DOV2018: Honey Salt, delightful lunch

Restaurant: Honey Salt (visit their website here)

Location: 39 Smithe Street, Vancouver
Cuisine: Canadian, Seafood
Dineout Price: $25 for lunch; $40 for dinner

Date of visit: January 19, 2018
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4.5/5
Food variety: 3/5
Food quality: 5/5
Buck worthy? 5/5

So excited for our first Dine Out of the season! I chose this classy lunch location for a date with Adorables to start! Located in Parq Vancouver, it is easily accessible through the entrance of the JW Marriot. There are various themed seats from regular tables to sofas and lounge chairs, a very comfy casual feel. They're offering a $25 lunch and $40 dinner menu for Dine Out Vancouver.

Adorables ordered a Sweet Tea ($5.00) to start, I found this a little bland but he enjoyed it.

Appetizers

Burrata & Heirloom Beets charcoal-roasted beets, arugula, honey vinegar

In presentation, this dish was quite nice, salad topped with a generous portion of burrata. The salad itself was nicely coated in the honey vinegar and contrasted well with the gooey rich burrata cheese. Some of the beets were a little too burnt for my liking but the beet itself was tender and sweet. Overall the burrata was too overpowering and the imbalance made this dish underwhelming.

Tofino Fry calamari, sidestripe shrimp, lemon, peppers & spicy Japanese "kewpie" mayonnaise
We were both impressed with the generous portion size of this dish. The simple yet elegant presentation caught my eye. The batter was light and flavorful, went well with the calamari and shrimp. Peppers were a little overcooked; the lemon had a great unique crunch and wasn't overly tart. Paired with the mild and tart mayonnaise, this was a well rounded dish.

Entrees

Biloxi Buttermilk Fried Chicken creamy slaw, durkee's dressing, brioche & nice little salad

Honestly, I expected something a lot different than what was presented to us. Nonetheless, it was presented as a burger with three nice crispy pieces of chicken nestled between a delicious brioche bun paired with a small salad.

The chicken was tender, crispy, and seasoned well but a little dry. The creamy slaw made good presence in the burger. However, the mustard in the dressing was a bit overwhelming in some parts. Little side salad consisted of romaine lettuce, carrots, radicchio, and a very tart dried berry (unsure what it was, guessing barberry or cranberry) in a nutty cream-based dressing. Very pleasing.

Poke Bowl BC albacore, green chili ponzu, avocado, cucumber, tobiko & black rice
Surprisingly, this was the highlight of the meal for me. This was visually appealing, elegant and colorful. They even went the extra mile to make rice crispies out of black rice for added texture to the dish. The green chili ponzu was a nice balance of tart and creamy. Tuna was very fresh and such a generous portion that it overwhelmed the amount of rice present. Pleasantly surprised with the half avocado and pickled radish added extra color, crunch, and zest to the bowl. A delicious creation.

Desserts

Brown Bag Baked Apple Pie  ginger ice cream

We were both perplexed at the sheer size of desserts but we thoroughly enjoyed this succulent apple pie. It did come in a brown bag and opened at the table to reveal a nice pastry inside.

Big chunks of apple inside the pie and a buttery flaky crust topped with ice cream-- heaven in a spoonful! I didn't taste any ginger in the ice cream, felt like it was just plain vanilla ice cream (smooth and creamy though).

Warm Apple Cider Donuts bourbon & cinnamon sauce

After diving into the pie and nearing the brink of our stomach capacities, we split one of the three donuts. I didn't expect it to be so dense and a little dry, but with the sauce it was quite delicious. The sauce was like caramel with bourbon and cinnamon accents and enhanced the donuts.

I love how they placed it in a light blue bowl on a white plate because I'm a sucker for that color combination. Just perfect, they were nestled so snugly that I almost didn't want to take one.

Needless to say, we were both very stuffed after our meals and had to pack the remaining desserts to go. Service was attentive and warm, I did get the feeling they're still getting used to their roles and how the place is run. Our entrees appeared before our appies were done and cleared, which is uncommon practice for a higher-end establishment like this. Our waitress promptly noticed and apologized for the rush of dishes and explained that it sometimes happens during lunch, but of course I didn't even notice until she brought it up. We both enjoyed our date at Honey Salt and would definitely return-- especially for that delicious apple pie!

The cute book our bill came in!

Jimoco: Unfresh seafood, delicious pasta, small portions

I remember coming here many years ago and the would be hour long lineups, but the place was near empty for Sunday lunch time. Odd. Maybe it's because it wasn't lunch time yet? (We were there at 12:30pm) anyways, no one greeted us at the front, and finally someone noticed as we walked in halfway to the counter and told us we'd be seated in a couple minutes.

Restaurant: Jimoco Café & Pasta (visit their website here)

Location: 1046 Austin Avenue, Suite A, Coquitlam
Cuisine: Italian, pasta, seafood
Price range: $20/person

Date of visit: December 10, 2017
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 2/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 1.5/5
Buck worthy? 1/5

Looking at the menu, prices have gone up by about $3-5 per dish, such was expected due to inflation and whatnot over the years. From the 2 for 1 menu we ordered 4 dishes for 5 people. First to arrive was the Risotto Al Frutti Di Mar ($21.95) with rose sauce (you can choose from tomato, rose, cream, wine, or curry). It was a pretty small portion if it weren't 2 for 1. The risotto was about 0.5 inches deep and although it tasted great, it definitely needed more cream to the rose. Tasted like plain tomato sauce. The mussels were hit or miss on freshness, some of them have definitely gone bad.

Next was the Linguine Al Frutti Di Mar ($20.95) in white wine sauce. Portions got smaller for this one, definitely not like the pictures on the menu. The was about a cups' worth of pasta on the plate. There were scallops, mussels, clams, and shrimp in this dish. The flavors were great and noodles cooked al dente. Again, the shellfish was not fresh, tasted fishy and smelled pungent.

Then the Fusilli Alla Lucana ($22.95) arrived a little on the burnt side. Interesting presentation since it's covered with pizza dough on top, which helped keep the dish warm while we finished the others first. At this point I didn't understand why they used such large plates if they were only going to fill them 1/3 or halfway because it just looks bad. Anyways, only dish that wasn't seafood, the sausage and pasta was decent. Pizza dough was very dense and although interesting in design, felt disconnected to the whole dish.

Last was the Linguine Soul Bianco ($21.95). Last time I came here I got the Linguine Soul which is the spicy tomato base, but I wanted to try something new, the Bianco is a white seafood sauce base. This was very delicious with fragrant herbs and succulent seafood sauce infused in the pasta as it bubbled in front of us. Unfortunately the mussels and clams weren't all fresh, more than half were inedible.

It's sad to see such a great restaurant come to this. The flavors and execution were amazing, but subpar staff, ingredients weren't fresh, and portions were tiny. I was disappointed and unsatisfied with my revisit. I guess good things don't last forever :(
 

Neptune Chinese Kitchen: Great disappointment to the chain

We heard there was a new restaurant from the Neptune group near our turf, so I brought my parents out to try it! It's located off United Boulevard at the Hard Rock Casino. Lots of free parking near the outside entrance of the restaurant.

Restaurant: Neptune Chinese Kitchen (visit their website here)

Location: 2080 United Boulevard, Coquitlam
Cuisine: Chinese, Seafood, Dim Sum
Price range: $15+/person



Date of visit: April 26, 2017
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 1/5
Buck worthy? 1/5

Looking at the menu, they're on the expensive side for a Chinese dim sum/ cafe style restaurant. They offer lots of menu options, such as dim sum and set menus for 4 to 10 people. Interior is brightly lit and looked clean, with some tint to the windows so that the sun doesn't blind us from outside. Rather quiet when we were there, only about 2-3 other tables around lunch time.

We couldn't find some items on the menu we wanted in mind, but the waitress was wonderfully friendly, explained where items were, and it felt homey because of her. We got their Two Kinds of BBQ Meat ($19.95) and chose BBQ Duck and Honey BBQ Pork. This is typically one of their signature items. I'm surprised they could serve us this dish for that price. The duck was lukewarm and barely any good pieces. Otherwise the seasoning and meat met average standards. Super fatty and only a quarter duck. The BBQ Pork-- I don't even know if it was meat. It was so over-tenderized and seasoned that the texture was no longer meat. It was super salty, dry, and hard.

Another staple is congee, so we ordered an Assorted Meat Congee ($8.95) which had pork stomach, liver, kidney, and meatball. It was not very salty, which is good for our health, but nothing was marinated either. Liver, kidney, and stomach should have been marinated lightly for the congee but they were bland. The meatball didn't have any bounce to it either, so soft and mushy. The congee base was disappointing too, perhaps Hon's does a better job than them.

Our final dish was the Pork Hock with Tossed Noodle ($10.95). This was a generous portion of noodles and it comes with a side soup to go with the noodles. There's some lettuce on the side and a good couple pieces of pork hock. Pork hock was done well, flavors soaked into the pieces of soft, tender hock. Noodles were too sticky and didn't have the proper bite to them. Soup was intensely salty, which if mixed with the noodles (traditionally meant to be drank while having these noodles, not mixed), was decent and helped cut the sticky feel to the noodles.

This totally killed our mood for the day, but the sunshine and beautiful cherry blossoms helped lift it back up! For the price we paid, we could've fed six people at dim sum. Service was good, but food missed the mark. By a lot. I hope they fix themselves as the restaurant continues into full swing, since it IS pretty new (a month old now?)

Grand River: Improved dim sum!

Honestly, for a while I refused to come here for dim sum since the quality was so poor. All the food was too oily and overfried that it was almost disgusting to ingest. However, my mom convinced me otherwise, so here I am!

Restaurant: Grand River Seafood Restaurant (visit their website here)

Location: #112- 100 Schoolhouse Street, Coquitlam
Cuisine: Chinese, Dim Sum, Seafood
Price range: $10-15 per person



Date of visit: October 28, 2016
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 4/5
Buck worthy? 4/5

One of the staples that I like to order is Steamed Pork Dumpling ($4.50). These were actually decent, not too much lard, nice size, and had some shrimp and mushroom in it. Good texture.

Steamed Bean Curd Wrap in Oyster Sauce ($4.50) is Sunflower's favorites, they pack lots of pork inside the beancurd, which is steamed to be soft and moist.

My granny's must-have: Steamed Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce ($4.95). They used to only have 4 per dish (sometimes they still only have 4 if they're big), but there were five today, which feels like a better deal. All the flavors of the sauce are soaked into the feet and the skin falls right off the bone.

Deep Fried Squid ($6.95) is not the same as Deep Fried Squid with Spicy Salt, so be careful! We enjoy the squid tentacles over the body of the squid, and these are so tasty! Crispy and fresh all the time, not overly salty either!

Steamed Spareribs on Rice ($2.99 if you order 3 dim sum) is something my uncle ALWAYS orders. Though I prefer plain steamed spareribs, how can you argue with a dish that's under $3? It's basically steamed rice with pork spareribs on top, with a side of sweet soy sauce. Hits the spot and the carb go-to.

Steamed Meat Dumpling ($4.50) is sometimes ordered at our table, I felt the skin was nicely made-- a bit thick but chewy, soft, and moist. There were SO MANY PEANUTS inside, I didn't like it that much, but Sunflower did! The meat rissoles inside were tasty and just the way I remember them as a child though!

Can't ever have a day without fish for OldBean, so a Halibut with Supreme Soy Sauce and Scallions ($7.95) was in order. The halibut was overcooked and a bit dry, flavors were good though.

Another fishy favorite is their (boneless) Yellow Croaker with Supreme Soy Sauce and Scallions ($8.95). There's only about 9 pieces of fish, but oh so melt-in-your-mouth good. Crispy on the outside the fish is moist and flakey inside.

Deep Fried Milk (special item, forgot the price) was a special monthly item, and quite disappointing. The outside was crispy but hard and the "milk" inside was solid and overcooked.

Fried Prawn Dumpling ($5.50) is packed with shrimp and garlic wrapped together in a golden layer of crispy wonton skin. Juicy inside and crunchy outside-- yum!

Steamed Tripe with Ginger and Green Onions ($4.95) is becoming rare in the dim sum scene nowadays because of the inflating price and complexity of preparation. However they do a good job here, no extra cornstarch coating on them, just plain steamed and delicious.

Mayo Pork Chops (special item, forgot the price) was definitely the wrong choice we made that day. The mayo was overwhelmingly sickening paired with the deep fried pork chop-- it was all too much. My piece had a lot of fat in it as well, which was disappointing.

Deep Fried Sweetened Glutinous Rice Ball ($4.50) took a good 35 minutes before it showed up at our table, since they make it fresh-- so remember to order it early! I'm glad they do this though, since it was super crispy, with the glutinous rice being soft and chewy. I didn't like the seasme paste filling though, it was not smooth and had lots of grit to it.

Finishing off with more dessert, Tapioca Cake with Red Bean Paste and Custard Paste ($4.50) was a beautiful presentation. Usually its harder to use small tapioca balls, but they did it!

It doesn't stick onto our hands and the tapioca balls are all cooked perfectly so that they are nice and chewy.

Service has much improved and their food has definitely turned for the better. I hope they keep it up and continue offering various different dishes each month!

Ruby Chinese: Bittersweet Farewells

Another restaurant closing gathering, all quite bittersweet. Basically, I grew up with Ruby and the staff there since everyone was like family there. This post is basically the farewell party on their last day!

They officially closed after lunch, I saw some people there for dim sum still, but she had portioned off three tables for guests to sit at. It was so warming as strangers shared a table and recalled all our good memories at the restaurant. They were familiar faces since we see each other so often during dim sum. First they served a Potato Salad! It was gigantic for 8 people! Crispy melon mixed with soft potato and loaded with shrimp, so amazing!

Food continued to appear on our table, there was soup with fish maw, super yummy!

Favorite is their Singaporean fried rice noodles, just as I remember them =)

They called this "Owner fried rice special" because it was personally made by the owner herself! Loaded with ingredients, this tasted delicious.

One of our all time favorites must be their pan fried string beans, mildly spicy with meat bits and the beans crunchy and flavorful-- I'm definitely going to miss this!

Then poured in many many dim sum plates freshly steamed! Various buns stacked atop each other, some sweet, some savory.

There was also har gow (shrimp dumpling), which is kinda crazy because in all my years here we've never actually ordered it! First--and last =(

Pork hock was one of my grandma's favorites, since they're so tender and the flavors are all soaked up into the pork hocks.

I've always admired them for having clean oil to fry their foods (they change it weekly and sometimes more frequently if the "color" of the oil changes), as compared to most Chinese places that just use their oil until unfryable. These tomato sauce shrimp were lightly fried and had just enough sauce to coat the outsides. These were quite large as well, and crunchy in my mouth!

We all held the plate of deep fried squid since we were running out of room on our table! So heavenly.

Look at how much food we still had! This was about the time when three people from our table had to leave-- leaving six of us staring at all the food.

There was bonus beef omasum-- Elephant's favorite! (Too bad he wasn't here for it)

Here's the owner still working hard, going around to make sure everyone was comfortable and well fed.

There was so much food left over and we couldn't bear to waste it, so packing it for later!

Lastly, a picture with the owner (and famjam)! Thank you for the many years of great memories, food, and chatter! We will definitely miss you, and hope you see each other around town ^-^