Sherman's Food Adventures

Hanai Vancouver

So one of the newer restaurants on Commercial Drive isn't really all that new.  Hanai, which takes over the spot Ugly Dumpling used to reside, started out as a food stand, then a takeout spot.  So moving into a brick & mortar location is a huge step forward for owners Tess Bevernage and Thomas Robillard.  Vancouver is blessed with a variety of cuisines, but Hawaiian isn't well-represented (unless you include the countless poke shops...).  For me, I love Hawaiian food and I finally made it out to Hanai for their well-priced Ohana Menu for $60.00 per person.

As mentioned in my previous posts, the cost of eating out is through the roof these days.  Hey, I don't blame the restaurants as they need to cover their expenses.  So this family-style menu is a great deal in my books.  We started things off with the some soft bread with a delicious Tall Shadows Ube Buns & Limu Butter.  The buns were only lightly kissed with ube and were super-soft.  However, the star of the show was the butter.  It was so filled with umami and the taste of the sea, we wished there was more!  We would've eaten with a spoon...

Our next course consisted of 4 dishes including Whole Pig Pork Terrine with pickles, Crispy Smelt, Curry Dashi Squash and Purple Yams. Starting with the terrine, it was made with various parts of a whole pig, hence the different textures and flavours were pronounced.  Very meaty, a bit porky and definitely tender.  It was served with pickles and some gochujang.  Absolutely loved the crispy smelt as they were delicate and deliciously fishy.  Kewpie mayo was served with it.  The delicate sweetness of the squash was accented by a mild hint of curry while the naturally sweet purple yam benefited from the nuttiness of the sesame seeds.

In between the aforementioned course and the next, we were served the Cheesy Rice Cakes with gochujang and mozzarella.  Personally, I would've liked it with a some more kick, but this still had most of what makes this dish good.  Namely, the rice cakes were soft and tender while retaining a chew.  Also, the flavours of the dish included spice, sweetness and tanginess.  Lastly, can't hurt with all that ooey gooey cheese on top.

Onto yet another multi-dish course, we had the Potato Salad, Roasted Beet Salad and Manila Clams.  Featuring sieglinde potatoes, smoked bonito and kewpie mayo, the potato salad was chunky with some firmness.  It was creamy with a bit of smoky fishiness.  It was topped with a ramen egg.  I really enjoyed the beet salad where the beets were firm, yet tender.  Nice sweet earthiness complimented by the nutty and sweet sesame dressing.  The purple daikon and pickled wakame added even more texture to the salad as well as acidity from the wakame.  The best of the three was the Manila clams in a ginger & lemongrass broth complimented by cured Chinese sausage (Lap Cheong) and chili.  These little clams were buttery soft and briny.  I thought the saltiness from the sausage and the chili added depth and impact to the otherwise mild fragrant broth.

Okay, onto the literally the meat of the meal, we had the Huli Huli Chicken, Cropthorne Farm Carrots, Furikake Rice, Perilla Leaves and Two Rivers Pork Chop.  Now if the chicken looks suspiciously like Chinese soy chicken, you aren't far off since this was indeed cooked with sweet shoyu.  It was perfectly prepared where the meat (including the beast) was super moist and juicy.  On the side, there was a finadene sauce which added tang, sharpness and spice.  Equally moist and juicy, the bone-in pork chop was topped with an umami-packed fermented black bean butter sauce.  It was balanced where the butter tempered the saltiness of the black beans.  Not to be outdone, the roasted carrots were cooked through, yet still had a firm crunch.  They were naturally sweet and a bit earthy.  On top, there was a extensively briny XO sauce.  To compliment all the meats and full-bodied flavours, we had some furikake rice with a side of braised perilla leaves.  The leaves were great to wrap things with and had a nice herbaceous hit.

Finally, we got to our last course which was dessert.  We were served both the Banana Melt (consisting of banana cake, brown sugar coconut, Filipino cheese and fior di latte gelato) and Rouie's Guinatan (mochi, banana, ube and coconut milk).  We found the banana cake a touch dry, but it was still aromatic and just semi-sweet.  The cheese on top added an "it" factor to the dessert in terms of texture and savouriness.  A scoop of gelato from next door (Dolce Amore) helped add moisture to the cake.  Of the two, I loved Rouie's Guinatan the most as it was so creamy and aromatic from the coconut milk.  Those hand-made mochi balls were so soft and appealing.  This was just sweet enough and I could've had a few of them for myself.  Overall, this was a really good meal at a reasonable price.  There was more than enough food for all of us and we even had leftovers.  Proteins were cooked perfectly and the sides were equally delicious.  We will be back.

The Good:
- Well-prepared proteins
- Reasonable-pricing and generous portions
- Excellent service

The Bad:
- Seating is a bit tight due to the size of the restaurant 

 

Time & Place

Long ago, Crystal Grille at the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown featured an underrated Sunday buffet.  It had changed names to Reflect over 10 years ago and still featured the buffet.  Sadly, that buffet is now gone (they still have a standard breakfast buffet though) and we are only left with a default hotel restaurant.  Once again, they rebranded and now it is known as Time & Place.  Interestingly, after looking at the menu online, the prices seemed very reasonable for a hotel restaurant.  Since my parents loved coming here for the buffet in the past, we took them along to see what this new place had in store.

Since we arrived in time for Happy Hour, we gladly selected a few items from that menu.  Interestingly a 1/2 pound of Wings during happy hour equated to $9.00.  But the regular price for 1 pound was $18.00.  Um, I don't think we were getting a deal...  Anyways, we ended up with 3 orders consisting of hot, garlic & pepper and salt & pepper.  Despite the stark difference in colour, the wings were uniformly crispy with juicy meat.  The hot wings were actually spicy and we enjoyed them.  As for the other 2, they tasted somewhat similar.

Although the Truffle Fries were not the house-cut variety, they were still quite good.  Yes, they somewhat resembled Costco fries, but that wasn't a bad thing though.  Each starch-coated fry was super crispy and ever-so-fluffy inside.  They were well-seasoned and only had just enough truffle oil tossed into it.  Good amount of parm on top to add some nutty saltiness.  These type of fries tend to be greasy, but we didn't find them so.

One of the better values on the happy hour menu is the Applewood House-Smoked Beef Brisket Sliders served with house potato chips.   Nestled within the firm, yet not overly chewy buns, there was a good amount of buttery soft and fatty beef brisket, grainy dijon mayo and caramelized onion.  Pretty good for a non-BBQ restaurant.  Although I wonder why the house-made chips and no house-made fries?

Our last happy hour item was the Slow-Roasted Pork Belly Mac & Cheese which was a fairly large portion.  Although this was on the drier side, there was still enough cheesiness in terms of texture and flavour from the bechamel made of edam and aged cheddar.  As for the macaroni, it was perfectly al dente with a firm chewiness.  There wasn't a huge amount of pork belly, but when we had some, the small bites were tender, fatty and meaty-tasting.

Onto an appie from the regular menu, we had the West Coast Mussels with T&P house lager, chorizo, caramelized onion and fresh cilantro.  Okay, for $18.00, this was an absolute steal.  This pot of mussels was filled to the brim.  As you can clearly see in the picture, these were extremely plump mussels at that.  Furthermore, they were cooked perfectly being buttery, briny and sweet.  Another positive - all of them were fully open.

For myself, I went for the House Ground & Pound Burger featuring a CAB brisket patty, LTOP and edam cheese on a kasier bun.  I thought the burger patty was excellent being moist, meaty and just fatty enough.  All the produce in the burger was fresh and vibrant while the burger sauce was creamy.  However, I would've preferred a softer bun like a brioche or at the very least, toast the kaiser bun instead of serving it as is.

Viv had the West Coast Cioppino consisting of Kuterra salmon and Pacific ling cod, West Coast mussels, tiger prawns, fingerling potato and broccolini in a fennel saffron broth.  For $32.00, this was an absolute steal.  The picture doesn't do it justice as it was chock full of perfectly cooked seafood.  Both the salmon and cod were hard seared, yet still were flaky and moist.  The broth was tomato-forward with a fennel finish.  It could've used a bit more salt though.  

My daughter decided on her favourite, Kuttera Salmon Filet with black garlic spätzle, charred green bean and cauliflower atop a roasted sunchoke and shallot emulsion.  Again, the salmon featured a hard sear and was mildly-seasoned.  This piece was cooked a bit more than the one found in the cioppino.  That black garlic spätzle was packed full of umami and featured an al dente bite.  Rounding out the dish was an aromatic emulsion.

My parents were pretty satisfied with the appies we were ordered, but they still shared the 10oz Grilled CAB Rib Eye Steak with mashed potatoes, charred tomato, broccolini, red wine demi and chimichurri.  Although the steak was charred, I would've preferred a bit more of it.  It was perfectly medium-rare though and was fairly tender.  The chimichurri was bright and flavourful while the demi was rich and silky.

For dessert, we shared two including the Apple Crumble with passionfruit mousse.  Okay, I want to say something positive here, but I cannot because this was terrible.  They didn't baked this enough (in the reheating process) where the crust was flimsy while the topping was mushy.  In fact, the whole thing was barely lukewarm.  Compounding the problem was that there was a complete lack of flavour too.

Now the Caramel Sea Salt Brownie was much better.  It was chewy, purposefully sweet and completely chocolatey.  The sea salt further enhanced the already impactful flavours. It was topped with vanilla bean gelato and there was a side of berrry compote.  Apple crumble withstanding, the food at Time & Place was respectable with some real highlights.  Considering the reasonable pricing, I would actually recommend the place if you were looking for a nicer dinner in a relaxed spot.  It is no more expensive than most of the chain restaurants out there.  Sure, it really depends on what you order, but if you do hit the right dishes, you will be satisfied.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Depending what you order, the food is more than acceptable
- Excellent service

The Bad:
- Some refinement is necessary, like the bun for the burger and the crappy Apple Crumble
- Very low-key spot, so not trendy like some other restaurants (however, I don't mind low-key sometimes myself)

Sushi U

If you do not live in the Burnaby North area, specifically around Broadway near Holdom, you would hardly know the restaurants that reside in the small strip mall featuring Buy-Low Foods.  There is a good small Vietnamese spot called White Lotus as well as a Chinese restaurant in Garlic & Chili.  We cannot forget Parkcrest Diner with its ol' skool eats.  There is also a newish Japanese restaurant there named Sushi U in the location formerly occupied by Bentei Sushi.  I've been to Bentei in the past and it was a run-down spot with very average eats.  However, we wanted to give Sushi U a try because they have completely remodeled the place and reviews have been good.

The first thing we noticed, other than the modern decor, was the fairly premium pricing of the menu.  We do understand that food costs are high and it will reflect in restaurant menus.  Our first item was the Assorted Tempura consisting of ebi, yam, kobacha, green bean and broccoli.  This was quite good where everything was lightly-battered and crispy.  Grease was kept to a minimum and the ingredients were cooked just right.  Beans and broccoli still had crunch while the yam and squash were soft with a bite.

Next we had the Chicken Katsu served with rice and salad.  This was a fairly large portion with a flattened chicken cutlet that was breaded with panko.  It was deep fried until golden brown where it was crunchy and nutty.  However, the breading didn't adhere well to the chicken and most parts slid off as we picked it up with our chopsticks.  Despite that, we still enjoyed it as the chicken was moist and as mentioned, the panko was crunchy.

Interestingly, we added the Chicken Yakisoba after our original order, but it arrived lightning quick.  I surmised there must've been a backlog of sushi/sashimi orders for takeout.  Anyways, this was also good with a proper ratio of noodles to veggies and meat.  It wasn't too saucy, which I prefer, yet at the same time, it wasn't dry either.  There was enough seasoning that was balanced between sweet, tangy and savoury.  Cabbage was still crunchy while the chicken was tender.

Finally, we made it to the sushi with the Aburi Sampler featuring ebi, tai, salmon, hotate, saba and tuna.  We thought these were decent where the ingredients were fresh and properly portioned in relation to the rice.  These were lightly torched and personally, I would've like to see even more charring.  It might've possibly be due to the conservative amount of sauce on top.  However, I can see how this would be appealing as well, since the whole thing wasn't drenched in mayo either.

For our choice of specialty roll, we selected the classic Rainbow Roll with layers of salmon, tuna, avocado, ebi and hokkigai on top.  As usual, the base was a California Roll and the whole thing was topped with 2 sauces (on being a mayo based and the other being unagi sauce).  This was also quite solid with chewy seasoned rice with plenty of imitation crab meat in the middle.  Ingredients on top were good and evenly portioned.

As per usual, we got some Nigiri for the kids including chopped scallop, unagi, tamago and toro.  Similar to the aburi sampler, the nigiri featured a good ratio of topping to rice.  Hence, it ate well with enough impact from the ingredients.  Chopped scallop was sweet and delicate while the unagi was buttery and soft.  Tamago was rather generic, but the toro was super soft and buttery.  Again, the rice was prepared properly being chewy but not dry.

Lastly, we were served the Assorted Sashimi sporting tuna, Atlantic salmon, sockeye salmon, tai, saba and hokkigai.  As you can see in the picture, the fish looked good, with a nice sheen and colour.  Textures were good, especially the sockeye salmon with a firm sweetness.  So in the end, we were actually pretty surprised at the quality and execution of the food at Sushi U.  Way better than the previous place and this could even be in the convo for a hidden gem.

The Good:
- Above average eats
- Simple modern decor
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Prices are just a bit higher than some of the value sushi spots, but I guess they aren't competing against them?
- Due to them being busy with takeout (good for them!), the things that should've came first didn't

North Garden Cafe

A long time ago, we had dined at North Garden Cafe up on the corner of North Road and Cameron.  My memory escapes me, but I do believe that location used to be Lone Star BBQ.  Anyways, we thought the food was fine, but the actual location was in a bit of disrepair with the laminate flooring coming apart underneath us.  Furthermore, the service was really poor.  After it shut down awhile back, I thought it was gone forever, but to my surprise, it showed up again in the plaza right next to the new Safeway on Clarke Road near Como Lake.  It is not a much smaller spot run only by the husband-and-wife team.

We decided to check it out again in its new home with the whole family including my parents.  Unlike the old location, the menu trends more towards Cantonese dishes rather than HK-style cafe ones.  Hence, we went for the build-your-own-dinner for 4 (and added some other dishes to supplement).  This included a choice of soup and we had the Egg Drop Corn Soup with Chicken.  It was quite good with just enough starch to have a silky thickness and there was plenty of chicken in it.  Soup was sweet and could've used a bit more salt, but that didn't make or break it.

Now the pictures don't do it justice, but the plates here are enormous!  The Sweet & Sour Pork was easily 1/3 to 1/2 bigger in size than most other restaurants.  In terms of execution, it was also quite good.  There was a lack of fatty pieces, which meant it was mostly meat.  With that said, the meat was still tender and juicy due to the slight marbling.  Batter was not too thick and in fact, was still crunchy in spots.  We found the sauce to be tangy enough with balancing sweetness.

Again, the picture of the Gai Lan with Beef doesn't illustrate the amount of meat piled on top of the veggies.  We kept eating it and it didn't seem like we were making a dent.  We found the gai lan to be a touch old, but it was cooked in enough wok heat that it was crunchy while mostly tender.  The beef was a bit overtenderized by baking soda, so it was in smaller pieces, but as a result, it was super tender and nicely caramelized from the wok fry.

At this point, we were being overwhelmed by the portion sizes as the Beef Brisket Hot Pot was briming with meat.  Sure, there was some veggies underneath, but make no mistake, this was mostly brisket.  There was a good mix of leaner pieces with fattier ones.  Yet, all of them were tender and stewed perfectly.  The starch-thickened sauce was flavourful and stayed thick even mixed with the veggies underneath.

Going in a different direction, we had the Mixed Seafood with Snap Peas next.  Just like everything else, they did not hold back on the seafood consisting of squid, fish and shrimp.  Due to the high wok heat, everything was cooked just enough and there was no moisture on the bottom of the plate.  Fish was tender and flaky, squid was soft with some chew while the shrimp had a snap.  Veggies were crisp and vibrant with just enough seasoning.

To get a sense of their limited HK-style cafe offerings, we got the classic Baked Pork Chop Rice.  Yep, they decided to use a large Pyrex plate and hence, the portion size was massive.  Underneath the tangy and balanced tomato sauce, we found many pieces of tender fried panko-coated pork chops.  Beneath that, there was a fried rice base that was nutty and chewy enough to accept the sauce without being soggy.

Lastly, we had another HK-style cafe staple in the Spaghetti Bolognese.  Now this dish was a bit weird.  It resembled more of a "Ja Jeun Mein" sauce rather than a HK-style Bolognese.  Now if we look at it from that view, the dish was tasty with al dente noodles coated in a meaty and savoury sauce.  It just wasn't what I was expecting.  So as you can see, this meal was super good value due to the enormous portion sizes.  With inflation these days, it is harder and harder to find good deals while eating out.  This is definitely one of them and great for takeout as well.  Yes, there are superior restaurants out there, but for the price, North Garden does an admirable job in providing decent eats that are a good value.

The Good:
- Decent eats
- Gigantic portions
- Nice people

The Bad:
- There is better, but not at this price and portion size
- Small restaurant, would get full easily if it were busy

Per Se Social Corner

Okay, this visit to Per Se Social Corner happened before they made the Michelin-recommended list.  In fact, we ate here just before the Elton John Farewell Yellow Brick Road concerts.  It was fabulous!  Anyways, I've been meaning to come here for my birthday earlier this year, but then Omnicron hit...  So here we are finally hitting up the place.  Interestingly, this was the only corner at Homer & Smythe that I hadn't eaten at yet since I've been to Homer Street Cafe and Tutto.

When we initially ordered the Criminale, we didn't have any expectations for their pizzas.  Well, it was fantastic.  With even leoparding on the crust and bottom, there was smoky nuttiness throughout.  The crust was uniformly crispy, thin and nicely salted.   I'm not afraid to say this is one of the better Neapolitan-style pizzas I've had in the city.  No joke.  As for the toppings, the San Marzano tomato sauce had plenty of depth and tang.  Nice spice from the soppressata picante and smoky saltines from the applewood smoked bacon.  Adding more flavour was the prosciutto cotto, while the red onions offered up some sharpness.

Onto the Calamari di Mamma, it featured a gluten-free batter (which appeared to be rice flour).  It was super crispy and well-seasoned.  The calamari itself was tender with an appealing chew.  Served on the side was a lemon wedge as well as house made tartar and chipotle aioli.  I thought the tartar was quite good with a bright creaminess and tang.  As for the aioli, it was a bit smoky with only a mild spiciness.

We also got the Patatas Bravas just because it is one of our favourite tapas items.  This was a fairly large portion consisting of fried split gem potatoes.  I think due to the choice of potato, they didn't fry up particularly crispy (and were rather dense).  That didn't mean these didn't taste good though.  They were tossed in a spicy and smoky marinara (the smokiness was from the paprika).  The whole thing was drizzled with vegan aioli.

We ordered a couple of pastas including the Cacio e Pepe featuring fresh mafalda pasta, pecorino romano and cracked black pepper.  This simple dish was flavourful from the salty and nutty cheese accented by the bite from the black pepper.  Loved the pasta as it was firmly al dente and held onto the cheese well.  We added braised beef to give the dish some more something something.  It was decently tender with a full-bodied meat flavour. 

Our next pasta was the freshly made Gnocchi al Pomodoro with San Marzano marinara, parmigiana reggiano, fresh basil and Sicilian olive oil.  For good measure, we added the al arribiata chorizo.  Due to the combination of ingredients, this was zesty and tangy.  Plenty of impact here.  As for the gnocchi, they were soft and pillowy, yet still retaining a background chew.  Loved the spiciness added by the chorizo.

We couldn't visit Per Se and not have their famed Burger consisting of 8oz in-house handground organic Alberta beef, fresh challah bun, melted fontina cheese, truffle aioli and syrah caramelized onions and cipollini flakes.  Oh man, this was fantastic!  The meat was cooked just right where it was so tender, it melted-in-our-mouths.  Plenty of natural flavours accented by the truffle aioli and the sweet onions.  Those cipollini flakes added such appealing crunch to the soft ingredients.

We upgraded the fries to Truffle Fries that went with the burger.  These didn't look it, but they were actually fantastic.  I believe they were triple-fried and hence, were super crispy with a tender centre.  They didn't overdo it with the truffle oil nor the parm, so the potato flavour was still there.  The side of truffle aioli featured real black truffle, so that was a treat.  Overall, the food at Per Se was quite good with the pizza and burger being the highlights.  There is much more on the menu we didn't get to try, but I would totally go back to do that.

The Good:
- Excellent pizza and that burger!
- Attentive service
- Love the energy

The Bad:
- Potatoes could've been better 

H2 Kitchen + Bar (Sunday Supper Series)

I'm pretty sure you've noticed that the price of food these days is through the roof.  Every time I do a Costco run, the bill never seems to fall below $500.00.  Now imagine how much restaurant prices have increased...   Hey, I don't blame them since they are a business and the cost of food must be factored into the menu price.  However, what if I told you there is a deal to be had.  H2 Kitchen + Bar has a Sunday Supper Series that includes either an à la carte plate or family-style platter of their featured main protein.  I gathered up the family to try this out one Sunday night.

Before we got to the family-style platter, we started with the H2 Share Platter sporting popcorn shrimp, chicken wings, yam fries, waffle fries, jalapeno poppers and pickles.  This was quite the amount of food with big chicken drumettes that were juicy with a crunchy breading. Popcorn shrimp were actually quite large and also sported a crispy seasoned batter.  Waffle fries were crunchy while tender inside.  Same could be said for the yam fries as they were creamy inside with a crispy exterior.  Jalapeno poppers were filled with cream cheese and the batter was light and crispy. 

For the Sunday night we chose, they were offering the 35 oz Smoked CAB Prime Rib with all the sides for only $125.00.  If you take a closer look, there are count 'em 5 thick slices of prime rib with horseradish, red wine jus and Yorkshire pudding.  That was enough for 4 people, if not 5.  Heck, if you add some supplementary items (like we did), you could feed 6 with this meal.  Although the prime rib was medium, it was still super tender and moist.  Naturally, there was an aromatic smokiness as well.

To go with the prime rib, we were served a huge Harvest Salad that consisted of radicchio, kale, maple-roasted butternut squash, caramelized onion, dried cranberry, toasted seeds, feta and balsamic vinaigrette.  We found this salad very radicchio forward and hence, there was plenty of bitterness.  It was balanced off by the sweetness of the squash, caramelized onion and cranberries.  The creamy goat's cheese added another texture as well as the crunch from the seeds.

We absolutely loved the large side of Bayshore Honey-Glazed Carrots with Crispy Brussels Sprouts.  These beautiful carrots were roasted perfectly where they were cooked through while still retaining some firmness.  There was a natural sweet earthiness to them, but the intensity of the sweetness was enhanced by the caramelized honey.  Oh and those Brussels sprouts were indeed crispy, yet they were still tender and moist inside.

Lastly, but not least, the Crushed Red Skinned Potatoes were excellent.  They were super creamy, yet still retained plenty of body.  The seasoning was on point with enough to be impactful while still having a natural potato flavour.  By keeping the skin in the mash, there was extra texture and some earthiness.  So there you go, a gourmet family meal for $125.00 served in a classy and modern dining space.  A pretty good deal in my books.  Loved that they change the main protein often, so you can go back again and again without eating the same thing.

*Food was complimentary excluding beverages and gratuity*

The Good:
- Well-prepared eats
- Reasonable-pricing
- Modern, yet classy space

The Bad:
- Wished we could've requested the doneness of the meat (however, with smoked meats, it can be difficult to do that)

 

The Fish Man

Now here is a restaurant that I should've visited when it first opened.  The Fish Man has been serving up live seafood in the former location of Maji on Alexandra for around 3 years and this is the first time I've tried it.  I guess it didn't hurt that Mijune was paying (thank you Mijune!).  Other than a small section at the end featuring BBQ skewers, the entire menu is completely focused on seafood.  Hey, I'm not complaining as I generally adhere to a see-food diet.  LOL...

To get things started, we had the lightly-poached Geoduck with scallion ginger oil and sweetened soy.  As mentioned, the seafood here is fresh and high-quality.  This was exemplified with the geoduck as it was sweet and texturally super tender with a light chew.  It was cooked just a touch to allow the natural flavours to shine as well as optimizing its texture.  Loved the subtle brightness of the oil and the restraint of the soy.

Oh man, I absolutely love Razor Clams and I was going to savour every bite.  These were simply steamed with a plethora of minced garlic and a touch of scallion oil with soy.  Underneath, there was some vermicelli to soak up all of the juices.  With shellfish, it is imperative that the cook on them is perfect because too much and it is rubbery and too little and it is raw.  They nailed it with the clams as they were buttery with an appealing background snap.  They were so sweet and were beautifully accented by the garlic.  I could've eaten a pound of these.

It just kept coming with the outstanding Wok Fried Salt Spring Mussels.  The thoughtfulness, when it comes to their ingredients, was illustrated with this dish.  Rather than using smaller PEI mussels, they chose the larger plump variety and it was all the difference.  There was so much juicy meat that was delicate and deliciously briny.  Again, they were cooked just enough and the seasoning was on point.  Good amount of spice without being overwhelming.

The Sour Cabbage Rock Cod Hot Pot was the showstopper of our meal.  This picture doesn't do it justice in terms of portion size.  It was absolutely massive and could easily feed 4 people, if not more.  Even though there was sour cabbage, mung bean noodles and tofu underneath, there was still a massive amount of flaky rock cod.  Hence, the broth was so sweet and had the freshness of the sea.  It was balanced off by the tang of the sour cabbage as well as spiciness.  We actually finished everything including the broth.  So tasty!

Even though the place is all about the seafood, we decided to get some veggies in the form of Stir-Fried Taiwanese Cauliflower.  This was super simple with basic wok-fry, yet it was also very good.  With high BTUs, the veggies were cooked-all-the-way-through while still having a crunch.  There was no moisture on the bottom of the plate and there was very little grease as well.

Our last dish was something I was expecting to be chewy.  You see, Silkie Chicken (black chicken) is usually great for soups, but as for meat, it can be typically tough.  However, the Silkie Chicken and Fresh Sea Cucumber was actually quite good.  The chicken was tender with plenty chicken flavour while the sea cucumber was soft.  Actually, everything was really good and the ingredients were high-quality.  I wished that I had visited earlier.  Well, no matter, I'll be back soon enough.

The Good:
- High quality and fresh seafood
- Perfectly prepared seafood
- That fish soup!

The Bad:
- Well, you will have to pay for live seafood (but to me at least, it isn't expensive for what you get)
- Yes, parking is an issue

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