Vancouver East side
I apologize for having to be so blunt and straight forward. The hashbrown is simply dreadful. The exterior is not crunchy. It feels like they have been fried and left aside for a while before it’s served. The interiors are all dried out. I could almost choke on them. Of course, the expensive and non-refillable coffee did not help. Ikea makes better hashbrowns than Egg & Co. I love hashbrowns, and it is very rare that I cannot finish the hashbrown.
Margherita pizza is my favorite Neapolitan pizza. If we see the process of making pizza as the merging of art and science, then Margherita is at Neapolitan pizza’s purest form. I like how every ingredient is fresh. Their distinct taste becomes very prominent. The acidity of tomato sauce laid the base of a good pizza. It’s not overly sour to dominate other ingredients, but it’s a taste that’s always there to give the other tastes a lift. You can pay attention to the fresh basil, and then indulge in the salami’s saltiness with the more laid back mozzarella taste. You can also take a bite and let all these flavour merge and complement each other. A well made Margherita Pizza is simple but never boring. The crust was airy and sturdy. The slight burn marks all around is a good indicator that this pizza is carefully monitored during the cooking process. Turns out, this pizza is perfectly cooked. The dough at the bottom was less than 2mm in thickness. Also, it has an even thickness. There were no unpleasant surprises with too much dough. I have had instances with Neopolitan pizza where my jaw got tired halfway through a pizza. Via Tevere’s dough was sturdy, but easy on the jaw.
Kikyouya Shingen Mochi Popsicle is a little on the expensive side for its size. I think it is completely worth it because I literally have not enjoyed a popsicle from opening to finish like this one. I indulged this popsicle on all my senses. From the aroma right out of the packaging to 4 types of textures in my mouth. With a small size like this, I can see the interior scenery change with every bite I take. There are also quite an interesting taste variation depends on which part of the popsicle you are eating. This little popsicle provided me with surprises in every bite.
The Basil Shrimp Fried Rice was very well done. Each grain of rice is separate. It has a lot of wok taste that even some of the full-on restaurants are not able to create. The eggs were from a squirt bottle but it did not affect the texture. There are also lots of shrimp. The saltiness is at a good level. If you don’t think it is spicy enough, there is a bottle of sriracha hot sauce that pairs perfectly with the fried rice.
This is a cold dish that is very refreshing to eat during Summer. The presentation is awesome. The use of straw plate and banana leaf transformed this dish to something more exotic. When the waitress brought this dish to us, I could still see the vermicelli bouncing left and right. The key to this dish is the freshness of its ingredients. Aside from the Grilled pork belly and the pork patties. All the herbs are very crispy. The different flavours of the herbs are very subtle. We have cucumber, mint, lettuce, celery, basil, and bean sprout on the side. Perhaps 1 to 2 more herbs I cannot name. They will come out and surprise you with their unique fragrance when you are not paying too much attention to them. The grilled pork belly and pork patties are soaked in fish sauce with fermented veggie. The soup is sweet and sour with a little kick of spicy. They taste really good. However, I find the thinly sliced bacon-style pork belly a little tough to the bite. Similarly to the pork patties a little tough on the outside. The pork pattie’s interior is quite tender.
For $8 per 8 in one package, this is $1 a pop (definitely pun intended). 100% pineapple juice make this a healthy snack for all ages. Next time I find these, I’m definitely going to stock up. I assume a lot of people will have the same thinking as me.
It is quite ironic to name the restaurant “Happy Tree”. I’d be pretty pissed if I were the trees. Happy Tree House BBQ make very good lamb skewers. Unfortunately, everything else is pure trash. The interior of the space is very noisy, you cannot hear what your friends are saying. The service is not very good, all the staff wants to do is get you to finish so they can serve the next round of customers. Even with these issues, I still see a lot of customers lining up. I cannot justify the $46 per person price point. Not recommended due to high price, bad food, bad atmosphere, and bad service.
Li’s China Grill is not as good as before. The decrease in food quality is very apparent. The price is still pretty high though. Our bill comes to $30 per person and we did not order a lot of food. Taste-wise, this is still an okay BBQ skewer place. Having Happy Tree House BBQ and Kuan Zhai Road Restaurant in close proximity, Li’s China Grill has an uphill battle ahead of them. Not recommended, there must be better BBQ skewers place somewhere else.
Ba Le’s #5 special sandwich is my favorite sandwich. I guess the memory goes back to the first time I’ve had it. When it took me by surprise of what a sandwich can be. I’ll tell you, “Subway” is nothing compared to this. #5 Special Sandwich is pretty much the same as the #3 Cold Cut Sandwich. Except #5 Special have a lot more meat. You can find Vietnamese sausage, Ham, Pate, Home made mayonnaise, Pickled daikon radish and carrots, Cilantro and Cucumber. The sandwich is cut in the middle for easier consumption. It is not completely cut. Which gave me a satisfying feeling when taking them apart. The exterior of the bread is hard, feels solid. I could hear the bread crumble when pulling on them.
