Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Guu Kobachi

Weekend night, no reservations, all other Guu's full! We decided to try Guu Kobachi on Denman. I have only been to the Guu on Robson and the Guu in Gastown, this is my first time trying Guu Kobachi! We got the last table before the little Guu started filling up as well. I had this meal a few days ago so already forgot about some of the items so please excuse if the description is not very detailed :D

The first item was the Raw Sea Urchin. This is actually my first time having raw sea urchin, my friend was so surprised! I'm glad that I was with her otherwise I probably wouldn't try something like this LOL. I was hesitant at first, but it was absolutely delicious! I recognized the taste immediately placing it into my mouth, it tasted like the fat orange stuff inside a shrimp/prawn's head. Yummy!

  
Next was this shrimp salad thing. Sorry I forgot the name. I thought this was so-so. The fried shrimps were good, but nothing special. I don't really like salad stuff... lol
This was some sort of baked thing. It was actually really good. Recommended. Sort of reminded of those baked dishes at Hong Kong-style cafes.
Totally blanked out on what this is or what it tasted like... I remember it was good.
This one was interesting, it was cool to mix everything together into a bowl and add the sauce. Everythign is served cold and it is quite unique thing I tried.
This was the Chicken Karrage. I didn't like it because the inside was only warm. I like chicken karrage that is more crispy!
Also my favourite! Sweet Potato Croquette I think? Inside was hot and very delicious. The potatoes were so soft.

Cool atmosphere, prices are pretty decent as well for dinner. Will try more things next time and will make sure to do a review sooner so I don't forget!!

Guu Kobachi on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Thai Terrace

The interior of the restaurant is small, but very comfortable atmosphere with spacious tables. I can see they are mostly a take-out place. My friend was craving Thai food so I went along because a few days ago, I was also craving some Pad Thai! I didn't even have to think this time and got the Pad Thai Lunch Special $8 (Prawns wok fried rice noodles with Egg, tofu, bean sprouts and green onions topped with Carrot and crushed peanuts). You could choose between getting spring roll or soup. I got the spring roll.
The spring roll was a vegetable spring roll, hot inside, and super crispy, I liked this one; there was sweet and sour sauce you could dip in, it tasted like the ones you get with Chicken McNuggets :). I was disappointed with the Pad Thai because it was a bit too sour for me. I would prefer just slightly more salty. I also thought they could have had more prawns, I think there was only 3! Would have loved if there were more crushed peanuts on top because those add so much more to eat when eating the Pad Thai.
Also shared a Thai Chicken Satay $8 with my friend. I liked this one better than the Pad Thai. The chicken was hot and smooth, dipping it into the peanut butter-tasting sauce was wonderful; I loved the sauce. A little pricy in my opinion though.
Thai Terrace on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Grand Palace

This Chinese restaurant is located in the old location of the famous Kirin Seafood Restaurant Coquitlam, the previous restaurant has been in the location for many many years, so I was very surprised to see it go (and a little sad as it was one of my favourite Chinese restaurants in Vancouver).
Not much has changed in the interior of the restaurant, I only noticed some of the lights have been replaced with new, dimmer chandeliers. The bowls/cups/plates were all clean, good sign.
This is the Dried Pork and Chinese Donut Rice Rolls $4.95, the rice rolls were fresh and crispy, I liked this one.
Next was the Pan Fried Turnip Cake w/XO Sauce $6.50. This dish has exploded in popularity at dim sum restaurants over the years, the square shaped ones are rare these days... Some of the pieces were a little too burnt, not very healthy. But the taste is good.
This one is the Home Style Fried Egg Plant Stuffed w/Prawns $4.95. This is one of my favourite dim sum dishes. They were pretty huge and came sizzling hot. The prawns had that bouncy feeling when you bite into it. Good.
This is the standard at every dim sum meal, the Steamed Pork Shui Mai w/Fish Roe $4.95. The shiu mai was almost the size of a fist. There is a combination of fat and not so fat meat. Some people prefer the smaller, less-fat shui mais, it's personal preference.
The Deep Fried Tofu w/Crispy Garlic $6.50 was a popular item at Kirin, they have brought it back at Grand Palace. The appearance and taste is a little different though. The frying batter is very thick, but fortunately they managed to maintain the crispyness. I would have preferred a thinner fried layer.
I love fried rice. This was the Mixed Seafood Fried Rice $8.95. The portions were quite generous for the price, and the three seafood (shrimp, fish roe, scallop) were pretty decent. Not too oily as well.
The last one is the Braised Beef Brisket & Tendon w/Rice Rolls $7.95. I love getting this dish at restaurants because it has all of my favourite items. The beef brisket was soft and had just the right amount of fat. The rice rolls contained all the flavors of the beef. I liked this one.

Compared to Kirin, the food items aren't as "detailed/precise", but the food quality is still pretty decent. I will try their dinner next time I'm in Coquitlam. I found the price alright.

Grand Palace Restaurant 富豪酒家 (恆基廣場內) on Urbanspoon

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Top Chiu Chow Cuisine 潮州世家海鮮菜館

Chiu Chow-style (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teochew_cuisine) contains some of my favourite dishes. After seeing this new restaurant open a few months ago, I have always wanted to come and try it.
The dishes we ordered were all my favourites that I always try whenever I try this type of cuisine. I noticed that the tables around us were all mostly ordering the same items lol... The first item is the Pig Stomach Soup. This soup is always one of my favourites because it is very warming on a cold and rainy Vancouver day. There are peppers used to make the soup so it tastes "hot" and warms your throat. The stomach was chewy and soft. Good.
The second dish is the Oyster Omelet. This is one of my favourite dishes out of all food, so I have to get this dish if it's offered at the restaurant! The dish consists of an omelette with a filling primarily composed of small oysters. There is another style of this offered in Taiwanese restaurants, however, I much prefer this style. I liked this dish.
Next up is the Braised Goose, this dish was a miss. I found the meat to be too tough. At other restaurants, the goose meat is usually easier to chew and more similar to duck texture. I like that better.
Lastly, we got the Chicken with pepper & crispy basil, I love these crispy basil leaves because as their name implies, they are so crispy! The chicken was chicken breasts and I liked the taste (sauces) of it.

The most disappointing aspects of the meal were the rushed feeling and the price. The restaurant itself is very small and we were given the bill before even asking for it (while still eating the dessert), the food came really fast and the whole meal just went by lightning quick. I thought the price was too expensive for the rushed atmosphere of the restaurant. The food and service (multiple dirty plates/bowls/cups) did not really distinguish itself to me as being worth that price.

Top Chiu Chow Cuisine 潮州世家海鮮菜館 on Urbanspoon

Friday, May 18, 2012

Pig on the Street

Had some errands to run in Downtown before going to Stanley Park to learn how to bike! I thought that I would need as much energy as I could muster. Was at first going to try the new Meat and Bread over on Pender, but after seeing the long lineup earlier, I saw a bunch of food trucks along Howe Street right beside Robson Square. I was sooo hungry so just decided to try Pig on the Street.
Only after, did I realize that Pig on the Street was one of the newest street food vendors in Vancouver. The weather was gorgeous and there was tons of "seating".
There were also huge lines for the vendors. Once I placed I order, I probably waited around 20 minutes, if this was quicker, I would give this even better score... After you place the order, you are given a small piglet with a funny name on it. When the name is called, you go pick up your food!
I decided to try The Porker (double smoked bacon, sausage stuffing w apple & sage, goat gouda, caramelised onion mayo, greens). The food truck specializes in bacon. And when I took my first bite.
MY TASTEBUDS WERE IN HEAVEN! The bacon was so crispy! yet not too burnt. As you see in the picture above, the goat gouda starts off as little bits.
After a while of eating, it melts completely into the flatbread sandwich, yummy! The sausage stuffing complemented the bacon perfectly by not stealing much of the bacon's taste. I liked the green (sorry don't know the name of the vegetable ^^") because it added a unique taste to the sandwich.

Highly recommended, must try this for lunch at least once. (Go on a sunny day to enjoy the beautiful "outdoor patio")

Pig on the Street on Urbanspoon

Sunday, May 13, 2012

City 1 Cafe

This is the second time I have been to this new small restaurant inside the strip mall at Oak and King Edward. They are famous for their Famous Boneless Hainanese Chicken. The restaurant appears to be family run and the employees there are attentive and friendly. The inside design is clean, comfortable, and spacious.

We had the Curry Beef Brisket with Roti Prata Bread. Switching to the prata bread from rice requires an extra $1, the curry goes excellent with rice as well.

I loved the butter taste of the roti prata (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti_prata). It was warm and chewy :D. The curry was spicy! I mixed it with the rice that came with the Hainanese Chicken as well as the roti prata, delicious! I wished the potato was softer though. The beef brisket was soft and fresh.
We also ordered a Char Kuey Teow (Fried Flat Noodles). This one was again spicy, so don't order it if you can't handle spicy. The shrimps were fresh. The noodles did not stick to each other and the taste was just right, not too salty. Good mix of noodles with other ingredients.

Now for the Famous Boneless Hainanese Chicken.


The chicken was very smooth and tender. I decided to not get the traditional oil rice because I wanted to be healthy... In the last picture, you can see the gelatin layer of the chicken between the skin and the meat; I was watching a documentary on Singapore recently and apparently that gelatin layer is very important for the traditional Hainanese Chicken! Looks like City 1 got it right. The chicken comes with two dips, I love the ginger-garlic sauce and I could eat a whole bowl of rice with just that...

A great place for traditional Singaporean & Malaysian Cuisine.

City 1 Cafe on Urbanspoon

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Gyu-kaku Japanese BBQ

A friend suggested Gyu-kaku for their happy hour menu. Never been to this restaurant before so was excited to try out the BBQ meats. Went there around 3pm and the restaurant wasn't busy at all, easy to grab a table during this time. I heard from the waitress that during peak times, waits can be very long.


My friend and I decided to randomly order from the happy hour menu and see how the food is. There is a $15 minimum charge per person so we had to order at least $30 of food before taxes.


The restaurant and seating was very comfortable and clean. The waitress was very friendly and attentive. She asked if it was our first time to the restaurant and explained how the menu worked, offered recommendations for different items on the menu, and showed us how to cook the meats.

 
We got the Bistro Harami, Chuck Kalbi, Pork Belly, and the Garlic Mushrooms. I can't remember which picture was which one, but the three meats were absolutely delicious. There were three different sauces that you could dip, a spicy, sweet, and forgot the last one. But even eating the meats without any sauces was delicious because they were so juicy. The mushrooms was actually a wrong order, but I didn't want the waitress to have to bring them back, so we kept them; mushrooms are not my favourite food... but they tasted good grilled and with the garlic.

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The Takoyaki was my least favourite out of the items. It just didn't have that much texture, the octopus inside the ball was not bouncy in the mouth. I also didn't like the temperature the dish came in, I did not like that it was lukewarm.


Now for my three favourite dishes. The Chicken Karrage, Fried Garlic Noodles, and Spicy Tuna Maki. The Chicken Karrage was very crispy and the meat was soft and smooth. I especially liked how they also had the fried chicken skin which was like eating potato chips.
For the Fried Garlic Noodles, it came in a sizzling hot stone bowl, and the noodles themselves were filled with garlic taste and delicious. Only con? left a garlic taste in my mouth for a few hours... lol.
My favourite dish in the whole meal was the Spicy Tuna Maki. It came with square pieces of seaweed to wrap the rice and tuna inside the eat, sort of like a tortilla. The tuna was just the right level of spicy, and had a refreshing cool temperature. The rice was soft and sticky, like sushi rice. The seaweed was crispy. All together = delicious :)
Excellent meal, and will come again!


Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ on Urbanspoon