Pokerrito (Morgan Crossing)

Back in 2012, when the Poké craze initially began to take shape in North America, I was trying to keep up with all the new spots opening all over the place.  Seeing how it was growing exponentially, I decided to give up as I couldn't maintain the pace.  Predictably, many have come and many have gone as the market did get saturated.  However, quite a few have survived and are still doing well.  One particular chain is Pokerrito, which surprisingly I've never had a chance to do a visit.  With a menu tasting in hand, I finally got my chance at the Morgan Crossing location.

For those who aren't familiar, Pokerrito offers up classic poké bowls as well as some fusion bowls.  But as the name implies, they are known for their Poké + Burritos = Pokerrito.  Think of it as a really large sushi roll with all the goodness of poké inside.  In the picture above, you will find the Diamond Head   It was particularly impactful with the combination of spicy tuna, spicy seaweed salad, crab meat, ginger, masago, jalapeno, furikake, crispy onion and sweet chili.  Lots of spice with sweetness and tang.  This was the most flavourful of the ones we tried.

As for the Hawaiian Classic, it was much more subtle with marinated tuna, seaweed salad, sesame, radish, pineapple, sweet corn, pea shoots, tempura bits and shoyu.  As you can imagine, this was mostly sweet with some saltiness from the shoyu.and Hawaiian Classic Pokerritos.  In this picture, you will notice the nori casing and a thin layer of sushi rice. That meant we could totally taste the ingredients even more so than the bowl version.  Also, the textures were more apparent.

Now we had two different Pokerritos that resided at each end of the spectrum.  With the the Hanauma, we found something that fell somewhere in the middle.  We had it in both pokerrito and bowl form and they ate very differently.  The bowl version had much more rice, which in turn made each individual ingredient less apparent than the pokerrito.  Now it wasn't as if there was no impact.  In fact, it still tasted great with the buttery salmon, sweet imitation crab salad, ginger and wakame salad. I personally ate less of the ginger as it was sharp with a spicy and tangy bite.  In the pokerrito form, it was harder to pick out and that overshadowed the fish somewhat.  But then again, it was further enhanced by the lack of rice.

The North Shore Bowl had some elements from the Hanauma Bowl as well as the Hawaiian Classic.  Instead of salmon, we found fresh tuna with wakame salad, radish, edamame, pineapple and masago.  This was fresh-tasting with subtle flavours.  The addition of pineapple added sweet brightness and the imitation crab salad provided creaminess.  I think this would be good in pokerrito form since there would be less rice.  The tuna and pineapple would stand out even more.  Also no ginger would allow the other components to shine more so.

Onto something that was a bit different than the previous bowls, we had the Torched Ahi Tuna Bowl with soba.  Naturally, this added smokiness and varied texture within the tuna itself.  We had some slightly cooked bits while most of it was still raw and buttery.  By virtue of employing soba and seared tuna, this ate much more like a composed restaurant dish rather than quick service.  Really enjoyed the chewiness of the noodles combined with the crispy tempura bits.

If raw fish isn't your game, they also have some cooked bowls too including the Torched Miso Glazed Salmon Bowl.  If you are wondering, yes, this piece of salmon was fully cooked.  Despite that, it wasn't dry though, so it was flaky and moist with a sweet and salty sauce on top.  Nice smokiness due to the torching and lots of bite from the ginger on the side.  That was the only competing flavour in the bowl since everything else was mild.  Personally, I would've liked a more rare piece of seared salmon for this bowl, but not sure if that could be done?

Here is where we start to see some Korean fusion with the bowls.  First, we had the Torched Bulgogi Bowl.  This was aggressively sauced and then torched, which further intensified the sweetness.  We really had to mix this into the rice as it packed quite the flavour punch.  The ample beef was sliced thin and tender.  Some kimchi on the side provided some tang and mild spice.  Another variation was the Beef Bul-Dog.  So essentially bulgogi in a hot dog bun with some greens and crispy tempura bits on top.

Our last bowl was the Torched Spicy Pork Bowl.  This was just as saucy as the bulgogi bowl while adding the element of spiciness.  Once again, we had to mix this quite well to distribute the sweet and spicy sauce.  There was ample amount of pork that was tender and moist.  To compliment, we found some edamame, cubed tamago and kimchi as well as spring mix.  Great alternative for people who don't eat raw fish.

We had one more thing at the end and it was their Matcha Tiramisu.  Sure, it was a prepackaged item, but it turned out to be quite good.  The masacarpone was creamy and light while purposefully sweet.  With just a slight amount of bitterness, the matcha flavour was present but not overpowering.  Overall, the stuff at Pokerrito is solid and there was so many options available.  I love how you can have your poké as a large roll too since it not only allows for a different flavour and texture experience, you can actually have your poké and eat it too while on the go.

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

The Good:
- You can have your poké as a handheld
- You can also have it classic style too
- Cooked items available

The Bad:
- The sauces for the bulgogi and spicy pork were rather aggressive, best to ask for it on the side 

Hakka Momo Corner

I'm sure you are aware there are many many Indian restaurants in the GVRD.  Hey, that is a good thing since I love Indian food!  However, if you are familiar, most of them feature Punjabi cuisine.  That is mainly due to the influx of immigrants from the Punjab region of India.  This is not unlike the plethora of Cantonese restaurants here due to many of the immigrants originating from Hong Kong during the 80's and 90's.  So whenever I see an Indian restaurant featuring something different, I am so interested in trying it.  This is the case with Hakka Momo Corner.  With their Indo-Chinese cuisine combined with a dash of Southern Indian, they are the only place to find Dosas in Richmond.  For those who are not familiar, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) used to have a large Hakka Chinese population of about 25,000 before the 1960's.  Therefore, Indo-Chinese cuisine is a thing and one of the lasting legacies of the influences from those Hakka Chinese.

We began with something that would be quite familiar to Chinese palates in the Sweet Corn Soup with prawns.  This was essentially a cream of corn soup that was a bit creamy and aromatically sweet.  The pops from the niblets was enjoyable as with the pieces of meaty prawns.  Even though Honey Mustard Wings are not an Indian nor Chinese dish, we wanted to try them anyways.  They were good with crispy rendered skin and meat that was still moist.  The honey mustard was subtle-tasting as there was only minimal sauce on the wings.

Staying on the same theme, we had the Chicken Lolipops that were very different than the honey mustard wings. Being Frenched, the wings had the bulk of their meat at the bottom of the drumette.  It retained more moisture and hence it was almost juicy.  The skin was crispy and coated with a slightly spicy and earthy sauce.  Of course we had to try their Steamed Momos and we got it with a chicken filling.  These were really good with a medium-thick dumpling skin that was delicate and not dense.  Inside, the moist and fairly light chicken filling was slightly sweet.  It was served with a spicy chutney that also had some tang and sweetness.

Sure, Butter Chicken originated in Dehli, but there is a version from Kolkata.  It is generally sweeter and definitely creamy like the original Delhi dish.  Since we were there on a Monday, it was actually on special for only $16.00.  This included rice and naan.  I found this one here creamy and rich with a few spices that weren't familiar compared to the Punjabi version.  It had a nice sweetness that helped temper the spices and tang.  Since they do not have a tandoor, their naan was more of the soft pita-like version.

As you can clearly see in the picture above, there was an egg in the Chicken Biryani.  This is distinctive to the Kolkata version.  Also, you will also notice that the overall look of the dish seemed to be lighter.  That was intentional as the Kolkata dish has less spices, hence it was more fragrant and subtle.  This was definitely the case here where the rice was fluffy, but not wet while the flavours were aromatic.  The large chicken leg was fork tender and naturally sweet.

We ended up trying one rice and one noodle dish that truly encapsulates the Indo-Chinese cuisine that originated in Kolkata.  We had the Chili Garlic Fried Rice as well as the Street Style Hakka Noodles.  Of the two, my preference was the noodles as they were perfectly textured being chewy and not very greasy.  In terms of taste, there was good smokiness from the wok hei and caramelized sweetness.  There was some mild spice and a bit of earthiness.  As for the rice, it was more flavourful with more spices and heat.  The rice itself was nutty and dry which was the desired texture.

We moved onto a few dishes including the Chili Prawns.  All of these dishes could be had with your protein of choice or be prepared vegetarian.  I really enjoyed the flavours of this dish was it paired well with the side of included basmati rice.  It definitely showed its Sichuan influences with spiciness and savoury-sweet tanginess.  The large prawns were perfectly cooked with a nice meaty snap.

One of my favourite dishes of the meal had to be the Crispy Honey Chili Garlic Fish.  This reminded me of the dishes I used to eat at a Sichuan restaurant out on Denman called Won More.  It was spicy, sweet, savoury and plenty aromatic.  Definitely a dish that needed plenty of rice (which was included).  The ample pieces of fish were still a bit crispy despite being wok-tossed in the thick sauce.  The meat was flaky and moist.

Okay, before you bring the pitchforks out, there was a method to the madness in ordering the Kung Pao Chicken.  It might sound like some Westernized dish, but rest assured, it is authentic (as long as it isn't ordered in a mall food court).  This was was garlicky, plenty savoury and somewhat spicy.  The chicken was in large chunks and plenty tender.  The flavours had pentrated into the meat.  Once again, a bowl of rice on deck was the perfect compliment.

As a bonus, we were served some true Southern Indian cuisine with the Dosa (with potato curry), Idli, Vada and Sambar.  The typical Southern Indian breakfast all on one plate as the Dosa combo.   The dosa featured a thin and crispy lentil crepe filled with a lightly spicy potato curry.  Hence, it was vegetarian.  The vada was crispy with a firm and spiced interior while the idli was also firm with its classic spongy texture.  Naturally, these were accompanied by Sambar, which was mild with some tanginess.  On the side, we found the classic coconut chutney which had some spice, aromatics and hits of ginger.  Right beside it, we found another common chutney in the red chutney that was the spicier of the two.  Overall, the food at Hakka Momo Corner is solid and well-priced.  Definitely something different and completely unique for its location.

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

The Good:

- Classic Indo-Chinese flavours featuring a combination of Chinese and Indian spices

- They have Southern Indian breakfast (Idli, Vada and Dosa)

- Well-priced

The Bad:

- Wasn't expecting them to have a tandoor for one item, but the naan wasn't my favourite

Gamamaru Shokudo

Normally, late night spots dishing up eats that go well with beers and the sort are reserved for Downtown Vancouver or small enclaves of restaurants on Main and Fraser Streets as well as Central Richmond.  So when we found out that Gamamaru Shokudo is doing that very exact thing, but in Fleetwood, it piqued our interest.   In addition to soju and beers, they have a menu that is a mix of Japanese and Korean late night favourites.  We ended up trying a bunch of dishes to go with our soju.

On the topic of Soju, we had a bit of a sampler consisting of peach, grape and mango.  Really dangerous as these went down easy.  I liked the mango the most as it was lightly sweet and tropical.  This went well with the Kushikatsu including baby crab, cuttlefish nugget, snow crab, pork belly, garlic beef, scallop, cheese menchi and teriyaki menchi.  These were really good with the 2 menchi skewers being the most flavourful.  The meat was tender and hey that slice of processed cheese!  Made it taste like a cheeseburger.  Crabs were crispy and briny while the snow crab was delicate.  Scallops were buttery soft despite being fried.

We had 3 different Oshizushi including Saba, Salmon and Unagi.  The one thing that they all had in common was the generous amount of the main component.  They were sliced a bit thicker than usual which resulted in more impact and texture.  The rice itself was a little on the denser side, but it wasn't a deal-breaker.  Nice torching on the top and for me, the salmon was my favourite with smokiness and sweetness.

On the menu, they have a section of share plates that included the LA Galbi.  This was a decent portion of meaty shortribs.  I really liked how they had marinated these so they were tender but still retained a considerable amount of chewiness (in a good way).  Too often, these are over-tenderized and hence, are too soft.  In terms of seasoning, they were a good combination of savoury and sweet with good caramelization from the grilling.

One of my favourite items was the the Clam Nabe.  The broth was so clean and pure tasting with the natural sweetness and brininess of clams.  The clams themselves were plump and buttery.  They were just barely cooked through.  All of them were open and the broth was not sandy.  We also had the Tako Bomb which was colourful with its combination of green onions, octopus, salmon, garlic chips, diced tsukemono and quail's egg yolk.  As expected, there was varied texture and flavours when mixed together.  We ate this with strips of nori.

We got a bunch of carbs to round out the meal including the Mentaiko Yaki Udon.  This was a good version due to the perfect texture of the noodles.  They were prepared properly where each strand was chewy with a nice rebound.  Beyond the great mouth-feel of the noodles, the creaminess of the dish was also on point.  It was creamy without being too heavy.  Of course the cod roe was at its fishy briny best completely flavouring the dish.

So I'm sure you've heard of Omurice before, but how about Omusoba?  Same concept but with noodles instead of rice!  The yakisoba was covered with a soft omelette while aggressively drizzled with yakisoba sauce and kewpie mayo.  As much as it looked like to much sauce, it was actually not that noticeable after mixing everything together.  The soba, much like the udon, was perfectly cooked with a springy chewiness.

We got the Sukiyaki Nabe for good measure and being a nabe, it was not as salty and sweet as the regular version.  Hence, the soup was drinkable and lightly flavoured.  The beef was marbled and hence was tender while the veggies added some relief from the heaviness of the other items.  Last dish was an Unagi Don and yah, they loaded up with so much buttery unagi, that we couldn't see the appealingly chewy rice underneath.  The unagi was evenly seared and drizzled with just enough sauce.  Simple, but well-executed.  As you can see, the food is pretty solid here at Gamamaru.  The prices are also quite reasonable, so you can order lots to share without breaking the bank.  Nice addition to the Fleetwood neighbourhood of Surrey.

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

The Good:

- Well-prepared eats

- Reasonable-pricing

- Open late and lots of parking

The Bad:

- Sushi rice could've been less compacted in the pressed sushi

Biryani Lounge Restaurant and Bar

It wasn't that long ago that finding good Indian eats in Downtown Vancouver was limited to some tourist traps.  Unless you were willing to travel to Surrey, particularly Scott Road, you would be hard pressed to find anything decent.  Well, those days are gone since Indian restaurants have been popping up all over the place.  In fact, many of them are rather fancy and sport nicely appointed dining rooms.  Recently, Jackie and I visited Biryani Lounge perched on the 2nd floor at the corner of Denman and Davie.  Really awesome location, but how does the food stack up?  Well, we were about to see...

We began with a few appies including the Samosas filled with potato and peas.  Normally, I don't have a lot to say about samosas because many are very similar.  This one had a pretty typical filling with soft potato and peas with the usual spice and earthiness.  However, the pastry was a cut above because it was flaky and almost airy.  Very appealing since it wasn't heavy, yet at the same time was uniformly crispy on the outside.  Really good!

Next, we had the Vada Pav consisting of a fried potato patty (or ball in this case) and chili peanut chutney on a soft roll.  Despite being carb-on-carb, this Indian slider (as described on the menu) was satisfying and delicious.  I've had this many times before and I found this particular version to be extra crispy (the patty that is).  Hence, there was a distinct textural contrast between the soft bun and the patty.  There was good spice and to top it off (literally and figuratively), we found a hot pepper to amp things out even more so.

I know, I know, the Butter Chicken is often seen as a defaultish dish like Sweet & Sour Pork in Cantonese cuisine.  But, I happen to like both of these dishes and am not a food snob.  Good thing that we ordered this as it was quite good.  It was thick and creamy but also had an impactful tanginess.  There was the usual earthiness from the spices with equal parts sweetness and savouriness.  I would say this version was pretty mild though.  The pieces of chicken were tender and a bit smoky.

The best curry I had was the Coconut Goat Curry.  This was rich and creamy but at the same time, wasn't overly heavy.  The aromatics from the coconut milk was at the forefront, but the shredded coconut added some sweetness as well as texture.  There was the usual earthiness from the spices that balanced off the sweetness.  Of course, the best part was the goat.  It was tender, gelatinous and super moist.  So pleasing and delicious!

Now I emphasized that "I" enjoyed the goat curry because Jackie doesn't like goat.  Therefore, we went for the Coconut Prawn Curry as well.  You will notice the difference in colour and that also resulted in different flavours.  The curry featured less fall flavours and was sweeter.  Less depth due to the use of prawns, but brighter too.  The prawns were cooked nicely being meaty with a light snap texture. 

To go with these curries, we were served some Garlic Sesame Naan.  This was well-charred, nutty and the beneficiary of delicious ghee.  It was the thinner variety, so it ate more like a cracker-type bread rather than a fluffy and chewy interior.  We also had a few drinks including the Indian Coffee and Mango Lassi.  I found the coffee aromatic and sweet while the lassi to be thick, sweet and creamy.  Nice compliments to the curries we were enjoying.

Naturally, we were going to order some biryanis too in the Tandoori Chicken Biryani as well as the Prawn Biryani.  Predictably, the tandoori chicken biryani was much more rich and impactful due to the flavours imparted by the charred and marinated tandoori chicken.  I liked how the rice was fairly dry and not overly wet.  It was nutty and nicely spiced.  The prawn biryani was even drier due to the main protein and also lighter tasting as well.  This would be good to go with some curry (despite Biryani not generally eaten with curry, that is where plain basmati rice comes in).

Speaking of Tandoori Chicken, we got an order since we were so impressed with the chicken in our biryani.  Since it was served on a sizzling platter and not cooked into the rice, it was more smoky, more flavourful and more moist.  Very nice render on the skin which was nutty and earthy.  The chicken was super tender and well-marinated.  Overall, the food at Biryani Lounge was really good and well-priced.  Considering its prime location at English Bay, you might think it would be a tourist trap.  It is clearly not.

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

The Good:

- Delicious

- Well-priced

- Prime location

The Bad:

- Parking, of course, is not the best down here