SeaQuake Brewing

A long time ago, Viv and I stayed over in Crescent City on our way back home from the Bay Area.  I remembered that we had eaten at some random Chinese restaurant on US-101 and it sucked balls.  Well, it was our fault for doing so!  This time around, we were not going to do that again.  Originally, I had planned on visiting Chart House, but once again, like restaurants in Coos Bay, it was not open for dinner on a Tuesday.  As a backup plan, we made the short 10 minute walk to the newish SeaQuake Brewing down the street from where we were staying.

The place was absolutely hopping for a Tuesday night and luckily I called ahead of time to put my name on the waiting list.  Things got off to a strong start with the Calamari served with both tomato and tartar sauce.  Featuring large strips of tender squid (that still had a good amount of bite left) coated in crunchy panko breading, the whole thing ate well and it went fast.  We thought the tomato sauce was too sweet though.  Normally, a Caesar Salad isn't anything exciting to talk about but this one was pretty tasty.  First of all, it was a large portion for $7.00.  Second, the flavours were impactful without being salty.  Huge hits of buttery garlickiness from the crunchy croutons.  The massive amount of cheese on top didn't hurt things either.

We also shared a La Carne Pizza sporting pepperoni, salami, bacon and sausage.  This thing was covered with ooey gooey cheese.  Either there wasn't any tomato sauce or there wasn't much of it because all we could see was thick layer of cheese.  On top of that, there was so much meat that we could've made a sandwich with.  As such, this thing ate very hearty and had loads of salt and spice.  Lastly, the crust was medium-thick and not dense.  The kids split a Mac n' Cheese and it was plenty cheesy as well.  The sauce was a bit thin though, yet still tasted good.  Loved the addition of bacon in the cooking process as it was smoky and salty.  Noodles could've been less cooked.

Viv and I shared the Burger and it was prepared medium.  The patty was so large, it was wider than the soft brioche bun.  It was nicely seared on the outside and moist on the inside.  Big beef flavour.  Loved the sweet onion jam as it added plenty of punch.  Fresh tomato completed this good burger.  The side of parm fries were a little overfried, hence losing most of the remaining potato texture.  We also shared a Flight consisting of Guava, Mango Cider, Citra, Blonde, Pale Ale and Lime Sour.  My favourite had to be the lime sour as it was tangy and helped cut through the greasy and salty food we were eating.  The citra was on the same track except being more refreshing than sour.  So we weren't expecting solid eats on our stop at Crescent City, but thankfully we stumbled upon SeaQuake as it was actually good.  If you are ever passing through, give it a try.

The Good:
- Solid eats
- Good brews
- Relaxed casual setting

The Bad:
- Wait can be long
- For some reason, the inside seating was much pretty warm, sitting outside was better, but then got pretty cold

Blue Heron

So our original plan was to eat at Monkey Business just past Spinreel ATV where we had a blast navigating the sand dunes.  Well, the place is closed on Tuesdays, so scratch that.  Next up was Front Street Provisioners...  Not open until 3:00pm.  Fine, look up a few more places and nope, they are just not open on Mondays and Tuesdays!  So we did the unthinkable.  Eat at a nearby random restaurant in Coos Bay.  Right on the main thoroughfare, Blue Heron Bistro was just that place.  Sporting eclectic decor and German cuisine, it seemed like an interesting enough spot for lunch.

As such, we went for some of the more well-known German dishes including the one that is actually Austrian in origin - Wiener Schntizel.  With medium-thick breading, the schnitzel was crunchy while pork tenderloin was not overwhelmed.  Even though it wasn't exactly juicy, the pork was still tender and not dried out.  We felt the sour cream mushroom gravy was probably a bit too tart, yet at the same time, it was flavourful and had a nice viscosity.  Sporting the same gravy, the Sauerbraten worked much better with it due to the inherent tanginess of the marinade.  The beef tenderloin was soft and tender and was aided by the ample amount of gravy.  On the side, the large helping of garlic mash was robust, yet smooth at the same time (some nice chunks in there too).

For myself, I had the Bratwurst with potato pancake, sauerkraut and a trio of mustards.  This was not a complex dish, but probably the best of the German offerings we tried.  The pork and veal sausage was nicely textured being tender and smooth with a rebound.  I loved the crunchy potato pancake topped with apple sauce and sour cream.  Even the sauerkraut was tasty where it was tangy with some pork hock bits.  Viv had the only non-German dish (Fish & Chips) and it was a miss in her books.  The fish was not particularly hot in the middle (although it was cooked through) and the batter was a bit greasy.  She liked how it was crunchy though.

We added a Clam Chowder partly because we were on the coast and isn't that what people eat when they are near water?  Yah, makes no sense, especially in a German restaurant.  Whatever the case, it wasn't bad being creamy and rich.  Lots of bacon in it which meant there was a salty smokiness to the chowder as well as a fatty silkiness.  The clams were definitely there, but we could've used more brininess.  As a bonus, we got a slice of the Chocolate Cake for paying in cash.  This was really good where the cake was moist and definitely chocolatey.  It wasn't overly sweet but the frosting definitely made up for that.  So there you have it, for a random restaurant, this did the trick and it wasn't too expensive.  Some hits and misses, yet a whole lot better than grabbing fast food.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Nice people
- Interesting menu and decor

The Bad:
- Some hits and misses
- Restaurant could use some cleaning

Matt's BBQ

With the unpredictable traffic that often afflicts Tacoma, we were stuck in the parking lot aka I-5 near the Tacoma Dome.  It wasn't even rush hour!  That severely delayed our arrival time in Portland which meant our eating plans would have to change.  Originally, I wanted to hit up Tasty & Daughters, but showing up during the dinner rush would mean no table for us!  So we went to plan B and hit up Matt's BBQ conveniently located in a food cart pod out on Mississippi Ave.  Beyond the threat of running out of meat, the place fit our schedule as it was casual and allowed my daughter to get her ramen fix while we went for BBQ.

We ended up getting The Whole Shebang for 2 sporting beef brisket, pork side ribs, pulled pork, sausage, potato salad, coleslaw, pit beans, white bread and pickles.  The best thing on the platter had to be the beef brisket as it was juicy and tender with a flavorful bark.  Peppery and smoky, the rub made the brisket super tasty even without any BBQ sauce.  The pulled pork was also good being moist and juicy.  It was super tender without any dry stringy portions.  Fatty and meaty, the pork sausage exhibited an appealing snap casing (maybe a bit too greasy).  Not to be outdone, the side of potato salad was fantastic.  Instead of overloading it with useless filler, it mainly consisted of potato and egg.  Therefore, it was simple and clean-tasting.  It was generally smooth with a few chunks here and there.  For an extra $3.00, we also got the Queso Mac n' Cheese.  It was freakin' fantastic!  So cheesy and creamy with a touch of spice.  Also, the noodles were still al dente.

My son had the Sliced Brisket Sandwich which was also good due to the same tender meat.  There was more than enough of it to make it a filling meal.  Loved the bun as they toasted and flattened it.  The result was a crispy exterior that held up to the meat and subsequent sauce.  We had the tangy coleslaw served on the side which brightened up the whole thing when combined.  If you can imagine, the food was pretty straightforward at Matt's, but it was done right.  Loved their take on mac n' cheese too.  Combine that with reasonable prices and a casual setting, then it makes a great place for takeout or a quick meal.

The Good:
- Well-priced
- Juicy smoky meats
- Nice people

The Bad:
- That sausage was a just a bit too greasy
- Didn't like that mango mustard

Musashi's

Here we go again, another Summer vacay and plenty of eating...  However, this time, it would be different as we were planning on doing a long road trip rather than flying.  Our 3 week journey would take us down the Oregon coast to Los Angeles, then to Vegas, Zion, Antelope and Byrce Canyon, Salt Lake City, Yellowstone, Kelowna and back.  To start things off, we made a visit to Goose's place so I could pick up some items I ordered.  After that, we made our way to the nearby Musashi's for a quick and relatively healthy lunch.  This was in anticipation of all the other not-so-healthy eats that were on the itinerary!

Much like Fremont Bowl, Musashi's is famous for their Chirashi Don.  My son didn't waste anytime looking at the menu as he made up his mind once he walked into the place.  Although not quite as epic as the one found at Fremont Bowl, the one here was good nonetheless.  It featured tuna, salmon, yellow tail, unagi, red tuna, scallop, shrimp and flying fish roe.  Things were fresh and textures were on point.  This was especially true for the salmon and yellow tail exhibiting buttery textures and sweet flavour.  The rice underneath was chewy and not overly wet not dry.  Very satisfying and well-priced.  For my daughter, she went for the Lunch Assorted Sushi Plate consisting of 1 piece each of tuna, yellow tail, prawn and salmon nigiri as well as 8 pieces of assorted maki.  We found the nigiri to be good where the fish was just as fresh as the chirashi don.  However, the maki was rolled too tightly where the rice was hard and dense.  

Viv ended up with the Special Bento with chicken & beef skewers, sashimi, tamago and grilled veggies.  Once again, the sashimi was solid with ...  The skewers were fairly large with charred marinated meat.  They could've been possibly cooked a little less, but they were not dry either.  Also charred, the veggies were smoky and not overdone.  Impressively constructed, the tamago was buttery soft with just the right amount of sweetness.  For myself, I had the Salmon Kama with rice.  It was cooked perfectly where the meat was buttery and moist.  With a squeeze of lemon, there was enough natural flavours to make a subtle impact.  There was so much rice on the plate, I couldn't finish it.  Overall, we thought Musashi's was decent.  The chirashi don as well as the nigiri were pretty spot on but the maki was actually terrible.  It may have been a one-off, but I'd steer away from the maki sushi personally.

The Good:
- Fish looked and tasted good
- Simple focused menu
- Nice people

The Bad:
- Maki was terrible
- Small place, fills up easily

Mr. Tonkatsu (Surrey)

I'm sure most of you have eaten at, seen or heard of the Japanese tonkatsu spot called Saku.  For me, it was quite the wonderment that we didn't have a place like that sooner (even though Saboten, which is a quick-service stall in Aberdeen Mall, set up shop much earlier).  I mean, we already saw the influx of ramen shops open around the Lower Mainland for the past decade.  Why couldn't we have Japanese restaurants solely serving tonkatsu?  Well, as mentioned, we have Saku (now with more than one location) and we also have the chain Mr. Tonkatsu occupying the strip mall across from Guildford Town Centre on 152nd.  Similarly to Saku, the place is Korean-run, which is not a negative by any means, it just means we got to order some KFC!

This has actually been around for a bit and I originally saw Joyce post it first.  After a failed attempt on a Monday during the Summer (they are closed that day), we made an effort to drive out there on Saturday.  It was fairly busy, but we didn't have to wait long.  Before we got to the tonkatsu, we had the Crispy Shrimp which was good and bad.  The good was the light bouncy sweet shrimp.  On the other hand, the bad was the batter as it was crisp in some spots but soggy in others.  Next, we had a large plate of Soy Garlic Korean Fried Chicken.  Made with large strips of tender juicy chicken, the flavours really did pop.  Plenty of garlic and sweetness while the level of spice was a surprise.  We found the batter mostly crunchy except for a few softer spots.

My son had the Pork Tenderloin Katsu with refillable rice, cabbage and miso soup.  On the side, we found sesame with a mortar and pestle to go with the sweet tonkatsu sauce.  Generous in portion size, the tenderloin was soft, moist and almost airy.  It was still meaty enough though with a light crunch on the outside.  With copious amount of ground sesame and the sweet tonkatsu sauce (a bit too sweet though), this ate really well.  Just like last time at Saku, my daughter had the Chicken with Cheese Katsu (well, she had pork last time, but you get the idea).  This was so full of stringy mild-tasting cheese, it was leaking out profusely.  Chicken was juicy while the crispy coating was just the right contrast to the soft insides.  I would say this was just a bit less well-constructed than the one at Saku, but it still ate just as good.

Viv and I ended up sharing the Pork Loin Katsu Curry because the KFC was so filling.  This was also a large portion where the loin was not dry at all despite being lean.  Naturally, it was meatier and denser than the tenderloin, which was fine.  Although the panko held up well on the top, the part on top of the rice got really soggy.  We found the curry to be well-balanced where it wasn't too sweet.  There was a background spice and the plethora of onions added an extra layer of flavour.  This was pretty good as well as the other dishes.  However, I would say that Saku is better in overall execution.  Naturally, there is no Saku in Surrey, so Mr. Tonkatsu is a more-than-acceptable choice for the area.

The Good:
- Large portions
- Execution of proteins are on point

The Bad:
- Inconsistent texture when it comes to the breading

Heritage Asian Eatery (Broadway)

Long ago, I visited the very hot Heritage Asian Eatery located in Downtown Vancouver.  At the time, they were one of the first places to offer up Asian-inspired eats that didn't suck.  Let me rephrase that more eloquently...  Heritage actually tried to keep closer to their Asian roots and provided people with food that was not only appealing to look at, but also consisting of traditional Chinese flavours and techniques melded into a more modern presentation and construction.  I came away moderately impressed where some items were really good while others could've used a few tweaks.  They had opened up a Broadway location awhile back, but I finally got around to trying it as they rolled out their new Chinese BBQ meats.

As such, I got their 4 Treasures Plate consisting of BBQ duck, BBQ pork, soya chicken and Heritage egg.  If we look at this at an initial attempt by a place that isn't known for Chinese BBQ, I would say this was not bad.  I found the duck to be moist and natural-tasting where it could've been seasoned more aggressively and the skin could've been crispier and rendered.  The pork was fine, yet a bit stiff.  Best of all was the chicken was it was flavourful and moist.  Chewy and nutty, the rice was perfect for the sauce, however, there wasn't enough of it.  Furthermore, this was missing the classic ginger and green onion condiment and plum sauce.  I also got a classic item in the Wonton Soup.  If you look closely, they were more like Sui Gau where the filling consisted of shrimp and veggies.  I found the shrimp to be a bit lacking in snap, but the dumpling was pleasant enough.  The soup was also fine, but could've used stronger seasoning.

At first, the Xiao Long Bao didn't look very promising as the wrapper looked rather generic and not particularly thin.  People must understand that not all XLBs feature thin wrappers nor classic twirl nubs on the top.  There are a few styles in China that are all legit.  This would be the case here as they ate much better than they looked.  The skin was surprisingly delicate and not dense at all.  The filling was tender and moist while the amount of soup was adequate.  I found that it was mostly sweet and one note though.  From there, we moved onto 2 versions of their Bao.  I tried the Pork Belly Bao first and the bun itself was fairly thin and soft.  Inside, the large piece of belly was fatty and tender.  The braising liquid did come through as well as the kimchi daikon with a fermented spice and tang.  Adding crunch was crispy onion.  Trying to emulate Peking duck, the Duck Bao accomplished that with hoisin, crunchy cucumber and crispy onions.

We finished off with 2 of their bowls that consisted of the same ingredients as the bao.  Sporting plenty of fatty Pork Belly, lime cabbage slaw, crispy onions, daikon kimchi and Heritage egg, the flavours were very similar to the bao.  However, with the addition of the egg, there was an added silkiness.  Furthermore, the kimchi daikon was even more apparent here due to the increased amount.  As for the Duck Rice Bowl, in addition to the hoisin glazed duck breast, we found shredded leg meat, lime cabbage slaw, crispy onions and Heritage egg.  Once again, the flavours didn't deviate much from the bao and was the tastier of the 2.  For the items we tried here, this visit to the Broadway location of Heritage was good.  With that being said, some tweaks are needed to make it great.

The Good:
- Fairly solid eats
- Portion sizes are fair
- Increased selection with the introduction of BBQ meats

The Bad:
- Some tweaks required to make the BBQ competitive with the best in town
- There isn't anything particularly wrong with the food, yet it is just a step down from being even better

Sweet Honey Dessert

Since we didn't have dessert at the Jade Seafood Restaurant, Mijune and I made the short hop over to Sweet Honey Dessert.  Even though it was literally a few blocks away, classic Richmond traffic made it an adventure.  Once we got into the parking lot, part 2 of the adventure involved fighting for a parking spot.  Ah yes, the joys of dining in Richmond!  The reason we decided on Sweet Honey Dessert was their puppy ice cream that has been all over IG in the past half-year.  Yep, we finally bought into the hype...

So yes, we got the Puppy Ice Cream that only had one choice of flavour - Mango.  I got to say that the puppy was cute and even the fur was emulated perfectly.  Looks aside, Mijune quickly cut the puppy in half and started digging in.  #savage  Anyways, I felt the flavour was not that apparent as it tasted more like imitation mango that you would've find at some Dim Sum spots.  Furthermore, the texture was off-putting with a gelatin-like start and a sticky ending mouth-feel.  There was far too many stabilizers in there where they thing didn't even melt after an hour.  

That was not good, but the Mango Sago with premium tofu was refreshing and tasty. Normally, I find tofu desserts suffer from an overwhelming "soy milk-like" flavour that cannot be masked by anything (even copious amounts of sugar).  I know some people love the taste, but for me, it isn't appealing.  This was not the case here as the tofu was silky and smooth without much of an aftertaste.  Furthermore, the subtle mango hits were enough for impact while the sweetness was restrained.  Considering that fact, it was impressive that the tofu did not dominate the flavour profile.

Lastly, and probably the best dessert we had was the Cheese Souffle Pancakes accompanied by an array of fresh fruit.  Okay, my experience with these types of pancakes have been limited, but this has been the best so far.  They were fully cooked while fluffy and airy.  We got a good taste of the cheese and the sweetness was muted.  I would come back for this rather than the puppy ice cream.  That pretty much sums it up as the 2 non-puppy desserts were on point.  I guess the ol' adage is true - things that look great on IG may and generally are not as good as they appear.

The Good:
- Souffle pancakes are texturally on point
- Spacious and clean
- Fairly friendly servers

The Bad:
- Desserts could be bland for some (I didn't mind personally)
- Parking really sucks
- The puppy ice cream sucks even more