I am a firm believer that the pho special in a Vietnamese restaurant is the best indicator to see if the restaurant is good. The pho special usually have a bit of everything they offer. I would use this to find out which ingredient is better at this restaurant. The soup was very hot. It is perfect to cook rare meat. After cooked, the meat was quite tender. Other ingredients that are good include beef brisket and tripe.
The first bubble waffle cafe I tried was the one in Landsdowne Mall. I considered it a high-school kids operated food station at the time. Their bubble waffle are too awful to call themselves the “Bubble Waffle Cafe”. Obviously, their business model took off with all the people whose only consideration for food is the price. Bubble Waffle Cafe can now be found in most malls in the lower mainland. Bubble Waffle Cafe calls themselves “Hong Kong and Taiwanese Cuisine”. I can tell you right now that Bubble Waffle Cafe may give their food Taiwanese names, but their food are not Taiwanese cuisine. Their food has lots of carbs. It is similar to Cantonese Style Cafe food, so I guess it is Hong Kong Cuisine.
For $9.99, you get quite a bit of Xiao Long Bao in the plastic box. You can clearly see that these buns are made by machines. I agree these are not authentic Xiao Long Bao. I see them as tasty emergency rations when I feel lazy to go out. I cannot recommend this to everyone because they fail as Xiao Long Bao. If you add on the convenience factor, but they are not bad.
The seafood pancake is served in cast iron plate to retain heat. It is topped with lots of seafood like oysters and small octopus. The imitating crab meat strings on the top was very crispy. There was a thin layer of oil at the bottom to make the bottom very crispy. However the middle is a bit soft. The cast iron retained heat, so the seafood pancake was still warm half way through our meal. I enjoyed the ability to get half order so we can enjoy more dishes.
The first thing I noticed was the droopy grass jelly covering the crushed ice. They are black and shiny like a mirror. It is the most jiggly grass jelly I have seen in Vancouver. When eating, the grass jelly has a noticeable herbal taste. The soft texture makes it the highlight of this dish. The crushed ice is course but not sharp. They are soft to the bite. Unlike Icy Bar’s Razor Sharp Ice, there is no unpleasant texture. There are condensed milk and brown sugar added to the crushed ice. I could taste a strong flavour of cane sugar, which is also quite pleasant. Taro Balls and Yam Balls are being called “TaroQ” and “YamQ” at BlackBall. To be honest, I am a little disappointed in these. The bite to them has no bounce. I understand this means that there is not much starch powder added, but it is not the texture I was looking for. Flavour-wise, they are not really sweet but has a good natural flavour of taro and yam. All these beans are perfectly cooked. Adzuki bean and Mung beans are cooked until their skin starts to peel. This made the interior very starchy. Sugar was added to the cooking process and very noticeable. The Kidney Beans are larger beans. The structure is more intact. I could still feel the pop when I bite into them.
As soon as I walked in, it is evident the restaurant had been renovated. The front curve that direct customers towards the left have been replaced by two straight walls. This is a much more efficient use of space. The tables and chairs have also been changed from ugly, cheap (it was the theme before), and down to earth style to the Zen-like Japanese style decoration. The feature wall on the left has been kept. You cannot tell it’s an old wall. Overall, it is a much appreciated transformation aesthetically.
The medium pizza at Uncle Fatih’s is $17 each. With tax, tips, and delivery fee it is approximately $24 per pizza. This price is more expensive than authentic pizzeria. This is when I realize delivery pizza are not cheap eats. Looking at delivery pizza alone, Uncle Fatih’s Pizza’s price is at mid-range. The pizza quality is at above average. This makes them worth our recommendation. We ordered the thin crust pizza. It is soft and fluffy. The bottom and the outside crust was crunchy. It is not bouncy, and is easy on the jaw. This is like factory made bread, not artisan. However, this is New York style pizza. We should not compare the style with Neapolitan pizza. Comparing to other similar delivery pizza. Uncle Fatih’s pizza crust is not as oily as Pizza Hut. It is also not as dry as Domino. It’s more airy than Papa John’s. Overall, Uncle Fatih’s Pizza crust is quite superior overall.
I do enjoy the food here for its taste. However, when a someone call themselves a “Japanese Restaurant” I critique them using Japanese Restaurant standard. With this set of criteria, Sushi Mura is not good restaurant. They did not carry any of the Japanese culture, finesse, or belief. Sushi Mura feels like an operation of some Korean guys jumping on the “Japanese Food” band wagon to make some quick cash.
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.
