Every Day Is a Food Day

My 3rd year of school is officially done! For now at least… until summer school begins again. This called for a celebration dinner! Since N and I finished our exams at the same time, we decided to meet up for dinner and J joined along. We went to Burgoo on West 4th since I’ve been craving some comfort food and have been seeing too many of their delicious pictures on Instagram these days.

We got there at around 6:30 pm on a Monday night and the place was quite empty, but it slowly filled up later in the night. Not too busy as I thought, since I’ve heard the place has lineups on busy days. Guess we were lucky!

The decor gives you a very homey atmosphere and definitely works with their comfort food menu. Wood is basically used for all their furniture. The food is classic comfort food but at a slightly higher price, but it’s okay to treat yourself once in a while with good quality comfort food!

Butter Chicken - a savoury spiced tomato cream curry with potato and spinach, finished with cilantro

J got the Butter Chicken, which I was also eyeing on the menu for a while. It was a generous portion filled with tons of chicken and came with a side of choice of rice or naan bread. J got the naan bread and I took a piece to dip in the sauce. Very flavourful and the curry was creamy and filled with spices.

Soup & Sandwich

Crab Bisque - smooth crab and red pepper cream bisque scented with tarragon, finished with chopped parsley

Dos Diablos - two grilled angle cut filone sandwiches with melted spicy white Cheddar, chunks of Chorizo sausage and roasted red pepper

N and I both got the Soup & Sandwich combo. We both got the Crab Bisque for our soup, which I found was a little thicker in consistency than I had imagined for a bisque. The soup was also filled with crab meat in every spoon. Extremely flavourful with the red pepper and almost reminded me of a tomato base soup.

As for our sandwich, we chose different ones, but they ended up looking quite the same. Across from mine, N got the Gooey Cheese Grillers, which were filled with Mozzarella, Gruyere, Emmenthal and White Cheddar. N said it was quite good.

For myself, I got the Dos Diablos. The bread was toasted so it was crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside. So good! But I felt like it was also a little oily. Inside my sandwich were White Cheddar, Chorizo sausage and roasted red pepper. I thought it would be a bit spicy, but it actually wasn’t! The cheese was melted so nicely that that you got the stringy effect! That’s a must for a good melted cheese sandwich! Portions were also quite large for the combo and filled me up completely.

At the end, they give you your bill in a dim sum box! How cute. It also came with some candies. Was not expecting Asian cooking-ware at Burgoo!

Overall, I was quite pleased and satisfied with Burgoo. If you’re looking for some comfort and a nice place to hang out, then Burgoo is the place. The prices may be slightly higher for something like comfort food, but the portions are generous. Service was also great as our waitress continued to check up on us and we were able to chat for around 3 hours since it wasn’t busy that night.

I’ve been to Pho 99 in Richmond, but this time we went to the one in Coquitlam, It’s a lot larger and was filled with people at around 5pm.

Fried Spring Roll

The Fried Spring Rolls were served sizzling hot and were fried until golden brown. These were quite good!

#14 - House Special - Noodle soup with eye round steak, well-done flank, fatty brisket, soft tendon & beef tripe

I always get the House Special at Pho restaurants since I want everything in my noodles! I got a small #14, which was quite a huge portion compared to other pho restaurants. The tripe was also cooked so it was tender, and not tough. Soup wasn’t bad!

#3 For the Beginners - Noodle soup with brisket & well-done flank

J got #3 under the For the Beginners section. It was filled with mostly well-done flank and brisket.

Overall, Pho 99 seems more popular in Coquitlam than Richmond. Service was friendly and quick. And the place doesn’t seem as dirty as most Pho restaurants  - always a plus!

Originally, we had wanted to go to Sushi Hachi, but it was closed on a Sunday! So instead, we went to mall across to look for food. I’ve walked by  Yuu Japanese Tapas many times, but I haven’t tried it before, so I decided to give it a try.

The place doesn’t serve authentic Japanese food, but it does offer a large menu of different Japanese snacks, noodles, and desserts. I heard the owner speaking Chinese, so I was already a bit hesitant on how good the food would be. The place is filled with young diners and families though. I’m guessing it’s because the prices are decent.

Deep Fried Boneless Chicken

First, we got the Deep Fried Boneless Chicken as our appetizer. It’s basically chicken karaage and it came with a spicy mayo. This was alright, but I found the batter a little thick.

Ramen in Special Pork Bone (Tonkatsu) Soup Base

I got the Ramen in Special Pork Bone (Tonkatsu) Soup Base. It came with Cha-Siu, corn, leeks, and an egg with a half-runny yolk. The ramen, however, wasn’t that great. It reminded me of instant ramen. The soup base on the other hand, was rich, but salty. It says on their website, that the chef makes this daily.

Unagi Fried Udon

J got the Unagi Fried Udon. He said it was just alright. It looked nice when it was presented, but I guess it wasn’t anything spectacular.

Green Tea, Red Bean Parfait

Yuu has tons of desserts that look really good on their menu. We got the Green Tea, Red Bean Parfait, but I was quite disappointed with it! The green tea ice cream on the top was decent, and I loved the mochi that came with it. What disappointed me was that the rest of the cup was just filled with whip cream! And it wasn’t even good whip cream. I was expecting layers of different snacks since it’s a parfait… Chico on Robson definitely makes better parfaits!

Overall, I left quite disappointed with the food at Yuu. I can’t say the food is bad, but I was expecting better. The service was alright, as our server was quite friendly. However, I don’t think I would be coming back. I can get better food for similar prices elsewhere.

Kimbab Cheonguk which means Kimbab Heaven is located in a small mall on North Road. This area is basically filled with Koreans. Kimbab, which seems to be spelled Kimbap, are essentially the Korean style of sushi rolls. Basically, seaweed wrapped rice with veggies filled inside. Kimbab Cheonguk does sell them, but they seem to be more popular with the other items. The restaurant is basically a quick snackbar.

The shop is fairly small and the seating is very basic. It seems to family run and most diners are Korean. The place seemed to have a constant flow of people even on a weekday afternoon.

Their menu is fairly simple, with only around 12 choices. They are listed across the kitchen counter as well as by the wall next to your table. The menu is basically in Korean, or with Korean written in English, so it’s difficult to understand if you don’t know any Korean. Luckily, they also have pictures stretched across the wall, so you have  a sense of what you’re ordering.

Soon Dae

J asked me if I had Soon Dae before. I looked at the picture, and was confused as to what it was. They looked like some sort of meat. He told me that it was basically Jap Chae, but had a weird smirk on his face. Whatever. So we ordered it and when it came, I honestly thought they looked sort of gross. But I guess I would give it a try anyways. It is to be dipped in the seasoning, which gives it a little salty flavour. Still having a smirk on his face, I decided to Google what it was. Turns out, Soon Dae is essentially an intestine filled with pork blood and Jap Chae noodles. The good part is, that the only intestine part of the dish was the outer layer, which I had kept asking what it was made of. I thought it was some sort of thin rice wrapper for the longest time. I guess it wasn’t that bad, and it tasted more like bland noodles compressed together. Apparently, it’s a popular snack in Korea, kind of like how beef stomach is popular for the Chinese.

Mul Naeng Myeon

Since I essentially had no idea what the menus meant, J ordered me the Mul Naeng Myeon. This is a popular Korean dish, meaning “ice water noodles”. It’s made from flour and starch, including buckwheat, potatoes and among others. It is served in a stainless bowl filled with a tangy iced broth,  cucumbers, slices of beef, and a hard-boiled egg. Upon serving the dish to us, the server then took scissors to cut the noodles apart.

When mixed together, it looks like this! You then add a spicy msutard sauce and vinegar to add more flavour. I eat quite bland at home, so I  thought the addition was a little too tangy for my taste-buds. The noodles were extremely chewy, and had a texture that I hadn’t quite tried before. Really interesting and a great dish to have on a sunny day as it was refreshing. J on the other hand, got a variation of this noodle, which was a spicy version. It was way too spicy for me though!

Oh and another note is that they serve you a beef broth that comes in a teapot. At first, I was really confused what it was. But apparently, this tea is supposed to help you digest your food. How thoughtful! It was rich and tasted extremely good! A little salty, but so tasty.

Book Kyung Ban Jeom is located on Robson St. where the rest of the Korean restaurants are located. It seems that there is this one little strip that is just filled with Koreans!

 The restaurant is filled with mostly Korean families and young diners. The promotions on the wall are also all in Korean, so you basically don’t know what they are unless you’re Korean. The menu, however, has both English and Korean.

Side Dishes

The side dishes aren’t exactly the ones I prefer. They included yellow daikon and radish in a kimchi-like sauce.

Tang Suyuk

We ordered the Tang Suyuk, which reminded me of the Chinese sweet and sour prok. I believe this actually beef though. The outer layer is thin and crispy and not too greasy. It’s quite a large dish, so great to share. The sauce is thick and gooey, but not more on the sweet side than sour.

Ja Jang Myeon

We each got a Ja Jang Myeon, which is essentially the Ja Jiang Mian that Chinese people eat. However, the sauce and fillings are completely different! It’s a very gooey sauce and filled with lots of onions. I’m not a big fan of onions, so I actually prefer the Chinese style much more. The sauce is also much more focused on the sweet side, rather than the spicy side. An interesting variation!