$15 – $25

Via Tevere Pizzeria Napoletana

August 6, 2019

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.

Bing and Noodle World

July 31, 2019

Look at this picture and tell me how thick you think the soup is. Bing and Noodle World’s signature hulu noodle looks like vomit in a bowl. There is a lot of starch added to the soup. All the toppings are chopped to the point that I cannot recognize what they are. The noodles are overcooked, kind of matching the texture of the soup. I honestly cannot tell if I am eating the soup or the noodle. The thick soup does a good job at retaining heat. This bowl of noodle burned my mouth multiple times. Perhaps it’s a good bowl of noodle during Winter, but I did not enjoy it during my visit.
Bing and Noodle World specialize in stuffed pancake, which is the first word of their name “Bing”. You would think they should be very confident in their stuffed pancake to call themselves as such.
To be complete honest, the stuffed pancake is not bad. They have thin and sturdy crust. The filling thickness are easily 3-5 times thicker than the crust. Perhaps it’s the filling I ordered, there is a strong moldy smell to my stuffed pancake. I don’t know what to make of it, but I won’t be ordering this dish again. You are welcome to go and try the moldy pancake.

OEB Breakfast Co. Yaletown

July 30, 2019

Even before I saw my food, I could smell the fragrance of truffle oil. The Gold Digga is poutines made with duck fat fried herb potatoes and Saint Cyrille cheese curd. It is served with Berkshire roast pork and topped with two poached eggs. On top, we have black truffles and brown butter hollandaise. The bowl looks very colorful. There are some greens and eatable flowers as garnishing. Yellow hollandaise and red seasonings with orange pork and brown wedge fries just makes me want to dig in. The hand-cut wedge fries are perfectly fried. The exterior is very crunchy before it gets soaked by the yolk. The interior can get a little dry though. It is quite poetic how this is named Gold Digga. When my yolk runs down the routine, I’m literally digging for it. It’s probably just a coincident, but I find it utterly enjoyable.

Hanoi Old Quarter Restaurant

July 28, 2019

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.

Kirin Restaurant Steamed Prawn and Sakura Farm Premium Pork Dumpling (Shu Mai)

Kirin Seafood Restaurant, Dim Sum on Cambie

July 26, 2019

Kirin Seafood Restaurant is one of the oldest high-quality Cantonese Seafood Restaurant in Vancouver. They have been around for a least 20 years. During this time, Kirin continued to adopt new recipe and never downgrades their food quality for a higher profit margin. That is respectable. This Kirin Seafood Restaurant is located on Cambie and West 12th Avenue in Vancouver, on the 3rd floor of City Square.

The Gray Olive Cafeteria Brunch Pulled Pork Benny

The Gray Olive Cafeteria, Best Brunch Burnaby

July 23, 2019

This plate of beautifully presented pulled pork benny is plate-licking good. Everything on this dish is delightful. The hash brown is the best I have ever had. It’s fresh out of the fryer. The crunchy exterior that is not too hard to cut my mouth. The interior is so soft that it almost melts in your mouth. It is also perfectly seasoned. I already said the hashbrowns are the best I’ve had, but this pulled pork benny is also the best I’ve had. Seriously, I took a bite and can not stop myself from eating it. The pulled pork, coleslaw, and hollandaise sauce are in perfect harmony. Using cornbread as the base is genius. The cornbread crumbles to the touch, not lingering like English muffins. This takes away the frustrating part of eating benny away for me. The bottom is brown with a slight crisp. The texture variation makes this more enjoyable. The two eggs on top are perfectly poached.

Grand Dynasty Seafood Restaurant Steamed Ribs

Grand Dynasty Seafood Restaurant, Dim Sum

July 22, 2019

Grand Dynasty Seafood Restaurant is considered a mid-level Dimsum place. The cost is $20 per person price point used to be really worth it when they spend the time to take care of their food quality. This is no longer the case. Dim Sum is considered Southern Chinese cuisine, and they should be delicate. Yes, there are cheap and large dim sum places in town, but you don’t get to charge a high price and give low quality food. There are even insects flying around my food when I was eating. Not worth it, not recommended.

ColorSeeSee Shanghainese Cuisine, Authentic Xiao Long Bao

July 17, 2019

How do we know these Xiao Long Bao are authentic. Here are some key points:
Xiao Long Bao was brought to you with a lid, to reduce heat loss.
Lid was removed and Xiao Long Bao was presented to Patrons. We see Xiao Long Bao in the foggy steam and go “There’s my food”.
Then you see the Xiao Long Bao stood up strong and tall. Pleasant to look at, with out being floppy at the bottom.
The location and spacing of Xiao Long Bao is also important. They should be uniformly scattered, not touching each other or the steamer.
An authentic Xiao Long Bao should have exactly 18 folds at its crown.

Sip Bowl La Mian, Chinese Ramen

July 14, 2019

Sip Bowl Signature Beef Noodle bowl looks quite flat, almost unappetizing. It has lots of noodles, a large amount of green onion and chives, a few pieces of thinly sliced daikon, and 4 pieces of thinly sliced beef. However, when I started eating it, the triangular shaped noodle was very well done. It’s a little softer than I’d liked, but superb compared to the majority of noodle places in town. I can feel the bounciness on my teeth when I bite into them. The soup was delectable with a slight taste of savory, not very complex though. The beef was a bit too salty but goes well with the rest of the bowl.

$15 – $25

Via Tevere Pizzeria Napoletana

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OEB Breakfast Co. Yaletown

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Hanoi Old Quarter Restaurant

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Kirin Seafood Restaurant, Dim Sum on Cambie

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The Gray Olive Cafeteria, Best Brunch Burnaby

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Grand Dynasty Seafood Restaurant, Dim Sum

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ColorSeeSee Shanghainese Cuisine, Authentic Xiao Long Bao

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