Hua Wei Ju

I know what you are going to say... "Nooooooo!!!!!"  Yes, we did it and knew we were going to regret the decision.  But after consecutive meals with pizza and/or pasta, we had to do something different.  Yah I know, we are from Vancouver, where we find some of the best, if not the best, Chinese food on the planet.  Why the bleep were we eating this in Rome?  Well, maybe we could've been more creative, yet this is what we ate and we had to live with it.  There are a few attractive things about Hua Wei Ju, including its location (since it was close to us) and its pricing.  However, most dishes were rather small.

We began with the Beef with Broccoli that really lived up to its namesake because it was more beef than broccoli.  However, the beef was not very good as it had not been tenderized and marinated enough.  This resulted in spongy and chewy slices of thick beef.  Flavour wasn't half bad though.  As for the broccoli, it was still crunchy while cooked through.  Not enough wok hei (a really hot wok) as there was quite a bit of moisture at the bottom of the plate.

Next dish was the Aroma Duck which was a marinated duck that had been deep fried and served with a vinegar sauce.  Was it aromatic?  Yes it was as the deep fry did afford aroma as well as the 5-spice.  Yet, it was fried a bit too long as the outside got rather hard and dry.  The benefit of that was crispy well-rendered skin.  The meat underneath this dry layer was decently moist and tender though.

We also got the Tofu with chicken, shrimp, pork, carrots, bamboo and mushrooms served in a hot pot.  We found this portion to be rather small, but it was one of the better dishes.  Although broken, the tofu was tender while completely soaking up the oyster sauce.  The shredded chicken and pork were tender and well-seasoned.  Veggies were cooked properly and not mushy.  Shrimp was on point too with a meaty snap.

The Deep Fried Chicken Wings were not what we expected as they were coated in far too much batter.  Furthermore, the batter was too light in colour as it looked like it as undercooked.  It was cooked through though while there was a light crunch.  The chicken wings were fairly juicy but a bit bland.  The skin was not rendered due to the amount of batter and possibly not an aggressive enough deep fry.

One of the worst dishes was the Sweet & Sour Pork as there was very little flavour to the dish.  It was neither sweet nor sour, which was a really bad thing since that would be the selling point of this dish.  Also, the pieces of pork had a strange aftertaste.  Not sure what it was...  Texturally, the pork was fine though being tender with some meatiness.  Also, there wasn't an overload of sauce either.

We got 2 starches including the Special Rice with shrimp, chicken, pork and egg.  Again, this was rather small, but to be fair, cost only 5 Euros.  I found the rice to be dry enough, but again, didn't exhibit any true wok hei.  Hence it was a bit lifeless and lacking in caramelization.  With that being said, it wasn't bad though as it had enough ingredients and the seasoning was sufficient.

I thought the Rice Noodles with chicken was far better as the noodles were al dente and had good seasoning.  The veggies were crisp and provided great texture while the chicken was tender and also seasoned.  The only thing I didn't like was the greasiness at the bottom of the plate.  So as you can tell, the food at Hua Wei Ju is rather mediocre at best.  However, it was fairly cheap.  I wouldn't recommend the place to those picky about their Chinese food (particularly Cantonese in this case), but for people wanting something inexpensive, this is your restaurant.

The Good:

- Cheap

- Wide variety of dishes

The Bad:

- Food is meh (if you know Chinese food)

Come Il Latte

On my search for better gelato than the day before at Venchi, we made the 15-minute walk to Come Il Latte.  A little off from the most touristy areas of Rome, we figured this might be worth the time.  Their mission statement is that they only produce enough gelato for the day and everything is fresh.  Looking at the amount of people milling around on a weekday night, it sure seemed like they are doing something right.  Unfortunately, my phone camera didn't want to focus properly and I ended up with blurry pics...

We all ended up with a cup of gelato and my medio consisted of Stracciatella "Salvaderi" and Melone Sorbetto.  I could've had 3 flavours with the medio, but I stuck with these ones.  I thought the stracciatella was smooth and creamy with only a purposeful amount of sweetness.  The amount of chocolate shavings was adequate to provide some texture and extra flavour.  As for the melone, it had a good fruit flavour that was also only mildly sweet.

Viv had the piccolo and also had 2 flavours of sorbetto including the Limone and Guava.  These sorbettos were smooth and not icy (despite being comprised of ice) with enough sweetness to compliment the fruit flavours.  The limone was definitely tangy and had plenty of lemon kick while the guava was really the star of the show.  Lots of natural guava aroma and sweetness.

Naturally, my son went for the Chocolato Fondente as well as the Caramello Salato.  Compared to the 75% chocolate at Venchi, the chocolate here was dark but wasn't as intense.  However, that didn't mean it wasn't good though.  It still had an appealing bitterness balanced off by enough sweetness.  The salted caramel was pretty good too with rich smoky sweetness enhanced by salt.

My daughter went fruity as expected with the Fragola and Mango Sorbettos.  The strawberry was not bad but probably the weakest of the choices we had.  Not that it wasn't tasty, it just was the least impactful.  The mango was good with the usual tangy sweetness complimented by the unmistakable aroma.  Overall, the gelato and sorbetto was better than Venchi, but we had many more places to try in the week or so!

The Good:
- Natural flavours were apparent
- Smooth and creamy

The Bad:
- A bit out of the way of the touristy areas, a trek for some

Il Cuore di Napoli Ribelle

Trying to avoid the usual tourist traps near the most popular sights in Rome, we decided to do a short walk from our hotel to a non-descript place called Il Cuore di Napoli Ribelle.  It was recommended by someone from Vancouver who is Italian.  Yep, once we got to the place, the outside was nothing special and the inside wasn't either.  However, looking over the menu, it featured some pretty good prices.  We ended up dining here for 63 Euros!  That already included a water charge and coperto.  Yes, we were aware that this is a Neapolitan restaurant in Rome.  But hey, why not try some other regions of Italian food?

We started with the Neapolitan Fried Specialties for 2 that featured Panzerotti, Palle di Riso, Potato Crocché, Montanare, Pasta Cresciuta and Mozzarella in Carrozza.  Yes, this was quite the cone of traditional Neapolitan street snacks and it was rather filling, even for 4 people!  I thought the best thing was the fried cheese as the breading was crunchy and there was enough cheese in the centre.  The same could be said about the potato croquettes as it had the same crunchy breading where the mashed potato filling was soft.  I do believe that the montanare could've used more sauce as it ate rather plain.

We wanted some meat with this meal, but not necessarily a steak since we already had one the night before.  We settled on the Grilled Pork Sausage with grilled veggies (zucchini, eggplant and marinated red peppers).  The sausage was meaty with chunks of meat and fat.  It was rather salty though and definitely was better eaten with bread.  As for the veggies, they were nicely charred but the eggplant was rather dry.  Loved the peppers as the tanginess was bright.

We also decided to share some pastas including the Linguine Gamberaccio that featured prawns, shrimp, garlic, cherry tomatoes and parsley.  I quite enjoyed this one as it was mild-flavoured but still had some shrimpiness accented by the garlic and olive oil.  The tomatoes helped bring acidity and some sweetness to the dish.  I found the shrimp to be firm but still had some rebound texture to them.  The prawns were a little overdone, but were still meaty.  Of course the pasta was done to al dente.

Our other pasta was the Orecchiette with sausage and Neapolitan broccoli.  We loved the firm texture of the orecchiette where there was some real bite to it.  There was plenty of crumbled sausage throughout.  It was the same from our grilled sausage dish and due to its saltiness, it provided plenty of flavour for the pasta.  Since Neapolitan broccoli wasn't in season, they probably used a jar/canned version and it was predictably softer in texture.  It did have the classic bitterness though.

Finally, we had one of their Neapolitan pizzas in the Capodimonte with tomatoes, mozzarella, smoked provolone, sausage, porcini mushrooms and rucola.  This featured a pretty decent crust with appealing chewiness and crispy edges.  The rest of the pizza was a bit soft but that could've been due to the amount of toppings.  After it was said and done, we were pretty full and we didn't spend a lot of Euros.  Was the food amazing?  Well no, but it was serviceable and we didn't mind it.

The Good:

- Inexpensive

- Serviceable eats

- Decent service

The Bad:

- You don't come here for the ambiance

Venchi Cioccolato e Gelato

Okay, here is the situation.  We've been walking for over 3 hours and although there was a lot to see, we were thirsty and tired.  Luckily we missed the heat wave in July, but that didn't mean the Summer ended in August.  We had just checked out the Pantheon and suddenly had a craving for gelato.  Naturally, anything located near touristy areas are hit and miss; mostly miss.  But we decided to give Venchi a shot since the gelato appeared to be good.  Famous last words right?  We waited in a short line and ended up with the following...

For myself, I had the Mango Sorbetto and the Crema Venchi.  With a small cup, we were able to pick 2 flavours.  I liked how the sorbetto was smooth and almost creamy (despite having not milk products).  It was purposefully sweet with a natural mango taste.  However, it was a touch bitter for some reason.  Despite this, I still enjoyed it.  The gelato had a creamy texture and it melted pretty easily (which is a good thing, no added stabilizers).  I thought the crema was pretty sweet with an aromatic finish.  Probably not my favourite flavour though.

Viv also went for 2 flavours including the Limone and Fruitti Bosco Sorbetto.  The limone was more melty than my mango sorbetto and it was very tart.  We love tart, so it worked for us but for others, it just might be too tangy.  Due to this, it wasn't very sweet because it hid behind the tang.  As for the mixed berries, it was on the sweeter side, but did taste good with a melody of fruitiness.  It was a rather refreshing combination with the limone.

My daughter went only for one flavour in the Strawberry Sorbetto and it was similar to the mixed berries except being less tangy.  It was predictably more one-note due to only having strawberries.  It was sweet but not overly so.  We found it to have a natural taste though.  With that being said, I thought the mango had more impact than the strawberry. Like all of the cups, it came with a Venchi's dark chocolate coin. 

My son had the 75% Chocolate Gelato and it was very dark.  However, he loves his dark chocolate and it was right up his alley.  This was not very sweet at all and in fact, was fairly bitter.  Perfect for dark chocolate lovers.  In terms of texture, this was a bit thicker and richer than my crema.  This was expected due to the addition of dark chocolate.  We also picked up some chocolates too as that is what Venchi is known for.  Pretty solid stuff.  Overall, the gelato and sorbetto were solid too and this was a good first experience in Rome.

The Good:

- Flavours were impactful

- Textures were good

- Their chocolates are even better

The Bad:

- There is usually a lineup

- Good but not great

Mercato Centrale Roma

I initially booked out hotel close to Roma Termini for a couple of reasons.  First, I would be arriving into the station from the airport by train, so a quick walk to our hotel with luggage would be preferable.  Secondly, we would be leaving by train at the same station en route to Florence.  So that part of the plan worked out flawlessly and our hotel turned out to be pretty good as well.  However, a byproduct of staying so close to the termini would be access to Mercato Centrale with all of its selection of quick eats.  We ended up grabbing lunch here twice during our stay in Rome.

Upon entering the market, we spotted some pretty stacked pizzas at Il Forno di Raffaele D'Errico.  Yes, the display probably persuaded us to try their pizzas by the weight but really we shouldn't have.  This is not to say that there weren't enough toppings and also the crust wasn't heavy.  After a quick reheat in the oven, the crust was actually crunchy.  However, the pricing was rather pricey (32 Euros for 3 large slices of pizza), even though there was quite a bit of food.  We also found each slice to be too oily.

On the other hand at II Trapizzino, their sandwiches with ingredients stuffed in a triangular pizza-like shell were money.  Only 5 Euros each, they were filling and delicious.   My favourite was the Stracciatella with Anchovies.  They were not shy about cramming as much as they could in and it was overflowing with cheese.  The anchovies were briny and salty, which went well with the mild fresh cheese.  We also had the Polpette and it was a giant meatball that was tender but without much filler.  The sauce was tangy with lots of tomato flavour.  Surprisingly, the Pollo was probably the best tasting with fresh herbs.  The chicken itself was both plentiful and tender.  The bread itself was light and almost fluffy with a crispy exterior.

On another visit, I had to get some pasta at Las Pasta Fresca in the Linguine with Meat Sauce.  This was not a very good rendition of pasta, especially in Rome.  I found the linguine to be too al dente and hard.  As for the sauce, it was rather one-note being salty and not very tomatoey.  In fact, I didn't even get a good tanginess out of it.  No other distinguishing herbs or seasoning.

Viv and my son were craving burgers and went to Lo Smashburger.  She had the Single Smash Cheeseburger and he had the Double Smashburger.  Those came with pickles, onion, Joe's secret sauce and cheddar.  Believe it or not, these were actually quite decent.  The patties could've been thinner, but there was a good char and slight crispiness on the edges.  Good flavour with the meat too with natural taste accented by enough salt.  The bun was soft and conformed to the rest of the ingredients.

My daughter didn't go very complex and had the Caprese Sandwich from La Mozzarella e i Formaggi.  Pretty basic and nothing amazing but did the job nonetheless.  She found the bread a bit chewy but okay otherwise.  The ingredients were fresh and there was enough cheese, tomatoes and basil to make things interesting and not all bread.  As you can see, the food at the Mercato was not gourmet by any stretch of the imagination.  However, it isn't meant to be.  It served its purpose where we got some quick eats with II Trapizzino being my favourite and a must visit in my opinion.

The Good:

- A variety of eats for reasonable prices

- II Trapizzino is the star of the show

- Won't take long to get your food

The Bad:

- Not everything is good there.  Do your research

La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali

Boy it was quite the day of travelling to get to Rome.  First we made it to Schipol after 9 hours and then endured a flight delay and finally made it to Rome 15 hours after our day had started.  Then a taxi driver at the airport tried to scam us, so we got out of his taxi only to forget my camera in it.  Had to track him down to get it back.  Made it to our hotel after a train ride on the Leonardo Express and by the time we hit La Taverna dei Fior Imperiali, it was over 24 hours since we had slept.  Luckily we made a reso because the place was full for most of the night!

We started our late night meal (at least that is how it felt like to us) with the Fritto Misto Della Casa with 2 zucchini flowers with mozzarella & anchovies, cod, honey & mint ricotta cheese & hazelnuts and zucchini.  Loved this dish as the batter was super crispy and fairly light.  My favourite items was the ricotta as it was springy and fluffy.  The drizzle of honey really elevated the flavours.  That cod was also good being flaky and light with the crunch from the batter as the perfect foil to the soft texture of the fish.  

They had an Octopus special which was pretty delicious too.  It sat atop an eggplant caponata with crunchy breadcrumbs, olives, tomato, pinenuts and rosemary.  There was a generous amount of octopus that was tender while still retaining a bite.  Outside, it was gilled up with portions of crispiness.  Good textural contrast with the tender meat.  As for the caponata, the eggplant was perfect being soft while having a firm skin.  The flavours were on point with tang, sweetness, saltiness and some aromatics.

We picked the Vignarola di Fave with artichokes, peas and Roman guanciale as our side and it was tasty as well.  The fava beans were cooked down until they were soft as were the peas.  The intense meatiness from the rendered fat from the guanciale added body and saltiness to the dish.  I found the guanciale to be rather intense as it was salty on its own with a firm texture.  It burst with a cured saltiness that needed the mild beans and peas to act as a blank canvas.

Onto our pastas, we tried the Carbonara with the same guanciale and pecorino romano cheese.  The tube pasta was dead perfect with an al dente chewiness that had a great mouth feel while still being tender enough to eat.  Being large and thick, the pasta stood up to the heaviness of the carbonara. The intensity of the guanciale was evident with each bite.  This was further enhanced by the cheese as it added another layer of saltiness as well as nutiness.

We had their featured pasta of the night that was somewhat similar.  It featured guanciale again with fresh figs.  Employing the same Paccheri as the carbonara, the texture was firm and slightly dense, yet still completely chewable.  Since there was plenty of rendered guanciale, the dish had a deep saltiness as well as a luxurious fattiness.  With some pecorino romano, we found a close flavour profile with the carbonara except for one major difference - the fresh figs.  That lightened up the heavy dish somewhat and provided a bright sweetness.

Our favourite pasta was the Gnocchi with white veal ragout and black truffles.  Although the gnocchi was a little on the lukewarm side, it had a great texture.  There was a certain firmness with each bite while still being soft.  Due to the saltiness of the previous 2 pastas, the mildness of the meaty ragout was welcomed.  It was rather meaty too.  Naturally, the addition of shaved black truffles added woodsiness.

Onto our bigger plates, we had the Veal Saltimbocca with prosciutto, sage and white wine sauce.  I really enjoyed this one as well since the veal was meaty while tender.  The addition of prosciutto on top added more meatiness and of course saltiness.  The white wine really came through in the final flavour profile with a certain booziness yet still cooked down.  Although not looking like much, the side of roast potatoes were excellent being soft and tender with a slightly crisp exterior.

Last dish was the Grilled Vacche Grasse Rib Eye Steak served with the same roast potatoes as the veal.  Although the quality of the beef was quite good, it was cooked to about medium-well.  That in itself made it a touch too firm and of course no longer juicy.  However, it was still plenty tender with good natural beef flavour.  The rosemary butter served on top added a woodsiness nuttiness.  Throughout the meal, we were literally falling asleep, but the food was solid enough that it kept our attention.  A great start to our European trip and really appreciated the warm family atmosphere of the restaurant.

The Good:

- Solid home-style eats

- Wonderful people, very welcoming

- Reasonable-pricing

The Bad:

- Steak was a little overdone

- Food was a bit salty

Paella Experience by The Paella Guys

Believe it or not, I'm walking on air...  Wait, no what I meant is believe it or not, I have not ever tried out the Paella Guys before.  Hey, it isn't as if I haven't seen all their giant and tasty-looking paellas on social media though.  I guess, there is just too many places and things to eat in the GVRD to get to everything.  I really do enjoy paella and I actually own a paella pan (which I've used on several occasions to make my own paella.  So when I got invited to their commissary kitchen to participate in their Paella Cooking Class, I didn't need much convincing to go!

Upon arriving at their facility near the Production Way Skytrain station (which makes it convenient for those who want to transit), I took a seat at the large table.  I put on my apron and proceeded to write my name on the supplied name tag.  We were presented with a variety of Meats and Cheeses including loin, salami, Serrano ham, manchego, truffle and black garlic cheeses.  We also found some olives and marcona almonds as well.

Onto a quick lesson on how to make an authentic Red Sangria, we learned that adding sugar gives it the necessary sweetness.  No use of any sweetened sodas such as ginger ale or lemon-lime, rather we used club soda.  Also, we diced up 3 types of tree fruit including apples, pears and oranges.  No rinds were added due to their bitterness.  Normally, this would be prepared 7 days in advance or minimally 4 hours prior to consuming.  This was truly refreshing and went well with the paella.

So to the main event, we were going to be split up into 2 teams to make on Seafood Paella and a Traditional Paella each.  The ingredients for the seafood included bomba rice (since it is good with high heat), diced onion, red peppers, saffron, salt, EVOO, sofrito (tomato paste, garlic, olive oil), scallops, prawns, squid, mussels, clams and a stock made from whitefish tomatoes and leeks.  For the traditional paella, we found bombo rice, green pepper, green beans, chicken, EVOO, salt, sofrito, rosemary, saffron, paprika and stock made of artichoke leaves and chicken bones.

We began by heating up some EVOO and then adding salt.  We seared the scallops first on the seafood side and browned the chicken on the other.  Then we added the peppers and onions and cooked them until translucent.  We cooked down the squid on the seafood side and then the green beans on the other.  Broth was added to de-glaze the paella pan. The rice was added shortly after.

During this time, there was a platter of Tortilla coming around for us to munch as we anxiously awaited for the paella to be done.   For those who are aware, Spanish tortilla is not a chip.  Rather it is an omelette of sorts with onion and potato. I've had this on numerous occasions, usually during a round of tapas.  This particular one was loadded with potato that made it quite hearty.  This was served on a bread.

So when it was all said and done, the Traditional Paella looked like the picture you see above.  The rice appeared to be slightly underdone, but that was intentional to keep things al dente and also the rice would continue to cook from the residual heat.  Underneath that, there was a socarrat (rice crust) that had formed being nutty, caramelized and slightly crispy on the edges.  This had a robust flavour from the chicken and was very tasty.

As for the Seafood Paella, it was topped with prawns, clams and mussels where they finished off cooking with a tin foil tent.  The rice on it was also appealingly chewy with a nice socarrat on the bottom and edges.  The seafood was perfectly cooked while the flavour was briny and slightly sweet.  As a group, we all agreed that the seafood was our favourite and there was plenty of it to go around.  We even had leftovers!  Oh and it wasn't pictured here, but we got a healthy dose of aioli on the side of our paella.

Onto dessert, we were served small Tarta de Santiago aka Galician Almond Tart with plenty of butter and a hint of citrus.  These were sinful but ultimately delicious with a noticeable butteriness with the unmistakable taste of almonds.  The top and edges were crunchy while the inside was soft and warm.  A fine finish to a fun evening of drinks, cooking, friends (meeting new ones) and eating.  There are several more sessions available in November.  They sell-out quick, so be sure to book online!

*This Paella Cooking Experience was complimentary for this post

The Good:
- You really do learn some new things
- Fun and interactive
- Delicious!

The Bad:
- Only a small class, so limited seats, but also keeps it intimate
- Limited parking