Oyatsupan Bakers

Just fresh off an amazing lunch at Khao Moo Dang, we made our way to Beaverton and visited Oyatsupan Bakers.  This unassuming bakery in the burbs actually sports an expansive kitchen with an equally  spacious seating area (with high ceilings).  As the name hints, they specialize in Japanese baked goods as well as sandos and a few bonus deep-fried items.  There is also a selection of drinks to go with the aforementioned goodies.

Starting off with a set of pans, we had the Matcha Pan, Double Chocolate Melon Pan and Melon Pan along with a Castella Donut.  There was so much food on the table that I was only able to sample on of them being the chocolate pan.  It featured a crispy top giving way a light and airy sweet bread.  This was purposefully sweet with a good amount of chocolaty goodness inside.

Next set of pastries included a spinal puff pastry coated with icing sugar, Asian Pear Croissant Pastry and Kuri Issant.  Of the 3, I tried the spiral pastry and it was flaky and shattered beautifully.  It was buttery and only lightly sweet, despite the powdered sugar.  I also had the black sesame croissant and that was also semi-sweet with a pleasing nuttiness.  Once again, the puff pastry shattered when I broke the croissant apart.

We also had some savoury pastries including the Oyatsu Dog Jalapeno & Cheddar, Katsu Kare Pan and Sea Salt Roll.  Loved the spice and tang from the baked jalapeno that helped balance the salty hot dog.  Bun was soft with a firmer exterior.  The katsu pan featured a slice of tokatsu embedded in some sweet Japanese curry.  I loved this bun as it was loaded with flavor.

With the little googly eyes and a cute smile, the Chocolate Cornet Soldiers were tasty as well.  By now, I'm sure you have noticed the trend of the soft and pillowy texture of their breads.  This was no different as the outside was nicely golden-brown.  Inside, the substantial chocolate filling was just sweet enough to provide a dessert-like experience without being too sugary.

Moving away from pastries, we had some of their sandos including Tonkatsu and Egg Salad Sandos on Shokupan as well as their Silder Tonkatsu.  These were a good as they appeared with soft shokupan bread.  The egg salad was creamy and light while the tonkatsu was crunchy with tender pork cutlet.  With a thicker cutlet, the slider was more robust and the fresh crunchy slaw added some brightness.

A bonus item that arrived near the end of our visit to Oyatsupan was their Curry Beef Donut.  It was made-to-order and it was absolutely delicious!  The crispy outer layer was not greasy while the donut itself was soft and airy.  Oh that beef filling was to die for!  It featured large cubes of tender fall-apart beef dressed in a sweet and savoury curry.  I could've eaten a few of these if I wasn't already so full!

We ended off our visit with the Strawberry Cake featuring airy layers of chiffon in between fresh cream and strawberries.  This was ever-so-light and only marginally sweet.  Hence, it was easy to eat this quickly with only several bites.  Despite being quite full from lunch, we still had a good fill of goodies at Oyatsupan.  Things are definitely made with care and the flavours are well-thought-out.  A must visit if you are ever in the Portland area.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this post*

The Good:
- Carefully and thoughtfully-prepared
- Unique
- Bright and open seating area

The Bad:
- Popular items sell out, so need to go early

Khao Moo Dang

Here we go again on another foodie road trip.  This time it is with Jacqueline, Roanna and Eileen as we hit up Portland for its eclectic eats.  Our first destination after a 5+ hour drive was a little Thai spot on Hawthorne called Khao Moo Dang.  It has this hawker vibe to it where the food definitely reflects this.  Dishes are of the simple variety, but at the same time, looking quite tasty.  Prices are reasonable and the portions are generous.

We got a bunch of things to share including some drinks to start.  These included Cha Yen, Lychee Hibiscus Juice, Mango Ice Tea and Cha Ma-Nao.  Starting with the Thai Ice Milk Tea, it was sweet as expected, but just enough.  It was rich and creamy.  The lychee hibiscus juice was the most refreshing with the essence of lychee.  Mango ice tea was tropical while the lime ice tea was super light and tangy.  That was the most refreshing of all.

Onto the food, we had 3 soup noodle dishes starting with the Ba-Mhee Tom Kha.  As expected, this was spicy and tangy with plenty of depth and aromatics.  The noodles were both soft and chewy at the same time.  Very appealing texture and soaked up the delicious broth.  This came with a perfectly-cooked soft-boiled egg, crispy pork belly and pork loin.  With a firm and crunchy crackling, the pork belly was fantastic.  Buttery soft meat and only minimal fat.  I found the pork loin to be tender despite being lean.

Along the same lines, the Ba-Mhee Tom Yum featured all of the same ingredients except for the broth.  In classic Tom Yum fashion, the flavors were spicy and sour without the creaminess of coconut milk.  However, it was still plenty flavorful with the same fragrant ingredients as the Tom Kha.  The egg was overturned in this picture as we did some noodle pulls and as you can see, the noodles were not clumpy.

Moving onto the Ba-Mhee Pi-Set, this was a bit different as there was no broth.  Rather, we found the classic Khao Moo Dang sauce (the name of the restaurant!) smothered on top.  This was in an interesting shade of pink/orange (a bit lighter than I'm used to), but was a good balance of sweet, savory and aromatic.  The noodles were a bit chewy due to the lack of broth and for this dish, we found pork dumplings and Chinese sausage in addition to the trio of ingredients of the previous bowls.  The pork wontons were juicy with a bounce texture while the sausage was sweet, juicy and sticky.

As much as many of the dishes have both Thai and Chinese influences, the Ba-Mhee Moo-Ob Haang looked very familiar to me.  This featured 12-hour braised pork shoulder with egg noodles, yau choy, soft-boiled egg and bone broth on the side.  This was somewhat like beef brisket on noodles, but instead with pork.  About that pork, it was fall-apart tender and lightly sweet.  The little side of braising liquid added moisture and meatiness to the noodles.

 

From noodle dishes, we went to our first rice item in the Pad Ka Phrao featuring wok-fried minced pork shoulder with basil.  This was not very saucy as you can see in the picture.  Hence, it allowed the rice to remain chewy while still providing some moisture and plenty of aromatic meatiness to the dish.  When mixed together, the meat and rice was textually-pleasing.  This also came with a soft-boiled egg.

So here we have the signature dish - Khao Moo Dang.  This featured all of the meats including pork loin (where the sauce is based on the marinade), Chinese sausage and crispy pork belly.  The mound of rice was covered in the Khao Moo Dang sauce which was sweet with just a touch of tang.  Again, loved the crunchy pork belly and also the sweet Chinese sausages.  Overall, the food at Khao Moo Dang isn't overly complicated and in fact, has many of the same components.  Yet, this simplicity allows for delicious hawker-style Thai dishes that are both tasty and reasonably-priced.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this post*

The Good:

- Simple and delicious hawker-style food

- Reasonably-priced

- Good portion size

The Bad:

- Menu is fairly large, but many items are recycled (nature of the food and keeps costs down)

Kinkura Sushi + Sake

As you know, food costs are through the roof where restaurant menu prices are scarier than driving next to a logging truck (a la Final Destination).  So when we find places that offer up good food at reasonable prices, we must cherish them like Taylor Swift tickets.  Recently, we were invited to try out Kinkura Sushi out on Davie Street where we (spoiler alert) were impressed with the food, the portion sizes and yes, the reasonable prices.

We started off with an item that caught my eye on the menu.  It isn't often we find a Zombie Brain on any menu, especially in a Japanese restaurant.  There was no description on the menu but in reality, it was an avocado stuffed with imitation crab meat than then coated with panko and deep-fried.  Then it was drizzled with unagi sauce and mayo.  Think of it as a Japanese scotch egg of sorts.  This was quite good with the creaminess of the ingredients contrasting with the crunchy exterior.

Next up, we had a selection of Nigiri including Hotate, Salmon Toro, Hamachi and Unagi.  As you can clearly see, the sheen and colour on the seafood was bright and vibrant.  Each piece ate as such too with the toro being buttery and sweet while the scallop was similar except softer as scallops generally are.  The hamachi was on the firmer side, but still bright.

One of the most delicious items of this meal was the Sushi Cake consisting of sushi rice, imitation crab, mango, salmon, spicy tuna, aburi sauce and masago.  With the top torched, this concoction ate with plenty of smoky caramelization as well as the sweetness from the mango.  Add in the spice from the tuna and creaminess of the imitation crab, every bite had flavour and texture.

We ended up ordering 3 versions of their Aburi Oshi including Salmon, Hamachi and AAA Tenderloin Beef.  As you can see, all were constructed neatly and had a balanced amount of ingredients to rice ratio.  I found it interesting that they torched the thinly-sliced jalapeno rather than leaving it raw like most other versions.  However, they might be onto something as it worked with activation of flavours due to the charring.  I enjoyed the salmon oshi the best as it featured the classic combination of sockeye salmon, aburi sauce and jalapeno.

Not finished with Aburi as we also had the Aburi Combo featuring beef, toro, ebi, tobiko, salmon and hamachi.  Loved the bright colours as well as the freshness of the ingredients.  As you can see, the torching on each nigiri was noticeable and hence there was the usual smokiness.  The aburi sauce was creamy and sweet without being too greasy.  Once again, the sushi rice was on point.

When the Assorted Tempura arrived, we were shocked at the portion size.  This was easily double, if not triple the size of most other places.  Beyond the portion size, the execution of the dish was on point.  We found the tempura batter to be crispy and light, despite it not looking as such on the ebi.  For the veggies, they were cooked perfectly where the zucchini was not mushy while the sweet potato was soft, yet with a bite.

We got a couple orders of the Chicken Karaage including the soy and the spicy.  By looks alone, these had some serious KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) vibes and in reality, it was a good thing.  These large pieces of thigh meat were super juicy and tender with a crispy batter.  I personally loved the soy flavour the most as it was sweet and savoury.  Spicy was good as well with sweet, tangy and spicy notes.

We got something a bit different in the Chef's Roll as it did not contain any sushi rice.  Rather, it was wrapped in rice paper featuring tuna, sockeye salmon, ebi, chopped scallop, avocado and cucumber.  Without rice, this ate much more hearty with the tuna being the star of the roll.  Loved the chopped scallop with tobiko as it was creamy and sweet.  The mess of sauce underneath was quite sweet as well.

Interestingly garnished with cooked spinach, the Special Seafood Cream Udon was one of our cooked selections.  This was quite saucy and yes creamy.  I thought the udon was a little soft, but it still had bite.  There was enough seafood for effect including bay scallops, shrimp and mussels.  Still not sure if the spinach went with this dish, but it did give colour.

Onto the most majestic-looking dish, we had the Lobster Roll.  On the outside, we found creamy and buttery chopped scallop, sockeye salmon and tobiko mixed with thin slices of avocado.  Inside, we found lobster tempura, spicy mayo and masago.  On the side, there was some more lobster tempura bites.  This was reasonably-priced at $19.50.  That is pretty much the theme at Kinkura as there is value to be had here.  At the same time, the food is carefully-prepared and delicious.  Excellent mid-tier Japanese option in Downtown Vancouver.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this post*

The Good:

- Large portions

- Well-prepared

- Reasonable-pricing

The Bad:

- Possibly some items being too saucy

Black Walnut

The Cambie Street corridor is somewhat under the radar when it comes to being a destination for good eats.  Sure we have Vij's and a collection of various other restaurants, but rarely do we have anything that resembles near-fine dining.  Now we have something a bit different in the Black Walnut, located in the former location of U & I Thai.  The spot has been completely renovated where it has a classy vibe while still being modern.  They took out some walls and the dining space has an open feel to it.  We were recently invited to try out their menu as well as some cocktails.

We started things off with those aforementioned cocktails including The Empress, The Fresh, The Animal and Smoked Penicillin.  These were all Instagram-worthy with bright colours.  In terms of taste, I really enjoyed the animal with its sweet and spicy thing going on.  The smokiness of the smoked penicillin was apparent while the empress was light and floral.

Onto the food, we were able to see the construction of the Salmon Tartare where I had a front row seat.  This turned out to be very good with aged and buttery fish that was well-marinated with garlic, chilis, lemon juice and salt.  This sat atop some clean and fresh-tasting tomato water. Beyond that, the puffed wild rice on the top added a crunchy nuttiness.  Very nice start to the meal.

Next, we had the Crispy Fried Oysters with chive aioli, smoked trout roe and creamed celeriac.  This was majestically presented in their shell atop some rocks.  I thought the oysters were super fresh and buttery with an appealing brininess.  They were indeed crispy, yet not crunchy (which was a good thing as to not obscure the delicate texture of the oyster).  I thought the flavours were complimentary with smoky brininess and brightness.

Another solid entry was the Octopus tentacle that was braised, then deep-fried.  Hence, the texture was a beautiful contrast between the soft octopus and crispy exterior.  It was seasoned enough on its own, but the accompanying potato foam, pickled celery and kimchi gel added creaminess, tanginess and a touch of tangy spice.  They helped bring the otherwise mild dish alive.

Peaking through the mound of crispy thin potato chips, the Bison Tongue was perfectly-prepared.  It was tender, yet still retained a chewiness that gave the entire dish texture.  There was a good grill to it and it was seasoned properly.  The addition of a very bright salsa verde helped keep things from getting too heavy.  Some pickled onion and added even more acidity to the dish while the crunchy radish provided an extra shot of contrast.

So the Black Walnut Burger looked rather unassuming at first, but believe me, it was legit.  The thick and fresh beef patty was juicy and cooked just right.  It had plenty of meatiness while charred enough on the outside.  It was complimented by water buffalo cheddar, chive aioli, smoked bacon, pickles and rhubarb chili ketchup.  Hence, you got brightness, smokiness and a sweet tang.  This hit all of the notes.

Our next dish was the Dry Aged Black Cod with chanterelles, smoked bacon, white beans and butter.  The cook on the fish was perfect as it was flaky and super buttery.  Due to the aging, there was much more fish flavour.  Well-seasoned from the pan-fry, the fish also benefitted from the salty and smoky bacon as well as the creamy butter.  The white beans were tender while the chanterelles were their usual delicious self.

Saving the most epic dish for last - we had the Tomahawk Steak for 2.  This also came with a plate of veggies and potato wedges.  The steak itself was prepared perfectly medium-rare with a beautiful sear on the outside.  It was seasoned well and quite juicy.  It was not as tender as I would've imagined, but it was far from chewy.  This was definitely a sight to behold.

Onto dessert, we had the nicely-plated Banana Dome Ice Cream.  Normally, I'm not a fan of any type of banana desserts, but this one was quite good.  I found the ice cream to be creamy and aromatic.  The bruleed banana slices were sweet and caramelized.  Some crunch was provided by the meringue while the addition of caramel sauce ensured we had enough sweetness.

The banana dessert was good, but the Pear Tart was even better in my opinion.  This featured a firm tart shell that encased pear compote and pastry cream that was just sweet enough and nicely-textured.  This was further enhanced by the ice cream on top.  I thought this was a very composed dessert with all of the elements expertly-prepared.  This wouldn't look out-of-place at a patisserie.

The last dessert was also good in the Corn Cheesecake.  This was literally a sponge cake with whipped cream cheese in between.  Hence, this was super light with the essence of sweet corn.  I couldn't stop eating this due to its airy texture and aromatic corn sweetness.  So we had a good amount of food at the Black Walnut and we came away impressed with how the food was executed.  Definitely a good option on Cambie Street if you want something more refined.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this post*

The Good:

- Solid execution on the dishes

- Some unique dishes

- Delicious cocktails

The Bad:

- Aged fish provided beautiful textures and more pronounced fish flavours, however, it might not be for everyone

JJang Korean BBQ and Social House

There was a time when Korean BBQ in the GVRD was pretty predictable.  You would have the usual Banchan, soup and then an array of meats including beef, spicy pork, chicken, beef short ribs and some seafood.  However, with newer spots opening up all the time, we find more premium meats (especially with beef) and drinks to go with your meal.  As such, it is much closer to what you'd find in L.A. and NYC K-Towns.  One of the newest spots is JJang Korean BBQ and Social House in Richmond near the Oval.

We were invited to try the place out and were presented with a array of premium meats and with a basic selection of Banchan.  Sure, it was mostly the basics, but they were good.  We found Kimchi, Stewed Potatoes and Bean Sprouts.  I especially enjoyed the potatoes as they were in huge chunks, but still tender and soaked with a savoury sweetness.  The bean sprouts were crunchy with a good amount of seasoning.  Lastly, the kimchi had a nice spice to it with some tang.

Onto the meats, we were served the Beef Belly and the Premium Short Rib.  As you can see, both were well-marbled and fresh.  Onto the grill they went and due to the fat content, it seared up beautifully with lots of caramelization and inherent flavour.  Naturally, the meat ate very well due to the butteriness of the fat.  Of note, the ventilation was pretty decent as I didn't smell too much like a Korean BBQ when I left.

Onto the next set of proteins, we found Pork Belly, Saba and Whole Squid.  As much as you could eat the saba and squid just like that, it was best eaten after placed on the grill.  That way, the fats in the saba were activated as well as the skin getting a bit crispy and charred.  The charring with the squid helped add flavour as well as tightening up the texture with a bit more chew.  As for the pork belly, it did its fatty thing when cooked on the grill.  There was some nice crispy portions to go with the butteriness of the fat.

Saving the best for last, the Boneless Shortrib didn't look like much, but when rolled out, it was a considerable amount of fatty meat.  When seared on the grill, the meat was at its shortib best being tender with a meaty chew while being completely marbled.  Also, it was well-marinated and the sugars caramelized offering up a smoky sweetness.  Wish we had some rice to eat this with, because it was pretty flavourful.

However, we did have some things to wash down all these BBQ meats.  One of which was the Clear Clam Soup.  Beyond the buttery and meaty clams, this broth was as natural-tasting as it could get.  It was basically water and clam nectar, which was very subtle, but a good foil to the flavourful meats.  We also had a few drinks including the JJang Mango Jump with a soju bottle mix & tropical mango.  It was sweet and refreshing.

Lastly, we had the Bulgogi Beef Hot Pot cooked table side on a portable butane burner.  This was full of veggies and plenty of tender beef.  This was so comforting especially with the cold weather lately.  Overall, the food at JJang was pretty good quality and since it is a new restaurant, the setup is perfect for BBQ since there is sufficient ventilation and the high ceilings only help the cause.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this post

The Good:
- Modern and spacious dining room
- High ceilings and proper ventilation
- Good meat quality

The Bad:
- Free parking is only limited to 1.5 hours, which is not sufficient

 

Piccolo Mondo

When I was planning out our trip, there weren't really any good options traveling from Pisa to Nice.  Flying was out of the question due to cost and the insane routing that would take us back to Northern Europe and then connecting back to the South.  Training it required 3 connections and renting a car would be very expensive due to drop-off fees.  Therefore, it left me with one choice - Flixbus.  Sometimes regarded as a swear word of sorts, Flixbus has mixed reviews.  Yet, it offered us the best route with one stop in Genoa and also rock-bottom prices.  To be honest, it wasn't a bad experience.  I would totally do it again!  So while in Genoa, we had time to grab some lunch, so we made the short walk over to Piccolo Mondo.

We ended sharing a the Chef's Mixed Appetizer with octopus carpaccio, citrus marinated salmon, baby squid with pesto and tuna tartare.  This was plated rather nicely with good portions of the aforementioned items.  My favourite was the octopus as it was sliced super thin and hence being delicate with a light chew.  It was topped with a bright salsa and that was all it needed as it was naturally sweet.  The baby squid was also on point with a bright and nutty pesto and a soft potato base.  The squid itself was tender with a light chewiness.  We weren't really feeling it with the salmon though as it was quite salty.  Texturally it was buttery soft though.  Tuna tartare was good with ripe avocado underneath and the option to customize the seasoning.

Onto our favourite dish of the meal, the Green Linguine with beef stew and black summer truffle was delicious.  This was a fairly large portion of al dente pasta that we actually didn't end up finishing.  That beef stew and reduced braising liquid was packed with umaminess and meatiness.  It was rich and flavourful with the natural sweetness of onions and carrots while the beef itself was plentiful and tender.  Of course adding shaved black truffle on top made this even better.

We also tried their Risotto with red prawns, prawn tartare, saffron and cuttlefish ink.  This was another successful dish where the risotto was firm, yet cooked all-the-way-through.  It had soaked up all of the sweetness of the prawns and the essence of saffron was balanced.  The addition of prawn tartare on top provided even more briny sweetness as well as a light texture.  I need to point out that the prawns were properly deveined too

Another pasta was the Spaghetti with fermented black garlic, mussels and cherry tomatoes.  Loved this dish as the pasta was al dente while the dish had plenty of umami from the black garlic as well as the brininess of the mussels.  Furthermore, there was just enough sauce for flavour and it did not drown the pasta.  The addition of tomatoes provided some brightness and tang.

For our meat dish, we chose the Angus steak with roast potatoes.  Seemingly inconspicuous, this was really good.  The slices of beef were cooked to medium-rare and the result was a juicy and tender texture.  The sauce was flavouful and meaty as well.  Those potatoes were pretty tasty too.  After it was all said and done, we just barely made our connecting bus because the food came out excruciatingly slow. Upon further inspection, it was because they outdoor seating was completely packed (as we were sitting inside), hence the slow food expediting.  Despite that, the food and service were good and this is a solid place to grab some eats in Genoa.

The Good:
- Solid eats
- Excellent service
- Good portions

The Bad:
- Food came out really slow