Foodology
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Noodles

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In Italian

Savio Volpe: The Famiglia 5 Course Meal

We headed to Savio Volpe for an early holiday dinner with the family. Since we had over 6 people, we had to order the family-style dinner for $55 per person. I’ve heard lots about Savio Volpe and I’ve been very curious, so by trying the family-style dinner, we would trying a majority of the dishes here, which I didn’t mind at all.

Interior

In the evening, the dining room is dimly lit and it has a very cozy atmosphere.

We sat at the rear of the restaurant, so we had a fun time watching them in the kitchen cook away.

Breadsticks

As our starters arrived, we got some ridiculously long breadsticks. We actually had a lot of fun eating these.

Prosciutto di Parma, apple, and Grana

This dish has our first appetizer. A simple dish, but the simple ingredients are paired well together. The salty and sweet combination works.

White anchovy, leeks, soft boiled egg, olives

This dish was interesting and we all felt like the mayo on the base of this dish was too much. It was so creamy and thick that it over powered the other ingredients.

Kale, lemon pepper dressing, romano, pangrattato

The salads started arriving and this was my favourite. If you need to order a salad, this is pretty damn tasty. Highly recommended.

Farro, squash, chickpeas, dates, pine nuts, ricotta salata

There is a lot of good textures in this dish. Very hearty and filling dish.

Mezzaluna, ricotta, wild mushrooms

The mushrooms in this dish was delicious. The pasta itself was ok, but nothing exciting.

Cavatelli with brussel sprouts and pangratatto

The cavatelli was pretty hard in texture and we all thought it was pretty mediocre.

Roast Suckling Pig

A beautiful dish with salsa verde, pork belly, egg and crackling. Beautiful presentation but I felt the suckling pig was a bit tough and dry.

Duck

With our group of 7, they cut the duck into 6 pieces when they should have cut it into 7. We let the server know, but he told us to share. Fair enough, so thats what we did. Later on they did send us over a plate with 1 extra piece.

Smashed root vegetables

This was one of the sides to share with the group.

Grilled broccolini

The broccolini was pretty scorched on some pieces. Both sides that arrived were not very impressive.

Cannoli, ricotta, citrus, cocoa, hazelnuts

This cannoli was a bit hard to share with the group, but we made it work. Good crisp cannoli shell and the filling was equally as good.

Chocolate tart, olive oil, sea salt, pinenuts

This chocolate tart was delicious. Very smooth and full of chocolate goodness. My favourite of the two desserts.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I’m glad we tried the dinner family-style to try a lot of dishes. Unfortunately, a lot of the dishes really didn’t stand out. I’ve heard lots about their pasta, but both of the ones we got were not up to par. My favourite dish was the kale salad and the chocolate tart. For $55 per person, it wasn’t bad at all since we were all full, but it didn’t impress us enough to return.

We Rate Savio Volpe: 

Address:
615 Kingsway, Vancouver

Website: http://www.saviovolpe.com/

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In Commercial Drive / Grandview

Dundas Six O Pho Challenge in Vancouver: 5lbs of Meat and Noodles

There’s a new food challenge in town at Dundas Eat + Drink for their Six O Pho challenge until December 31, 2017. There’s some satisfaction to devour such a beast but I personally couldn’t conquer this. Other’s have dared and have failed by making a tiny dent into it. Seattle has been know for their huge pho challenge at Dong Thap Noodles, but now you can stay in Vancouver for this. Just a quick drive to East Vancouver for this gem.

The details of the Six O Pho challenge:

  1. Be the fastest person to finish the 5 lb bowl of pho in under 30 minutes (meat and noodles)
  2. The big bowl of pho is $34.95 if you fail to finish it in time. Your name and time will still be recorded if you finish it.
  3. Unlimited water is provided.
  4. Limited quantity per day – FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED. Available everyday from 5-10pm
  5. The fastest time by December 31, 2017 will be the winner of the grand prize and names will be announced on January 2.
  6. Contestants are allowed to challenge this multiple times.
  7. Grand Prize – $100 Cash and your name on our trophy; 2nd and 3rd place winners receive $25 gift cards

Regular vs Six O Pho Size

I could easily down a whole regular bowl, but the Six O Pho size is probably 4 or 5 times the size. It’s massive for one person to finish. If you have the stomach for it, good luck!!

I found the taste of the pho actually good. The Beef Brisket, Rare Beef, and Beef Balls were delicious and the broth was equally as good without any MSG. I would come back again for their regular pho.

Are you ready to take on the Six O Pho Challenge?

Address:
2077 Dundas St, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.eatdundas.com/

 

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In Japanese

Ichikame Shokudo: Ramen in Vancouver

There’s a new ramen shop in town called Ichikame Shokudo located in South Vancouver. I was invited to give their ramen and other dishes a try. I was pretty excited to try this place and we can never have too many ramen shops in Vancouver. Especially in this area, it needs more food options.

Interior

The space isn’t too large, but is good for groups of 2 or 4. They can accommodate larger groups, but go early or later in the evening.

Menu

Complimentary tea

As we sat down, they gave us some hot tea as we browsed through the menu.

Shio Ramen

The broth is very light and not rich at all. It’s definitely a different style that personally didn’t attract my taste buds. It lacks the depth of flavour. If you’re looking for something that has a cleaner taste, this is it.

Spicy Ramen

I was hoping this would have a better kick of flavour, but it was still a bit bland and needed more heat and depth. Their ramen eggs are good and the chashu is not bad either.

Kimchi Cheese Ramen

This has a spicy ramen base with veggies, kimchi, and topped with seared cheese on top. This was a very interesting combination and strays a bit from tradition ramen flavours.

Italian Tomato Ramen

This ramen has a tomato base soup with fried chicken, cheese and mixed greens. The soup base is very comforting as it reminds me of tomato soup from my childhood. The fried chicken in the broth made the exterior soggy, so it would have been better on the side.

Pork Belly Samurai Rock

It has braised pork belly, green onions, sesame and pickled radish, egg, on top of rice in this hot stone bowl. The pork belly as nice and torched with a good amount of fat. The portion size is good for an individual.

Katsu Cheese Curry

On top of the bed of rice is curry, katsu, greens, cheese, seaweed and nori.

Beef Cheese Curry

The beef, cheese and veggies in this hot stone bowl. All three were decent but I preferred the other 2.

Pork Yakisoba

Served on this hot skillet with all the yakisoba and pork on top.

Vege Mountain

This huge bowl of cabbage was awesome. Nicely seasoned and a great item to share. I love cabbage, so I had a lot of this and took the leftovers home. For the price, this portion is generous.

Prawn & Cheese Gyoza

The gyoza comes with 6 pieces per order. These gyozas are topped with prawns and the cheese sizzles on the hot plate. It does take some time too cool down.

Spicy Cheese Gyoza

Somewhat similar to the other gyoza. With both of them, I wished the gyoza were more crisp especially when it comes on a hot plate.

Takoyaki

It comes with six pieces per order. A  nice snack to share with the table.

Agedashi Tofu

It is presented in a bamboo steamer and comes with 4 pieces. Garnished with nori and bonito flakes similar to other dishes.  This tasted ok, but nothing special.

Veggie Croquettes

4 pieces per order and it is crunchy on the outside and savoury on the inside.

Chicken Karaage

One of my favourite appetizers! Crispy, moist and delicious. A great item to pair with your meal.

Yukikaze Freeze

They have partnered up with a local company – 77k Freeze to create their Yukikaze Freeze. There are 7 different flavours and I tried the Wasabi Chocolate as it was pretty unique. With this particular flavour, it was chocolate with dried wasabi sprinkled around, so it wasn’t as intense as I would have imagined.

Freeze Drink

There are 9 different freeze drinks and they also have frozen iced tea drinks too.

Final Thoughts

A lot of the dishes were pretty average. Nothing really stood out to me that I must return for. If you’re in the area and you’re craving a bowl of ramen and don’t want to travel far, this is a good option in South Vancouver.

We Rate Ichikame Shokudo: 

Address:
6956 Victoria Dr, Vancouver

Website:
http://ichikameshokudo.com/

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In Coquitlam

Ma Now Thai Kitchen: Thai Restaurant in Coquitlam

Ma Now Thai Kitchen is located in Coquitlam and a friend – Hilda suggested we come here for dinner as it’s one of their favourite places to get Thai cuisine. I can’t believe I haven’t been here yet, but then again, there are so many hidden gems in the city.

Interior

The interior was very clean, modern, and had a good amount of tables. We sat here for a while and the traffic on a weekday night can be busy.

Tea and Water

As we sat down, they have us a cup of hot tea and another cup of cold water. I love the look of the water cup!

Thai Iced Milk Tea

I ordered Thai Iced Milk Tea and I absolutely love it. One of my favourite drink to get at any Thai restaurant. Highly recommend it.

Chicken Satay

These are fire-grilled chicken on skewers served with house-peanut sauce and pickles. It was delicious and juicy.

Pad Thai with Chicken

The famous Thai stir-fried noodles has egg and tofu; topped with bean sprouts, peanuts, and a lime wedge. We got it medium spicy and it had a very nice amount of heat. When they say its medium, it really is medium.

Green Curry with Chicken

Green curry of Keaw Whan is a Thai classic coconut cream curry with vegetables and Thai basil. We added chicken to this and there is also rice on the side. We ordered this as mild, but it has a very faint hint of spice, which is actually really delicious.

Craving Cashew with Shrimp

This dish is also known as Pad Med Ma Muang. It has fresh vegetables, chili jam, and cashew nuts and is served with rice, but we got coconut rice instead.

Think Thoughts

The food here is pretty good and I was glad I was able to enjoy it with good friends. I love how mild has a hint of spice because thats how Thai food should really be enjoyed.

We Rate Ma Now Thai Kitchen: 

Address:
 2755 Lougheed Hwy #29, Port Coquitlam

Website:
https://manowthaikitchen.ca/

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In Burnaby Central

Lao Shan Dong: Taiwanese Beef Noodle in Burnaby

Lao Shan Dong has handmade noodles in Burnaby near Metropolis at Metrotown. My husband was in search of Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup, so he looked up this shop to go to on the weekend. They are known for the cheap inexpensive food, but it is cash only, so make sure you have some cash on hand. I didn’t mind going since I still haven’t made a visit until now.

Interior

The interior isn’t anything special, it’s just a large area with tables and chairs. You can tell this has been here for some time as the decor is a touch dated, but people really just come here for the food.

Menu

Tea

When you sit down, they give you a big pot of tea and some cups. I love it when the bring the whole tea pot since I guzzle tea like crazy.

Braised Beef Flank and Tendon with Noodle in Soup

We got the small bowl and it was a very good size. We have no idea how anyone else could do a large. If you’re super hungry, definitely do the large. M liked the chewyness of the noodles, tendons and beef flank. The flank was more on the lean side, so it’s not tender and fatty.

Mmmmmm…. noodles!

Sour Mustard Greens and Shredded Pork with bean thread in soup

I wanted to try something different and I am a fan of sour mustard greens, so I gravitated to this dish. The broth was very clean tasting and not too rich. I love a hot bowl of soupy noodles when the cold Fall weather has arrived.

Boiled Pork and Veggie Dumplings

We got the small size with 10 pieces, but there is the larger option with 15 pieces. Easily sharable with small or large groups. Since it was just M and I, we split them with our small sized noodles. The perfect amount.

Final Thoughts

Lao Shan Dong doesn’t have the best Taiwanese Beef Noodles in town, but it is well priced and has a very homemade taste to it.

We Rate Lao Shan Dong: 

Address:
4887 Kingsway, Burnaby

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In Chinese

Deer Garden Signatures: Now Open in Burnaby

Deer Garden Signatures has been expanding in the last few months with 5 locations in total. Their Burnaby location is on Sperling and Kingsway. They took over the location of Pearl House Restaurant. I came on the weekend for lunch and it wasn’t as busy as their Vancouver location, so that was great for us.

Interior

There are a few booth-style seating for larger parties, but there is also smaller tables for those with 2 or 4 people. The space isn’t too large but they can still seat a good amount of people here.

Menu

You order your meal using the form provided to you. You can customize your noodles anyway you like. I’ve also noticed prices have gone up since my last visit back in 2014 by a few dollars.

Milk Tea

Whether you have cold or hot milk tea, you still gotta get it. M got the cold house special milk tea and I got the regular cold milk tea. Both were really good.

Laksa Noodles

This is the laksa soup base with beef brisket, beef balls and egg noodles. M loved it and he was able to eat this entire bowl, which is massive.

Coriander and Century Egg Soup Noodles

The coriander and century egg broth is one of my personal favourites. It has a very comforting taste and I had it with beef brisket, fish balls and thick rice noodles. So good! I wasn’t able to finish all the noodles but I tried my very best. Most people end up getting their remainder to go.

Pan Fried Boneless Chicken with Teriyaki Sauce

This chicken was delicious! The skin was crisp and the meat was very moist.

Desert Wings with Ginger

There are 3 pieces to an order and I also love this item too. Very crisp and the ginger is subtle. Pairs so well with soupy noodles.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s a great additional to the neighbourhood. It’s the same ol’ delicious noodles, so they have kept the quality consistent. I’ll be back for more.

We Rate Deer Garden Signatures: 

Address:
7150 Sperling Avenue, Burnaby

Website:
http://deergarden.ca/

Deer Garden Signatures Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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In Four Beakers

Rajio Japanese Public House: Osaka-Style Japanese Izakaya in Vancouver

It’s been 3 years since my last visit to Rajio Japanese Public House and I remember a lot of great nights here but I’m glad I’ve come back for more of their Osaka-style dishes.

Interior

The interior is fun and gives you a mix of traditional and modern feels. The space isn’t very large, but there are a decent number of tables.

Rajio’s Famous Fruit Punch

Their cute punch is served in a fresh watermelon or pineapple. Great for the Summer or what you need a smile on your face.

You cab have it with alcohol or without to customize your experience.

Beer

My favourite beverage to pair with Japanese food is beer as it helps cut the grease off some fried items. Plus, I love how light and refreshing it is.

Craft Ginger Ale

They have their original ginger ale recipe with freshly grated ginger, lime, lemon, and sweet brown sugar. It’s definitely different than the ginger ale at the stores since it has an extra kick of ginger balanced by the brown sugar.

Super Rib Steak

This $38 hug 2lb beef rib steak comes with sharp wasabi and a garlic soy sauce. I’ve always ordered their huge steaks before and they are a joy to eat. It is best to be shared among the table. Super tender and medium rare.

Modern Yaki

This is a featured dish, so it’s not on their permanent menu. It is a combination of Osaka Okonomiyaki and Yakisoba. I liked the concept, but the execution wasn’t ideal. As the dish cooled off, the okonomiyaki portion of it peeled off from the yakisoba hiding underneath. It was also quite rich and heavy compared to some other items that we had.

“Uni Bonara” Sea Urchin Carbonara

This was delicious item with the creamy udon paired with the fresh uni and the ikura. I enjoyed it and it was a good twist on an udon dish.

Y Mommy’s Assorted Oden

I love oden as it’s a warm bowl of comfort. There were so many items in this bowl with a bit of karashi, which is a spicy mustard. Put a little bit in as it really transforms the broth. Add more if you love the stingy wasabi-like feeling.

Chef’s Choice Sashimi

You can choose between 7 or 9 different types of sashimi chosen by the chef. It changes seasonally, but you can always ask ahead what you’ll get.

Hot Stone Crab Bibimbap

In the hot stone bibimbap bowl, there is snowcrab, crab miso, ikura, julienned omelet, shiso and scallions with a drizzle of their original sauce and a bit of ginger.

Kushikatsu

These skewers are Rajio’s signature skewers from Osaka. We got an assorted set with a mix of veggies and meat. One of my favourites are the shiitake mushroom, lotus root and eggplant.

Aburi Shime-Saba Sushi

There is delicious cured mackerel with Hokkaido kelp and vinegar is lightly seared and drizzled with a sesame mustard soy. Delicious and I love the taste of mackerel.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the atmosphere at Rajio is lively and fun. The food at Rajio is solid except for a few small misses in certain dishes.

We Rate Rajio:

Address:
3763 W. 10th Ave.
Vancouver, BC

Facebook:
http://www.rajiopublichouse.com/

Rajio Public House Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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In Chinatown

Rhinofish: Taiwanese Beef Noodles in Chinatown

Rhinofish is a Taiwanese Beef Noodle shop in Chinatown. It recently opened and I was excited because it’s hard to find good Taiwanese Beef Noodle in the area. Before they opened, they gave a few of us a sneak peek to see what to expect.

Niu Rou Mian

Taiwanese beef noodle with braised soup, tomato, baby bok choy, carrot, potato and asian sauerkraut. I had high hopes for this dish as it’s their specialty, but it fell short of expectations. The beef was very dry and did not melt in my mouth. The broth was deep in flavour but tasted more like Chinese medicine. The noodles themselves were good.

Hua Diao Ji Mian

Hua diao rice wine chicken broth, sous vide chicken breast, baby bok choy, cherry tomatoes, and tea infused egg. I preferred this a little bit more, but the broth flavour is very very subtle. It was a clean homey flavour to it. Some others commented saying it was bland. I added some mustard greens and some chili oil to transform the flavour.

Guo Bao

Taiwanese steamed bun with pork belly was ok but it needed something a bit more to bind the two things together. Maybe more sauce to moisten the bun slightly.

Xiao Huang Gua

Pickled Japanese cucumber with garlic and chili is a nice item to start with, but for $5, it’s a bit much for what you end up getting.

Mu Er

Wood ear mushroom with sesame soy dressing and plum salt in this dish. Another starter dish to share.

Yansuji with Nanjing sauce

A classic Taiwanese dish of crispy chicken nuggets topped with fried basil. the nanjing sauce is on the side. The chicken is good on it’s own, so the added sauce doesn’t add much difference. The chicken was moist on the inside and the outer fried are was crisp.

Yansuji with Parmesan and truffle oil

Very similar to the dish above with the different toppings and a bit of lemon.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the food was ok but the menu prices are a bit high for what you get. We ended up giving the chef some feedback about the dishes but we’re not sure if he ever made changes before they opened. They tried to be innovative with their dishes but in the end it fell flat as they tried to reinvent the wheel as basic Taiwanese beef noodle is a classic dish. No one was impressed.

We Rate Rhinofish: 

Address:
550 Main St, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.rhinofishnoodlebar.com/

Rhinofish Noodle Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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In Gastown

Haru Korean Restaurant in Gastown

Haru Korean Restaurant is open in Gastown serving homey Korean food. My friend and I were passing by for dinner and decided we wanted to give this place a try. We love to wander around downtown to find whatever restaurant interests us so we can find more of the hidden places around town.

Interior

The interior is mostly wooden with accents of this colourful stripped fabric. There is a decent amount of space for small to large groups. For large groups, they take reservations.

Tea

As we sat down to look over the menu, they gave us some hot tea.

Complimentary Salad

The green salad has radishes and a light vinaigrette. A nice start to the meal.

Complimentary Kimchi

Kimchi is a must at any Korean restaurant and it usually comes complimentary, It’s part of the whole experience.

Kimchi Fried Rice

This is fried white rice with kimchi, pork, onion and topped with a round fried egg. The kimchi fried rice was ok, I found that it needed a bit more kimchi and it was very very oily with the onions.

Jap-Chae Noodle

There is stir fried clear noodles with veggies seasoned in house special soy sauce. A good portion for an individual.

Seafood Pancake

The seafood pancake is pretty big. It has seafood and green onion in the batter, but I thought it was pretty average. Nothing special to have it stand out.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the food here was average and nothing stood out. Some dishes were pretty oily and unnecessarily greasy. I can see this would be a good lunch spot.

We Rate Haru Korean Kitchen: 

Address:
324 Cambie St, Vancouver

Website:
https://www.harukoreankitchen.com

Haru Korean Kitchen Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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In Downtown

Yah Yah Ya Ramen in Downtown Vancouver

Yah Yah Ya Ramen opened their second location in Vancouver and they specialize in Yokohama-style ramen. The style of ramen blends tonkotsu and shoyu broth together to give a unique blend of broth. We were invited to try their special Cold Ramen only available in the summer.

Interior

There are 2 larger communal tables inside and a bunch of other smaller table. Lots of space for ramen lovers.

Menu

Japanese Ocha

Once of my favourite drinks to have at a ramen bar. You can have it sweetened or unsweetened. I would definitely recommend having it unsweetened so you can taste more of the tea.

Gyozas

These come in 6 pieces per order. A decent pan fried on one side. A good item to share among a table of friends, but it still felt a bit average.

NO. 1 Shoyu Ramen

You will find 3 pieces of toasted sesame, 2 pieces of chashu, egg, spinach, and their pork soy sauce ie-kei soup base. Very delicious and highly recommended if it’s your first time here. You can choose the texture of the noodle (hard, normal or soft), the richness (heavy, normal or light) and oil (more, normal, or less).

Black Ramen Tonkotsu

Inside you will find 3 pieces of toasted seaweed, bamboo shoots, 2 slices of chashu, and ramen egg. Delicious as well. It’s hard to choose between their bowls of ramen.

Mazesoba

In this bowl, you’ll find pork meat, toasted seaweed, bean sprouts, green onions, bamboo shoots and a golden egg yolk. You mix this all up really well and then enjoy. The flavour of all the items coat the noodles and is enjoyable.

Cold Ramen

This is only available in the Summer. It has sliced chashu, sliced red ginger, sliced egg, bean sprouts and cucumber. Mix it up and enjoy. A good choice to cool down for the Summer, but I still have a huge craving for a hot bowl of ramen even if it’s super hot outside.

Spicy Cold Ramen

If you want a kick of heat, they have a spicy cold ramen too. It has sliced chashu, kimchi, seaweed, bean sprouts and cucumber.

Salmon Don

You can have this as a combo with your ramen or on it’s own. The piece of salmon on top is very meaty.

Negi Chashu Don

Another don option if you like their chashu. I thought this was ok as the sauce felt a bit overpowering.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Yah Yah Ya Ramen is a pretty solid ramen shop. With so many ramen shops on Robson Street, they do stand out for their Yokohama style ramen. If you’re in the area, check it out.

We Rate Yah Yah Ya Ramen: 

Address: 570 Robson St, Vancouver

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downtownyahyahya/

Yah Yah Ya Ramen Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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In Chinese

Mr Chili Noodle House: Chongqing Cuisine in Burnaby

Mr. Chili Noodle House in Burnaby specialized in Chongqing cuisine. Sherman had a coupon he had to use up before it expired, so he was nice enough to invite myself and some other foodie friends to check out this place. I’ve passed by this restaurant so many times, but never though about coming here till now.

Interior

The interior is beautiful. It reminded me of a cafe, but with no coffee. I didn’t expect this place to look so nice and modern.

Drinks

You can ask for tea or water when you get a seat. The cups are really cute too.

Spicy Pig Ear

The pig ears were thinly sliced and had a good amount of spice to them. It was really good.

Chicken with Chili

So damn good. This is their smaller size and the chicken was so moist and flavourful. Even if you took the chili sauce away, the chicken would be fantastic on its own. I would highly recommend this.

Hot and Sour Potato Vermicelli

This was definitely spicy and it had a good balance of spice and sourness. There is minced meat and peanuts in here too.

Beef Noodle Soup

There are chunks of beef in this soup with nice marbling of fat. The broth was clean and not overly salty. They don’t use any MSG in their dishes. A good sold beef noodle but I felt like it was missing something.

Spicy Fish Tofu in Soup

This is one badass dish with tons of Szechuan peppercorn and the fish and tofu hiding inside. We tried not to eat the peppercorns as it would numb our mouth. The soup wasn’t very spicy at all.

Curry Beef Brisket Pot

Here is a pretty big bowl of curry to share with the table. You probably want to order this with some rice.

Stir Fried Green Beans

The stir fried green beans were ok, but we found it to be a bit old as it didn’t have a nice crispness to it.

Kung Pao Prawns

This dis was ok as well. You need to grab a piece of chili to go with the prawns to balance out the sweeter sauce with the pepper.

Final Thoughts

The spicy dishes were super delicious but a few other dishes were a miss. Its still really good to have a Chongqing restaurant in North Burnaby as its hard to find.

We rate Mr Chili: 

Address:
3760 Hastings Street, Burnaby

Website: http://www.mrchilinoodlehouse.ca/

Mr.Chili Noodle House Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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In Bubble Tea

MYST Asian Fusion in Burnaby

MYST Asian Fusion just opened in Burnaby and they are serving up many different kinds of Asian cuisine. We were invited for a tasting of their menu to see what they offer. There is a parking lot but it can be quite full at peak hours, but there is free street parking too.

The restaurant is a bit hidden but just look out for the bright blue sign.

Interior

They have lots of seating inside with booth style configurations. This location took over Lester’s Arcade, so they really did a lot of renovations to get this look.

Drinks

Taiwanese Beer

They have a selection of Taiwanese Beer on the menu. It’s sweeter than the average beer and infused with fruity flavours.

Uchikinoki ice cream smoothie

A green tea drink with ice cream, mochi and red bean.

Slushies

They have huge slushies with marshmallow and chocolate eyeballs. This particular one was green apple flavour.

Pea Flower Tea

They have a series of pea flower tea, which have been quite popular among bubble tea shops around town. These 2 particular drinks were Calpis butterfly pea flower tea and the Strawberry lemon butterfly pea flower tea.

Potted Milk Tea

The milk tea base to topped with a cookie crumble and a green leaf. it was a really cool concept, but I didn’t like the gritty texture of the cookie crumble.

Takoyaki

It comes with 6 pieces and has a piece of cooked octopus inside. It is topped with mayo, teriyaki sauce, and shredded seaweed. It was interesting to see this on the menu, but tasted decent.

Fried green beans with minced pork

It has a good portion size for a table to share this. It had a nice caramelization from the hot pan. It was good.

Steamed sticky rice dumplings

7 pieces to an order in a steamed bamboo basket. The wrapper is filled with all the delicious sticky rice. It was an interesting dish but it was too carb heavy for my personal liking.

Skewers

They have a large variety of skewers on the menu. They were all pretty meh I would have wanted more char for added flavour.

  • Pork intestine
  • Lamb
  • Pork
  • Chicken
  • Fish cake
  • Chicken gizzard

Japanese style egg fried rice

There is a good amount of seafood in the fried rice and it’s topped with a fried egg, seaweed and mayo. My kind of comfort food.

Golden sand prawns with salted egg yolk sauce

Very delicious and the egg yolk crust is so addictive. I peeled the head off and at the rest with the shell on. Some people hate it with the shell but I oddly like it with the crunchy texture.

Chives & shrimp spring rolls

Mediocre spring rolls and nothing was special about them.

Pan fried beef pancake

The green onion pancake is rolled with beef, green onions and some sauce. 4 pieces some in an order and they are big pieces.

House special spicy lamb hot pot

This was my favourite dish of the evening. It is lit underneath with some fire to keep it nice and hot as you eat the meal. It is served with rice and 2 side dishes.

The hot pot was packed full of ingredients like spam, tofu, fish cake, bean curd, and imitation crab.

Deep fried ginger flavour chicken whole wings

This is their large order and each wing was perfectly fried. The exterior was crisp and golden brown.

Fried chicken in chili pepper

The pieces had a lot of bones so it wasn’t as enjoyable to eat. Meh.

Sandwiches

The sandwiches are pretty basic. Egg, tomato, ham and cucumber are inside the slices of white bread.

Chives, shrimp & pork dumplings

Pretty decent for dumplings and there is 10 pieces to the order and some sauce on the side.

Taiwanese style fried rice vermicelli

Soft vermicelli noodles with some veggies and meat mixed throughout.

Assorted deep fried basket

This basked had squid tentacles, salt and peppery chicken, blood sausage, and other deep fried items.

MYST beef noodle soup

Inside, we added beef shank, tripe, and tendon. It was decent and filling.

Marinated 3 item combo

This had dried tofu, seaweed and pork ear string. It was served cold on this dish and we slowly picked at it.

TaiNan style egg noodle soup

This was an ok dish but it didn’t compare to the other soupy dishes on the menu.

Myst deluxe marinated pork with rice

This dish had a lot of ingredients in it. Just mix it all together and enjoy.

Preserved cabbage with shredded pork fried rice cake

It was a good dish for sharing around the table. The chewy rice cakes with the preserved cabbage and pork were a nice combination.

Hakka style sweet rice cake

Nope. The dates gave it an odd bitter preserved flavour to the dish. No one likes it, but maybe you have to have an acquired taste.

Myst Jelly

This is a Winter Melon Jelly and has a consistency of a harder jello. It was very sweet and I didn’t really like this either.

Shaved Snowflake

They have this in either strawberry or mango flavours. We got the strawberry version and it sit on top of dry ice that makes the fog underneath. The strawberry shaved ice and the ice cream have a sweet artificial taste to it, kinda like Pocky. The strawberry slices were fresh.

Myst Taiyaki

The taiyaki sits in a ice cream cone bowl, matcha ice cream, mochi, red bean sauce, chocolate drizzle and a chocolate wafer stick. It was a dessert fit for a kid.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the food was so-so, but there is quite a variety that you’ll find something to enjoy. My favourite were the House special spicy lamb hot pot, deep fried chicken wings, and the golden sand prawns with salted egg yolk sauce.

We Rate MYST: 

Address:
6400 Kingsway, Burnaby

Website:
http://www.myst6400.com/

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In Four Beakers

Jinya Ramen in the Telus Garden on Robson Street

Jinya Ramen Bar is opening up on April 21st at the Telus Garden on Robson Street. They have all their classic ramen dishes with an expanded menu with more appetizers and drinks. Jinya has been one of my personal favourite ramen shops in Vancouver and it’s funny how they are moving a block to Telus Garden.

I came here for a preview of the space as well as to try a few items off the menu.

Interior

The interior is really nice and modern with some brick accents. There are large windows to let in a lot of natural light. The space is larger than their previous location, so should seat more people.

I love staring at their amazing chefs creating each bowl of ramen. Stacks and stacks of ramen bowls linking the kitchen.

Their staff were pumping out ramen non-stop.

I love this picture. “No Ramen, No Life” is absolutely correct.

Drinks

They have local craft beers on the menu, which is fantastic!

Moody Ales, Steel & Oak, Fuggles & Warlock, Parkside, and Four Winds. Love the local flair in this international ramen chain.

They also have spirits like sake on their menu. Of course they also have whiskey and other harder drinks too.

Appetizers

Brussel Sprouts Tempura

It is crisp on the outside because of the batter. It also have white truffle oil.

Salmon Poke Mini Tacos

The salmon poke is served in a crispy wonton taco shell. Very addictive!

Takoyaki

These are octopus balls. It has battered octopus over egg tartar topped with kewpie mayo, okonomiyaki sauce, green onion and bonito flakes. It came piping hot, so let it cool before popping it into your mouth.

Ramen

Cha Cha Cha Ramen

This is for garlic lovers. It has pork and fish broth, pork chashu, seasoned egg, bean sprouts, chopped onion, green onion, garlic, chili powder, and served with extra thick noodles.

Vegetable Soup Ramen

It has a vegetable broth, mushroom, greens, broccoli, cauliflower and pepper. It is served with thin noodles. This was ok, but not my favourite.

Spicy Creamy Vegan Ramen

It has their vegetable broth, tofu, green onion, onion, spinach, crisp onions, garlic chips, garlic oil, chili oil, sesame seeds and served with thick noodles. This was so good! The additional of the garlic and chili oil are so amazing. I thought I loved the Tonkotsu black broth, but this broth is killer!

Spicy Chicken Ramen

It has chicken broth: chicken chashu, spinach, spicy bean sprouts, green onion, and served with thin noodles. You can choose it to be mild, spicy or hot.

Kaedama Noodle Refill

If you are done slurping up your noodles and have extra broth, you can order an additional portion of noodles to keep on enjoying the ramen.

They have different types of noodles too.

Final Thoughts

Their new location will bring more menu items that are pretty standard with their other North American locations. Plus, the decor and space is a lot nicer, but nothing was wrong with their previous location either. You still get the same great ramen, but this time I found my other favourite ramen – spicy creamy vegan ramen. Jinya Tonkotsu Black is awesome too.

We Rate Jinya Ramen Bar: 

Address:
541 Robson Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://jinya-ramenbar.com/

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In Chinese

Flower and Horse in Spring: Yunnan Cuisine

Flower and Horse in Spring is a new restaurant serving Yunnan Cuisine with their signature ‘crossing the bridge’ rice noodles. The legend of the noodles comes from the Yunnan Province where a scholar was studying for the imperial exams and his wife would make a long walk crossing a bridge to bring him his midday meal. The meal consisted of hot chicken soup with a layer of oil to keep the meal warm. She would carry the ingredients separately and combine them together when she gave him the noodles until he passed his exam.

This story was passed down from generation to generation inspiring the creation of the noodles that symbolizes the wifes love for the scholar.

Interior

We passed by this place as it looked quite different from the outside. Looking at the menu and seeing this place was packed, we decided to line up. It was a 15 minute wait but the food smelled good.

The bright decorations really reminded my friend of China. She definitely felt nostalgia.

Traditional Crossing the Bridge Noodles

I ordered A5, the first overall pick according to the menu. Not sure what that means, but I felt most of the menu was lost in translation. This set has crispy pork, prawn, kelp, squid, marinated pork, fish, spam, corn, chives, bean curd, quail egg, yunnan pickle, tomato, carrot, bean sprout, parsley, and green onion.

There are instructions at the table on how to put together the noodles, but I learned quickly that I was so hangry that I can’t follow instructions.

It says:

  1. Beat the quail egg
  2. Coat the sliced raw meat with egg and place into the boiling soup
  3. Add cooked meat to soup
  4. Put Veggies into the soup
  5. Add rice noodle to the soup

We just dumped all the meat in first to cook it while the soup is hot. We then put in the rest of the veggies to cook. Then lastly, we throw in the noodles.

Once all the items were put together, it looked and tasted good. I wish it had more spice, but there was some chili oil that you can add a kick to the noodles.

Rice Noodle with sauteed pork sauce

The dish has a soup on the side too. The egg on top was delicious. The menu said the sauteed pork sauce was spicy, but it really wasn’t.

Noodles with with house special braised pork sauce in soup

It also has with shitake mushroom, bean curd sheet, bean spouts, chives, and other stuff. The menu had a big HOT warming on this item, but my friend said it wasn’t very spicy.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was a great experience to try something a bit different in the city. The ‘crossing the bridge’ noodles were delicious and I’ll be back. It’s a small space and they don’t do reservations, so make sure to come earlier or have a bit of patience waiting.

We Rate Flower and Horse in Spring: 

Address:
1741 Robson St, Vancouver

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In Downtown

Sala Thai: Thai Cuisine in Downtown Vancouver

Sala Thai serves up authentic Thai cuisine in Downtown Vancouver. They are a family-run restaurant and have been operating for over 20 years. I came here with some friends for dinner and it’s been a long time since I’ve been here.

Thai Iced Tea

Thai Iced Tea is a must when going to Thai restaurant. It’s milky and a bit sweet. Highly recommended.

Gai Hor Bai Toey

This is chicken marinated in a chef’s sauce, wrapped and cooked in pandan leaves. It comes in an order of 4 but we added 1 more extra for our group. The chicken was moist inside those pandan leaves.

Golden Angel Wings

These are boneless chicken wings stuffed with shrimp, pork, vegetables, vermicelli noodle, herbs and served with homemade sweet chili sauce. The crisp chicken wings were so delightful and super easy to eat.

Sala Thai Salad

It has green leaves, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, onions and boiled egg with their house dressing. Not a very exciting salad.

Gaeng Dang

This red curry has coconut milk Bamboo shoots, bell peppers and Thai basil leaves. It comes with your choice of beef, pork or chicken. We went with chicken for our dish. It was very flavourful and we ordered 2 bowls of rice to accompany this dish.

Pad Thai

This is their most popular Thai rice noodle dish with shrimp, egg, tofu, bean sprouts and ground peanut. Mix this up and its quite delicious too.

Final Thoughts

Sala Thai has been a great place to go to since they’ve opened. It’s authentic and great to see how they are hiring Thai staff to make sure all of the food stays true.

We Rate Sala Thai: 

Address:
888 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.salathai.ca/

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In Four Beakers

Burma Superstar: Burmese Cuisine in San Francisco

Burma Superstar is the go to place when visiting San Francisco. I live in Vancouver and I found that in the past year a majority of them have closed down. When doing a quick search on Burmese cuisine, a lot of people recommended Burma Superstar.

Taking a look at the menu, a lot of the items looked pretty authentic, so I had to come here. There were some other restaurants that I was looking at, but it was a bit further away from the city.

We came here for a late lunch and this place was still busy, but there was just one table available, so we didn’t have to wait.

Tea Leaf Salad

Tea Leaf Salad has romaine lettuce, fried yellow beans, fried garlic, sesame seeds, fresh tomatoes, jalapenos, and dried shrimp. It tasted so good. I’m used to these without romaine, but most restaurants serve it like this.

Moh Hinga

Moh Hinga is a Catfish Chowder Noodle Soup. It has fish chowder with rice noodles, ground catfish, onions, cilantro, lemon, & topped with chili. So delicious!

Oh Noh Kauswer

Oh Noh Kauswer is Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup. It has Burmese style coconut noodle soup with chicken, onions, eggs, cilantro, lemon, & topped with chili. I love the crispy bits that add a nice texture to the noodles.

Of both noodles, I loved both of them. So delicious and I wanted more. My friend preferred the Oh Noh Kauswer a little bit more. Of all the meals I had on my trip to San Francisco, this was my favourite place. The price is good and you’ll leave satisfied.

We Rate Burma Superstar: 

Address:
309 Clement St.
San Francisco

Website:
http://www.burmasuperstar.com/

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In Noodles

Pho Xe Lua 24: Vietnamese Cuisine in Vancouver

Pho Xe Lua 24 is a little restaurant on Cambie Street serving up traditional Vietnamese food. A few of us came here for dinner an event. We all haven’t been to this restaurant yet, so we decided to come in and give it a try.

Just note, it is cash only.

Appetizers

Shrimp Salad Rolls comes with 4 pieces and a dipping sauce. It good, packed with vermicelli noodles, lettuce and shrimp held together by the rice paper. The sauce was delicious too.

Deep-Fried Chicken Wings comes with crisp pieces of wings and drumettes. The sauce that came with it was nice and tangy, which balanced well.

Vermicelli

Lemongrass Chicken with Spring Roll and Vermicelli had the chicken cooked well, the spring roll was crisp.

The fish sauce poured over the vermicelli was good.

Pho

Extra Large House Special Pho was what we ordered since we wanted to see how big this bowl really is. There’s a bit of everything in here from beef balls to tripe to rare stake. Good clean tasting broth that wasn’t too salty.

Overall, we had a good time dining here, the food was good and the price was cheap. The 3 of us spent $40 after tax and tip. Not bad at all. If you’re in the area and want large portions of good food at good prices, it’s here.

We Rate Pho Xe Lua 24: 

Address:
3346 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC

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In Fusion

Osum! Kitchen + Lab: Baogers and MoNoodles in Steveston

Osum! Kitchen + Lab is a new fusion restaurant that specializes in making unique baos and noodles. Besides being a restaurant, they are also a food lab that experiments with new creations. They have hopes of having special tastings and collaborations in the future.

They are located in Steveston on Bayview Street. The restaurant is small and with only 2 tables. We noticed some people doing take out and smaller groups here. Wen we left, there was even a birthday party.

I was invited to OSUM! to give a few of their items a try.

Their main items are Baogers, MoNoodle, Osum!Noodle and Cha. There’s not a large variety of items, but you’ll find something to enjoy.

Baoger

OSUM! Pork has slow-braised pork belly, cucumbers, pickled greens, cilantro, crushed peanuts, and OSUM! garlic peanut & sesame sauce. Nice warm bao backed with ingredients but it is a bit hard to eat as there is the pork floss covering the top of the baoger. You’ll need to use the wrapper to keep those hands clean.

OSUM! Beef has tender braised brisket, pickled greens, crispy shallots, toasted pine nuts, and OSUM! spicy peppercorn sesame sauce. I hint of spice but not too much.

OSUM! Chicken has grilled cheesy chicken, cucumbers, cilantro, crunchy cheese puffs, and OSUM! Korean sweet spicy sauce. A very playful creation, but the cheese puffs ended up being a bit limp because of the sauce in the baoger.

OSUM! Nutella is a fun items for kids with a sweet tooth. It has all-natural Nutella, crushed peanuts, raw premium almond flakes, and marshmallows.

OSUM! Noodle

Hot Dry Noodle has tender braised pork belly, handmade thick noodles, bean sprouts, pickled greens, scallions, cilantro, crispy shallots, homemade chili oil, and their OSUM! signature garlic-sesame-chili sauce. I like this dish as it has a lot of complimentary ingredients that work well together and has a kick of spice.

Coco-Curry Chicken has grilled chicken, handmade thick noodles, cucumbers, bean sprouts, lemongrass, pure coconut milk, crispy shallots, and OSUM! lime coconut-curry sauce. It is also topped with slices of cheese. I found the cheese to be a bit unnecessary. It sure made it a bit more fun, but

MoNoodle

Multi Mushroom needs 2 days in advance to create. It has handmade kale monoodles, assorted mushrooms, pine nuts, kale chips, truffle oil, bean sprouts, cilantro, peppercorn oil, and OSUM! special mushroom sauce. What is unique about this dish is their noodle is a single 1m long handmade broad kale noodles that fits in a bowl. It’s a good dish if you are vegan or love mushrooms. This is one of the more expensive dishes on the menu due to the ingredients.

Drinks

They have a few drinks on the menu. They have bottled fizzy drink and hot drinks on the menu.

I had the Cocoa Ovaltine to warm me up as it was a cold snowy day outside.

Overall, my favourite item was the hot dry noodles as the flavours worked really well together and wasn’t as fusion as the other dishes on their menu. When it comes down to their food, it depends on your flavour palate. As they are still quite new, I am sure they will continue to work hard to work out the kinks.

We Rate OSUM! Kitchen + Lab: 

Address:
125 3531 Bayview Street, Richmond

Website:
https://www.liveosum.com/

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