Published on Main

Here we are at Published on Main...  for the 8th time.  You might be wondering why I keep coming back to the place right?  Is it because it is has a Michelin Star?  Believe it or not, that has nothing to do with my decision to come here.  I've been enjoying the intricately-prepared and beautifully-plated dishes since they opened - all on my own dime.  It is because the food is inventive, creative and just different.  I've never had a bad meal here and I don't expect that to change.

This time around, we were a bit disappointed to see that they have temporarily removed the Chips & Dip from the menu (something to do with not being able to source the right potatoes).  So we added the Chicken Fried Maitake with garlic scape ranch as a replacement.  This is a favourite of mine and although the dip isn't exactly the same as the chips & dip, it has some similar elements without the smoked fish.  As for the mushrooms, they were buttery and light with an equally light seasoned flour with some cornmeal.  These ate much lighter than they appeared with a super crispy exterior.

One dish that they have had on the menu since the beginning is the Aebleskiver filled with stewed herbs and pine nuts.  These donuts were fluffy, yet still slightly dense at the same time.  It was a desired form of density where it added texture without being heavy.  The outside was slightly crispy.  Inside, the herbs were tender and flavourful.  What brought this all together was the herb emulsion underneath.  So creamy and subtle, but bright.

The previous 2 dishes were actually added midway through the meal since I really wanted to eat them.  We actually started with the cured Scallop with oyster cream, smoked crème fraîche, sea asparagus and summer herbs.  This was a very delicate and dish with buttery soft scallops that were intensely sweet.  The cream and crème fraîche were subtle enough to let the scallop be at the forefront.  Definitely a background smokiness and brininess, but ever so slight.

Progressing to another light and refreshing dish, we had the Dungeness Crab topped with lettuce root, and buckwheat.  It sat in a herbal tisane.  The ample amount of crab meat was fluffy and a bit bouncy.  It was sweet and briny while complimented mildly by the herb paste underneath and also the tisane.  The thinly-sliced lettuce root was bright and provided just the smallest of texture to the plate.  However, with a bit of buckwheat, this provided some unexpected crunch. 

Onto something more robust, we went with the Wagyu Carpaccio topped with sorrel, shiso, fudgy yolk, garum, crispy shallots and garlic.  As with any raw Wagyu, this wasn't exactly melt-in-my-mouth tender.  Rather, it was buttery with some chew.  The reason for this is the amount of fat.  When not cooked down, it can tend to be a bit chewy.  However, the meat itself was flavourful due to the fat and it was further amped by the garum.  There was restraint with this as it can be overwhelming salty and pungent.  Loved the silky yolk as it provided some great mouth feel.  Some background bitterness and tang was provided by the shiso and sorrel.

One of my favourite dishes of the meal was the Summer Squash atop pepita mole and topped with pepita cream and pepita & sungold macha.  The halved zucchini were cooked masterfully where it was firm, yet still completely cooked-through and tender.  Absolutely loved the seed mole where it was nutty, earthy and lightly sweet.  The macha was the star of the show here where it was mildly spicy with a smoky nuttiness.  Loved the sungold tomatoes as they had pops of sweetness.

Heading to the heavier items, we had the Chargrilled Octopus with smoked castelvetrano, chorizo vinaigrette, crispy potatoes and shaved radish.  Loved the texture with the tentacle as it was soft yet while retaining a bite and chew.  The end of the tentacle was a bit crispy and nicely charred.  Impactful with a touch of spice, the chorizo vinaigrette sported bits of meaty sausage while being nicely acidic.  The smoked olive puree was smooth, mild and of course smoky.  Adding some texture, the crispy potatoes went well with the vinaigrette.

One of the featured dishes for the night was the Summer Beans in a Maggi emulsion.  Charred and cooked perfectly, the beans were still a bit crunchy and plenty vibrant.  I could get the smoky char with some of the beans.  As for the emulsion, I was a little on the fence about it.  On one hand, I love Maggi sauce.  I practically grew up with it (love it on eggs!).  However, the creaminess of the emulsion made this dish too heavy in my opinion.  I did enjoy the umaminess though.

With our choice of fish, we went for the Roasted Manitoba Pickerel with artichokes, radish, elderflower sauce and verjus.  This was an excellent dish with the pickerel sporting uniformly crispy skin that was well-seasoned.  The fish itself was flaky and moist.  Oh that elderflower butter sauce was lightly creamy, fruity and floral.  The acidity was provided by the verjus in a balanced manner.  It complimented the buttery sauce well.

We had one last savoury dish in the BC Fire Morel Gnocchi.  Bathed in a lightly creamy truffle sauce, the gnocchi were nicely seared.  Hence, there was caramelization and also a faint smokiness.  The texture was on point being pillowy soft but not airy.  Naturally, with a good amount of morels, there was definitely earthiness and nuttiness.  However, all of this was lightened up a bit with some lemon notes.  We also found some kelp, shallots and chives in the mix.

Onto dessert, we tried one of the newer options in Le Disco.  This featured discs sitting in cassis sorbet and black currant leaf oil.  I really liked the sorbet as it was almost creamy.  I found it melty and full-of-depth.  It was only lightly sweet, but with a strong currant flavour.  The oil was thick and rich while tasting like its colour.  I found it green-tasting and rather strong.  Now about those discs...  I am on the fence with them as the texture of dark one (was that black sesame?) was pasty.  The green (matcha?) was a bit better with some grittiness while the pink (strawberry yogurt?) was creamier with some iciness.  Did I like the discs?  Not really, but I did enjoy the rest of the dessert.

However, the ol' standby, Hay, was right there to end the meal perfectly.  This classic dessert (at Published) consisted of aerated hay custard with green apple and chamomile granita.  Airy, fluffy and a bit nutty, the semi-sweet custard was brought to life with the tangy sweetness of the apple granita.  Each scoop of this encouraged us to keep eating it.  We did and that didn't take long to finish!  In fact, we gobbled up everything that was put in front of us because it was delicious and eye-catching.  This is nothing new for us and that is what keeps us coming back.  I can guarantee that it won't be long until I'm back again!

The Good:
- Creative, delicious dishes
- The plating
- The service

The Bad:
- Well things aren't cheap, but worth it IMO  

Adrian's At The Airport

Here we go with another restaurant in a strange location.  You know the type, ones that you'd find in a back alley, in a residential area, at a gas station etc...  We made our way to one of these in Adrian's at the Airport.  As the name suggests, Adrian's is located at the Langley Regional Airport.  This is not the first time I've visited a restaurant at a small airport before.  I've been to Skyhawk out at Boundary Bay Airport quite a few years back.  This time around, this was Nikita's suggestion and we love coming out to Langley for some food adventures with her and Bluebeard.

Looking over the menu, there is quite the variety with pastas, schnitzels and steak.  However, it had a prominent Greek flavour to it and as such, we started with the Calamari.  This featured a fairly light batter that was properly seasoned, but was a touch greasy. The squid itself was a touch chewy, yet it wasn't hard to eat either.  I would've preferred bigger pieces of squid though.  I did like the Tzatziki as it was creamy, tangy, garlicky and bright.

Usually, when we order Dry Ribs, they are small bites of riblets that usually aren't that tender.  However, the version here was actually chunks of baby back ribs!  Yes, not only were they meaty and tender (with a balanced amount of fat), the texture was what you expect out of ribs. The other places, the meat is too lean and hence just eats like dry pork.  These were juicy and well-seasoned while crispy on the outside.  I would gladly order these over and over again!

For my main, I went for the Mushroom Schnitzel accompanied by veggies, red cabbage and roast potatoes.  The decently-sized pork cutlet was crispy and tender with a thick mushroom gravy on top. The meat was a touch on the drier side, but he gravy really helped alleviate that with savouriness and umaminess. I liked eating it with the sweet and tangy cabbage as it cut through the richness.  I found the veggies to be cooked quite well where they weren't overdone.

Viv went a classic Greek dish in the Chicken Souvlaki consisting of 2 skewers, Greek salad, rice pilaf, roast potatoes and pita bread.  Sporting a nice char, but not burnt, the chicken was smoky and seasoned.  Being chicken breast, it was predictably a bit on the drier side.  However, the side of Tzatziki was there for a reason.  We found the salad to be really fresh while the rice was fluffy and also seasoned.  Although the potatoes were tender, we wished they were lemon potatoes instead.

For Bluebeard, he also went for a Greek dish in the Moussaka.  I was actually deciding between that the schnitzel and so was Bluebeard.  The solution was to just share our plates!  That we did and I thought the Moussaka was quite good with a creamy bechamel (that wasn't stiff) and layers of tender eggplant and potato with plenty of meat. The meat sauce was a bit tangy, but I would've liked to some more cinnamon and the bechamel could've had more nutmeg.  Otherwise, this was still a very solid version.

Nikita ended up with the NY Steak with the same sides as the other dishes.  It had some pretty good grill marks and hence it was smoky and caramelized.  She asked for medium-rare and it came out more medium.  It was still tender though and was properly rested.  Overall, the food at Adrian's is definitely fresh and feels home-made. It isn't fancy food, but it is comforting and is a great place for the family or friends to meet up.  There is a wide variety of dishes and portion sizes are good as well.

The Good:
- Things are generally well-executed
- Well-portioned
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Food isn't fancy per se, so people have to have reasonable expectations that this is comfort
food
- On our visit, it seemed like many of the cocktails weren't available

Chickadee Room

Since 2016, Juke has been frying up delicious fried chicken encased in its signature rice flour batter.  I've been here on several occasions, whether it be dine-in or take out.  I've always like their chicken and in fact, their chicken sandwich is pretty darn solid too.  Things have changed from the beginning though as the main dining room now houses The Chickadee Room.  It is open late and serves a wide variety of beverages and cocktails.  Yes, it also serves the menu from Juke Chicken!

Naturally, I have to talk about some of the drinks first because, well, it is a late night bar!  We tried both the Silly Goose and Masatakas Garden.  Consisting of Nikka Coffey Gin, Snap Pea Noilly Dry, Handa Go Junmai Sake, apple and shiso, the Masatakas Garden was a pretty strong cocktail.  I found the gin and sake coming on strong at first, but then we got some subtle floral notes at the end.  As for the Silly Goose, it was a bit fruitier due to the combination of grapefruit and lemon going with the El Jimador Reposado Tequila and Vida Mezcal.  With that being said, the alcohol did come through, but not in-your-face as much as the Masatakas Garden.

To go with our drinks we had a selection of bites including the Chicken & Waffles.  Those cheddar and jalapeno waffles were on point.  Fluffy while crispy on the outside, these were drizzled with smaltz and chipotle maple.  Yep, that was plenty silky and aromatic with a touch of spice and sweetness.  It came with 2 pieces of dark meat chicken and it was fantastic.  Batter was crispy with rendered skin and the meat was juicy.  This is exactly how I like my fried chicken!

We also had the combination of things that were all tasty.  This included the Corn on the Cob.  These were cooked just enough where each niblet still had some bite and burst out with juicy sweetness.  They were coated in schmaltz, lime, chili flakes and cilantro.  Due to this, there was so real creaminess that was a bit spicy and plenty tangy.  Those Nuoc Cham Ribs were money with fall-off-the-bone meat that had been crisped up on the outside.  It was glazed with a fish sauce that was briny, spicy and sweet.  The addition of peanuts, bird's eye chili, sesame seeds, green onion and cilantro really made this pop with layers of spicy, nuttiness and brightness.  We also had Mr. Clay's All Dressed Fries with spicy garlic mayo, house pickles, parm, and crunchy fried onions.  Unlike so other dirty fries out there, this was not completely doused with moisture.  Hence, the fries underneath were still crispy and not soggy.  I liked the crunch of the fried onions combined with the spice from the mayo.  Last item on the platter was their Chili Fried Chicken.  These were juicy like the regular chicken but with a medium spice on the outside.  It was flavourful and smoky but not tongue-burning.  The batter remained fairly crispy despite the saucing.

When we dug into the all white meat Chicken Nuggets, it reminded us of something.  Yes!  These were larger versions of the ones you'd find at Chick Fil-A!  The hand-cut breast meat was moist and tender while the batter was fairly thin and crunchy.  We sampled 3 different sauces including honey mustard, sriracha honey and chipotle maple.  My favourite was the honey mustard with real mustard seed.  It was tangy with a slight bite.  We got Juke's Famous Mac & Cheese and it was loaded with plenty of melted cheddar.  The top was a bit hard due to the baking but underneath, the tender, but firm noodles were coated with plenty of cheesiness.

Making sure we covered all of our bases, we tried their Sweet & Spicy Wings topped with sesame seeds, cilantro, green onion and Thai basil.  Loved these wings as the meat was moist and tender while the outside still had some crispiness.  The best part was the sauce as it was impactful with medium spice and a balancing amount of sweetness.  With the other elements, the wings definitely had a Southeast Asian flair.

Last but not least, we had to get some veggies right?  We had the Juke Salad with iceberg lettuce, onion, radish, tomato, cheddar & sunflower seeds in a Asian sesame dressing.  This was pretty much a green salad with the classic aromatic sweet & tangy sesame dressing.  However, with popcorn chicken added to it, this was more of a meal and the chicken itself was crunchy.  This would've been even better if we had more dressing to douse on the chicken.  Overall, we enjoyed our visit to The Chickadee Room.  Love the concept of a late-night bar with the Juke Chicken menu to compliment.  To us, it even appeared that the food has improved since our last visit.  Not that it wasn't already good before...

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

The Good:
- Tasty cocktails
- Juicy fried chicken with a crunchy rice flour batter
- Nice vibe

The Bad:
- Place is tight except for 2 bigger tables, you might want to make a rez

Dumpling King (City Square)

For one reason or another, I've had my fair share of food from the City Square food court over the years.  There isn't a huge selection of eats, but most of the usual assortment of stalls are represented including a Bubble Waffle Cafe and A&W.  I've tried most of the spots and they are more or less acceptable.  This time around, I decided to deviate from the regular and test out Dumpling King.  This is one of the least busy stalls in the food court despite being one of the best values.  Everything is under $8.00, with the Xiao Long Bao coming in at $6.00.  I went for all 3 of their menu items to see whether they were good or not.

I started with the Xiao Long Bao (Steamed Soup Dumplings) and they were gigantic.  Easily 1/2 size bigger or more than the typical version. Unfortunately, these were not made-to-order, rather, already in a takeout container ready to go.  This might've had some effect on the top twirl of the dumpling skin as it was rather chewy and dense.  The rest was fairly thin and pliable.  Inside, the fatty pork was tender and juicy.  There was a considerable amount of soup, but it was greasy.  I could taste some sweetness and a touch of shaoxing wine.  It needed a bit more ginger in my opinion.  I really wished these were made-fresh and that the filling wasn't so fatty.

The Steamed Pork Dumplings had the same fatty pork filling and a considerable amount of soup too.  Predictably, it was equally greasy.  I guess using the same filling would be easier than making a different one for each dumpling.  As for the dumpling skin, it was decently thin and elastic for the centre portion of the dumpling.  Yet the pleats were hard and chewy.  This was possibly due to the fact that these were not made-to-order as well.

Lastly, I gave their Wonton Soup a shot as well.  The soup itself was quite pleasant being lightly salty and sweet.  There was some background seaweed flavour going on.  I wasn't a fan of the wontons as the pork filling was gritty and chewy.  This made each wonton dense and not pleasant in my opinion.  In general, the stuff at Dumpling King was so-so and not something I would go back for.  Maybe it has something to do with them not being made-to-order.  Considering the lack of staff, I can understand why they don't do this.  But I feel it compromises the quality of the product so negatively, it makes Dumpling King not relevant compared to some of the better food court XLB spots like R&H and Shanghai Dim Sum House.  Until they figure out a way to do that, it just can't compete.

The Good:
- Large dumplings with lots of soup
- Cheap
- It is ready right away (which is also a negative)

The Bad:
- Not made-to-order
- Parts of the XLBs and Steamed Dumplings are dense and chewy

 

Sen Pad Thai (Granville Island Public Market)

I've been a big supporter of Sen Pad Thai since they opened up on Granville Island in 2017.  Back then, they were not located in the Public Market, rather, they were in the Net Loft across the street.  From that very first visit, I was hooked on their wok-fry dishes as the caramelization and searing provided intense aroma.  I do believe they have one of the best versions of Pad Siew within the Lower Mainland.  So I didn't need much convincing to head over and do a sampling of their menu.

Part of Chef Angus An's restaurant group that includes Maenam, Longtail Kitchen, Fat Mao Noodles and partnership with Popina Canteen, Sen Pad Thai just continues the tradition of delicious and authentic food. We started with their Roti with curry dipping sauce.  This crispy flatbread was nicely browned while soft and chewy inside.  I would've like them to be a bit less dense, but they were still good.  That curry sauce was aromatic with some spice.  We also had the Crispy Thai Garlic Chicken Wings.  The rice flour batter was supremely crispy and held up even after dipping into the tamarind sauce.  Definite hits of garlic while the sweet & tangy tamarind helped brighten things up.  I would've liked to see the wings have a bit more salt to them though.

Beyond the stir fries, one of their most prominent dishes is their Crispy Pork Belly.  They prepare it fresh on-site and is best first thing in the morning as the place opens.  It is served atop rice with a soft boiled egg, pickled mustard greens, anise sauce, and soy.  I dug into this first as I didn't want to let the pork belly sit.  Oh it was really good where the pork was fatty but with enough meat while the crackling was firmly crunchy.  I could just eat the pork belly by itself and call it a day!

My go to dish here when it comes to rice is the Khao Pad featuring fried rice with thai nam sausage, gai lan, onion and cherry tomato.  Immediately after opening up the box, I was hit with the caramelized aroma of the rice.  The nuttiness combined with the pungency of the fish sauce made this textbook fried rice.  Add in the cubes of pork sausage and this robust and filling.  Little pops of acidity was provided by the cooked down tomatoes.  Texturally, the rice was perfect with discernible grains and an appealing chewiness.

Of course we had to have their namesake right?  We got the Pad Thai Goong and it also came with a fried egg. This has always been a solid version of the dish with great wok hei (from a very hot wok) that creates searing on the noodles.  Hence, the smokiness was evident and the tanginess of the tamarind really dominated.  Some might find it sour, but I much prefer this over being overly sweet.  The noodles were texturally on point with a chewiness while the prawns were perfectly prepared.

It would be a crime not to order the Pad Siew here since I consider it one of the best in town.  The menu states that they use fresh rice noodle sheets, but I swear they are more like mung bean noodles.  Anyways, the texture of the noodles here were chewy and the ribbons helped create adhesion for the tender beef and seasoning.  Once again, the wok hei ensured that the noodles and flavours were caramelized with smokiness and sweetness.  The gai lan was subjected to that too and it was vibrant and crunchy.

For their Daily Curry, they were featuring a Chicken Curry.  It was aromatic, creamy from the coconut milk and definitely had a kick.  There was a plethora of tender dark meat chicken as well as Thai basil, green beans and peppers.  This was served with a side of rice.  Overall, the food at Sen Pad Thai satisfied as per usual.  Considering this is a food stall, the food can rival those of a full-service restaurant.  Prices are not cheap, but what is these days?  I still think it has some of the best wok hei in town and it shows in the stir-fries.

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

The Good:
- Excellent wok hei (high wok heat)
- One of the best, if not the best Pad Siew in town
- That crispy pork belly!

The Bad:
- Roti could be a bit less dense
- Not unique to Sen Pad Thai, but the market food court is crazy busy at peak times, finding a table is almost impossible  

$10 Eggs Benny @ Glowbal

Food is just so expensive these days...  That is something quite certain and almost as guaranteed as death & taxes.  It really doesn't matter what food we are talking about.  Whether it be a trip to Costco, Superstore, a casual restaurant or a fine-dining establishment, you might need to take out a loan to afford it!  However, there are some spots that are trying to offer deals to entice people to spend their hard-earned money.  One of which is Glowbal in Downtown, starting on August 3rd (and continuing until the end of September), where a selection of Eggs Benny are going for $10.00 each.  If you want to add a side, it will cost another $5.00.  So for the whole thing, it would be $15.00.  Finding anything under $20.00 is a win!

I was able to try out preview this menu as well as pairing it with some cocktails (won't talk about them here, but please check them out in my IG post!).  We started out with the Traditional Back Bacon where it was really back bacon and not ham.  To amp things up even more so, they added crispy bacon as well.  Served on top of a properly-toasted English muffin and featuring perfectly poached runny free-range eggs, these were quite good.  To top it off, literally, was a velvety and rich Hollandaise that was seasoned well.

The next two options were also pretty classic in the Smoked Salmon Benny and the Smashed Avocado & Kale.  As you can see in the picture, they weren't shy with the buttery smoked salmon.  Hence, the impact was definitely there from the smokiness and saltiness.  As for the smashed avocado & kale (Vegetarian option), it was predictably more mild-tasting with creamy avocado.  The kale had some bite but was ultimately tender.  Personally, this wouldn't be my choice of the lot, but I understand there has to be a non-meat option.

One of the more premium options on the menu is the Pacific Crab Salad Benny.  In theory, this would've been the best one since there was a good amount of fluffy crab in the mix.  However, I wasn't a fan of the barely cooked through peppers as they were a bit too strong for the delicate crab.  I guess you can just merely pick it out, so not a big deal really.  I thought it went well with the runny (and appealingly dark orange) yolk and the creamy Hollandaise.  The moisture from the salad also helped soften the toasted muffin.

The final option and my personal favourite was the Braised Angus Beef Short Rib Benny.  This one was the most fulfilling as the rich beef short ribs were tender, full-flavoured and saucy.  This made for a robust and meaty concoction that was even more so with the richness of the egg and Hollandaise.  Also loved the mushrooms as it provided umaminess.  I'm not sure if you would even need a side with this option, especially if you do not have a big appetite. 

I felt the sides were similar to what you would find as options for a steak dinner.  This was so true with the Crispy Fries and Crispy Onion Rings.  I found the fries to be of the starch-covered variety, hence quite crispy on the outside and plenty potatoey in the middle.  As for the onion rings, they were battered and fried until golden brown.  Therefore, they were crunchy with completely cooked-through onion on the inside.  I liked how the batter wasn't too thick.

Predictably, there was also a Salad with balsamic vinaigrette.  Again, not something I would choose, but for someone who wanted a lighter side, this would be it.  My favourite of the bunch was the Crispy Fingerling Potatoes served with aioli.  These were smashed and fried until super crispy.  With that being said, the inside was still somewhat creamy and potatoey.  When dipped into the aioli, this was a dish I would just eat by itself.

Last option was the Truffle Parmesan Mac & Cheese.  Although this was the sexiest side on the menu, I found it to be rather much for a side to an Eggs Benny.  It was definitely truffley and cheesy, but also heavy.  Maybe share this with another person?  Or if you are really hungry, then order this.  Whatever the case, you really won't go hungry with these choices and if you have a bigger appetite, you still won't be hungry if you get both the shortrib benny and the mac & cheese.  You might have leftovers!  Great deal and served in a classy spot.  Nice to see some affordable options these days.

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

The Good:
- Inexpensive, even with a side added to the Benny
- Quality ingredients and properly-prepared
- All this in a nice dining space to boot

The Bad:
- Maybe take out the peppers from the crab salad?