Dinner Club

This “beautiful” taste sure reminds me of broccoli

Posted by Anny Chih on January 15, 2012 at 5:51 pm.

When kids play restaurant they think that by using pretty plates and tablecloths, describing their dishes in fancy ways, and charging higher than average prices, their establishment is automatically chic, upscale and worth every penny. They don’t usually think about what the plastic food tastes like because in pretend land, food is as good as the imagination. Sadly, reality isn’t quite the same.

Mystery seasonal soup; We don’t remember what was in it.

Phil selected Refuel Restaurant for this month’s Dinner Club outing. Its website motto is “honest food relaxed atmosphere” and I don’t agree with either of those statements. The restaurant seemed to be suffering from an identity crisis; flipping between glorified dishes that all “taste beautiful” according to our server who was sporting a low-cut shirt displaying her breast tattoo, and over-priced bottled sodas paired with miniature dishes that were either over-salted, over-cooked, or tasted like broccoli (even though there was none in it). Based on taste alone, the dishes should’ve been served in take-out containers and with double the amount for half the price.

We started with seasonal vegetable soups, wild arugula salad, and warm spinach and mushroom salad. The salads didn’t taste beautiful or ugly, but they also didn’t garner much feedback either. They were ordinary salads on pretty white plates. Nobody remembers what was supposed to be in the soup, but nobody could tell either. Phil’s initial reaction was “tastes like broccoli” but we were certain the server did not mention any broccoli. Morten and I thought the soup was too watery and while Ang liked the croutons that garnished the plate, I thought they could’ve been crunchier.

Confit duck leg

For mains we ordered dry aged beef burgers, mushroom and crème fraiche ravioli, a foie gras croquette, and confit duck legs. Phil ordered the fois gras croquette on top of his burger and was very happy with it. Morten didn’t have a fois gras croquette but burned his tongue on the first bite of his burger when the oil from it squirted out. Ang, Kenny and I all thought the confit duck legs were overly salty and too skinny. It was as if they cooked duck legs in a pan and added salt thinking it would be the same as curing the duck, washing off the spices and then cooking the duck in its own fat (a proper duck confit). These ducks were probably on a diet before they were overcooked. Morten’s taste buds were muted from his cold, but he still complained that his fries were over-salted. For me, the final straw was the pickled apples that were served with the duck but didn’t taste pickled or fully cooked; they tasted like thin apple pieces that were added to a pan as an afterthought and added to the dish as little more than a weak garnish alongside mini onions taken straight from the jar.

Refuel Restaurant: 2.5 out of 6

There’s not much worth writing about at Refuel Restaurant so I’ll stop here. If you want honest food served with an unpretentious atmosphere, try another restaurant.

Overall Food Group Rating: 2.5 out of 6

The Good: The dishes and décor looked good.

The Bad: Nothing tasted great.

The Ugly: Unless the restaurant is a super casual place with homey hearty food served with paper napkins, or even a really hip joint with fantastic well-prepared dishes that are so great nothing else matters, patrons shouldn’t be able to see the server’s breast tattoo.

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Dinner Club

Guu-y textures

Posted by Anny Chih on December 22, 2011 at 11:47 am.

Dissecting the oden assortment at Guu Izakaya

I’ve been busy with very little lately which is why this Dinner Club review is a good two weeks late. With the holiday season upon us though, I didn’t think anyone would notice. Did you? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Morten picked this month’s restaurant and we were all surprised that he picked a Japanese izakaya since he doesn’t eat fish. We went to the original Guu Izakaya on Thurlow Street. Since they opened in 1993, they’ve opened five other locations in the Vancouver area. Kenny has been to a couple of the other locations, but this was his first time at the original restaurant and noted that the menu is completely different.

We split up the menu and all ordered from different sections to share. Our bill included:

Oden assortment (two) — all about textures
Hotate butter (scallop) — slightly overcooked, but otherwise decent
Ton toro (grilled pork cheek) — well received, not my favourite
Sato imo (taro croquette) — decent, unmemorable
Aigamo salad (roasted duck salad) — good, safe and ordinary
Kabocha korokke (pumpkin croquette) — well prepared, strong pumpkin flavour
Kakuni (stewed pork) — fatty and made properly
Ebi mayo (prawn) — very well received but I wasn’t a fan of the batter
Yaki udon — ordinary

The dishes aren’t made for group sharing but with an expert knife-handler like Ang at the table, we each got a bite of everything.

In general, the meal was underwhelming. Nothing was “bad,” but very little was considered “good.” Most of our group (myself excluded) liked the kabocha korokke which included a boiled egg in the middle, my favourite dish was the aigamo salad made with roasted duck on greens (I know, how boring), and everyone agreed that the dishes were all about texture.

Ahh texture. I’ve never experienced so many levels of gooey, mushy, gloppy, sticky, jelly, and slimy in one meal. You could tell that everything was prepared the way it was meant to be made, but that didn’t make it taste better. There was a lot of “what’s this thing?” and “I can’t figure out which one this is supposed to be” going on — especially when the oden assortment arrived because it’s hard to tell a fish cake apart from a squid rolled fish cake when you don’t know what they look like. In just that one bowl there were at least four very different textures ranging from a tougher grey dotted block of something to a gooey sticky rice thing in a tofu sack that looked like it was taken off the set of some alien horror flick.

When the food is technically correct, I can’t give it a straight thumbs down; it’s what it should be. But, when the food isn’t great, things like the atmosphere and overall value can be influencing factors on a vote. We were seated at a table in the back with very narrow benches that were placed in a small allocation of space between the table and the walls. The restaurant requires reservations and puts a time limit on your stay which makes the meal feel rushed if you’re used to some post-dinner conversation. And in the end, everyone (including Phil!) was neither satisfied or full. We ended up going to Cafe Crepe for another meal.

Overall Food Group Rating: 4 out of 6

The Good: If you’re looking for traditional Japanese izakaya dishes and like a variety of gooey textures, Guu is great. The service is also very good.

The Bad: The seating arrangements are terrible. There’s very little room, it’s not comfortable to lean back against the wall (and when Ang did she felt something sticky on her back), and the time limit on meals is unappetizing.

The Ugly: I couldn’t stop staring at the door to their washroom area. It’s this old door made for the exterior of a house that’s literally falling apart (there are splits down the door) and every time someone walked through I worried it would fall off completely because it was already partially unhinged.

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Dinner Club

Pass the tzatziki please

Posted by Anny Chih on November 15, 2011 at 2:51 pm.

Me, my mo, and my half lamb-half beef platter

Choosing a restaurant for Dinner Club this month proved to be more challenging than I had anticipated. We’ve tried organic, Japanese, German, Ethiopian, BBQ, American, Afghan, Sri Lankan, and Chinese on more than one occasion, so I was hoping to find something more Mediterranean like Greek or Balkan to round out our repertoire. There were no Greek or Balkan restaurants that struck my fancy, but somewhere in the search I ended up finding rave reviews for a little mom-n-pop shop in Port Moody called Ben Laila Donair. Advertised as “authentic Jerusalem cuisine”, it had to make the list.

Phil, Ann and Kenny were probably questioning my judgment when we first walked in because we were the only customers in a small shop that could only accommodate six people (the size of our group) with their three small tables. Ang and Morten were also unimpressed with my selection when I announced that it was in Port Moody — far from everyone and everything. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a pointless act to have made reservations.

We puttered around trying to decide between chicken, beef, lamb or falafel donairs / platters so much that the very nice lady who ran the show cut up a few samples of the beef and lamb for us to try. At that moment, all reservations about the place were gone. Both the beef and the lamb were delicious! We ended up ordering: one chicken platter, one beef platter, two lamb platters, one falafel platter, one half beef — half lamb platter (they don’t list this on the menu, but mixed-meat orders are available), and two baklavas to share.

I was starving when we arrived so I wondered how long it would take for the food to arrive considering there was only one person working behind the counter. It didn’t take long at all! We had started talking about the recent deaths and murders in Vancouver (the evening news was playing in the background) and Justin Bieber’s love child (thanks to Ang), so by the time Kim Kardashian’s claim to fame became the hot topic and Kenny exclaimed “Why don’t I have a show?!?”, the food was ready.

Kenny helping out by serving our table

Since there was only the one person working behind the counter, we picked up our trays cafeteria-style and helped ourselves to the fridge for drinks. It felt a lot like dining at someone’s home where the host would ask us things like “does anyone want hot sauce or more tzatziki?” from the kitchen and we’d pass around the condiments, feel compelled to clean up whenever we could, and apologize if we didn’t finish our food.

I didn’t finish my falafel (I’m not actually a fan of falafel), but of all the falafels I have ever tried this one was the best. I don’t know what it means to make “fresh falafel” (which is what they do), but it works. Everyone was pleased with the hot, tender, green melt-in-your-mouth filling surrounded by a lightly crunchy outer shell.

The meat platters were also crowd pleasers. The chicken, lamb and beef were all cooked perfectly and came with generous portions of rice and tabule (salad), and unlimited tzatziki and hot sauce. The only criticism that I have is that the meats were over salted and really didn’t need to be. If it weren’t for the wonderful service and incredible value, I would’ve voted with half a thumb, rather than a full thumbs up. But, the service really was good and it would’ve been rude of me not to recognize it.

Overall Food Group Rating: 6 out of 6

Ben Laila Donair: 6 out of 6

The Good: Falafel, and all of the meats! You can’t go wrong ordering anything off the menu.

The Bad: The location is terrible. If Ben Laila was situated in downtown Vancouver they’d have people lining up the blocks at all hours of the day! But they’re not in Vancouver, they’re in the middle of nowhere Port Moody and there’s little to no foot traffic there.

The Ugly: Ben Laila is more of a disposable plates and cutlery kind of establishment, so don’t expect any frills.

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Dinner Club

Organic is overrated

Posted by Anny Chih on October 12, 2011 at 2:15 am.

Kenny’s Dinner Club selection this month came with the following preamble:

“The last attempt at an organic restaurant left more than something to be desired. The last time good pie was promised, that came up a little short too. This time we’ll try again to tackle them both again at the same time. But keeping in accordance with voting rules, voting will be based on the main meal — the pie is just a bonus.”

Aphrodite’s Cafe has strange decoration. Is it Harry Potter?

The organic restaurant he was referring to was Organic Lives (score 2.5 / 6) and the pie reference was from Acme Café (score 5 / 5). In an attempt to redeem organic foods, Kenny chose Aphrodite’s Café & Pie Shop on 4th Avenue and I’ve got mixed feelings about it.

Under our normal voting guidelines, Dinner Club reviews do not consider dessert. At Aphrodite’s though, we had to reconsider this for two reasons: the meals we ordered were set menus that included desserts (ie dessert was part of what the restaurant considered a meal, and not an additional item that could be overlooked), and the word “pie” was included in the restaurant’s name (we all ordered different pies for dessert).

During the Dinner Club voting process, Kenny and Phil usually think about whether they would return to the restaurant a second time, while Ang considers value and atmosphere to be part of her voting criteria. I’ve always based my vote strictly on the food under the logic that if the food isn’t any good, I wouldn’t return a second time. I also don’t believe in tainting a vote with consideration of atmosphere unless that atmosphere includes something unhygienic. And when it comes to value, I’ve never really had to consider it before because most of our Dinner Club selections have been relatively affordable. This month’s restaurant choice was an exception. At $45.50 per person (after taxes and 18% mandatory gratuity for parties of six or more) for a mediocre meal that left me and Kenny hungry within an hour, I had to change what would’ve been a half-vote to a full thumbs down.

Dinner Club: Aphrodite’s Café & Pie Shop

Ann enjoying the bread

Of the six of us, five ordered from the Dinner Fresh Sheet which is updated regularly to work with seasonal ingredients and holidays. Since it was Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, there was a Roasted Turkey with Wild Rice-Pumpkin Chevre Stuffing & Herb Gravy dish, which is what I ordered (sounds good, right?). Morten and Ang both ordered the Beef Bourguignon with Egg Noodles. Ann and Phil ordered the Garlic Roasted Eggplant with Mashed Pumpkin & Mushroom Ragout. And Kenny ordered a Turkey Pot Pie from the regular menu with a side of house soup (duck). Each of our Dinner Fresh Sheet entrées included either a soup or meadow side salad to start, and a pie for dessert. Ann chose a salad which she enjoyed, while the rest of us chose either the caramelized leek and lentil soup or the duck house special of the day.

The caramelized leek and lentil soup was thick and ordinary, if not a bit bland, and took about a half hour to arrive. The duck soup though, was an utter disappointment. After taking our orders, our server had brought baskets of yummy hearty bread and butter so I had taken it as an indication that subsequent dishes would be just as nutritious, hearty and flavourful. The duck soup was watery, the meat was dry, and the overall taste was sour. It was edible, but tasted like something you made at home and decided wasn’t good enough to serve as a main but would be acceptable as an addition to the meal. Not great.

After we finished our starters, we waited for another half hour at our awkwardly small table where Ang had to saddle a table leg and Ann and I were constantly trying to avoid being knocked by Morten’s knees. I thought that perhaps the waiting was part of the overall experience the restaurant was going for, but even the bill took forever to arrive!

My turkey entree; that black thing in the front is the one piece of burnt turkey skin

When the entrées finally made their appearance, they did so in style. The dishes looked great! My first bite of turkey was tender and moist, but there was very little gravy flavour. I learned over the next two bites that the red cabbage was sour, bitter, and not worth plating. I started to pick out all the cabbage bits, and it turned out that about a fourth of the dish was cabbage and carrots, while there were only two small pieces of turkey and one burnt piece of turkey skin in the entire dish. The burnt turkey piece was completely black, but tasty in a deliciously cancerous way. The second piece of turkey was dry and unseasoned. The worst part though, was the potato. I love mashed potatoes. I don’t understand how you can mess up mashed potatoes. They messed up mashed potatoes!! The potato wasn’t cooked enough so the mash retained its original rectangular form, and they didn’t bother putting any garlic or herbs in it so it was boring just like the turkey.

Kenny’s tortured look for “there’s too much pepper in this dish”

Ang and Morten were also a bit disappointed in their Beef Bourguignon which they likened to a tangy pulled pork (with beef instead of pork) on slippery noodles. I tried a bite and agreed with Ang that it had a sour twinge to it like the soup and the cabbage. Ann didn’t like the eggplant dish she ordered, so she traded it with Kenny for his turkey pot pie. The verdict on the pot pie was “good”, but Kenny also had complaints about the eggplant dish. He said it had been pre-seasoned with too much pepper and his taste buds were taking a beating (my words, not his — I think he compared it to setting his mouth on fire). Phil had ordered the same dish, but didn’t taste any pepper in his. Either someone’s taste buds are way off, or somebody in the kitchen wasn’t paying attention.

And this is where the voting got tricky for me. My main entrée wasn’t as bad as a skewer from Nine Dishes or a plate of ribs from Memphis Blues, but it wasn’t as good as chicken from Afghan Chopan or veggie pakora from Green Lettuce. It was edible and nicely plated, but the first and last bites were very different on the taste-scale. I would have to base my final decision on the pie.

We ordered Apple Pie, Blackberry Apple Pie, Raspberry Rhubarb Pie, Pumpkin Pie, and Chocolate Pecan Pie for dessert. Kenny liked the apple pie, Phil enjoyed his blackberry apple pie, Ann really liked her pumpkin pie, Ang thought the pumpkin pie wasn’t any better than the kind you get from Save-On-Foods, both Ang and I thought Morten got the best pie (Chocolate Pecan) though he didn’t seem to think it was especially good, and I had a tough time finishing my Raspberry Rhubarb Pie because it was so friggin’ SOUR! This was the tipping point. I might love mashed potatoes, but I REALLY love pie. And I really didn’t even LIKE this pie. I actually left some of it on the plate!

Aphrodite’s Cafe: Blackberry Apple Pie

Kenny brought up the fact that the pie crust was missing a key ingredient: salt. Everyone agreed. Ang thought the crust was too “doughy” and though that wouldn’t be my word of choice, I get what she meant. The crust felt unfinished, as if it was missing ingredients and hadn’t been baked long enough. That was it. You can mess up turkey and be forgiven. Same with mashed potato if it’s not one of the key components of a dish. But under no circumstance can you have the word “Pie” in your name and serve terrible pie! That’s unforgivable. Simply unforgivable. Thumbs down!

Sidenote: For those that think I should’ve voted with a half thumb score, I’d like to mention that Ang would like to change her previous thumbs up vote to a half thumb as a result of the end bill ($45.50 per person) which she hadn’t looked at until today because Morten had paid with his credit card. The general consensus was that the meals we consumed couldn’t justify the amount we paid for them no matter how organic the ingredients were.

Aphrodite’s Cafe & Pie Shop: 4.5 out of 6

Overall Food Group Rating: 4.5 out of 6

The Good: The dishes were nicely presented and the service was at least friendly, if not efficient. Ang also noted that she felt better knowing that the ingredients were organic.

The Bad: Most of the dishes had a sourness to them. The vegetables they used were fresh and you could tell they had potential to make a great meal, but there’s something (or someone) missing in the kitchen…

The Ugly: The washroom has the weirdest set-up. It’s a tiny little closet of a room to begin with, but rather than mounting the toilet against a wall (like most people do) they placed it smack dab in the middle of the floor. I had to sit sideways on the seat and my nose was still inches from the wall. Very awkward.

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Dinner Club

Dinner Club: Nine Dishes

Posted by Anny Chih on September 22, 2011 at 7:53 pm.

Have you ever dissected a sheep kidney? I hadn’t until this week’s Dinner Club.

This month’s selection marked the conclusion of a second round of Dinner Club reviews, and Ang selected Nine Dishes on Kingsway after finding some great online restaurant reviews. I plan on setting the record straight on some of the statements made in those reviews and on the restaurant menu.

Nine Dishes

Falsehood #1: There are nine dishes

The restaurant is called “Nine Dishes” and it would be a reasonable assumption to think that there are only nine dishes offered. But no, there may be nine dishes offered on each menu but there are four different menus (ie 36 dishes).

Falsehood #2: Sausage is sausage

We ordered several skewers, including “pork sausage” skewers from one of the menus. We thought we were given the wrong dish when pork intestines arrived. Nope. Sausage = intestines here. It wasn’t the most accurate translation, but I can see how intestines can be considered sausage-like.

Falsehood #3: The picture and real life look alike

We also ordered a bunch of other dishes including deep friend lotus root stuffed with minced meat. A plate of round fried balls arrived and we all had to think about it before we realized it was the lotus root dish because it didn’t look like the picture on the menu. The dish was decent, but slightly inconvenient to eat because each piece had two thick lotus root slices. It tasted like fried dumplings sandwiched in steamed lotus root.

Falsehood #4: Lunch meat is not spam

Lunch meat skewers were also listed, and we were curious enough to order them. They were fried spam slices — not a huge surprise at this point.

Self-serve tea cup and rice station

Falsehood #5: It’s a typical Chinese restaurant

Normally at a Chinese restaurant, patrons are served tea and can order a small bucket of rice when telling the server what items they would like to order. At Nine Dishes, you write the items you want to order on a slip and walk up to the tea cup and rice station to get cups and rice. We asked a server for a pot of tea early on and waited well over a half hour before we finally walked up to the counter and picked up a pot at the kitchen for ourselves. The items we ordered had begun arriving at a decent pace with one after the other, but then everything was stalled and skewers began arriving sporadically at odd intervals. This is a self-serve joint.

Falsehood #6: Kidney is worth having on the menu

Why oh why do they have sheep kidney on the menu? It’s disgusting. It looks disgusting. It tastes disgusting. Thinking about its functions is disgusting! By this point, I’d just about given up on all the skewers because of the next falsehood…

Falsehood #7: Different menu items taste different

Sheep kidney and pork intestine skewers

You’d think that different menu items have different tastes, right? I mean, chicken tastes like chicken, pork tastes like pork, kidney tastes like kidney… but no. The skewers here are all covered (and I mean COVERED) in cumin, salt and herbs that you would put in a dish when you’re first starting to cook and figure that experimenting by putting a little bit of every green spice in the cupboard will taste good. Just so you know, it doesn’t. The lamb skewers had arrived first and I was the only one who identified it as lamb, which prompted Phil to say “wow, you’re like the Shazam of meat”. It was so chewy that Kenny thought it was liver (we didn’t order liver). By the time the fourth set of skewers arrived, I was cumin’ed out and couldn’t take the salt anymore. Maybe they serve kidney as a sick joke because your own kidney has to work so hard at filtering out the sodium in your body from their dishes.

On the Upside

Now that I’ve gone through these falsehoods, I’ll say that not all of the dishes at Nine Dishes were bad. I would never recommend the chicken (it tasted really weird — almost like it was about to go bad or wasn’t cooked properly), or anything on the skewers menu. But, the cold noodles, garlic cucumber, and spareribs were decent. There’s nothing special about these dishes and I’ve had better versions of them at the Crystal Mall food court, but they weren’t bad and they’re decently priced. Kenny and Phil might come back to order beef noodles or dan-dan noodles, but the chewy lamb and grey-pink chicken have scared me off for good.

Overall Food Group Rating: 2 out of 5*

Nine Dishes: 2 out of 5

The Good: The House Special Spareribs was the best dish that we ordered, and probably the only one I’d recommend. The Cold Noodles with Chili Sauce and Shredded Chicken dish was decent, but they weren’t particularly chilled nor did I taste the chicken (maybe that was a good thing).

The Bad: Do not order sheep kidney or anything made of chicken or lamb here (unless you think an excessive amount of cumin, salt and herbs can make anything taste good). The kidney is disgusting. The chicken is questionable. The lamb is tough and they don’t distinguish between tendon and meat.

The Ugly: Sheep kidney. It’s got these large tunnels inside and looks like something that belongs in a biology lab, not on your plate.

*Ann couldn’t make it out to Dinner Club this month, but hopefully she’ll be able to join us next month!

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Dinner Club

Dinner Club: Sushi Kimura

Posted by Anny Chih on August 17, 2011 at 2:14 pm.

Standing outside Sushi Kimura admiring their decor

Morten hates fish. He also doesn’t drink tea. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then to find out that he’s not a fan of Japanese restaurants. But it was Ann’s turn to pick a restaurant for Dinner Club and Sushi Kimura was her choice.

Our reservation was for 6pm when the restaurant opens its doors for dinner service. Ang insists on having dinner when the seniors come out to dine. It’s been a decent plan so far though because we’ve found that oftentimes the food doesn’t arrive until the staff has had enough time to hunt for the meats and fondle the vegetables before actually cooking.

Raise your hand if you don’t like ordering food at a Japanese restaurant? *raises hand* (Ang raises her hand too) There are simply too many options. How many pieces should I get? If I want sashimi and sushi, should I just get a combo box? But I don’t want tempura and they always have tempura. Should I order tofu? Or a sunomono? What goes with what? Does that even matter? I just want to eat, damnit!

Ann and her Tempura Udon

In the end, Ang, Kenny and Phil all decided to save themselves the headache and ordered the Black Cod Special which had been advertised on the front of each menu with a handwritten note. There weren’t that many options to choose from for Morten, so he ordered a chicken curry. What surprised me the most though, was Ann’s order of a Tempura Udon, California Cone, Cucumber Sunomono and Black Sesame Ice Cream. Whaa? Udon? California Cone?

I decided to opt for my usual food-ordering strategy: pick whatever sounds the most interesting. Unfortunately, I had to place my order in three chunks because our server kept having to inform me that what I wanted wasn’t available and I would have to review the menu again. By the time she came around for the last time I gave up and decided to order a few regular sushi pieces so I’d have something to compare with other Japanese restaurants. The things that I had wanted to order but weren’t available include Renkon (spicy sauteed lotus root), Horse Mackerel, Fresh Water Eel, Spotted Shad, and Gobou (spicy sauteed burdock). In the end, our table order looked like this:

Ang, Kenny and Phil: Black Cod Special (Grilled Black Cod, Assorted Tempura, Assorted Sashimi, Yakitori, Kobachi, Rice and Miso Soup); Phil also ordered Chicken Gizzard Yakitori
Ann: Tempura Udon, California Cone, Cucumber Sunomo, Black Sesame Ice Cream
Anny: Chicken Skin Yakitori, Spicy Tuna Sashimi on Crispy Rice, Yaki Onigiri with Salmon Flakes, Eel Avocado Roll, 1 pc Albacore Tuna, 1 pc Uni, 1 pc Hotate (scallop)
Morten: Chicken Curry

Sushi Kimura

Black Cod Special: Assorted Sashimi

We’ll start with a dissection of the Black Cod Special. Miso soup? Good. But then again, how do you go wrong with miso soup? The sashimi slices looked like they had been lovingly rolled, but a little sad all the same with only two pieces per plate that looked a bit mushier than normal. Nobody said anything about it though, so I guessed it had been decent. The tempura was nothing to brag about, and nobody did. The Yakitori included one skewer or veggies and one skewer of chicken. Slightly charred. The Grilled Black Cod was the only thing that received a unanimous nod of approval. I tried a bit of Ang’s Black Cod and it was well prepared, but I was glad I didn’t order it.

Tempura Udon, California Cone, Cucumber Sunomono and Chicken Curry… not much to say about those. Ann had a tough time trying to finish her Udon and after we had all finished our meals she was still struggling with whether or not to eat the California Cone. I don’t remember if Kenny ended up helping her with that one. Morten didn’t seem pleased with his Chicken Curry, but it wasn’t because it was bad. It just wasn’t anything special.

Spicy Tuna Sashimi on Crispy Rice

And then my dishes: The Spicy Tuna Sashimi on Crispy Rice arrived first to our table where the majority had just consumed bowls of very ordinary miso soup. If I were them, I would’ve been jealous. The dish looked great! I took a bite and was so happy I ordered it. I hadn’t tried crispy rice before and they used all those condiments you find on a Japadog with the Japanese mayo mixing in with the spicy tuna sauce. Yum! Ang kept nibbling on pieces of the crispy rice.

The Yaki Onigiri arrived next and I discovered that they’re triangles of fried rice — not fried rice as in the type of rice you find at Chinese restaurants, but rice that had been fried in triangles! They were nice and hot, but it was just rice with salmon flakes. I ate one and waited for the other dishes to arrive so I’d have something to pair with it.

The Chicken Gizzard and Chicken Skin Yakitori arrived together so Phil and I split the order so we’d each get one of each type. Phil got the better end of the deal. My Chicken Skin was infinitely better than his Chicken Gizzard. The Chicken Skin was hot fatty goodness that went well with the Yaki Onigiri. The Chicken Gizzard was just chewy. Plain and chewy. Bleh.

When the Eel Avocado Roll arrived, I wished I hadn’t ordered it. It was so boring in comparison to everything so far and it looked like the sad unloved relative of a more popular Spicy Tuna Sashimi on Crispy Rice. If the roll had been packed tighter it would’ve been about 75% of the size, but instead it flopped on the chopsticks like an eel on its last breath. This was a filler roll (the kind you order because you just want to eat, and not because you enjoy eating).

Albacore Tuna, Hotate (scallop) and Uni

And then arrived the 1 pc Albacore Tuna, 1 pc Uni and 1 pc Hotate (scallop). I wasn’t sure I’d like the Uni because it looked rather unappetizing with its mushy orange liquidy topping. But the Hotate looked promising! It ended up being decent and relatively light, but unmemorable. Same with the Albacore Tuna. I was right about the Uni though. I discovered I really don’t like Uni. This is not the Uni’s fault though. I’m sure this was “good Uni” but the texture was just awful. It was like biting into liquid. Fishy orange liquid.

Ann and Phil had decided to share a Black Sesame Ice Cream (which is really something since Phil never shares! Haha). Everyone but Morten tried a bit too. This was the best black sesame ice cream we’d ever had. So good! The kind you get at T&T is all grainy with a wimpy sesame to ice cream ratio. This was an in-your-face-I’m-all-kinds-of-Asian kind of ice cream. It was like the Bruce Lee of ice creams; so good, that Phil asked whether they sold it for consumption at home and Ann tried to lick the bowl!

Sushi Kimura: 4.5 out of 6

While we were deliberating our votes at the end of the meal, I had a really hard time deciding. On the one hand, the dishes that I had ordered out of interest were really good and I had been pleased. On the other, the items that people would be more likely to order at a Japanese restaurant were not especially good looking or flavourful, and ordinary at best. But then again, Japanese-style dishes are often understated and appreciated for their subtlety. Tough call. Would I go again? Probably not. Is it worth the price point? Again, probably not (the menu items are only slightly more expensive than most other Japanese restaurants in the area). But did I enjoy my meal? Yes. In the end, I gave it a thumbs up.

Overall Food Group Rating: 4.5 out of 6

The Good: The few more atypical dishes on the menu were definitely worth trying.

The Bad: We didn’t try anything that we thought was “bad”. Just ordinary. Nothing special.

The Ugly: That Uni!

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Dinner Club: Hog Shack

Posted by Anny Chih on July 13, 2011 at 10:49 pm.

Oink

If you see a faded sign at the side of the road that says
15 miles to the… Hoooog Shack! Hog Shack yeah yeah!
We headed down the 99 highwaaay,
lookin’ for the hooooog getaway
Heading for the hog getaway
We got us a car, it’s as big as a whale
and we’re headin’ on down
To the Hog Shack.
I got me a Honda, it seats about five
So hurry up and bring your hunger and fork!

The Hog Shack is a little old place
where we can eat togetherrrr
Hog Shack baby, Hog Shack bay-bee
Hog Shack, baby Hog Shack that’s where it’s at,
Ooo Hog Shack, that’s where it’s at!

Can you guess where we went for Dinner Club this month?

This installment of Dinner Club adventures comes courtesy of Phil’s love of meat, BBQ and Richmond. We drove out to Steveston, which is just about the cutest little area in Richmond to try out our second BBQ joint: Hog Shack.

Allan’s Mammoth Platter (Feeds 4 and a bit)

We ordered Allan’s Mammoth Platter to share, and it was just right for the six of us (mind you, some of us have smaller appetites than others). When it arrived, we could tell right away that this was going to be a good experience. The meat was hot, moist, well covered in sauce, and a beautiful BBQ brown colour.

The Mammoth platter includes baby back ribs, St. Louis side ribs, dino ribs, chicken quarters, smoked brisket, pulled pork, and a choice of six sides (they offer nine types). We chose mashed potatoes, coleslaw, yam fries, wedge fries, corn bread, and Spanish pilaf rice as our sides.

I don’t really like BBQ and given the choice of BBQ or something else, I’d probably choose something else. Even so, I can appreciate well prepared BBQ and know what’s good when I taste it. This was pretty good. The dish was the perfect temperature when it arrived with steam still rising off the plate, the meat on the ribs fell right off the bone when you gave it a light pull, and the brisket was moist and cooked to the right consistency. All in all, I’d give the meat an A.

Ang, Morten and I took a trip down to Memphis TN almost two years ago and they still stand by their statement that the BBQ they had there was the best they’d ever had in their lives. But how often are you going to visit Memphis? So far in our dining excursions around the Lower Mainland, Hog Shack is a clear winner in the BBQ department.

Corn bread, coleslaw, Spanish pilaf rice, mashed potatoes, yam fries, wedge fries (underneath the yam fries)

Though no one could find fault in the meat, the sides revealed some interesting tidbits about each of our personal preferences. Kenny for instance, doesn’t like yam fries. I know, who doesn’t like yam fries!? Ann needs veggies in her diet so she picked the coleslaw and really liked it. I thought it tasted a little strange for coleslaw — there’s some kind of vegetable in there that throws it off with a little kick of the kind of flavour you only notice when you breath out through your nostrils. Ang was a fan of the corn bread, which Kenny and I both thought was too sweet for corn bread. And I loved the mashed potatoes. I really appreciate the little things that make a simple side great, like a generous portion of garlic. Yum!

Next time I go to the Hog Shack though, I’m ordering the Flatline Burger! Now THAT sounds good: A double burger between two grilled cheese sandwiches. If you finish the entire plate in five minutes or less, it’s free (not a recommendation, just something to think about ).

Overall Group Food Rating: 6 out of 6

The Good: All the meats in the Mammoth Platter.

The Bad: The long drive out to Steveston in Richmond and lack of dessert places open after 8pm (tip: just have dessert at Hog Shack if you need something sweet to end the night).

The Ugly: The carnage left on the table at the end of the meal.

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Dinner Club: Afghan Chopan Restaurant

Posted by Anny Chih on June 16, 2011 at 11:21 pm.

It was Morten’s turn to call the shots for Dinner Club this month and he would’ve chosen Be’Wiched Cafe in Surrey but it turns out they’re not open on weekends. Since we’ve never gone to Surrey for Dinner Club, he decided to Google a Surrey restaurant and chose Afghan Chopan Restaurant as his plan B. It was a good plan B.

First, a word of warning for those that rely on a GPS to get around: If you enter the address for Afghan Chopan Restaurant, your GPS may think it’s smarter than you and automatically change that address to something on 60th Avenue on the other side of town. Check first before driving. Our GPS did that and we ended up arriving a half hour late.

Afghan Chopan Restaurant

Kenny, Ann and Phil were put in the pen for a “time out”

Something must’ve gone down while Morten, Ang and I were making our way to the restaurant because when we arrived, Kenny, Ann and Phil were separated from the rest of the restaurant in an elevated pen. It looks like something you’d put kindergarten kids in when they need a “time out.” Haha

They had already ordered one of each of the appetizers, but the food didn’t make an appearance for another half hour after we arrived. If this was some sort of tactic to starve us just long enough to make anything taste great, it worked. The Bolani (pastry stuffed with potatoes), Mantu (steamed dough filled with ground beef, onions and spices) and Ashak (steamed dough filled with leeks, minced meat and yogurt) were all yummers! The Bolani reminded us of crispy green onion pancakes with a potato twist, but the Ashak was the winner of the three when it came to flavour. The Mantu and Ashak were actually quite similar, but eating the Mantu reminded both Ang and I of eating something almost Italian. You could taste the leeks in the Ashak as well as the spices and what we suspected must’ve been some other type of vegetable in there.

Meat Kebabs

We asked our server if the Family Combo would be enough for six people and he said it would be, so that’s what we ordered. It was just right! The combo comes with rice (with raisins, carrots and chutney), tekka kabab, chicken skewers, shami skewers, and three vegetable dishes including a potato dish, green bean dish, and cauliflower dish. I’m normally not a huge fan of rice, but with raisins and hidden meat pieces I was a happy camper. It reminded me a bit of Russian plov. The potato dish was the only one that wasn’t finished and it wasn’t because it wasn’t good — it just wasn’t anything special. Very potato-y. The green beans were a good side dish (also nothing crazy going on here), but the curry cauliflower dish was unusually tasty. We didn’t know how to describe it.

And then the meat arrived. Omigoodness, I had an OMIGOODNESS moment!! I tried the beef first and thought it was really good. But then I tried the chicken and was blown away! I have *NEVER* had chicken this moist and tender before. We were all seriously impressed and my first thought was “this can’t be chicken.” I don’t know what they did to that chicken, but I actually wondered whether they had served us some new and improved artificially constructed meat product (for real). SO GOOD!!

For dessert, we ordered Ferneys (milk pudding stirred with vermicilli, almonds, pistachio and sugar) and I really didn’t have high hopes for a pudding with vermicilli. I was wrong. It was delicious. Sidenote though: we had ordered a few Ferneys to share but some were colder than others and the coldest ones tasted better.

Afghan Chopan Restaurant: 6 out of 6

Overall Group Food Rating: 6 out of 6 (a no brainer!)

The Good: The meat kababs are to die for!

The Bad: The wait times can be a little crazy and sitting on the hard floor didn’t help. By the way, this seating is optional — most tables at the restaurant have normal seating arrangements but Ang wanted to embarrass us by reserving the platform pen.

The Ugly: The outside signage. It looks like the type of sign you’d put outside of a discount hardware store and I wouldn’t have eaten there based on that sign alone. The website is also pretty terrible. It’s a flash site with annoying dings and flipping noises.

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Dinner Club: Organic Lives

Posted by Anny Chih on May 9, 2011 at 6:04 pm.

Sprouted Walnut Roll

Is it Organic Lives (noun) or Organic Lives (verb)? I still don’t know.

Since it was my turn to choose a Dinner Club restaurant, I decided it would be a good time to go veg (I do this for one month each year, usually in the Spring). Instead of choosing the new Russian restaurant that I’ve been meaning to visit before it closes down, I went with Organic Lives on Quebec St.

Choosing a place that only serves raw organic food was definitely the most contentious decision in Dinner Club history. But hey, isn’t Dinner Club all about trying new things? We hadn’t gone to a vegetarian restaurant before — let alone a RAW organic restaurant, but we’ve had practically-all-meat meals at Memphis Blues and Old Bavaria Haus.

When we got there, I think we were all really pleasantly surprised. Their menu sounded delicious! It has everything from Chilli Sans Carne to a Sushi Platter with Sprouted Pecan, Sprouted Walnut and Sea Veggie & “Rice” rolls. If everything tasted as good as it sounded AND was healthy for you then we would’ve been happy campers.

We’re not happy campers.

Organic Lives

Phil during the first sip of his juice. The expression says it all.

We started by ordering juice (Deep Cleanse) and smoothies (Superexpialidelicious, Blue Flame and Body Builder with pear instead of banana). You can’t go wrong with juice and smoothies right? Oh, so wrong. Even though the smoothies had banana, blueberries, pear, berry extract etc., they weren’t sweet. I had the Body Builder and it tasted like someone took a bunch of nuts, ground it into pulp, added water and a dash of powdered medicine, and tried to serve it as a beverage. Phil had the Deep Cleanse and said it tasted like cucumber and celery. Ang and Morten shared the Superexpialidelicious and it reeked of banana so I didn’t go anywhere near that one, and Ann and Kenny shared the Blue Flame which looked super sweet with its bright purple hue but apparently its taste didn’t live up to its description.

Well, even if the juices and smoothies weren’t good, we could still look forward to the food. How are they going to make curry and sushi rolls if nothing they use can be heated? Answer: it doesn’t taste like proper curry or sushi rolls. In the case of the sushi rolls, it’s okay that they didn’t taste like sushi because they were still good in their own way. The sauce that came with the rolls was what took the Sprouted Walnut Roll from good to yummers. We all agreed this one was good. It was also the first thing that came out and the presentation was perfect. In fact, everything looked simply gorgeous. Props for presentation.

Then came the Lasagna with its zucchini substitute for pasta, Mexi Spirals, Aloo Tikki, Spring Roll, Thai Curry, and the remaining two rolls from the Sushi Platter.

Bland Lasagna

The Lasagna was bland but the side salad had a dressing that Kenny was impressed with because the taste was very close to a Caesar. The salad also had non-bread croutons that tasted like slightly bitter crushed nuts that simply weren’t a good substitute for the real thing — it was like biting down on bitter granola chunks.

The Mexi Spirals were popular with Ann and Ang. They were also served in sushi form with crisp veggies in the middle rolled together with a sundried tomato wrap that reminded me of fruit roll-ups. This one wasn’t horrible, but it would’ve been better with a tamer sundried tomato flavour and less of the hot sauce.

Up next was the Aloo Tikki served with three chutnies (two of which were decent, one of which was disgusting). This is where it all went downhill for me. All the dishes seem to have a lot of cilantro, but this one had a chutney that was so heavy on the herbs and spices that I had to down some of the Body Builder to drown my wailing taste buds. The actual Aloo Tikki pieces tasted like soggy cardboard that had been packed into round molds with some nuttiness and it fell apart just as easily.

The Spring Roll was exceptionally bland, especially since it came immediately after the Aloo Tikki. The coconut and pear wrapper was mildly interesting on its own, but the kelp noodle was “sub-optimal” (as Morten would say) and the greens inside of the roll were about as interesting as wet sock. This wasn’t on anyone’s list of favourites.

“Thai Curry”

The Thai Curry was very controversial. It really shouldn’t be called Thai and it really shouldn’t be called curry. What is should be, is cooked. But it’s not. By this point in the meal, Morten was practically fuming with disgust. Without heat, the spices that are supposed to infuse the curry with flavour can’t work their magic so the “curry” ends up as an unfinished substitute for a sauce. Add that on top of a bitter vegetable slaw and you’ve got something that feels incomplete and closer to inedible than delectable. Out of the dishes that we ordered, this was on the top of the list for Phil and Ang (though neither really vouched for the authenticity of the dish), but definitely below the acceptable line for Morten. I was closer to Morten’s position on this one, but mostly because I was beginning to feel sick from the exorbitant amount of cilantro the chefs insisted on adding to everything. It’s as if they’ve never heard of other herbs!

Even though Ang and Phil thought the Thai Curry was the better of the evils we’d tried so far, we were all looking forward to the last two sushi rolls because nothing had been very good since the first sushi roll. These last rolls were still better than the Thai Curry, Spring Roll and Lasagna, but I was still so sick of cilantro that I couldn’t enjoy yet another dish with a mouthful of the stuff. I’d like to point out that I’ve never had anything against cilantro and whenever I include herbs and spices in my soups, pasta sauces etc, I almost always use it. But this was just way too much. Way, way too much. Bleh.

Worst cheesecake and pie EVER.

By the time I put the last bite in my mouth I felt like I just forced myself to finish an eating marathon but at the same time, I wasn’t full. We decided to order dessert as a last attempt to have a somewhat decent meal: an OMG (coconut cream pie) and a strawberry cheesecake. OMG how the eff can they charge $7 for such a tiny piece of frozen malt on top of crushed nuts? This was the worst excuse for pie and cheesecake I have ever had the displeasure of putting in my mouth!! SO disappointing.

After we left and paid the highest bill for a Dinner Club meal, Phil was the only one smiling (sidenote, he’s also the only one of us who eats gruel regularly — not oatmeal, gruel). Morten had a scowl on his face and the bite of a man left to starve for no good reason. Kenny and Ann were also still hungry and ended up going to A&W for full meals and a giant piece of cake. Ang was disappointed, and I was starting to feel ill from repulsion.

Organic Lives: 2.5 out of 6

Ang pointed out that for people who only eat raw organic food, Organic Lives would be an option. Not a good option, but an option. I think people are better off spending the money at the supermarket on a box of greens. They could eat the box and it would still taste better.

Overall Group Food Rating: 2.5 out of 6

The Good: Beautiful dishes. A+ on the presentation.

The Bad: The stuff on the plates.

The Ugly: The face you make when you eat the stuff on the plates.

Sidenote: After Kenny saw Phil’s thumbs up, he wanted to change his vote to a thumbs down to offset it but that’s against Dinner Club rules.

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Dinner Club: Acme Cafe

Posted by Anny Chih on April 11, 2011 at 12:45 am.

This edition of Dinner Club was a particularly dangerous one where your faithful judges showed their undying commitment to finding the yummiest dishes in town regardless of the restaurant location, taking silly photos at the establishments that serve them, and satisfying any and all cravings at two in the morning even if it means they might end up in the hospital. Yes, that’s how dedicated we are.

Yummy Dishes

Kenny outside Acme Cafe with Ann’s take-out Chicken Pot Pie

Kenny began round two of our Dinner Club escapades and decided that Acme Cafe would be his saving grace in an attempt to wash out the stench of Memphis Blues. The usual suspects were present with the exception of Ann who was unable to make it to the restaurant but had take-out delivered to her (Chicken Pot Pie).

Acme Cafe sits on the fringe of sketch-ville Vancouver (aka East Van) and is just about the cutest little diner you ever did see. Fedoras and poodle skirts wouldn’t be out of place here. The menu is probably the only thing that doesn’t jive with the ’50’s vibe with its fancier items like their Local Cioppino and Wild Boar Sausage & Turkey Cassoule. They even have a “High-falutin’” take on the classic grilled cheese sandwich that uses cheddar, swiss, brie and cranberry-Grand Marnier relish on a grilled Ciabata panini. We were pleasantly surprised both by the decor and the food selection.

We normally order several items to share, but Acme Cafe is more of a ‘to each his own’ type of establishment. Amongst our five present judges we ordered a High –falutin’ Grilled Cheese, Wild Boar Sausage & Turkey Cassoule, Chef’s Feature (goulash with a barley risotto), Local Cioppino and Meat Loaf for mains. The presentation for all of the dishes deserves mention because everything looked great. With the exception of Kenny’s barley risotto side dish, everything came out at once and at just the right temperature too. We were all so engrossed in taking photos of our dishes and sampling from each other’s plates that we didn’t even notice that the risotto was missing until our very attentive server stopped at our table and noticed something was missing on Kenny’s plate. Props for great service!

Local Cioppino

I was skeptical about how good Ang’s Local Cioppino (fresh BC seafood stew in a tomato fennel broth) was going to be since we were at a diner in East Van and there were no other seafood mains on the menu, but her dish was my favourite of the lot. The stew had a really nice flavour to it and having it served in a sourdough bread bowl was perfect.

Morten’s Wild Boar Sausage & Turkey Cassoule was similar to chili (which he loves) but a little bit lighter and also a touch classier with its ingredients. He was quite happy with his choice. Phil inhaled his High-falutin’ Grilled Cheese with its side of barley soup quite contentedly, but I’ll admit I wasn’t watching him the whole time since I was busy scarfing down my own Meat Loaf dish. The Meat Loaf was a little on the drier side, but the sauce, multi-coloured potatoes and side salad worked well together to balance out the moisture in each subsequent bite.

Meat Loaf

Kenny was also pleased with his goulash and piping hot barley risotto, and I received an update from Ann about her Chicken Pot Pie that reads “pleasantly surprised. Chicken was tender, flavour was yummy, and the sauce was very creamy. It was baked right in the foil take-out container.” All in all, the entire Dinner Club gang was pretty happy with the mains.

In addition to the mains, we also ordered two Vanilla Milkshakes with double-espresso shots, one Chocolate Milkshake and one Americano. We had never tried coffee-infused milkshakes before and I’m surprised that more establishments don’t offer them! The Vanilla Milkshakes with double-espresso shots were delicious! Ang thinks they should’ve been colder and I’m sure they would’ve been even better if they were, but I thought the actual taste was really very good. You know how a lot of milkshakes taste like they’re made with powdered flavouring and milk mixed into a thick slush? This wasn’t like that. It was more like real milk and espresso infused with vanilla and whipped up into a thicker milkshake consistency. I tried Morten’s Chocolate Milkshake too to make sure it wasn’t just the espresso covering up some not-so-great flavours but his non-espresso milkshake was also lip-smacking yumminess.

Peach Pie — the only one that was good

Since we were on such a roll with the mains and the drinks (and also because I’m a sucker for pie), we ordered four desserts: Lemon Pie, Apple Pie, Peach Pie and Boston Cream Cake. And this is when things went downhill… There’s nobody I know who loves pie as much as I do (wait, maybe Phil — see 2 am Cravings below), but these pies were on the bleh end of the yumminess spectrum. The Lemon Pie was bitter from an excess of lemon zest the length of large porcupine hairs, the Apple Pie was drowned in cinnamon and covered with enough crumble to carpet the floor, and the Boston Cream Cake was no better than an afternoon donut (not quite as fresh as when they’re first made but not stale enough to chuck). The only decent dessert was the Peach Pie and even that had more crust than filling. We contemplated voting separately on the mains and the desserts (I suspect the desserts would’ve gotten a 1 / 5 at most), but decided it would be against Dinner Club rules.

Acme Cafe: 5 out of 5

Overall Food Group Rating: 5 out of 5

The Good: Great selection of mains from simple sandwiches to seafood bowls you could eat with one pinky up. Flavourful and original spins on traditionally simple dishes.

The Bad: The desserts. Get a milkshake instead.

The Ugly: The area isn’t exactly a family friendly district. If you’ve ever walked through Vancouver, you’d know exactly where East Van begins and ends. There is a very distinct border around the blocks where the majority of Vancouver’s homeless people live and Acme Cafe sits right on top of that line.

Silly Photos

Pain and a Consolation Cookie

In addition to a review this month, I’ve also got a rather embarrassing story and a few accompanying bruises to go along with it. You know how we’re a snap happy bunch at Dinner Club? Well, after we finished dinner and were chatting outside Ang told me to go inside and pose on one of the stools by the window so she could take a picture. I walked in, took a right turn towards the stools and immediately tripped over a step. I landed with a thunderous “kaboom” on the edge of the counter and floor. I fell so hard that the counter edge left a dent in my arm and I had to take a moment to let the pain in my hip subside before I could get up. I was SO embarrassed that I didn’t look up when our sever ran over to help, and walked straight back out with my head down. If I had a tail it would’ve been between my legs. SO EMBARRASSING (and painful)! When I made my exit, our server followed me out and gave me a little bag. Inside the bag was a consolation cookie and as he handed it to me he compared the act with giving a child a cookie when s/he hurt himself. SOOOOOO EMBARRASSING!!! I would totally go back to Acme Cafe for the food, but I don’t know if I can bring myself to show my face there anymore! *palm meets face*

2 am Cravings

While we were chatting away during dinner we discovered how desperate Phil can get at two in the morning when he has a craving for pie. We were talking about battle scars and food cravings when Kenny said we should ask Phil how he got the scar on his hand. Apparently one night at about two in the morning, Phil just had to have the pie that was sitting in his freezer but didn’t have the patience to let it thaw out in the oven. So, he began chipping away at it with a knife and put all his weight into one stab in an attempt to break it that his hand slipped down the blade and sliced right through to the bone! Ouch, right? Lesson: never leave a pie in the freezer. LOL

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