Revisit: Torafuku

I know we said we weren't going to return to Torafuku unless it's for a special occasion, but my mother saw my Instagram pictures and wanted to try it out. We ordered a few of the same dishes because they were really good: Lucky Dumplings, Big Bad Beans, and Gone Fishin' (Seabream). Then we also ordered some new ones to try.

First up, Taco 'Bout Awesome are duck tacos. The duck was cooked perfectly and we really liked the freshness of the vegetables. It also had a bit of heat to it. We loved and hated that it was overloaded with filling. Loved it because it was fresh, hated it because it was super messy to eat. Each taco only comes with one tortilla, so we had to order two, which came out to $24 for this light appetizer.

Next, I ordered The 3 Amigos for us because I knew the dishes won't be very filling, and my father would probably want some carbs to fill him up. I think we ended up having about a bite and a half each. The grains were cooked really well and the risotto had great flavour to it overall. The guanciale was a nice addition. My parents don't really like cheese, but enjoyed the crispiness of the parmasan.

I had wanted to try The Steak Out last time, so I took this opportunity to do so. Wagyu beef is supposed to be so tender it melts in your mouth (we had that as our last meal when we were in Japan). Although the beef was tender, it didn't really melt in my mouth. Also, like the duck we had the other day, it seemed that it wasn't sous vided long enough to really break down the fat and tendons. Great flavour and sides though, and I particularly enjoyed the spicy rice crispy coating on the potato.

Last comes The Mussel Man, which came with a side Chinese Puff Pastry for an extra $4. The Puff Pastry is like those scallion pancakes you find at Szechuan style restaurants, except without the scallion. This was the weakest dish of the bunch. Although the sauce was really good, especially with the Puff Pastry to dip in, the mussels were overcooked and chewy.

Overall, my parents really enjoyed the food. Though they didn't have to pay for dinner, they expressed concern over how pricey all the dishes were. If you want your Chinese parents to boast about their wonderful child for bringing them to this "貴夾唔飽" place to their friends, it might be a good place to bring them for a special occasion. As for B and I, we will likely not be returning for a very long while.

Bodega On Main

Easter Weekend Part 2 - Happy Hour at Bodega On Main. We passed by Bodega on our way to and from Torafuku the day before and thought - we should try that next. Conveniently enough, we had a movie to catch at 7pm, so Happy Hour until 6pm was perfect for us. The price was also appealing.

We both ordered the Bodega Lager, which was a huge disappointment. B believes that, in this city and neighbourhood, no one should be serving bad beer anymore. Plus, we would've been happy with a good brew at $2 off. But paying $5 for garbage was a turn off.

First there was the Patatas Bravas (fried potatoes). Although the sauce was pretty good, by completely submerging the potatoes in sauce, the twice fried potatoes lost their crispiness. What's the point of frying the potatoes twice if there's no crunch to the finished dish?

The Jamón Serrano (cured ham) was also completely soaked, but in olive oil. There's not much I can say about the ham itself - it kind of reminded me of the prosciutto you get at Costco. I liked how the olive oil really balances the saltiness of the ham, but it was A LOT of oil. I think a simple drizzle would have sufficed.

We were quite disappointed with the Calamares Fritos (deep fried squid). Though the squid itself was great - good texture, you can eat it in bites - the batter was bland and boring.

The Pollo Frito (fried chicken wings) was as expected. You really can't ruin chicken wings. The fried skin had great texture to it and the meat was moist and cooked well.

Lastly, there's the Albóndigas (meatballs). The sauce was rich and the meat fell apart, but it tasted good. I was glad it came with the potatoes because the fried crispy texture of the potatoes helped balance out the softness of the meatballs.

Overall, we weren't impressed with the Happy Hour at Bodega; however, since our friends think so highly of it, we will give their regular menu a try one day. We would not recommend Happy Hour though: food and service was mediocre, but the atmosphere was great.

Torafuku

Last weekend, we had the luxury of statutory holidays to give us a chance to go out and eat again. We decided we should try the restaurants in our neighbourhood, now that we've been there about a year. First up, Torafuku.

My initial impression was that it was too hipster for us. The Asian Fusion style always turned me off. My brother told me the backstory, about how it started as a food truck, and that the food was good, so I decided we should probably give it a try.

Their happy hour is $2 off cocktails until 7pm, so naturally, I had to have a cocktail. On the left is B's People's Cocktail, made of Beefeater Gin, cucumber, elderflower, ginger, and lemon. The cucumber was quite refreshing. On the right is my Green Lambo, made of cardamom infused el Jimador tequila, Cointreau, basil syrup, white pepper syrup, and lime juice. I usually pick anything with lime juice in it, add cardamom, and that's my perfect drink.

First we had the Lucky Dumplings, a vegetarian dish made of eggplant, spinach, oysters, and tomatoes. I'm typically not a fan of vegetarian food, but if every vegetarian dish had the texture and flavours of these dumplings, I might consider being a vegetarian. The umami of the mushrooms, the thinness of the wrappers, and the complexity of the sauce made this dish a winner.

Next we had the Bun Me, which was slow braised ox tail sandwich between a steamed bun. The ox tail really reminded me of the the ox tail soup my aunt used to make; it tasted like my childhood. Although it fit perfectly in the bun, it was a bit too rich and I wanted more slaw and coriander. It was a good bun, but I wanted more freshness to it.

B wanted more vegetables, so we also ordered the Big Bad Beans. I was hesitant about it at first, because it was just beans, but when it arrived, the aroma from being fried in the wok really hits you in the face. The fried shallots were pungent, but in a good way. It was B's favourite dish of the night - perfectly seasoned and contains "wok hei" (breath of the wok).

Then comes the meat! The Donald stood out for me because, to be honest, it was the cheapest of the meats, and I very rarely have duck. We had a hard time finding the shaved foie gras, and the tendons didn't seem to have cooked down enough. Though the meat was very tender, you had to eat the entire slice of duck at once because the tendons made it difficult to eat in bites. Otherwise, it was very well seasoned and the meat itself was cooked perfectly.

Lastly, because we were still quite hungry after the other four dishes, so we decided to order the Gone Fishin'. It wasn't exactly what we'd imagined it would look like, but it was cooked well and had great flavour. It even came with a bucket for bones.

Overall, we really liked Torafuku. Every dish was solid, the service was professional and prompt, and we enjoyed ourselves. It's a little on the pricey side, so we would likely only return on special occasions and not just a regular lazy night out.

Banh Mi Quest: Au Petit Cafe

What's a Banh Mi Quest without a visit to Au Petit Cafe?

Au Petit was where I had my first Banh Mi. Every person I've ever talked to loves Au Petit's sandwiches. They were B's favourite when I first brought him there.

Unfortunately, when we visited this past Sunday, Au Petit's Banh Mi did not live up to expectations.

Cost per Sandwich: $5.75
Bread: 2/5 - I remember when I used to go to Au Petit and they'd be sold out of bread on a weekday. Perhaps they're making more bread these days and not selling out, because this bread was tough and tasted stale.
Sauce: 4/5 - The one thing that kept up its standard. The sauce was creamy, flavourful, and there were lots of it.
Filling: 3/5 - The filling has a good crunch to it, but there was not enough and it need more pickling.
Meat: 3/5 - There was plenty of chicken and it was very flavourful, but it could be more moist.
Value: 2/5 - The price has gone up but the quality has gone down. I don't think it's B's favourite Banh Mi anymore.

Banh Mi Quest: Kim Châu Deli

When we were on our way to Pho Thai Hoa last time, we passed by Kim Châu Deli.

There was a picture of a sandwich etched on their window, so we thought their sandwiches must be good. Unfortunately, we were wrong, and though their sandwiches are averagely priced, we won't be returning.

Cost per Sandwich: $4.25
Bread: 2/5 - The bread was dry and tasted stale, but at least it doesn't scratch or hurt our mouths when we eat it.
Sauce: 2/5 - We can see the sauce and taste the moisture, but there was absolutely no flavour to it.
Filling: 2/5 - The vegetables had good texture and amount, but needed more pickling.
Meat: 1/5 - They didn't have shredded chicken, so it was hard to compare. We ordered both roasted pork and shredded pork because we didn't know which one would be the most similar. The roasted pork was very heavily salted and the shredded pork was mixed with something that gave it a strange flavour. There was also not enough meat in both sandwiches.
Value: 2/5 - The sandwiches were cheap comparatively, but not very good.

On a side note, they have a major packaging operation running and we might return to try something else.

Banh Mi Quest: Pho Quynh Express

Apparently Pho Quynh Express open just over a month ago and we had never seen it until this weekend. Only a block or so away, our friends told us the Pho is good, all signs point to this as THE restaurant, THE replacement we've been looking for.

Cost per Sandwich: $5.75
Bread: 3/5 - The bread isn't super dry and hard like it's stale, but it's not fresh and soft either.
Sauce: 0/5 - We couldn't be sure if there was any sauce. It looked like they may have just spread butter on it, because we couldn't taste any sauce and it was very dry. In a way, it was good, because the chicken flavour really stood out.
Filling: 2/5 - There was a good amount of filling, but it also included lettuce, which is not very traditional, and the vegetables weren't pickled enough.
Meat: 4/5 - The chicken was tender and you could taste the flavour, but lacking moisture - probably because there was no sauce. There was a decent amount of chicken though.
Value: 3/5 - A little on the pricier end but it's within walking distance for us. It's not the greatest but the chicken was really quite good.

Banh Mi Quest: Pho Holiday

This Saturday we were in Coquitlam running some errands when we walked past Pho Holiday, a Vietnamese restaurant that also served Banh Mi. Though it'll never make it into our go to, we thought we'd give it a try anyway.

Cost per Sandwich: $5.70 + tax (note there is a $5 minimum order per person at the restaurant)
Bread: 4/5 - The bread was surprisingly good and probably what saved the entire sandwich. It was soft, but still toasted.
Sauce:1/5 - There was barely any sauce so we couldn't even taste it.
Filling: 2/5 - There's a good amount of filling, but not enough pickling.
Meat: 3/5 - It had good barbecue flavour, but a bit dry. It might have helped it there was more sauce.
Value: 2/5 - A little on the pricey side and not exactly a good banh mi, which is too bad because the bread was really, really good.

Banh Mi Quest: Banh Mi Saigon

Even though it is quite out of the way, we decided to visit Banh Mi Saigon because it was recommended by family, friends, and other food critics.

It's a very well-run establishment. From order to pick-up, it only took 2 minutes. Though the Banh Mi here is very good, there were a few flaws that prevent us from choosing it as our replacement Banh Mi go to spot.

Cost per Sandwich: $5
Bread: 3/5 - Though the restaurant smelled like bread, indicating they must bake their bread fresh, we found the crust very hard. The inside of the bread was soft though.
Sauce: 4/5 - Good balance of flavour and has the creamy texture we like, but there wasn't enough.
Filling: 4/5 - Good amount of filling, crunchy and has the pickling taste we were looking for.
Meat: 3/5 - Tender and moist, but startlingly cold.
Value: 4/5 - It's a solid Banh Mi and if we were in the neighbourhood during lunch, we'd definitely go back. Average in price. It's only held back by the hard bread exterior and cold meat.

Banh Mi Quest: Pho Tai Hoa

Today we decided to go try Pho Tai Hoa. I wanted to check it out, as I have seen it many times while driving on Kingsway, and they prominently call themselves a 'Kitchen & Banh Mi Bar'. It also tops this list of top 10 Banh Mi places in Vancouver: https://vancouver.eater.com/maps/vancouvers-top-10-try-before-you-die-banh-mi/pho-thai-hoa.

We ordered two shredded chicken banh mi. One spicy, one not. After waiting more than 15 minutes (in an almost empty restaurant), we received our sandwiches, neither of which had any peppers. The sauce was not your normal banh mi mayo based sauce, but was instead some sort of teriyaki. It was not good. A bad sandwich, poor service, and a touch on the pricey side means we will not likely be coming back.

Cost per Sandwich: $6 + tax
Bread: 3/5 - Soft and toasted at first, but toughens up, like it was microwaved.
Sauce: 1/5 - Not normal cream sauce. Teriyaki-ish, sweet, soy sauce base. Leaves you wanting and overpowers the rest of the flavours in the sandwich.
Filling: 3/5 - Vegetables had a solid crunch, good vinegar taste, good amount, but overpowered by the sauce.
Meat: 2/5 - The meat was ok, nothing special. Not consistent, some pieces were dry, and a few bits of cartilage in the mix. Really suffers from the poor sauce.
Value: 2/5 - Overall not a great sandwich, a tad pricey, poor service.

Banh Mi Quest: Hai Phong

We didn't have access to a car yesterday, which is oftentimes true, so we had to find something that was within walking distance of the service centre (and we hadn't tried before). B found a couple that was close to Stadium Station and off we went. We spotted Hai Phong first, so we decided to try it and save Qieu Cafe for another time.

I almost never pay attention to the stores around T&T, so we wouldn't have found Hai Phong if we didn't specifically google search "Banh Mi". Hai Phong has a good, solid banh mi, but the unfortunate thing about it is that it's pricey and the price doesn't include tax. If the price were lower, we would definitely come back.

Cost per Sandwich: $7.50 + tax
Bread: 3/5 - Not fresh, but not bad either. It's still crispy. A bit dry, but not tough.
Sauce: 3/5 - Creamy, but could use more seasoning. The lemongrass chicken kind of overpowers the sauce.
Filling: 4/5 - Not enough, but has good texture and a crisp strong pickle taste.
Meat: 4/5 - Lemongrass flavour is strong, but it was juicy, tender, and had a good amount.
Value: 2/5 - It's a slightly above average banh mi, but at a significantly higher price.