Tasting Journey #19 - Deer Garden Signatures

Deer Garden Signatures
Continental Central
1118-3779 Sexsmith Road
Richmond, BC
604-278-3779
www.deergarden.ca

Known for its fish broth soup noodle (魚湯米線), Deer Garden was recommended by a few friends on several different occasions.   Deer Garden has two stores, both located in Richmond, and both crazily packed during peak meal hours.  So what exactly is this signature fish soup?  According to google, the origin of this dish came from Cambodia, and is known for its flavourful fish broth.  

Chaochou style dried fish & minced pork fish soup

We arrived at Deer Garden approx 20min after it opened and already, the restaurant was full, and had a short line up.  While waiting to be seated, I decided to study its menu (though I already knew what I wanted - its signature fish noodle soup). I was expecting the selections to be short, but to my surprise, it was like an a la carte menu.  Aside from the rice and spaghetti dishes that are also offered by most other HK-style restaurant in Vancouver, the fish noodle soup comes in many combination that you can't imagine.  A bit too much thinking required for my brain on a Sunday morning ^^...First, you need to pick one of the 6 soup base offered; Then you select the type of noodle to add to your broth, another 9 options;  Finally, you choose Add caption2 of the 30 toppings available.

Original fish soup

As soon as we sat down, we placed our orders, and the food came.  8/10 for serving speed, and an OK for the service - Typical, as what you would expect in a HK-style cafe.  The portion was very generous, both in the amount noodle and the amount of toppings (I was only able to finish half of the bowl).    I took a sip of the broth - rich in flavouring, yet light without grease.  Considering that the broth contains no MSG, it is extremely well made.  An excellent selection for those who are health-conscious. 

HK-style tea in a metal mug

While indulging myself in this bowl of noodle soup, I thought to myself: so how does this compare to my other soup noodle favourites such as Japanese ramen or Pho?  I would say that the broth is as delicious as the ramen soup minus the grease; and the flavouring is as tasty as the pho but less the MSG.  As a strong believer that delicious food tends to be higher in sugar/oil/sodium...etc, I have to admit that this healthy dish is very close to over-ruling my theory... (well, maybe adding a side order of fried chicken wings would have dotted the i's and crossed the t's).

Would I recommend this place? Yes.  Given the quality and price, it is definitely worth a visit.

Tasting Journey #18 - Fatty Cow Seafood Hot Pot

Fatty Cow 小肥牛火鍋專門店
5108 Victoria Drive
Vancouver, BC
604-568-6630
www.fattycowhotpot.com

Hot Pot

Delighted by a dinner invitation from Carol & Karen, I immediately said yes.  The infamous Fatty Cow is a hot pot chain in Taiwan.  I'm not sure if this Fatty Cow is affiliated with the Fatty Cow in Taiwan.  Being 4 asians, and being familiar with hotpots, we immediately ordered must-have's like the pork/beef meatballs, pork/beef meat slices, frozen tofu, soft tofu, tong hao (茼蒿), prune juice...etc.  Then there's also - I'm assuming HK-style hotpot must-haves - things like tripe, oyster, spinach, squid, fried fish skin (?)...

mango pudding

Like all other all-u-can-eat restaurants, an order sheet was provided where you check off the items you'd like to eat.  We ordered 鴛鴦鍋 where half of the broth is spicy and the other half non-spicy with preserved egg.  As soon as the food came,  we were so busy with the cooking, or in Japanese, the しゃぶしゃぶ-ing that I completely forgot to take photos.  It was only when we were fully stuffed and satisfied that I realized I need to log this for my goal.  Quickly, I snap a photo of what was remaining of the well-worked pot.  As there were already people waiting in line to get a table, the waitors quickly cleaned out table as soon as they noticed that we were slowing down.  Right away, they served the dessert - mango pudding - rich in mango flavouring.

I wouldn't say that this hot pot place is exceptional, but the ingredient is fresh.  Despite the crowd, it would be more than fair to say that the Fatty Cow is a mere grade of "B-".  Little Sheep Hot Pot (小肥羊) would beat Fatty Cow any other day in terms of flavouring and pricing.

Tasting Journey #17 - Maria's Taverna

Maria's Taverna
2324 W. 4th Ave.
Vancouver, BC
604-731-4722
www.mariastaverna.ca


We were originally planning on going to Chewies for lunch only to find out that they aren't open for lunch. Disappointed, we walked towards W.4th where there are other potential eateries suitable for lunch on a Friday.  Greek sounded like a good option.

I've read up on Maria's Taverna on quite a few online food reviews, and seem to recall that the rating's not too bad.  I think I've even visited their website a few times too.  The restaurant photos posted on their website seems to portray an image of an old family-style restaurant with minimal interior decor.  On the contrary, the restaurant is actually quite well-lit, and portrayed a Mediterranean setting full of blues+whites.  As soon as we sat down, the first thing I noticed was the music playing in the background.  It was loud, and was in a foreign language which I'm guessing is probably Greek pop (though it sounded like Indian pop).

Andrea ordered a vegetarian casserole; Asmin went with baked tortellini, and I decided to have a Greek burger.  Greek burger? I asked if it is wrong to order a burger at a Greek restaurant.  You never know if it'll be interesting different.  That was when we started a Wikipedia expedition to find out the origin of burger, then french fries, then hot dogs... Burgers apparently were founded in Hamburg, in Germany.  Hamburger = people from Hamburg.  Interesting.

Pleasantly surprised, the Greek burger had a Greek twist to it.  Unlike patties sandwiched in a thick bun where there is a possibility that the bun-to-patty ratio could be off, this burger was sandwiched between 2 thinly sliced layers of pita bread.  The bun-to-patty ratio was perfect.  My definition of a good burger consists of the following two criteria:  1. well balanced bun-to-patty ratio (I dread a burger where the bun is too dense and too thick, and that only two bites into the burger feels like you've eaten an entire loaf of bread), and 2. juiciness of the patty.  The Greek burger had juicy, well-marinated patty. Added bonuses are the condiments such as tomato slice, tzatziki sauce, and a melted layer of feta cheese. Awesome.  The only issue I have with this burger is the saltiness of this burger.  I'm not sure if it is normal for Greek food to be salty (just like how I find that all the food I had in Paris was on the salty side), but the first thought that came to mind after my first bite is that the chief had mistakenly sprinkled an excess of salt on the side of the burger. Nope, it was salty the entire way.  Many the patty was really well marinated that it ended up being too salty?  The dish came with a Greek salad on the side.  Comparatively, the salad was blend.  Not enough dressing, nor flavouring.  Andrea also found her salad to be slightly under-flavoured.  However, she said that her vegetarian casserole was very well made, and I assume that Asmin's tortellini was excellent as well since she had cleaned her plate entirely.

Would I come back? Maybe.  There are many Greek restaurants located in the Kitsilano neighbourhood.  I would be more tempted to try out the other ones first prior to commenting on whether it is worth going back.  Well, at least it is decently priced.=)

Tasting Journey #16 - Jethro's Fine Grub

Jethro's Fine Grub
3420 Dunbar Street
604-569-3441
www.jethrosfinegrub.com


Finally, after 2 attempts of dining at Jethro's Fine Grub for brunch, we finally got a table after an entire hour of waiting in line. Last week, we arrived at noon and was shocked at the crazy line up, so this week, we thought we'd better be an early bird stay away from the crazy line up.  To our surprise, the line was just as long at 9:30am.  There was a time where I loved watching the "Diner's Drive In and Dives" on the Food Network.  This is an American show where they go around to different parts of the country to introduce some excellent diners.  For one of the episode, they decided to head North to Vancouver.  Jethro's was the restaurant that they recommended trying out.  Seeing that it is a short 3min drive from my house, I had the name of the restaurant imprinted in my brain as a "must-try" place, perfectly in line with my goal for this year.

After an hour of waiting in the bone-chill cold windy cold weather, we finally got in.  While we waited, we peered yearningly through the window (somewhere down inside, I thought to myself that maybe if I stared at the guests eat, I'd telepathically make them gobble faster and leave, ha).  Jethro's got 8 tables, and probably seats a maximum of 25 people. I would say that the average table turnover rate is maybe every 30min.  As expected, every table had ordered some sort of pancake.  The portions are enormous, in a size easily made for giants.  As soon as we sat down, it was all business - order, eat, leave. 

We had ordered a "Gold Rush" pancake-caramel, pecan and streusel folded in a banana flavoured pancake, and a "La Nina"-corn cake benedict with chili & poached egg with drizzles of Hollandaise sauce.  The pancake was awesome (note the size...I had purposely included the mug in the photo to give you a visual perspective of what I mean by huge)! Fluffy, full of flavour, and rich in taste and texture.  Though amazing, we were only able to eat 3/8th of the pancake.  The La Nina on the other hand, wasn't as good as expected. It looked delicious, but the cornbread was very flaky and the Hollandaise sauce was slightly too blend to well-compliment the poached eggs. It was a weak dish.  I would have liked to try their sandwiches (or even the pull pork as recommended in the show), but with just the two of us, two dishes is already way too much to consume.

Is it worth the one hour wait? well, maybe for the first time.  Would I go again? Maybe...but I'll seriously consider either 1) calling to put my name on the wait list first so that I don't have to spend an hour waiting in line, or 2) order take outs although it probably won't taste as good.  If this many people are willing to wait in line at 9am on a weekend, then Jethro's gotta be doing something that's extraordinarily good right?

Tasting Journey #15 - Guu Garden

Guu Garden
M101-888 Nelson St.
Vancouver, BC
604-899-0855
http://www.guu-izakaya.com/garden/


Guu has been around for many years. I remember this was one of the first izakaya places that has opened up in Vancouver since the beginning of the Japanese cuisine invasion.  Did you know that there is currently a total of 5 Guu's in the GVA (with 4 of them in downtown)?
Though I've been to Guu back in my highschool days, I am still counting this as one of my 25 restaurant goal since technically speaking, it is my first time visiting the Guu Garden.

Unlike the Guu on Robson, Guu Garden is well-hidden, and located on the 2nd floor of a plaza on Nelson. The building is an interesting one; The structure of this building looks more like a 2-stories open roof parkade.  Guu Garden is the only restaurant located on the 2nd floor, with large panels of windows that overlooks the wide open space.  There are trees planted outside the restaurant, and I can just imagine how relaxing it would be sitting outside during the warm summer weather, as if we are in the garden of Edens.

Menu selection was similar to the other Guu's. Black ink on white laminated paper.  As I have previously visited Guu in the past, I knew that the quality of food would be quite decent, and that the portion would be quite "delicate".  So to fill us comfortably, we had ordered a total of six dishes.  Fried calamari drizzled with a vinaigrette dressing that well-balanced the deep fry; The broth in the spicy miso hotpot with pork & bean sprout was excellent; Black cod was tasty though I did not like the mayo dressing (Aldin said that the fish would've tasted better if warmer); yaki-udon with beef; beef shortrib with sprinkles of fried garlic;  and finally the pork gristle dish that Zofia didn't want to order yet Aldin insisted on trying.  I did not know what a gristle was until this night...According to the dictionary, gristle = cartilage...I was expecting it to be like tendon, but it by no means did not taste like cartilage nor tendon, but rather simply - fat.  I'd have to side with Zofia that eating a slab of fat is quite unappetizing.  All I can say is that the broth was good (though the spicy miso was better), and that I've tried it, check. 

The food was great, but it was as expected, as Guu has always presented quality food.  Of course, it is also reflected in the pricing since the 3 of us ended up paying $60 + tips for the dishes and unwilling to admit, my stomach growled around 11pm that night.  Of the Guu's I've been to, I'd probably rank Guu Garden my top Guu choice - for the atmosphere, and for the spaciousness of the restaurant.  However, if you are looking for a true izakaya experience,  then it would have to be Guu Garlic though keep in mind that it is always packed with people, and with tables almost lined up against each other).

Tasting Journey #14 - Primo's Mexican Grill

Primo's Mexican Grill
4509 W. 12th Ave.
Vancouver, BC
604-736-9322
http://www.primoson12th.com/


Located in the Vancouver westside, and on the corner of West 12th & Granville Street, I read that Primo's is a locals favourite.  I've gone by this place many times, but never had I noticed that there is a Mexican restaurant at that intersection.  It just happened that the other day, I was checking out the deals on Groupon, and Primo's offered a $15 for $30 worth of food.  Since it is close to where I live, and since I really need to work harder on completing my restaurant goal, I - without hesitation - clicked Buy.  I knew that I had half a year to find someone to go try it out with me.

The restaurant, from the outside, looked more like a high-end steak house to me.  No typical Mexican red & green colours on the exterior wall, no fancy cactus deco, and no sombrero hat mascot indicating that this is a Mexican restaurant.  From the inside, the restaurant was dimly lit, and was only 2/3rd full (maybe because it was Sunday night?).  No endless pages of menu selection which made it easy to choose from.  Prices were in the range of $20 +/-, more on the higher-priced end for Mexican maybe? 

Similar to most of the Mexican restaurants I've been to, we were served a basket of tortillas as soon as we sat down.  I wasn't super hungry so we ended up ordering 2 tapas and 1 main entree to share.  Deep fried jalapeno stuffed with cream cheese, Jumbo prawns sauteed in spicy garlic butter, and a very basic chicken fajita.  The jalapeno was a good appetizer to start (but only tasted good while it remained warm), and the basic chicken fajita was nothing but ordinary.   The jumbo prawns were by far my favourite for the night.  The prawns sat in a pool of garlic butter with chili peppers.  I loved the extreme garlic-ness of the dish, and the spiciness of the chili peppers.  The dish came with a thick slice of french bread which I easily gobbled up by dipping it in the garlic butter.  To top it off (and to wash down the spiciness), we ordered a pint of Cerveza (beer in Spanish).  Perfect blend for the dinner. 

It is a restaurant worth trying out...even better with the Groupon discount.  Without it, we would be looking at a $55 dinner 2 people.

Tasting Journey #13 - Seto Japanese Restaurant

Seto Japanese Restaurant
155-8460 Alexandra Rd., 
Richmond, B.C. Canada
Phone: 604-231-9493
http://setosushi.ca/ 

Just realized that I forgot to log this restaurant...
Stopped by Seto for dinner earlier last month because a friend of mine, Allen Lin, was in town.  I knew Allen briefly during my time at Nike.  He held a temp job in the CE lab one summer while I was working there. Considering that he was easy-going, and was nice to work with,it only made sense that I played host and spend an afternoon with him.  He was in town for some really random reason; he was in Seattle studying and decided to cross the boarder to renew his visa.  Unexpected, his US visa was revoked when he tried to return to US, and was therefore, "stuck" in Canada.  He hadn't brought along any luggage or change of clothes as he originally planned it to be a day trip.  He is now money-less, friend-less, luggage-less in a foreign country.  What was supposed to be a day-excursion turned into 2-months vacation...

Anyways, so we ended up having dinner at Seto.  Seto reminded me of Daimasu, a long-time favourite go-to place for sushi.  I've had lots of experience with eating Japanese food.  Though I can't say I am an expert, but having opted for Japanese food 90% of the time I eat out, and having lived in Japan for 8 months (not to mention at least 5+ times of visiting Japan), I can tell whether the food is at least, at minimal, up to Vancouver standard. The food was well prepared, and what I thought stood out for me was the wasabi salt (instead of the regular salt 'n pepper) that they had - it really spiced up all the dishes well!  It blended really well with almost every dish, from the agedashi tofu, to the tonkatsu... I need to get my hands on a bottle of this, and I'll be the happiest person on earth! :)