Golden Garden Vietnamese Cuisine

Went to Golden Garden for dinner tonight. We just happened to be in the neighbourhood around dinner time. I've been here a few times for lunch. It's an interesting little establishment.

It's one of the nicer looking Vietnamese noodle places in town. Fairly clean both in design and physically. Down those stairs you'll find the Chinese Opera Association (or something like that). The members gather there to listen to Chinese Opera. Sometimes you might hear it upstairs, but usually, the background music in the restaurant drown out the opera music.

No sticky plates here.

We both ordered the Bun Bo Hue, a spicy broth usually served with pork hock. Unfotunately, there were no hocks in our noodles. The broth also wasn't seasoned enough and definitely not spicy enough. We also thought that, in comparison to Pho Tan (Main & 30th), there wasn't enough meat while being more expensive.

I don't know why I ordered the Bun Bo Hue, to be honest. I think I was craving Pho, but it didn't even end up being served with Pho (face palm). What I should have ordered was their Vietnamese Sandwiches.

If you've ever been to Au Petite Cafe for their Vietnamese Subs and was amazed by how delicious they are, Golden Garden has comparable sandwiches / subs. They don't serve those fake thin sausage meat in their subs, but use actual meat. I like their Chicken one the most, my mom prefers their Pork Meatballs.

I definitely recommend trying out their subs and will try to remember to go back for their subs and not their Pho next time.

Cafe Salade de Fruits

Went to this community centre restaurant with some family tonight. When we arrived at 6pm, there were already quite a number of tables on the patio and most of the tables inside were reserved. Luckily, we also made reservations and were seated promptly.

One of us were a little late, but the server didn't really check up on us and we had to flag her down to order. Even then, she took a while. I don't think anything is computerized at all so everything you order would be written down on checks and probably written down again for the cooks.

I ordered the duck pate (Rillette de Canard) to start. It tasted nice and came with a side salad. Unfortunately, the pate was a little dry and lacking in fat. It tasted like bits of duck were packed together like a burger patty and not really creamed together like pate usually is. The salad was overly drenched in vinaigrette and was too acidic for my taste. Luckily, we had unlimited bread to go with the dish.

I ordered the frog legs (Cuisses de grenouilles) as my main dish. That butter sauce was like liquid gold, but too bad our "unlimited" bread wasn't refilled so I couldn't really enjoy it. The frogs were sautéed nicely: the meat was perfectly cooked and well seasoned. Although by the end, it was a little overwhelming and I couldn't get the garlic taste / smell off my mouth.

I also ate half of one of my cousin's rack of lamb (Carre d'agneau). It was cooked to a perfect medium rare and well seasoned. I didn't use any gravy that was served with it, but I was not lacking in seasoning at all. The lamb meat was tender and easy to tear off the bone. It came with mashed potatoes and vegetables. The vegetables might have been a little overlooked by the heat of being next to the mashed potatoes, but still nice to have with the meat.

My other cousin ordered the halibut (Fletan), and that was very well done. The halibut was tender but still had texture. The mushroom clam sauce was refreshing once you added that squeeze of lemon to it.

Another cousin ordered the mussels with fries (Moules et frites). Those fries were like a meal on its own. I'm glad it came with mayo and not ketchup. Also, despite what the English menu says, it's a choice between fries OR salad; it does not come with fries AND salad.

The mussels themselves were the star of the dinner. The server brought out a place mat for my cousin, then this big pot. Then she lifted the lid off the pot and all you got was this delicious lemon-y aroma. The mussels themselves were small, but they were so soft and creamy and the broth was very flavourful. Again, I wish they refilled the bread so that I could dip it in the broth.

Overall it was a good experience. I wasn't blown away but it's a solid restaurant with fresh ingredients. It's a little tight, cash only, but I'd recommend a try. I probably won't be returning though: I'd rather have French food from my French cooking classes.

Ryu Sushi

Went to Ryu because we saw it online when we were looking at patio places on Main Street.

Decor is pretty typical- functional enough. 

We ordered tuna and salmon sashimi, tako sashimi, yam tempura roll, and the assorted aburi nigiri.

The tuna and salmon were okay. Nothing spectacular, not frozen, but not melt in your mouth either. They were sliced unevenly- knife skills need some practice.

The aburi sushi were okay. They were soaked in sauce so it caused the rice to fall apart. They didn't tell us what we got, but I suspect I can list them. The mackerel was overly sour, they must have really soaked them in vinegar to get rid of the fishy taste. On the bright side, it doesn't leave the fishy taste in my mouth like it normally does. The Saba was also soaked in sauce. I thought there was too much pepper, but you can at least taste the fish. The tuna taste was completely overpowered by the char taste. The salmon was the best of the bunch. Best balance of fish taste and char, but none of them blew us away.

Lastly, the yam tempura either didn't have enough batter, or it was soggy from sitting too long. Either way, there was no crunch. The tako was also not treated well. The skin was still very visible and the texture was mushy and chewy.

We came because it we thought it would be cheap based on the online menu from Zomato, but they've recently changed their menu. They don't offer half portions and they no longer serve ikura nigiri, which is the only reason I wanted to come. The online menu showed a price of $1.75 for each piece. I will gladly pay the $2.50 from Kimura if only to have tasty, well treated sashimi.

Won't return nor recommend.

Zipang Provisions

We had dinner at Zipang Provisions on Main and 14th last weekend.

We ordered salmon and tuna sashimi, tako sashimi, Philadelphia roll, yam tempura roll, ikura nigiri, unagi nigiri, and chopped scallop nigiri.

The sashimi were ok. It didn't melt in your mouth, but it was decent and well presented. 

The tako was good, a bit of a crunch and not too rubbery or chewy. 

There was too much cream cheese in the Philadelphia roll, even for me, and I love my cream cheese, and the nigiri were decent, but definitely not as impressive as the ones from Kimura.

The yam tempura had no crunch, it was on the soggy side. 

On the plus side the wasabi was really good - very spicy. 

Overall it's a decent enough place, but it's a little on the pricey side. Better sushi can be had for cheaper at other places around the city. 

-B