Berry Good's Very Good Mango Cheese Cake

Mango Cheese Cake

I have been craving for the mango cheese cake lately. Cheese cakes are usually perceived as heavy and rich, but the mango cheese cake from Berry Good is different. The flavour of mango brings the creamy, rich cheese cake to the perfect balance - not too sweet with a tad of sourness. The mango chunks complements well to the smooth texture of cheese. After all, plain cheese cakes are after all, plain, especially toward the end of the slice.

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka Vancouver

aji-tama

At last my chance to get my ramen fix after the 4-week ramen drought. For their combination of great barbequed pork and awesome boiled egg, we decided to join the line up at the Hokkaido Ramen Santouka on Robson this time around.

Toroniku Cha-shu

I was enduring the queuing hoping to see the light - aji-tama, toroniku cha-chu, and the broth that can be smelled steps away from the restaurant.

The seating is tight though comfortable for ramen joint standard, with many clever compartments to store away stuff for everyone. Be warned that you make good use of whatever utensils and napkins, and that include chopsticks - just in case an all-out war of splashing and slurping breaks out with your hostile neighbours.

The eggs were done perfectly - not overcooked and still runny in the centre of the egg yolk, and flavoured throughout. The cha-shu is extremely tender. This is supposed to be the cheek part. How much meat do you suppose each pig has? ;) The soup is very rich and bursting with the aroma of pork broth.

carefully assembled and ready for onslaught

This is by no means heaven-sent ramen, however. The soup is quite salty, and the pork is fatty. Even though iced water is served and the portion isn't as insanely large as most North American restaurant, this is not suitable for daily consumption, but occasional enjoyment like all good things in life.

Osoyoos: Lunch at Wildfire Grill - the Burger

can someone trademark "Dad"?

At last we arrived at Osoyoos. Hungry as wolves, we stumbled upon the Wildfire Grill in the beautiful dessert town surrounding Osoyoos Lake.

With permitting sunny weather, we cooperated by sitting at the patio with breeze in our face. I ordered the burger, as a starvation-induced meat-craving carnivore.

It came with soup. The beef patty is topped with sauteed mushrooms and everything else. To my surprise, the soup was actually good - way too many times I was insulted by powder soups at burger places with excess amount of salt that doesn't taste like anything ( *cough* <insert dessert plant or a large fish or anything> <insert club/bar/grill> *cough* ).

ready to be chumped

The burger was great. No filler-filled patty can compete with something made from real meat in form, shape, or texture that resembles meat. The bun was moist and warm. It was a pleasant break from drinking water for every bite at many chain <*cough* club/bar/grill *cough*> places.

oh wow..patty with recognizable ingredients

Good place. I will return when I visit Osoyoos again, hopefully not in the far-far away future.

Metro falls to invasion of Japanese ramen

ajitama

At last, there is a surviving ramen shop in Burnaby area. As a long time noodle fan, I have always endured the trek to Downtown Vancouver,  followed by voluntarily patrolling the neighbourhood in hope of finding parking space. The Kawawa Japanese restaurant on the contrary is located inside Metrotown with ample free mall parking.

I ordered the Kawawa Ramen. For almost $10, it came with stewed pork, the 'ajitama' egg, one of my favourite type of egg, slow-cooked egg until the york becomes partially runny.

How does it compare to those ramen joints in Downtown Vancouver? It's a PASS, but definitely not the one to line up for - not that I see any queue around this place anyways. Seating is comfortable, surrounded by flat screen TVs for sports fans. The portion is reasonable and the topping is not bad, so what's wrong? 

The answer lies in the broth. The broth while tasty has no body, and it lacks the depth that every bowl of good ramen MUST have. The soup is itself is also quite salty and oily. The noodles are slightly overcooked.

Still, this is the only ramen place in the area. If you are nearby doing some shopping, and want some ramen, this is the oasis in ramen desert.

Korean Tofu Soup

Beef Bulgogi

I love Korean food on a day in typical Vancouver-ish weather - cold, wet, and wet, and cold. Did I say wet and cold? In any case, a boiling spicy tofu soup, served with rice and kimchi would warm the body and the heart.

This time it was the House of Tofu Soup in Burnaby in the heart of the "Korean stretch" along North Road. It's a no-none-sense restaurant specializing in tofu soup. There is no gimmicks or fancy decoration at all. It was just simple tables and chairs.

Kimchi

Upon my arrival, I was immediately greeted and seated. Appetizers - kimchi, seaweed, mashed potato - were served after taking my orders. The appetizers were great and tasty. Kimchi felt like it was pickled for sufficient amount of time, unlike many places that serve kimchi with no flavour inside the cabbage. We ordered the Combination - mixed tofu soup+beef bulgogi, and the Bibimbob in stone bowl.

Tofu Soup

The soup was the first thing I had. It was hot, spicy, tasty, but not grossly rich. The rice was freshly cooked in a stone pot, and delivered to our table in the pot. It was cooked to perfection, and fresh. While sweet and chewy, it was filled with great aroma as well. Most Asian restaurants cook their rice in big batches, but not this Korean restaurant. The beef bulgogi was great - pan-fried with onion then served on hot plate. It was sweet and slight crunchy on the edges but still retained the moisture. My only complaint was that the shrimp wasn't so great compared to the rest of the food here. Next time I think I will order the beef tofu soup with chicken bulgogi instead.

Bibimbob

The bibimbob was one of my favorite Korean dishes. It literally translates to "mixed meal". It was rice, vegetables, meat, and egg all in a hot stone bowl. As I mixed the food in the bowl, the hot stone bowl slowly cooked the food further and brought out flavor of fresh ingredients. If you wish, you could add hot sauce to it. The best part, however, was at the bottom of the bowl - crispy rice chunks. Crunchy and sweet, I always take my time to savor this part of bibimbob. :)



Overall, for the price range ( ~ $10-15 per person ), this restaurant presents great value and great taste. Unlike the typical 'Korean BBQ', the menu here offers a lighter, healthier alternative. The amount is satisfying enough, and it leaves enough room for people who like to migrate to a dessert place. Which dessert place? That's for the future posts...

The battle of omelettes!!

 OK, so I love omelettes. Not that I have lost my teeth that I can't chew, but I love omelettes even though they do not typically do 0-60 mph under 5 seconds. To show my dedication, I had omelettes from three different places in 3 weeks!!

Classic Omelette from Four Seasons Downtown Vancouver

3rd Place: Classic Omelette from Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver. It was served with potatoes and chicken sausages. Inside the omelette, the molten cheddar cheese was nicely blended with green pepper and ham. The egg was not overcooked, but still a little bit lacking in moisture. It was good, but not crazy good.

L’Omelette au Crabe from Maximilien Restaurant in Pike Place Market, Seattle

2nd Place: L’Omelette au Crabe from Maximilien Restaurant in Seattle. Combined with mushroom and fresh crab meat ( not the sh!t inside typical California rolls ), the omelette had somewhat more chewy texture ( in a good way ) than most other omelettes I have had. Both mushroom and crab were cooked just right within the egg, producing the rich flavour. Very flavourful, however, the egg was just a tad overcooked and slightly too hard.

Montagnarde omelette from Chez Mémé Baguette Bistro in Burnaby

1st Place: Montagnarde omelette from Chez Mémé Baguette Bistro in Burnaby. Simply put, it was the best omelette I have ever had. It was by far the softest omelette I have ever had. The bite literally melted in my mouth. Despite the tofu-like quality of the egg, everything inside was perfectly cooked - ham, onion, raclette cheese. The flavour was refreshing. It was really just simple, fresh food cooked right. This is what omelettes should be.

This is it for now, omelette lovers. I got hungry from writing the post...

Liege Waffles

I usually don't particular like waffles, honestly. When it comes to dessert, for me, I go for mousse, cheese cake, or custards while avoiding 'doughy' items like pies, or waffles.

The Original at Damien's Belgian Waffles.
Picture taken with Nokia N8

Damien's Belgian Waffles, however, changed my tiny world of waffles. Up arrival of the bakery, the view was a sparingly decorated place. Situated in the beautiful Steveston heritage community, it was just a perfect place to snack. I ordered the original with coffee.

The waffle was good. Very good. It was awesome. In fact, it was gruesomely addictive. It was as good as it smelled, and far exceeded my expectation. Surely it was served on paper plate and plastic utensils, but the first waffle wasn't enough. Before I knew it, I ate two more and left with two boxes filled with waffles...

The coffee was good too to go with the waffles. I had it black, the way to drink fresh brewed coffee.

I will go back again and again. Yeah, I gotta try every single flavour at that place.

Giovane Cafe

I needed a quick bite when I was doing some shopping in Downtown Vancouver so I went to the Giovane Cafe inside Fairmont Pacific Rim, the closest at the time.

Situated inside the Fairmont, I have no complaints there about cleanness or presentation of the place. At least it was clean and service was good at the time.

Italian Sausage Strata

The Italian Sausage Strata that I ordered was excellent when I wasn't in the mood for any handheld food like burgers. It was delicious and no sign of overcooked egg, which I encounter rather frequently in many eateries. The blend of the fruits was just right for the rich strata. The ingredients inside the strata was cooked just right too.

By the way, did you see the dice?

Guu in Aberdeen

Ramune soda

I have always been a big fan of Japanese tapas. At last I got to try some dishes at the newest of the Guu franchise in Aberdeen Centre,  Richmond.

The location has the usual Guu scream-over-your-ears-to-kitchen style employed by the servers to relay the food orders. An experienced customer would normally be prepared to turn away to avoid the ringing in the head. ;) But the food is so tasty that people keep coming back. It sort of adds to the atmosphere combined with the wooden theme decor inside the restaurant.

This time we only ordered the Ramune soda and the Almond Tofu. Most of the other dishes are the same as the Robson restaurant. The soda isn't too special other than the design of the bottle. Notice the glass ball used as the cap/seal.

The almond tofu was surprisingly good. I have been to other Guu restaurants on Robson and Thurlow street in Downtown Vancouver numerous times and have always dismissed it. It was very smooth and I could taste the almond with every single bite. My only complaint is the portion...oh well.

Pizza time..

After a long day in Surrey/White Rock, we decided to have quick dinner in Steveston while the day was still bright.

I have long heard about and seen the Steveston Pizza Company each time I pass by Steveston area, but finally had a chance to try it. As hungry as I was, I could smell the pizza and found the place before checking the map.

I order the French pizza. It was fresh and light. Relatively expensive though good treat. Nothing like the greasy, over-doughy, and over-cheesy pizza from our usual pizza chains. I will have to go back there and try others on the menu, such as the Japanese pizza ( no raw fish topping though..it would not have been raw anymore.. ).

It was a take-out only place. At the end, sat down and on the Blenz patio nearby.

Summer is here!

As the temperature slowly rises, and my cat sheds more and more ( sigh ), before I realise it, summer is here!

I was reminded of ice cream. Several summers ago, I had the wasabi flavoured ice cream at La Casa Gelato in Vancouver. It was the most strange but yet tasty ice cream I had ever had, so good that I quickly gulped it down. My advice: do not shove wasabi ice cream down your throat or your stomach won't like it - speaking from experience...

Anyone knows other good ice cream places?