Shin Ya Shanghai Cuisine

The Xiao Long Bao. A tiny package of bursting hot yumminess. Well, at least it should be a steaming hot dumpling full of soup and meat preferably with an ultra-thin dumpling wrapper. You see, there are many places that offer the XLBs; but to find one that is made right is another story. One of those inevitable places is at Cantonese Dim Sum. But, the XLB is Shanghainese, not Cantonese. Hence, the final product at Dim Sum is far from satisfactory. Do yourself a favour. Do not order XLB from a non-Shanghainese restaurant. And even with that out of the way, not all Shanghainese restaurants do it right either.

We have all the usual suspects: Shanghai River, Chen's, Suhang, Shanghai Wonderful, Wang's, Lin, Shanghai Village, Top Shanghai and the sort. Yet, none of these reside out in the Tri-Cities area. To think of it, there really aren't any great Shanghainese restaurants out there. And don't even start with Lucky Gate... However, there is one place in the unlikeliest of locations - Henderson Centre. Wait, the ghost town masquerading as an Asian shopping mall??? Yah, that one. You'd think that an Asian mall in Coquitlam would easily succeed right? Not if the ace-in-the-hole anchor store decided to not participate. Much like the USA with the League of Nations, Henderson Centre is lacking firepower. T&T was the rumoured lead tenant; but that never materialized. From there, all the shops started to fail and at his moment, the occupancy is dismal. There are more empty shops than stores. But there are a few bright spots such as Maxim's and Kirin (being a bright spot is a matter of personal opinion that is).

Shin Ya Shanghai Cuisine can be considered a bright spot for their Xiao Long Bao. These freshly made in-front-of-your-eyes dumplings (much like Wang's) are steamed to order. Lots of tasty (hope it's not MSG) broth with tender pork and a relatively thin dumpling skin, these are nearly in the same league as the big boys. Now, as for some other items, the Potstickers are in the "okay" category. A little thick with the dumpling wrapper and possibly a bit heavy with the veggies, they are passable; yet do not hold a candle to the XLBs. Continuing on carbing up, the Stir-Fried Sliced Rice Cake is none-too-oily and seasoned with just enough dark soy to taste. It's soft enough to chew with a good mix of veggies while the pork is a tad tough.

As you haven't noticed, a diet full of Shanghainese food would fail the Atkin's diet. So, more carbs it is... The Shanghainese Fried Thick Noodles are also easy on the oil and soy. Plenty of crisp cabbage with the same chewy pork. This is an above-average attempt at this dish. Let's have one more hit of carbs with the Beef Filled Pastry. Sorry, this is a complete fail. First, the entire thing is too doughy and thick. Second, biting into it is akin to striking oil. Think XLBs; but replace the soup with oil. Yuk. Not good. Take a pass on these discs of death. Yet, this is the only thing that we will not eat again. Most are decent and considering the price, a steal. Sure, it's a food fair stall and you're eating out of Styrofoam containers. I personally don't mind since the XLBs are pretty good and honestly, I will gladly make the trek back.

The Good:
- Pretty good XLBs
- Inexpensive
- Since the mall is dead, you can always get a seat

The Bad:
- Other food is only okay compared to the XLBs

Saint Street Grill

I remember a time when I couldn't wait for my birthday. Hey, it was a time of gifts, cake and fun. What kid wouldn't like a new supply of toys or new clothes... uh... okay, just the toys then. How things change when we grow up. Now my birthday is nothing but a number to me. Sure, it is special in some ways; but honestly, that number just keeps going up and quite fast I might add. With every passing year, it would appear that I grow more old and wiser. Apparently, Viv thinks that the maturity stalled somewhere. Hey, am I the only one? What's wrong with playing loud offensive rap music in the SUV? Oh right, my kids shouldn't be listening to that stuff... Maybe Viv's got a point.

Anyways, it was indeed my birthday and we originally didn't have any plans. However, my parents were wondering and alas, we decided to go out and celebrate anyways. What was I thinking anyways? Not go eat on my birthday? Have I lost my mind? Well, that could be a by-product of this age thing. So luck would have it, my birthday fell on a weekday. That meant we really couldn't go too far and out too late since the kiddies need to go to bed. Hence, we ended up heading over to Saint Street Grill in Port Moody. With walls adorning an eclectic mix of framed art situated in a 70's lounge environment complete with reddish hue lighting, this unassuming spot from the outside cannot be accused of being bland on the inside. Trendy? No. Original? I'll say.

We got some appies to share starting with the Grilled Caesar Salad. It consisted of a whole grilled romaine heart, shaved asiago and herb puff pastry stick drizzled with house made dressing. I thought the romaine was nicely grilled with some charring which provided smokiness. I would've preferred a bit more asiago for impact, although the dressing was pretty good with a nice level of saltiness. If I had to compare, it is somewhat similar to the one at CRU except made a notch below in terms of flavour. Next up was the Crab Cakes consisting of crab, carrot, green onion, corn and orange zest with kafari lime leaf wasabi aioli. This was also pretty good. I particularly liked the sweet pop from the corn and the understated citrus from the orange zest. Somehow, the crab was not lost in all of the ingredients. Rather, I could still taste the natural salty-sweetness. In fact, the aioli was quite muted as well. Probably intentional. Our final appie was the Coconut Prawns sauteed with coconut milk, lime, ginger and fresh cilantro. A zucchini salad with soya sesame chili dressing and toasted peanuts was served on the side. We felt this was the most successful of the appies. The coldwater prawns had a nice snap while there was a pronounced coconut milk and lime kick. Yet, the best part of this appie was the zucchini salad. It was crunchy with nice Asian flavours, in particular, the sesame oil and toasted peanuts.

Although they offered to make something specifically for the kiddies, we went ahead and got them a regular dish to share. I'm always up for trying another dish! So we got them the House-made Gnocchi which are parmesan basil scented in a vine-ripened tomato sauce. We found the gnocchi to be quite large. I feared that it would either be too doughy or too soft. It was neither being somewhere in between. With basil hidden in the gnocchi itself, there was flavour even without the sauce. Yet, the sauce was a nice compliment with the tartness of fresh tomatoes finishing off with some sweetness. When it arrived, the Westcoast Hot Pot did not look like what we had envisioned. Rather than being in a "hot pot" per se, it was cooked in a pot then served on a deep square glass plate. There was actually quite a bit of nicely cooked mussels, scallops, prawns and salmon in a sesame ginger cilantro lobster broth. The broth was very light; yet flavourful at the same time. In no way was it fishy. Instead, there was a natural sweetness from the seafood. Underneath lay a bed of vermicelli noodles which soaked up more of the sweet broth.

Viv ended up with the Breast of Duck with maple butter and cinnamon orange jelly. We all thought the duck was cooked perfectly being tender and moist. The maple butter was quite sweet. The perfectly cooked rice would've been better if it wasn't soaked in the sauce. The jelly was a nice compliment to the duck, although it was used conservatively since it was quite sweet as well. My mom loves lamb more than I do, so I gave her first dibs on the Lamb Shank braised in pineapple curry jus. Overall, the shank was probably not as moist as we wanted it to be; but it was still sufficiently tender. The picture doesn't do it justice since it was a fairly large shank. As for the jus, it was slightly sweet with only a minor hint of curry. I felt that it could've used a bit more savoury elements to compliment the gamy lamb.

For myself, I had the Bison Ribs which are hickory-smoked, then slow roasted in a caramelized onion molasses demi-glace. Although it was only a modest amount of meat, the richness of the cooking method, along with the mashed potatoes and veggies ended up to be quite filling. Unlike the usual BBQ sauces we find on ribs, the one here was much more unique. There were elements of smoke and sweetness with depth while exhibiting very little in the way of tartness. The meat itself was fall-off-the-bone tender. There were some dry portions; but not inedible. All the veggies were perfectly cooked being vibrant and crisp. Ultimately, I liked this dish; yet I wouldn't say I loved it. In fact, that would probably summarize my feelings about the Saint Street Grill. It was alright, especially considering its location. Not sure if I'd necessarily drive out to Port Moody exclusively for a meal; however, if I were in the neighbourhood, it is a an option.

The Good:
- Decent eats out in Port Moody
- Personable and friendly service
- Eclectic

The Bad:
- Expensive (but there is an Entertainment discount)
- Alright for Port Moody; but may have a hard time competing in Vancouver
- Not sure about the red lighting

G-Be Izakaya

For some time, it only looked as if EBO would be the only in-house restaurant at the Grand Villa Casino. Suddenly, not only has a high-end Chinese restaurant (Grand Dynasty) opened up, a few days later, G-Be Izakaya appears. Another venture from the Gyoza King Group, G-Be tries to capture the gambling crowd much like Grand Dynasty next door. In fact, they share common restrooms. Since the gambling crowd are predominantly Chinese, it is no wonder that their menu has significant Chinese influences. As usual, I convinced Pomegranate to join me on this food adventure. I promised him a real Izakaya
experience; however, after looking at the menu, I wasn't so sure. Mixed with familiar items were Chinese Dim Sum on their "Yumcha" order sheet. Uh... Isn't there a Dim Sum place right next to them already?

Whatever the case, I opted to skip most of the Dim Sum items since it was not really what we were here for. Starting with the something familiar, we got the Sockeye Salmon Tataki. Although the fish itself was quite fresh, the sear on the outside was not aesthetically pleasing and neither was the texture. It was as if the searing temperature was too low. We also added 2 slices of Hawaiian Red Tuna since our server recommended it. She said it was very nice and indeed it delivered. The texture exhibited freshness and it was naturally flavourful. Now, when I was looking at the menu, I was on the lookout for my favourite item - Ebi Mayo. An exhaustive search yielded something a bit different. We ended up with the Basil Mayo Crispy Shrimp. Coated with corn flakes, the shrimp were really crunchy. That in itself made this dish a winner. Add the nice basil mayo and this was definitely different; yet good at the same time.

Continuing with the theme of breakfast cereals used as a coating, we got the Goma Miso Crispy Chicken Karaage. We were thinking what would they use next? Lucky Charms? Uh... ew... Never mind. As for using Rice Crispies in this case, it was a success. Well, that was predictable. Anything with Rice Crispies works. Ignoring the fact that the Rice Crispies probably absorbed a tonne of oil, each piece was a delight to eat. Lightly crispy on the outside while tender and moist on the inside, it went well with the nutty and salty dip. For kicks, we went for some sushi rolls with the Triple Seafood arriving first. A combination of snow crab meat, scallop, avocado, sprouts wrapped in nori and topped with spicy salmon. It could be possibly the physical size of each piece in combination with the spicy sauce that resulted in everything getting a bit lost. I could barely distinguish each ingredient.
The same could be said about the Asia Spicy Roll as well. This consisted of tuna tempura, cucumber, burdock root, sprouts and avocado wrapped in soy paper topped with spicy tuna. I figured I would at least taste the burdock root; but not really. Again, the same sweet, spicy sauce dominated the roll. Let me make this clear though - the spicy sauce was actually quite nice and the ingredients were pretty good, it's just very one-dimensional. With all that in mind, I did like the texture of the rice. It was firm and chewy

Now for what was probably the most disappointing dish of the meal - the Tuna Tataki. For reasons unknown, each slice was unappetizingly thick and to compound the problem, the exterior was seared too much. Look at the picture. The fish is overcooked! It should be nearly rare. In this case, it was hard and not pleasing in texture at all. The flavours were okay I suppose; yet that couldn't save the dish. Probably one of the worst versions of Tuna Tataki I've ever had. Now if you remember my visit to Zakkushi, I had the infamous Bukkake Udon. Now this time around, I got to share a Bukkake Udon with Pomegranate... In fact, it was a Kamaage Shirasu Mentaiko on Bukkake Udon. What it really means is shirasu fish and spicy cod roe udon. As expected, the udon turned out to be quite fishy with the shirasu, cod roe and bonito. Personally, I didn't mind it much since I like that type of fishy flavour. Pomegranate really didn't care for it. Hence, he only had a partial Bukkake and he didn't even clean it up.

For our last dish, we chose something that we thought were Japanese gyozas. However, if you look at the picture, they are definitely more like Chinese dumplings. Listed as Steamed Pork Gyozas with Seafood, we really didn't expect the final product. Nothing particularly wrong with the dumplings themselves. The filling was good while the skin was the right thickness and texture. A pretty good "choy yok gau". It's just not a gyoza in the typical sense, although "gyoza" in Cantonese does means dumpling. Okay, I hate to say it... But my beloved Gyoza King has produced a restaurant that I was very "meh" about. The food in general was pretty average with a few exceptions. We both loved the decor and the service. However, we believe that the combination of Dim Sum and Izakaya is too much of a stretch, especially with Grand Dynasty right next door. If one wanted Dim Sum, go eat over there. G-Be should focus on Izakaya-dishes only and even with that, there needs to be some serious refining as well.

The Good:
- Attractive decor
- Excellent service
- Okay pricing

The Bad:
- Execution issues with some items
- Please don't mix Dim Sum and Izakaya together

Taste Good Wonton Seafood Restaurant

As much as I like Alleluia, there comes a time when it just gets a bit boring, not to mention nothing really to blog about! That is the case with the Saturday hockey group. I am no longer a regular with this pickup hockey. I only make it out a few times a year as a sub. Of course I love the fact they go out to eat afterwards; but it's Alleluia or bust with these guys. Much like the time I coerced them into going to Silver Tower, I suggested we do something different again. For me, the most interesting place to try was Taste Good Wonton, formerly Wonton King. Interesting you might ask? Considering there is a massive sinkhole the size of Wesley Snipe's back taxes in front of the restaurant, I would call that more than interesting. The only way into the parking lot at this moment is to drive in the opposite direction on Marine Drive from Fraser. I can only imagine how this is affecting business.

When we approached the door and tried to open it, we found it to be locked. I suppose that the restaurant is taking precautions against robberies or shootings? I did intend to shoot; but with my camera of course. Well, they opened up and let us in. I guess we don't look very threatening after all. Strangely, the lone server gave us the dinner menu which did not list any wontons whatsoever. The place is called Taste Good Wonton right? I resorted to snatching a takeout menu to see the available wonton noodles and congee. So guess what I ordered? Duh. Wonton Soup. And did they taste good??? Well, they did taste alright; yet I would hardly say they were good. Made of half pork and half shrimp, the wontons were overly chewy for me. The pork was a tad too chewy and the shrimp were overcooked. The soup base itself was on the lighter side lacking depth. Max Power decided on the classic Preserved Egg & Salted Pork Congee. The best way to describe the effort here is acceptable. The congee itself wasn't exactly thin; yet it wasn't that thick either. Depending on personal tastes, the congee was either underseasoned or just right. Lastly, there was a decent amount of salted pork and duck egg.

Mr. Vain had the BBQ Pork and Wonton Noodles. He gave me a sample of the noodles and they weren't half-bad being slightly chewy. Of course, these were the same wontons and broth, so nothing new to report about that. Crazy Goalie had almost the same noodles except with BBQ Duck instead of BBQ Pork. Probably since we were there near closing time, the BBQ'd items were pretty dry. I wouldn't hold that against them as such then. Chunkylover73 ended up with what he always orders - Brisket & Flat Rice Noodles. Too bad they ran out of flat rice noodles; hence he had to get wonton noodles as as well (with brisket). Same story with the soup, noodles and wontons while the brisket wasn't bad. It had a good amount of fat though.

Lastly, I wouldn't just come here and have the wontons alone... So I added an order of the Salted Fish & Chicken Fried Rice. Hey, this was pretty good. There was a good amount of tender chicken, moist salted fish nestled in nicely fried rice. The rice had a bit of bite while not being too dry either. Lots of salted fish taste and good "wok hay". That was a pretty good finish to an otherwise pretty average meal. Of course we shouldn't expect much at 2:00am; but when a restaurant is named "Taste Good Wonton", the wontons better be good. Alas, these were not.


The Good:
- Open late
- The one stir-fried dish we had was pretty good
- Service was decent

The Bad:
- Didn't try the dinner menu; but the wontons and such are average
- Prices are relatively high

Tay Do Deli

I'm sure it is not lost upon many people who read this blog regularly that I love Banh Mi. I would eat them in a boat. I would eat them with a goat. I will eat them in a rain. And in the dark. And on a train, in a car and in a tree. They are so good, so good, you see! Wait, that's Green Eggs & Ham... Okay, there are no green eggs in a banh mi; but certainly ham. If there were green eggs, I'm sure Fraser Health would pay them a visit. Anyways, my search for the best Banh Mi has led me to a little place called Tay Do Deli. Located on 104th near 137th, I only found out about the place on my way back from Hen Long.

Since I was making a visit to The Hockey Shop nearby already, it was only natural that I tack on an eating adventure as well. After taking a slap shot to the ribs, it occurred to me that I might need a new chest protector. Too bad they cost #$)*#$)*# amount of money. $600??? Egads... I don't need any protection if I have already lost an arm and a leg from the purchase! No wonder I don't pay league fees... Fortunately, Banh Mi are not expensive. So at the very least, I can save some money for those expensive hockey gear purchases. With any Banh Mi joint, the yardstick is the Combo (or Cold Cut or Special or whatever it is called). Consisting usually of pate, Vietnamese ham and headcheese with pickled daikon/carrots, cucumber, hot pepper, cilantro, butter-mayo and fish sauce, this is probably my favourite sub. This version had a good amount of meat, discernible pate and crisp veggies. The bread was a bit denser as I would've like; but all-in-all, a decent Banh Mi.

Since there were so many choices, I decided to try a few more out including the BBQ Pork. Unlike the one from Hen Long, this is not actual Chinese BBQ pork; rather, it processed pork. Typically, this is really sweet and it was the case here. Pretty good though. For my 3rd sub (yes, 3rd...), I tried the Charbroiled Pork. I would have to say this was my favourite, even more so than the Combo. Stuffed with as much meat as they could fit into the bun, this was a satisfying sub. The meat was not exactly moist; but it wasn't dry either. Lots of flavour. It went well with the pickled veggies. From the best to the least favourite was the Meatball sub. Generally, the meatballs in Banh Mi are on the softer side; yet these ones were some really mushy balls. I don't like mushy balls... Each bite was like eating pate gone wrong. Furthermore, there was not much flavour too them. Usually there are lots of onions, not in this case. In spite of the meatball sub, the rest were quite decent with a good amount of meat. Again, I would've liked an airier bread; but that is my preference. On a side note, I'll say it again, if you are slightly adventurous, skip Subway and get a Banh Mi. It's cheaper and much tastier.

The Good:
- They don't skimp on the meat
- Lots of choices
- Friendly operators

The Bad:
- Bread is a bit dense
- Still inexpensive; but costs a bit more than other Vietnamese sub joints

Joey Burnaby

It's true, Polka King has a new squeeze. All this time, we were wondering about him. MIA for most of the summer and totally MIA during fall, we figured something was up. I hinted at a possible Polka Queen in his future last time when he did not join us for food at Cattle Cafe. However, after finally meeting her, Polka Queen just didn't seem appropriate. Rather, we shall call her Polka Dot. Since Polka King didn't want to head into Downtown or thereabouts for food; he wondered if there were any late night joints in North Burnaby. ROFL... Yah right. Thus, we ended up heading to Joey Burnaby, which just opened not too long ago in the old location of the Shark Club. For those who didn't know, it closed down shortly after a shooting on the premises. Any type of shooting worries Polka King and I assured him that we would be safe. The only shooting he'd have to worry about is my DSLR with external flash blinding him while he eats.

Although Joey would not be our first choice, it was in fact, one of the few options we had in this area, other than Cactus Club, Boston Pizza or Knight & Day. I can put up with Cactus Club; but no BP or K&D thanks very much. Joey has really grown up since the mid-90's. You see, it used to be Joey Tomatoes. Think East Side Mario's. It was a family-orientated restaurant primarily serving North American Italian fare. Reinvented and following the Cactus Club/Earl's formula, we now have plenty of glitz, attractive decor and staff with more upscale food (which isn't cheap). No matter, as I have stated before, we shouldn't merely discount these places just because the perceived value isn't there. They service their target clientele and the food is only a part of the overall experience. With that acknowledgment, the food has to be at least acceptable since the place is a restaurant after all.

Polka King and Polka Dot ended up sharing the Tandoori Chicken flatbread and the Lobster Ravioli. Normally, I'm quite apprehensive with ethnic cuisine offered in a North American restaurant. However, the tandoori chicken was not bad. Of course it really wasn't tandoori chicken in the authentic sense; but it was tender and had a surprisingly nice kick. The bread was light and crispy. Since they were sharing the ravioli, the server had their order split into 2 smaller dishes. A nice touch. Much like the last time where Gordo enjoyed this particular dish, they enjoyed it as well. Definitely creamy.

As for my food, I got the Bacon Cheddar Burger with fries. The burger was surprisingly large and actually not bad. The meat wasn't exactly moist; but the other ingredients made up for it. I particularly liked the crisp pickles and fresh lettuce. I normally like the skinny fries at Joey. This time, they were not very crisp, so I was only moderately satisfied. Milhouse, trying to watch his figure, decided on the Viva Salad consisting of roasted chicken with sundried cranberries, avocado, apples, feta with a honey balsamic vinaigrette and cilantro. According to him, a salad is a salad. However, with that established, the ingredients need to be fresh, proteins cooked correctly and a right amount of dressing. As you can see, the veggies were fresh, the chicken was a bit dry while he thought there was just enough well-balanced dressing.

Lionel Hutz and Truditini shared the Ahi Tuna Salad with seared rare ahi tuna, mango, amorosa tomatoes, fresh mint, peanuts, crispy noodles with a chili lime dressing. The tuna was beautifully cooked while all of the components were fresh and the dressing was just right in terms of balance and amount. They also shared the Panang Prawn Curry Bowl with stir-fried with vegetables in a red coconut curry cream with thai basil and peanuts. Prawns and veggies were cooked properly and there was just enough sauce to taste which was not overpowering either.
On another visit after hockey, I was able to try one of their more intriguing items on the menu being the Lobster Grilled Cheese. With all the strong flavours, the lobster is only a textural component of the sandwich. In terms of a grilled cheese, it is crispy, buttery and cheesy. However, I found it to be a bit too salty. A good grilled cheese, it just didn't need the lobster. Honestly, we were all pretty surprised at the decent eats considering Joey is a chain restaurant and there is definitely style over function. Of course not everything will be good and that is a given at any restaurant; but for the stuff we did try, it was acceptable given the venue.

The Good:
- Lots of style
- Diverse menu, some good items
- With this visit, service was excellent

The Bad:
- Not cheap
- If you don't prefer style over function