Minami (Taste of Yaletown Lunch)

November 14, 20142 Comments

Of course I’m late again with my posts, but Taste of Yaletown just happened last month from October 16 to October 30. Every year, they bring together restaurants in the Yaletown area and offer set menus so we can try out restaurants we haven’t tried. To be honest, I wasn’t too impressed with the restaurants and menus offered. However, Minami’s lunch menu caught my eye since it was only $25! I’ve been to Minami before and it never disappoints. It’s normally quite pricey, so for $25, it was a great steal.

Miso Soup

First up was the Miso Soup, which was a nice surprise since it wasn’t on the menu. Quite a large bowl too and it was filled with enoki mushroom, which is a good touch to your typical tofu-only miso soup.

Minami Zen

Minami’s set menu really reminded me of Miku’s dine out menu. I’m not sure why on their menu that they say their aburi sushi is the first course, but we were presented with the second course first instead. It actually makes more sense since these are like their appetizers. The Minami Zen is presented in a beautiful wooden box with four dishes.

Aburi Bincho

Starting on the right was the Aburi Bincho, which is essentially tuna tataki. It came with a wasabi masatake sauce, which is a mixture of onions, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil. Loved the sauce and the tuna was very fresh with a slight char.

Miso Marinated Tofu Salad

Next up was the Miso Marinated Tofu Salad. Honestly, I’m not a salad girl, but both Miku and Minami’s salads never fail to impress me. Something about the sauce they use is always so appetizing! This salad had a mixture of baby greens, avocado, crispy tempeh, pickled daikon and carrot, and umami soy vinaigrette. The top had crumbled tofu, which was very interesting. If salads always tasted like this, I would be eating a lot healthier!

Saikyo Miso Baked Sablefish

Third was the Saikyo Miso Baked Sablefish. It was presented beautifully on top of a bed of coconut creamed kale and topped with a wasabi shoga relish and marinated in a yuzu-miso sauce. The fish was moist and flavourful, but the only issue I had was that it was a bit cold. I’m not sure if it was because it took me some time to work my way to the third dish or it wasn’t served right away. It would’ve tasted much better if it was still hot.

Braised Fraser Valley Pork Cheek

The last appetizer was the Braised Fraser Valley Pork Cheek. It came on top of roasted kabocha-onion puree and a sweet and sour ginger soy glaze. On top were some apple-red cabbage kraut. The pork cheek was tender and meaty, but it felt like it wasn’t braised long enough. I was expecting the meat to fall off easily, but it took some effort. Perhaps because the pork cheek is usually more chewy in texture? I really enjoyed the puree though as the onion brought some savoury flavour to the sweet squash.

Aburi Sushi – nigiri, sunset roll, salmon oshi, ebi oshi

Then came the Aburi Sushi plate. Their sushi are always presented so nicely. It came with two of their nigiri sushi, which were both alright. They are a good twist to your traditional nigiri because of the sauces they use, but I still prefer my traditional nigiri. In the middle was their famous Sunset Roll, which is filled with spicy tuna, cucumber, smoked salmon, golden tobiko, kaiware, and mustard sauce. A good texture with tons of flavours and a slight heat. Next was easily their most famous sushi. The Aburi Salmon Oshi is a box sushi topped with a sweet-soy brushed salmon and topped with their famous sauce. The salmon is charcoal flame seared and topped with a jalapeno slice to bring some heat. A must try either at Minami or Miku! Next was the Aburi Ebi Oshi, which is also one of my favourites. Again, it’s box sushi, but with lightly seared ebi. The sauce is a flavoured with ume (plum) and their special sauce along with some lime juice. Yummy!

Spiced Pumpkin Brownie Ice Cream

Last but not least, the menu finished off with dessert. Miku and Minami always have spectacular desserts. This was a dessert I haven’t tried and was perfect for the season. It was Spiced Pumpkin Brownie Ice Cream. A scoop of cinamon-nutmeg spiced pumpkin ice cream paired with a some walnut brownie pieces and a piece of cookie on the side. Refreshing and light!

Overall, we were quite satisfied with Minami’s Taste of Yaletown lunch menu. I believe dinner was $45, so lunch is really affordable since the menu isn’t too much different. Definitely worth going if you haven’t been. I still prefer Miku over Minami, but the ambiance is much more relaxed at Minami.

Fable Kitchen

November 12, 20141 Comment

Canned Tuna “the best canned tuna”

Fable Kitchen is another one of those farm-to-table restaurants which offer fresh ingredients sourced locally. We started off their famous Canned Tuna, which is fresh albacore tuna cooked sous vide-style in a small jar with potatoes, grape tomato and olive oil. We were told to throw in the salt and mix and chop it up thoroughly. It came with enough bread to scoop the tuna on. The tuna was definitely creamy, but I wouldn’t personally consider it “the best canned tuna”.

After mixing it up, it looks like this. Doesn’t exactly look that appetizing. The mush are the potatoes.

Featured Grilled Pork Chop

M had the featured entree, which was Grilled Pork Chop. It definitely looked very pleasing, but the meat was average. I find that pork is usually overcooked or a bit too tough. The sides, however, were extremely delicious. The baked potatoes were addicting! The way that they were seasoned and the crispiness of the outer skin was spot on. It also came with carrot puree, some beets, and fried pork rind.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

As for myself, I had the Parmesan Crusted Chicken. I loved the chicken, as the top was super cheesy and crispy! The chicken was also cooked to moist. The zucchini noodles were also really interesting. A good change from your typical pasta noodles. However, I did find that the cashew tomato sauce was a little bit too sour for my liking. Lots of flavour though.

Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta

Lastly, we finished off with the Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta, which was just alright. It had cocoa crumbles on the top and raspberries on the top. I found it too rich after a full meal. Or I’ve just not been so into chocolate desserts lately…

Overall, I really appreciated Fable Kitchen’s farm-to-table concept, but I wouldn’t say the dishes I had were extremely memorable. They were good, but I also only found them average. Perhaps I will need to try some of their other dishes to make a call on how I like the restaurant. Very busy restaurant with great service though. I think I will be back to try some of the other items to see if they are better. I hear their brunch menu is really good!

Smokehouse Sandwich Co.

November 9, 2014November 8, 2014Leave a comment

It’s almost a ritual for N and I to take each other out for our birthdays and this year N suggested we try Smokehouse Sandwich Co. I’ve briefly heard about this spot, but I honestly had no idea where it was. Driving down Westminster Highway, I still could not picture where it was. Between No. 1 and No. 2, there is tiny little plaza and there hides these sandwich company. Such a hidden gem. We arrived early for lunch, but soon after, the place was absolutely packed!

They have a fairly simple menu board with sandwiches, sides, and drinks. I love how each sandwich has a name to it. You order at the front and they call you when it’s ready. You can then choose a seat to enjoy your meal.

The interior is rustic and cozy. Tall chairs against wooden tables, with sofas, books, brick walls and rugs. It almost feels like you’re at someones home.

Iced Honey Ginger Lemon Tea, Iced Strawberry and Mint Tea

We decided to try their only two drinks. Both drinks come as hot versions as well. They are definitely following the current Mason jar trends here. Most of the ingredients have sunk to the bottom, so we were told to shake it well before drinking.

Iced Honey Ginger Lemon Tea, Iced Strawberry and Mint Tea

N got the Iced Honey Ginger Lemon Tea, which was surprisingly full of ginger flavour. Almost a little too spicy for me! I can imagine the hot version to be perfect if you have a cold. For myself, I had the Iced Strawberry and Mint Tea. Mine was more bland than N’s, but still had a good amount of strawberry flavour. Very refreshing!

Samson

N got the Samson, which came with coffee crusted strawberry glazed beef brisket, butter leaf lettuce, red bell peppers, and aioli. She said it was delicious! It definitely looked really good! Tons of beef brisket for sure.

Billie

For myself, I went for the Billie. First, the bun itself is toasted perfectly! It’s crispy on the outside, and soft in the inside. I also liked how none of the ingerdients made the sandwich soggy. Inside the Billie, it was filled with salt-cured pork belly, butter leaf lettuce, tomato salsa and aioli. Something about that tomato salsa and aioli made this sandwich absolutely delicious! The flavours just worked so well together. A little spicy, but not overwhelming. The pork belly also had a good ratio of fat and meat. A must try!

Crisps

We decided to share a side of Crisps, which are basically like potato chips. They are thin cut potatoes fried in olive oil, so I guess it’s more healthy? The potatoes are so thinly cut! It’s so airy and light. They are already lightly salted, but we were told to try it with their two hot sauces if we like a bit of spice. The red one is made with chilis, smoked garlic, onions, red peppers, and vinegars. I don’t remember what was in the green sauce, but it was definitely much more spicy! Super addicting!

Overall, we were extremely satisfied with the sandwiches we had. The service was also extremely friendly. I loved how the lady asked us what we thought afterwards. It’s always a good sign when restaurants value customer opinions. A hidden gem!

Zest

November 8, 2014Leave a comment

Tuna in Three Ways

I’ve been hearing about Zest for some time now, but I never knew where it was exactly. It’s actually pretty hidden, right on West 16th and Macdonald. You wouldn’t expect to find such a popular restaurant here. It’s contemporary Japanese cuisine, and the space is rather small, but filled up very quickly. I realized that most of the diners were Japanese too, which is always a good sign. We started off with Tuna in Three Ways. On the right was big eye tuna carpaccio with soy mustard onion dressing. This was probably my favourite. It was essentially tuna sashimi with a light dressing. In the middle was albacore tuna and avocada with nori soy sauce. The creaminess of the avocado worked well with the tuna. Lastly, on the far right was the big eye tuna tataki with mizore Ponzu. This was your typical tuna tataki with Ponzu sauce. Their tuna was definitely very fresh and I liked how they didn’t over-sear the tuna. Just a thin layer that was seared.

Assorted Mushroom Tempura

Next, we got one of their featured dishes that changes depending on seasonality. We got the Assorted Mushroom Tempura, which like it’s name said, came with an assortment of wild mushrooms. I honestly don’t remember the names of each mushroom, but they all had distinct flavours. It came with curry salt on the side, which actually complemented the dish really well. However, my only issue with the dish was that it started to feel really oily after eating the second mushroom. It was just a mouthful of tempura by the end of the dish. Since they present each dish at a time, you have to finish this dish before moving on. The dish would’ve been nice if I had some other dishes to eat from in between each mushroom.

Grilled BC Wild Spring Salmon Misozuke

The Grilled BC Wild Spring Salmon Misozuke was a nice twist to your typical grilled salmon. I especially loved the sweet miso sauce on top. What was even better is that the fish itself had miso flavour since the fish is cured in a house blend miso for 48 hours! It came with some sauteed kale on the side and an organic quinoa salad on top. Loved the miso flavour in the fish! The salmon was still moist as well!

Tenderloin Katsu

Another entree we ordered was the Tenderloin Katsu. I found this to be just average. The tenderloin was panko crusted and deep fried. However, the issue I have with katsu is that it tends to be a little dry. However, the Fuji apple salad and house blend sweet miso definitely helped bring lots of flavour to the dish.

Zest Roll

The last item we got was the Zest Roll. They have quite a few different rolls, but we decided on the one that had the restaurant’s name since it should usually be their signature roll. However, I wasn’t too fond of it. It was filled with albacore tuna, sockeye salmon, grilled salmon skin, organic green cucumber, and tobiko. I think it was the grilled salmon skin that I didn’t like. It was too salty and brought a fishy taste to the roll overall.

Sake and Raisins, Black Sesame, Matcha

We ended our meal with two desserts. First was the Ice Cream Trio. This is a must try! The Sake and Raisins was my absolute favourite. Who knew sake and raisins would go so well together. Plus, the ice cream had a good amount of sake flavour without it tasting like straight alcohol. The black sesame and match were quite typical and nothing too special. Their ice cream overall is quite smooth and tastes like they use natural ingredients to make.

Matcha Tiramisu

The second dessert was the Matcha Tiramisu. Visually appealing with a splash of colour from the strawberries and raspberries. Extremely smooth and just the right amount of cake. Loved the matcha flavour as well. Really good!

Overall, Zest had its hit and misses, but the meal was pretty good overall. I would definitely come back to try some of their other dishes. It’s a good take on modern Japanese cuisine yet it isn’t those typical fusion rolls. Service was also impeccable. Our server checked up on us and I liked how each dish came out one by one but without too much of a wait in between. They also change your plate after every dish. Very attentive!

Makoto Ramenya

November 6, 2014November 5, 2014Leave a comment

Tuna Tataki

Makoto Ramenya is a relatively new Japanese izakaya restaurant that opened up in Coquitlam. It’s run by Koreans and is open til late. Since it is super close to J’s place, we end up going here whenever we’re lazy to go anywhere far. I thought the restaurant would have ramen, but apparently it’s only offered for lunch. So instead, we had to go for their izakaya food, which is honestly quite limited. We started off with the Tuna Tataki, which had only 4 pieces, but priced at around $9. Pricey! I mean, it wasn’t bad or anything, but I wouldn’t pay that much for so little tuna tataki again.

Fresh Seafood and Vegetables in Tonkotsu Soup

Next, we got the Fresh Seafood and Vegetables in Tonkotsu Soup. It came in a little hot pot with a flame lit below. The soup comes without noodles, so we had to add $3 for ramen, which seems pretty expensive since the pot was over $10 to begin with. I found that the soup was filled with bean sprouts more than anything. The seafood was probably just frozen seafood. As for the soup, we got the “little spicy” version, which was just plain weird. Something was just missing in the soup. It was really bland. The ramen just tasted like store bought ramen too. Nothing special, which means I’m probably not going to try their ramen for lunch.

Beef Yaki Udon

Lastly, we had the Beef Yaki Udon. Unfortunately, we were halfway done eating, when I realized I hadn’t gotten a picture. So the dish is actually double the portion pictured here. This was alright, but again, nothing too special. I mean it’s quite hard to mess up a beef yaki udon…

Overall, I wouldn’t say the food is any great at Makoto Ramenya. Everything is just average. However, the second time I came back, I had some drinks and it was really fun. The atmosphere at night is really chill here, so a good place to hang out and have drinks with friends. They have Japanese beers and Korean soju here. The servers and owners end up sitting around with customers too, so service is either a hit or miss, depending if you can get their attention.

Pidgin

November 5, 2014Leave a comment

I swear I’ve walked on this street many times, yet I’ve always passed by without noticing Pidgin. The outside decor makes it look sort of like a cage, while the inside is hip and modern. There’s a bar table since they have a long list of drinks, but there’s also regular seating for those who are ready for a meal. Pidgin is known for their sharing plates. Since we wanted to try a bit of everything, we went with their Prix Fixe menu, which comes with 8 dishes to share for $55 a person.

Sakehitosuji “plum sake” Junbaishi and Kozaemon, Junmai Umeshu

We started off with two drinks which were outside the prix fixe menu. I’m a huge fan of plum wine, so we decided to try both of their Plum Sakes. If I remember correctly, the Kozaemon was pricier, but also much sweeter. Really good!

Daily Pickles and Oyster Shot

The first dish that came were the Daily Pickles. It came with beets, cabbage, and something similar to oshinko. They were all sour but my favourite was probably the beets. The rest were too sour for my liking. To be honest, the dish wasn’t too exciting and was a bit disappointing. On the right, was the second dish which was the Oyster Shot. A mini raw oyster topped with apple horseradish. Super cleansing and fresh!

Cured Sockeye Salmon

The third dish was the Cured Sockeye Salmon. It was plated beautifully with a radish and herb salad. I didn’t really like the salad, but the salmon was nice. Nothing too special again.

Raw Scallops

Next was probably my favourite dish. It was the Raw Scallops, which came with pomegranate, red curry oil, daikon, and julienned green apple. I loved the acidity of the green apple against the freshness of the seafood. Very flavourful!

Mushrooms and Snap Peas

The fifth dish was the Mushrooms and Snap Peas. We were told to mix everything together and dip the mushroom into the soft boiled egg. The dish was also flavoured with soy yuzu brown butter. Pretty good, but I wouldn’t say it was amazing.

Pan Roasted Halibut

Finally, something that seemed more like entree came. It was the Pan Roasted Halibut, which came with a side of pine nut raisin mix and some cauliflower puree. The halibut was moist and I loved the cauliflower puree that it was paired with. Not bad!

Half Duck

The last entree was the Half Duck, which was a huge dish! It came with a carrot cake puree with orange and spices. I found that the meat was way too salty though. This was a huge dish too, and it was almost too much to eat alone, especially since each course comes out one by one. I felt like it needed some sort of a side to go with it. We ended up packing more than half of it to take home.

Meringue

The last course was the Meringue. Again, it was plated really nicely, with yuzu curd, vanilla cream and coconut on the side. The meringue was quite sweet though, and was only good when balanced with the yuzu curd.

Overall, I found Pidgin to be just average. Was the food good? Yes, but nothing extraordinary or memorable. The plating is really nice and the portions will actually get you filled up, but it’s also quite pricey. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the service though.

Forage

November 3, 2014Leave a comment

Grilled Kale Salad – Agassiz hazelnuts, Jersey blue and honey dressing, dried fruit preserve

Forage is one of those sustainable restaurants who offer the farm to table experience. I heard good things about it, and good thing we had reservations, because it was packed on a Friday night. We started off with the Grilled Kale Salad. A large portion and dressed in a blue cheese and honey dressing, I was surprised that I actually really enjoyed it. I’m not a huge fan of blue cheese, but it wasn’t very pungent in the dish. You could taste it slightly, but it wasn’t overpowering. Plus, the dried fruit preserve evened it out.

Featured Grilled Salmon – with kale and mushrooms

Next, we got the featured entree of the night, which was Grilled Salmon. It came with the skin on and grilled to a perfection where the meat was still moist. On the side, there was another kale salad with mushrooms and potatoes. It also came with a dressing on the side, which I can’t quite remember what our server described it as. I didn’t find that the dressing was anything too special though. It wasn’t something that was necessary.

Spicy Sawmill Bay Clams – kimchi, frites, charred fennel and bone marrow aioli

Our last entree was one of my favourites. It was the Spicy Sawmill Bay Clams, which came soaked in a spicy kimchi broth with bone marrow aioli. The fries were crispy, but when soaked in the broth, they were addicting! A must order.

Chocolate Custard – raspberry cheese mousse, vanilla cream, pecan crumbs

We ended the night with some desserts to share. First, we got the Chocolate Custard, which I found just average. I thought it was too rich.

Lemon Verbena Neufchatel Cheese Puff – ice cream, cordial

The second was the Lemon Verbena Neufchatel Cheese Puff, which is a cream puff filled with lemon cream and Neufchatel cheese. This is one of the oldest cheese in France. Surprisingly, it wasn’t very strong in cheese flavour. It tasted more like lemon custard. Pretty interesting.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend trying Forage. It’s a little on the pricey side, but it’s well worth it, especially knowing that the restaurant is all about sustainability. Service was also extremely attentive and friendly. Can’t wait to come back to try the rest of their menu!

Shirakawa

November 1, 2014Leave a comment

After Greedy Pig, we decided to look around for more food. We came across Shirakawa, which is tucked away behind some other boutiques. It’s definitely easy to walk past and not even notice that there is a walkway where more shops are located. It’s an Itoh Dining company, and one of the first in Vancouver. Itoh Dining is a high end Japanese restaurant company in Japan. Shirakawa is actually famous for their high quality beef, especially their Kuroge Wagyu beef. However, we came for their happy hour menu, which was offered from 5:30-6:30pm.

Mint Sake Lemonade

I went for their featured drink, which was also discounted for happy hour. It was the Mint Sake Lemonade, which I found very refreshing. It definitely was strong in the minty flavour.

Kome Dry, Honjozo, Yoshi no Gawa, Niigata Sake

We also decided to share the Niigata Sake. It was described to have notes of mild tropical fruit, and distinctively dry lending to an ultra-clean finish. I could definitely feel that dry feeling, which I wasn’t too fond of. Very strong for sure.

Kakuni

All their happy hour dishes are $5, which is quite a good deal. We decided to just order every dish on their happy hour menu, since there weren’t that many. First up, we had the Kakuni, which was slow cooked pork belly, with a teppan finish. It had a sweet soy reduction and on the side of the plate, there was some spicy mustard. This was probably one of my favourite dishes. The pork belly had a good amount of fat and meat, and the teppan finish made it have sort of a smoky flavour. Along with the spicy mustard, it was very appetizing!

Buta Katsu

Next was the Buta Katsu, which I thought was just average. It’s essentially panko-breaded pork cutlet. It is then topped with harvati cheese and black miso. I found that the sauce wasn’t very effective and didn’t bring too much flavour to the dish.

Teba

Next were the Teba, which our server highly recommended. It’s fried ginger soy marinated chicken wings, and they were definitely very yummy! I liked their batter as it was just the right amount and it didn’t feel oily.

Gastown Gyoza

The Gastown Gyoza was also a highly recommended dish by our server. The gyozas were filled with pork and mixed vegetables. It came with a jalapeno miso sauce which was very good. Definitely had a kick in the sauce.

Spicy Tofu

The last item on their happy hour menu was the Spicy Tofu. It was deep fried tofu with vegetable garnish and a spicy dashi broth. Contrary to what the name says, and that spicy dashi broth, it really wasn’t spicy at all. We ended up dipping the tofu in the jalapeno miso sauce that came with the gyozas. The tofu were deep fried to a nice golden brown though.

Amakaki

Since we were still sort of hungry, we ordered some items off their regular dinner menu. First, we got the Amakaki, which are house marinated oysters on a bed of ume dressed onions. The oysters were plump and fresh. The marinade was also very flavourful and refreshing with the oysters.

Kani Cream Croquette

We also ordered the Kani Cream Croquettes, which are cream croquettes filled with crab. The dish normally comes with only three croquettes, but we paid extra to add an additional. They remind me of risotto balls but filled with crab. Not bad!

Kimpira Udon

Lastly, we got the Kimpira Udon, which was probably my least favourite of the night. It was cold udon noodles topped with spicy burdock, renkon, pork bits and drizzled with a house rayu sauce. I didn’t find any of the dish spicy, and the minced pork was a huge fail since they would just fall through. By the end of the dish, there was a bunch of minced pork left on the plate as none of us could grab the noodles with the pork. They need some sort of a thicker sauce to go with it if they want the diners to eat the pork together with the noodles.

Overall, our experience at Shirakawa based mostly on their happy hour menu was very good. I find that their regular menu is quite pricey, so going for happy hour is definitely a good deal. Plus, the service was very attentive and friendly.