Agrius (Brunch Menu)

"What???  You don't have Agrius on your list of eats for Victoria???", Mijune scolded in disbelief.  Fine, she had me there.  How on earth did I not have En Route's 4th rated restaurant in the country?   I guess I was so focused on family friendly joints that I totally forgot that my kids do enjoy fine or near-fine dining (it's just that my pocket book takes a big hit!).  So not only did I planned to eat there for brunch once we got off the ferry (well, after we drove there of course), we also made resos for dinner later in the week (post will be up in a few days).  Maybe now Mijune would get off my back now...  

So we decided to get some of the more interesting dishes including the Baked Eggs with Swiss chard, tomato jam, braised lamb, nostrala, potatoes and French country bread.  At first, Viv was concerned that it would be too gamy (I personally enjoy that btw), but it turned out to be quite mild and balanced.  The eggs were perfectly silky and runny while the lamb was tender.  I enjoyed the tang as well as the cheesiness of the dish where all was sopped up with the hearty toasted bread.  For the other dish we shared, Viv was not too keen on ordering the Sauerkraut Pancakes because she doesn't really care for fermented cabbage.  However, we were pleasantly surprised that the house-made sauerkraut was not overpowering.  In fact, it was actually quite mild where it added the flavour of sauerkraut without overpowering the dish.  The pancakes themselves were fluffy and light with minor crunch from the cabbage.  On top, the sweet dijon was quite powerful adding a noticeable mustard finish.

For my son, he went for something more conventional with the Classic Benny with thick back bacon, poached eggs and Hollandaise atop French country bread.  As rich as the Hollandaise appeared, it was silky and completely brightened up by the ample amount of acidity.  The perfectly poached eggs were delicate and runny.  He found the bacon to be fantastically buttery and flavourful, but with the unappealing fattiness, it was pretty heavy.  Crunchy and firm, the French bread held up well to the wet ingredients.  My daughter decided on the Fried Egg Sandwich with cheddar, back bacon, tomato jam, lettuce and aioli on a brioche bun.  Soft and completely encasing the ingredients, the bun was airy and light.  Inside, the thinly sliced back bacon provided the necessary punch to go with the runny egg and tangy house-made tomato jam.  In general, the brunch was pleasant with a few surprises.  We enjoyed it, however, we were more looking forward to dinner in a few days.

The Good:
- Some unique dishes
- Impactful flavours
- Good service

The Bad:
- Bacon could've been rendered a bit more

Ampersand Bistro & Bar

Expectations and institutionalized perceptions about certain things can often be hard to charge, especially when they are considered the norm and/or widely accepted.  For instance, trying to get people to pay more money for things that have been traditionally inexpensive can be a severely uphill battle.  For the longest time, Dim Sum has been reasonably-priced in the Lower Mainland, but it has been trending up in terms of pricing where in the past 5 years, we've seen the introduction of some serious high-end spots (such as Mott 32).  Now we have Ampersand Bistro & Bar has recently opened up in Gastown offering "designer Dim Sum" in the old location of Mosquito.  It may not be as expensive as Mott 32, but prices are on the higher end while the decor doesn't scream out "Chinese restaurant".

I recently checked out the place trying as many items as my appetite could handle.  We went right for the standards including the Ha Gau and Siu Mai.  Attractively plated, each dumpling was served in their own little vessel complete with accompanying sauce.  Topped with an "Asian pesto" of sorts (cilanto, parsley, leek oil and vinegar), the ha gau featured a thick dumpling skin that was doughy with little elasticity.  As for the filling, it was fully of whole shrimp that had a nice meaty snap.  The dumpling itself was rather mediocre, but the green sauce added lots of umami and brightness that complimented the combination of nuoc cham and dashi underneath.  As for the siu mai, it was far too meaty where there was little variation in terms of texture and flavour.  The lean pork didn't exhibit the classic rebound and the lack of shrimp contributed to the one note texture.  There also wasn't enough shiitake.  These were set on a soy vinegar sauce with a dollop of srirracha on top.

Probably the prettiest dumpling was the Seafood with 4 little treasures on top.  These also sat on a soy vinegar sauce that was subtle enough not to overwhelm the dumpling.  That was necessary as the filling wasn't particularly flavourful.  I guess it wasn't a surprise as seafood (I think it was a mix of shrimp, scallop and fish?) isn't usually that robust.  As with the ha gau, the dumpling wrapper was fairly thick and doughy.  Topped with the same green sauce, the Chicken Dumplings also were complimented by some black sesame on the side.  Again, the dumpling wrapper was no different that the rest, so it was already behind the 8-ball in that regard.  However, the chicken filling was moist and tender with mild-seasoning.  The sauce helped make the chicken dumpling flavourful enough whereas the black sesame didn't seem to go (was delicious on its own, but not particularly complimentary with the green sauce).

Similar to the ha gau, the Shrimp & Chive Dumpling featured an even more doughy dumpling skin due to its shape and subsequent folds.  That made it a bit clunky to eat, but it wasn't horrible either.  The filling was roughly the same as the ha gau except with the addition of chives.  This made it more bright and varied the flavours of the dumpling.  Without the aid of the green sauce, this was a little bland even with the sweet soy underneath.  I had high hopes for the Crab Xiao Long Bao, but ultimately, it had too many flaws for it to be good.  First of all, the dumpling skin was thick and lacking in elasticity.  Second, the way they arranged it in the overly small steamer ensured they would stick together (hence destroying them when picked up with juices leaking out).  There actually wasn't enough soup to quality as a legit XLB, but the filling was juicy and delicious (being impactfully sweet and savoury).

They didn't have any of their king dumplings available, so we went for the Sassy Wontons instead.  These boiled dumplings were served with spicy oyster sauce, parsley, scallions and crispy noodle sprinkles.  I thought the wontons themselves were decent with a meaty filling encased in tender, yet chewy dumpling wrapper.  As much as the sauce was spicy and impactful enough, I wasn't sure the oyster sauce paired well with wontons (too salty and thick).  Rather, it would've been better served with a more traditional spicy chili oil dressing.  Moving away from dumplings we tried their Salmon Soba Bowl consisting of Oceanwise salmon, free run egg ribbons, roasted eggplant, edamame, peashoots, japanese pickles, spiced cashews and sesame soy infused soba noodle.  I thought the individual ingredients were good including the surprisingly moist salmon (it didn't look it), but the thing as a whole was only okay.  I think the main issue was the bland and somewhat soft noodles.

Lastly, we had their version of Charcuterie sporting Chinese cured sausage, Taiwanese sausage, cured pork belly, pickled veggies, brioche bun and hoisin chili sauce.  For me, this was nothing special because I eat these meats all the time, including making cured meat rice at home.  However, the way they prepared it was good as they fried them up creating a crispy exterior texture as well as caramelization.  So I gave myself a few days to think about what I just ate at Ampersand to give a balanced opinion.  To be completely blunt, I think Ampersand is too much style and too little in substance.  With all of the great high-end Dim Sum spots in town, there is no reason to spend so much on mediocre food.

The Good:
- Attentive service
- Nice little space
- Some good ideas

The Bad:
- Dim Sum just doesn't measure up to all we have in town and at that price point

The Alley

If you've been driving down Hornby just past Nelson in Downtown Vancouver, you might've noticed the long line of people in front of The Alley.   This is just the latest Taiwanese chain to hit the Lower Mainland where it merely adds yet another option for bubble tea.   They've been operating in Ontario and this is their first foray into BC.  What sets them apart is that they make their own cane sugar syrup and "Deerioca" from scratch.  I was recently invited to try out several of their signature drinks and thankfully skip the line.  Hey, I'm not about to decline skipping the huge lineup!

So one of their most popular drinks is from their fresh milk series - Royal No.9.  This was definitely milky and almost creamy.  There was no doubt about the milk flavour where there was some floral fruity aspects to it (thanks to the blueberry-infused black tea).  It was almost like vanilla but not.  The sweetness was really balanced and it didn't overwhelm.  As for the pearls, they were perfectly chewy while not being hard or too soft.  There was a deep rich sweetness to them that was welcomed as the drink wasn't that sweet to begin with.  We were recommended the White Peach Oolong from their "The Finest Collection".  Now this was the complete opposite from the subtle flavours of the Royal No.9.  This was very strong and bitter where I got big hits of tea, but very little peach.  I'm sure those who like powerful natural-tasting tea would be all over this.  For me, it was too pungent.

From their signature Brown Sugar Deerioca series, we had the Deerioca Fever with soy milk and the Deerioca Matcha with fresh milk.  Okay, these were my favourite as predictably, the brown sugar featured deep caramelized sugary notes.  As much as the soy milk version was thinner and lighter than fresh milk, it was still quite good.  Of course there was the usual soy milk taste, but it was tempered by the rich sweetness of the chewy pearls.  Onto the matcha, it had just enough aroma and bitterness for impact while not being over-bearing.  This ensured there was harmony between the green tea, fresh milk and brown sugar pearls.  It all created a pleasing drink that went down smooth while providing subtle impact.

Going in a complete different direction, the Aurora Series featured 2 drinks including Morning Dawn (jasmine green tea, mango slush and, again, butterfly-pea-flower tea) and Northern Lights (apple vinegar, grape slush and butterfly-pea-flower tea).  Fruity, aromatic and floral, the morning dawn was fairly sweet.  It was still refreshing though albeit subtle.  I was more drawn to the Northern lights due to the tang from the vinegar and fruitiness from the grape slush.  It was also pretty sweet, but the tang helped balance it out.  Okay, after trying 6 drinks from The Alley, it made me appreciate the differences that exist amongst all of the available bubble tea shops in Greater Vancouver.  I can see why there is still an insatiable thirst for more choices.  The drinks at The Alley were good and had their own personality.  I would personally go back and have it again.

*All beverages were complimentary*

The Good:
- As for the bubble teas, they were purposefully sweet with balanced flavours
- On point brown sugar pearls (loved the warm temperature in relation to the cold drink)
- Surprisingly good floral fruity aspects to the milk tea

The Bad:
- White Peach Oolong was a bit too strong for my tastes
- Cold drinks could've been a bit less sweet

Brunch @ Flying Pig (Olympic Village)

It's been almost 5 years since I've had brunch at the Flying Pig.  That was at the Gastown location right after Sunday hockey.  From what I can remember, the brunch was solid with some interesting menu items (including some good complimentary banana bread to start).  Interestingly, I had made a mental note to bring the fam out since I knew they would enjoy it.  However, it got lost in the shuffle and we still haven't done that.  Well, an invite to try their brunch menu (with some new items) at their Olympic Village location accomplished the long-awaited revisit (without the fam though).

Rather, it was with Jacqueline and we did our best to get a variety of eats including the Bone Marrow Cheesy Bread.  Yes, they really did add a large luxurious bone to the already overloaded bread (sporting a thick layer of melted cheese).  If you think this was over-the-top, it definitely was but this didn't make it any less tasty.  The bread was a meal in itself where the $13.00 price tag seemed completely reasonable.  Onto something more typical, we had the Classic Eggs Benny sporting toasted English muffin, shaved ham, Hollandaise and 2 perfectly runny poached eggs.  Sometimes, eggs benny has become something unrecognizable.  So having a well-executed "normal" version worked for me.  The muffin was crispy, therefore standing up to the tangy sauce and runny egg yolk.

So what do you get when you combine a Vanilla Waffle with Andrew's Fried Chicken?  Something tasty of course! This was well-executed from the waffle to the chicken.  Sporting a crispy exterior, the waffle was tender and fluffy inside.  There was the unmistakable aromatic vanilla essence that complimented the mild sweetness.  The best part of the dish was the large fried chicken breast.  It was moist and tender with an appealing crunchy batter.  Continuing on with carbs, we had the Brioche French Toast with whipped cream and blackberry compote.  By virtue of it being made with brioche, the bread was moist and of course eggy (also from the egg batter).  It was moist, but not wet though where the crispy exterior created the classic textural contrast.  The whole thing was fruity sweet from the blackberries and wasn't overwhelmingly sugary.

Onto some more lunch type items, we tried the Lamb Bolognese Rigatoni with 8-hour slow braised lamb, house-made basil ricotta and charred garlic bread.  They certainly didn't skimp with the lamb here as it easily coated each al-dente rigatoni creating a rich meatiness.  Loved mixing in the ricotta as it added an aromatic creaminess to an already rich and thick bolognese.  Although it didn't look particularly impressive, the AAA Prime Burger was fantastic.  The best part was the prime rib patty as it was charred, juicy and barely cooked through.  This created a rich meatiness that was natural-tasting and caramelized.  It was further amped by the bone marrow aioli that created a fatty silkiness that afforded even more body.  Add in the pickles and this helped lighten up the heaviness to provided a balanced great- tasting burger.  Overall, the brunch at The Flying Pig was solid and a good alternative to the usual brunch spots in town.

*All food was complimentary*

The Good:
- Well-executed 
- Nice space
- Fair portions

The Bad:
- Parking can be a pain in the area

Dachi

At times, I meet with other foodie friends for some serious eating at various restaurants in town.  They are not invited events nor do we get anything special out of it.  It is just basically a few friends heading out for dinner and enjoying both the food and company.  Sure, some of us take pictures for IG and/or blogging purposes, but that almost seems secondary.  Hey, I'm not opposed to invited events, but in reality, this is as enjoyable as it gets when it comes to eating out.  It is especially great when I get to hang out with the likes of David, Maggi, Areta, Kristina and Hanson (too bad Diana had to miss this one) at the newly opened Dachi in the old location of Campagnolo Roma.

Channeling out our inner-Mijune, we decided to sample the whole menu starting with the 3-Year Aged Cheddar & Buttermilk Biscuits with mutsu apple butter.  If we looked at this dish without the apple butter, these were really good cheddar biscuits regardless.  There was a firm crusty exterior that gave way to a soft sharp cheesy and fluffy interior.  I'm not sure that the apple butter itself added too much to the biscuit other than moisture and aromatics (not sweet enough to be noticed).  Now that was pleasant enough, but an actual butter would've been more rich and impactful.  Next, the Burrata with toasted seeds, radicchio and ajou pear was another pleasant starter featuring fresh and creamy cheese.  The intense nuttiness from the sunflower butter was the real star of the plate though.  I felt the crunchy and tangy radicchio was a good counter-balance to the sweetness of the pear.

One of my favourites was the Yarrow Meadows Duck Confit Croquettes with smoked raisin puree and pickled celery.  Consisting of shredded tender duck meat with little to no filler, the croquettes were meaty and rich.  On the outside, the thin coating was uniformly crunchy with little grease.  Tangy and sweet with a touch of smoke, the raisin puree paired beautifully with the robust duck meat.  Add in the crunch from the spicy and tangy celery, there was a wealth of impactful flavours.  As much as the Mushroom & Toasted Seed Perogies were appealing to look at, I felt they were just okay.   The dumpling skin was chewy and medium-thick with a good elasticity.  Mushroom filling was subtle but still appealing especially with the nuttiness from the seeds.  This was served atop a creamy celeriac puree and topped with a grilled king oyster mushroom.

Another table favourite was the Vancouver Island Manila Clams with crispy pork belly, roasted onion broth and egg milk.  Loved the plating with the broth prominently at the forefront with the clams and bread off to the side.   The star was definitely the earthy and sweet broth that was a bit like Pho.  Deeply flavoured garlickiness and purposefully salty.  Loved the side of bread as it helped soak up all of the tasty broth.  Next, we had the Ricotta Gnudi with kombu braised leek puree, toasted buckwheat and sweet onion.  Visually, this was appealing with beautifully seared gnudi and some green to add some colour.  I found the gnudi a bit dense and doughy but they were flavoured well.  The creamy puree had plenty of umaminess with the brightness of the leek.  To provide a textural contrast, the toasted buckwheat was crunchy and light.

From there, we went to something more substantial in the Country Fried Steelhead Trout with salted beets and horseradish gribiche.  Although the batter was not crispy in the least (in fact a bit soggy), the fish itself was moist and rare.  The meat was tender and properly seasoned.  Creamy, chunky, tart and full of onion essence, the gribiche was only a touch sharp from the horseradish.  This was an impactful compliment to the fish that wasn't just a plain tartare sauce.  As much as the tender and earthy beets were nice, we didn't think it went with this dish.  Although the Roasted Winter Squash Stew contained no meat, I actually enjoyed it very much.  This was robust and comforting sporting tender squash that was still firm and starchy.  The natural sugars were activated while complimented by the creamy and nutty cashew butter (and ricotta) that was also surprisingly spicy and vinegary.

Maybe because I love meat, the next 2 dishes were right up my alley beginning with the Braised Pork Cheeks that were fork tender and meaty.  They were full-bodied with natural pork flavour while exhibiting penetrated seasoning from the braise.  It was accompanied by sunchoke, creamy parsnip puree, roasted hazelnut and oloroso sherry.  Considering the root vegetables in the dish, there was plenty of earthiness to go around.  Loved really soft sunchokes.  Our last savoury item was the 24-hour Roasted Beef Chuck Flat with heirloom carrot, red miso and Swiss chard.  Each piece of beef was tender and meaty while fully seasoned.  The miso was earthy and full of fermented notes.  Sweet roasted carrots were impactful as a side providing a textural crunch as well.

Onto the desserts, I tried the Poached Granny Smith Apple with cider sabayon, spiced cake and ginger marscapone first.  The cake itself was spicy with hits of nutmeg while fluffy and purposefully sweet.  It was topped with a generous amount of creamy and airy sabayon.  There was plenty of zip and sharpness from the cider and ginger to lighten the dessert.  Of course the apples on the side were sweet pops of goodness.  The other dessert consisted of 69% Cocoa Chocolate Ganache with meringue, hazelnut streusel and pear vanilla puree.  This looked pretty sweet but it was mild with an appealing bitterness.  The ganache was rich and thick while the meringue was creamy and caramelized.  With a crunch, the nutty streusel added the needed textural contrast.  So as you can see from the pictures, Dachi was the perfect spot for us since they menu focuses on share plates.  We felt the food was pretty solid and service to match.

The Good:
- Solid food
- Attentive service
- Okay pricing

The Bad:
- Overuse of purees
- Desserts were good, but savoury dishes were better

GLGW Chinese Restaurant

Sometimes it is a blessing to be put into a situation where we must blindly walk into an unknown restaurant.  With reviews and social media at our disposal at anytime on our smartphones, it has taken out the guessing game when it comes to eating out.  However, how many times do we just take a chance on a random restaurant?  This happened recently when we tried to head to Chuan BBQ in Richmond.  When we arrived, it appeared that they left for vacation and wouldn't be back for a month.  Being hangry, we merely went next door to GLGW for some dry hot pot.

For those unfamiliar, think of ingredients you might cook in a boiling hot pot, but instead of a broth, there is only sauce.  It is actually prepared in the kitchen without any diner participation.  So really, it can be seen as a large bowl of cooked food.  Now the picture doesn't do it justice as this bowl of food could easily feed 4 people.  We ended up getting the Prawn Hot Pot with additions including scallops, lamb, ribs, lotus root, gluten, bean curd skin, cauliflower, tripe, rice cake, oyster mushrooms and pig trotters in a spicy Szechuan-style sauce (minus the numbing spice).  Although we had a mix of different ingredients, they were able to cook most things well independent of each other.  For instance, the shrimp and scallops were not overdone (albeit the batter on the scallops was too goopy) and the rice cake was still chewy.  Rice was needed to eat this as it would get too flavourful and salty without it.

So if you are wondering if there was any filler underneath the top layer of the hot pot, there wasn't.  Rather, as you can clearly see, it was all the good stuff that we ordered.   In fact, since there was so much of it, everything stayed steaming hot underneath.  Yes, that meant the seafood continued to cook, so the best course of action was to remove that ASAP.  Loved that they didn't skimp with the more expensive ingredients as the ratio was pretty even with everything in the bowl.  To squeeze in one different dish, we had the Mouth-Watering Chicken.  Although this looked pretty plain, the tender chicken was inherently flavourful.  There could've been more spice, but this was a decent version.  Loved the gelatinized skin (with some gelatin underneath).  So you might be wondering how much did our hot pot cost?  Well, it wasn't cheap at $80.00, but considering how much food there was and the level of execution, I'd come back for more.

The Good:
- Proteins done right
- Spicy, but not killer spicy (depends on your personal tastes)
- They don't skimp with the more expensive ingredients

The Bad:
- Even though I thought the pricing was fair, it can add up if you don't watch it
- Contradicting what I said earlier, it may not be spicy enough for some

Moderne Burger

With the redevelopment of the 2500 block of West Broadway, we saw the closure of several businesses including Kinome Japanese Kitchen, Benny's Bagels and Aria Florist and Wedding Design.  Benny's has reopened as a retail outlet and possibly a cafe in the future.   Aria has also relocated.  Probably one of the most anticipated relocations is Moderne Burger where it took several months of delay to finally open a month ago.  Taking over the old Wendy's spot right next to Tim Horton's at 865 West Broadway, they have now become a counter service operation with slightly lower prices to go with the slightly smaller burgers.

Since they are starting off with a fairly simple menu, I ended getting everything that they had including the Steak Burger with lettuce, tomato, red onion, mayo and house sauce on a fresh baked bun.  Since we all love cheddar and bacon, this was added to all of our burgers (good for the picture too...).  If you can appreciate, Moderne Burger has always prided themselves on being rather basic by letting the ingredients speak for themselves.  In this case, that is essentially what this burger was about.  Nothing complex nor mind-blowing, but a solid burger consisting of lean unseasoned beef that was accompanied by real cheddar, crispy lean bacon and fresh ingredients.  For myself, I doubled it up and of course the burger was larger and more robust.  Solid all the way in my opinion.

The only other option (unless your are a vegetarian) was the Turkey Burger with the same ingredients and yes, we added cheddar and bacon.  This was actually surprisingly good.  Although the turkey patty should've technically leaner than the beef, it was actually more moist.  It was flavourful on its own while the bacon really did more for this burger than the steak.  I would actually order this for myself (Viv ended up with it this time).  Due to the generous portion of their regular Fresh-Cut Fries, we only ordered 2 of them for 4 people.  These were really good being crispy and not overly greasy.  Good potato texture left inside.  My son had the chocolate shake, but we didn't take a picture of it.  Very thick and somewhat sweet, but good nonetheless.  The same could be said about everything else as the food was as good as I remembered.  

The Good:
- Same Moderne Burger simplicity
- Lower prices (with slightly smaller burgers)
- Easily accessible with its new location and counter service operation

The Bad:
- Menu can be use a few more items (maybe in the future)
- Food does take a bit longer to come out, not really fast food (but a good thing in terms of quality)