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After a lackluster meal at Thai Confusion, Emily was rather distraught. You see, she really takes eating seriously and any money spent on less-than-stellar food makes her sad. Hence, we needed to find a dessert place fast to elevate her emotional state. However, we just couldn't think of a place. It took a few anxious moments and suddenly it occurred to her that the new location of Bubble Queen on Oak & 16th might be open. Unlike my random food failures, she actually called the place to check first.
We ended up with ordering one each of the Original Milk Tea with Grass Jelly and Mango Slush with real mango and pearls. Generally, the drinks at Bubble Queen are not very sweet. So it was by no surprise that the half-sweet milk tea seemed to taste like there was no sugar at all. No matter, it still had enough tea flavour at the tail end. Personally, I prefer gobs of grass jelly over the cubed ones in this particular version. As for the mango slush, it was pretty tasty even though we asked for no sugar. The natural sweetness and slight pungency of the fresh mangoes really came though. The huge chunks of ripe mango didn't hurt things either. Although the drink itself was blended smooth, the pearls were overcooked which meant they were too soft.
Onto the some bubble waffles, we tried the Black Sesame first. All of the waffles here were more bready and soft than the ones found at Bubble Waffle House and BBT Cafe. Hence, they were more filling and dense. I also found them quite sweet, especially the black sesame. It was indeed aromatic, but wasn't as impactful as I would've liked. The one I liked most was the Mango Puree where every bite was like eating fresh mangoes. I guess that was the point. The softness of the bubble waffle actually worked with the puree. I could see that a crispier and chewier version would've interfered the puree texture.
Lastly, we had the Matcha Mochi. It was certainly interesting with the melted chewiness of mochi in the middle of every bubble. However, the match flavour was rather weak. On the other hand, the chewiness of the mochi kept each bite interesting with texture. Okay, despite the fact this wasn't as good as the Richmond location (maybe growing pains?), it was still pretty good and hit the spot after dinner.
The Good:
- Things taste like they should
- Lots of choice
- Not too sweet
The Bad:
- I personally prefer less bready bubble waffles
When Emily remarked she was "getting tired of eating out" after our multiple culinary forays during the Chinese Restaurant Awards and Poutine Challenge, I remained skeptical. Tired of eating? Yah right... But after a Friday night league game, I was beginning to realize what she meant. It was if I was suffering from eating fatigue. A 2-month stretch of non-stop eating (sometimes up to 4 dinners a night) was beating me down. Yes, #firstworldproblems Hence, Milhouse and I went for something lighter at Pho 24 Express.
As for the aforementioned Pho, we had the Pho Dac Biet in the extra-large size. Unlike the version at Pho Extreme Xe Lua, this one actually consisted of more noodles and meat rather than just broth. We found the broth to be clean yet rather light tasting. It was mildly sweet, but not much in the way of meatiness. Noodles were chewy while the meats were decently tender. We also shared the Phnom Penh Dry Noodles which were pretty average. It was nowhere as good as the versions found at Phnom Penh and Pho Tan. The noodles were pretty clumpy without the aid of enough "sauce". That also meant there was a lack of flavour and impact. On the other hand, there was enough supporting ingredients to keep things interesting.
For good measure, we added the Banh Mi Dac Biet. It featured light and airy bread that was toasted up until crusty. There wasn't exactly a boatload of cold cuts nor pickled veggies, but the sandwich ate pleasantly nonetheless. With that being said, the overall flavours were rather mild due to the lack of ingredients. On the flip-side, this was still pretty decent considering the place doesn't specialize in banh mi.
Suffering from the same eating fatigue symptoms, we returned the following week for a bowl of Bo Kho Noodles. Also in extra-large form, the soup base was aromatic, yet weak at the same time. There was the sweetness of carrots and a certain meatiness, but it lack depth-of-flavour. Furthermore, the little cubes of beef were dry and somewhat chewy. Changing things up, we got the Lemongrass Pork Chop, Chicken and Shredded Pork Broken Rice with Fried Egg. Sure, the pork chop was on the drier side, but it was not particularly chewy. However, it lacked char much like the chicken. They were well-marinated though with obvious lemongrass hits. I enjoyed the chewy broken rice underneath as it didn't soften too much from the egg yolk. So as much as the food at Pho 24 Express is not the best I've had, it is definitely serviceable especially for late night.
The Good:
- Extra-large is actually extra-large
- Reasonable pricing
- Fairly good service
The Bad:
- Flavours are generally weak
- Good for late night, but there are better options
I can't deny it. I'm not much of an outdoorsy person. Even when I used to mountain bike, I detested the splatters of mud and especially the whole body mud experience if I bit it. Hence, I do not have any interest in camping or getting in touch with nature. My idea of roughing it would be Motel 6. The horror! Yes, according to Choobee, I'm far too "tender". So when Viv suggested we go for a hike at Buntzen Lake, I did an excellent social fake with a crooked smile. Fine, if we were to do this, I was going to get food out of it. Hence, we stopped at the new location of Sushi & Roll prior to the hike.
Taking over for the now closed Fuji Sushi, Sushi & Roll offers up an experience not unlike Sushi Garden, Sushi Town, Sushi California and the sort (tempered expectations as a result). We kicked things off with the Deluxe Assorted Sashimi. By looking at the picture, everything appeared okay and in some sense, quite good. But that is where the "good value" sushi thing kicks in. For example, the hamachi exhibited a fresh sheen and smell. Yet, rather than being buttery, it was firm and a bit bland. So with reasonable expectations, the sashimi was decent. Next, the Chicken Karaage looked like it had been to the Caribbean due to its tanned appearance. Overlooking that, the skin was rendered and crispy while the meat underneath was juicy and well-seasoned.
Onto a Bento Box A that included green salad, Chicken Teriyaki, Tempura and Crab Cakes, we found that the crab cakes were actually fried imitation crab (not very good either). As for the chicken teriyaki, it was okay where the meat was relatively tender. Although the tempura was slightly over-battered, it was still crispy. However, these was a bit more oil retention as a result. For our first roll of 3, we got the House Roll which was pretty much stuffed with the usual ingredients. We liked how the layer of rice was thin, but at the same time thought it was slightly dry. The roll was packed tightly enough that generally held together until we bit into it.
Just because I love the Filet-o-Fish, I decided to order the roll with the same name (isn't that copyrighted or something, funny how McD's is just next door). Well, this wasn't anything like the burger as there was far too much rice. It hid the small piece of fried fish. On the other hand, the dressing was nicely tart while being only conservatively applied. For our specialty roll, we got the Fantastic Roll comprised of shrimp tempura, imitation crab, cucumber, avocado and mayo with spicy tuna and tempura bits on top. Interestingly, even with all of the wet ingredients, the roll ate a bit dry. This might possibly had something to do with the rice. In terms of taste, it was mildly spicy where I still needed some soy and wasabi to liven things up. Overall, the meal was okay given our expectations. Definitely serviceable for those who aren't overly picky.
The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Decent portions
- Spacious
The Bad:
- Could be better, but not at that price point
- Sushi rice was dry for us
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After a lackluster meal at Thai Confusion, Emily was rather distraught. You see, she really takes eating seriously and any money spent on less-than-stellar food makes her sad. Hence, we needed to find a dessert place fast to elevate her emotional state. However, we just couldn't think of a place. It took a few anxious moments and suddenly it occurred to her that the new location of Bubble Queen on Oak & 16th might be open. Unlike my random food failures, she actually called the place to check first.
We ended up with ordering one each of the Original Milk Tea with Grass Jelly and Mango Slush with real mango and pearls. Generally, the drinks at Bubble Queen are not very sweet. So it was by no surprise that the half-sweet milk tea seemed to taste like there was no sugar at all. No matter, it still had enough tea flavour at the tail end. Personally, I prefer gobs of grass jelly over the cubed ones in this particular version. As for the mango slush, it was pretty tasty even though we asked for no sugar. The natural sweetness and slight pungency of the fresh mangoes really came though. The huge chunks of ripe mango didn't hurt things either. Although the drink itself was blended smooth, the pearls were overcooked which meant they were too soft.
Onto the some bubble waffles, we tried the Black Sesame first. All of the waffles here were more bready and soft than the ones found at Bubble Waffle House and BBT Cafe. Hence, they were more filling and dense. I also found them quite sweet, especially the black sesame. It was indeed aromatic, but wasn't as impactful as I would've liked. The one I liked most was the Mango Puree where every bite was like eating fresh mangoes. I guess that was the point. The softness of the bubble waffle actually worked with the puree. I could see that a crispier and chewier version would've interfered the puree texture.
Lastly, we had the Matcha Mochi. It was certainly interesting with the melted chewiness of mochi in the middle of every bubble. However, the match flavour was rather weak. On the other hand, the chewiness of the mochi kept each bite interesting with texture. Okay, despite the fact this wasn't as good as the Richmond location (maybe growing pains?), it was still pretty good and hit the spot after dinner.
