**~~~ (2/5)

I was around the Kerrisdale area looking for something near and quick for lunch, and a quick search on Urbanspoon app, lead me to Pho Tan’s Vietnamese. This was a pretty standard Vietnamese restaurant, selling pretty standard Vietnamese food, except they were also selling bubble tea.

The menu for this place was rather on the safe side. For their Phos, I didn’t see any tripe or tendons, it was either steak (cooked or rare), beef balls or beef briskets, boring.  From the ‘exciting’ selection, I got a Rare Steak and Beef Brisket Pho. The pho itself was average. The beef broth wasn’t outstanding, and the noodles were a little bit over cooked. The amount of meat was OK for a size small pho, the beef briskets weren’t too bad, they were pretty tender.

The other people at my table thought their food was good too, but there weren’t really any wow factors or excitements. For the area, I guess it was a decent place to get some decent Vietnamese food. The service was friendly, but the restaurant decor could use some improvements.

[View with PicLens]

Pho Tan’s Veitnamese
2076 W. 41st. Ave.
Vancouver, BC V6M
(604) 606-0688

***½~ (3.5/5)

I’ve known about Goldfish Pacific Kitchen as it has been in the Taste of Yaletown for the past few years. I finally got to go for my mom’s and brother’s joint birthday dinner. As we arrived we noticed that they had an engagement party completely with bunny ears. Anyway, the restaurant looks really cool and trendy. The decor is really nice, and the restaurant is actually quite big. I think they had an outdoor room in the back with white sofas…or at least it looked open.

Goldfish has a 3-course set price menu for $28 between 5PM – 6:30PM (I believe it was $25 a few months ago). They also have happy hour between 4-6PM on weekdays.  I decided to try out other stuff on the menu, while the rest of my family went for the prix-fixe.

We ordered drinks to start. I copied my brother and dad and got Tiger beer from Singapore. It came with what seemed like chilled glasses, but once we got it, it seemed pretty warm. Cool, but not ice cold. It made the beer taste crappier. I wasn’t a fan. They had a bunch of cocktails that seemed good, but I didn’t order it this time.

Anyways for my meal, I started the Pulled BBQ Duck Spring Rolls ($12) which came with nuoc cham, fresh mint, and butter lettuce. For my main I ordered the Korubata Pork Ravioli ($25). The spring rolls were nice and crispy and fresh from the fryer. I think it came with 3 rolls cut in half diagonally. I’m not really too sure what was in the dipping sauce (nuoc cham), but it was very, very mild. I’ve noticed that restaurants are using butter lettuce even more now (also at Hapa Izakaya) for wraps. I guess they are better because they aren’t as hard/crisp as other lettuces. They are better used for wrapping, as they are pretty tender and soft, but also can keep its curved shape. I’m grateful they cleaned the leaves, but they didn’t do a very good job of drying the leaves. So I was instructed to wrap the the spring roll in the lettuce, and place a mint leaf inside, and dip in the sauce. The flavour of the spring roll itself was good, and when combined with everything on the plate it added a few more layers of flavour, even though the sauce didn’t add too much.

My Ravioli was quite different. You could definitely see the fusion going on here as you had ravioli in a coconut cream type of sauce. It came with 4 pieces of ravioli. The pasta dough seemed a bit different than regular Italian pasta dough. The coconut curry sauce was really good, and had a bit of spiciness to it which I enjoyed. The ravioli was stuffed with pulled kurobuta pork and very tender. Nice asian fusion here.

I wanted to try some stuff on the dessert menu like the Vietnamese Coffee Cheese Cake, the Toasted Cocnut Tart, and the Warm Banana Spring Rolls with Lychee mint salad. Thankfully I didn’t, because the Spring Rolls have a cashew butter in it (says the online menu)..I was going to come back to give these a try. Uh, on second look, it seems like they changed the cashew butter with hazelnut on the menu at the restaurant. Maybe I can go back and try =).

For the fixed price menu:

- Appetizers: Soup of the Day (Tomato) or Wild Mustard Green Salad or Tuna Tataki
- Main: Fish and Chips or Shaken Wok Beef Tenderloin or Pan Roasted Artic Char or Maple Soy Chicken
- Dessert: Creme Brulee or Sorbet (Grape fruit)

I got to try the Shaken Wok Beef Tenderloin, and it was OK. Flavour was pretty nice, and the meat was fairly tender, but it could’ve definitely used some rice! It was just a plate of beef topped with bean sprouts, fried garlic, and bit of pepper for heat. I liked the fries with the Fish and Chips though. I also defied death again and tried some of the fish and chips (I can’t help myself recently). Since, I’m not very familiar with it, and since I just had a few slivers, I can’t really comment. The fish lightly battered, and wasn’t too crispy.

I was also able to try both desserts. I really wasn’t happy with the Sorbet. I don’t like grapefruit to start with, and this was no exception. It was tart, and had a pretty bitter after taste. They also forgot to bring the almond cookie, but we got it after asking. The brulee was tasty. Had a nice solid torched top, and a nice custard inside. The jasmine was very subtle.

Overall the staff was nice and friendly. The manager even liked talked with my almost 1 year old nephew as he was staring at the party with bunny ears. The food didn’t blow me away though. I’d come back on a night out for some drinks and dessert.

[View with PicLens]

Goldfish Pacific Kitchen
1118 Mainland St
Vancouver, BC

(604) 689-8318

http://www.goldfishkitchen.com

****~ (4/5)

I was introduced to Phnom Penh a couple years ago by my coworker as ‘a place that has really good chicken wings’. Ever since then, I refer to Phnom Penh as ‘chicken wings’. I went there again recently because I haven’t been in a while. And also, I wanted to eat the famous Butter Beef that I was too scared to eat last time.

For the 5 of us, we got their 2 most popular dishes, Chicken Wings, Butter Beef, and also Vietnamese Steamed Rice Rolls, Papaya Salad, Beef Lakluk with Egg, and a Dry Pho dish.

The deep fried Chicken Wings was one of their most famous dishes. I actually don’t know the proper name for this dish, but you can just order it as ‘a plate of chicken wings‘ and the waitresses will understand you. These deep fried chicken wings were really delicious. The batter was very thin, and very crispy. It was topped with garlic and onions, and it came with a black pepper lime sauce. Every bite had the crispiness of the batter, and the juiciest meat inside. The black pepper lime gives just enough citrus to give a bit of tang to the wings. So yummy.

The Butter Beef was the other famous dish here. Almost every table in the restaurant, ordered this dish. Last time I was here, I was too chicken to eat raw beef, but not this time! I’m not sure why it was called Butter Beef, because it had no butter in it. It was a layer of very thinly sliced beef and flame seared around the edges. It was topped with a vinegary sauce, dried garlic, and lots of cilantro. I ate it with lots of the sauce and lots of cilantro, and it was soo yummy. The beef was so soft, and I loved the toppings on top. It was my first time eating beef carpaccio, and I loved it. If you are afraid of eating raw beef, and the raw beef taste, be not afraid here, once it’s in your mouth, you’d want more.

The other dish I really liked was the Vietnamese Steamed Rice Rolls. It was rice rolls wrapped with minced pork, topped with slices of Vietnamese ham. It came with a the Vietnamese spring roll dipping sauce. It was a light dish, and extra yummy in the tangy dipping sauce.

The rest of the dishes I had there were alright, there weren’t anything really special about them. They were sort of the fillers of the meal.

We got there around 6pm, and this place was already packed, with people waiting for seats. I remember the last time I was there, I ended up waiting for a very long time. So, making a reservation would be a really good idea for this restaurant. Having already known that we still didn’t make reservations, but we were lucky to get seats shortly after we got there. Not a good idea to try your luck here though.

Note: Make reservations!

[View with PicLens]

Phnom Penh
244 E Georgia St
Vancouver, BC V6A
(604) 682-5777

****½ (4.5/5)

Viet Sub was our first stop on our first food walk expedition, what a place to start off the food walk!

This place is tiny, but it sells quite a few items from Vietnamese Subs, to Pho, to varies salad rolls. We decided to try a couple of their subs: Deep Fried Pork Sub and their Special Sub ($3.75).

The Special Sub had Vietnamese ham, meat balls and cold cuts. This sub was very flavorful because it had a sauce to coat the meats. The sauce was a little sweet, it was really yummy. When I bit on my sub, I got a nice crusty sound from the bread. Fresh bread, very nice.

The Deep Fried Pork Sub was really tasty too. The deep fried pork was made fresh, it was topped with Vietnamese pickled carrots, and daikon. It did get a little dry for me. There was a orange creamy sauce on the counter, that I wasn’t sure what it was, but I drizzled quite a bit of it on my pork sub. The sauce had a subtle taste, it had a little hint of spiciness, good with the sub in general.

Another thing I liked about the subs was they had a lot of fresh cilantro on top. I love cilantro.

The people here were super nice, friendly and had a lot of positive energy. If you visit them a couple times, the owner would recognize you as he recognized my friend. Great spot to get a cheap lunch, snack, dinner.

Note: 5 dollar minimum on VISA use. Free hot tea if you eat in. Limited seating.

[View with PicLens]

Viet Sub
542 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC V6B
(604) 569-3340

***½~ (3.5/5)

My friend has been talking about a place called Pho 99 in North Vancouver that he would go to after snowboarding. We finally got the chance to go this weekend after a day at Cypress.

Turns out the place was actually called Pho 993, and now it is called Pho Japolo (but they still have some Pho 993 signs around). When we first got there, we had a tough time parking legally. They don’t have much parking space, and people were just parking wherever and even double parking and blocking other cars. Do not park at the Denny’s there, you may get towed. You may park at the hotel if you need to though.

We got inside, and the decor was not like your average Pho place. It actually had some decor to it, especially near the front. They had TVs in there to for us to watch some of the 2010 Paralympic games. We ordered, and I got the #9 Large for 7.65 which is Pho with eye round steak, well-done flank and fatty brisket. Another friend (I think) got #19 which is Pho with well-done flank, fatty brisket, soft tendon, and beef tripe. We also got the Combo Rolls which were really cheap at only $5.50. One thing I noticed was that they have cheap rolls. Two salad rolls for only $3.95. Most places I see they sell 2 for $6.

We got our food pretty fast, and we dug right in. They don’t give all of the herbs that I’m used to. Just beansprouts, basil, jalepeno and lime, no special sauce either!

The broth was pretty good, but it wasn’t the best. It didn’t wow me like my favorite place did. The noodles were cooked well, a bit on the softer side but that’s OK. The Pho wasn’t packed with meat like some other places, and some pieces were a bit too tough. I had to dig for the fatty brisket, and there wasn’t much of it. However, it was still pretty good, but not great.

The Combo came with a Shrimp Salad Roll, a Pork Salad Roll (nem nuong – just a slice), and a fried spring roll. It also comes with the fish sauce and a peanut sauce. I had the Pork Salad roll, which was only OK. I personally think mine are better, as there wasn’t that much meat, and it wasn’t that flavourful. It was lacking taste! The fried spring roll however was probably the best one I’ve had in BC. It was really good. I definitely order this, and it’s only $3.95 for two these. It was fried perfectly, crispy skin, moist in the inside, and tasted really good. I definitely recommend the spring rolls.

Pho Japolo is decent, not great. OK Pho, but excellent spring rolls. This place is not cash only.

Pho Japolo
2070 Marine Dr.,
North Vancouver, BC

604-985-3993

They also have a location in Burnaby.

[View with PicLens]

***½~ (3.5/5)

I was introduced to Au Petit Café last year on a lunch trip, with my coworkers proclaiming that they have “the best” Vietnamese sandwiches in Vancouver. Not that I want to hurt my coworker’s feelings, but my number 1 spot for Vietnamese sandwiches is still at Hen Long Supermarket in Surrey (reviews pending). Nevertheless, they do have pretty awesome sandwiches.

I went there recently, tried out 3 different sandwiches, and a Vietnamese rice roll dish. It really sucks not having proper names for their dishes in English on the menu, as they only have names in Traditional Chinese or Vietnamese. So for English only readers, you can order their food in numbers with descriptions at the bottom. I had the #1, #2, and #5 sandwiches, and #13 rice noodle.

#1 sandwich ($4.50) is their house special sandwich, it is french bread sub with home made ham, house meat balls, veggies, and hot pepper. #2 sandwich ($3.50) is french bread sub with home made ham, liver paté, veggies and hot peppers. #5 sandwich ($3.50) is french bread sub with shredded pork, veggies and fish sauce.

To my own surprise, my favorite was #2, having liver paté and all, it was the only one without the overwhelming taste of meat. The house meat balls for the #1 sandwich were good, but combined with the fatty home made ham, it was a little too greasy and meaty for me. Also the hot peppers in my sandwiches that day were HOT. I can take spicy food pretty well, but those were just too ridiculously hot. I ended up taking the rest of the hot peppers in my sandwiches out, because the first one lingered and burnt in my mouth for a good 5 minutes.

The french bread itself on all the sandwiches was the freshest bread I’ve ever had on a Vietnamese sandwich. Probably, and probably the freshest bread you will ever taste in a sandwich. The crust is thin and crispy and the center is realllly soft. So good.

I also have to recommend the #13 rice roll dish ($6.26). It is Vietnamese ham, bean sprouts, vegetables, basil, on large rice noodle and fish sauce. If you are slightly curious about what authentic Vietnamese cuisine taste like, you should order this. It is light, the seasoning was perfect and the fish sauce a little sweet, all taste really good together. So very yummy.

Au Petit Café is a good place to go for lunch, be prepared to wait in line and have some cash in your pockets. I don’t remember ever getting a seat right away when I get there because the place is so tiny and busy. I always had to wait at least 10minutes for a table, but the waitresses were very nice and efficient.

Note: Cash Only! Street Parking Only.

[View with PicLens]

Au Petit Café
4851 Main Street
Vancouver, BC V5V3R9
Tel: (604) 873-3328

****½ (4.5/5)

*This being my first post, let’s get this out of the way: I have a bias for Asian foods. It’s not that I don’t enjoy a good steak or burger here and there, but on the average, I find myself  bored and underwhelmed at most western restaurants. More on this in the future, I’m sure of it.. now, onto the awesome.

Some plausible history and background information:

Pho <f-uh?>, is pronounced with a hard “f” sound and as if you were asking a question. I’m not a complete name Nazi when it comes to this, but due to the sheer volume of Vietnamese restaurants that serve this bowl of happiness, I’ve now become accustom to pronouncing it “foh” as a preemptive measure to ensure I don’t have to explain why I sound super inquisitive when it comes to this particular food. Pho, is Vietnamese beef noodle soup and is what I consider my default comfort food.  I’m not talking about the generic bowl of beef broth you’ll find yourself eating at 90% of the restaurants out there, but the kind that tastes like some care was put into its preparation.

At home, my mom makes a mean bowl of this beef noodle soup which takes just over a few hours to prepare and is made with a ninja secret assortment of herbs and spices which has been passed down from previous generations and perfected over time. While the broth cooks, she takes the time to lift out the excess meat crud and fat that tends to accumulate whenever one makes not-so-vegetarian broth. Attention to detail is what I am used to when it comes to this particular food and yes.. I am obsessed with it and I consider myself to have an irregularly high bar for quality. Enter Chau.

I was flipping newspaper’s while helping family move into their new apartment and happened to read an article about a Vietnamese restaurant, Chau, that was breaking the standard by being a modern Vietnamese restaurant. Thoughts of Pho flavoured french fries raped my imagination but my curiosity was peaked when I read that this particular restaurant served updated versions of the owner’s home recipes. 1 day and 30 dollars later, I had killed the curious cat in my head.

Hand Made Crispy Spring Rolls ($9) – or as far as I was concerned “Cha Gio” aka. Vietnamese deep friend spring rolls, is something I love to eat with my Pho  but rarely order due to the huge amount of suck that most restaurants serve. These spring rolls were so awesome, they almost didn’t exist.. or they did exist, but not for very long. They were served with fish sauce that seemed to be updated by the chef which was a pleasant change for me and the rolls themselves were not overcooked in the oil. As an added bonus, the rolls seemed to be wrapped with the coveted rice paper wrap instead of the typical doughy, thick spring roll wrap that is normally used everywhere else. A must have and the portion was large enough to share so I recommend it without any hesitation.

Pho Bo ($6, small) – Tasted great and is everything I would expect from this bowl of noodly heaven. This was served with rare slices of beef tenderloin, beef brisket and beef balls (..meat balls) and a plate of basil, uncooked bean sprouts, chili peppers and a lime on the side for optional customization. I do like how the place doesn’t give you the option to over customize as I find most people become bewildered by the 18 different variations available at the average restaurant, but for me, it would have been nice to have a few more options. That’s hardly a complaint though. The soup was badass. It tasted like time was put into it and there was no hint of fat floating at the top of my bowl giving the contents a plastic look.

Fish Cakes ($6) – I went with Nammerik, who is new to the meat scene, and he wasn’t incredibly hungry so he decided to order this dish instead. It was sliced fish cakes served over large-ish flat rice noodles.. I didn’t eat very much of this due to the amount of food I had ordered for myself  but I thought it was a little too salty from what I had tried. Nammerik didn’t seem to be a huge fan either, so I think it’s safe to say that I would not recommend this for those who are not familiar with fish cakes.

Overall, everything that I had ordered was outstanding and the restaurant did what it set out to do. It reminded me of my mom’s home cooking and offers up a much needed change of pace for Vietnamese restaurants around North America. Though I do frequent Vietnamese restaurants a lot and pay nearly no attention to the almost always unkempt surroundings, Chau finally gives Vietnamese cooking some respect and does it with heart which you’ll notice on the menu and in the pictures on the walls. I would definitely go back to try the other dishes, or even spring for the more expensive large Pho Bo. I’d rate this place a 4.5/5 overall because, well, I can’t give it a full 5.. my mom would shank me in the neck.

Unfortuneately, I don’t have any pictures, but the dishes were visually appealing and resembled what is posted on their site.

Important: they take credit cards! Whaaaat? So rare!

CHAU Kitchen and Bar
1500 Robson Street, Vancouver

http://www.chaukitchenandbar.com/

Tel. 604 682.8020