Hida Takayama Ramen
203 – 1610 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

Wow… How long it has been? Almost a month already since my last post of Vancouver! Anyway, after I came back, it was time to check with people from right here and food that makes Vancouver sort of well know. One of those is Japanese and, among the different options, is ramen. Given I work near Robson and Denman, I have easy access to the popular ones: From Santouka to Benkei to Sanpachi. And then there are Kintaro and Motomachi Shokudo. However, in a case of “me, too!”, some smaller places have opened and today’s post is one of them: Hida Takayama Ramen, located in, out of all strange places, in the food court at Robson Market.

Before I continue, a small rant about “authenticity”. In fact, check this post from Foodosopher of Foodosophy. Don’t worry, I will still be here… While we have “bashed” places that sell ramen that are not Japanese owned/operated (Kawawa Ramen would be the poster child for this), truth is, as long as they deliver a product that tastes good in the confines of the definition of the dish, does it matter? In fact, when I was at Sanpachi, I could hear the “manager” was a woman yelling at their suppliers over the phone because they haven’t delivered something yet. However, I thought it was still good because the people behind the scenes were cooking the food accordingly. And, if you are bothered by this, just don’t go to the US, where, and by no means I am trying to be racist here, a lot of the kitchen staff happens to be Latino! Heck, when I was in Portland, at Nong’s Khao Man Gai, the people cooking the goodies in the back where… Latino! (And, did I mention this is a food cart???). So, instead, the mid line for me ends up being the following: If you are of that cuisine’s ethnicity, my expectations would be higher. So, having said that, for Hida Takayama, the fact they are Japanese own and operated means my expectations would be, as a result, high.

Now, there is one caveat about this post: the day I went, I was literally wasted. No, I wasn’t drinking the previous day or anything like that (I am a cheap drunk anyway who will be tipsy after my first half glass of wine); instead, I had a really nasty cold. Even then, Sherman who happened to be in Downtown on that day was all good to go along, even when I told him I would rather not “expose” him. Well, what can I say… He is a trooper… (On that note, his post is here)

Anyway, if you aren’t familiar with the area, chances are you will easily miss it. There aren’t much in terms of signage and about the only way for you to find it is to literally go in and upstairs to their food court area. Yup, it is in the second storey of Robson Market. We arrived a bit earlier for lunch time and that worked fine given that the food court area was empty and we could take whatever table we wanted. But that wasn’t going to be an issue, as there is natural light filling in that market. But, I am jumping ahead…

When we visited it, they had just opened. And, in what seems to be a trend from ramen shops, not all the menu was available on that day. Hmmmmm…. Didn’t that happen with Santouka and Sanpachi as well? You be the judge. From the remaining options, we ended up ordering two bowls with some sides to share, with the first bowl being…

Their “natural salt” flavoured ramen. Given it does not specifically name it in Japanese (or include any kana), if I had to draw a parallel, that would be the shio. At first sight, it had its good share of slices of pork but lacking in toppings (aside from bamboo shoots, there was no other options listed. Nope, no egg, corn, leek, butter, etc.). Another notable is the fact the broth looked “clean”: while there were some fat aroudn, it wasn’t LOADED with bits of fat, like, say, Kintaro. Alas, that was about the end of the “good” part as the rest went downhill. The noodles were decent and not overcooked. However, somehow it felt… Salty? Now, because I was a bit sick, I had to confirm this with Sherman and he agreed that was the case. The pork was lean, which could be a plus depending on how you like them. However, it was a bit too lean for my liking. And, finally, the broth was sort of a double whammy. Having “natural salt” in their name would imply there will be salt; however, it was too salty… The other killer? I didn’t think the broth was hot enough. For this last one, I will give them some leeway because some people would say it shouldn’t be pipping hot either as it will further cook the noodles. But, I like my soups/broths hot! Moving on…

Bowl #2 was their miso flavoured ramen. In a way, it was pretty much the same as the natural salt except the broth had miso. In a way, this one ended up being a bit better but for other reasons. Granted, it wasn’t as salty but that was replaced by the miso flavour. Oddly, I thought there was something… Sweet? Of course, it is possible my tastebuds were playing with me. Regardless, it wasn’t too different compared to the other bowl while not providing too much on the positive side either, which, in a way, is a shame…

Along with the bowls, we ordered some of the sides available, starting off with the gyoza. From the visual perspective, I will give them credit: these were nicely prepared but, again, that’s visuals only. The inside was too crumbly. Now, this can go both ways: it could mean not much binding agent was used or it was sloppy. And despite the sauces which barely salvaged it, there is the issue whether $4 is worth it. And the answer for me would be no.

Finally, the odd dish: a pork bun. In a moment of “why not?”, we ordered it. Given it was a single piece, Sherman had the honour of “breaking” it apart. Result? A mess. First of all, it broke down when he attempted to remove the lining paper at the bottom. Not a pretty sight… In fact, the only time I recall that happening is when I reheat some pork buns in the microwave! (Even then, it seldom happens). So, we were drawing some wacky conclusions as to why that happened. Regardless if our conclusions were on the mark, in the end, the food was not.

So, verdict? I am not sure if there is a real need for me to say it: this case of “me, too!” didn’t work. Would I have taken into consideration it is in a food court? I could but, if I did, I should think also about the fact they are a Japanese owned shop… And they should know better.

Kim Anh
7405 Edmonds Street
Burnaby, BC

Blogging is a labour of love. We do it because we want to, even when people try to bash us for no reason other than probably because we disagree. At other times, it is draining – after all, there are only that many hours a day so there will be compromises. As a result of different reasons or circumstances, blogs come and go. While it will always remain popular, there is that eternal question of who will still be there five years or more down the road. So, to a certain extent, I was a bit perplexed when Karl of The Friday Lunch stopped blogging for a while. See, I believe that Karl to be a down-to-earth guy and, in a sea of Asian born/x-generation Asian descend bloggers, he (along with Jonathan of Food and Tell) stood out because, well, he is your average “white guy” (no offence!). But, fortunately, it seems he is back and has started writing about places here and there. One such place was Lost in the 50′s drive, previously blogged by shokutsu (of Foodosophy). It seems there was a renaissance of sorts and has (re?)opened, and while it had your basic burgers, it also had its share of “F” items (“F” as in fusion…). Alas, the day I went, they were not open yet so I had to turn around and look for *anything* to eat. And suddenly, right next to me was Kim Anh.

Now, this place has no relationship with me, name is purely coincidental. However, what confused me a lot was not the fact they advertise Vietnamese food; rather, it advertised Canadian/Vietnamese food. OK, this might be some sort of undiscovered combination? A new wave of “F”? No, instead it is something similar to Canadian/Chinese restaurants: a diner of sorts serving basic dishes like burgers, sandwiches and soups but, in this case, in a separate sheet, bowls of pho. Do you want pho with that??? Of course, that raised an odd question: Should I order pho and spring roll or should I order a burger and fries? How about a burger with spring roll or pho and fries? In the end, I decided to stick only on the Vietnamese side mainly because the table next to me made an order of that side of the menu…

Starting off, I also ordered spring rolls. At $5, this will be a serious contender for worst $$$/amount category. Of course, if it was good, I won’t argue much about it; however, it was just on the average side. And, as a result, it shouldn’t command those $5. What were the issues? Well, it was your regular vegetable type spring roll that does not have much that made them stand out compared to other spring rolls I have had in the past. Well, probably other than the fact it was well fried, i.e., not much of an oily texture and piping hot when served. But, that is more of a frying skill (which I assume would work great with the other fried dishes from the non-Vietnamese side of the menu), not of the overall cooking process.

This is the dish that the table next to me ordered so I followed suit: their version of bún bò hue. Now, notice a certain oddity: unlike a lot of other Vietnamese places, you will get your plateful of bean sprouts on the side. Here, they were *below* the noodles. In a way, I felt slightly cheated as I was expecting it to be on the side but, instead, it ended up filling parts of the bowl. As for the noodles and meat, it was similar to the ones I have had in other places so won’t comment on that – other than the fact there weren’t some pork blood or knuckle.

However, what completely skew me off this one was the broth: it was a bit sweet. No, I am not referring to sugar-y water; rather, imagine a broth which ended up being a bit sweeter than expected due to the addition of some ingredients (for example, too much corn or carrots in a chicken soup). Whether that was a good thing or not, I will leave it as a personal preference. In my case, I was hoping for a savoury, spicy soup – and it didn’t deliver.

Given that I had only the Vietnamese side of the menu, I can’t necessarily vouch for the rest of the menu; however, if I go for visuals only, another table fries and burger and, well, it looked like your average diner type burger. Is that good or bad? Again, it is a personal preference. But, in the end, what was written in Urbanspoon by the Foodosophy team about Kim Anh is the best way to phrase it: “East Meets West, and East Suffers…”

Xiang Yuan Qiao Bridge Rice Noodle
2128 – 4500 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

It is commonly agreed that Crystal Mall is one of the best places for Chinese cheap, quick eats, with some of them delivering dishes that are about par (probably giving them a bit too much credit here, though) with some sit down restaurants. Of course, given the price point at the food court, I am more willing to return there than the sit down ones! While I have written about a couple of places in Crystal Mall (like Delicious BBQ and Wang’s Shanghai), you have to admit that, for some gems to shine, you have to have something to compare against. In other words, in a sea where everything is “good”, there has to be one that sucks; otherwise, means that everything is average.

As for Crystal Mall, I have purposely avoided some of the stands probably because of some pre-conception or simply because I am not that enticed to try them. Which ones? If you see something on the lines of “2 or 3 items plus rice or noodles” or sushi, chances are I will see what’s in the next stand. (For the former, I would rather go to Kent’s Kitchen; for the later, too many in Metro Vancouver). One of the places I thought was below average in Crystal Mall was Beijing Restaurant, which I blogged previously here), and I wasn’t the only who thought was subpar. So, in a survival of the fittest type environment, it eventually closed down and now has been replaced by Xiang Yuan Qiao Bridge Rice Noodle. I was tempted to check the other stands first but after seeing such a long queue of people, I thought, what the hell, let’s give it a try…

I am not sure if you are curious or not but you have to wonder… Why such a complicated/long/strange name? Well, it just happens there is an explanation about the origin of the “crossing bridge rice noodle” name on one side of the stand. While I could copy all the text here, I will just refer to this page for an explanation. However, the key to the text is that the dish has all its components served separately and then combined at the table when served. At that point I wonder: “Really? I a food court environment?” Actually, I have seen something like that done in Korean stands (in Yaohan, for example) where they would serve the banchan separately; however, I would consider that to be an exception rather than the rule. So, with that in mind, I made my order and waited…

And waited… And waited… In the end, I swear I waited for ~10 minutes! OK, good food takes time (but, then again, being in a food court, long wait times might be an oxymoron). Anyway, if it wasn’t because I *thought* I heard my order number (they do not speak Cantonese or Hakka, which I understand), I might have been waiting forever for my order to come out. And what did I order?

For the most part, they have “pots” with one meat type per order, including a “WTF?!” option: SPAM. Now, I know people might bash this luncheon meat but I admit eating that while growing up, not to mention recently had it in the form of SPAM musubi. Believe me, it is not as bad as people put it… But I digress. Anyway, I ended up getting the assorted rice noodle version which includes four types of meat.

To answer question #1, no, everything was served combined. In fact, seeing through the small window, you could see they prepare everything in the pot and put it in the stove to boil it. In other words, this would be more on the lines of a hot pot than the claimed before mentioned crossing bridge rice noodle dish. As a result, I didn’t care anything related to authenticity and tried this soup “as is”.

So how was it? As a hot pot, I will have to say the broth wasn’t that bad, though using that plastic spoon shaped like a Chinese spoon was a bit of a pain to scoop it. At first, I didn’t “feel” the heat (I ordered spicy); however, as I went, it started to make me sweat bullets. It is one of those instances where it was both type of hot (temperature and somewhat spicy) created a compounded effect…

The noodles were a bit on the slippery, easily breaking side. Not necessarily my liking but still did its job. Out of the different meats, I was able to easily identify lamb, chicken and pork – Not sure what was the fourth one. In addition, there were some bamboo “shoots”, wood fungus and a hard-boiled quail egg plus the token piece of Shanghai bok choy. The meats weren’t that bad; however, I would hardly call them good. The one issue that I had was the game-y lamb taste was heavily “infused” into the broth and overpowered the rest of the meats. If it wasn’t because of the visual and, in part to the texture, I might have as well called it a lamb hot pot.

Despite the negatives, I will have to call a decent hot pot-type dish. Still, the harder part to swallow was the price point: This one in particular was $8.75 (single meats start at $6.75). Considering this is Crystal Mall, depending on which stand you go, you can find something more decent, if not better, at this same price point. This is the main reason, if given the option, I would rather go “somewhere” else, rather than here. Not bad, but there are “better” places right next to it…

Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodle
2800-4151 Hazelbridge Way
Richmond, BC

I think it is somewhat commonly accepted by food bloggers in Vancouver that the larger the hype, the higher the standards by which you will be judged against. Of course, when I mean food bloggers, I am referring to those who actually go there, sit, order, eat and pay as would any customers and then write what he/she thought about it. Among my peers, I have been considered to be the biggest ba$7@rd when it comes to “criticizing”, despite I have mentioned a lot of times I don’t do reviews but, what I write, are merely experiences of my own. The funny part about this was that a dear friend told me that, lately, I have not been as bashful and harsh as in the past and have mellowed out a little bit. How true this is, I will leave it up to you; however, it might also be because I haven’t be to any of such “hyped” restaurants in a long while. Until the day I had to venture to that driving hell hole called Richmond to pick up my car, which gave me the opportunity to go to Aberdeen (which, fortunately, was somewhat empty that night) and go to one of the most hyped Chinese restaurants in a while: Chef Hung.

When it opened sometime by the end of last year, there was something that you seldom hear for the type of restaurant Chef Hung belongs to, namely a noodle house: hype. It just happens it was the first franchise of a Taiwanese chain. I myself haven’t been in Taiwan so that is not an issue to me. However, what was an issue for me was that it is located in Richmond – and in Aberdeen Centre out of all parking hell-holes. Compounded to that was the fact people were actually willing to queue up for a bowl and, to make things “worst”, there was a time limit for customers to finish and get out of there. I could have been part of that crowd but given all these factors, I chose not to go. But, given this opportunity, I thought I might as well…

As mentioned above, I was in the area in the middle of the week and there were not that many people. Walking in revealed only a handful of customers which gave me the opportunity to choose a table to sit. Of course, given there is window area, I chose to seat there to obtain as much benefit from sunlight as possible. Once done, I was opened a sheet of paper with the different options plus a small pamphlet explaining the dishes with a greater detail. This method provides a good way to make sure you are ordering what you want and not have things lost in translation. Of course, on the flip side, that’s a lot of printing and wasted paper!

I was there obviously for a bowl of noodles; however, I wanted something else. I was coin flipping between chicken nuggets, cucumber, some form of offal but, in the end, not trying to go meat overboard and carb on carb, I chose their cold mixed dry seaweed. It had a nice initial gooey-ness to it, follow bit a light crunch. I only wished it had a bit more acidity or sweetness or some strong sesame oil taste into it. However, at the same time, I was afraid that would have overpowered the dish. On its own, it is OK, not much to talk about.

So here it is, their bowl of noodles. Now, before I continue, a small note: as you can find from other fellow bloggers who have visited it, their “signature” bowl is the champion beef shank with noodle in spicy soup. I intentionally chose not to order it because, well, it has been made reference enough. Instead, I chose something more “mundane”: their champion braised beef shank, tendon & tripe with noodle in soup. Here is my reasoning: I will have to draw some comparison with some other places, namely Lao Shang Dong (aka LSD, and its offspring, The One), No 1 Beef Noodle House (and its offspring Beefy Beef Noodle) and ordering something that can’t be compared directly would be considered “cheating” in a way. So, this was the one I thought would suit better for comparison purposes. And, to make it “interesting”, I went for their flat noodles.

The first time I went to LSD, one thing that I really like was the consistency of its noodles; specifically, it had a bite plus a starchy texture when you tried to slurp it. Alas, that has sort of gone downhill since and The One didn’t really address that. This noodle brought back a little bit of that experience. So, indeed, it was good. The meats were a bit of hit and miss. There were a total of six pieces, two of each. I thought the shank pieces were cut a bit too long. Had they sliced it in three, it might have worked better from an eating perspective. The tripe and tendon had that chewy, mushy, gelatinous-like consistency so, from the perspective, it is what I expected. However, that brings the point of… How else would you make it? The broth was neutral for the most part, i.e., it was good for what it was but not crazy about it. One thing I wished was the broth to be hotter (as in temperature). Not sure if this is a one occurrence or intended but I wished they change it.

Overall, to me, it does and does not live up expectations. On the noddle side, actually it was quite good; however, I do not believe it would have been worth queueing up for. As mentioned, I thought LSD in the past would have done something similar (though not in the flat form). The rest of the soup was again a bit of hit and miss so, again, given the hype, I would have expected something more. That finally brings one point that almost everybody brought up: price. Is it worth the price? Well, my bowl was $11 so, from a perspective, it is considered expensive. However, on my visit, they were not charging HST so, in a direct comparison, it would be more on the lines of just under $10 and that might serve as an incentive. And that brings the grand question: would I go back? Hmmmmm…. Not in a hurry mainly due to compounding effects (including location). If I was closer, I might. But that would be a big “might”.

Tony’s Beef Noodle
5710 Cambie Street
Vancouver, BC

Some people have considered me to be a bad influence. How so? Well, how about “convincing” them to start a blog??? That is in part what happened to RC. He had a domain parked for the longest and, after he found out I was food blogging, that was the spark needed for him to start using that domain – Yummy Review. And, while he has taken baby steps, that didn’t stop me from doing what a food blogger does best: check if he would be good to visit a restaurant! As usual, there was the question of where. To make thing “easy” for both of us, I chose a restaurant that would be somewhat equidistant for both. And that place ended up being Tony’s Beef Noodle.

Here is a bit of background: just like me, RC is Chinese; however, unlike me, he was raised in Vancouver so that brings some different perspectives as well.

Upon arriving, the first thing I thought was that it looks quite similar to Lao Shan Dong. OK, not exactly the same staff but rather it is a really informal restaurant. Unfortunately, since our party was odd sized (5 of us), I ended up seated in the end of the table of four. Oh, well… Now, with the phrase “beef noodle” as part of its name, the decision as to what to order should have come quite easily. Still, given there were several of us, the other question still remains: what the others will order? We decided to start with some small dishes which ended up being…

Kelp seaweed. I am not sure if there was some level of expectation but both RC and I were disappointed with these. We both thought they could have been crunchier (probably we were drawing comparison to the seaweed served in Japanese restaurants) and it was somewhat lacking in the taste department. For $3, I will just let it slip.

Fried food always taste good, right? In this case, we went for deep fried tofu. I will admit something – visually, these are among the worst fried tofu I have seen in a long time. Specifically, they looked just like regular cubes! But, then again, visuals are not what I care for in the food, rather how it tastes. In this case, it was darn bloody plain. Not even with the side dipping sauce (which was similar to a plum sauce) helped it a single bit. Acquired taste? Taiwanese style? No matter which one was the case but I think I would have been able to live without them.

Following the same line of thought when I went to The One, I suggested we ordered their “Crispy Salt Peppery Chicken”. Salty? Yes. Peppery? Maybe. Crispy? Almost there. Good tasting? The One makes better. Granted, it was $5 but, then again, portion was smaller. Now, it is not that it is bad – if I had to compare it to something like KFC, these are certainly better. However, comparing apples to apples, they are just plain average.

Almost at the same time the last appetizer arrived, our mains started to arrive. I don’t certainly mind having all this food shoved at the same time, just that, because I was tasting the appetizers by their own first and the food being subpar so far, I wasn’t sure what to expect for the bowls of noodle. Something better, hopefully?

RC and family ordered (top down) the hot and sour soup with noodle, beef + noodle in soup and Taiwanese Fried Rice Noodle. The hot and sour soup was… Strange. I didn’t think it was bad in anyway, just that it didn’t have the characteristics I would expect from such soup. There was no fiery spiciness (unless the “hot” part was referring to temperature), while I didn’t taste any sourness in it. Had it been called just a tofu/vegetable with noodle soup, it might have worked better from a naming perspective but I am not sure if many people would have ordered it…

As for the beef + noodle, there wasn’t anything particularly outstanding. The broth was leaning somewhat to the sweet side but, past that, it was just “meh”. Even the most average iteration from LSD was superior to this. I didn’t get to try the meat but, from the reactions, it wasn’t spectacular in any way. I don’t have a decent picture of the fried rice noodle but, if you have seen a chow mein dish with thin rice noodle, well, it was not that apart from one of those. Tastewise, they were OK but I thought it was a bit mundane…

As for myself, given that the usual suspect was already ordered, I went for the sliced beef + noodle in special soup. Unless “bland” soup means “special”, there wasn’t anything unique. In fact, the soup tasted just like really light clear broth. May be there was something lost in translation? As for the beef, granted, it was sliced but, again, I don’t see anything “special” about it. There were just plain slices of shank. Supposedly, it should be dipped with a plum-like sauce; however, having to rely on that was a bit of a let down.

Finally, the noodle… The reason I didn’t comment about it in the other bowls is because we all ended up ordering the same type of noodle, which is supposed to be made in store. If there was a saving grace, it would have been this one. The noodle had an interesting bite to it and a light starchy coating – in other words, they were well made. However, that alone didn’t really served to salvage the soup that was served along…

As I have mentioned several times, for the most part, it was the people I was sharing the meal that managed to “save” it. As for the restaurant itself, there wasn’t anything wrong in general, just that the food wasn’t outstanding in any way. Instead, it was mostly below average, specially given the hype I have heard previously about this place. So, as for me, next? The question then is… What would RC write in his blog, hehehehe.

Favor Eat
Beijing Restaurant
4500 Kingsway
Crystal Mall
Burnaby, BC

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my visit Huaxi Noodle in Crystal Mall. Being such a good eats place (or at least above average), I decided to visit yet another couple of stall in the same food court. Hey, not all food court are bad/below average! (Specially our concept of western food court).

While walking around the different stalls, I noted Favor Eat and, in a vein similar to that of Lao Shan Dong, their claim to fame includes it being a branch of a location in Taiwan, which is in operation since 1950. Since this is a case of us taking their word of it, I guess it would be a matter of seeing how good is that claim. And, to do so, I ordered what seems to be their signature dish: beef & tendon noodles in soup.

For an additional $0.25, I had to option to add extra noodles, which I did. So, yes, this is not your usual “regular” serving. As for the broth type, I had the option for regular and spicy; I went for the later. What I found really odd was the serving of carrots. It is not that I don’t eat carrots; just that I found it strange in this type of soup. The mustard, though, wasn’t as good as it could be; it didn’t had that acidic/bitter taste.

The noodles had a chewy texture but I wished it was starchier. It felt as if they washed the noodles after it was boiled. Not necessarily wrong but it could have been better had it been left. Going back to the broth, it wasn’t that spicy at first until I was halfway. At that point, it started to kick me, as I started to sweat heavily at that point. Of course, adding some chili oil pushed that effect even further. The meats were OK – that’s because I thought it could have been more tender. But, given it is $6.50 (and plus $0.25 for extra noodles), price seems to be right.

However, I wasn’t completely full at that point so I went for something extra. While a lot of these places will sell some sort of snacks for less than $5, now is the question of which stand? Out of all places, I chose Beijing Restaurant. That is because I had some personal history with it, in the sense the food didn’t really deliver. So why go back? Well, second chance, anybody? With that in mind, I ordered some burgers…

Of course, I knew it won’t be a burger similar to the one you can find in McD’s but a Chinese type burger with a twist. The “bun” wasn’t that much of a bun but more on the lines of a (English) muffin. That worked fine to me. What didn’t really work for me was the burger “patty”

I was asked what type of patty I wanted and, between beef, lamb (for an additional loonie) or pork, I chose pork. What can I say! Furthermore, I asked for spicy. And, despite that chili there, it wasn’t spicy at all. As for the “patty”, it was more on the lines of a dry version of pulled pork than ground meat. Overall, a disappointment…

So, while Crystal Mall’s food court has better options compared to other malls, it does not automatically means all the stands are good: There are “dubious” ones as well. It is a matter of trying them and weed them out…

The One Restaurant
5908 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

On Tuesday’s “bonus” post, I showed some pictures of “interesting” dishes and hinted they will be for next week. I am sure some of you suspect what is coming but (and probably) overstating the obvious, yes, I was out of town. OK, let me rephrase that: I was out of the country/North America. But, as usual, there is that “last meal” concept, a place you might want to visit before leaving town. In my case, there was no particular reason for going out and getting something to eat (which, by now is not necessarily and excuse). Instead, I was too lazy to do dishes and throw the garbage afterwards… So, in this instance of laziness, I chose to visit one place that I suggested Anita the day we ended up going to Burgoo: The One Restaurant (TOR), which is a fork of a Burnaby favourite – Lao Shan Dong (LSD). The question is of course whether it lives up to its roots…

If you don’t know this area of Burnaby, you might easily (and I do emphasize on the easily part) drive by without noticing it. That is because it is in the far end of a strip mall barely east of the Kingsway/Imperial intersection and not that visible within the normal visual angle (unless, of course, you are looking that way). If you drive eastbound and are already driving by a Wendy’s, you are already too far. Probably the best landmark (current, as of the date this post goes live) might be the Blockbuster, i.e., drive as if you were going to Blockbuster and you should be good.

Upon entering, it is really noticeable the emphasis given to decoration. I mean, this is not your old school noodle shop where there could be a mismatch of tables and/or chairs. In this case, they seem to have spent a decent amount of money trying to make more modern, as if they were trying to catch up to newer restaurants (compared to LSD). While this is all good, I encountered a major problem: the tables (or at least the one I was seated) are not for somebody of my size. As a reminder, in terms of Chinese born people, I am fairly above average sized, and, after I was seated, I felt the table was at least 5 cm higher than it should be. I don’t want to imagine how it would be for somebody more “average” (Chinese-wise), given that it is that the population the restaurant supposedly caters. Of course, I am not sure if it was that specific table I ran into this problem but, given the layout, a visual inspection tells me the tables are about the same height…

But, enough about decoration, I was there for the food! Upon checking the menu, once again, it is obvious that TOR is also trying to expand their menu. No longer limited to appetizer dishes, boiled dumplings and noodles. Now, they have full plates, including fried items, rice dishes and so on. Again, I might be overstating the obvious but they could be aiming to the likes of Beefy Beef, No 1 Beef Noodle and so on. So, while I wanted to compare their beef noodle against is parent LSD, I also wanted some dishes that were not available previously there. And, given that I needed some sort of comparison, I started off with…

Their Salty Deep Fried Chicken Nuggets. I am not sure about those who grew up in North America but I did not grew up eating chicken nuggets. In fact, I never grasped the concept of eating boneless chicken meat, specially considering that the best parts are the dark pieces with the bone. Furthermore, if it was chicken, it was supposed to be an actual *real* piece of chicken. As a result, I had mixed feelings ordering it. However, what was served was actually better than the name of the dish. Here, there are pieces of chicken dark meat, dusted with flour or (most likely) corn starch and fried lightly. No, it wasn’t raw, rather, it wasn’t as crispy as you could find in a lot of other places. Instead, it was still quite juicy inside. While the fried Thai basil provided a different note, a little bit of peppery tones would have helped, as well as a wedge of lime/lemon. One thing that I must admit I was really surprised was the portion size: given the price, this could be easily shared between two (or even three) as an appetizer!

As mentioned above, I wanted to try their beef noodle to compare it against LSD and that’s exactly what I ordered. Not sure if there was a lost-in-translation here but I asked it spicy. Unless I have become more spice tolerant in the last couple of weeks, I barely detected any spiciness. I did sweat a little bit; however, it might be due to the fact I did not remove my jacket after walking in and/or because the soup was hot (temperature-wise). From a noodles perspective, they are about the same, i.e., with some bite and stretchiness, though I noticed the exterior didn’t have the same starchy feeling as the last time I was in LSD (which was around January). The beef was also similar, though it seems the pieces were cut somewhat smaller (and might have fewer pieces than LSD). Under normal circumstances, I don’t have preference for one or the other; however, when it comes to stewed/braised-like meats, I prefer a more decent size cuts than smaller sizes. Furthermore, they held back somewhat in the pickled mustard. And, finally, the broth…

In the past, I quite like to go to LSD, mainly because some of the competition had some hell of an issue with parking (No 1 Beef comes to mind). However, that was also because I preferred their broth over the ones from the beef noodle competition, as it had a strong, savoury taste. However, in the case of TOR, it had a slight sweet taste… Now, it was good in its own ways; however, my preference here is for that stronger, more savoury taste instead. As a result, I found it not as enticing…

One thing that LSD did decently was service speed. Though a lot of people will accuse them of being too rustic (i.e., providing only the basic), at least, things will come quite fast compared to other restaurants. Then again, it is a smaller restaurant. However, things here took forever to come and, a lot of times, timing was particularly bad. For example, after I finished my meal, I had to flag several waiters/waitresses before I was given the bill. At that moment, there were only six tables occupied… And, the worst happened to the table next to mine, were customer A was given his order (a meal with the before mentioned chicken nuggets) but his partner didn’t get his order (a rice bowl with Chinese sausages) until easily 10 minutes later. I know this is no Western restaurant where timing has a greater deal and everybody is served (almost) at the same time but, at least, 10 minutes wait is simply not acceptable.

In a way, given its LSD background, I had some high expectations and they couldn’t deliver. From the noodle side, I would rather go back to LSD. From the other dishes perspective, it looked quite good but, depending if I am going by myself or with others, it might be a bit of a coin flip (specially if people are ordering different type of dishes, which might drag the others down).

Huaxi Noodle
2126 – 4500 Kingsway
Crystal Mall
Burnaby, BC

Chong Lee Market Kitchen
3308 E 22nd Avenue
Vancouver, BC

This was supposed to be two short post but I thought, rather than two short posts, how about having a longer one, specially considering these two places shared some things in common? Namely, me needing a meal; however, I wasn’t THAT hungry? OK, that might be an overstatement… Basically, I had a somewhat heavy meal earlier that day and needed a snack/light meal. And based on posts from other fellow bloggers, I thought I should drop by Huaxi Noodle (in Crystal Mall’s food court) and Chong Lee Market…

My visit to Huaxi Noodle is thanks to a post from gastronomydomine (of the Foodosophy team). While I have had my share of visits to the food court and there are several interesting stands, at the same time, there are some dubious ones and, at times, it can be hit or miss. However, given gastro’s feedback, hey, it sounds good! So, on an afternoon, relatively close to the mall’s closing time, I dropped by there for a quick “light” dinner.

As per gastro’s suggestion, I ordered dish #8, Guizhou Style Beef Noodle Soup ($5.95). And, not necessarily noticeable in the picture above, I added some huge scoops for garlic. I will have to admit that, for $6, this is quite a decent serving. Hell, you pay more if you go to MickeyD’s! And, if you take a look at it, there is a good amount of herbs on top, which, interestingly enough, did infuse a little bit of its taste to the broth.

I am not sure if it was supposed to have two types of meats but, considering they are different cuts, each provided a different type of consistency. The leaner/grayer cut (shank?) had a slight chewiness, while the more fatty piece (brisket?) had a more tender, fatty texture. For some reason, I thought it had some gaminess in it, which worked quite well with the herbs mentioned above. Because I added a lot of garlic, it also imparted some of its pungent taste to the broth but, because I added before I tasted the broth (one of the few rare instances I have done that), I can’t say how it would be by itself… Finally, the noodles… I will have to admit mine were served slightly past the al dente texture, or at least slightly past how I would have preferred it. No harm, though, it still had a slight bite and, again, there was a decent amount given the price.

Given the limitations of the food stand and its cost, I am quite surprised at the end product. I really wished I had visited them before! It is starting to look like some xiao long bao from Wang’s Shanghai and a bowl of noodles will really hit the spot!

Now, moving on to the second “restaurant”, a couple of weeks ago, Alex of Chef’s Night Out, made mention of banh mi (Vietnamese subs) in a really odd location: inside a market in 22nd Avenue in Vancouver. That market is Chong Lee Market, which shouldn’t be confused with its Victoria Drive’s location. As I mentioned once:

1. Open a restaurant in a weird location/setting
2. Make it ethnic (bonus if Japanese)
3. ???
4. Profit!

OK, not necessarily profit here, the question instead is how good it is. Actually, I had to go through a small problem first: after I walked in, I couldn’t find the banh mi stand. I walked to the back and they have a mini butcher, cafeteria like Chinese food (think Kent’s kitchen). After walking back and forth, I gave up and started to walk out, just to find it was right next to the entrance! Had I turned left as soon as I walked in, I would have found it right away.

As mentioned, I was there for banh mi and ended up ordering three: One of them to eat it almost right away, the other two for later that day. I know I was taking my chances, after all, a lot of times the baguette used in banh mi degrades really fast if not eaten right away. However…

Actually, all of them looked pretty much the same…

Unlike banh mi shops like Ba Le or Tung Hing, they don’t have a bakery to prepare their breads on-site (or, as far as I could see/tell). So, the bread isn’t necessarily fresh but they do have an oven to reheat them. So, which banh mi I ordered?

The first one (and the one I ate right away) was the chicken version. Because it was still “fresh”, the exterior of the bread still had some “crunchiness” in it but it is not even close to the ones from Ba Le or Tung Hing. One thing I found quite surprising (and it is common among all the subs here) was the amount of pickled vegetables, though I wish it was a bit more pickled (i.e., a bit more acidic/sweet). But, back to the sub itself. The chicken was a bit plain; however, the pepper managed to provide some balance. I won’t say it is the best but acceptable.

This is one I had later that day and, by then, the bread started to be chewy, though not on the lines of sourdough. Now, I am not sure if I will call it meatball or even meat sauce. More than anything else, it was a cross of minced meat, Chinese style (on that note, reheated in a microwave), and meatball. Similar to the chicken, the meat didn’t have that much taste by itself but the pickled vegetables and peppers were doing a major job.

Finally, their “special”, which had different type of cold cut type meats and, as seen in the picture above, a decent serving of pâté. It actually was tastier than the other two above and, despite the meats were able to hold its own, it still needed a little bit of support from the pickled vegetables. Howeve,r once again, because I had it later that day, the bread was somewhat chewy by then.

Overall, I found these banh mi were decent, provided your expectations are not high, specially given its location and price. Yes, did I mention these were $2.75 each, except for the special which was $3.25? However, since it is not that accessible to me, I am not sure how often I would frequent it… >_<

Bo Laksa King
4910 Joyce Street
Vancouver, BC

There has been times where I visit a restaurant, take good pictures, eat the food yet I am not certain if I should blog about it. It is not that they are good or bad; rather it is because there is something. That is what happened to me when I visited Bo Laksa King a couple of months ago: I chose not to put that post live (key details were written already). Heck, I even showed Mijune (her post on Bo Laksa King here) about this place for her thoughts, since it was a part of town I knew it was unlikely she will be visiting on her own. But, in the end, I thought, why not… So, finally, my post about this hole-in-the-wall.

Unlike a lot of people, this area of town is an area I am actually well aware of. After all, it is there were you can find Panaderia Latina Bakery, one of the few Latin American bakeries in town. And, on one afternoon, after visiting them for a big bag of chicharrón, aka, pork rind, I decided to pick some lunch takeout from Bo Laksa King…

Back when I visited them, their menu was limited, i.e., only things they could prepare in a portable griddle and some hot boxes right behind it. They currently have also a delivery menu but that is delivery only, not for eat in. With that in mind, I started with roti canai. These were quite flaky and had also a slight chewy texture. However, it was extremely oily, as well. My hands were full of oil by the time it was done. The fact the curry dipping sauce was also oily didn’t really help. I mean, it was actually good and fat tastes good; but it got to the point of being a case of too much of a good thing.

Since their name includes laksa, I guess I should order laksa as well, right? Well, here it is, in their take out container (the third container wasn’t part of the laksa, rather it was the container with the curry dipping sauce for the roti canai). I really appreciated the fact they sealed their containers very well. I was quite afraid the broth would leak out and make a literal mess while on my way back home.

Rather trying to eat it in their take out container, I transfer the contents into a bowl. That is where it exposes their content: a boiled egg, some fish ball, tofu, shrimp, chicken, some herbs and, of course, noodles. Talking about noodles, I had option between wheat noodle or vermicelli. I asked how *they* would have it and make it accordingly.

The broth wasn’t that hot but I will give it some slack as I could have been responsible for it. After all there was a transit time between grabbing my takeout and taking it home!

I will have to say I have mixed feelings about it. The broth was quite tasty with some coconut hints. I had a hard time telling apart the spices in it but I could still “feel” that complex mix. The rest… Well, that is where my mixed feelings kick in. The noodles were pre-cooked and reheated (in the broth, I must add) before it was placed in the bowl. This process makes sure the noodles catch all the flavour from the broth and keep a bite to it but they ended up tangle which was messy to eat. Herbs and onions aside, I wasn’t really impressed with rest of the meats, except for the chicken which seemed to be either grilled or cooked in the griddle and then tossed along. It it just that the rest of the contents of the bowl was average at best, if not partially uninspiring in the case of the fish ball. I know that this is part of a regular bowl of laksa but the version they served could have been easily removed and most people won’t have missed it at all.

In the end, I feel the product is quite good for the place where it is served and given its limitations yet, at the same time, I believe it is over-hyped. Don’t get me wrong, I have several of such places under my belt (literally and figuratively) including, but not limited to, Hawker’s Delight, Thai Basil (pending) and so on. Yet, while I believe these other places are good for what it is, there is no such claim of they being *extremely good* in the grand scheme of things. In the case of Bo Laksa King, if I were to compare them heads up, it might end up being slightly above average at best. Now, if they were to open an actual sit-down restaurant, improve some small details and so on… Well, at that point a re-evaluation might be required. As for me, I might come back after I grab another bag of chicharrón but won’t make a trip solely for them.

Pho Saigon
6516 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

After yet another errand in South Burnaby, I was looking for places to eat late night. While driving through Kingsway, I was looking for alternatives to Green Bamboo so I was hoping for Vietnamese. I was aware of two of them (Pho Hoa and Pho Hong), they were still several clicks away. But then I spotted Pho Saigon. I have passed by a lot of times and, for some reason, it looks more like a run down house but, with cars parked outside and people inside, I guess it is still a restaurant…

After walking in, I was guided to the dining area, which is oddly shaped. As you walk in, there are two tables to the left and then some tables on the right side, plus what seems to be an annex. The “problem” with this layout is that you have no direct line of sight with the wait staff and, as a result, there is no way to signal them…

After looking at the menu, I started to wonder. So far, with some minor exceptions, I have been ordering pho in Vietnamese restaurants most of the time. Should I order something else (namely, rice dishes)? In the end, I decided to stick with pho. Probably I will stick ordering pho and might re-visit restaurants just to try other dishes. Anyway, here is my bowl of pho and its bean sprout side.

Caveat Emptor: this picture was heavily post-processed!

As I have done in other places in the past, I chose to go for their special, which a lot of time translates into “everything but the kitchen sink”. And, yes, in this case, it had tripe, tendon, meatball, brisket and rare beef.

Once again, this picture was highly post-processed.

I will admit I wasn’t sure where to set my expectation level. Because the location looks “strange”, I wasn’t expecting much, yet, because it has stayed in business they should be producing something “good”, right? Well, overall it was a decent bowl of pho but it had nothing that will make it outstanding. Clean broth, but not extreme flavourful. Your usual meats and almost generic noodles (OK, at least they were bundled together as the ones in Green Bamboo). Did I miss something?

While the pho was par, the spring roll was… Well, I am not sure what to say nor how to say it. I mean, by visuals only, I am sure most people will call the crappiest looking spring roll ever! As for the filling, it was mostly similar to that of other spring rolls but, again, not outstanding. The one plus side was that it was served hot so, at least, there were some signs it was made to order.

While there aren’t that many pho places in that area of town, the fact I can move around means I have other alternatives. Given that Pho Saigon is average in my books, I am not sure if I am too enthusiastic in going back. Probably if I try their rice dishes? :S