Chef Tony

December 29, 2015December 28, 20151 Comment

Chef Tony has been the talk of the town for quite some time and even won Vancouver Magazine’s 2015 best dim sum award.

The restaurant is known for their high-end Chinese cuisine and you can tell just by the interior of the restaurant. Crystal chandeliers and VIP rooms with closed doors perfect for hosting parties.

Even the entrance has a gallery of expensive Chinese liquor as well as tea. We made reservations ahead of time on New Year’s Eve for dim sum and we waited less than 10 minutes and were seated. Pretty good since dim sum restaurants never get you seated on time based on your reservation.

Dry Shrimp and Chives Rice Noodle Roll

We started off with the Dry Shrimp and Chives Rice Noodle Roll which had loads of dry shrimp. The rice noodle roll was very smooth and thin.

Black Truffle Shrimp and Pork Dumplings

Next up were the famous Black Truffle Shrimp and Pork Dumplings. Once placed on our table, we could smell the strong black truffle. This definitely made the typical dim sum very luxurious. The black truffle gave the dumplings an earthy flavour which I quite enjoyed. The wrappers were also thin and filled with a large shrimp and abundance of pork.

Baked Barbecue Pork Bun

The Baked Barbecue Pork Buns were glistening on the top. They were soft and fluffy and filled with lots of meat.

Marinated Chicken Feet

The Marinated Chicken Feet was a bit of a disappointment as I found that they were rather bland. They had a bit of chili flavour but nothing else.

Sticky Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf

The Sticky Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf came with three servings.

These were different from the usual as they had wild rice mixed in. This made it rather dry. It was also filled with some minced meat and salty egg yolk.

Deep Fried Taro and Abalone Dumplings

The Deep Fried Taro and Abalone Dumpling was another dish that was elevated from a simple dim sum to a high-end dish. The deep fried taro were topped with mini abalones. Crispy and flaky on the outside with a slight chew from the abalone.

Deep Fried Sticky Rice

An interesting dish was the Deep Fried Sticky Rice. It was essentially sticky rice which used wild rice again and was coated in a thin batter and deep fried. I thought this was average as it was rather dry and the rice would stick to my teeth.

Braised Mushrooms with Egg Tofu

We also ordered a larger dish which was the Braised Mushrooms with Egg Tofu. The sauce was thick and gooey as it should be. The tofu was smooth in the inside and crispy on the outside.

Steamed Egg Sponge Cake

Lastly, we finished off with some desserts. First was the Steamed Egg Sponge Cake. I found this to be rather dense and wasn’t my favourite.

Baked Durian Paste Pastry

The last was the Baked Durian Paste Pastry. The outside was extremely flaky with the inside filled with some durian paste. The paste was actually not very strong but still pungent nonetheless. If you want strong durian pastries, I would suggest trying Shiang Garden’s.

Overall, I was quite pleased with Chef Tony. The food is carefully prepared although there were some hits and misses. It’s nice that the chef is getting creative with traditional dim sum and adding other complex flavours to the dish. This of course comes with a price but the service and ambiance is also much better than many other Chinese restaurants.

Pros:
– Pretty solid dishes
– Great service and ambiance

Cons:
– Pricier
– Parking is a pain here

Price Range: $20-30 / person

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4 Service: 3.5 Ambiance: 4 Parking: 2 Overall: 4

Ramen Koika

December 28, 2015December 28, 2015Leave a comment

Lately I’ve been on a bit of a ramen craze so I’ve been trying out different ramen shops around Vancouver. One shop on my list was Ramen Koika on Davie Street.

Ramen Koika is known for their ramen burgers which consists of two dried ramens in substitute of the burger bun. The interior is a decent size and when we arrived on a Wednesday evening around 5:30pm, it was almost empty.

Black Garlic Ramen

I heard that the ramen burger isn’t that great and would be messy to eat, so I decided to try one of their ramens instead. The Black Garlic Ramen consisted of bamboo shoots, roasted seaweed, a soft boiled egg, cha-shu, black fungus, green onion, garlic chips, and black garlic oil. You can choose between soft or hard noodles of which I chose the latter. You can also choose lean or fatty for cha-shu and of course I went for the fatty. The cha-shu is interesting since it is lightly grilled on the stove so it has a smoky flavour. However, I found that the noodles didn’t soak up the broth. Therefore, I found the noodles to be rather bland. Quite average.

Sizzling Yaki Soba

S got the Sizzling Yaki Soba which only comes with a soft noodle. It consisted of cabbage, spring onion, onions, bean sprouts, beef, red pepper, mushrooms, black fungus, and carrots. This was quite a big portion and S said it was quite good.

Overall, I found Ramen Koika to be just average and would much prefer the ramen shops along Robson or Denman. They aren’t exactly your traditional Japanese ramen shops, so if you’re looking for fusion ramen, then this is a good choice. Service was quite friendly and we even got 10% off on our bill. Not sure if it was because we were dining early evening.

Pros:
– Smoky cha-shu
– Large variety of ramen choices

Cons:
– Not your authentic Japanese ramen

Price Range: $10-15

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3 Service: 3 Ambiance: 3 Parking: 3 Overall: 3

Lin Chinese Cuisine and Tea House – ChineseBites Media Event

December 27, 2015Leave a comment

NOTE: As part of the ChineseBites media event, all food and beverages were free, but all opinions are based on my own experience.

Lin Chinese Cuisine and Tea House is just a few blocks down from my office on West Broadway and we usually order take out here during busy season. From my previous experience, it wasn’t exactly the greatest, so I was curious to see what there was to offer during the ChineseBites media event.

The restaurant was bustling when we arrived around 6:30pm and had a good amount of traffic the whole time. Ambiance is quite average.

Marinated Gluten Curds 美味烤麩

We started off with some cold appetizers. First up were the Marinated Gluten Curds. These were served cold and consisted of bean curds and black fungus. The flavours were quite good and not overly salty.

Smoked Fish 美味熏魚

Another appetizer was the Smoked Fish. This again was very flavourful and I liked how it was still relatively moist inside.

Shanghai Vegetables with Pressed Tofu 馬蘭頭

The last cold appetizer was the Shanghai Vegetables with Pressed Tofu. The server told us that this is a very popular Shanghainese dish. I thought this would go quite well with rice.

Xiao Long Bao 小籠湯包

Next up were the table’s favourite Xiao Long Bao. You can watch the chef make these fresh behind the glass. These were rather small and left us wanting more. Soup was delicious and the wrapper was thin.

Chef’s Special Supreme Hotpot Soup 全家福

The Chef’s Special Supreme Hot Pot Soup is apparently a great dish to eat with your whole family since each ingredient has a meaning of the family being united and together. The pot was filled with huge meatballs which were extremely juicy, as well as potstickers, noodles, and various other dumpling like items. Great to have during the cold winter season.

Green Onion Halibut 蔥烤銀鱈魚

The Green Onion Halibut had a delicious sauce. The only complaint I had were the amount of bones in it since I’m not fond of picking the bones out in my fish. Otherwise, a very tasty dish.

Braised Pork Ribs 無錫排骨

Another favourite was the Braised Pork Ribs which is in a sugary syrup sauce. If you love sweet dishes, this is great for you. It didn’t taste very healthy but the meat was so tender it just fell off the bones. Yum!

Honey Prawns 蜜汁大蝦

My favourite of the night were the Honey Prawns. Again, this is a rather sweet dish, but I loved it. The prawns were huge ad lightly battered and then deep fried. They were then covered generously in a honey sauce.

Tea Smoked Duck 樟茶鴨

The Tea Smoked Duck was served with little Chinese buns on the side. However, since the duck still had bones in it, it was rather hard to eat along with the buns. As well, I found the duck to be on the salty side. Still, the skin was crispy.

Shanghai Vegetable Rice Cake 齊菜年糕

A filling dish was the Shanghai Vegetable Rice Cake. I believe the veggies were the same that was used in the cold appetizer. The rice cakes had a nice chew but were still very soft. Quite good.

Shanghai Spicy Tofu Hot Pot with Seafood 上海辣子豆腐煲

Another favourite of mine was the Shanghai Spicy Tofu Hot Pot with Seafood. This actually reminded me of a Sze Chuan dish instead. The prawns were large and the soup was flavourful with some heat. I could eat this with rice all day.

Eight Treasure Sweet Sticky Rice 八寶飯

To wrap up our dinner, we were served the Eight Treasure Sweet Sticky Rice, which seems to be the given dessert at any Shanghainese retaurant. It was filled with red bean paste and various candied items (apparently 8 items). It was alright, but I found it rather sweet and I guess I’m just not a fan of this dish in general.

Overall, I was quite impressed with the items I tried at Lin Chinese Cuisine this time around. I didn’t know the chef is Shanghainese, so apparently their top items are actually the Shanghainese dishes. I feel like I’ve been getting the more Cantonese style dishes here which do not seem to live up to the prior. Will definitely be giving these items another try again during my busy season coming up!

Ramen Danbo

December 25, 2015December 25, 2015Leave a comment

During the pre-CFE results celebration night, a few of us got hungry and decided to head over to Ramen Danbo for a quick snack. Ramen Danbo first opened on West 4th, but has since opened a new location on Robson.

When we arrived at around 8pm, so the place was quite empty. There is bar seating as well as table seating depending on how large your group is.

What I like about Ramen Danbo is the fact that you can customize your noodles and soup.

Classic Tonkotsu Ramen ‘Shio’

E, JS, and JF all got the Classic Tonkotsu Ramen ‘Shio’. E added soft-boiled egg and seaweed as add ons. The shio option is really a salt version of the classic. She said this was quite delicious.

Classic Tonkotsu Ramen

For myself, I got the Classic Tonkotsu Ramen and added the soft-boiled egg as my add-on. This is their signature Tonkotsu pork broth and is recommended for first-timers. I thought the broth was quite good and with the choice of standard for spicy, I thought it actually had quite a bit of heat. For noodles, I chose firm classic thin noodles, so I quite enjoyed the nice chew you got. The cha-shu was a bit disappointing though as the fatty part didn’t melt in your mouth and parts of the meat was a bit chewy. The portion of the noodles are also quite small! I feel like the price is around the same as other ramen shops, so I find it quite expensive for the amount of noodles you get. You can however, add $1 for half a size or $2 for the full size of extra noodles. Just be sure to leave enough soup!

Pros:
– Able to customize your noodles and soups
– Service is quite friendly

Cons:
– Portions are on the smaller side
– Cha-shu didn’t melt in your mouth

Price Range: $10-15

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3.5 Service: 3.5 Ambiance: 3 Parking: 3 Overall: 3.5

Gokudo Shabu Shabu

December 5, 2015December 4, 2015Leave a comment

K goes to Gokudo Shabu Shabu quite often and she has been telling me to check it out for the longest time. Finally, on a Friday night, we headed over at around 7pm with reservations along with S and E.

The interior has a bar like setting where people sit in a oval for their hot pot. However, since we had 4 people, we were seated at a separate table near the door. The only downside was that door kept opening and the chilly weather got to us.

At Gokudo, everyone gets their own pot, but it’s not like Boiling Point where all your food is already cooked. You still get to go through the process of cooking your own food, but you have your own stove and pot. Each person also gets their own sauce which is plenty for the meal.

Sirloin Combo

Most of us got the combo since it’s a pretty good deal. K ordered the items individually though as she didn’t want too much meat. The rest of us got the Sirloin Combo, which comes to around $16. It comes with a huge plate of sirloin beef which was very tender. I really enjoyed the meat!

All combos come with a plate of mixed seafood and vegetables. By seafood, it really is just a prawn. You do get a variety of fish balls and tofu along with some veggies like corn, shitake mushrooms and napa cabbage.

You also get a choice of noodles and tea. I got udon and milk tea. It’s plenty of food and at a pretty reasonable price for hot pot. I couldn’t end up finishing all the udon. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed my meal. The only downside is that the service is quite slow and the servers seem to have their heads down all the time or are chatting amongst themselves.

Pros:
– Large portions for the combos
– Quality of food is pretty good

Cons:
– Service is inattentive and slow
– Seating is not that comfortable

Price Range: $15-20

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3.5 Service: 1.5 Ambiance: 2 Parking: 3 Overall: 3

Taka’s Sushi

December 4, 2015December 4, 2015Leave a comment

With all the rave on Instagram about one of the best sushi restaurants in White Rock, I made it an excuse to go by on our way to Castle Fun Park. Plus, we hadn’t checked out the pier by White Rock in ages… Anyways, Taka’s Sushi is probably one of the smallest sushi shops I’ve been to. It fits probably around 10-12 diners only, and I’ve heard of the ridiculous waits for this shop. However, we arrived on a chilly Saturday at around 12:00pm and we were able to get a seat right away.

When we first entered, the host (not sure if he’s the owner) greeted us in Mandarin and S and I were automatically sort of confused. I had read that the place is Chinese owned but that the chef was trained in Japan and the wife is Japanese, but I still didn’t expect them to greet me in Mandarin. We soon realized that basically all the diners are Chinese-speaking… I swear these people drive all the way from Richmond and Vancouver to come eat here… Anyways, the interior although small is detailed with expensive decor. The chairs are suede and the chinaware they provide you with are top notch. Even the napkin was thicker than usual and had gold detailing and customized for Taka.

Aburi Nigiri: Sea Scallop, Atlantic Salmon Toro, Albacore Toro, Flounder Fringe, Blue Fin O-Toro

After looking at the menu for a few minutes, the host approached us and asked if we wanted any recommendations. I’m always down to hear what they have to say, so I agreed. However, I noticed that he kept selling to me all the expensive items… He kept convincing me to get sashimi and the most expensive nigiris and rolls on the menu. To be honest, I felt slightly uncomfortable since I knew the prices were rather high, but I wasn’t ready to dish out a $100 lunch.

I ended up choosing the aburi nigiris that were more affordable with one exception: the Blue Fin O-Toro which was a whooping $6.75! The presentation was beautiful, but to be brutally honest, I didn’t think they blew my mind. The sea scallops and the flounder fringe were my favourite though. The flounder fringe completely melted in my mouth! However, the salmon toro, albacore toro and the $7 blue fin o-toro were way overseared. I felt like it was a waste of the fish and perhaps I should have ordered the non-aburi nigiris. And to be honest, I felt that all the sauces on top overpowered the fish and you couldn’t even really taste whether it was fresh or not.

Mango Roll, Crunchy BC

Since S is not a big fan of raw fish, he chose two rolls, one being the Mango Roll, which was filled with mango, lettuce, salmon avocado, and masago and rolled in a soybean sheet and topped with crunchy pistachio bits. This was actually quite good with the mangoes being extremely ripe so you really tasted the sweetness of the mango. However, it was also very expensive at $8 for 5 pieces.

The Crunchy Roll had roasted salmon skin, spring onion, lettuce, yamagobo, masago, and sesame seeds, and topped with unagi sauce. I thought this was just average and tasted similar to a BC Roll, but costed $7.

Handsome Roll

Lastly, we got the Handsome Roll, which the host kept recommending, but it was also the most expensive, being $13. It was filled with spicy prawn and cucumber inside, crawfish tail, salmon, bbq eel on top with crunchy flakes, spicy sauce, unagi sauce, green onions and sesame seeds. As S does not enjoy spicy foods, we asked to have the spicy sauce removed. I enjoyed the crunchy flakes which gave the roll an interesting texture, but again, it didn’t blow my mind for the price I paid.

Overall, Taka’s is great if you enjoy your sushi with expensive ingredients like wagyu beef, lobster tail, and foie gras, but for someone like me who enjoys the taste of fresh seafood, it really wasn’t for me. Plus, the prices per piece can reach $7 which I find a little ridiculous even though the ingredient is expensive. And although I found service to be attentive, I found it to be pushy at times with the host trying to get me to order all the expensive items. At least that was how I felt. Otherwise, I guess this place could be a nice place to go if you’re in White Rock and you enjoy aburi sushi.

Pros:
– Dishes are nicely presented
– Fish is fresh

Cons:
– Very expensive sushi
– Service felt a bit pushy

Price Range: $30-50

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3 Service: 2.5 Ambiance: 3 Parking: 3 Overall: 3

Joe Fortes (30th Anniversary)

December 3, 2015November 29, 2015Leave a comment

A few weeks ago, Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop House celebrated their 30th anniversary with select items during lunch at their 1985 prices. S and I decided to head over on Friday at around 11:30am to join the crowds. Of course, there were tons of people waiting and we left our name and number with the hostess who said they would text us when a table was ready. She told us it would be probably a two and a half hour wait, but we stuck with it anyways.

More than two hours later, we still didn’t hear back so I suggested we go back and check. Turns out there were no patrons waiting anymore and that apparently she had texted us about the seat. I was pretty choked since we were starving and the hostess had clearly entered the wrong phone number into the system. To make things worse, the $12 steak that we were excited about was sold out by now… We had waited so long already, so we settled with it and were led to their upper floor where the patio was. The patio was very nice and was heated so we didn’t need to bare the cold. They also had a beautiful bar on the patio.

After placing our orders, we were served complimentary bread with lobster oil and balsamic vinegar. This is always a plus at Joe Fortes since the lobster oil is delicious!

Shrimp Cocktail

Of course we got some items from their anniversary week menu, so we chose the Shrimp Cocktail which was discounted to $5.95. I had imagined them to be big plump shrimps, but they turned out to be baby shrimps already premixed in the cocktail sauce and topped with fresh horseradish. Slightly disappointed, but the shrimp was still very fresh and you got a good amount.

West Coast Fish Cakes

I didn’t know that Joe has Blue Plate Specials every weekday during lunch, where a dish is on special each day of the week. On Friday, it was the West Coast Fish Cakes for $9.95 so we got that to share as well. These were delicious! Lightly battered with well seasoned fish.

Blackened Rock Fish

And since we couldn’t get the extremely good $12 deal of New York Steak, we opted for the Blackened Rock Fish which was also offered only for $11.95. The rock fish was actually very moist and the blackened crust had a peppery taste to it. It came along with roasted potatoes and market vegetables. A good deal for sure.

Overall, the food at Joe Fortes didn’t disappoint. However, we were slightly disappointed with the service that day given that I’ve had really good service in my previous visits. Our waitress completely forgot our order and had to come back to ask and she also didn’t appear very friendly until near the end of our meal. Perhaps she was flustered with the busy lunch hours with the anniversary week…

Pros:
– Dishes are well executed
– Nice ambiance

Cons:
– Service we got that day was quite poor

Price Range: $20-25

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4 Service: 1.5 Ambiance: 4 Parking: 2 Overall: 3.5

Maurya Indian Cuisine

December 2, 2015November 29, 2015Leave a comment

For our first and second year lunch, E suggested we go to Maurya Indian Cuisine for their lunch buffet. I came here last year when I first started work, but it was never a spot that I would crave for during lunch time since I find Indian food to be rather heavy.

When you enter, you will be surprised how beautiful the interior of the restaurant is. High ceilings and beautiful decor. I can imagine this to be a great place to host parties.

I believe the buffet lunch has increased their prices because it is now $15.49 before tax. In the first section, there are some salads, fruits and Indian appies.

Next up are some spring rolls and vegetable pakoras.

Moving on, you have your tandoori chicken, fish pakoras, two choices of rice and then your curries.

This was my first plate and I have to say I would stick with the butter chicken. The tandoori chicken is rather dry and I’m just not a huge fan of their other curries. You also get baskets of naan which are very good. They also have some desserts such as their rice pudding and gulab jamun but I find Indian desserts to be way too sweet for my liking.

Overall, Maurya Indian Cuisine is average. Nothing amazes me but it’s a convenient option for me since it’s near work. However, I feel that I don’t eat enough to make my money’s worth during their lunch buffet, so I would probably stick to ordering a la carte next time. We also had an issue near the end when they ran out of most of their food and we had to wait a long time to have them refill it. Guess they weren’t expecting so many diners during a Thursday lunch.

Pros:
– Good variety of options during lunch buffet
– Ambiance is very nice

Cons:
– A tad pricey for lunch buffet
– Ran out of food during lunch service

Price Range: $15-20

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3 Service: 3 Ambiance: 4 Parking: 3 Overall: 3

Every Day is a Food Day

Category: Location

Chef Tony

Ramen Koika

Lin Chinese Cuisine and Tea House – ChineseBites Media Event

Ramen Danbo

Gokudo Shabu Shabu

Taka’s Sushi

Joe Fortes (30th Anniversary)

Maurya Indian Cuisine