The Sandbar

"My treat" are 2 words any foodie likes to hear. C'mon, you get to eat for free! Well, Travel Guy and Photo Mama wanted to treat Viv and I for a meal at a restaurant of our choice. Too bad I've already visited Gotham lately eh? Hehe... Not trying to be too greedy, we decided to go to The Sandbar. Part of the Sequoia Group of Restaurants which include The Teahouse, Cardero's and Seasons in the Park, The Sandbar along with Cardero's are the more "casual" restaurants. I would group them into a category which includes Milestone's, Cactus Club and Earl's. The one difference is that they belong to a "group"; rather than a "chain". Somehow, I feel that distinction is becoming more and more the same. However, in this case, I do believe that each of the restaurants do offer something a bit different.

The last time I was here, I had the Caesar Salad. What's so special about a Caesar you ask? More and more places are beginning to serve their Caesars with whole pieces of romaine hearts. The premise is that the lettuce will be much more crisp and suffer less deterioration from the dressing. Indeed it does since each piece was crispy and there was just enough dressing along with asiago. The addition of crispy capers added a nice crunch. For my main, I had the Red Snapper from their fresh sheet. It was accompanied by broccolini, red cabbage, grilled tomato, saffron rice and a fresh tomato compote. Honestly, I wasn't that happy with this dish. The snapper was quite overdone and the meat became a bit chewy and hard in some spots. Also, the rice was downright terrible. It came in a big clump that could barely be broken down. Essentially it was a dry rice ball.

Travel Guy, soon to be Teacher Guy, went for my other choice (which I should've had instead of the snapper) which was the Seafood Hot Pot. Given it's price, we weren't expecting a tonne of seafood. And that was mostly the case here. Despite the lack of ingredients, the red curry was actually pretty good. Naturally it was more coconut than spicy since it's suppose to appeal to the masses. The seafood was not overcooked and he said it would be a dish he'd order again.

Viv and Photo Mama both opted for the Salmon Burger. Viv thought the salmon was perfectly executed being moist on the inside and nicely grilled on the outside. A well made salmon burger; yet probably not worth $15.00. Okay, I know some of you will point out that given it's location, the prices would be reflective of that. However, the bottom line is whether this meal was good enough to warrant high praise. Given that this is not my first time at Sandbar, I would have to temper any criticism with the positive visits in the past. However, based on this current visit, it appears that The Sandbar is only a passable restaurant compared to equally priced establishments. For example, my snapper dish for $22.00 is equivalent to The Cannery's (now closed) snapper I had off their fresh sheet. However, it was much better executed at The Cannery for the same price. Thus, as a measuring stick, it doesn't stack up. By no means was our meal bad; in fact, it was good in some points. As much as I think the Sandbar is generally quite decent with an awesome location, they cannot afford to rest on their laurels.

The Good:
- Great location and view
- Friendly service
- Diverse menu

The Bad:
- Despite the relatively reasonable prices given its location, still not sure about the food value
- Hit and miss with food execution

Mochikas Peruvian Cafe

As much as Vancouver is famous for it's gastronomical diversity, Latin restaurants are poorly represented. Yes, there is a decent amount; but they are dwarfed by the endless selection of Asian restaurants. Furthermore, we seem to group Latin American food into one category (just like I did in my opening remark). But there are significant differences among Latin cuisine (as explained to me by Kim, who is from Panama). Thus, when I heard that there was this new Peruvian place from Blondie, I felt the need to try it. I asked Pomegranate, who spent time working down in South America, if he was familiar with Peruvian food and he was not too sure. Just like the aforementioned differences, he was working in Columbia and he said the food ain't the same. The only other "Peruvian" restaurant that I know of is El Inka Deli in Burnaby. Other than that, the other Peruvian experience has been in Portland at Andina.

Now, to the those who have never heard of Mochikas, you will probably have a hard time finding it. Even if you had the address and a GPS, all you would find is Platinum Touch Auto Spa. Yah, rather than enjoying eats, you might believe you'd be receiving a deluxe wash and premium wax. You see, the restaurant is inside the car wash. Don't worry, you won't be eating with suds and a turbo air dry. It's actually at the front entrance tucked inside. Only a small banner at the front of the building hints at its existence. To our dismay, the dinner menu is not available at lunch, so there are only a limited selection of Peruvian dishes. So the only thing we could do was to order them all starting with the Butifarras Pork Sandwich, which is served on a hamburger-type roll. The meat in this sandwich is Jamón del País or Peruvian Country Ham, which in this case, is made in-house. It doesn't look like much; but this lil' sandwich was good. The "ham" is more like roasted pork with a nice spice coating. The texture was tender while still retaining a slight chewiness. It worked well with the red onions and mustard.

We also tried the Chicken Empanada and were a bit confused how they reheated it. We didn't hear a microwave (which is a good thing); yet we saw them using some pot. Don't ask me how, but it came out hot and not looking worse for wear. We liked the filling, it was full of chicken, black olives and hard-boiled eggs. I personally wasn't a huge fan of the pastry. It was somewhat doughy. For my main, I chose the only one that was remotely close to being Peruvian which was the Pollo a la Brasa (1/4 Peruvian chicken with turmeric rice and salad). I ended up with the breast portion of the chicken and it was a bit dry (as expected). I did like the spices and had a hard time deciphering them other than cumin and pepper. Upon further research, there are spices in there I've never even heard of as in Huacatay paste and Aji yellow paste. Pomegranate ended up with something quite pedestrian in the Charcoal Chicken Wrap which basically combines what I ate into one package. It was good; but hardly representative of Peruvian cuisine.

Almost a year later, I have returned to Mochikas to finally try their Peruvian specialties that were once not available on their lunch menu. I brough Mijune with me and we were treated to some delicious eats. We started with the Yuca Frita con Chicharron which is deep fried cassava root & pork belly served with Mochikas signature sauce. Unlike some other versions of chicharron, this one was much more like a Chinese roast suckling pig. The meat was very tender and there was only a modest amount of fat. I thought that it had a nice rich roasted pork flavour that was best to be enjoyed without any condiments. The fried cassava root were in fairly large chunks and were predictably fibrous and starchy. They were fried up nicely with a crisp exterior. The accompanying sauce was creamy, a little peppery and with some underlying heat. Lastly, there was a side of pickled red onion that I didn't touch since my stomach doesn't agree with it. I would have; but Mijune would have to put up with a lot of issues... Moving along, we had the Ceviche next consisting of fresh sole with mixed seafood marinated in lime juice, garlic, & cilantro served with corn, sweet potato & red onions. It was explained to us that the base of the ceviche was a broth consisting of ginger and veggies. That added a nice kick and complexity in addition to the lime, garlic and cilantro. The marinade was so darn tasty, we wanted to drink it. It was so smooth! The fish, squid and baby scallops were tender and sufficiently "flavoured" while the shrimp were a bit of a letdown. But in general, a very good ceviche.

Now for what would be considered a "wow" dish - Chupe de Mariscos. What amounts to a spicy, hearty seafood chowder with Aji Panca, fresh cheese, rice, & cassava, we agreed it was a cross between a Paella-soup and a Peruvian Laksa. The darn thing was so freakin' tasty. A complex combination of flavours, it was sweet, a bit spicy, a touch creamy (and oily) due to the cheese and full of seafood flavour. Despite the oil slick on top, it didn't feel heavy to eat. There was so much stuff in it, it could easily be a soup that eats like meal (hey, where have we heard that before?). From my last visit, I'd been thinking about the Arroz con Pato since. The thought of 6-hour braised duck marinated in Aji Amarillo, Peruvian spices & beer served with cilantro rice sounded too good to pass up. In the end, it was not bad; but not didn't wow me like the chowder. However, if we isolate it without comparisons, the duck itself was pretty tender; yet slightly dry. I liked the smokiness and deep flavour of the duck while the skin was nicely rendered. I'm not a huge fan of cilantro; but the rice was very good. Just enough flavour and not mushy, I wanted to keep eating the rice, especially with the little sweet peas strewn throughout.

Wow. On this return visit, I finally got to experience what Mochikas is really about. And man, do I ever like it. Definitely something out-of-the-ordinary that finally sets itself apart from the boring chain restaurants that litter the Vancouver dining scene. Furthermore, it is not another Asian restaurant. Hey, I love Asian food; but honestly. There is one on every street corner. The food, the flavours and the execution are very impressive considering the venue and limited kitchen. The proprietors are very nice people who care about their business and their customers. The odd location adds a bit of charm and if you really needed your car detailed, you can eat while you wait.

The Good:
- Something different
- The food is generally very good
- Friendly owner

The Bad:
- It's a one-person operation, food will take a bit of time
- Hidden small location

Tenhachi

*Restaurant is now closed*

Our team made it to the finals and despite putting in a great effort, we lost 5-3. Disappointing? Yes. Although, we still had lots of fun and once again, some of us went to eat afterwards. That is a win in itself! But where? We decided to do something a bit different. How different? How about a Japanese restaurant on the ground level of an apartment complex. You might be wondering whats so special about a Japanese restaurant on the ground floor of an apartment building. What if I told you it was predominantly senior housing? Still not convinced? Alright, how about a Japanese restaurant that looks more like a cafeteria from the 1970's and serves up traditional food such as sushi, donburis, tempura and lasagna. Wait a minute, Lasagna??? Yah, the restaurant of choice was Tenhachi. Think of it as very similar to Hi Genki, but not. I think it's in a category all by itself.

Joining me for dinner was Milhouse, Mr. Blueberry, Gadget Girl, Boss Woman and Kim. Kim? Again? Yah, I think we made him an honorary member of our team. Maybe he can be the waterboy next time we play... LOL... Once again, much like at King Sushi, we separated into the sharers and the non-sharers. Well, it was only Kim, Milhouse and I sharing... We started with the Wakame Salad and honestly, I haven't had many that were bad. Essentially, it's just seaweed with soy, sesame oil and rice wine vinegar. It's pretty hard to screw up; but then again, I'm sure I'll run into that eventually. This one was well balanced and had that "snap" chewiness we look for in wakame. We also got an order of the Red Tuna Sashimi and it was served with dark soy. We tried the tuna with both types of soy and figured that the dark soy (being less salty) allowed the tuna flavour to come through. Kim thought the fish was a bit disappointing in terms of texture and taste. I have to agree with him there. The tuna was on the softer side and didn't exhibit much flavour at all. I've had better red tuna sashimi, namely Tokachi.

Seeing that there was Takoyaki on the menu, I went ahead and ordered it as usual. What can I say, I like octopus balls! Uh... well, it's actually more like a small slice of tako in a fried flour ball. Initially, that scared Milhouse until we explained it to him. These were not bad, maybe a tad on the stiffer side and definitely in need of more bonito flakes (and possibly more sauce). Kim thought we should go a different route for tempura and ordered the Mushroom Tempura. Consisting of shiitake, masutake and shimeji, this was definitely different. I thought that the batter could've been more crisp; otherwise, it was pleasant to eat. I personally love mushrooms and especially these ones since they have quite a nice meatiness to them. Served on the side was tempura dipping sauce with grated daikon and ginger.

To satisfy our sushi roll requirement, we went for the Mango Roll. At only $4.95, this was a pretty good value considering that there were 8 fairly large pieces. As Kim remarked, the mango was ripe and sweet; thus we could really call this a mango roll. Too many times, the mango used is not ripe and it becomes an afterthought. The sushi rice was not bad, not as firm as I would've liked it; but solid nonetheless. We also picked a random cooked fish as well deciding on the Hamachi (yellowtail). Even when raw, hamachi is quite meaty and firm. Thus, cooked, you can only imagine it being even more meaty and firm. This was definitely the case here and honestly, I'm not a big fan. Nothing to do with the execution of this dish in particular.

Now for something really traditionally Japanese! Lasagna! WTH??? Yah, there are a few items on the menu that seem to exist for the buildings clientele. Kim thought it would be a great idea to try and viola, we ordered lasagna. Yes, the Caesar salad was generic and the garlic toast was exactly white bread with garlic spread. However, you know what? The lasagna was pretty decent! Definitely homemade with plenty of beef, ricotta and mozzarella, this lasagna had body. A little on the bland side with the tomato sauce tasting quite sweet rather than tart, I wouldn't mind eating it again. And that pretty sums it up. Tenhachi is a homey restaurant. From it's 70's decor to the friendly staff with name tags the size of flash cards, this place is tacky. However, that is where Tenhachi gets its charm. Not conforming to modern restaurant standards, you really can get a home-style Japanese meal here, even if it is lasagna or a Salisbury steak.

The Good:
- Honest food and staff
- It's tacky, but it's comfortable and homey
- Some interesting items on the menu (and I'm not talking about the lasagna either)

The Bad:
- Not as cheap as you would think
- Other than the weekend, there is no parking around

Pattaya Thai

*Restaurant is now closed*

After winning our first game in the hockey tournament on Friday, today was the day to show our mettle. The objective was clear. Win both games and we'd make the finals. Lose even one of them and so long farewell. With the lure of more eating if we did make it to the Sunday final game, my goal was clear. Win! The first game today was relatively easy as we won 5-1. After a short break, we went into our second game of the day. Nothing better than putting on wet equipment... Well, at least its our own sweat. I guess we were a bit too happy with ourselves as we started the game since we were down 2-0 by the 3 minute mark. I guess my mind was elsewhere (guess where it was?). We had already made reservations at Pattaya Thai the night before as we walked past it after we finished up at King Sushi. My mind was wandering... However, we re-focused and ended up coming back to win 4-2. Woohoo! We made the finals! More importantly, we'd eat again tomorrow!!! Woohoo!

Odd as it may be, Kim joined us for dinner tonight. No, he's not part of our team. In fact, he doesn't even play hockey. But it was on our "to try" list and I thought that it would be a good opportunity for him to experience it with us. The rest of "us" were Gadget Girl, Mr. Blueberry, Boss Woman, Emilicious, Milhouse and Lionel Hutz. We started with the Larb Moo, which is a salad consisting of minced pork, onions, mint, roasted rice powder and lime juice. This was a relatively decent dish. Only thing I would have like to see was a bit more lime. Since Pattaya Thai is famous for their Prawn & Crab Rolls, we were obliged to order them. We actually got 2 orders since there are only 4 rolls per dish. They are famous because Vancouver Magazine named it the #1 food item in the GVRD for their Best Things to Eat and Drink edition. That is indeed a bold statement. This is where it gets interesting. We had 8 people at the table and none of them thought it deserved that distinction. However, I personally didn't mind it. In terms of being a spring roll, it was pretty solid. Crunchy, non-oily exterior and crisp veggies on the inside. Not really sure about the cream cheese though. I thought it hid what little crab there was. For $9.99, there really needs to be more crab and prawn in these spring rolls. Definitely not #1 in my books, especially in the GVRD. Now while I was okay with it, Gadget Girl and Emilicious really didn't care for it. The combination of cream cheese and other ingredients didn't work for them.

Next up was the Pad Gra Prao which, in this case, was chicken with garlic, onions, Thai chilis and sweet basil. I'm guessing that the dish was on the bland side due to us asking for everything to be mild (not everyone can stand the heat at the table). Thus, it's a bit difficult to assess the "real" flavour of any dish really. However, many people do choose mild, so it's not a stretch. If we look at the individual components, the veggies were still crisp and the chicken was not overcooked (sauce was slightly sweet with some basil aromatics). As for the Pineapple Fried Rice, it was curiously thick. Was it the egg? Was it too much sauce? The texture was a little off in terms of fried rice since it was soggy. Tastewise, it was predominantly sweet with extremely minor hints of fish sauce and chilis. Despite this, I didn't mind eating it for some reason or another. We were really hungry from our 2 games, maybe increase hunger results in lessen expectations?

We ended up with 2 curries with the first being the Chicken Green Curry. Once again, for a mild curry, it was decent. Within the coconut curry, there were nice pieces of eggplant, peppers, peas and basil. What was missing was the chicken. Well, there was chicken, just not a whole lot of it. The Beef Red Curry suffered from the same problem. Plenty of bamboo shoots, basil and peppers. Not much in the way of beef (which was decently tender). It's too bad that it was not spicier, which is our own fault. Had it been, it would've been much more flavourful. Rather, it became a smooth coconut curry once again.

Strategically, I think we made a mistake when we ordered both the pad gra prao and the Pad Cashew Nuts. They were quite similar. Other than a slightly darker sauce (probably due to more oyster sauce), it tasted practically the same as the pad gra prao, except with cashew nuts. Hey, don't get me wrong here, it wasn't bad. Definitely pleasant to eat again with crisp veggies and slightly dry chicken. In another episode of "a dish that everyone orders" is the Pad Thai. Yes, I know it's over-represented as a Thai dish; but we all like and ended up ordered 2 plates of it. As you can see, it is a decent portion with nice big shrimp. However, to me, it was bordering on the bland side. Despite the colour, it wasn't afflicted with the "ketchup" sauce problem. Rather, it looked more flavourful that it turned out to be. Not terrible in any stretch of the imagination, it just need a bit more flavour.

Where the pad Thai was lacking in flavour, the Pad See-iew definitely didn't have that problem. Well-seasoned with soy sauce, this was a well-executed dish. Noodles were still a bit chewy while mixed well with crisp broccoli, carrots and cabbage. This was probably my favourite dish of the meal. Several people concurred with that sentiment. Our last dish for the meal was the Garlic Pork and I kinda liked it as well. The pork was tender and cooked nicely with a sauce consisting of garlic and black pepper resting on a bed of cabbage and carrots. The flavourful sauce went well with a bite consisting of both a piece of pork and some veggies. If we look at the meal as a whole, it was actually alright. If we had requested spicy, I'm sure the food would've had more pop. With that being said, it was sorely lacking flavour despite this. Now if we focus purely on the spring rolls, I'm a bit torn. I really didn't mind them; but for the price, it's not worth it. If this is the claim to fame according to Vancouver Magazine, there is a certain level of expectations. I expected crab and prawn in the spring roll, as per the description. But honestly, there was not much of that at all, especially at $2.50 each. For others at the table, they just plain didn't like it, period. And you really can't argue with 8 individuals with different tastes who actually agreed on one thing.

The Good:
- Decent portions
- Friendly service
- Reasonably-priced (except for the spring rolls)

The Bad:
- As a consensus, the spring rolls are not worthy of the hype
- Food is generally quite bland (and that's taking into account the lack of spiciness which was our choice)

King Sushi

After our first game victory of the Easter hockey tourney, we were in need of eats. Actually, I was in need of eats before the game, it only served as a conduit. Yah, I'll admit it. I often daydream while playing hockey, softball and golf. The thoughts of a bakudanyaki often replace a softball, a crab cake doubles as a puck and a juicy meatball for a golf ball. What can I say, I have a one-track mind! It probably explains the crappy goal I let in through the 5-hole in the last half of the game. Oh whatever, we won 5-1, now time to eat! We tossed a few ideas around and it always seemed to come back to Japanese. The question was where? Being in Coquitlam right next to the Port Mann bridge presented many options; yet none of them exactly close. Finally, Lionel Hutz suggested an ol' New West favourite - King Sushi.

Yah, sushi and New West doesn't elicit much promise, other than Ki Sushi and if you prefer AYCE, Top Gun. Everyone thought it was a good idea, especially Groundskeeper Willy, since he lives only a few blocks away. I liked the idea too since I'd never eaten there before and it is on my very long list of "to visit" places. We were given an interesting table that had a built-in leaf which essentially could be expanded into one large table. However, no need for that since half of the people wanted to share and half didn't. Guess which side I was on??? So we exiled the non-sharers (Gadget Girl, Silent Bob, Holmes & Groundskeeper Willy) from our delightful sharing table of me, Lionel Hutz, Picachu, Milhouse and Emilicious. Strangely, we had to make sure we ordered some cooked items since Picachu doesn't really prefer Japanese food, particularly the raw items. Not exactly a weird situation, other than the fact that Picachu is Japanese! LOL... Anyways, we went ahead and ordered a whack load of items and started with Wakame Salad. It is a type of seaweed that has a slightly chewy, snappy texture much like jellyfish. And similar to the preparation of jellyfish, sesame oil and soy are primary flavouring agents (in addition to rice vinegar in this case). The wakame salad here exhibited the aforementioned qualities and we tried to share it amongst the 5 of us. LOL...

If that was hard to do, try sharing a Spinach Gomaae as well! Not a problem because it was terrible. First, look at it. Way too much sweet sesame dressing, you can't even see the spinach! Furthermore, what you can't see is the huge pool of water underneath. Definitely a turnoff. I much prefer the type of Gomaae with a simple shoyu dressing and toasted sesame seeds. Fortunately our meal got back on track with the Agedashi Tofu. A crispy exterior revealed silky tofu which rested on a light tentsuyu sauce which consists of dashi, mirin and shoyu. Too bad Picachu doesn't eat raw fish because the order of Deluxe Assorted Sashimi was quite visually appealing and fresh. By its appearance alone, it's quite evident that the fish is fresh (well as fresh as flash frozen can get). On the plate was wild salmon, salmon, hamachi, tai, ebi, tako, uni, tuna, ika with tobiko, toro and hokkigai. Nothing that could be mushy was mushy except for the tuna. That was a bit mushy. To my surprise, the uni was quite fresh and sweet. Viv thinks it tastes like garbage. I'm not sure where she gets that idea from...

"Hey, who ordered the chicken nuggets?" was the initial question when the Chicken Karaage arrived. Well, unlike its AYCE version, chicken karaage is not necessarily fried chicken wings. More often than not, it'll be pieces of leg meat. These were pretty good (green salad on the side) with juicy meat and a crispy exterior. We got more raw stuff in the form of the Chef's Choice Assorted Nigiri. Luckily there was one item that Picachu could eat - the unagi. Also on the plate was tako, tobiko, scallop & tobiko, tuna, salmon, toro, ika, wild salmon and ebi (with 2 pieces of tamago). Once again, everything was quite fresh and neatly presented. The sushi rice was actually quite good exhibiting a nice chewiness without being undercooked.

Exclusively for Picachu (well, not really, we ate some too), we got the Teriyaki Beef Donburi. When it arrived, I was a little concerned. Look at it, there seems to be quite a lot of sauce. Mind you, there is a generous amount of beef as well. After a couple of scoops, it was indeed too saucy and thus overly sweet & salty. That's really too bad since the beef was quite good while the rice was properly prepared (being slightly chewy). The sauce also counteracted the rice by softening it up. And what is a visit to a Japanese restaurant without a few rolls? Well, we all agreed to not order anything remotely close to a California Roll. No offense to the CaliRoll, in fact, I don't mind it; but we just want something a bit different. So we got a Red Dragon Roll and a Spider Roll. The red dragon is essentially a BC Roll topped with smoked salmon, tobiko, unagi sauce and sesame seeds. Nothing Earth-shattering here; but a solid roll nonetheless. What I particularly liked was that the smoked salmon didn't overwhelm all the other flavours. As for the spider roll, it is not a bunch of creepy crawlers from the corner of your basement. Rather, it is a roll consisting of fried soft shell crab, avocado and cucumber topped with mayo, special sauce and tobiko. Once again, a solid roll with plenty of filling and minimal amount of rice. I would've preferred the crab to be a bit crispier; but that is a minor issue.

To fulfill our deep fried quota, we got both the Vegetable Tempura and the Prawn Tempura. It would've probably been more cost efficient to get the assorted tempura; but there would've been only 2 pieces of prawn to split among 5 people. Thus, we had to order both to get a bit of everything. Normally, I'm not a big promoter of AYCE Japanese; but if you prefer items like prawn tempura (since 6 pieces already costs us $7.25), it is a good value (assuming it's good). And about that tempura, it was pretty decent. It was crispy, not very oily with properly cooked veggies and prawn. Possibly, the batter could've been a bit lighter; but again, not a major issue. The non-sharers also enjoyed their meals and as a consensus, King Sushi is a decent choice in New West. Once again, if it was located in Vancouver, it would be hard-pressed to compete. As we were dining, we noticed that the staff were not Japanese, which leads me to believe it's not Japanese-run. No real biggie since it didn't make a big difference in food execution (well, except for the Gomaae and Beef Don).

The Good:
- Good for large groups
- Items generally fresh
- Service is efficient, if not a bit stoic

The Bad:
- Decent food; but some misses
- Good for New West, average for the GVRD