Seafood Archives - Page 6 of 14

In Chinese

Shiang Garden Restaurant: Fourteen Course Meal

June 30, 2015

Shiang Garden Seafood Restaurant is an authentic Chinese restaurant featuring Cantonese dim sum and live seafood. They are located on No. 3 Road close to Parker Place. This is a popular location for weddings as they can seat a large amount of people, plus the layout is ideal for a large banquet wedding.

The restaurant is on the 3rd floor, so you have to go through the parking lot. Their other entrance is currently under construction.

Surprisingly I haven’t been here yet. I came here for a ChineseBites dinner with a few other bloggers to eat through this 14 course meal. I’ve been balancing weekly hikes with these dinners.

They have about 15 chandeliers in here as well as lots of round tables. In the centre of the room is even a visible dance floor.

Prawns Salad with Papaya has half a papaya filled with fruit, mayo and 2 plump prawns. I’m usually not a fan of mixing savoury and sweet items, but its a strange combination that works. It makes a great appetizer since it is refreshing.

Tremella with Chicken & Crab Meat Soup and topped with tobiko. You can add a little of the red vinegar to add a tad more flavour. Soups are definitely essential to a good Chinese dinner.

Whole Chicken in Abalone Sauce is decorated like a peacock with the veggies and cherries. It even comes with its head. They really don’t waste any part of it…but you’re not supposed to eat the head anyways.

The chicken was very moist and went great with the abalone sauce.

Diced Beef Tenderloin in Honey & Pepper Man, the beef is really tender and I could eat this all day! So good! Also, whoever cut those cucumbers has mad knife skills and a super sharp knife.

Specialty Layer Pork with bok choy. A slab of oh so delicious pork belly cooked slowly till pure perfection. It was moist inside with a great deal of flavour. Well executed as the bok choy balanced out the fattiness of the pork.

Lamb Chop with Honey & Pepper reminded me of the diced beef tenderloin. Perhaps similar sauce and both were uber tender. So good!

Whole Tilapia in En-Ping Style is deboned and the flesh is quite delicate. Also comes with head, which can be a freaky thing.

Lobster in Salted Egg Yolk is not a very common flavouring for lobster in a restaurant. It is very delicious and unique. I would still prefer it tossed in a lighter sauce. They did cook the lobster very nicely.

BC Dungeness Crab in White Wine Sauce is always a little bit more difficult to eat since you need to open up the legs and dig for the meat. Definitely not for everyone, but it is a Chinese staple in a large dinner like this.

Steamed Spot Prawns in Garlic were prepared in a unique way. I have never seen prawns sliced down the middle. It made picking at the meat difficult. I really love them whole and I can peel them apart with my bare hands like a beast, but of course thats not very civil in a restaurant setting.

As it is closer to the end of the Spot Prawn season, these were on the small side.

Sauteed Mixed Seafood on a bed of snow peas and beautifully cut cucumbers and oranges. I love seafood and this dish has a good variety of it.

Buddha’s Feast Roll with Cabbage is a vegetarian dish. They did a good job putting together the rolls as they did not fall apart. It was cooked well and I also enjoyed this dish even though it has no meat.

For dessert, we had Baked Durian Pastry and Osmanthus Flower Cake Pudding. I had half a durian pastry, but it just taste like onions to me. Some people love this stuff. As for the cake pudding, it has a very subtle taste and its a nice way to end the meal.

Overall, all the dishes were well executed and tasted fabulous. No wonder people have weddings and go crazy over dim sum at Shiang Garden. Definitely try to make reservations ahead of time. I wasn’t disappointed by any dish. I’ll be back!

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited by ChineseBites to dine at Shiang Garden and my meal was comped. All thoughts are my own.

We Rate Shiang Garden:

Address:
Empire Centre
4540 Number 3 Road, Richmond

In Four Beakers

Kazu Japanese Restaurant: New Japanese Restaurant in Burnaby

January 10, 2015

Kazu Japanese Restaurant opened in 2014 and they are serving delicious sushi in North Burnaby. It’s on Madison and Hastings to be exact. M and I were looking for dinner after work and decided to pop in here.

There have been a bunch of Japanese Restaurants opening on Hastings like wild fire, but none of them are really good until now. Kazu Japanese Restaurant is run by really nice and friendly people and the food is just back to the basics yum. Japanese owned too!

Their menu is quite limited and you will find the usual items on the menu, but they make it right. Simple but so delicious.

Tuna and Salmon Sashimi ($7.25) came in small pieces but the quality was definitely there. M just loved this and couldn’t stop eating it.

Toro Nigiri ($2 each) is one of our favourite items to order and the quality again was very good! Delicious and fatty. M put this into his mouth and instantly started smiling because it was so good.

Unagi Nigiri ($2.75) is BBQ eel on top of rice. Really delicious too!

Chicken Karaage ($5.50) was simple and delicious served with a slice of lemon. It is deep-fried boneless chicken.

Gyozas ($3.75) comes with 5 pieces and they are pork and veggie dumplings.

Special Scallop Roll with Tobiko ($4.50) also has mayo, masago and cucumbers.

Tamago Nigiri ($1.25) was delicious according to M.

Tuna Tataki ($9.50) comes with 7 pieces. The tuna is lightly seared on the outside and dressed with ponzu sauce, shiso leaves, and sprouts. Very delicious.

Overall, M and I enjoyed our experience at Kazu Japanese restaurant. It’s getting quite popular, so try to make it here early or on a weekday. The food is back to the basics simple and tastes authentic. Staff are really friendly too.

We rate Kazu Japanese Restaurant:

Address:
4332 Hastings St
Burnaby, BC

In Farm to Table

Ulla: Top Restaurant in Victoria

December 19, 2014

ulla-sign

After a long day at work, the coworkers and I wanted to go out and celebrate Js Birthday at Ulla in Victoria. Whenever I come to Victoria, all the popular restaurants don’t take reservations, so you have to wait in line.

I’m glad Ulla takes reservations and if you’re not in town, they take email reservations so yo don’t have to waste long distance minutes.

ulla-lamp

Their interior is beautiful from their tables all the way to their light fixtures.

ulla-map

What I find so amazing about Victoria and their restaurant is how there is an increasing trend towards sourcing food that is hyper-local. They even show you on a map, where exactly on the island they source their food from.

ulla-bread

Complimentary bread arrives at the table with a dish of olive oil. It’s soft and fluffy on the inside with a hard crust on the outside.

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Hoyner Pilsner comes in a big bottle. It’s a nice light and crisp beer.

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They also make some good cocktails.

ulla-whippedtuna

Whipped Albacore Tuna Belly ($6) with sriracha and squid ink crisps. It only comes with 3 pieces on the plate but the different texture really worked well. The crispiness of the squid ink crisps and the soft and fluffy albacore tuna belly. It’s one of my favourite items.

ulla-canolli

Chicken and Morel Mushroom Cannelloni ($14) with bacon, parmesan crumb with veloute sauce. It comes with 3 pieces.

ulla-oup

Broccoli soup ($12) with cauliflower, carrot and ‘cheddar’ egg with a brioche crouton. The egg isn’t an egg, it looks like an egg with the cauliflower on the outside and the carrot on the inside making it look like an egg.

ulla-salad

Autumn Vegetable Salad ($12) has sunflower seed and yogurt ‘cheese’, kasha crisps and cider dressing.

ulla-scallop

Scallop boudin blanc ($15) with winter squash, pine mushroom, potato purée and pumpkin seeds. The scallops were pureed and made into a new shape. It had a neat texture and tasted really great.

ulla-steak

Bavette, heritage angus beef ($27) is served with potto roesti and puree, mushrooms, onions, creamed greens and a pepper sauce. The beef was cooked to medium and it was very tender.

ulla-loin

Still Meadows Farm Pork ($27), cheddar perogies, cabbage, celery root, apple cider jus The pork loin definitely had a lot of fat on of the ends, but it was still very delicious.

ulla-pear

Poached Pear ($9) with calvados sabayon, autumn spices, buttermilk sorbet, and almond streusel. A nice light dessert to end the meal.

Overall, it was another fantastic dinner at Ulla. Although it can be a bit pricey for the portions, it’s not an everyday restaurant. It’s great for special occasions.

We Rate Ulla Restaurant:

Address:
509 Fisgard St
Victoria BC

Website:
http://ulla.ca/

In Four Beakers

Minami: Taste of Yaletown

October 11, 2014

Taste of Yaletown is back for its 10th year full of bites, treats, sips and sights of Yaletown. Every year, Taste of Yaletown brings together the talents of chefs with culinary treasures in the best dining district in Vancouver.

From October 16th-30th, Yaletown kitchens will offer featured menus, special tastings and innovative pairings to tempt the most adventurous foodie. With a fresh approach to fixed price menus of $25, $35 and $45 restaurants will offer combinations of food and drink or even special in-house events.

Minami is participating again this year with 3 different menu options. I was invited for a sneak peak of their dinner menu and I was excited because they are one of my favourite restaurants in Vancouver.

[tabs tab1=”DINNER MENU $45″ tab2=”VEGETARIAN DINNER MENU $35″ tab3=”ZEN LUNCH $25″]
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Optional sake pairing 15

FIRST – SUSHI
Sake pairing: Dassai 39

wild boar bacon salmon oshi bite, sunset roll, maguro and kani maki, tai and hotate temari

SECOND – MINAMI ZEN
Sake pairing: Yu Junmai

Stone fruit salad
endive, goat feta, dried olives, maple sherry thyme vinaigrette, fig balsamic reduction
Jidori chicken and foie gras gyoza
truffle dashi consommé
Saikyo miso baked sablefish
coconut creamed kale, wasabi shoga relish, yuzu miso sauce
Braised fraser valley pork cheek
roasted kabocha-onion puree, apple red cabbage kraut, sweet & sour soy ginger glaze

DESSERT
Sake pairing: Hakkaisan Sparkling Nigori

Matcha tiramisu
matcha-genmai ladyfingers, azuki paste, matcha-white chocolate ganache, sesame crumble

[/tab]
[tab id=2]

Optional sake pairing 15

FIRST – FALL GARDEN PLATE
Sake pairing: Dassai 39

fresh market vegetables, soy paper roll, moromi miso sauce, sesame pesto, olive tapenade

SECOND – MINAMI ZEN
Sake pairing: Yu Junmai

Stone fruit
endive, goat feta, dried olives, maple, sherry thyme vinaigrette, fig balsamic reduction
Kaiso salad
baby frisee, umami soy vinaigrette, lotus root chip
Crispy tempeh
spiced tomato chutney, sautéed kale
Shiitake mizuna ricotta ravioli
truffled saikyo miso sauce, organic maple ginger granola

DESSERT
Sake pairing: Hakkaisan Sparkling Nigori

Matcha tiramisu
matcha-genmai ladyfingers, azuki paste, matcha-white chocolate ganache, sesame crumble

[/tab]
[tab id=3]

FIRST – ABURI SUSHI
Sake pairing: Dassai 39

salmon oshi, ebi oshi, sunset roll, nigiri

SECOND – MINAMI ZEN
Sake pairing: Yu Junmai

Aburi bincho
wasabi masatake sauce
Miso marinated tofu salad
baby greens, avocado, crispy tempeh, pickled daikon & carrot, umami soy vinaigrette
Saikyo miso baked sablefish
coconut creamed kale, wasabi shoga relish, yuzu-miso sauce
Braised fraser valley pork cheek
apple red cabbage kraut, roasted kabocha onion puree, sweet & sour ginger soy glaze

DESSERT
Sake pairing: Hakkaisan Sparkling Nigori

Spiced pumpkin brownie ice cream
cinnamon-nutmeg spice blend, walnut brownie pieces

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The sushi assortment has 5 pieces of tai temari, hotate temari, sunset roll, wild boar bacon salmon oshi bite, and maguro + Kani Maki. You really need to savour these 5 pieces of sushi because they taste amazing. Every single bite is a work of art.

Tai Temari was beautiful like a little sushi ball.

Hotate Temari is scallop cut in half and draped over sushi rice.

Sunset Roll has spicy tuna, cucumber, smoked salmon, and tobiko.

Wild Boar Bacon Salmon Oshi Bite and Maguro + Kani Maki were my 2 favourite rolls because of that amazing Miku sauce. That sauce makes your mouth water.

Next is the second course consisting of Braised Fraser Valley Pork Cheek, Saikyo Miso Baked Sablefish, Jidori Chicken and Fois Gras Gyoza, and their Stone Fruit Salad.

Braised Fraser Valley Pork Cheek has a roasted kabocha-onion puree, apple red cabbage kraut, with a sweet and sour soy ginger glaze. The cheek was tender and full of flavour.

Saikyo miso baked sablefish also has a coconut creamed kale, wasabi shoga relish, and yuzu miso sauce. The skin was crisp and the delicate flavours of the sablefish went well with the sauce.

Jidori Chicken and Foie Gras Gyoza also comes with a truffle dashi consommé. The gyoza was good!

Stone Fruit Salad has endive, goat feta, dried olives, maple sherry thyme vinaigrette, and fig balsamic reduction. The fruit was really fresh and everything blended nicely together. It’s good to have one of the item a salad to break up the taste of meat.

Last but not least is their Matcha tiramisu for dessert. It has matcha-genmai ladyfingers, azuki paste, matcha-white chocolate ganache, with a sesame crumble. Oh man, this was good. No more need for regular Tiramisu because this is amazing.

Overall, it’s always a good time at Minami. The $45 dinner menu is reasonable and you get a taste of everything Minami has to offer. If you aren’t keen to spending that much, the $25 lunch is a good option too.

We Rate Minami:

Address:
1118 Mainland St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://minamirestaurant.com/

In Downtown

Miku: Great Place to Take Tourists in Vancouver

August 11, 2014

Behind these beautiful doors are the famous aburi sushi dishes from Miku. Aburi Sushi was inspired by the innovative idea of sear-flaming sushi, which they are best known for. You can’t come here without having a taste of their Aburi Sushi. They also have a sister restaurant called Minami and Gyoza Bar (opening soon).

Miku is a spot where I want to take new people to Vancouver if I want to impress them. It is a bit pricey and will probably hurt your wallet, but it’s a place you need to experience once in your life. M’s relatives were in town, so I had to give them a taste of their delicious Salmon Oishi Sushi that everyone crazy over.

The interior is beautiful and you can get a good view of the Waterfront area if you are sitting near the window.

Nutrigreens Farm Tofu Salad ($10) is a vegetarian dish that has nutrigreen farm organic baby greens, crumbled miso tofu, pickled daikon and carrot, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, crispy wonton and a umami soy vinaigrette. It was really good! Highly recommended!

Aburi Tuna ($16) has the lightly flame seared albacore tuna with masatake sauce. The tuna is very fresh and flavourful.

Aburi Chirashi Tart ($21) comes with miso soup and is part of their lunch special. The tart has layers of spicy tuna, avocado, aburi salmon, prawn, scallop, flying fish roe, ikura and miku sauce. It’s a pretty good lunch item if it’s for 1 person.

Since there was 6 of us for lunch, we all shared a bit of everything.

Garden Roll ($13) has asparagus, avocado, shiso leaf, ginger, wasabi miso sauce wrapped in a pickled watermelon radish and yellow pepper.

Crunchy Surf and Turf Roll ($15) comes with 8 pieces and it has wasabi marinated jumbo prawns, cucumber, lettuce, wrapped in aburi short rib, jalapeño garlic ponzu and topped with aonori tempura bits.

Salmon Oshi Sushi ($16) has pressed BC wild sockeye salmon, jalapeno, miku sauce and then it is flame-seared with its signature sauce.

Saba Oishi Sushi ($16) has pressed house-cured mackerel and miso sauce. Then it is also flame-seared.

Overall, some items can be a hit or miss, but if you order the Aburi items, it will sure be a hit with your friends that are new in town. Nothing really beats the freshness of the seafood on the West Coast!

We Rate Miku:

Address:
70-200 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.mikurestaurant.com/

In Canadian

Ulla Restaurant: Best Restaurant in Victoria

July 29, 2014

Ulla Restaurant in Victoria has some pretty amazing food. Mags and I came here after visiting the Victoria Chinatown Night Market. The market wasn’t impressive as it was their first week opening, but at the end of the night market, we decided to go to Ulla since it looked like a pretty good place and the menu sounded yummy.

They have won several awards – 2011 enroute Canada’s Best New Restaurants, Van Mags Best of Victoria 2013, and several more.

The interior is beautiful and has a night bright and simple decor.

Plus, the light fixtures are pretty cute.

They have fresh local ingredients, with delicious classic flavours and has great techniques in preparing their food. They have a strong commitment to use local organic products whenever possible and aim to serve only ethically raised proteins.

It’s even on the back of their menus. You can see where their produce comes from on their map.

Each dish is balanced, well thought out and will leave you feeling perfectly satisfied. The menu truly offers something for everyone; from lighter seafood dishes to hearty and flavourful meats to exciting vegetarian dishes. Everything is stunningly presented and offers great value.

Complimentary Bread arrives with some olive oil. The bread was fresh and was quite delicious.

They have a good selection of virgin drinks here along with alcoholic drinks.

Kombucha is a fermented drink of tea. Some people claim there are health benefits by drinking it, but who knows if it does. Kombucha tastes like vinegar basically.

Whipped tuna belly, sriracha, squid ink crisp, charred onion relish ($6) was an interesting dish and we didn’t really know how it would be presented on the dish. These bite size treats were very delicious!!!!

Qualicum scallop mousse sausage, carrots, confit potato, pumpkin seeds, nasturtium ($15) was pretty awesome. The scallops had a texture similar to tofu. The flavours were really great. Magz and I really enjoyed it.

The dish I don’t remember what it was called or what was in it. But it was a pork filled dish with crackling, puffed pork rind and a croquette-like item with pork belly inside.

Island Beef, potato roesti & puree, mushrooms, cipollini, creamed chard, cubeb pepper sauce ($27) was delicious as well! The beef was tender and cooked right till medium rare. So good!

Chocolate Cake, cherry, chocolate soil, aerated chocolate, vanilla ice cream ($9) was a nice end to the meal. It’s best to share this dessert as it is quite rich and sweet.

Overall, all the dishes were pretty good and we were quite happy and glad we dined here for our last dinner in Victoria. I would definitely come here again!

We Rate Ulla Restaurant:

Address:
509 Fisgard St
Victoria BC

Website:
http://ulla.ca/

In Four Beakers

Red Fish, Blue Fish: Amazing Fish and Chips

July 27, 2014

Red Fish, Blue Fish is an outdoor waterfront eatery in an up-cycled cargo container on a wooden pier in Victoria’s Inner Harbour. It’s a unique, fresh, and sustainable approach to a fish ‘n’ chip shop. It’s probably the most popular eatery in Victoria.

Before it opened on a Saturday, there was already about 20 people waiting in line. You definitely want to get here before 11:20am. We got here at 11:10am and we were the 5th people in line.

Once they opened at 11:30am, people were excited!

Once you put in your order, you can wait at the other window for the order to come out. They will call your name if you want to grab a seat first. It does take a bit of time for the order to come out.

San Pellegrino Aranciata was what we ordered to drink to go with our fish & chips and tacones.

1 piece salmon and 1 piece halibut fish and chips has a crispy tempura-batter and its served with tartar sauce, slaw and Kennebec chips. When it arrives, you know you are getting a quality product. All the fish is locally sourced and OceanWise certified.

When I cut through the fish and chips, there is a lot of meat in here. This is hands down my favourite fish and chips! Highly recommended. Halibut was M’s favourite.

Tacones are hand-rolled tacos. It has grilled flour tortilla with slaw, pea shoots, and lemon-pickled onions.

There are 7 flavours of tacones, but I just got 2 or else I would be crazy full.

Grill-Seared Albacore Tuna ($6) has a spicy Spot Prawn mayo with the grilled medium-rare tuna.

Grilled Fanny Bay Oyster ($6) has a Million Island Dressing.

I really loved the grilled fanny bay oysters, lots of great flavour from the oyster and the grill. The Grilled-Seared Tuna was ok, but the cooked parts were a bit dry.

Overall, we really enjoyed our meal, but the only downside is the price. You definitely get quality and their food does taste amazing. I would definitely come back again!

We Rate Red Fish, Blue Fish:

Address:
1006 Wharf St Victoria BC

Website:
http://www.redfish-bluefish.com/

In Late Night

Ferris Oyster Bar: Oysters in Victoria, BC

July 25, 2014

Ferris’ Oyster Bar is located in Victoria, BC. When I was here for a work trip, I wanted to check it out as it was one of the most talked about places in town, plus very high reviews. It is more upscale compared to the Ferris’ Oyster Grill on the first floor. Mags and I came here once we wrapped up work.

The interior is nice and cozy with cool art on the walls.

Baked Oysters (one of each $18) has 6 different flavours you can choose from. Since Mags and I wanted to them all, we opted to try them all.

The flavours were:

Cornelius – corn flakes, butter, fresh thyme
Bottecelli – pecorino romano, cracked pepper, lemon and breadcrumbs
Original Rockefeller – spinach, green onion, butter and Pernod
La Truffe – Creamed Leaks, crispy prosciutto, truffle oil
Sea horse – horseradish, butter, lemon
Catalan – romesco, bread crumb, olive oil

When it arrived to our table, I thought it was strange it wasn’t baked in the shell. The only flavor we enjoyed was the Botticelli, but everything else was quite strange.

Virgin Seafood Caesar ($6.50) has freshly shucked oyster, chilled mussel and tomato juice with spicy picked green beans, piparras and fresh horseradish. It was a beautiful presentation and tasted great!

Chicken Liver Pate ($9) is served in a mason jar and topped with a pedro ximenez gelée and served with crostini. We did not like this dish because we like to keep our pâté separated from the jam. It really was drowning in the jam and masked a lot of the pâté taste. I would never order this again.

Ceviche ($12) was served with local seafood, aji amarillo, and spicy leche de tigre. This dish was also very disappointing because it did not contain any acidic notes in the sauce. It tasted more like mango juice with tuna sitting inside.

Overall, Mags and I were not very impressed with Ferris’ Oyster Bar. Nothing tasted right and the service was atrocious. Our server dropped some of our crostini on the table, while she was placing it down. She just said ooopps and put it back onto our plate with her bare hands. The only thing good was the Virgin Seafood Caesar. There’s a lot of other Oyster bars that are better than Ferris.

We Rate Ferris Oyster Bar:

Address:
536 Yates St
Victoria BC

Website:
http://www.ferrisoysterbar.com/

In Four Beakers

Minami: Minami Zen Lunch Set

June 30, 2014

Mags and I wandered to Yaletown to get a sandwich, but ended up going to Minami, which was the best idea ever. We just needed a taste of their delicious Salmon Oshi Sushi. If you’ve had it before, you know its pretty damn delicious. It’s always one of my favourite dishes in town.

Minami is the sister restaurant of Miku, which made famous the Aburi style or flame searing technique to Vancouver’s thriving sushi scene. I always find they use quality ingredients and have Ocean Wise seafood options.

Mags and I both had the Minami Zen ($28) which includes:

miso soup
Aburi Tuna
Tofu Salad
Chicken Nanban
Beef Tenderloin Skewer
5 pieces of Signature Aburi sushi

It’s a perfect set to really try a bit of everything off the menu. The price is reasonable and you get the most value out of it.

The first 4 items are served in a traditional Japanese hinoki box.

Aburi Tuna is lightly seared with a wasabi masatake sauce on top. It is also garnished with radishes and seaweed. There are 3 pieces of tuna and it tastes really good.

Tofu Salad is topped off with wonton crisps and a umami soy vinaigrette. It was light and refreshing and the wonton crisps really give it a nice texture.

Chicken Nanban has a sweet and sour soy sauce with an asian slaw. It was ok, but the chicken inside was quite bland and missing some flavour.

Beef Tenderloin Skewer has a sweet soy glaze and has tsukemono, which are pickled vegetables. The skewer was quite large, but it was hard to chew some parts.

Miso soup came in a large bowl and it has tofu, enoki mushrooms and seaweed. Yummy.

The 5 pieces of signature aburi sushi did include the widely popular Salmon Oshi Sushi.

Salmon Oshi Sushi is pressed BC wild salmon, jalapeno, and the secret miku sauce. The BEST!

I don’t know what this one was but I think it was Toro. It was melt in your mouth delicious! None of the aburi items disappointed. Mmmm Mmmmm Mmmmmmm!

Overall, the lunch was more than I would normally have spent, but it was so delicious. It’s always nice to have a treat at the end of the week especially when it’s pay day.

We Rate Minami:

Address:
1118 Mainland St
Vancouver BC

Website:
http://minamirestaurant.com/

In Chinese

Western Lake: King Crab + Duck Dinner for 10

May 25, 2014

Last month, it was a crazy time for Chinese Restaurants in Vancouver with the arrival of the Alaskan King Crab. It was a short season, so if you missed it, you will either have to pay a lot of wait till next year.

They had 3 set menus that you can choose from. The prices during the time that we went were quite fair and you get a lot of food. If you want to opt out of the menu and do à la carte, you can as well and build your own menu. Perhaps the crab and few extra dishes on the side. It will be considerably cheaper. Good for smaller groups of people.

The set meal options are below, it’s good for large groups.

For the 8 of us, we went with the King Crab and Beijing Duck Dinner for 10 people. It can feed more than 10, 12 is a good number too.

It includes:

Crispy Duck Skin with Crepes
Duck meat with lettuce wraps
king crab legs steamed with garlic
Shredded duck meat soup with dried scallops
King Crab body in supreme soy sauce bedded with rice dough
Diced beef tenderloin with deep-fried milk puffs
Dried fish maw and shredded ham with greens
sautéed and deep-fried sole fillets
Egg whites fried rice with dried scallops or baked rice with seafood
Tossed noodle in crab sauce
Baked tapioca pudding

For $398, it was not bad.

The crab we chose was pretty big. It’s always fun to get someone to pose with the crab before dinner. My grandpa did the honour of doing that since he’s never had Alaskan King Crab before.

When you arrive at the table, there are complimentary peanuts and pickled vegetables ready for you to munch on.

Crispy Duck Skin with Crepes was the first dish to arrive. The duck skin is crispy and lays above some fried shrimp chips.

You get the duck with the crepes, and a few vegetables and sauce to put together.

Once you have what you want to have in your wrap, you snack it on top of each other, roll it up and start eating. It was really good!

Duck meat with lettuce wraps was the next dish to arrive. They don’t waste any of the duck. Most of the duck meat goes into this dish.

You scoop the filling into the lettuce wrap and eat away.

I roll it up like a spring roll to keep any of the filling from spilling out. I love the crunch of the fresh lettuce and the savoury duck.

Fish Maw soup arrived at the table and they divide up the portions among the table.

I love this type of soup, but some people may not like it after finding out fish maw is the air bladder of a fish that controls its buoyancy. Don’t be afraid, it actually tastes like nothing but has a consistency of jelly.

King crab legs steamed with garlic was the dish we were all waiting for. Deliciously drenched with all the garlic. So good!

King Crab body in supreme soy sauce bedded with rice dough came after the steamed legs.

Diced beef tenderloin with deep-fried milk puffs was surprisingly delicious! The beef was very flavourful and the milk puffs were creamy and delicious.

Dried fish maw and shredded ham with bok choy.

Sautéed and deep-fried sole fillets with broccoli. The sautéed sole fillets tasted good with the broccoli, but the deep-fried cole wasn’t that good.

Baked rice with seafood is another amazing dish made of the king crab parts. There are still bits of meat baked in the crab head shell. It is topped off with the delicious Portuguese sauce.

Alternatively, you can order the egg whites fried rice with dried scallops.

Tossed noodle in crab sauce is yummy. It has the sauce from the crab dishes and is very flavourful.

Baked tapioca pudding is the last item to arrive and it’s definitely a treat.

They help you scoop a piece into the bowls for you and it’s really good.

Overall, the meal was great and one of the better places in town for Alaskan King Crab.

We Rate Western Lake Chinese Seafood Restaurant:

Address:
4989 Victoria Dr
Vancouver, BC

In Downtown

Mosaic: New Summer Menu

May 22, 2014

Mosaic Bar & Grille is located in the Hyatt Vancouver on Burrard and Georgia Street. They specialize in locally sourced produce, sustainable seafood and choice ingredients with careful and creative preparation.

As Summer is coming near, Mosaic has launched their new Summer Menu. Chef Heinrich and Chef Jo worked hard to put the menu together to showcase unique dishes with fresh in-season ingredients.

I was invited by Chef Heinrich to try the menu and I couldn’t help but drag Mandu along with me as she does love trying out new and fascinating dishes.

As usual, the meal starts off with complimentary biscuits that arrive as you wait for your meal. It’s fluffy and comes with butter.

Pemberton Beef Tartar ($16) has pickled fire roasted spring onion, water cress and a sesame tuile surrounding the soft sous vide egg yolk and beef tartar.

I found the mustard to really overpower the tender beef. I could only taste the intense mustard as it was hitting me in the face.

Avocado Terrine ($12) has watermelon radish, fava beans, fiddlehead ferns, and a lemon vinegar oil. It was great to see all the lovely vibrant colours from the fresh vegetables. Beautiful salad, but I felt the avocado terrine was lacking. It needed something salty and acidic to go with the bland taste of the terrine.

BC Gooseneck Barnacles ($14) comes with sherry, cream, green garlic, ramps and served with grilled crostini.

I have never had a gooseneck barnacle, but I am sure I did try this dish. It tasted really good with the broth. If you like seafood, you’ll like this dish.

Papayas ($16) has the white spot shrimp, cucumber, papaya puree, and cilantro lime fluid gel. This dish was beautiful and delicious. The shrimp was pretty darn delicious!

BC Ling Cod ($18) has artichoke confit, stinging nettles, and a lobster sauce. The ling cod was tender and had a nice crispy crust on the outside. The artichoke complimented nicely with the dish.

Squid Ink Casarecce ($20) has manilla clams, two river smoked chorizo, and english peas. Don’t be afraid of the black pasta, it tastes just like regular pasta. The sauce was delicious and so were all the clams.

Peace Country Lamb ($26) has buckwheat groats, fava beans, with a coffee jus. The lamb was medium rare and super tender! You know this is a good slab of lamb.

Baja Ocean Wise Scallops ($22) has grilled foraged ramps, sweet runner corona beans, and a fennel puree.

Strawberry and Rhubarb Pavlova is a meringue based dessert and it was very crispy and hard. I’ve never had pavlova before, but if I had to compare it to something it would be like a hard styrofoam.

Mosaic Chocolate Cake is always a must! The slice is huge and tastes really good.

Overall, some of the dishes are either a hit or a miss. What I liked about the menu is there are some pretty cool items you wouldn’t find easily on other menus around town like gooseneck barnacles.

We Rate Mosaic:

Address:
655 Burrard St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://vancouver.hyatt.com/

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In Commercial Drive / Grandview

Kishimoto: I Got Cravings

May 11, 2014

Right after work, M and I were deciding if we wanted to go home to cook dinner or just to go out for dinner. After pondering in the car for a while, I thought about Kishimoto and we ditched our cooking plans to chow down at Kishimoto. Seriously, it’s a good place, but the wait is nuts. It was a little before 6pm and there was already a line forming.

All the tables were full.

Luckly, the bar was open, so we sat there without hesitation. Plus, I really like looking at the chefs doing their thing. I was amazed because the staff didn’t say much but they had a very good rhythm of execution.

Salmon Oshisushi ($11.75) has a salmon creamy sauce with freshly cracked black pepper, then seared with a torch and an added jalapeño on top. This is one of their signature items. A lot of people compare it to Miku, but it’s still good here too.

The time around there is more scorched top and it tasted heavenly. The charcoal makes a huge difference.

Tuna and Salmon ($10.25) comes with 3 pieces of salmon and 3 pieces of tuna. Good quality of sashimi! Plus a nice presentation.

Chicken Karaage ($6.75) is very good. Nice crispy skin with a slightly sweet sauce. The sweet sauce is what makes it different that the usual chicken karaage.

Toro Nigiri just melts in your mouth because it’s so fatty. So good! Don’t put it all in your mouth at once, eat it in 2 or 3 bites to really enjoy it.

Unagi Nigiri was good and full of flavour.

Tamago Nigiri was good as well.

Overall, we had a great dinner. It is always a bit pricier than most places, but the quality is there. The downside is the wait. Some people waited 45 minutes for a table.

We Rate Kishimoto Japanese Kitchen:
Address:
2054 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/pages/Kishimoto…

In Four Beakers

Kingyo Izakaya: Lunch Time

May 10, 2014

We came to Kingyo Izakaya during lunch on a weekday and it was packed! My coworkers wanted sometime really really good, so i suggested we come here. Sadly, I am directionally challenged, so I didn’t realize how far it was from our office.

We wanted to get the Kingyo Bento Box set that is limited to 10 a day, but sadly it was sold out by 11:30am. So, we opted for their regular lunch menu.

AAA+ Beef Fillet Steak Bowl ($14.80) has beef fillet steak with balsamic vinegar, wasabi, butter soy based sauce, served with a poached egg and seaweed on top of rice. It also has miso soup.

Chicken Karaage Wasabi Oroshi Bowl ($9.80) has deep-fried chicken garnished with wasabi and daikon served with mayo and lettuce on top of rice. It has miso soup too.

Fresh Seafood Chirashi-Zushi was the April special on their menu. The chef special changes every month. The dish comes with miso soup.

It has a bed of hot rice topped with a lot of seafood, ikura eggs, sprouts, tobiko and egg. Really good and filling for lunch. Looks really pretty too. I enjoyed it.

Porkloin cutlet/Tonkatsu combo ($13.80) has the deep-fried pork cutlet covered in panko bread crumbs and deep fried. It comes with cabbage salad, miso soup and rice. It was an impressive dish and very fun to eat. The cutlet was also thick and tender with the crunchy exterior crust.

Overall, we had a great time at Kingyo for lunch. It is a tad pricier that some other places for lunch, but it is really good.

We Rate Kingyo:

Address:
871 Denman St
Vancouver, BC V6G

Website:
http://www.kingyo-izakaya.ca

In Four Beakers

Tokyo Thyme: Time for Japanese Food

April 25, 2014

Tokyo Thyme has been on my “to-eat” list for a very long time, but it’s always out of the way for me as I live and work far away from Kerrisdale. M was very skeptical like he usually is. We both wanted to see if this restaurant has some good sushi.

The restaurant is decently sized. We came on a Friday evening for dinner and it wasn’t packed at all. There was a larger party there, but it cleared out quickly. It has a homey feel to the restaurant.

Red and White Tuna Stack with Quail Egg ($15.50 +$0.50) has a tower of red and white tuna, and avocado. Topped with Seaweed, green onions and the quail egg. It is served with sushi rice and seaweed.

Its really beautiful and its a pitty you have to mix it together and ruin the pretty layers.

Once you mix it together, you take the seaweed, put on some rice and the mixture. Fold and enjoy. It did taste great but its pricey.

Tuna Tataki ($12.50) is seared tuna served with spicy ponzu sauce. It’s another beautifully presented dish and come with 6 pieces. It tasted great.

Homemade Dumpling was the special on the menu when we dined here. I thought they were ok.

Sesame crusted tuna steak ($13.50) has seared tuna covered in black and white sesame, served with spicy sauce and mixed greens. Yet again, its beautifully presented and it’s very original compared to other restaurants.

Mmm yummy. Even the salad was good.

Tamago Nigiri ($1.75) was delicious. The eel was warm and had a delicious sweet and smokey taste.

Unagi Nigiri ($3.95) was good as well. M really loved it.

Toro Nigiri ($3.25) was melt in your mouth delicious. It’s very fatty and is just so good.

The food quality at Tokyo Thyme is fantastic and original. The downside is the portions are smaller and the prices are higher than most. In my opinion, it was worth it because they use fresh ingredients that are higher quality.

We Rate Tokyo Thyme:

Address:
5405 West Blvd
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.tokyothyme.com/

In Izakaya

Itadakimasu Izakaya: Japanese Food on Main

April 24, 2014

Itadakimasu Izakaya is a Japanese restaurant on Main street. They are only open for dinner and they have some good drink specials at night. We came here for a triple birthday party as they had great drink specials and good price on food.

Sapporo Pitcher ($9.99) and Large Geikkaikan Sake ($5.99) are an amazing deal.

Daily Cute Temari Sushi Box ($12) has 10 assorted ball shaped sushi. They are essentially nigiri’s in a different form. They definitely look amazing, but once you taste it, its quite standard. Nothing different tasting.

Beef Tataki ($10) has seared rare AAA beef tenderloin marinated in ginger soy and mirin. It also has ponzu sauce in gelatin form.

Chicken Karaage ($6) is marinated chicken thats been deep-fried. It comes with 6 pieces and its delicious as always.

Geso Karaage ($6.50) is deep fried squid legs. Squeeze some lemon to it to add some more flavour. I thought it was a bit bland.

Pari Pari Ebi Mayo ($7) has crispy prawns with a spicy chilli mayo sauce. It was good! We all enjoyed it. The sauce has a nice level of spiciness.

Butter Mentaiko Udon ($8) has udon noodles tossed in a butter and cod roe sauce. It is garnished with shreds of seaweed. Simple and delicious. You just mix it all together before eating.

Tsukemono ($5) has assorted pickled vegetables. It was alright.

Tako-yaki octopus dumplings (10 pcs – $7.50) is topped with tonkatsu sauce, kewpie mayo and bonito flakes. It tasted pretty average.

Toro sashimi was delicious and always enjoyable.

Tuna Tacos ($7) comes with 3 pieces and it contains seared tuna, coleslaw, yuzu, pepper, mayo, and some garnishes.

Tuna Tataki ($8) has Shichimi crusted tuna, ponzu jelly and scallions. It comes with 8 pieces.

Fried Udon Noodles ($7.50) has pork, kimchi, and fried udon noodles with garnishes. It was a tasty dish.

Overall, the food was good and a plus are the cheap drinks! I’d definitely come back.

We rate Itadakimasu Izakaya:

Address:
4148 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.itadakimasubar.com/

In Chinese

The Jade Seafood Restaurant 玉庭軒海鮮酒家: Alaskan King Crab

March 30, 2014

Every year, I look forward to eating Alaskan King Crab. When Tourism Richmond invited me to come down to join them and some food bloggers and media, I couldn’t say no. We headed to Jade Seafood Restaurant in Richmond. This restaurant has been recipients of multiple Chinese Restaurant Awards and Vancouver Magazine Awards. I haven’t been to this restaurant till now.

The restaurant was packed and most tables were having Alaskan King Crab. It is always best to call ahead of time to guaranteed the size of King Crab that you want for your party. You can get one up to 20 pounds!

Since there was only 7 of us, we settled for 7 pounds ($28.88 per pound), which is a great size so everyone gets about a pound each. They can turn this crab into 3 or 4 dishes depending on what dinner set you choose.

The dinner set we got was the 10 person dinner set, which comes with 10 courses and cost a total of $398. Items on it can be modified. It is a bit pricier than some Chinese restaurants in town, but always come with a large group, so you can split the bill so the price is more reasonable.

Steamed Mushroom Dumplings was a modification to the set meal. This is one of their signature items on their menu and it is filled with a mixture of mushrooms. It’s great for mushroom lovers like myself.

Shredded Chicken with Fish Maw Soup is another great dish. I love this type of soup, but some people may not like it after finding out fish maw is the air bladder of a fish that controls its buoyancy. Don’t be afraid, it actually tastes like nothing but has a consistency of jelly.

They serve the soup individually and you can add some of the red vinegar for added taste. I love vinegar, so I added a good amount into my bowl. It really changes the flavour profile completely.

Steamed King Crab Legs with Garlic is another staple item on an Alaskan King Crab meal. All the legs are cut open, so you can easily scoop out the meat. They really make it easy to eat especially for picky eaters. This item is very standard across all Chinese restaurants and you can get it anywhere.

Deep Fried King Crab Knuckles in Spicy XO sauce is always one of my favourite dishes. It wasn’t spicy at all and the crunchy exterior was so yummy. The added edamame and garlic chips were just perfect. Nom nom nom nommmmm…

Grandpa Chicken came with the whole chicken. It was served cold and it’s like a smoked soy sauce chicken. It was ok, but it wasn’t anything amazing.

This was also a substitute item and on the original menu, it would have been the peking duck.

Minced Beef with lettuce wraps. If we had the peking duck, this would have been the duck and lettuce wraps. I didn’t mind too much since this is always a fun dish to put together.

You take the lettuce wrap and then scoop up the filling and add a dash of the sauce for extra flavour. Then, you roll it up and start munching away. The flavours were good and I always like the chestnut for an extra crunch in texture.

Bean curd and bok choy in fish soup was a nice break from the rest of the items in the meal. I personally love tofu and vegetables so I ate this up. I could eat endless amounts of this.

Braised Halibut with Green Onion and Ginger was a very surprising dish. The halibut was in meaty chunks, very moist and had a nice crisp exterior.

Baked Rice in Portuguese Sauce with King Crab Head is what we have all been waiting for. All the rice and sauce overflowing out of the shell.

They serve it to you in individual bowls and it’s always a treat to eat. Loved that there was so much sauce.

Steamed Brown Sugar Honey Cake was a new item to me. It looked crazy cool and looked very porous. It was spongy and was like a very firm jello. After taking a bit out of it, it was really good! Not too sweet at all.

Coconut Cookies and Lotus seed pastries was the last dessert. Went well with tea and was a nice item to end off the meal.

Overall, Alaskan King Crab is a pricey meal, so always make sure you have a group of friends to go with. It makes it more fun. Jade Seafood Restaurant is more of a higher end Chinese Restaurant, but you still have tons of options in the Lower Mainland to enjoy Alaskan King Crab while the season lasts.

We Rate Jade Seafood Restaurant:

Address:
8511 Alexandra Rd
Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.jaderestaurant.ca/

In American

Burgoo: Amazing Comfort Food

March 28, 2014

I’m so glad I work so close to Burgoo. Burgoo is the ultimate place for addictive comfort food. Sometimes, we have to put diets aside and just indulge in delicious food. Their location is on Main street and have others in Kitsilano, North Vancouver, and Point Grey areas.

They have Mac and Cheese, Grilled Cheese, fondue, soups, stews and a bunch of other satisfying items. They don’t take reservations on Fridays/Saturdays, but they only do reservations for large groups (8-12 ppl) on other days. The wait time can fluctuate. One time I had no wait and another time, it was an hour.

After School Special ($16.50) give you the choice of any sandwich and soup on the menu. To keep it classic, M chose Gooey Cheese Grillers which includes two grilled, angle cut, house baguette sandwiches with melted Mozzarella, Gruyere, Emmenthal and white Cheddar. For his soup, he chose Straight Up Tomato Soup with red wine simmered tomato and garlic, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

This is the ultimate comfort food! Best grilled cheese I’ve ever had. You can’t go wrong with this choice. They don’t skimp on the cheese.

Mussels Cocotte ($18) has fresh mussels cooked with white wine, cream, herbs and bacon, served with house bread. Its an appetizer that is supposed to be shared, but I had it all to myself. This is my version of comfort food. There was a lot of mussels and the size was definitely worth the price.

There was so much sauce too! Great for dipping the bread into. There was also large chunks of bacon. MMMMmmmmmm BACON.

Overall, M and I were impressed. The price is fair and if you make the right choices of your dish, you’ll be in heaven.

We Rate Burgoo:

Address:
3096 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://burgoo.ca/

In Japanese

Aki Japanese Restaurant: Relocated to Pender Street

February 26, 2014

Aki Japanese Restaurant is located on Pender Street near Coal Harbour. They have relocated from their previous location on Thurlow. They are one of the oldest and authentic Japanese restaurant in Vancouver.

I came here with M and CoffeeLover for dinner after work. We haven’t been here in a while and thought it was good to take another revisit.

The interior is very modern and sleek compared to their previous location. New and shiny. Their sushi bar looks pretty awesome.

The restaurant has very high ceiling to give it a very open feel. They take reservation for small to large groups too.

Orion Beer ($10) is Japan’s 5th largest brewery and originated from Okinawa prefecture. Similar to Asahi and Sapporo as it is light and crisp. Pairs well with Japanese cuisine.

Kinpira ($3.50) is sauteed julienned burdock root. It’ s a small appetizer.

Yakitori ($4.50) comes with 2 skewers and you can choose to have it topped with teriyaki sauce or seasalt. We went with teriyaki and it was pretty good. Simple and straight forward.

Chicken Skin ($3.50) comes with 2 skewers as well. We had it topped with seasalt. The skin is crispy but it wasn’t amazing or anything. I thought it would be more flavourful, but it just tasted like burnt food. I wouldn’t order this again.

Salmon and tuna sashimi ($15) was quite expensive for 10 pieces. It tasted good, but the quality seemed standard among Japanese restaurants in Vancouver.

Toro nigiri ($3 each) wasn’t very fatty and it didn’t melt in our mouths. Unagi nigiri ($3.75 each) was flavourful and delicious. Tamago nigiri ($1.80 each) was ok.

Spicy Chopped Scallop Roll ($5.50), Negitoro roll ($4.95), and Unakyu Maki ($4.95) was nothing fancy. Pretty average.

Assorted Sushi ($15.95) is quite pricey but you do try a variety of nigiri and tuna rolls.

Overall, the food is pricey compared to other places in town. I feel like I’ve been spoiled by so many other Japanese restaurants in town that this place just seems average. Our entire meal was over $100 and it sure hurt our wallet.

We Rate Aki Japanese restaurant:

Address:
1368 W Pender St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://akirestaurant.ca/

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