Kosoo Korean Restaurant Chicken & BBQ (Robson)

In 2018, I had visited Kosoo on Cardero for some Korean eats and it was pretty tasty!  Since then, they have expanded aggressively with different themed restaurants bearing the same Kosoo name.  They have a Korean BBQ in Coquitlam, a Pocha in Chinatown and now a location on Robson specializing in KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) and BBQ (but not at your table such as the one in Coquitlam).   Jackie and I checked out the newest Kosoo on 2 separate visits.

On our first go-around, we focused on BBQ and chicken.  We were started off with some Banchan consisting of sprouts, potatoes, daikon and kimchi.  All were pretty good, especially the potatoes as they were tender and sweet but didn't fall apart.  All of our dishes arrived at once, yet I'll talk about the Yangnyeom Chibap first. This was massive amount of sweet & spicy KFC atop chewy rice.  I found the chicken to be juicy and tender (it helped that it was chicken thigh) while the sauce was more sweet than spicy.  There was some greens on top with corn and a mild mayo-based sauce.

Up next we had 2 BBQ items in the Pork Belly and the LA Galbi.  Now one look at the menu and you might be wondering why they are $45 and $52 respectively.  It was obvious to me why, as the amount of meat on the sizzling cast iron plate was enough for 2 people.  Another obvious clue was the 2 bowls of rice, lettuce, spicy salad and huge bowl of soup.  In that case, for 2 people, the prices are actually a steal.  But what about the food?  The meats were nicely grilled being charred and caramelized.  The meats were tender and the galbi was especially flavourful.

At the end, we got to the KFC with a mix of honey butter and mayack (cheese powder).  Since this consisted of bone-in chicken, it required a bit more effort.  There was a mix of white and dark meat where both were moist and tender.  I loved the crispiness of the batter and the cheese powder was impactful.  Lots of cheesy saltiness.  There was also a mix of fried rice cakes (additional cost) whereas the honey butter had corn, rice cakes and some chips.

On the side, we added the Dirty Fries and they were fantastic.  The fries were crispy despite the amount of components on top.  About those components, we had cheese, sauce, corn, olives, jalapenos and bacon.  Normally, I'm not a fan of fries that are loaded with so much stuff, but this was different.  The crispy fries took on the toppings very well and there was a little of everything including tanginess, spice, saltiness and even sweetness with the sauce.

On the next visit, we started off with the Chive Pancake with melted cheese on top.  Now this might look eerily similar to a pizza, but it sure didn't eat like one.  The actual pancake was relatively thin, but still moist inside.  The exterior was crunchy on the edges and plenty nutty tasting.  For the rest of it, it was crispy, even with all the cheese on top.  The grease level was low and the cheese really did add to the pancake texturally and mild notes of cheesiness.

We love spicy cold noodles, so the Makguksu was right up our alley.  It consisted of buckwheat noodles with spicy sauce, carrots, cabbage, onions, seaweed and sesame oil.  First of all, this was served in the right temperature being ice cold.  Secondly, the sauce was on point.  It definitely had a kick, but was also balanced off by some sweetness.  The rest of the ingredients ensured there was some brightness and crunch.  Enjoyed the aromatic nuttiness of the sesame oil too.

Getting a soup into the mix, we had the Selleong Tang with ox bone, beef brisket, mushroom and green onion.  This came with a bowl of rice.  Like many other versions of this soup, it was great for the cold weather and mild-tasting.  However, this had more meatiness and salt content and hence, was decently flavourful with natural sweetness.  The big pieces of brisket were tender and meaty.  Loved eating this with the rice as it was total comfort food.

We ended off big with the Gamjatang Geongol that arrived in a huge pot served on a butane burner.  This came with 2 bowls of rice.  Sure, this was $53.00 but this had 8 large pork backbones that were tender, but still meaty.  The flavours of the pork bone broth were rich, sweet and a bit spicy.  Could definitely taste the perilla seeds.  Overall, the food at Kosoo Robson is fantastic.  Portions are huge and preparation is on point.  Sure, the prices are on the higher end, but usually, the portion sizes are for 2 people or more.  So don't let the prices fool you, it is actually a really good value, especially for a location right on Robson.

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

The Good:
- Large portions
- On point food
- Good location for those in downtown

The Bad:
- The place could use some renovations

Grand Neptune

We all know that the most prevalent Chinese restaurant chain in Vancouver is Neptune.  They come in many flavours such as Neptune Wonton Noodle, Neptune Seafood Restaurant and their higher-end Neptune Palace.  Now, they have gone one step further with Grand Neptune, taking over the spot that used to house Grand Dynasty.  Naturally, the place is a step up with a gorgeous VIP room (that I dined in) and subsequently, higher prices.

Even though the first dish to arrive was the congee, I'm going to talk about the most important dishes first - Ha Gau (Shrimp Dumpling) and Siu Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumpling) first.  Both were textbook in terms of execution with the dumpling skin on the ha gau to be fairly thin and translucent.  It had good elasticity and wasn't oversteamed.  The shrimp filling was buttery with a sweet snap.  I could taste the sesame oil and the natural flavour of the shrimp.  As for the siu mai, the pork was "wat", which means there was a buttery tenderness to it while still retaining a rebound texture.  Seasoning was mild, but the balance between sweet and savoury was on point.  Also, there was not overly porky flavour to be found, which was a good thing.

In addition to the classic aforementioned dumplings, we had some of their specialty version including the Scallop Dumpling and Tomato, Egg & Shrimp Dumpling.  With a squid ink outer wrapper, the scallop dumpling was good with the same shrimp filling as the ha gau while topped with a scallop.  The scallop was still buttery  while the dumpling skin was chewy, but in a good way.  As for the other dumpling, it was whimsical as it did look like a tomato.  The dumpling skin had appealing elasticity like the ha gau while the filling had the same qualities as the other shrimp filling but with egg and a touch of tomato flavour.

Back to a usual dim sum dish, we had the BBQ Pork Buns.  These were also textbook with a fluffy steamed bun that was lightly sweet.  Inside, the BBQ pork filling was quite lean and mixed with a sweet and savoury glaze.  Not that we were expecting anything other than "okay", the Xiao Long Bao were exactly that.  Cantonese dim sum is not known for great Shanghainese dishes, and the XLBs were no different.  The skin was semi-thick but not dense.  Inside, the pork filling was tender with a decent amount of soup.  It was mostly one-note though.

Continuing with the usual dim sum offerings, we ordered the Beef Meatballs as well as the Steamed Pork Spareibs with black garlic.  A little on the firmer side, the beef meatballs were still bouncy and tender.  There was a balanced amount of greens that it didn't dominate the flavour profile.  As for the spareribs, they were in large meaty pieces that contained very little fat and cartilage.  Meat had a nice rebound while still maintaining its texture.  Seasoning was on point with hits of saltines, garlickiness and slight spice, however, I didn't get much in the way of black garlic.

Of course I had to get my usual fill of offal in the form of Chicken Feet and Steamed Spicy Beef Tripe.  Both of these were also good where the chicken feet were plump and featured soft cartilage and fat underneath the delicate skin.  It was full-flavoured with garlic and saltiness.  As for the tripe, it was also garlicky with some spice.  The slices of tripe were cooked until tender while still having that classic soft chewiness.

If you have seen in my previous dim sum posts, it is pretty obvious that the Bean Curd Skin Roll is one of my favs.  This one here was also delicious with tender bean curd skin that had a light chew to it.  Inside, the pork filling was tender and moist with some amount of veg.  Now on the other hand, Viv's favourite dim sum item is the Deep Fried Eggplant with shrimp paste.  This was also good but we wished there was more shrimp paste (as you can see in the picture there wasn't much of it).  The eggplant was delicate, but not overdone while the shrimp paste was sweet and bouncy.  We also wished there was more black bean sauce too.

Not sure what they were getting at with the BBQ Pork Pastries, but I think they were jellyfish?  Whatever the case, they were good though with a flaky and buttery puff pastry filled with lean BBQ pork.  It was a bit sweet, but not overly so.  As for the Shrimp Spring Rolls, they were also textbook.  The outer wrapper was golden brown and crispy.  None too greasy either.  The shrimp filling was sweet and had a buttery snap.

We couldn't have dim sum without a Rice Noodle Roll of some sort, so we got the beef version.  Not trying to sound like a broken record (hey, these are back!), but this was good.  The rice noodle was soft with a nice elasticity while the beef filling was tender.  One of our family favourites is the XO Daikon Radish Cake.  I thought this was the weakest of the dishes we'd had in the meal.  The cubes were a bit too large, but the texture was soft.  There was not enough XO and hence, the flavours were muted and not very impactful.

One of my son's favourite things to eat is beef brisket, so we had to get the Beef Brisket with daikon.  In reality, this was beef finger meat (which is the meat in between the beef ribs).  The meat was tender while still retaining a meatiness.  The broth was super light and this dish was very subtle in flavour.  We also got another one of his favs in the Lo Mei Gai (Sticky Rice Wrap) and this one was good.  It had some wild rice in it for texture and the amount of pork, dried shrimp and sausage was enough to make every bite meaty and flavourful.

To end things off on the savoury part of the meal, we had the House Special Crispy Noodles.  This was a good portion of fried noodles topped with a good mix of properly cooked seafood, meats and yau choy.  Loved the large scallops!  Also, the sauce had the right thickness while adequately seasoned.  Oh, and we can't forget about the Seafood Congee (that I mentioned earlier).  It was a bit homestyle in terms of thickness and appearance.  The flavours were a bit mild, but the side of peanuts, green onion and pickled mustard greens helped with that, as well as the white pepper.  There was a good amount of quality pieces of seafood that were prepared properly.

Onto dessert, we went for some whimsical items including the Lychee & Mango Rabbit.  The attention to detail with the colours made this appealing.  The gelatin was firm, but delicate enough that it wasn't dense.  Nice combination of aromatic lychee sweetness and mango flavours.  The Steamed Salted Egg Lava Buns came out with an "Hello Kitty" themed design.  Also cute and ultimately well-executed too.  Beyond the fluffy bun, the lava was runny, sweet, nutty and aromatic.

The best dessert was the Passion Fruit Mousse made to look like the actual fruit.  It was tangy and sweet with a lot of impact.  Texturally, it was a bit frozen, but I liked it.  Overall, the dim sum service at Grand Neptune was really good and almost worth the extra cost.  I say "almost" because it cost me a pretty penny to eat there and we didn't even order anything outrageous.  Hence, if money is no object to you, Grand Neptune should be on your list for higher-end dim sum spots in the GVRD.

The Good:

- On point dishes

- Decent service

- Nice dining space and also free parking in the casino lot

The Bad:

- On the higher end of pricing for dim sum in the GVRD

Don at Kitsilano

At first glance, Don at Kitsilano looks like a fancy spot with equally fancy food.  Well, that is partially correct.  The decor is IG-worthy and those tables, with the resin in the middle are absolutely stunning.  However, as the name suggests, this place dishes up rice bowls (and also noodle bowls).  Now unlike many places that specialize in this type of cuisine, Don at Kits is considerably less basic and in fact, rather elevated.  This is due to Chef Victor who has worked under Alvin Leung at a Michelin Star restaurant.

So it wasn't surprising to see a Cured Salmon Tartare on the menu featuring prawn dusted rice crisps.  This was quite good with buttery pieces of salmon that had some subtle seasoning from the pickled radish, fried shallots and sesame seeds.  Some might think that this would be too mild, but it allowed the salmon to exude its sweetness and taste of the sea.  The addition of a free-range egg yolk added creaminess and silkiness.  Loved the light crisps as it didn't take away from the natural texture of the salmon.

Even the humble dumpling gets reworked here with the Lobster Gyoza.  Featuring a stunningly tomato red skirt (or tuile), the dumplings were the beneficiary of a hard sear on the bottom.  Hence, dumplings were crispy on one side and sported a relatively thin dumpling skin on the other.  I found the filling to be a little on the dry side with lean pork.  The bits of lobster were great though being its bouncy best and exhibiting classic lobster essence.   This came with an appetizing vinegar sake dipping sauce.

So onto the "Don" part of the meal, we had the 24-hour slow cooked Pork Jowl.  This featured a buttery soft, melt-in-my-mouth pork jowl where the fat and meat melded together into one texture.  It was delicious by its lonesome with umaminess and just the right amount of seasoning.  However, that shiitake rice underneath was so appealingly chewy and earthy, it complimented the meat beautifully.  Add in the silkiness of the onsen egg and we had some real nice textures.  This was finished tableside with a tomato broth which was elegant, aromatic and subtle.

Another mouth-watering dish was the Braised Beef Cheek with nian gao (rice cakes).  Once again, they did a superb job with the protein where it was cooked for 30 hours.  The meat was gelatinous, fall apart tender and full-of-depth. This seemed to be somewhat of a take on TBN (Taiwanese Beef Noodle) except with beef cheek rather than beef shank and rice cake instead of noodles.  I found the broth to be meaty with plenty of body.  The rice cakes were tender but retained a nice chewiness.

If you looked at the next dish, it wouldn't be a bad guess to think "chicken pot pie".  But in reality, it was a Seafood Congee Pot Pie with puff pastry on top.  The pastry acted like the yau tiao (Chinese savoury donut).  This was a really thick congee that had plenty of well-cooked seafood.  It was sweet and full or aroma.  The DIY sides of sweet & salty peanuts, fried shallot and chili crunch oil allowed me to customize the flavour profile.  I went for spicy and the crunch from the peanuts and shallots added the necessary texture.

The most striking item was the Creamy Lobster Bisque Udon.  It featured a large whole lobster tail baked with salted egg yolk.  This was nutty, aromatic and bordering on salty without going over.  The lobster itself was perfectly-cooked being sweet and bouncy.  The udon was excellent and the lobster bisque was full-flavoured with umami.  The addition of roe helped add pops of brininess.  This was super delicious and one of our favourites of the meal.

We ended our meal with a pair of desserts including the Rabbit in the Garden and the White Rabbit Crème Brûlée.  The slightly firm pannacotta-style rabbit was semi-sweet and creamy.  It sat atop sesame crunch and chocolate shavings.  It had good textural contrast and wasn't very sweet.  As for the crème brûlée, it had a textbook torched sugar topping.  It was crunchy and caramelized.  I found the white rabbit custard to be not very sweet, which was great since the sugar took care of that.  It was light and creamy.  Loved the addition of the salted peanuts.

For drinks, we had the Spicy Peach Margarita, Fairy Wing. Hojicha & Yuzu Iced Tea and Spark of Charm.  These were all non-alcoholic but tasty nonetheless.  There was a fruity theme going on where my favourite was the fairy wing.  It had zero-proof gin mixed with citrus, butterfly pea tea, yuzu and orange bitters.  Very refreshing and light.  The spicy margarita was exactly that and good for those who want impact.  Loved the ice tea as it was fruity and slightly tangy.  I found the spark of charm pretty light with zero-proof rum, ginger beer, lime juice and orange bitters.  Overall, the food at Don at Kitsilano is delicious while being elevated.  There is care and pride put into the food and it shows in presentation and taste.  Decor is also quite inviting.  Worth checking out.

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

The Good:
- Nice dining space, definitely IGable!
- Pretty food
- It is also delicious

The Bad:
- Pricing is on the higher side, but the quality of the food is also high
- Lobster dumplings could be juicier  

The Greek on Broadway (Social Menu)

I'm sure you remember me yammering about food prices these days in several of my posts.  Sure, there have been some pretty good deals out there including some affordable AYCE options.  However, the Social Menu at The Greek on Broadway is something else.  Everything on that menu is 40% off (until October 31st) as long as you do a social media post of some sort.  These including following The Greek on IG, posting a story, reel or static post on IG and/or an online review.  I personally love the food here and for 40% off, it is a frickin' steal!

So for only $7.80, you can order the Taramosalata that comes with grilled pita.  Of all the available dips, this is my favourite with an appetizing tanginess to go with the brininess of the cured cod roe.  This is fairly thick, but still creamy in texture.  The best part of the dish is the grilled pita.  It benefits from the charring as the smokiness and nuttiness really come through.  The bread itself is crispy on the outside while still chewy on the inside.  Really nice compliment to the dip.

Another excellent small plate that is available on the menu is the Spanakopita for $11.10.  Unlike other versions that feature little triangles of phyllo pastry stuffed with spinach and feta cheese, the one here is a long whole piece.  Therefore, we find much more filling than phyllo.  It isn't as if the phyllo isn't there though.  The thin layer is nicely browned and crispy while the ample amount of spinach is tender, yet not mushy.

Also for $11.10, the Keftedes sports 4 pork and beef meatballs sitting in a homemade tomato sauce.  These meatballs are large and features lean meat.  Hence there is a real meatiness to them.  The slight heaviness of the meatballs is completely offset by the delicious tomato sauce.  There is a certain freshness about it and the tang is perfectly balanced with the sweetness and oregano.

Now the previous 3 dishes are really good, but the one that I love the most is the Grilled Humboldt Squid for $15.00.  This large piece of squid is super tender with the perfect amount of textural bite.  It is masterfully grilled with appealing sear marks.  These are not only there for form, but they also there for function.  Caramelized smokiness abound, the squid benefits also from proper seasoning and a wealth of olive oil.  Be sure to squeeze some lemon for acidity.

One of my favourite Greek dishes is Moussaka and they do it justice here.  It is only $12.60 on the Social Menu, yet they do not skimp on the meat.  There is a thick layer of tender beef and pork within the layers of eggplant, zucchini and potatoes.  Of course, on top we find the usual creamy bechamel sauce.  Love how this layer is not too thick.  Some other versions have far too much bechamel that can also be heavy.  Not this one.  It is velvety and has the unmistakable taste of nutmeg.  That combining with the cinnamon in the meat make this the perfect fall dish.

The best value on the Social Menu must be the Souvlaki Platters for a mind-boggling $17.40!  You can choose between 4 different skewers including chicken, pork, beef (+$1.00) or prawns.  It includes all the fixins' including rice, roast potatoes, tzatziki and veggies.  All of the skewers are well-charred and seasoned.  I like the chicken and pork the most as they are tender and juicy.  The beef is a bit chewier and drier.  Prawns are excellent with a meaty snap.  Overall, the food at The Greek is solid and it is now even more appealing due to the rock-bottom pricing.  I suggest you go check it out before October 31st.

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

The Good:
- Well-prepared proteins
- Fair portion sizes
- That Social Menu (only until Oct 31st)!

The Bad:
- Currently with the Skytrain construction, you must park a bit farther away