Li's China Grill

Is it just me or is Kingsway between Joyce and Boundary, the epicentre of Chinese skewer joints?  The newest one is Li's China Grill right across from the Safeway.  To be honest, I didn't even know this place existed until I got a message to try the place out.  The place isn't as big as some of the other restaurants nearby, but their menu does include most of the usual items including skewers, whole fish and rice/noodle dishes.  They are also licensed, so one can get some cold beers to go with your meal.

Before we got to the BBQ skewers, we had some dishes in the form of North-East Style Vegetable Salad, Special Cold Sauce Clams, Marinated Cucumber with Garlic Sauce and Black Fungus with Pickled Pepper.  The vegetable salad was more mung bean with a spicy peanut sauce than actual veggies, but I wasn't complaining.  This was pretty good but maybe a bit too saucy.  Noodles were slippery and still al dente.  Clams were buttery and did have a nice spice to it.  Cukes were crunchy also with spice while the woodear was crunchy with some spicy tang.

What better to go with skewers than a Beer Flight?  Well, this is the first time I've seen it at a Chinese skewer restaurant.  Got to try 4 different beers, which was fun.  Also got the Sichuan-Style Spicy Chicken which definitely looked spicy.  It certainly was, but not incredibly, so that I could still taste the garlic and vinegar.  As for the chicken, it was poached lightly where the meat was moist and tender with gelatinized skin.

Moving onto the BBQ items, but not necessarily the skewers just yet, we had the Beef Tongue, Chicken Wings, Beef Short Ribs and Eggplant.  Sliced incredibly thin, the beef tongue was not chewy.  Wings were flavourful, especially the spicy ones.  Juicy meat inside.  The short ribs were a bit dry, but had good spice.  Loved the eggplant as it was tender, but not mushy.  Once again, well seasoned.

So for the Skewers, we got a good selection of them and I'm not going to list them all, but I will give some highlights.  I really liked the chicken knees as they were cooked just enough and had that classic cartilage crunch.  Tendon was soft and had a slightly crispy exterior.  Chicken hearts were still juicy with a nice grilled flavour. As you can see in the picture, the squid tentacles were nicely spiced and had a bouncy moist texture.

With the Grilled Oysters and Grilled Scallops, we got all of the available flavours including Motoyaki, Hot Pepper, Black Bean and Garlic.  Beyond the type of flavour topping, the oysters were buttery, briny and fresh while the scallops were equally buttery and had an appealingly chewy mantle.  The vermicelli underneath soaked up all the juices and flavours.  My favourite was the hot pepper as it was definitely spicy while the garlic was a close second.  However, the motoyaki was good too as they didn't overdo it with the mayo.  Black bean was not bad either, being a bit salty and garlicky.

Another major item on their menu is the Grilled Fish with various flavours and accompaniments.  We got the half-and-half Catfish in Pickled Cabbage and Soy Bean Paste.  Spicy Sichuan is their signature flavour, but we didn't want spicy this time.  We added rice cake and lotus root to the pickled cabbage while for the soy bean, we had quail eggs and wide vermicelli.  As much as catfish can be muddy tasting, this was actually sweet and moist.  Loved both flavours, but the soybean was my favourite as it had that fermented saltiness with some spice.  Overall, the food at Li's China Grill was solid and I especially enjoyed the skewers and fish.  Pricing is fair and I liked how the minimum order on each skewer wasn't something ridiculous like 10. 

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Love the fish, well-prepared and flavourful

- Skewers are cooked properly

- They have flights of beer

The Bad:

- Service can be slow due to lack of staff

Davie Village Bakery

Last time I visited Davie Village Bakery, I was there to try their Giant Croissants.  Okay, before you roll your eyes thinking that these were solely a novelty, they were actually really good!  The croissant itself was exactly what I want from one.  It shattered, had good lamination and was buttery.  Sure, they were as large as my arm, but I found them reasonably-priced.  This time around, Jackie and I were there to try their Giant Donuts as well as other goodies.

So let's get right to those Giant Donuts!  So these were not technically donuts even though they were shaped as such.  In reality, they were large eclairs featuring choux pastry with a cream filling inside and a glaze on the outside.  We had to let them warm up a bit first since they were in the fridge.  Eating them like an eclair, they were legit with all the right textures and not being incredibly sweet.  We put a regular donut next to the "Simpsons" donut for size comparison.

We had some baked goods in the form of a regular Butter Croissant, Hazelnut Croissant, Pistachio Chocolate Croissant and Double-Baked Crookie.  Since I've already had their giant croissants, I already knew their butter croissant would be solid.  That it was with good lamination and shattering beautifully when I bit into it.  The other 2 variations had similar qualities except with chocolate hazelnut and pistachio chocolate respectively.  The crookie was interesting that was, you guessed it, a cross between a croissant and a cookie.  It was not as firm as a cookie but not flaky like a croissant.  It was semi-sweet and I thought it was not bad.

Then we moved onto some creative Desserts featuring Lemon, Peach and a Raspberry Macaron.  Love the whimsical presentation where once cut into, the lemon revealed a lemon cream filling and a lemony custard centre.  Really refreshing and natural-tasting.  The peach was very similar except for the difference in flavour.  It wasn't too sweet and had a nice floral fruit taste.  As for the macaron, the texture was on point with a crispy delicate shell with a soft but slightly chewy texture inside.  Raspberries and the cream in the middle were fruity and light.

For even more variety, they also have made-to-order crêpes as well as gelato/sorbetto.  Naturally, being freshly-made, the Crêpes were soft, warm and fluffy.  Loved the nutty and aromatic pistachio.  Of course the Nutella was a bit sweet, but at least it was a pleasant sweetness.  We then moved onto the Gelato and it was also quite good.  I liked how it was creamy and light (where it was melting, which is a good thing because no stabilizers used).  The flavours were chose were Cherry Cheesecake, Pistachio and another flavour that I honestly forgot.  But what I can say is that it was purposefully sweet and surprisingly good for a non-gelato spot.  In fact, everything I've ever tried here has been very good.  You can't go wrong with the things here and the pricing is reasonable.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Solid all-around

- Their novelty items (giant croissant and giant donuts) are actually good and well-priced

- Large selection of items

The Bad:

- Crêpes were good texturally, but maybe a bit too much sweet sauces

Hearthstone Pizza

Almost 10 years ago, I had visited Hearthstone Pizza out in PoCo (more like Coquitlam, but technically PoCo).  Fast-forward to the present, Jacky and I were invited to check it out.  Despite still being a pizza place, it is now run by a wonderful Korean couple where they have put their own touches on the menu.  Sure, there is still classic stone oven thin crust pizza, but they also have Korean-inspired pizza featuring a thicker crust that is actually not heavy.  Of course, they've added Korean snacks and dishes for their dinner menu as well as a pop-up of cream buns.  They are also licensed.

We ended up trying out most of their menu starting with the classic pizza.  These featured a thin crust and barely-there edge.  We started with the baseline in the Margherita.  This consisted of tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and fresh basil.  There was a good amount of everything on top, but despite that, the crust remained fairly crispy.  I found the tomato sauce to be mildly tangy with a balancing sweetness.  The decent amount of cheese made each slice rather hearty.  Despite the big slices of tomato, it didn't make the pizza too wet.

To get an idea of the other offerings, we did half-and-half of the Meat Lovers and BBQ Chicken as well as the Mediterranean and Hawaiian.  As with the margherita, the crust was relatively thin and was uniformly firm from edge to centre.  I liked how the toppings and cheese made it almost to the very edge of the pizza.  My favourite of the bunch was the meatlovers with the ample amount of meat.  The Hawaiian was also solid with plenty of ham and pineapple.  They weren't shy with the cheese either.

For the Premium K-Pizza featuring a thicker dough, we had the large No. 1 Signature that had a bit of everything atop its square pieces.  Each piece represented the different pizzas available on the menu.  The amount of mozzarella cheese on this pizza was ridiculous but welcomed.  Very cheesy and filling.  As for the crust, it was still thin on the bottom while thicker on the outer edge.  However, it was airy and light while filled with more cheese!  I feel that a large K-Pizza would easily feed 4 people (as long as they are not football linebackers).

Even though we had all of the pizzas represented already in the Signature, we ended up with 2 medium pizzas so we could try them in a bigger slice.  We got the No. 4 Gold Rich and the No. 7 Garlic Shrimp.  As much as there was just as much cheese and toppings on the gold rich as the signature, I wasn't a huge fan of it as it ate very heavy.  The sweet potato puree sure tasted great, but carbs on carbs make for a heavy slice.  However, the garlic shrimp was primo as the generous amount of melted mozzarella melded well with the buttery and well-seasoned shrimp.  Each slice was so delicious and aromatic, I wanted to eat more of it.  Alas, I was getting quite full at this point!

In addition to pizza, they also feature a few flavours of baked Chicken Wings.  We ended up with the Honey Garlic.  To ensure we were able to try the other flavours, we had side sauces of the BBQ and Spicy too.  Since these were baked, there was no batter on the outside, which made the skin more rendered.  As for the meat, it was fairly moist given that the wings were baked enough for the skin to be rendered.  The honey garlic was mild and only lightly sweet.  I loved the BBQ sauce, it was plenty tangy and sweet.  The spicy did have a nice kick to it.

Onto the Korean eats, we had some snacks including the K-Corn Dogs and So-Ddeok So-Ddeok.  I really enjoyed the So-Ddeok So-Ddeok as the rice cakes were crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.  Such appealing texture.  Also, there was just enough sweet and spicy sauce drizzled on them.  The sausage was meaty and nicely grilled.  Lastly, the corn dogs were coated aggressively, but the batter was not as heavy as it appeared.  Nice crispiness on the outside and plenty cheesy on the inside.

At night, they serve certain Korean dishes including the Gamjatang and Korean-Style Sausage Stew.  I really enjoyed the pork bone soup as it was served bubbling hot and was flavourful.  There was a nice meatiness to it while exhibiting a noticeable spice.  The pork bones were fall-off-the-bone tender.  The sausage stew was a smaller version of the dish and sported noodles in a spicy broth.  There was a good amount of sausage and tofu as well.

One more snack was the Corn Cheese that was served on a long and deep plate, the corn cheese had plenty of cheesiness while the corn niblets were nicely textured and sweet.  Our last Korean dish was the Steamed Egg and if you look at the picture, it was plenty fluffy and light.  There was a good amount of green onion on top which partially dominated the flavour profile (dependent on where you scooped).  Otherwise, it was sweet and mildly flavoured.

Also located within Hearthstone Pizza is Golden Brown where they have a selection of savoury baked buns as well as their sweet cream buns.  We tried all 3 of their savoury options including the Corn Cheese, Basil Pesto & Chicken and Ham & Cheese.  All 3 featured a firmer exterior that was slightly crispy while inside was soft and nearly pillowy soft.  There was no absence of ingredients and seasoning to make these tasty.  I very much enjoyed the basil pesto as it was herbaceous and the corn cheese was sweet from the niblets.  Ham & cheese was pretty basic, but had a good mix of cheesiness and saltiness.

Now those were really good, but I found their Cream Buns to be even better.  The bun themselves were pillowy soft and had a slightest of chew that gave it a great mouth feel.  Inside, there was so much filling that you can't help but get it all over your face.  My favourite of the bunch was the basic milk cream as it was like eating an eclair but in a soft bun.  The Oreo cream was good too, but sweeter.  Chocolate was similar to the milk cream except tasting like milky chocolate.  If red bean is your thing, the matcha & red bean had plenty of impact from the slight bitterness, but balanced off by the sweet red bean.  So as you can see, there is a lot to eat here at Hearthstone.  A bit misleading from the name, but rest assured, the Korean food is legit and the buns are heavenly.  I guess you might have to make multiple visits to try everything!

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- That K-pizza has so much cheese and toppings (even in the crust!)

- Solid Korean dishes

- They even have Golden Brown cream buns

The Bad:

- They do a good job in pulling it off, but maybe a bit too many items on the menu?

Song

Since there are so many new restaurants to try, it is hard for me to do revisits of restaurants, even if I love them.  However, there are a few you may have noticed that I do revisit.  Those include Published, Mauna Sushi, Chef's Choice and Song.  I don't even care if I don't get more content because the food is just so consistent.  So for the latest meals from one of the aforementioned spots is Song.  In fact, it was 2 consecutive visits in as many weeks where we tried some new dishes and also ol' favourites.

But before we even got to any dishes, we got started off with an Amuse Bouche consisting of a pineapple "spoon" that resembled the one we had at Baan Lao.  Not sure if it was comprised of the same ingredients, but this meatball had all of the same flavours including the sweetness of palm sugar and nuttiness of the peanuts.  One dish that is only on the happy hour menu was the Fried Corn.  This was super crispy from the rice flour and the pops of sweetness from the corn niblets as so appealing.  The side of sweet peanut chili dip added a bit of everything to the crispy corn.  This reminded me of the corn karaage I had at Yardbird in Hong Kong.

One of my favourite dishes at Song is their split wings.  I've had them many times, but they have changed it up where they are now sporting a different seasoning.  Now called the Laab Wings, these are still cut in half exposing them to a more even deep-fry.  The result is a crispier exterior and easier-to-eat format.  Now with the laab seasoning, the wings were spicier and appealingly tangy.  These were great both times we had them with a crispy flavourful exterior while the meat was still moist.

Right in time for the change of seasons, their new Thai Corn Salad with salted duck egg was a subtle flavour bomb.  I know that statement is an oxymoron, but really, it was not in-our-faces flavourful, but at the same time, it was super impactful.  The combination of grilled sweet corn, long beans and grape tomatoes, provided the textural canvas for the spicy salted duck egg yolk dressing.  I found it mildly spicy, but definitely had all of the umaminess of salted egg yolk.  Naturally, the sweet corn was the star of the show and since it was grilled, the sweetness was amplified.  Loved the crunch of the ingredients too.

We tried 2 more of their new salads in the Jasmine Blossom and the Green Mango Crab.  With Thai tonkin jasmine flower, minced pork and tiger prawns topped with cashew nuts, this was a fragrant concoction that had elements of a laab combined with jasmine flowers.  However, unlike a laab, this was a very mild-tasting salad.  I enjoyed the meatiness of the dish as well as the cold-water crunchy prawns.  However, I was wanting more acidity. 

As for the Green Mango Crab Salad, this was all about the Thai herbs.  I wouldn't use the word overwhelming, as there was enough of the other ingredients (crab, green mango, pomelo, lemongrass, cashew nuts and salmon roe) to somewhat balance the flavours out.  However, the saw leaf herb was prominent.  The whole thing was tossed in a coconut Nam Jim dressing served with Cha Plu Betel leaves.  So there was aromatics as well as a certain sweet, briny and spicy thing going on.

One of the best things to order at Song is their Tom Yum Soup.  At first glance, you might be wondering why it costs $50.00.  Well, first of all, it is enough for 4 people and second, it has 6 giant tiger prawns.  Lastly, the flavours are so on point.  It is medium-spiced with plenty of brininess to go with the big hits of lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and galangal.  The tiger prawns are meaty with a sweet, briny snap.  Personally, I'm not a fan of the saw leaf herb on top as it is a bit too pungent.

Another new dish is their Seafood Pad Kapi with prawns, scallop, squid, sator bean, long bean and baby corn.  They were not shy with loading this up with plenty of seafood.  The squid rings were tender with a chew while the baby scallops were buttery and soft.  Prawns were meaty and cooked perfectly.  Veggies were on point with vibrancy and crunch.  However, the one thing we wished for was more impact from the seasoning.  It wasn't really all that spicy or anything.

On the other hand, the Mushroom Stirfry with Fried Silken Egg Tofu is one of my favourite dishes here.  The combination of mixed 

mushrooms, silken egg tofu, celery and green onions are bathed in vegan mushroom garlic oyster sauce and sesame oil.  Although subtle, the flavours are impactful with saltiness and aromatics.  Combine that with the earthiness of the mushrooms, there is not wanting for more.  Texturally, the egg tofu is so delicate while the crunchy wood ear provide a nice contrast.

From one tofu dish to another, the Thai Chili Tofu is remarkably different than the previous dish.  Employing firm tofu that is fried aggressively, we have slices that are crunchy and almost hard.  However, they are soaking in a spicy sweet & sour tamarind sauce with bell peppers.  Therefore, the texture gets a bit softer and of course the flavours are prominent with spice, tang and sweetness.  Add on the fried basil and shallots on top, and there is plenty of aromatics.

Off to some curries, we have 2 non-Vegan choices starting with the Crab Curry with chunks of blue crab meat in a Thai yellow curry.  This is a fairly mild dish where the creaminess from the coconut cream shines through.  It is aromatic and sweet which compliments the crab well.  Normally, crab can be lost in a curry, but they are able to keep it relevant by not making it spicy nor too strong in terms of the spices.  Naturally, this needs to go with rice and it comes with a bowl.

The other curry is the Jungle Chicken Curry with Morel Mushroom. This soup curry consists of chicken thigh, morel mushroom, wood ear mushroom and Thai vegetables.  It doesn't look it and neither does it taste spicy right away, but believe me, it does have a real kick at the end.  The morels are a real treat but not as noticeable in flavour as you might think.  The chicken is dark meat and it is cooked just enough so that it remains moist and tender.

Their classic Pad Thai is one of the best in the city in my opinion.  Lots of wok hei and caramelization leads to a smoky essence complimented by the tang from the tamarind and intense sweetness from the palm sugar.  You can add a protein to this dish, but I feel it is pretty good without it (but I do like adding the grilled pork cheek sometimes).  The noodles are chewy and flavourful without being too saucy nor clumpy.  The ample amount of seared firm tofu adds plenty of meatiness to the dish.

Lastly, to end off the meal, you can't go wrong with the Mango Sticky Rice where the rice is coloured by butterfly pea flower.  The rice is warm, soft and chewy with sweet coconut cream and young rice pop on top.  Nice crunchy texture to break up the softness.  Mango on the side is ripe and juicy.  These were 2 delicious meals at Song where the classic dishes delivered.  I felt the fried corn was fantastic and that salted egg yolk salad to be really flavourful.  Some of the other new dishes were fine, but maybe a little conservative in terms of seasoning.  Solid service as usual.

The Good:

- Their classic Thai dishes are on point

- Bold flavours

- Solid service

The Bad:

- Some of their new items need a bit more impact