Sura Korean BBQ (Richmond)

Believe it or not, I've never visited the Richmond location of Sura before.  I've been to the Robson location for their amazing lunch set quite a long time ago.  To me, it is one of the best values in the city.  Too bad they do not currently offer it in Richmond.  When we had the hankering for Korean BBQ one night, it looked like as good of a time to actually hit up Sura in Aberdeen Centre.  Love how spacious it is compared to the Downtown Vancouver spot.

Of course before we got to the actual food we ordered, they served us a selection of Banchan.  This included 3 types of salad, fried yellow croaker, stewed potatoes, kimchi and marinated bean curd skin.  This was a solid selection that was a meal in itself.  As much as the meals at Sura aren't exactly cheap, they are actually good value considering the portion size, quality and included side dishes.  With that being said, the potatoes were a touch underdone.  Kimchi was very mild, but wasn't too sour.  Loved the fish, we heated it up on the grill.  Flesh was very moist.

Onto the Korean BBQ, we selected the Royal Marinated Galbi.  At first glance, one would be a little troubled at the $55.00 for one serving.  However, it was a substantial amount of tender short rib.  Furthermore, it was good quality as the meat was tender with only a bit of classic short rib chew.  It was well marinated where the flavour was there without being too salty nor sweet.  It cooked up nicely on the evenly heated grill.  It was well-ventilated as well.

Although we were already served bowls of rice, we ended up ordering the Dolset Bulgogi Bibimbap as well.  This sported a plethora of tender thin slices of beef that was surprisingly buttery.  It was marinated enough that it tasted good on its own, however, the addition of gochujang was still needed for overall impact.  The stone bowl was hot enough to form somewhat of a socarrat.  Rice was chewy and wasn't too wet.

For our soup, we chose the Spicy Beef Soup that had plenty of ingredients (despite not appearing to be).  It would've helped if I actually scooped up the ingredients for the picture, but I was too busy eating...  Anyways, the soup itself was flavourful and spicy.  There was a wealth of shredded beef which was tender.  There was also a good amount of sweet potato starch noodles and green onion.  This is one of the better versions I've had lately.

Lastly, we went for the Seafood Pancake, which was not only large in diameter, but super thick as well.  This was actually not a good thing as the middle of the pancake was rather doughy.  It was great that they loaded this thing with seafood, but it didn't end up to be crispy enough either.  On the other hand, the edges were still good.  Overall, we enjoyed the food at Sura and thought it was a good value.  Prices seem high, but you do get a lot for your money.  The short rib was a real highlight too.  

The Good:
- Good portions for the money
- Quality eats
- Spacious location

The Bad:
- Seafood pancake was a doughy 

 

Double East Cuisine

Interestingly, I've never been to Double East Cuisine, even though I've been in that plaza many times to visit other establishments.  It really was happenstance that we ended up here for late night eats.  You see, we were looking for Deep Fried Silverfish and originally thought we could get some at #9.  Okay, don't freak out, we aren't talking about those critters on your washroom floor.  Rather, they are little fish that are fried and then tossed in chili pepper salt.  It is a staple of "da lang" or late night eats (smaller portions) at Chinese restaurants.  Alas, #9 didn't have any and we ended up searching Richmond for the dish.  We ended up at Double East Cuisine for that very reason.

Behold, here is the famed "Bak Fan Yue" or Deep Fried Silverfish with Chili Pepper Salt.  As mentioned, this is a late night staple that usually goes with plain congee.  Despite there being a shortage of silverfish at many places, this particular plate was not a desperation situation.  Rather, it was excellent with crispy silverfish that was light.  It was tossed in enough seasoning that it was a bit spicy and plenty salty.

We also had the Clams in Black Bean Sauce, which incidentally, is also a late night classic.  Once again, this was prepared properly with mostly opened clams (I think only one or two weren't open).  The clams were fresh and not full of sand.  They were buttery and cooked just enough.  Although there was definite black bean saltiness, we could've used a bit more of it.  We liked how the sauce was starch-thickened so that it clung onto each clam.

Next, we had something a bit different in the Sizzling Yam Leaves in a hot pot.  In terms of the overall cook on the yam leaves, they were a touch overdone where the stems lost their crunchiness.  This was further exacerbated by the scorching hot pot.  Hence, the yam leaves continued to cook and got rather soft.  In fact, the leaves became slimy.  In terms of seasoning, it was mild where I could still taste the vegetable.

On a subsequent visit, we had the Pan Fried Pomfret with Soy Sauce. Although, this was a small pomfret, there was a decent amount of meat despite not appearing so.  The fish was fried up perfectly where the skin was slightly crispy while the meat was flaky and moist.  The meat separated from the bone easily and in one piece.  Wok-fried with green onions, cilantro and shallots, the soy/oil mixture was flavourful and aromatic.

We ordered the full-sized Sweet & Sour Pork which was indeed a large portion.  Generally, the chunks of pork were medium-sized, which meant that the texture of the meat-to-crunchy-batter-ratio was perfect.  We did find some larger pieces and they were much more meaty and soft.  As for the sauce, it was delicious being a good balance between tangy and sweet.  It was also the right viscosity adhering to each piece.

For our veggie dish, we tried the A-Choy with Canned Dace in Black Bean Sauce.  I quite enjoyed this dish as the vegetable was wok-fried enough that it was cooked-through while still having a crunch.  As expected, the dish was on the greasier side due to the dace, as it fried and packed in oil.  On the flipside, this also ensured there was plenty of flavour too as the black beans added plenty of saltiness.

We came back for a third time and had the Deep Fried Egg Tofu with Chili Pepper Salt.  This was in addition to the silverfish (that we had in all 3 visits).  It was prepared expertly with delicate egg tofu that was still in one piece despite being deep fried and wok tossed (they are quite fragile).  The exterior was crispy while giving way to a silky interior.  This tasted exactly like the silverfish due to the same seasoning.

For our meat selection, we had the Honey Garlic Spareribs.  I would say that this was much more maltose spareribs than actual honey, but it still tasted great.  It was just sweet enough with some garlickiness.  The spareribs were meaty and had a properly tenderized texture where there was an appealing rebound.  However, with so much maltose, the sauce solidified quickly and hence, the ribs were glued to the plate.

Of course, we got a veggie dish in the form of Sauteed Preserve Meat with Taiwanese Cauliflower.  Another perfectly wok-fried dish where the cauliflower was crunchy and vibrant with aromatic caramelization.  It was a bit greasy though due to the fatty cured sausage and pork belly.  It did add umaminess though.  After these 3 late night visits to Double East Cuisine, it will be added to our late night rotation of restaurants.  Food is above average and prices are reasonable for the portion size.  The people there are pretty nice too.

The Good:
- Solid eats
- Reasonable prices for the portion size
- Open late

The Bad:
- Not really their fault, but the clientele can be a bit rowdy due to it being late night
- Typical Richmond parking lot, narrow and often full

Dhaliwal's Lounge

For the longest time, Asian cuisine, in particular Southern, has been seen as "inexpensive" and not worthy of fine-dining.  Slowly but surely, the tide is turning as we see more and more higher-end restaurants.  One of the newest is Dhaliwal's Lounge in the York Centre in Surrey.  Formerly Dhoom, Dhaliwal's Lounge is part of the Dhaliwal Group.  This new restaurant blends traditional Indian eats with fusion plates.  They also feature signature cocktails from their full-service bar.  I recently was invited to visit the place with Mijune.

Dining with Mijune always entails that we will destroy the menu and that we did starting with the Raj Kachori featuring a crispy fried shell, filled with potatoes, boiled moong dal, yogurts, spices, and chutneys.  I've had the smaller version of this before and for this one, there was just much more of everything.  Lots of textures at play with both crunchy and soft.  Due to the combination of chutneys and yogurt, we found tangy, sweet, spice, herbaceous and creamy.

Next, we had one of the more fusion offerings in the Barwa Paneer Arancini with crispy fried stuffed balls of paneer and dried fruit.  I wouldn't say this was exactly an arancini as there was no arboiro rice inside.  Rather it was more of a fried cheese ball.  With that being said, it was good though being crispy outside while the soft paneer was crumbled and soft.  There was a bit of sweetness provided by the dried fruit.

Staying with fried ball-like things, we were served the Brie and Chili-Stuffed Mushrooms.  These were firmly crunchy with a semi-thick outer breading.  Inside, the medium-sized mushrooms were juicy and with a slight bite.  They were stuffed with creamy brie as well as green chilis.  Hence, there was a bit of spice as well as that unmistakable flavour of barely cooked-through green chili pepper.  A drizzle of butter chicken sauce added creaminess.

One of the more under-the-radar dishes was the Angoori Tikki featuring royal cumin seed, almond, grape sauce, fresh herbs, chutneys, yogurt and chickpeas.  Naturally, this had some common flavours with the Raj Kachori but texturally it was quite different.  The soft potato had good mouth feel while the grapes were a surprise with bursts of sweetness.  Once again, we had the tang of the tamarind chutney to with the cooling of the yogurt and spice of the mint cilantro chutney.

Another successful fusion dish was the Mustard Scallops atop a potato cake and cucumber with dhaba curry sauce.  Nicely-plated, these large scallops were seared beautifully with good caramelization.  They were properly seasoned and tasted great on their own with natural sweetness.  The curry sauce offered up some spice as well as sweetness from the onions and tomatoes.  Only thing I would've liked to see was a thinner slice of cucumber.

One of my favourite appies in general is the Palak Patta Chaat.  It consists of individually battered and fried spinach leaves (yes, patience is needed when frying many leaves one-by-one!), onion, potato, peas, yogurt, green and red chutneys.  As with the Raj Kachori and Angoori Tikki, the flavours are somewhat along the same lines with tang, creaminess, sweetness and spice.  The star of the show has to be the crunchy spinach leaves.  Good texture to go with the other ingredients.

One of the best items we had, if not the best, was the Signature Chops.  These lamb rack chops were absolutely delicious.  They were moist and super tender due to the marinade.  Furthermore, the spices penetrated the meat with spice and the unmistakable aroma of toasted cumin seeds.  This was accompanied by methi aloo as well as some almond sauce on top.

Although it might sound a bit defaultish as an appie, both the Paneer and Chicken Lettuce Wraps were quite good.  Naturally, the chicken version was meatier and exhibited more depth, but the paneer still had texture and appealing spiciness.  Other than the filling, the most important item is the iceberg lettuce.  This was indeed fresh and properly dried.  I thought that possibly, they could've been cut into bigger cups though.

We also had another standard dish at most restaurants in the Chicken Wings.  These were oven-roasted where the meat was still tender and moist.  Even though they were not fried, the skin was fairly rendered albeit not crispy.  We decided to try two flavours including honey garlic and buffalo.  Aggressively-sauced, the honey garlic was intensely sweet and garlicky.  We found the buffalo wings to have noticeable heat while the amount of sauce was just right.

Another fusion dish of sorts was the Pista and Coconut Crusted Salmon with malabar sauce.  I found the preparation of this dish to be quite good where the fish featured crispy seasoned skin.  The fish itself was flaky and moist.  Naturally, the sauce was a very important component of this dish and it came through with the creaminess of coconut milk, spice, earthiness and a touch of acidity.

The most grandoise thing we had was the Cornish Murg Musallam consisting of a whole Cornish game hen marinated in ginger-garlic paste, stuffed with mince chicken and rich cashew curry.  The hen was super tender including the breast.  It was also flavourful from the marinade as well as the creamy curry.  This was so much food, it would be hard for even two people to finish it if there were more dishes.

Onto some more main dishes, we were served the Goat Razala featuring a yogurt and masala curry.  I really enjoyed this as there was a plethora of meaty and tender goat.  For those who haven't had goat before, think of it as a bonier and slightly more lean form of lamb.  Hence, some pieces have that gelatinous texture you find with lamb.  In terms of flavour, this was on the spicier side which was fine by me.

Next up, we had the Kukkad Makhni aka Delhi-style butter chicken.  This was really rich and creamy with a nice balancing tomato tang.  It was muted though due to the richness of the curry due to the addition of cashews.  The big chunks of dark meat chicken was tender and meaty where it was flavourful from the original marinade.  Really enjoyed this as it also had a minor kick to it.

So possibly the richest dish we had was the Dal Bukhara where we could taste the copious amounts of ghee and cream used. It went well the naan we had, but yah, best to share this.  Also rather creamy, the Methi Malai Paneer featured crumbled paneer in a cashew cream sauce.  This was rather aromatic and had quite a bit of body and depth for a vegetarian dish.  I would say this would go well with some basmati rice. 

Continuing on with the vegetarian items, we had the Vegetable Manchurian as well as the Soya Bhuna Masala.  Sporting Chinese-type flavours, the Veg Manchurian featured carrot, cauliflower and bell peppers.  The combination of ginger, garlic, soya sauce and tomato sauce elicited a tangy saltiness.  As for the soya chaap, it was typical with a chewy meatiness while being smoky and bathed in a flavourful masala curry.

As mentioned, we had some starch in the form of the Bread Basket that included Garlic Naan, Tandoori Roti, Butter Naan, Choor Choor Naan and Missi Roti.  Loved the naan, in particular the Choor Choor.  It was chewy with elasticity while having a nicely blistered exterior.  We also had the Kulcha stuffed with potato and spices.  It was soft had the creaminess of potatoes.  As you can see, we had a tonne of food.  We enjoyed the presentation as well as the flavours and preparation.  Loved the dining room as well as the overall atmosphere.

*All food and beverages were complimentary*

The Good:
- Modern and inviting
- Solid eats
- Lots of beverages available including signature cocktails

The Bad:
- Can be viewed as pricey compared to typical Indian restaurants, but is more comparable to places like Tasty and Yellow Chili

Alley 16

If you really don't pay attention to the Northeast corner of Cambie & 16th, you might not have noticed Alley 16 (the newish Japanese BBQ restaurant).  I think this location used to be a hot pot place and naturally, the conversion to individual BBQ wasn't a stretch.  They have predominantly bar seating, but also have a few booths as well as a private room near the front of the place.  Decor is simple, but elegant.  Right at the front of the door, there is what looks like a ionizer to remove the BBQ smell from your clothes.

Yet, if that isn't enough, they also have a bank of lockers right behind it.  This way, you can store your jackets and also any other personal items that you do not want to desecrate with the smells from the individual BBQs.  However, I didn't notice too much in the way of smoke nor significant smelliness from the BBQ.  But they do take this seriously and I really appreciate not smelling like the restaurant when I leave.

Onto the food, we weren't super hungry, so we didn't indulge in some of their meat platters (maybe next time).  We did start with something small as an appie in the Tako Wasabi served with nori sheets.  Although not as deluxe as some of the other appies, this was quite good.  The flavours were on point with the sting of wasabi, sweet tangy crunch of the pickles and the sweetness of the octopus.

Onto the BBQ items, we had the Zhu Personal Set consisting of A5 Wagyu, short rib, rib finger, chuck flap, flank, pork jowl, shiso chicken, mushroom and zucchini.  This was the mid-priced set at $55.00 being sandwiched in between $38.00 and $88.00 sets.  The highlight of this set of course was the buttery and melt-in-our-mouths A5 Wagyu.  Beyond that, the pork jowl was bouncy and tender.  Short rib was fatty and delicious and the shiso chicken was tender with beautiful herbaceousness.

We tacked on the Alley Cut Boneless Short Rib as well.  This was a decently-sized piece of meat that was well-marbled and partially sliced.  It was cooked in one piece and later cut into smaller slices so that it could cook more evenly.  Once cooked, it was classic short rib with a strong beef flavour due to the fat.  With some charring, it was nutty and meaty.  There was a chew, but not enough to make it hard to eat. 

To get a bit more veggie into the meal, we also got the Corn, which was a great thing to grill.  The caramelization and char only helped bring out the natural sweetness of the corn.  It activated the sugars and it was delicious.  The personal BBQs were powerful enough to char the meats without burning them.  As mentioned, the smells were kept to a minimum and they have all kinds of methods to keep your clothes from being affected.  Very thoughtful.  Although we only got a taste of what Alley 16 is about, it was good enough for me to plan a return visit.  Those meat platters look epic and high quality too.

The Good:
- Quality ingredients
- Attentive service
- They do a good job keeping your clothes from smelling

The Bad:
- If you are a big eater, it can get pricey
- Not the best place for a big group

 

May Rice Roll & Congee

While I was picking up some takeout at Mr. Pho Do on Hastings near Willingdon, I noticed that May Rice Roll & Congee was finally open.  Formerly Hakkaku Ramen, it was in the process of its conversion when I first spotted it.  Finally, a place where I could get rice noodle rolls without making the trek into Richmond (a dedicated spot for it that is...).  I gathered up the fam including the grandparents to check out this basic-looking restaurant.  The menu is quite focused and simple, but it is no-frills and affordable.

We came here for dinner, so we couldn't take advantage of their congee and rice noodle roll special for $15.95 during breakfast hours.  No matter, we still got a couple bowls including the House Special Congee as well as the Sliced Fish Congee.  In terms of texture and viscosity, the congee was quite good.  The rice had been cooked down enough that the congee was silky and smooth.  It had a good thick consistency down to the last spoonful, yet without being too heavy.  It was lightly seasoned where it wasn't salty.  The fish congee did sport a good amount of flaky pieces of fish.  As for the other one, there was plenty of tender liver and kidney.  I didn't really like the shredded pork though as it was a bit chewy and dry.  As you can see in the background, we also had the Fried Chinese Donut and it was crispy with an airiness.  Great for dipping into the congee.

Onto the Rice Noodle Rolls, we selected the Shrimp & Bay Scallop and also the Beef.  Much like Hei Hei in Richmond, these rice noodle rolls were ribbon-like with ingredients folded in rather than the usual Cantonese Dim Sum version with cannelloni tubes.  Now these were not as good as Hei Hei due to the overall thickness of the rice noodle and the elasticity was muted.  With that being said, the rice noodles were still good being soft and slippery.  I felt there was a lack of ingredients for the scallop & shrimp roll, but they were prepared properly.  There was a decent amount of beef and it was generally tenderized enough.  Some pieces were a bit chewier.

We also got the Beef Brisket Rice Noodle Hot Pot as well for a bit of variety.  This featured rolled rice noodles topped with stewed brisket.  Naturally, the texture for these rice rolls were remarkably different than the ribbon rice noodles.  Since they were tightly wound, the bite was firm and the noodles were more dense.  They were good though being soft and not heavy.  I found the flavour of the brisket (and the braising liquid) to be really tasty where it totally seasoned the rice rolls.  However, the brisket needed to be cooked a bit longer as most pieces were on the chewier side.

You just know that since there was beef tripe on the menu, I would go for the Radish Beef Offal.  This could be had over rice noodles like the aforementioned brisket hot pot as well.  I found this to also be quite good.  Once again, the stewing liquid was flavourful and full of depth.  It wasn't salty though.  The tripe was tender with a bite while the spleen was soft and not melting away.  There was also beef aorta which was on the softer side, but at least it wasn't chewy. The daikon was cooked through, yet still had texture.

Changing it up even more, we had the Spicy Wontons which were more bite-sized than typical wontons.  I thought they were fine with a good rebound texture and juicy filling.  As for the sauce, there was the usual chili oil that offered up some spice, but I also appreciated some numbing from the Szechuan peppercorns.  There was enough savoury elements to balance off the spice.  I would've liked even more heat personally.

Lastly, we had the Stir Fried Soy Sauce Chow Mein which was good.  Unlike many versions, this was not dry and had a decent amount of moisture while not being too greasy.  It was on the saltier side though, but not enough to be an issue.  The noodles still had a good chew while being cooked through.  Overall, the food at May Rice Noodle & Congee was acceptable and moderately-priced.  You can find better in Richmond, but since this is North Burnaby, it does the job.

The Good:
- Nice people
- Moderately-priced
- Decent eats

The Bad:
- Compared to Richmond, it isn't as good, but once again, this is North Burnaby