Golden Ray Bakery

While strolling out of Thu Hien Deli with my Banh Mi in hand, I stopped dead in my tracks. No, there wasn't some crazed Banh Mi thief roaming Kingsway (wouldn't it be funny if I had to use the line: "back off, get your own sandwich!"?), rather, I noticed there was a Chinese bakery next door. Interestingly how I never knew it existed, even though I've probably walked past it on many occasions. So I had to run in for some Chinese buns and pastries... For a relatively small shop, there was a decent selection. From that, I went with a few items including the BBQ Pork Bun. The darn thing was pretty large and with that, I expected a bevy of BBQ pork in the middle. As you can really clearly see in the picture, one would need to send out a search party or put up posters to find the BBQ pork. It is as if the BBQ pork was attempting to hide from some BBQ monster (a la cookie monster from Sesame Street). To compound the problem, the large amount of bun was pretty dense and even after a quick nuke, it was still not that soft. At the very least, the pork was not that fatty and had a nice rich sweetness.

The Pineapple Bun was equally big and the fact it was mostly bun did not matter because we weren't expecting BBQ pork this time. However, it was equally dense and well, you know how I felt about that already. On the other hand, the "pineapple" topping was crusty (which was good, rather than mushy) and was not incredibly sweet. I put pineapple in quotations because the bun has no pineapple in it. Instead, the fact it resembles a pineapple on the outside leads to its name (yes, go figure...). I also got some Egg Tarts for the kiddies and they were not bad. There were baked long enough to achieve some colour in both the custard and the tart shell. At the same time, the amount of baking time made the edges of the custard slightly rubbery though. It is a fine balance between being undercooked and overcooked, yet at the same time I'd rather take this one over undercooked.

Lastly, I got something which appeared to be something it was not. What I mean is that the puff pastry triangle shown in the picture did not consist of curry beef filling. Rather it was a Puff Pastry with Chicken. Think of it as a cross between a curry beef puff pastry and a chicken pie. This was pretty good with a properly baked puffed pastry filled with the filling you'd expected in a chicken pie. I personally like the curry beef version more, but this did the job for my daughter as she doesn't eat curry beef (yet). In the end, we concluded that the non-bun items from Golden Ray were pretty good. As for the buns, the dough was a touch too dense for our liking. Furthermore, the filling in the BBQ pork bun was insufficient for the size of the bun. Definitely food value here at Golden Ray, but not necessarily great either.

The Good:
- Large buns (ahem...)
- Decent selection
- Good non-bun items

The Bad:
- Buns are dense (another ahem...)
- Lack of filling

Golden Harvest

"I'm not going to $(#&$(#&$ Richmond", mumbled Costanza with disdain when I suggested we go for Dim Sum. Wow and I thought I was the one that gives Richmond a hard time. At least I still go there for food. Last time we went to The Place, it was a detour from all the great choices in Richmond. Can it be? Costanza dislikes going to Richmond more than me??? Anyways, that eliminated some of the best Dim Sum joints. Since he wanted to stay in Vancouver for eats, I had to dig deep for an idea. This was especially difficult since I really was in no mood for a re-visit. Then I remembered that we've never been to the restaurant that occupies the former Sun Sui Wah on Main and 32nd. Since we were bringing all the kiddies, I made a reservation for 11:00am which hopefully ensured that we got a table without waiting. Thankfully I did so because the place went plain nuts after 11:30am! So much so, they started putting 2 tables where there was room for only 1! When I turned around to get something, I was shocked to see someone sitting so close that it would constitute invasion of personal space. The old lady behind me had a great discussion about how my daughter was so cute. Maybe this should renamed the place "Golden Harvest Social Club but for Older Folk".

Joining me for the first time for eats, we had Ip-Man (Elaine's brother). When we got down to ordering, the first thing to arrive was the Pea Shoots with Bean Curd Skin and Ginko Nuts. If the amount of liquid on the plate looks concerning, don't be alarmed, this version is supposed to be that way. This was not bad, but the pea shoots were slightly overcooked. It was very lightly seasoned and could've used a touch more salt. With memories of the crappy Shrimp Mousse Stuffed Eggplant from Empire a month ago, we were hoping for a better experience this time around. Thankfully it was nowhere like the one we had at Empire. This one was fresh-tasting with "bounce"-textured shrimp and fried eggplant that was moist. The accompanying sauce was quite good with plenty of garlic and black bean flavour.

Increasingly common these days is a big plate of deep-fried Daikon Radish Cake rather than the typical 4 square slices. As such, this was the perfect time to order it since we had more people to share it with. I really liked how they prepared these as thick sticks instead of cubes. This way, the cake remained moist and appeared to be less oily. These were tossed in XO sauce which provided a slight spice. As always, we had the Haw Gow and Sui Mai since they are generally a good gauge of any Dim Sum service. They were pretty solid with the Haw Gow having a nicely textured dumpling skin which was slightly wet and not too thick. The filling was mostly whole pieces of shrimp that exhibited a good snap. There was a mild amount of seasoning which could be bland for some, but for me, it was good. The Sui Mai were very large (as evidenced in the picture) and equally good. The pork was tenderized nicely so it had a bouncy chew, yet there was a considerable amount of fat as well. I liked the ample amount of crunchy shrimp as well as the pieces of shiitake mushroom. It broke up the monotony. There are too many places that make a predominantly pork Sui Mai which is usually one note in texture and flavour. This one had a good mix.

Despite being somewhat pale, the Beef Meatballs were also prepared correctly. The meat was tenderized just enough so it had some resistance, yet soft to chew. There was a good mix of water chestnuts and green onion for flavour and texture. We ended up getting both the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll and the Beef Rice Noodle Roll. We found the rice noodle to be a touch stiff. However, the fillings were good. The shrimp were big and crunchy while the beef was tenderized properly much like the beef meatballs. Furthermore, there was a hint of dried orange peel which added a nice essence to the meat. Shockingly, we didn't go for any pan-fried rice noodle rolls this time, instead opting for rice. And this was at the suggestion of my son. I guess he got bored of rice noodle rolls! We had both the Pork Sparerib Rice and the Minced Pork Patty with Salted Fish Rice. Naturally, these were not the "real" hot pot rice we would get from a place such as The One Spot Soup House, yet with that being said, the rice was chewy and only slightly wet on the edge. The pork patty was a little different where we saw a mix of tender hand-chopped meat with shrimp and shiitake mushrooms. The textures were good as well as the varied flavours. Combined with the salted fish, there was more than a one-note flavour. The sparerib rice was equally good with plenty of nicely tenderized, meaty rib pieces and a large chicken foot on top.

For some odd reason, we keep ordering Xiao Long Bao during Cantonese Dim Sum even though we can predict the end result. I guess if one goes in with reasonable expectations, there will be less disappointment. Well, what can I say? There was not much in the way of soup in these dumplings and the skin was thick (although not that thick considering others we had). At the very least, the meat was tender and had a good amount of flavour. Normally, we do not order the Lo Mei Gai (sticky rice) because it would mean doubling-up on the starches. Good idea if you want to get full, but it doesn't leave a whole lot of room for ordering anything else. With 5 adults and 4 kids, there would be someone bound to finish it. That would be Ip-Man, the endless pit of destruction (in terms of food that is). He arrived late and cleaned up everything we could not finish. Every group needs one of these, especially during Dim Sum because it never fails - one of each item is left! As for the lo mei gai itself, there were 2 large ones in the steamer. Clearly from the picture, it was not merely sticky rice. There was an abundance of meat and sauce to both flavour the rice and to keep it moist. I thought this was pretty good.

Whenever Elaine joins us for Dim Sum, we have to get an order of the Phoenix Talons (chicken feet). Interestingly, she doesn't really prefer offal, sashimi or rare steaks, but she likes chicken feet. Go figure. Anyways, these were pretty spot on. The skin was intact while the gelatin and cartilage were soft underneath. As evidenced in the picture, there was a pronounced garlicky flavour. The peppers on top were more for colour than flavour as we really didn't taste any of it. Lastly, but not necessarily served last (it arrived mid-meal), we had the Egg Tarts. At the very least, it showed up near the end of the meal (don't really like it when it shows up first!). Although light in colour, the tart shell was flaky and buttery. The filling was sweet, but not too much. The kids seemed to really enjoy them. And in the end, we really had no real big issues with the food - pretty good quality at reasonable prices. Service was pretty sparse because the staff seemed quite busy with the full restaurant, however, they were pleasant. The one thing we really didn't enjoy was the seating arrangements. We couldn't believe they stuffed 2 tables where only one existed before. I could hear the complaints from the table next to us. Well, how could I not hear? They were literally sitting right next to me! So if you don't mind getting really friendly with the table next to you and the long lineups, Golden Harvest is a good mid-range choice in Vancouver.

The Good:
- Above average food
- Reasonable pricing

The Bad:
- Intrusive seating arrangements
- Sparse service

Thu Hien Deli

As if my Fridays are not busy enough (with hockey and eating), Viv decided to add the kid's ice skating lessons as well. I'm not sure if it is her sinister plan to keep me away from hockey and eating, but it makes for a rushed dinner. Therefore, I came up with a plan of my own. This would involve me picking up some Banh Mi for dinner and blogging about it as a byproduct. Ah, kill 2 birds with one stone. Brilliant! So I drove down the street of Banh Mi (which is Kingsway by the way) and stopped at Thu Hien Deli where Kingsway intersects with Knight Street. In addition to Banh Mi, the place offers up hot meals (a la Kent's Kitchen-like) and other Vietnamese groceries. I was tempted to get some of their other offerings, but that would've been too much food. Imagine that, too much food! Right.

Anyways, I picked up 3 sandwiches starting with the Cold Cut. For me, the bread was quite dense (obvious from the picture). When toasted up, it wasn't too bad though. There was plenty of meat along with crunchy pickled daikon and carrots, along with cucumber, hot pepper and cilantro. As per usual, there was the sweet butter, a slather of pate and a few drops of Maggi. The ingredients combined together offered a good deal of flavour. Now the Meatball sub had even more flavour since it was dripping with sauce. So much so, it made parts of the sandwich soggy. I found the meatball to have a peculiar texture. It reminded me of Spam, which is not really a bad if thing if one was eating a Spam sandwich. I would've liked the meat to have a little more texture. In terms of flavour, it was mostly sweet with little meat taste.

Lastly, I got the Shredded Pork (aka, shredded pork and pork rinds). I personally love shredded pork, especially on my vermicelli or rice dishes. However, in this Banh Mi, it was kinda bland. Loved the texture of the pork rind, but the whole thing could've used some more sauce or something. In general, the sandwiches were solid with standard pricing. They definitely did not skimp on the ingredients, yet I wasn't a huge fan of their bread. Since it is only across the street, I'd hit up Kim Chau first.

The Good:
- Lots of filling
- Many other items in store for purchase

The Bad:
- Limited choice on types of Banh Mi
- Bread is a bit dense

Tempest Lounge

*Restaurant is now closed*

Here we go. Back to the regular routine of heading out for eats after Friday Night Hockey. After doing a somewhat "last resort" visit to Breka Bakery last week due to an 11:00pm game, we were in search of something more substantial this time around. At first, we attempted to go to the Kozmik Zoo (which was formerly Hennessy), but that idea was quashed quickly due to a massive crowd inside. We couldn't figure out why it was so busy... So the only option for non-Asian eats nearby that I could quickly think of was Tempest Lounge (formerly Tempest Steakhouse). Sure, there were other places nearby, but I had recently visited all of them! Too early to do a revisit...

As implied in its namesake, Tempest is a lounge-type restaurant, so food is not necessarily their main focus. Thus, the menu is quite simple and limited. As such, Mr. Blueberry and Sweet Tooth both had the Steak Sandwich (because it was hard to not have duplicates) which they both enjoyed. The steak was cooked medium-rare as they requested and was relatively tender. The sauteed mushrooms and onions were flavourful with a proper amount of caramelization. Although they liked the crispy fries, we would've liked to see a better attempt than Cavandish from Costco. They could've done a better job with the bun though, which was of the generic sesame variety. For myself, a steak sandwich wasn't enough, instead I went for the 10oz Top Sirlion Steak with fully stuffed baked potato and creamed corn. The steak looked bigger than 10oz and was cooked roughly medium-rare. It was fairly moist and tender considering it was not one of the premium cuts of meat. It was seasoned properly and nicely charred. The baked potato was surprisingly good considering we were there for late night. It was soft and required very little effort to eat. The creamed corn was quite watery and that was slightly off-putting. However, I thought it tasted decent with a cream flavour and the pop of sweet corn.

Milhouse had his ol' standby being the Cheeseburger. Well... It was a cheeseburger. The meat was nicely charred and not too overdone. Gadget Girl surprisingly had the Veggie Burger (she is a meat lover) and she actually liked it. I'm thinking that they don't make their own veggie patties here, so it was probably supplied by Yves Veggie or something like that. Whatever the case, it was moist and flavourful. In the end, most of the food - other than the steaks - was probably supplied by Sysco, GFS or merely purchased at costco. Therefore, the one thing I can comment on is execution. In that case, I would give them a passing grade since nothing was particularly wrong. With fairly reasonable prices, Tempest is an option for those wanting a side of food with their drinks.

The Good:
- Most items are reasonably-priced
- Food is alright considering the focus of the restaurant
- Service is pretty decent, if not a touch sparse

The Bad:
- Not the most spacious of seats in the middle section
- Food is not the main reason you come here

Sake Maki

Okay, what's up with the injuries lately? First, I return from an almost 2-month absence due to a knee sprain, then 2 weeks later I get a concussion. Sami Salo has got nothing on me! Hey, as long as it doesn't affect my chewing and digesting, it's all good. Fortunately, I didn't miss any Friday night games due to my latest injury since we had a bye week. Upon returning, I got a shutout, which prompted my team in suggesting I get more concussions. Uh... No. So of course, the thing I look forward to the most on Fridays is not the game itself, but the food that follows. Originally, our plan was to check out The Charlatan out on Commercial, but that was quickly quashed since the place was packed. Quickly scanning the other choices nearby, Milhouse nixed the idea of Marcello's since our last visit there was a test of our patience. Hmmm... I spied Sake Maki across the street and since there were no objections, that was to be our place for eats.

Joining us were Gordo's cousin (Dragon Lady) and friend who really didn't eat, but were content to watch me take photos and notes. We started the meal off with the Assorted Sashimi which consisted of 3 pieces each of albacore tuna and sockeye salmon, 4 pieces of tako, 2 pieces of pacific salmon, 1 dollop of chopped scallop and 1 twirl of tai. Making up for the lack of portion size was the quality of the items on the plate - aesthetically and texturally pleasing. Next up was the Toro Avocado with Yuzu Dressing. In between the ripe slices of avocado were thick slices of toro. Although this was not bad, I felt the soft toro with the even softer avocado was mush-on-mush. Dragon Lady suggested if the toro had been sliced more thinly, it would've made a difference. I would have to concur with that sentiment. The citrus notes of the yuzu-shoyu sauce lightened the texturally-challenged dish.

Due to our hunger pains, we went ahead and ordered 4 specialty rolls beginning with the ever-so-typical Dragon Roll. It is worth noting that all of their specialty rolls were only $8.95 each, which I consider a reasonable price. Unlike most versions of this roll, the inside consisted of avocado and ebi tempura rather than imitation crab meat. On the outside was unagi, tobiko, unagi sauce and sweet mayo. This was pretty good with quality ingredients and a freshly fried ebi. The one thing that could've been better was the sushi rice. I found it dense and lacking in flavour. Dragon Lady called it the curse of the Chinese-run Japanese restaurant sushi rice. I am going to cut the place a bit of slack because we arrived 15 minutes to closing and the rice may have not been in the best state at that time. For our next roll, the Ebi Tempura with Mango & Coconut was presented missing the coconut. Turns out Gordo is not a big fan of the stuff. So we had to resort to having it served on the side. Too bad for him because I felt that the coconut was the best part of the roll. With the same good filling as the previous roll, the topping of sweet & tangy mango was complimented well with the aromatic coconut. The flavour was very tropical and pleasant.

As a break from the rolls, we got the Agedashi Tofu next. It came out piping hot and crisp. I loved how they didn't serve it in the dashi sauce because I hate soggy Agedashi tofu. This was good, but I would've loved to see some grated daikon though. Moving along to another fried item, we had the Assorted Tempura. At first glance, I was concerned with the abundance of tempura batter. However, it was crisp all the way through and not doughy at all. As with the ebi tempura in the aforementioned rolls, it had a nice texture and was sweet. Okay, back to the rolls. We had the Spicy Girl next and really, it was not really all that spicy. Mind you, Japanese food is not supposed to be kick-in-the-pants spicy either. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of cream cheese in any of my maki sushi, but this was made more bearable with bacon and avocado accompanying it in the middle. On the outside was smoked salmon, lemon rind, tobiko and "spicy" mayo. This was probably my least favourite roll, partly due to my bias against cream cheese.

While the Spicy Girl was not that impactful, the Hornby Roll had quite the kick to it. Essentially a negitoro roll on the inside with cucumber and spicy mayo topped with chopped scallop & tobiko with more spicy mayo, this was my favourite roll of the meal. Loved the crunch from the cucumber combined with the soft tuna and sweet scallop accented by a significantly spicy sauce. It appeared most people at the table concurred that it was the best roll. Keep in mind that dense rice tempered our enthusiasm, but then again, I've already gone over my thoughts on that. Despite ordering 4 rolls, we added a couple of filler items. We universally thought the Tonkatsu Don was poorly executed. It was too bad really since the pork cutlet was actually quite good. It was large, tender and had a thin crumb coating. However, they seemed to have dumped all of the sauce on the pork cutlet and none of it seeped into the rice. Hence, the meat was super salty while the panko coating went all soggy. Worst of all was the rice, it had absolutely no taste and despite trying to
combine pieces of salty pork with it, the flavour was not balanced. On the other hand, most of the issues with this could be alleviated if they merely redistribute the sauce.

Our last dish was the Chicken Yakiudon which arrived on a sizzling hot plate. This, compared to the tonkatsu don was much more successful. There wasn't a big pool of sauce or residual moisture from the veggies which ensured that the noodles were caramelized with flavour. There was a good noodle-to-meat-to veggie ratio which also enhanced the dish. In terms of flavour, there was a level of acidity which balanced out the sweetness and saltiness. This was a decent end to a relatively decent meal. Sure, it ain't authentic, but the prices are reasonable and the proprietors are friendly. Yes, the sushi rice could've been better but if you accept Sake Maki for what it is, it's an okay place on the Drive.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Friendly proprietors
- Overall, food was acceptable

The Bad:
- Sushi rice could be better
- A little cramped inside

Pho Thai Hoa

In Vancouver, there are a few Vietnamese places open real late into the early morning hours. I say a "few" because there aren't as many as one would think considering the plethora of these places. As such, the only ones open at these hours are all of the Pho Hoa locations and a few others. As much as I don't mind Pho Hoa, it is not exactly my first choice when it comes to Vietnamese grub. As for the "others", nothing has made me classify them as must "eats" either. So when we had a game that ended at a more reasonable hour for our Friday night league, we headed over to one of the "better" Vietnamese restaurants in town - Pho Thai Hoa. "Better" because it earned the silver in Vancouver Magazine restaurant awards (if that had any influence on our decision to eat here). We barely made it since the place was due to close at 10:00pm. As such, many of their menu items were unavailable except for the basics.

Gordo and Sweet Tooth ended up sharing the Spring Rolls to start. If you take a gander at the picture, you'll clearly see that they are prepared with rice paper wrap. That in itself is a good start. The use of rice paper gives the spring roll a totally different texture and appearance. This one was done very nicely being crisp, light and with a filling that was flavourful. Due to the limited items available, Milhouse settled on a Grilled Chicken Banh Mi. The bread was slightly dense while still crisp from the toasting. Nestled within the typical ingredients such as pickled daikon and carrots, cucumber and cilantro was moist and tender chicken. It was flavourful and was more than enough to give the whole sandwich some punch.

Gordo ended up with the Lemongrass Chicken and Shredded Pork (pork rind) with rice and it was expected to be good since the meat would be exactly the same as the one found in the banh mi. So yes, it was moist, juicy and full of flavour. Loved the colour of it too. For myself, I had a banh mi as well and a bowl of Pho. Hey, I can't eat only one item right? Unlike some other Vietnamese joints, the pho here looked like there was some care exercised in its preparation and construction. The noodles were not clumpy and perfectly al dente. Moreover, the meats were sliced evenly and were tender. The broth had a pleasing colour and was neither too salty nor too light. It was more on the savoury side than sweet though. I would say this was an above-average bowl of pho but still doesn't compare to my personal favourite at Pho Tam in Surrey. Yet, what I can say is the food that we tried here at Pho Thai Hoa was solid and reasonably-priced to boot. In a sea of Vietnamese restaurants on Kingsway, it is hard to find significant differences sometimes. Well, we could tell that this was a notch higher than the usual.

The Good:
- Carefully prepared food
- Food looks and tastes good
- Friendly proprietors

The Bad:
- Well, not a surprise really, they are friendly, but service is spotty

Brewmaster's Dinner @ Romer's Burger Bar

Boy, I haven't been back to Romer's since it opened in 2010. That was after our softball game where the whole team descended on the former location of Pinky's Steakhouse. With the remnants of past decor combined with the premise of gourmet burgers, we came away satisfied. That was quite the feat since we had 8 people with different tastes. Fast forward almost 2 years and I get an invite to sample one of their Brewmaster's Dinners. Think along the lines of the Long Table Series at the Irish Heather. At Romer's, this meal is held in the "vault" downstairs, where there is communal seating at 2 long tables. The meal is a ticketed event that needs to be booked in advance. For tonight's dinner, Howe Sound Brewery was featured where every one of our 3 courses was paired with a specific beer. In addition, we were treated to a souvenir glass along with a can of Howe Sound Lager .

Since Miss Y was with me the last time I was here, it was only natural she be my guest for the meal. We got to know our neighbours quite well since they were obviously enjoying their brew. In particular, Rosie and Bra-Lady. Yes, they wanted to be mentioned in the blog... LOL... As mentioned, we started off with the Lager and then progressed to the Garabaldi Honey Pale Ale, Nut Ale and lastly, the Diamondhead Oatmeal Stout. For Miss Y and I, the clear winner was the Honey Pale Ale since it was smooth and had a nice finish. Onto the food, we started with the Lobster Gnocchi & Cheese. Hidden beneath the crispy crumb coating and melted cheddar was a rich, creamy mixture of white cheddar, black truffle oil, honey pale ale and tarragon. The sauce definitely had a bite and was cheesy-smooth. I found the gnocchi to be on the denser side, yet I didn't mind it since I'm not a huge fan of mushy gnocchi. There was a good gnocchi-to -lobster ratio where the meat was perfectly cooked. It was accompanied by a watercress and dried cranberry salad with tarragon dressing.

For our "burger", it was something out of left-field. Or should I say it was from a field? We were presented with the Kitsilano Paleo Special consisting of a lean turkey burger combined with cilantro, chili flakes, cumin, nuts, cranberries and yams. It rested on top of a lettuce tower, with roasted beets, topped with apple wood bacon, fried egg and roasted pepper salsa. Vine-ripened tomatoes and fresh sliced avocado was served on the side with a red pepper drizzle and edamame. When I first looked at it, I asked myself, "what's with all the vegetables?", figuring that I would not be satisfied. How wrong I was. Sure, I dusted the whole thing off, but I was full. Apparently, they did not add any extra salt other than the pre-existing sodium in the bacon. As skeptical as I was, I enjoyed the burger. Now, I still would've preferred a beef burger with the works, yet this was more than acceptable. The patty was moist and somewhat spicy which was balanced by the sweet cranberries. With crispy bacon and a runny egg yolk, there was body to the burger. With all the greens on the plate, I actually didn't feel any guilt.

Well, there was guilt with the gnocchi and then finally a bit more guilt in the dessert. We were presented with the Oatmeal Fudge Bar with a stout creme anglaise and raspberry coulis. Although I found the bar itself to be a touch dense, the mild sweetness won me over. I personally hate desserts that rely too much on sugar. This one, I could taste the chocolate and the subtle hit of booze was a surprisingly flavour addition. This was a pleasant end to an unexpected 3-course meal at Romer's. For $28.00, considering the amount of beer included (of course the beer company is promoting their stuff), the meal is well-priced. Definitely a unique experience for those who want something a bit different.

The Good:
- Fairly good value considering the booze
- Enough food to make one full
- Kudos for trying to be creative

The Bad:
- The vault is nice, yet cramped
- No choice of main (but then again, you would know that while booking the reservation)