not acceptable at any level of restaurant.

The Good:
- Well executed food
- Lots of options
- Restaurant looks the part

The Bad:
- Unnecessarily expensive
- Unacceptable service  
- Parking lot is a horror show

75 West

I'm sure you've heard me go on and on about hotel restaurants on this blog for the past 10 years.  At first, many existed as a means to provide a standard and safe menu for the weary traveller.  Hey, appeal to the lowest common denominator and most people will go away fairly satisfied, if not being rather boring doing so.  However, as we've seen in the past decade, there has been a shift towards being more appealing in terms of decor and food choices.  In fact, there are risks being taken, offering up a wide spectrum of eats such as The Victor in the Parq Hotel.  Part of the same hotel chain, the Vancouver Airport Marriott has updated their long-standing restaurant, The American Grille, into 75 West that promises more excitement for travellers and locals alike.  Jacqueline and I were recently invited to see and taste theses changes.

The first thing we noticed was the modern decor that brightened up the room.  Secondly, they added many more menu items that focuses on sharing plates.  As such, we started with some of them including the Pork Belly Adobo.  There wasn't anything bad to say about the pork belly as it was meaty with just enough fat to add the classic fatty luxuriousness to the dish.  While moist inside, the outside was crispy and the crackling was akin to Chinese roast pork.  This was all lightened up by the tangy and sweet adobo sauce drizzled on top.  Something a bit more conventional was the half Back Ribs conveniently cut up for sharing.  These were the typical par-cooked grill finished version, but with that, they were done right.  They were meaty, tender and almost juicy with a tangy and sweet BBQ sauce slathered on top.

It was suggested we try the Fried Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts and boy that was a good call.  Sure, many different places offer this item on their menu, but this one was a bit different since it was liberally coated in parmesan.  Hence, this was nutty and salty without the need for anything else, but it did come with spicy mayo.  Although fried until crispy, the cauliflower and Brussels sprouts were still firm with a bite.  Beyond the saltiness of the parm, there was truffle oil and garlic to provide layers of flavour.  Back to the classics, we had the Prawns sauteed in garlic, paprika, lemon juice and EVOO.  Similar to the Spanish tapas version, the prawns were meaty with a snap while sporting a noted smokiness from the paprika.  Lots of garlic as well as enough salt meant this was impactful.

Whenever there is Lobster Mac n' Cheese is on the menu, I order it.  So that we did and it was a fairly large portion.  It wasn't apparent at first glance that hidden underneath the noodles were big chunks of bouncy lobster.   I found the noodles to be fairly al dente considering the amount of sauce on the bottom.  There was a cheesy creaminess from the aged cheddar, gruyere and mozzarella, but a bit more sharpness would've put this over-the-top.  Interestingly, we decided to combine our order of Meatballs with the mac n' cheese and it was the perfect combination!  The tangy herbed chunky tomato sauce added the brightness and zip that brought the mac n' cheese alive.  That also meant it was a great compliment to the meatballs as well.  About those meatballs, the texture was definitely meaty and lean with little filler.

Something you'd normally find on a Japanese Izakaya menu shows up on the 75 West Menu under the share plates - Blackened Halibut Collars.  A bit gutsy and a little out there, but I applaud them for doing so.  For me, I'm well-versed with fish collars and this was done right.  Smoky and crisped up on the outside, the tender halibut was cooked just right.  There was a nice rebound texture as well as the natural sweetness of the fish.  A very simple dish prepared in a quasi-Japanese style.  Instead of going for their full-sized version, we got the Lamb Chops (essentially 1/2 a rack of lamb) with dukkah and chimichurri.  We asked for the lamb to be prepared medium and it arrived as such.  Hence, it was tender and moist without being too rare.  The combination of nutty dukkah and brightness of the chimichurri provided all of the necessary flavour.

Our last two small plates consisted of the West Coast Chowder and Truffle Fries.  At first, I was a bit disappointed that the bowl of chowder was fairly modest in size (a little deceiving though as the bowl was decently deep).  However, one spoonful and I quickly understood why it wasn't bigger - the darn thing was super creamy!  This was a good thing though since it was smooth and rich while being mildly briny and sweet.  It was chock full of seafood including big chunks of tender fish.  Now the side of truffle fries were actually something we ordered along with the Big D Burger since we couldn't have a burger without fries right?  As for the fries themselves, they were pretty standard fare.  They were crunchy and truffly with an aggressive dusting of parmesan.  So there wasn't any absence of impact even without the side of truffle mayo.

So I mentioned the Big D Burger in the previous passage...  Well here it is in all its glory!  This monstrosity sported a 2lb house made AAA beef patty, tomatoes, lettuce, red onions, bacon, jalapeno, jack cheese, roasted garlic mayo and red relish topped with onion rings.  Pictures don't do this justice as the diameter was as big as a dinner plate.  Now shock factor is one thing, but how did it eat?  Well, I'm happy to report that it was actually pretty good!  Although the meat patty was cooked all-the-way-through, it wasn't overly dry.  With all of the ingredients combined, it ate like a fully-loaded burger, but just bigger (yes we had to divide it into quarters).  Onto something lighter, the Seafood Hot Pot consisted of prawns, halibut, salmon, mussels and clams in an orange tomato fennel broth.  Aromatic and only a bit rich, the broth ate well with a tang and sweetness.  There wasn't as much brininess as I would've expected, but the ample well-prepared seafood made up for that.  Loved dipping the bread into the broth.

For our meat main dish, we selected the 10 oz. AAA Rib Eye with roasted wild mushrooms, baby tomatoes, roasted garlic mash and red wine jus. It was prepared medium rare where it was very tender while still meaty (sometimes, I find rib eye hit and miss in terms of texture, but this was excellent).  For dessert, we had 3 items including Apple Strudel, Chocolate Decadence Cake and Xango Cheesecake.   Remarkably better than their previous version, the apple strudel was full of sweet raisins and apples.  It was nice spiced and encased in crispy phyllo.  Not too sweet and rich with chocolate, the decadence cake was flourless and had layers of ganache with raspberry coulis on top.  My favourite of the bunch was the cream cheese-stuffed fried tortilla with caramel sauce.  Unique and actually not heavy, I got my cheesecake fix without feeling like I ate a brick.  Beyond this visit, I've been to the American Grille quite a few times in the past for dinner, lunch and some tastings.  I always found the food acceptable for a hotel restaurant.  It is nice to see that they have elevated the menu to include more choices while including some favourites.

*All food and beverages were complimentary*

The Good:
- Well-executed proteins
- Lots of choices on the new menu
- Reno'd dining space

The Bad:
- Consistent with hotel restaurant pricing
- I feel they can take even more risks with the share menu

Golden Restaurant

Fresh off a fairly decent Dim Sum service at the newly opened Golden Restaurant on Nanaimo, we figured that a dinner visit would be in order.  Luckily we made a reservation as the place was packed for Chinese New Year.  Formerly Golden Phoenix, then East Ocean and Phoenix Garden, the place settled on just Golden for its namesake.  Not much has been done with the decor nor have they even changed the phone number.  Looks like they changed the awning (but it does look like new ownership though).

We decided to get their $138.00 set meal for six as it looked like a good value.  We began with the Fish Maw and Crab Meat Soup.  Okay, before we get to the positives, there was one huge negative with the soup.  This was thickened with starch (as it generally is), but they were too aggressive, making it very goopy and gummy.  Beyond that, the soup was actually good with plenty of fish maw (which wasn't completely melted) and fluffy crab.  It was mildly-seasoned though.  Onto our next dish, was had the Free Range Chicken with grated ginger and green onion condiment.  Before I talk about the chicken, I have to applaud them for serving a legit ginger condiment as it was mostly ginger and tasty (some places just give u a bunch of green onion).  As for the chicken, it was nicely gelatinized and tender (especially for free-range).

Originally, we asked if we could add Shanghainese rice cake to the Deep Fried Crab with Salted Egg Yolk Sauce (because it is freakin' delicious with it).  They said the sauce wasn't saucy enough to add rice cake to the dish.  Huh?  As you can see, this wouldn't have been a problem.  Whatever, the crab was fried beautifully where the meat was still fluffy.  As for the sauce, it was sweet, salty and full of umaminess.  We ended up mixing it with the fried rice.  Yum!  Our most favourite dish of the meal was the Dried Plum Sauce Pork Chops.  This plate was massive where the pork chops were tender with a rebound texture.  They were coated in an addictive sauce that was tangy and sweet with the unmistakeable zip of wah mui (dried plum).

Also large in portion size, the Truffle and Mixed Mushrooms with Seafood was curiously good.  We weren't sure if this was too much woodsiness for the delicate scallops and prawns, but hey, it worked.  I guess the black truffle paste wasn't overused, so it was subtle enough.  Furthermore, the mushrooms were not of the overly earthy variety either.  Therefore, the seafood was still very much at the forefront.  Strangely, the dish was too busy with far too many ingredients.  Our one true veggie dish was the Pea Tips with Puffed Fish Tofu.  Once again, they really loaded up the casserole dish with tender pea tips that were perfectly prepared.  They were cooked-all-the-way-through retaining a crunch.  Seasoning was a bit weak, but it wasn't greasy, so the dish ate healthier.

The least favourite dish was our last one in the Seafood Fried Rice.  Again, it was large in size, but the rice lacked caramelization as well as seasoning.  Hence the rice ate mealy and dry.  It definitely could've used more oil and salt.  On the positive, there was a decent amount of well-prepared bits of seafood strewn throughout.  I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the dessert (which was both sweetened red bean soup and baked tapioca pudding) as we offered up our table to the next party (the lineup was quite long).  For that, they gave us extra dessert to go.  Yes, the service was decent especially for a Chinese restaurant.  Food quality was above average and prices reasonable.  We will return.

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing for dinner
- Large portions
- Above average

The Bad:
- Some bigger tables are squished together
- Food is above average, but some refinement is still needed

Com Vietnamese

Trendy and Vietnamese was never used in the same sentence until recently.  With spots like Anh & Chi, Vietnamese cuisine has been elevated to a complete experience rather than solely for the food.  That means clean modern digs, cocktails and better service which in turn also leads to a higher price point.  For some, this is just too far of a departure from the traditional norm where we found Pho served in run-down restaurants at rock bottom prices.  Similar to the invasion of high-end Chinese restaurants, I do believe we need to readjust our expectations.  Recently, I visited the newly opened Com Vietnamese in Richmond where it embodies the "complete" restaurant experience.

Let's get right to it - the place is spacious, inviting and somewhat upscale.  Not typical Vietnamese and to top it off, the menu sports a selection of cocktails.  As for the food, we had the Papaya Salad with carrot, lemon, onion, mixed herbs, prawn, pork loin, peanuts and house-made dressing.  This was not devoid of ingredients where the pork was tender and nicely seared while the prawns showed a meaty snap.  Good crunch from the green papaya and veggies, all tossed in a tangy, slightly spicy dressing. However, for $16.50, it was pretty expensive.  A bit greasy, the Pork Spring Roll was texturally on point with a thin ricew paper wrapper crunch.  These were filled with pork, carrot, taro, wood ear and glass noodles.  Hence, there was a good amount of umami.  We ate it by wrapping them in the lettuce and dipping into the nước chấm.

Also pricey at $14.50, the Chicken Wings were tossed in a caramelized chili fish sauce, chilis and garlic.  I actually quite liked these as the skin was crispy and fairly rendered.  The meat itself was juicy and tender.  As for the flavouring, it was impactful enough that I could get the deep sweetness that went along with the savoury and umaminess of the fish sauce.  Of course, there was some spice to it too, but only mildly.  Sporting a beautiful sear, the 
Bánh Xèo was both good and bad at the same time.  Clearly, the good was the crispy thin crepe that was smoky and downright delicious.  However, the filling was mostly bean sprouts, which meant the crunch factor was high, yet it didn't feel fulfilling.  There was only a smattering of pork and prawns on the inside.  Considering this was $19.00... 

One of the more polarizing dishes was the Canh Chả Cá (Fish Cake Soup).  I personally didn't mind the intense sweetness of the soup because there was an accompanying tamarind tang to go with it.  However, everyone else thought it was far too sweet.  As for the rest of the flavours, there was a considerable amount of dill, fried garlic, chilis and green onion on top which added plenty of herbal essence (isn't that a shampoo?).  Rounding things out, there was tomato and plenty of squishy bouncy fish cake.  This was $22.50, I'll leave it at that.  Of course we had to try the Phở consisting of rare steak and beef brisket.  I found the broth to be clean with medium-depth.  There was a balanced amount of sweetness and saltiness.  It was mildly aromatic.  The noodles were al dente while the meats were tender and well-portioned.  At $14.00, this was actually the best deal of the dishes we had.  So this brings us to the biggest issue - the price.  Sure, the place is nice, service is top-notch and the variety of beverages all add to the cost.  The sticker shock might scare away potential diners.

The Good:
- Nicely prepared food
- Attentive service
- Nice decor

The Bad:
- Is this too upscale?
- Even with all the perks of a higher-end Vietnamese restaurant, the prices are too high