Ginger & Scallion

Onto our next food adventure, Jackie and I made our way to Phinney Ridge where we would find Ginger & Scallion.  If you are familiar with the Asian condiment of grated ginger and scallion, then you would have guessed that this place dishes up chicken rice.  Known as Hainanese Chicken in Chinese cuinse, Ginger & Scallion is actually Thai and serves up Khao Man Gai.  There are a few differences namely the main condiment, which is a bit ironic with the name of the place.  Ginger and scallion is usually associated with the Chinese version while the Thai version has as soybean paste sauce with thick soy sauce, chilli, ginger, garlic and vinegar.  Well, they have all the sauces here, so they cover all of the variations in terms of condiments.

Before we got to the chicken, we had some appies to start including the Cucumber Salad and Spicy Shishitos.  Lightly pickled and then topped with some goji berries, the cucumbers were fresh, crunchy and juicy.  The mild brine ensured there was some impact without being being overpowering.  As for the shishitos, they were beautifully charred and salted.  Hence, there was a noticeable smokiness before we got into the mildest hit of spice (as shishitos are typically not spicy).

Before I talk about the chicken, we got to acknowledge that they offer up all the necessary Sauces to make things tasty.  Amalgamating different sauces for various versions of this dish, we find the usual ginger & scallion (name of this place!) and sweet chili that we associate with the Chinese and Singaporean dishes.  Then we have the sweet and spicy ginger & garlic sauce for Khao Man Gai.  Finally, we have the Kecap Manis from Indonesia.  Yes, they had it all!

To start things off, we had the standard in the deboned Chicken Thigh.  This was a healthy portion of tender dark meat that was mild-tasting.  It wasn't exactly juicy, but it wasn't dry either.  I felt this went best with the ginger & garlic sauce that have Nong's vibes but spicier and less sweet.  Naturally, this also came with chicken oil rice and soup.  I found the rice to be well-seasoned, gingery and definitely tasting like chicken.  It was firm, but not dry.  Soup was sweet and gingery.

Then we had the White Meat, but served cold with a wine sauce.  Since this was not kept warm, such as the previous dish, the meat was more moist.  This was true even though this was chicken breast meat.  Once again, the chicken was mild-tasting, but really benefited from wine.  There was also a bit of gelatin underneath the skin, which was tasty.  I felt that this went well with the ginger & scallion condiment as it allowed the wine to stand out.

Sticking with cold chicken, but this time with the dark meat, we had the Spicy version.  This cold dark meat was truly succulent and had even more chicken gelatin between the skin and meat.  Therefore, the chicken itself was pretty flavorful even without sauces.  This could've been partially attributed that it was dark meat since it has more fat.  With that being said, the spicy soy did taste really good and adding even more spice with the garlic and ginger condiment was the way to go here.

Moving away from chicken for just one dish, we had the Braised Duck.  This duck breast was sliced thin and topped with the braising liquid.  The duck was pretty tender and took on all of the flavor of the braise including a salty-sweetness from the soy and some elements of five spice.  I felt that the only condiment that worked for me was the kecap manis where it reminded me of eating Chinese smoked duck with a similar thick sweetened soy.

My favourite dish was the Coconut Curry Chicken with breast meat (that was hand shredded to order) and then served with chicken rice and a cukes.  To amp things up, a big dollap of chili sauce was added to the plate.  When combined, there was enormous impact with heat, smokiness, spice, sweetness and coconut.  In addition to the already gingery sweet chicken oil rice, this was super addictive and I'm still thinking about it as I'm writing this blog post!

At the end, we were presented with 3 desserts including a Matcha Cake, Thai Tea Tres Leches and Key Lime Pie.  The pick of the bunch had to be the tres leches.  It was soaked beautifully with sweet Thai tea that was also fragrant.  The cake itself was super moist but not mushy.  We really enjoyed that!  The other 2 were good too with proper textures and flavors, but go get the tres leches!  In the end, we were quite impressed with the overall execution of the humble chicken rice.  Loved that they had different variations and all the sauces.  You will find something that suits your fancy and at a reasonable price.

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

The Good:
- They have all the condiments!
- Choice of chicken meat, temperature and flavor
- That coconut curry chicken!

The Bad:
- Due to having to keep the warm chicken at temperature, the meat can be a little over (so get the cold version if you want consistency)

Pho & Chill

Here we are with our out-of-town food adventures, this time in Seattle.  First stop is Pho & Chill out in Lynnwood that boasts authentic Vietnamese cuisine.  Honestly, most Vietnamese restaurants I've been to in multiple locations have been authentic, rather than something fusion.  However, one look at the menu at Pho & Chill reveals many dishes that are not offered at the run-of-the-mill Vietnamese spots.  Furthermore, they boast a variety of drinks and desserts not seen at most places.

To start things off, we had the Bánh Khọt served with all the fixin's including nước chấm, lettuce, herbs and pickled veggies.  These little pancakes, cooked in their own special mould, were crispy on the bottom and edges, while being a bit custardy in the middle.  There was the unmistakable coconut milk flavour as well as a certain sweetness to go with the usual savouriness.  Shrimp in the middle was cooked just right having a buttery snap texture.  Wrapped these little things in lettuce and dipped into the fish sauce, so delicious!

Next, we tried their Fish Sauce Chicken Wings.  These gigantic wings were coated in a fairly thick batter that was universally crunchy with surprisingly rendered skin.  I guess this was achieved by an aggressive deep-fry where the meat was not dry per se, but wasn't juicy either.  On the outside, each wing was generously coated with a fish sauce caramel that was sweet, garlicky and slightly spicy.  Due it being quite sweet, I think if there was a wedge of lime for us to squeeze onto the wings, this would be perfect.

We had a cold appie in the Gỏi Bỏ or Beef Mixed Herb Salad featuring beef with lettuce, onions, carrots, fried shallots, banana blossoms, basil and peanuts.  This was a light and almost refreshing dish, especially with the warm weather.  The slices of slightly rare beef were sufficiently tender, but had a chew to them.  The rest of the ingredients were crunchy while the shallots and basil offered up aromatics.  The light fish sauce dressing added some tangy saltiness.

Onto another appie, we had the Shrimp Paste on Sugar Cane.  This is a classic dish, that for some reason or another, I never really order at any Vietnamese restaurant.  Glad we tried these here as they were rather large with a good amount of tender, but not too airy shrimp paste on each piece of sugar cane.  The shrimp paste still had a touch of fluffiness and rebound. The shrimp paste flavor was on the sweeter side, but was further amped by the natural taste of the sugar cane. 

With the bigger plates, I was so glad they had the Bánh Mì Chảo, specifically Bò Né in this case.  Served on a cast iron plate, we found a 6oz filet mignon with sunny side eggs, mini-sausages, tomato, fries and bread.  The steak was already sliced into strips and was cooked to about medium.  It was quite tender with a bit of a chew due to the doneness of the meat.  That sauce was pretty darn tasty with a rich meatiness accentuated by an appealing amount of fat (where all the flavour is baby!) and he silkiness of the eggs.  Yes, we dipped the bread into the sauce!

Continuing on with beef, we had the Bò Lúc Lắc served with rice and salad.  For this dish, the cubed beef was cooked to rare where the beef was juicy and moist but a touch on the chewier side.  I think it would've been more tender if it was cooked to medium.  As for the taste, it was flavourful with the usual meatiness accented by saltiness and some sweetness.  Naturally, the beef took on some of the flavours from the wok-fried peppers and onions.  To kick it up a notch, there was some lime salt & pepper served on the side.  Wished they had tomato rice with this though!

One of the more unique dishes we had was the half Cornish Game Hen with fried egg rice and some veggies.  Although looking pretty cooked on the outside, the hen actually featured moist and tender meat on the inside.  Naturally, the dark meat was more so than the white meat.  The fish sauce caramel was a bit similar to the one found on the wings being on the sweeter side with some fermented saltiness.  It was accented by some garlic butter which went well with the caramelized fried rice.

We some different in the noodle soup department with the Pho & Chill Special or Phở Tái Lăn featuring lightly wok-seared beef with fried garlic, rare eye-round steak and sunny side egg.  This Hanoi-specialty tasted quite different than a regular Southern Phở where it was much more fragrant, sweet and fatty.  Due to the wok-fry, the beef sitting in the broth shed some of the oil and hence made the soup more robust.  Lots more impactful flavours due to this and definitely not as clean as a regular broth.

 

We also decided to go with a selection of Bánh Mì including đặc biệt and grilled pork.   These were some pretty large sandwiches with plenty of meat.  In the cold cut, the meats were unusually thick.  In fact, there was plenty of meat in all of the subs.  Therefore, these ate well with lots of texture and flavor.  Grilled pork had a smoky char while being tender and well marinated.  The bread was fairly light with a crunchy exterior.

As mentioned earlier, they also feature a selection of drinks and desserts.  We tried Milk Tea with everything, Che Khuc Bach and Milk Tea with flan and pannacotta cubes.  These were really good!  That flan was silky and creamy.  Pannacotta cubes were stiffer with more gelatin, but I'm sure it is because it needed to not fall apart in the drink.  They were semi-sweet.  I would come here just for these!  But the food is good too, so I would consider this a hidden gem due to being located in Lynnwood.  If you are ever in the area, go check them out.  Very non-descript, yet really good!

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

The Good:

- The desserts/drink are excellent

- Large portions

- Impactful flavors

The Bad:

- The beef in general could've been more tender

 

Pho Super Bowl (Burnaby Kingsway)

As much as the point of going out to eat is to find delicious food, more than ever we are looking at things that are the best bang for the buck.  Not everyone has a huge budget to dine at restaurants and given how the economy is these days, the best combination is good food, reasonable prices and large portions.  That perfect trifecta is rarely achieved, but some places have got this down pat.  One particular example is Pho Super Bowl.  I've been to the location in Burquitlam many times and it has never failed me.  Now they have opened up a new spot on Kingsway in Burnaby.  Interestingly, this has been the former location of several Vietnamese restaurants over the past 3 decades.

To get a taste of the menu, we started with some appies including the Chicken Salad Rolls and the Salad Rolls with shrimp, pork, vermicelli noodles, lettuce and herbs.  I thought the chicken was slightly better since it was served warm and hence, the rice paper was more pliable and chewy.  Didn't hurt that the chicken was nicely charred and well-seasoned. too.  The cold shrimp and pork salad roll featured a firmer and harder rice paper wrap with meaty and sweet shrimp inside.

Continuing on with the standard stuff, we had the Pork Spring Rolls and the Chicken Wings.  I found the spring rolls to be quite good being tightly-wound but not dense inside.  The filling was not loose, but it had some fluffiness to go along with the meat texture.  Outside was crunchy and not overly greasy.  As for the wings, they were somewhat aggressively battered and hence they were crunchy.  The skin was fairly well-rendered while the nicely marinated meat was juicy.  There was a side of spiced salt to dip the wings into.

From the appies, we went onto the staples including the Phở Đặc Biệt and the Bún Bò Huế.  As expected, the phở was fully loaded with all the meats including tendon and tripe.  Textures were on point while the noodles remained al dente.  The broth was clean and sweet with some background meatiness and daikon.  As for the BBH, the broth was spicy with some fermented shrimpiness.  Loved that they put in the pork knuckle (2 pieces too!).  Only thing missing was the pork blood, but that is probably not a big seller, hence not available.

We ended up having two versions of the Bún Riêu including the original with rice noodles and an alternate version with red rice noodles.  Other than that, they were identical with a seafoody and sweet broth.  I enjoyed this and despite what people will tell you, the one at Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen is not the best.  I find that one too "porky" and the crab gets lost.  This one, the pork, crab and egg was fluffy and briny sweet.  Lots of shrimp, fish cake and chả lụa to compliment.  By virtue of being thicker, chewier and more robust, the red rice noodle makes the whole bowl much more filling and heavy.  Definitely a good option for those who want more texture.

Our last soup noodle was the Seafood Rice Noodle featuring shrimp, fish cake, crab cake and veggies.  Predictably, the broth was very clean, clear and sweet.  There was the ever-so-slight brininess to it.  Since this was all seafood, this ate more lightly and felt healthy.  We also had the Bo Kho with baguette on the side.  This was loaded with large pieces of brisket that were rather lean (the flat portion of the brisket).  Therefore, it was a touch dry, but still sufficiently tender.  It was bathed in a meaty and slightly fatty braising liquid.  There a little bit of spice to it and the star anise came through.  Definitely some sweetness too.  Great for dipping the bread into.

On the topic of baguettes, we had a trio of Bánh Mì including Đặc Biệt (Cold Cut), Grilled Chicken and Grilled Pork.  These were fully-stuffed with meat and other components (as if that was a given).  I particularly enjoyed the cold cut as that is usually my go-to.  But for this one, the meats were sliced thick (look at the chả lụa!).  The other 2 were solid too with nicely marinated and grilled meats.  They were tender and went well with the crusty bread.

Naturally, we tried one item each from the rice and vermicelli bowl sections.  This included Lemongrass Pork Chop with rice and double-fried eggs as well as the Chicken and Grilled Prawns Vermicelli Bowl.  As illustrated in the picture, the pork chops were well-charred, hence there was both caramelization and smokiness.  Meat was still tender though.  The same could be said about the pieces of chicken as they were tender with plenty of sweet saltiness.  Prawns were meaty and cooked just enough.

Complimenting our meal and also being our de facto dessert, we had the Combination Bean Pudding and the Durian Smoothie.  The Bean Pudding consisted of mung beans, red beans, and pandan jelly, topped with coconut cream and crushed ice.  Both were pretty sweet, with the bean pudding having plenty of textures.  I've had Che on many occasions and this one was fully loaded.  The durian smoothie was not too pungent, so it was rather mild.  As you can see, the food at Pho Super Bowl comes in large quantities.  But the quality is there too, so you get the best of both worlds.  In addition, the pricing is reasonable.  Great place to grab a bite to eat but keeping within a budget.

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

The Good:
- Large portions
- Food is good too
- Reasonable-pricing

The Bad:
- Would've liked to see fattier beef in the Bo Kho, but possibly it was just the luck of the draw

Yory Korean Cuisine

It has only been one month since we had visited Yory Korean Cuisine in Fleetwood.  But we were returning just as Summer had just begun because they have launched a few new items and also we wanted to try some dishes we didn't have last time.  The big takeaway from our original meal at Yory was that the food was delicious but best of all, it was reasonably-priced and served in large portions.  Hey, the trifecta of great restaurant eating: taste, price and value!  So we were excited to return!

We began with the Dak-Galbi which was plenty saucy and cheesy.  This was a mix of boneless dark meat chicken, sweet potato and rice cakes in a sweet & spicy gochujang-based sauce.  I found the large pieces of chicken to be tender where they took on the flavours of the sauce.  The rice cakes were tender with an appealing chewiness.  Bringing it all together was the melted mozzarella on top that created some delicious stringiness.

Just in time for Summer, they are now offering Spicy Cold Buckwheat Noodle and Spicy Cold Buckwheat Noodle Salad.  Somewhat similar, yet remarkably different, these both featured cold chewy buckwheat noodles.  The noodles were perfect while the spiciness was balanced.  The biggest difference between the two was that the salad did not sit in a broth and of course, had crunchy veggies.  The cold noodle in broth was a bit less spicy since it was diluted somewhat.

 

Yet another new dish on the menu is the Thick Soybean Paste Stew (that also comes with a Barley Bibimbap).  The stew itself was more like a Chunky Soup with mushrooms, soft tofu, beef, veggies and egg.  Due to the use of fermented soybeans, the soup had a richness to it that was salty in a good way.  There was enough sweetness to balance things though.  We didn't get to try the barley bibimbap, but I've had something similar at another Korean restaurant.  The texture of the barley is much chewier than rice, which I prefer.

Staying with hot soup, we had the ol' standby being the Gamjatang (or Pork Neck Soup).  This one featured 3 really large bones with plenty of tender meat.  It fell off-the-bone and took up all of the flavours of the broth.  That broth was super flavourful with good spiciness as well as a nuttiness from the perilla seeds.  Due to the seeds and the pork bone, it made the soup a bit creamy and silky.  The big chunks of potato were soft and also absorbed the tasty broth.

So yah, we were having yet another hot soup dish on a warm day with the Clam Kal Gook Su (Knife-cut noodles in clam broth with barley rice).  Oh wow, this was fantastic!  Reminded me of the one I had at Kang's Kitchen in Coquitlam.  This featured perfectly-cooked noodles that were al dente with a nice rebound.  There were ample fresh clams that gave the broth a natural sweetness that was slightly briny.  I couldn't stop drinking the broth!

We also tried the Volcano Jokbal which looked more like bossam to me.  The pieces of pork belly were a little firm, but was ultimately tender with slightly gelatinized skin and fat with equal parts tender meat. There was inherent flavour with a mild salty sweetness. Dipped into the side of ssam, it added spice and extra saltiness.  This was served with some spicy radish and of course, lettuce on the side for wrapping.  

So we ended things off with the Dolset Squid Bibimbap which was a nice departure from the standard version.  I found there to be more impact of flavours from the squid stir-fry without needing to add more gochujang.  There was sweetness and spice to go with the tender pieces of squid (that still had a nice rebound).  The rice had a nice texture that was not too wet, so it could take on the saucy squid.  In the end, Yory did what Yory does, as in provide delicious eats in good portions for reasonable prices.  The new Summer dishes are good and only adds to the repertoire of good eats on the regular menu.

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

The Good:

- Consistently good eats

- Large portions

- Reasonable prices

The Bad:

- Service is a bit sparse due to the restaurant being busy

Rens Club Cafe

From the outside, Rens Club Cafe does not really give any hints to what cuisine lies within.  I mean it is a bit difficult with the existing facade that originally belonged to La Villetta many years ago.  Then the restaurant became Eat for Good where minimal renovations were made.  Upon entering Rens, the real change starts to appear with a brightened interior with plenty of natural light.  New tables and chairs adorn the dining room as well as a coffee robot at the centre of it all.  We still didn't get a sense of what they served until we took a look at the menu.  Oh, they are a Thai restaurant!

Well, then let's start with the Bangkok Street Platter with pork spring roll, deep fried tofu, chicken satay and papaya salad.  I thought the spring roll was quite good with a crispy exterior and a not-overly-dense pork filling with wood ear, onions and carrots.  I particularly liked how they were not greasy.  The fried tofu was pretty typical, but I ended up dipping that in sweet & sour tamarind sauce which made things come alive with lots of impact.  Tender and well-marinated, the satay ate particularly well with the thick and aromatic peanut sauce.  Interestingly, I couldn't stop eating the fried taro sticks.  So crispy!

We ended up trying 2 soups including the Tom Yum and Tom Kha.  These were fairly large portions meant for sharing.  I found the Tom Yum to be decent with a good amount of aromatics, tanginess and the unmistakable taste of lemongrass and galangal.  I thought the spice level was pretty mild while the amount of palm sugar quite high.  As for the Tom Kha, it was also aromatic, but with coconut milk being prominent, it was certainly creamier and more mild.  Once again, it was on the sweeter side.

Of course we were going to get the Pad Thai (default Thai dish right?) and it was pretty decent.  The noodles were al dente and not clumpy, but then again, it was probably due to the greasiness too.  The tamarind sauce was more sweet than tangy but it still was fine.  I would've liked to see a bit more sour and even more spiciness too as the flavour was quite one note.  However, the caramelization was present, so the smoky sweetness was definitely there.  Also present was the egg, bean sprouts, chives fried tofu and peanuts.  Would've liked to see some pickled turnip though.

Next, we tried the Beef Yellow Curry with potato, carrot and onion.  I thought by appearances alone, this looked quite appealing.  It was indeed not bad where there was plenty of beef that was tender and exhibiting natural texture.  The veggies were cooked through, but were still vibrant and had a firm texture.  The curry itself was a bit too sweet in my opinion.  Maybe reduce the amount of palm sugar and increase the spice level and the curry would be on point in my opinion.

Next, we had the Chicken Red Curry that was the sweetest dish we had so far in the meal.  In addition to the palm sugar, the sweetness of the grapes, lychees and pineapple made this taste more like a dessert than a curry.  Possibly, if there was more spice to the dish, it could've balanced off all of the sweet components.  However, it would be best that they didn't add the fruit and stuck to the peppers, tomato and basil.  Chicken was tender though.

To complete the trifecta of curries, we had the Tiger Prawn Green Curry with eggplant, peppers and Thai Basil.  I thought this was the best curry of the bunch where the prawns were perfectly cooked with a sweet snap.  Eggplant was excellent too where the Thai eggplant was especially appealing in texture.  The curry itself was sweet like the others, but a little less so.  I got the creaminess from the coconut milk, but would've liked more fermented shrimp flavour.

One of the better items we had was the Khao Soi Gai.  Although once again sweet, I found the creaminess of the curry broth to be fragrant and aromatic.  I would've liked to see more of the crispy noodles as there was just not enough of it.  The egg noodles were prepared properly being al dente, but a touch clumpy. The chicken was tender and fell-off-the-bone.  There was enough pickled mustard greens to break up the heaviness of the coconut curry broth.

We ended off with 2 desserts to share including the Housemade Coconut Ice Cream and the Mango Sticky Rice. A little melty and not particularly smooth, the coconut ice cream was actually decent.  Flavour was good and just sweet enough. Definitely homemade as there was no stabilizers used. As for the sticky rice, it was also good being soft and chewy while lightly sweet and coconutty.  Not sure about the jelly flowers.  Weird texture. Overall, the food at Ren's is a bit confusing.  Nowhere in the name or the restaurant screams Thai food.  Furthermore, they have to ease up on the palm sugar.  With that being said, the food here is better than the nearby H&P Noodle House, but not as authentic as Chad Thai.  It certainly cannot compete against Siam Le Bien further East on Hastings.  But really, who are they catering to?  If it is for the casual diner that doesn't care about authenticity and would rather have sweeter than spicier, then maybe they have an audience.  But with the constant lineups at Siam Le Bien, maybe the neighbourhood does prefers authentic Thai food?

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

The Good:
- Fairly decent portions
- Nice decor
- Serviceable eats

The Bad:
- Far too sweet
- Doesn't taste all that authentic