New Starlet

Once upon a time, there was this Dragon Lady who ruled the Po King(dom).  Staff, customers, mice and even the crabs in the live tanks lived in fear of her wrath.  Yes, the food was decent and prices were fair, but all was not well in the land.  People were asked to guard each table so that they could awkwardly watch those who were still eating.  Ah yes, the wonderful and twisted land of Po King.  Alas, all dictatorships come to an end and a New Starlet has taken over.  That meant myself, Slick, Big D and a few others had to see for ourselves.

After an excruciatingly long 45 minute wait, we finally got a table.  Immediately, we noticed how there was no yelling, no awkwardness and most all, some form of sanity with the staff. As per usual, the first item to arrive was the dessert being the Egg Tarts. Obviously, they were already to go which meant they were not exactly that hot either.  Yet, the tart shell was flaky and buttery while the filling was mildly sweet with a nice consistency.  Next up was the Shrimp Spring Rolls.  The use of seaweed added a different flavour and texture.  The well-seasoned shrimp had a nice snap while the wrapper was crispy and only a bit greasy.  Again, these could've been hotter.

Onto the main event, the Haw Gow (Steamed Shrimp Dumplings) were quite large packed with well-seasoned shrimp.  Once again, they exhibited a nice snap (probably same filling as the spring roll), yet the dumpling skin was somewhat thick and chewy.  Arriving with 3 in the bamboo steamer, the Lo Mei Gai (Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaves) were good.  The rice was sticky and chewy where it was accented by plenty of ingredients.  They included ground pork, shiitake mushrooms, Chinese sausage and dried scallop.  The latter provided a wonderful aroma.  Although flavourful, the filling was a tad salty.

We weren't exactly thrilled with the Crystal Noodles with Spareribs as there was a serious lack of moisture.  Normally, there would be some residual sauce from the spareribs to both flavour and moisten the noodles.  In this case, it was left up to the pickled vegetable which provided a nice salty crunch, but little else.  The spareribs themselves were okay though, yet there was a baking soda aftertaste.  We did like the Sui Mai though, but there was one glaring issue. The big chunks of fat were not that appetizing despite the fact they provided flavour, texture and moisture.  Ignoring that, the non-processed pork was bouncy and flavourful.

Moving onto the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll, we found the addition of egg a little strange.  Sure, it provided a different texture, but we felt it interfered with the shrimp.  As for the shrimp, it lacked snap (possibly overcooked) and seasoning.  The rice noodle itself was soft with some elasticity.  With the same rice noodle, the Beef Rice Noodle Roll was very light.  The beef filling was soft and airy with a few chewy bits.  There was a general lack of seasoning, yet that was alleviated with the accompanying sweetened soy sauce.  We also had the Donut Rice Noodle Roll and it wasn't bad.  The rice noodle was consistent as it mirrored the other 2 dishes while the donut was crispy and not that heavy.

Continuing on with our incredible amount of food, we had the Stuffed Eggplant.  The eggplant was fried nicely where it was soft, but not mushy.  The shrimp mousse had a nice bounce texture and was properly seasoned.  There was one issue though as the black bean sauce was pale and flavourless.  Worst of all, it was too starchy and didn't actually adhere to the eggplant.  We tried out the Cured Meat Rice Hot Pot which included Chinese sausage, pork belly and duck.  Although the rice was chewy, there was no rice crust and it didn't exhibit any aromatics.  On the other hand, there was a generous amount of cured meats which added both flavour and fat.

Thankfully, we made it to the end (we had ordered doubles of 4 of our dishes) with the Beef Meatballs and Bean Curd Skin Roll.  We found the meatballs to be a little soft, however, there was still a bounce texture.  It was airy just like the rice noodle roll filling (same I assume).  The bean curd skin roll was very good as the loose filling consisted of shrimp, carrot, gai lan stalk and pork.  The fried bean curd skin was soft with a bit of chew.  Overall, we thought the food was okay with some hits and misses.  The newly renovated restaurant looks nice while the staff tries hard to please even with a packed house.  Looks like the regime change is for the better.

The Good:
- Fairly decent service
- Acceptable eats
- Nice decor

The Bad:
- Busy and a bit cramped
- A little pricey
- Not sure if the lineup was expedited accurately

Pho Ba Mien

*Restaurant is now closed*

Normally I'm not one to participate in eating challenges.  Yes, I do often order the biggest and baddest burger on the menu, but I never even attempt to finish it.  Hey, I want to enjoy my food, not loathe it.  Besides, my appetite has definitely decreased since my teenage years.  Back then I could eat a whole 10 piece of Church's chicken in one sitting...  as a snack (and the pieces were bigger back then).  But there is one thing that I have wanted to see come up to Vancouver, which is the Pho Challenge.  Ever since my visit to Pho Garden in San Francisco, I've been waiting for a place to offer it up here.  Finally, I heard Pho Ba Mien on Kingsway was game.  But to my utter disappointment, my visit was too late - they discontinued it.

Therefore, Rich Guy, Rich Girl and I ended up eating from the regular menu.  I decided to go for the good ol' Pho Dac Biet.  We all gave the broth a sample and it had a strong star anise flavour.  I would say it was decently flavourful, but not balanced.  The meager amount of meats were okay and ditto for the stinginess on the rice noodles as well. Instead of participating in a Pho challenge, this bowl of pho challenged me to not order more food.  Therefore, I also tried the Grilled Chicken Banh Mi, which was not bad.  The bun was toasted and crusty, while the chicken was sufficiently moist. It could've used a bit more pickled daikon and carrots though.

Rich Guy had something similar in the Grilled Chicken, Sausage and Egg on Rice.  Huh?  Yes, there was breakfast sausage in this dish.  We weren't really sure why this was the case, but it very odd.  Was it their attempt at a quasi-Tocilog?  Anyways, the chicken was good, but lacked any lemongrass.  He didn't like the fried sausages as they didn't seem to go with anything.  Rich Gal tried the Bun Bo Hue and the soup was decently spicy and flavourful.  However, unlike the picture, it was missing the tendon and pork knuckle.  Once again, there was more soup than meats and noodles.  In the end, we agreed a return visit wasn't imminent, not because the food was terrible, rather, we didn't think it was a good value.

The Good:
- Food is passable
- The one staff member was nice

The Bad:
- Portion size is modest at best
- What happened to the Pho Challenge???

Strike (ChineseBites Dinner)

A ChineseBites dinner?  Whoa, it's been like half-a-year since the last one.  Yah, it was hiatus of sorts, but the dinners are back and in full-force.  Our first one was at Strike on Broadway in Kits.  Now with a name like that, one would not immediately think "Taiwanese food". Alas, we are beginning to see more and more Chinese restaurants open up on the Westside (Peaceful soon to open as well).  Situated in a former ramen joint, Strike is not very big and neither is the kitchen.  While we were there, they did their best to make it work.

We started with an order of Strike Special Yam Fries served with a plum dipping sauce.  The fries themselves were pretty good with a light crispiness while being soft and sweet.  They were not greasy nor heavy, however, the dipping sauce did not go at all.  It was aromatic and sweet, but the fries needed something spicy and savoury since they were sweet to begin with. Next up was the Strike Thai Style Chicken which was crunchy on the outside and slightly dry on the inside.  The flavours were nice though with pungent onions, sweetness and some spice.  I liked how it wasn't too sweet.

Being quite large in size, the Wonton with Chili Oil Sauce were okay.  I found there was too much cabbage in the filling which made them a bit soft. I would've preferred the wontons to be more meaty.  On the other hand, the amount of chili oil and spice level was good though.  There was also a nice balance of sweetness as well.  With familiar flavours such as 5 spice, the Deep Fried Pork Chop was a touch dry and slightly crispy.  Again, there was a notable level of sweetness.  We weren't huge fans of the Five Spice Beef Wrap as the pancake itself was too thick and doughy.  As a result, the pancake absorbed quite a bit of grease.  However, the beef itself was sliced thin and tender while there was a good amount of hoisin.

Onto more substantial dishes, we had the Taiwanese Braised Minced Pork Rice.  The rice itself was chewy topped with a variety of ingredients including fatty pork in a rich thick bean paste sauce, pickled mustard greens and tea egg.  The sauce itself was a bit on the greasier side and sweet. As expected, we were served a large plate of Deep Fried Chicken Nuggets.  These were juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside.  The meat was sweet while the batter was slightly spicy.  Of course there was the usual 5 spice hit.  Unexpectedly, one of the best dishes of the night was the Stewed Tofu with Garlic Sauce.  The dish was served hot which featured soft tofu with a chewy exterior.  The sauce was flavourful with a nice balance of savouy and sweet elements.

Onto 2 more substantial items, we tried both the Taiwanese Style Steak and Taiwanese Style Chicken Steak. Both were served atop spaghetti and accompanied by carrots, baby corn, broccoli and a fried egg with black pepper sauce.  The tenderized beef steak was easy to chew while still maintaining some meat texture.  As for the chicken, it was tender and juicy due in part by the use of dark meat.  The black pepper sauce was quite spicy as there was an abnormal amount of black pepper.  Not exactly balanced, but I personally like spicy, so it worked for me.  The veggies were still firm while the spaghetti was on the softer side. I know this might seem minor, but I would've preferred the egg to be plated with more care as it was either popped or lost underneath the meat.

Moving along, we had the House Special Beef Noodle Soup.  Although the beef was dry (due to the cut of meat), it was still sufficiently tender.  The little ribbons of tendon within the meat were soft and gelatinous.  The thick and chewy noodles rested in a slightly beefy broth which benefited from a good amount of pickled mustard greens.  Continuing with noodles, we had the Taiwanese Style Cold Noodles as well.  These were tossed with a peanut sauce and topped with crunchy carrots and cucumber.  I found the noodles a bit soft while the peanut sauce mild.  This was only "okay" in my books.

Heading into the homestretch (eating is tough you know...  LOL), we had the Strike Speical BBQ Chicken which was dry in my opinion.  It was flavourful though in a Chinese BBQ kind of of way.  There was definitely some 5-spice going on as well.  Although we were stuffed at this point, they presented one of the heaviest dishes being the Slow Braised Pork Belly with Spiced Soy Sauce.  This was well-prepared with moist and rich pork belly where the fat exhibited an appealing gelatinous texture.  The thick sauce had depth with a nice balance of salty and sweet.

Lastly, we had a variation of a Taiwanese classic being the Stir Fried Chicken with Shaoxing Wine.  Similar to the 3-Cup Chicken, but not, the flavours leaned towards Szechuan spicy rather than tart and sweet Taiwanese version.  The chicken was juicy and really took on the wine flavour.  Without stating the obvious, we sampled a big portion of their menu and it was more or less pretty good.  The prices are quite reasonable for the quality and quantity of food.  Moreover, without much in the way of competition nearby, Strike will be busy.

*Note: This was an invited dinner where all food was comped*

The Good:
- Well-priced
- Overall decent eats
- Fills a need on the Westside

The Bad:
- Pretty tiny restaurant
- Pretty tiny kitchen (leftover from the old ramen joint)

Deer Garden Signatures (Vancouver)

At one point, there were not a whole lot of places offering DIY noodle combos.  Now they are a dime-a-dozen.  Call it the Vancouver fad phenomenon.  However, one of the originals, Deer Garden Signatures, has opened up a third location on Fraser Street in Vancouver.  Definitely music to our ears since that meant we didn't need to head into Richmond!  Yippee! It was also a good choice as Bubbly and Chill brought all 3 kiddies (noodles are always popular with the kiddies).

Going for something a bit different (because I've had the noodles before), I went for the Baked Pork Chop/Seafood on Rice.  Yes, it was half a baked pork chop rice and half a seafood baked rice.  Hence, it was a pretty large portion.  I found the combination of seafood (shrimp, scallop, basa, imitation crab) cooked properly while the cream sauce wasn't too heavy.  The pork chop was meaty and tender with a crisp coating.  The sauce was mostly sweet with a touch of tartness.  I found this a well-executed dish. Boss Woman ended up with the Spicy Beef Brisket and Tendon with Rice.  It didn't look that pretty, but ate better than it appeared.  The sauce was somewhat spicy while the brisket and tendon was sufficiently soft.  I thought the sauce was a bit too thick though.


Now onto something more synonymous with Deer Garden - the DIY noodles. We had the Fish Soup with Vietnamese ham and tofu.  Personally, I like the fish soup, but hardly think that it is as good as many say it is.  With that being said, it was pleasant and the portion size was good.  To change it up, Chill had the Szechuan Spicy Soup with Beef.  It was mildly spicy while the beef was properly tenderized.  This was a flavourful alternative to the mild-tasting fish soup. As expected, the DIY noodles were pretty much standard, however, I found my rice dish to be quite good.  Maybe I should try some other non-soup dishes next time.

The Good:
- You get what you expect
- Fairly good value
- Surprisingly good baked rice dish

The Bad:
- Service ain't horrible, but not very attentive either (probably not enough staff)
- Not the most spacious of setups
- Long lineup

Jimmy's Place

"We're having Dim Sum with my mom again", Viv quietly said in passing. What? Again??? No. No way. I have endured too much screaming and yelling this year already. I finally put my foot down and decided no food adventure was worth it. So she went with the kids for another messed-up meal. For me, I accepted the fact it would be leftovers for lunch by myself. Ah, the quietness of being alone at home. Yet, in the back of my mind, I thought this was a wasted eating opportunity. Lo and behold, JuJu to the rescue. While checking out Facebook, I noticed his status update. He wanted to go for breakfast, but he had no one to eat with... Well, what a convenient coincidence! So we ended up meeting at something local which was Jimmy's Place on North Road.

Essentially a diner located amongst Korean restaurants, it serves up breakfast and other North American favourites.   For very reasonable prices, there is decent food to be had.  For myself, I ended up with the Pancake Breakfast which included 2 eggs, 2 meats, toast and of course, pancakes.   The eggs were done nicely sunny-side up while the sausages were fried up dark (yet were moist inside).  The pancakes were so-so, neither being fluffy nor rubbery.  JuJu had the Fried Egg BLT with a Chicken Noodle Soup.  The sammie was carefully prepared with lots of tomato and probably in need of a bit more lettuce.  No matter, it did the job.  The soup was of the home-made variety with the usual ingredients in a light broth.

I returned once more to try their claim of "best burger in the West" with the Jimmy's Special (bacon & cheddar with fries). I liked the house-made patty as it was moist and packed loosely.  There was an immediate hit of onion in the meat that went well with the salty pieces of bacon.  I liked their choice of bun as it was light, yet still held up.  The steak fries were pretty generic though.  Overall, nothing amazing at Jimmy's, but it serves up predictable and solid eats for very little change.

The Good:
- Cheap
- Food does the job
- Friendly people

The Bad:
- Food is basic, but good for the price