food blogger Archives - Page 13 of 17

Al Porto Ristorante

December 8, 2014

Al Porto Ristorante is an Italian restaurant in the heart of Gastown, located in the basement of one of Gastown’s many beautiful historic brick buildings. Al Porto had a fancier feel to the restaurant, but I wouldn’t describe it was fine dining. It is certainly a restaurant that to go to when you’re not in a rush. I thought that this place would be great for romantic dates, but after reading a few reviews and hearing some stories from friends, seems like this place gets quite noisy in the night time and it’s hard to hear the person across the table from you.

The main entrance to Al Porto is located off the side of the building, towards the train tracks. There is a sign out front with a big arrow, so it’s pretty hard to miss the entrance. The picture above is the entrance to their second floor loft. I came with a few of my coworkers for lunch. The restaurant was pretty empty when we arrived, and were seated quickly. I liked how we got one of the round tables for the five of us, it made conservation easier and it was nice to see everyone without having to lean forward or anything like that. I wish more restaurants had circular tables =P Like Chinese restaurants!

Right after we ordered, our bread came! If I was going to be picky, it would have been nice to have the bread warm, but oh well. I’m not sure what the bread on the left was called, but it was very doughy and chewy, with subtle garlic and herb tastes to it. I liked how it was chewy and I am a big fan of herbs so this bread was an obvious winner in my books. I wish I could say the same about the right one, but unfortunately I found the outside to be rock hard and bland tasting.

My side of caesar salad was better than I expected it to be, which is always a great surprise! That, or I normally don’t have great experiences with side salads. The lettuce was very crunchy, as were the croutons (and not in a bad way like the complementary bread above). It had a great garlicky flavour to it. Everything tasted really fresh and tasted like what a delicious caesar salad should taste like! There was also bits of crushed pepper, which added more dynamic and a hint of spice to the salad.

Soup of the way was a white bean, tomato and basil soup. It had a thick texture to it, and was a bit starchy due to the potatoes. However, all of the flavours in the soup complemented each other really well and I didn’t find the soup to be extremely salty (I’m looking at you, Olive Garden). I try to stay away from soups at Western restaurants because I find them to be very salty, but this wasn’t the case. I added a bit of pepper to the soup to give it a bit of a flair too. Yum!

For myself, I ordered the tagliatelle buongustaio ($10.95). Tagliatelle is the type of pasta, which is a flatter and wider noodle. My plate came with chicken, sweet pea, and mushrooms in a garlic cream sauce. The tagliatelle was cooked al dente, and had a good bounce to it. The sauce was delicious as well, it was very creamy without being too heavy, and had a subtle garlic and butter taste to it. The chicken chunks had a slightly grilled and smoky taste to it, and was juicy. I love my pepper, and requested for extra in my plate which completed my dish perfectly. I sprinkled a bit of Parmesan cheese, which melted a bit due to the warmth of the everything else.

With all that said, one thing I found a bit off was their service. The service wasn’t bad or rude… it was just a bit off. I wasn’t feeling well that day and had a cold, so I asked for a warm honey water to maybe give my sore throat a relief, and so that I was actually able to talk with my coworkers because I was about to lose my voice. She seemed very confused about it and looked a bit annoyed. The rest of the time, I felt bad and uncomfortable asking her for more water, which I don’t think a server should make you feel especially at a restaurant that is known to be a bit more upscale. So I sucked it up and took Halls like there was no tomorrow.

Going to a restaurant is not just about the food, it is about the ambiance, service, and overall atmosphere. Al Porto really hit the points high with their food, but I think their service could use a bit more work, or maybe the two staff were having an off day. I don’t think I would come back for dinner since I know it gets pretty busy and is a popular tourist destination, but I wouldn’t mind coming back for lunch (if there is better service).

-Carmen

Kamamarui Ramen – Metrotown Location

November 23, 2014

After going shopping, it was one of those nights where we didn’t feel like cooking at home. Since we don’t eat in the Metrotown area much except for Cattle Cafe, we spent the next 5 minutes shivering in the cold trying to think of a backup place to eat after seeing that they were closed. Warm, soupy noodles… Oooh! Kamamarui! We spared no time shivering in the cold, ran back to the car and made our way to Kamamarui.

After walking in, we were greeted and told to sit down at the waiting chairs. The guy spent a pretty long time (well, longer than necessary), to clean everything and have us seated even though it wasn’t busy. He was just hanging out, walking back and forth slowly, while we sat there waiting for him to seat us… eventually, he finished wiping the table and went back and was doing some other stuff.
The menus were tacked on the wall, which was more convenient for both the servers and customers I guess? The walls looked like cement but they actually weren’t. Menu was pretty straightforward, they mostly served ramen and small sides such as gyoza/rice/or these rice balls known as “bombs”.

My favourite type of ramen is shio because it’s usually very rich and creamy, something I crave in ramen broth. Since they didn’t have shio, I ordered the tonkotsu ($9) because that seemed like the next closest thing to the richest broth there was. The broth was very creamy, rich, and flavourful.

The noodles were cooked al dente and had a great bounce to it. In addition, the cha shu was very tender and sweet since it was covered in some sort of marinade. As I was enjoying the noodles, I realized that the broth was so thick that I ended up asking for some hot water (which the server microwaved, I was confused) to dilute it.
The boyfriend ordered the cha shu ramen with extra noodles. The cha shu ramen didn’t specify which broth it was, but it tasted like mine. The meat was also the same as the one in my bowl, so I guess the only difference with his was that he received a lot of extra cha shu. He also thoroughly enjoyed his noodles and cha shu.

Our bowls of ramen were very satisfying and delicious. From the reviews and positive things I have heard about Kamamarui, I personally that it really does live up to the type. I had my doubts that this place would be on par with Kintaro Ramen or Santouka Ramen in the Great Authentic Ramen District (fyi, I just made up the name of the district lolol), but it really is a great substitute if you don’t want to commute down to the Denman area.

Throwback: Favourite bowl of shio ramen at Kintaro

I know that it’s not authentic and is Korean owned, and I’m not sure if they slow cook their broth like the others, but I do know that it’s pretty decent here. I think we will be back!

Sushiholic Japanese Restaurant

November 20, 2014

The boyfriend and I have been meaning to try Sushiholic for many months now, but we never actually went until last month. He ordered take out for us probably a year or so ago, when I worked late hours as a barista. That time, we chomped on it like there was no tomorrow in his car during my break. After that, we wanted to try Sushiholic in restaurant, since our take out rolls were pretty fresh and delicious. I’m not sure if the quality went down in the time that has passed or any other reason, but we weren’t too impressed with the food that night. Pictures are definitely deceiving!
To start, we had an order of salmon sashimi ($10). The salmon tasted pretty bland, there wasn’t that juicy or fresh taste to it. We appreciated the generous portion and thick slices, but sadly, there wasn’t much taste and it fell flat.
The special rolls sounded pretty appetizing, so we decided to order the fire dragon roll ($12). Unfortunately, this tasted really flat as well and had no vibrant or special flavour that we expected for someting with the words fire and dragon in it. Not including those words, the roll was definitely NOT worth $12. It came with prawn tempura, spicy tuna, mayo, cucumber, and avocado. The prawn tempura was very soggy and tasted like it had been left overnight… maybe leftovers? I know that tempura can lose a bit of the crispiness in a roll, especially if there are other wet ingredients in it but it shouldn’t taste that disappointing. Didn’t really taste any of the prawns either. I’ve had other rolls similar to this at other restaurants which have tasted better, with crunchy tempura.
The negitoro roll was pretty decent, tasted average and the tuna actually had flavour compared to the salmon sashimi and fire dragon roll. Onions inside the negitoro roll tasted fresh and were crunchy too. Then came the chopped scallop roll, which was probably the worst dish that had arrived at this point LOL. Thinking back and writing this, it’s pretty funny. It was very bland, warm, and had the scallop had a rubbery texture to it. As well, it definitely did not taste fresh. At this point I was really hoping that I wouldn’t get a stomachache after eating all their sashimi. (Well, minus the tuna!)
The boyfriend ordered the BC Roll, I didn’t try it but he said that the cooked salmon meat and skin was very dry. Our meal prospects were getting worse and worse…
Okay, so our rolls were pretty disappointing so far…but maybe their cooked food would taste better?!? We ordered the tempura udon, and I was relieved that it had the taste I was accustomed to. The broth was flavourful and had the standard udon soup broth, while the udon noodles were cooked perfectly.
The tempura that came with the udon was drastically different than the tempura in the roll, what a great relief and surprise. The tempura here was very crispy, crunchy, and flaky compared to the soggy, abysmal mess before. Do they use their leftover tempura from the day before in their rolls? It sure tasted like that to us….

Needless to say, our visit to Sushiholic was pretty disappointing and unfortunately I don’t think we will be back. It makes me a bit sad to say that because I had good thoughts about this place, which slowly disappeared. In a city like Vancouver where fresh, yummy sushi is easily accessible, there are many places that do it a lot better, and for cheaper too. Although the prices were pretty decent for the sizes we received, the quality of the food just wasn’t there (with the exception of the negitoro roll and udon tempura, not the tempura in our special roll). I had high hopes for this restaurant, I’m not too sure what happened between our take out order about a year ago and now.

-Carmen

Rajio Japanese Public House

November 16, 2014

Rajio. Radio? Rajio. Japanese izakayas, or Japanese tapa bars, have become a common thing in Vancouver the past few years. Izakayas are a great place to wind down and relax, enjoy some drinks, and delicious food in a great and loud atmosphere. Emphasis on the loud, it is tradition for servers and kitchen staff to belt out greetings and thank you to every customer that walks in and out of the doors. I personally love izakayas, my favourite in Vancouver is Suika. But of course, I’m always up to try new izakayas, especially one that is a sister restaurant of Suika.
I apologize in advance for the grainy pictures, lighting was a bit dim inside. Walking in, we were greeted with loud welcomes in Japanese. At first glance, I loved the juxtaposition of cartoon characters and rustic, historic Japanese decor.

We were seated by the front in a small circular table, the type that you would see in a small coffee shop. From this table, we had a good view of the restaurant and the street. We went during a promotion last month, which came with four of their food items (the first four down below).

We started off with the Bagna Cauda ($6.80), an assortment of veggies with their in-house made dip consisting of garlic, anchovy, olive oil, and Japanese sweet mayo. Admittedly, I never eat enough veggies and I’m also not a big fan of them either. However, the sauce was what completed the meal for me. It was creamy and had a light garlic taste that went really well with the fresh and crunchy vegetables. Definitely not your average veggie dip, we were left wanting more and discussing how we could try to recreate the dip at home. It was a good starter and filled us up.

Up next was the sashimi salad ($8.80). Again, the greens in the salad were very fresh and crispy. The dressing was also very delicious, and the tobiko added a savoury and crunchy taste to the salad. The tuna sashimi was incredibly soft and melted in our mouth. Again, just like with the veggie dip, we were left wanting more… are you starting to see a reoccurring theme here? Hehe 🙂

One of Rajio’s specialties is their kushikatsu. Kushikatsu originated in Osaka, Japan, and is a very popular street food. It is basically either deep fried veggies or meat that comes on a skewer, with a special kushikatsu dipping sauce. The dipping sauce was very dark and opaque, and came in a mason jar. We were told to not double dip, I was also reading that in Japan, some of the restaurants reuse their sauce with other customers. I seriously hope this isn’t the case and it probably isn’t due to Vancouver’s high health standards. Anyways, we were given an assortment of veggies which I can’t recall, and a chicken skewer. The veggies still packed a lot of flavour despite being deep fried and dipped in sauce.

Our ebi ramen came next. I actually preferred the oxtail ramen at Suika, their sister restaurant, more. The noodles were bouncy and cooked well, and the pork was very moist and tender.

After all our food came from the voucher, we wanted to see what else Rajio had to offer. We ordered the peking wrap ($7~), which for some mysterious reason, I can’t find on their menu or anywhere on the internet!! The peking wrap tasted exactly like the traditional Chinese wraps, it came with the usual hoisin sauce, fresh white onion, and meat. The dough of the wrap was very soft. The only difference was that it wasn’t Peking duck and the chicken was deep fried, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Every time the boyfriend and I go out to eat Japanese food, it is not complete unless we order some sort of negitoro roll. But this time, we upgraded and got the negitoro battera ($9.80), pressed sushi with tuna belly, scallions, daikon, and sesame. Just like the sashimi salad, I enjoyed the freshness and taste of the tuna sashimi but I found the daikon taste a bit too overpowering. I let the boyfriend finish this plate off since he liked it more than I did.

Last but not least, squid karage ($6~)! Hm, just noticed that deep fried food seems to be an occurring theme in this visit.. oops. It was love at first bite. The squid was very crispy and crunchy, jam packed with flavour and I wished this plate would never ever end.

Our food was undeniably delicious, and with every dish, we we left wanting with more. Staff seemed a bit disorganized as our drinks were forgotten, only to have arrived twice at different intervals after we asked them. Our ramen came twice as well. We were told that our additional items after the set menu would take awhile since it was busy, fair enough. We ended up waiting 30 minutes in between, good thing we weren’t in a rush. I’m glad that we came a bit earlier and beat the rush. Rajio, you have stolen my heart much like your sister!

-Carmen

Mio Sushi, Seattle

November 9, 2014

A lazy Sunday calls for staying at home in cozy blankets, PJs, and watching Netflix while eating a disgusting amount of corn nuts. Oh, and catching up on blogging too of course. Apart from Toulouse, we also stopped by and tried Mio sushi on a whim. Our result to Mio was a result of indecisiveness, hunger, and convenience.

It was quite sad that after arriving in Seattle for a mere 28 hours, I was already missing and craving Asian noodles. In particular, I was craving udon soup as well so we set out on what would be a thirty minute indecisiveness, constant scrolling on Urbanspoon until we found Mio. There were other places as well, but we didn’t want to drive and we also didn’t want to spend a lot of money in the downtown core.

We were pleasantly surprised at how fast of a walk Mio was from our hotel! I was a bit iffy on walking there because the streets were pretty dark and we had to pass a big dark, unlit park which has probably seen better days… but I was assured that it would be safe to walk, turns out it was a pretty nice day for a brief stroll.

This location of Mio was located right outside of the downtown core, in the South Lake Union neighbourhood. The area looked pretty new, nice, and trendy. Kind of reminded us a bit of Yaletown but more commercial. We were the only customers when we came in around 8:30 pm.
As mentioned, I knew what I was going to order before stepping in. They had a seafood and nabeyaki udon. I got the nabeyaki udon ($9 usd) since it was cheaper than the seafood udon, and all I really wanted was just udon. It came in a cute stone bowl with a handle, and I was warned the bowl was very hot. I would have liked the tempura on the side because it got really soggy, but it was good nonetheless.

There were also some pan fried string beans, but it got pretty soggy and didn’t taste super fresh. Apart from those two very minor hiccups, this bowl of udon was exactly what I wanted, and was delicious. The broth was very flavourful, and a tad salty. It came with perfectly cooked and a decent amount of udon noodles, and imitation crab meat. I liked how there was a lot of seafood as well, it was a good addition as well as the fresh green onion garnishes.
The boyfriend ordered the Gyu ramen. The ramen was really disappointing. It lacked flavour, depth, and was very plain. Perhaps we were just used to amazing ramen in Vancouver, but this bowl was not appetizing. He also mentioned that the ramen noodles tasted like instant noodles… yikes.

To split, we ordered the salmon and yellowtail roll. Yellowtail roll is the same as negitoro roll, it confused us at first. Both rolls were very fresh and flavourful, pretty decent. The price was a bit steeper than we were used to for a casual Japanese joint at $4.75 USD per roll, but we did enjoy the freshness of it so we didn’t mind.

The rolls and udon were satisfying and delicious, but I wish we could say the same about the ramen. Service was pretty attentive, fast, and nice (well then again, we were the only customers in the restaurant!). Mio looked very clean, new, and had hints of pink accents throughout the restaurant. This looked like a place that would be really busy during lunch hours on the weekdays, but it was very quiet that night and they closed early after we finished eating. It was a good and convenient place to grab a quite bite since we were in the neighbourhood.