Urban Gate

Finding Persian food in Vancouver isn't necessarily a difficult thing to do, especially on the North Shore.  When we look at other areas in town, it can be a real challenge and when you do find a restaurant, it can also be hit and miss.  So imagine the surprise when we stumbled upon Urban Gate Bar & Grill in Coquitlam.   First of all, it didn't look like a Persian restaurant and certainly the name didn't elicit anything Persian either.  Second, we weren't planning to eat there anyways because we were trying to go to the Japanese restaurant next door.  So once again, we ended up with a random backup plan.

So after perusing the menu, it was clear they mixed in Persian food with bar favourites to appeal to a wider audience.  We asked our server what was good and that is why we stuck with the Persian food only starting with 2 appies.  Both served with lavash, we were completely in love with the Kashk Bademjan (Fried eggplant mixed with kashk, spiced and garnished with walnuts, mint oil, onion and garlic).  Wow, the texture on this was just right for the lavash being soft and delicate while not mushy at the same time.  The flavours were downright impactful with layered spices and of course the creaminess of the kashk.   We also got the Mast Moosir (shallot yogurt), which was also great with the lavash, but even better with the kebabs we ordered.  

On that note, the Persian Sampler consisting of 1/2 Jujeh, 1/2 Barg and 1 Koobideh was really good.  Of course my exposure to Persian food has been limited mostly to what I've had here, but this has been probably my favourite so far.  The meats were moist, tender and juicy while charred on the outside.  They were adequately spiced and as mentioned, went really well with the mast moosir.  The cone of saffron rice was also executed well being fluffy and aromatic.  We also ordered the Lamb Shank with baghali polo, accompanied with hot lamb broth & house salad.  Texturally, the lamb couldn't have been any better.  It was fork tender, moist and gelatinous.  Usually, there would be some drier parts, but there was none of that in our dish.  Once again, the lamb was flavourful enough without being over-seasoned (ie. salty).

One dish we weren't that fond of was the Gheimeh Bademjan Stew featuring eggplant, split peas, tomato paste & seasoned beef.  To be fair, I've never had this before and maybe it could've been just a subjective thing, but it was pretty greasy with a huge oil slick at the top.  Furthermore, the flavours were just too muted and flat for our liking.  It was if they forgot to add the tomato paste because we didn't get any hint of it in the taste nor the appearance.  I would've also liked to see more beef as we had to dig around to find it.  However, everything else was delicious and well-executed.  I would not hesitate to come back for the Persian dishes.

The Good:
- Meats were really good
- Loved the flavours
- Service was good for us

The Bad:
- A touch pricey
- Didn't like the stew

Los Cuervos

Saying that our Mexican food game in Vancouver is weak can be somewhat of an understatement.  I say somewhat due to the fact there are decent places to grab some tacos, tortas and the sort in the Lower Mainland. However, when one can do the quick drive across the border to Bellingham for significantly cheaper and better Mexican food, the decent places suddenly become meh considering the high prices we pay here.  With that being said, my blog is mainly about dining out in Vancouver, so let's focus on the good rather than trying to compare with other cities.

Recently, I finally met up with SexiMexi (who I haven't seen for awhile) for some, you guessed it, Mexican food at Los Cuervos.  Yah, it seems like all I eat with her is Mexican, but who else can give me an honest assessment other than she can?  We decided to get the Shrimp Ceviche served on a tostada to start.  Despite the wet ceviche on top, the tostada stayed crunchy for most of the meal, it started to get soggy at the end.  I enjoyed the buttery shrimp, but there was too much onion and pepper in my opinion where there was more it than shrimp.  There was good acidity to balance out the natural sweetness though.  I ended up getting the Atun Tostada with seared tuna, crispy leeks, avocado and chipotle crema which was my favourite item of the night.  The soft tuna was nicely accented by the plethora of crispy leeks (that had a nutty vegetable taste).  Although there wasn't a lot of spice going on, a few drops of hot sauce did the trick.

One of my favourite items were the Flautas with camote, shredded duck, lettuce, crema and pico de gallo.  Beyond the crispy and non-greasy shell, there was a good amount of tender duck that was tender and flavourful.  This was perfectly accented by the soft sweet potato and fresh pico de gallo.  Onto the Tacos, I went for Alambre, Pescado and Barria de Res.  I thought all 3 were solid, but I really enjoyed the bison skirt steak the best due to the pronounce smoky saltiness of the bacon.  The sweet onions and peppers also helped the cause.  Crispy and light, the rockfish was solid combined with the crunchy cabbage and creamy aioli.  As much as I enjoyed the tender beef brisket, the moisture did make the taco a touch soggy.  Loved the crispy chickpeas as they added texture.  So what was SexiMexi's thought on the place?  Well, she's been here before and considers it pretty solid, for Vancouver that is.

The Good:
- Solid eats
- Friendly service
- Nice vibe

The Bad:
- Limited menu
- Flavours could be more stronger, but hot sauces helped

The Rumpus Room

Formerly located in the old Juicy Fried Chicken spot, The Rumpus Room lived a short life before it closed in favour of another condo development.  Just when it seemed liked it had disappeared into restaurant oblivion, it has suddenly returned in what was the former location of the closed Foundation.  Yes, the location went from straight-up vegan to greasy comfort food.  TBH, I have no problem with that!  LOL.  So after our Monday night softball game, we made our way over to the new Rumpus Room for some eat and drink.

We ended up sharing some items including the Deep Fried Pickles.  On my previous visit at their old location, I wasn't overly impressed at the doughy batter.  This time around, the batter was appreciably better being thin, crunchy and well-seasoned with dill.  With a tangy crunch of the pickle and the accompanying dip, it was quite good for the non-breaded type.  However, there was one serious issue as the whole thing was soaked in grease where the bottom of the container was completely filled with oil.  Also deep-fried, but not as greasy, the Lil Cornies were money.  Featuring 3 Nathan's Famous 100% mini beef corn dogs, these were a nice little bite.   The batter was crunchy and nicely browned while the hot dogs were moist and juicy.  With a bit of mustard, this was simple, yet delicious.

Onto some burgers, we tried both the Peanut Butter Burger and the Wrong Burger.  Personally, I enjoy some PB in my burgers as it adds a certain richness and body.  This was evident here as the layer of PB was just enough that it didn't overwhelm.  Add in crispy bacon, cheddar and raspberry aioli, and there was more than just a PB kick.  I would've liked to see more raspberry flavour as this would've been truly a PB & J flavour profile.  As for the burger patty, it tasted and ate like a homemade one as the meat was lean and tender.  It wasn't juicy per se, but wasn't overly dry either.   The Wrong Burger featured the usual produce in addition to BBQ sauce, ketchup chips, hot dog, house pickled onion relish and caramelized onion aioli.  I really enjoyed this as there was plenty going on in here without anything clashing with another.  Lots of savouriness to go with sweet, tangy and some smokiness.  Crunch from the chips was welcomed.

We also shared one more dish in the Chicken & Waffles served with Maple syrup and gravy.  I've had my fair share of this dish throughout North America and TBH, many are no more than chicken strips and waffles that aren't any better than frozen.  So I'm not as crazy for this dish as other choices.  With that being said, this was different enough to be considered good.  I found the pieces of fried chicken to be similar to the one found at AnnaLena.  They were light, crispy and juicy.  Firm and crispy on the outside, the waffles were more than decent.  Sens Fan went for the BLT with a side of vegetarian chili.  Nothing particularly amiss with the BLT other than the bread could've used a more aggressive toasting.  What was more interesting was the chili as it was impactful and spicy.  It was good, but we felt that for that spice level, it had to be a meat chili so it could stand up to the heat.  In the end, we weren't expecting gourmet food here at the Rumpus Room.  What we got was comfort food that was prepared properly and was well-priced.

The Good:
- Solid comfort food
- Interesting decor and vibe
- Reasonable pricing

The Bad:
- A little greasy, but c'mon, it is what it is
- Not the easiest location to find parking

Bacchus Bistro at Chaberton Estate Winery

It's not like Bacchus Bistro is new or anything, but since I can remember, I've always wanted to dine there.  After many failed attempts, we finally made a reservation for my mom's birthday.  I guess one of the reasons we've taken so long is that the place is located at the Chaberton Estate Winery in Langley on 216th.  For those who don't live in the area, it isn't exactly an easy commute.  For me, I travel long distances for food and that we did as it took over 45 minutes from Burnaby with no traffic.  However, being seated outside overlooking the vineyard brought a certain satisfaction and calmness which made the drive much more palatable.

Beyond the reasonably-priced house wines (as they make it), we had to get to the food.  That we did with some appies including the Bacchus Salad sporting thin slices of smoked salmon over mixed greens with a tuna rémoulade sauce.  Yes, usually a salad elicits as much excitement as a time-share seminar, but this was actually quite good.  In addition to the crisp fresh greens, the slices of buttery smoked salmon were topped with a creamy and fishy (in a good way) dressing.  Think of it as somewhat like a vitello tonnato but with smoked salmon and greens instead of veal. Another solid starter was the Duck Rillettes with red onion jam, honey mustard and toasted challah.  This was meaty and ducky with a subtle and pleasant gaminess.  The rillette itself was not super flavourful, but that wasn't really an issue since the onion jam and honey mustard helped in that regard.  We thought the soft toasted challah was a great compliment to the rillette.

As part of the Table H'ote menu, my mom and I had 2 appetizers of our own including the Escargot a la Bourguignonne.  They were not shy with the butter and garlic as this was as sinful and delicious as it looked.  I thought the addition of roasted grape tomatoes underneath was a great shot of tartness to cut through the heaviness of the butter.  However, at the same time, it was so strong that I found it overwhelmed every other flavour.   The escargots themselves were tender and not overdone while exhibiting a background gaminess.  For my mom, she chose the Lobster and Butternut Squash Bisque with sauteed locally raised shrimp.  Despite it being a blend between essentially 2 soups, the dominant flavour was the lobster essence.  Texturally, it was more squash than being creamy, but it was still bisque-like to a degree.  Beyond the lobster, there was the sweetness of squash and at the tail end, there was a slight cognac finish.

Our last appie was the Steamed Gulf Island Mussels with steamed in white wine and tomato with cracked coriander and fennel seed.  This wasn't the most exciting creation, but it was solid nonetheless.  I would've preferred a little more impact from the broth, but it did the job with a mild tang and aromatics.  The mussels themselves were buttery and plump.  With all this being said, this was probably our least favourite appetizer, not because it wasn't good, the others were just better.

Moving onto the mains, I had the Rib Eye Steak prepared medium-rare (closer to rare, which is my preference anyways).  As evidenced in the picture, there was an aggressive exterior sear that created a smoky and caramelized crust.  The steak was well-seasoned as well, so there was plenty of impact to go with the natural fattiness.  Underneath, there was a saute of mushrooms, house smoked bacon and pearl onions in a Bordelaise sauce.  For my mom, she went for the Roasted Fraser Valley 1/2 Duck with sauteed asparagus and caramelized orange sauce.  Essentially, their version of duck a l'orange, it was fantastic.  The duck itself had a beautiful finish with fairly rendered skin and super tender meat (that was not dry).  Sweet with a smoky tang, the orange sauce was balanced and flavourful.  It allowed the duck to be the star while complimenting it at the same time.

My dad didn't want all 3 courses, but did get the Pan Roasted Halibut a la carte.  It was excellent with crispy skin and tender flakes.  It almost ate like black cod which meant that the halibut was fresh and properly executed.   On the bottom, there was sauteed spinach and a three mushroom cream sauce.  Although the spinach was a bit too wilted, it ultimately went well with the creamy and earthy sauce.  Staying with fish, my daughter had the Pan-Roasted BC Ling Cod with ratatouille Provencal and Okanagan basil pistou.  This was also well-prepared with crispy skin.  I would say the cook on the halibut was a bit better as the cod wasn't as flaky.  However, it still wasn't dry.  Underneath, the ratatouille provided a veggie tang to go along with the garlicky brightness of the pistou.

Viv decided on the classic Fraser Valley Duck Leg Duck Confit with warm beluga lentil salad, spinach, mushrooms, asparagus tossed in a pepita pistou.  There was an option to add another leg for $7.00 more, but it really wasn't necessary since the one leg was pretty substantial.  The meat was moist and fork tender where it barely needed any chewing.  It was also well-seasoned without being overly salty.  Although portions of the duck skin were a bit fatty, most of it was well-rendered and crispy.  Loved the lentils as they provided a firm and meaty texture to the salad.  My son was sold on the Beef Bourguignon since it featured a boneless beef short rib braised in red wine with pearl onions, house smoked bacon and mushrooms.  By virtue of a large short rib, the whole dish ate much differently than a traditional bourguignon.  It had all of the flavours such as the sweetness of the onions, depth of the red wine and the earthiness of the mushroom, yet at the same time, it was much more robust due to the tender meaty short rib.

Moving onto the sweets, since our 3-course meals included dessert, we had both of them including the Chocolate Eclair as well as the Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble.  Stuffed with both a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a scoop of chocolate mousse, the eclair was a lot taller than we had imagined.   Beyond the light choux pastry, the mousse was quite good riding the line between rich and light.  It was chocolatey with some dark bitterness while being sweet enough. The strawberry rhubarb crumble was also good with a tangy sweet mix that was topped with a crunchy and buttery crumble.  Combined with the ice cream, it was everything a crumble should be.  Yet, there was one fatal flaw - the whole thing was barely warm.  If this was served hot, it would've ben excellent.  Sadly it was not.

We added 2 more desserts in the Lemon Tart and Chocolate Mousse. Although a bit watery, the lemon curd was balanced with just the right amount of tang and sweetness.  It was silky smooth, but as mentioned, a touch too thin.  As for the pastry shell, it was fantastic being firm throughout with an appealing texture that was buttery and almost crunchy.  One of the better lemon tarts I've had recently despite the viscosity of the curd.  Presented neatly as a cylinder, the chocolate mousse was somewhat different than the one in the eclair.  The flavours were the same but the texture was a bit lighter possibly since it wasn't served as a large scoop.  These desserts were a nice ending to a nice meal.  Food was more than acceptable where the portions were generous complete with reasonable pricing.

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing
- Solid food
- Beautiful setting

The Bad:
- A little far for those not in the vicinity
- Food is pretty classic, so for those who want something more cutting edge, you won't find it here

Kuan Zhai Road

If you haven't noticed, Chinese Skewer restaurants are becoming more and more prevalent in a city that rarely had any just 5 years ago.  Something about meat on a stick has created an appetite that hasn't been satiated as of yet (as there are more and more opening up as of this post).  We all know the usual places such as the popular Happy Tree as well as Meat Up.  One spot that has relatively flown under the radar is Kuan Zhai Road tucked into a small strip mall just down the road from Happy Tree on Kingsway in Vancouver.  It isn't apparent what the place is called because the English name is in tiny font.

In addition to their grilled skewers, they have spicy hot pot options with "Help Yourself" Skewers in their refrigerated displays.  Priced at a reasonable 69 cents each, these one bite skewers are cooked in your choice of broth.  We had the extra spicy broth with chilis, chili oil, spices and Szechuan peppercorns.  This was super hot and kept my lips burning long after I had finished.  Totally tasty!  We ended up with a variety of skewers including duck tongue, tripe, tendon, fish and conch.  Things were texturally on point (including the normally too chewy tripe) and nicely spiced by the hot pot broth.  We actually returned a few weeks later and asked for super hot and it was actually very spicy!  

As for the BBQ Skewers, we got a selection including lamb, meatball, prawns, beef and chicken wing.   Compared to other skewers spots in town, I found the amount of meat to be a little more than average.  In terms of pricing, it is pretty competitive.  I thought the lamb skewers to be the best being tender and moist with a decent char on the outside.  Flavours were mildly spicy (you can get spicier) while the cumin really came through.  Naturally, the beef was a bit more robust with an appealing chewy meatiness.  Flavours were quite similar except for the meat of course.  Didn't really enjoy the meatballs as they were far too dense.  Shrimp were sweet with plenty of the usual shrimp aromatics but it was a bit overdone in my opinion.  Loved the honey chicken wings as they featured rendered skin and super juicy meat.

Just for kicks, I got the Lao Chengdu Hot and Sour Noodles as well as the Spicy Chicken.  The slippery noodles were mildly spicy with a bit of tang.  I really thought they could've amped the spice level way higher than it was.  Of course, we only needed to ask for it, so not a big deal really.  However, the amount of moisture was an issue as it made the dish wet.  As for the chicken, it was inherently seasoned enough.  Texturally, it was tender while nicely gelantized including the skin.  Once again, it wasn't as spicy as we would've liked (to be fair, we like it flaming hot).  Yet, as mentioned, we could've asked for it to be prepared spicier, such as the hot pot.  For those who like it milder, this would've been fine and pretty good.  If I had to compare with the nearby Happy Tree, I would say Kuan Zhai is pretty similar without the loud pop music.

The Good:
- Well-prepared skewers
- More low key than the nearby Happy Tree
- Better service than Happy Tree

The Bad:
- A smaller restaurant, so when it gets busy, not as many seats
- Parking is an issue

New Mandarin

As I've mentioned many times in the past, there are plenty of spots for Dim Sum in the Lower Mainland.  However, there aren't that many new ones opening up (other than a few being renamed or bought out).  So when New Mandarin opened its doors a month ago, it has been high on my list.  Situated in the new T&T complex on Kingsway near Victoria, the place fills a need since there aren't many Dim Sum joints in the immediate area.  One would have to drive South to Western Lake or East to Come Along for the nearest competitors.  Strangely, they have 2 separate entrances from the outside which caused a bit of confusion.  Interestingly, there was no inside entrance from the parking lot.

As we sat down in the nicely appointing dining space, we were a bit surprised at how cramped it was.  Still comfortable though.  Getting to the food, we decided to get both the Black Truffle Siu Mai as well as the Siu Mai with quail's egg.  Naturally both were very similar having the same base meat mixture.  It was quite good with a light bounce texture that was varied with a meaty crunch from the shrimp.  Flavours were mild with only a slight sweetness accented by the natural pork flavour.  Of course the dollop of black truffle on top added a considerable amount of earthiness that I feel goes well with robust siu mai (doesn't work will all Chinese food).  As for the quail's egg, it was perfectly runny where not only did it provide appealing visuals, the silkiness of the yolk added a richness to the dumpling.

Onto some rice noodle rolls, we got both the Beef Rice Noodle Roll as well as the Shrimp Vermicelli Rice Noodle Roll.  Looking pretty typical, the beef rice noodle roll was stuffed full of tender and airy beef mousse.  In some sense, it lacked any real meat texture since it was essentially fluffy with bits of green onion.  The rice noodle was tender and soft with only a slight amount of elasticity.  It was just thick enough in our opinion.  Where the beef was lacking in texture, the shrimp rice noodle roll had plenty of it.  Beyond the same soft rice noodle, we found a layer of fried mung bean vermicelli which was crispy and light.  That was a nice counterbalance to the soft noodle as well as the meaty shrimp that had a good snap.  The shrimp was seasoned enough for impact while allowing the natural sweetness to come out.

Normally, we do not order the Pan Fried Daikon Pudding Cake since it is rather filling (actually we like the cubed fried XO version more), but my cousin's son really wanted it.  Hey, we spoil our kids right?  Anyways, this was pretty solid where the texture rode the fine line between firm and fluffy.  So there was still plenty of rigidity for it to stay in one piece without being dense.  There was a good mix of cured sausage and slivers of tender daikon inside while the pan fry was sufficient, but could've been more aggressive.  If you were wondering about the Ha Gau (since we already had the siu mai), it was good.  The dumpling skin was just a tad thicker than perfect, but it had a pleasant elasticity.  Inside, the shrimp filling was on point with a moist snap highlighted by the natural sweetness of the shrimp with the aroma of sesame oil.

Remember the beef in the rice noodle roll?  Well, the Beef Meatballs were actually even more airy and fluffy.  That would be good if we were talking about cotton candy, but for me at least, this lacked in the texture department.   It was as if I was eating a fish mousse dish rather than beef.  Too much baking soda and starch here.  At the very least, the meatballs tasted good with a balanced amount of greens and mild seasoning.  They were also rather large as well.  For one of veggie dishes (we had the gai lan too, but not much to talk about there), we got the Stir-Fried Pea Shoots with garlic.  This was a bit on the oiler side, but the wok fry was good where there was little moisture on the bottom of the plate.  Furthermore, the amount of minced garlic was aggressively which meant this didn't lack any flavour.

Doing their Mott 32 impersonation, the Hot & Sour Soup Dumplings looked and were presented the same way.  Wait, let me rephrase, the ones here were more Mott 32 than Mott 32 itself as we were didn't get the individual holders when we dined there.  In terms of execution, they were pretty close as the dumpling skin was thin albeit a touch soft.  Inside, the soup was tasty being tangy and spicy while the meat filling was tender and meaty without being gritty.  Back to my cousin's kids, they wanted Phoenix Talons and that they did with 2 orders!  This was also solid with plump chicken feet where the skin was soft yet not mushy.  Underneath, the cartilage and tendon were also soft, but not melted.  There was plenty of garlic and spicy notes to go with balanced amount of sweetness and saltiness.

One of the duds of the meal was the Beef Tripe served atop daikon.  As much as it was neatly presented in large slices, the texture was all wrong.  It was far too soft where it practically melted in our mouths.  Now that would be a good thing with many types of meat, but when it comes to tripe, it becomes unappealing.  There was none of the classic chewiness we normally associate with this dish.  However, the seasoning was on point and the daikon underneath was pretty good texturally.  For dessert, we got the Baked Egg Tarts which were good.  We found the pastry to be buttery and flaky with an appealing nuttiness.  The egg custard filling was silky and just dense enough that it wasn't watery.  There was just enough sweetness as well.  Overall, the food was pretty good, especially for a new restaurant.  Service was above average and the decor was pretty upscale.  I would come here again.

The Good:
- Above average eats (although a bit hit and miss)
- Solid service
- Validated parking (for 1.5 hours)

The Bad:
- Pricey
- Cramped seating arrangements