Bar Lolo - Portland

Bar Lolo is a small tapas style bar located at 2940 NE Alberta St, Portland OR, 97211

Roasted forest mushrooms, miticrema, crostini

The mushrooms were good.  A simple combination that will not go wrong.  The crema on the crostini added an nice layer of flavor with its slight tartness to cut the oil in the dish.

Braised wild boar, red wine, roasted vegetable sauce

This boar was well made. A little gamey but overall a well prepared dish.  Rich an perfect with the beer that we ordered.

Chickpea stew, spinach, saffron, sweet paprika

 An unexpected combination that turned out pretty good.  A slightly sour broth gives this soup a good balance. A seemingly simple dish that is full of flavor.

Seafood Paella – prawns, scallops, calamari-half order

The half order was a very generous portion, unfortunately the seafood paella was undercooked.  The rice was still raw on in inside even after we let it sit for awhile.  There was not enough liquid so the rice was too chewy. On the plus side the shrimp was done just right,  so I guess it was the chef's misstep not timing the cooking properly.

Overall food was simple and easy to cook, with the exception of the paella.  In general a good bar catering to the locals,  nothing too fancy,  but comfortable and welcoming.  The chickpea soup was a pleasant surprise. I was dissapointed with the paella, and probably will not return to this place again given that there are so many other places on the same street offering other styles of food. 

Toro Bravo - Portland

 Toro Bravo Portland -120 NE Russell Street Portland, OR 97212

 Toro Bravo is located on a quiet street corner. Behind the unassuming entrance is a medium sized restaurant with a lively atmosphere.  We arrived on a Saturday night and the restaurant was 90% full.  After a few minutes we were seated at the bar and offered the menu. After some debate, we decided to go for the $30 tasting menu in order to cover all areas of the tasting menu.

Duck Liver Mousse Terrine with bread and mustard  

 The terrine is a generous portion, and the sides of cucumber and mustard helps to give some texture and kick to the dish. 

Bacon wrapped dates stuffed with almond paste

 The dates stuffed with almond paste was too sweet for my taste, despite the bacon helping to offset the sweetness.  The bacon was a little burnt on one side.

Salt Cod Fritters with aioli

 Unexpectedly pleasing.  I never knew what to expect with regards to salt cod.  The fritters were light and fluffy with a hint of fish flavor. This reminds me of Asian fish balls.

Radicchio Salad with green olive toast & manchego vinaigrette

I love the bitterness of the radicchio and the balance that you get from the cheese vinaigrette.  Less vinaigrette gives you a more bitter salad which I like.  Adding the vinaigrette tones down the bitterness for others.

 

Bacon wrapped chicken on bed of mixed beans.

I believe it was chicken paste within the bacon.  Most of the bacon grease helped to flavor the bed of mixed beans, which was half fried with a crispy texture.  The bacon roll itself was not very interesting though,  imo the texture was too smooth and needed something to breakup the texture.

Stir fried onions topped with mustard. Root vegetable sauteed in bacon bits

I am not a fan of onion,  but this was cooked through enough that I did like the flavors that the onion absorbed.  My favourite was the root vegetable.  I did not hear what it was although the waitress did tell us when she set it down.  Tasted like a parsnip consistency with a firmer bite to it, topped with bacon bits.

beef and peppers on baked polenta, topped with greens

By the time this dis can around,  we were not stuffed and could not eat much of it.  The green sauteed vegetable on top had a slight bitter texture and was a refreshing palate cleanser.

Roast beef on fingerling tomatoes topped with mustard

Thee roast beef was a generous portion and medium done. Tender and well seasoned.

My favourite was the salt cod fritters and the bacon topped root vegetable. Overall I loved the good food and friendly service,  the bartender was attentive eventhough she was very busy during the whole night.  Food was on the heavy side and included lots of bacon which was not what I am used to, so I did like the vegetable dishes more than some of the meat dishes.  Now that I have experienced it,  I will definitely choose smaller portions the next time around,  fewer plates, and maybe more wine to go with the food.  I would love to come back next time.  Thank you for  a wonerful dinner. 

Hakkasan

Hakkasan is located on 110 - 2188 No.5 Road, Richmond BC.

This restaurant is located in an industrial area. Unnoticeable from No 5 Road, you can easily miss it if you do not know what you are looking for.  They emphasize authentic chinese cuisine with a modern twist.  


First impressions: spacious restaurant, western decor with asian accent pieces.  The waitress was friendly and explained the menu to us.  The concept is a tasting menu but in a banquet style.  If you want to have one of the tasting menus offered, then everyone at the table will need to have the same menu.  Alternatively,  you can order dishes individually at more expensive prices.

My suggestion would be that they limit the tasting menu to a minimum order of 2 or 4 people.  That way more tables would be likely to chose the price fix tasting menu.



Escargot in puff pastry

A refreshing plating for an often predictable escargot dish.  The contrast of the puff pastry adds to the dimensions of the dish.

Honey glazed pork cheeks with green beans

This is a twist on the traditional Chinese roast pork.  The use of the pork cheeks makes this a leaner alternative. Definitely a good remake of a classic. 



Braised Egg Tofu w/Greens

The tofu broccoli looked nicely plated,  but taste wise was the same as the dish offered at other Chinese restaurants.  This I would pass.

 Steamed Chilean Seabass, light soya

The Seabass was cooked to perfection.  Not exactly steamed but the lightly fried exterior kept in the juices and made the inside moist and tender.  A difficult dish to master. Definitely worth ordering.


Uni Fried Rice

The fried rice was a nice combination of Chinese and Japanese flavors. The fried rice was nicely cooked with spring onions and Chinese sausage.  The addition of Uni made the dish richer.  Although the flavors did go well together,  the dish was on the heavy side. 

Liked:

• The tasting menu concept  adds a visual element to the dishes
• Quiet and intimate atmosphere
• Needs more vegetable dishes. The selection was limited and not very innovative.

Disliked:

• Vegetable dishes- limited and uninteresting
• Limiting the whole table to participate in the tasting menu.  
• Location was out of the way in an industrial area.
• Pricing : expensive unless you are ordering from the price fix menu

  This is definitely a restaurant worth trying once.  Mind you this is quite an expensive restaurant,  even for downtown standards.  Without the trendy downtown crowd and situated in the highly competitive Chinese restaurant neighborhood of Richmond, I have to wonder how this restaurant will survive.   Only time will tell.

G-men at NanChuu

This is the first time that we have been here since the move from its old location.  Located on the busy Alexandra Rd, parking is even harder than at its old location.  Luckily we were here at around 3 so it was less busy.

Shio Ramen - I remember this bowl was from the old location.

Shoyu Ramen

Takoyaki -4 pieces for $4.50

Although We ordered one of the noodles as chewy and one regular, I did not notice and difference in the chewiness of the noodles when it actually arrived.  There is a good balance between the soup and the noodles.  Quality was the same as G-men at their old location. Portion feels a little smaller,  but it just may be our imagination.

The takoyaki tastes standard, but not outstanding. I get the feeling this might be from the freezer section as I have bought similar ones before.  The takoyaki has a flat surface,  which is not normally the case with freshly made ones that I have tasted.
I liked the old location better as it was easier to find parking. this new location is very narrow,  so despite being a larger location, it feels more cramped.

Likes:
-Ramen is still good
-Retain the family restaurant feel

Dislikes:
-difficult to find parking
-takoyaki doesn't look or taste like freshly made.

Old Homestead - Ceasers Las Vegas

A transplant of the Old Homestead Steakhouse in New York, this restaurant offered a clean menu catered to the Las Vegas crowd.

All the hotels in Vegas are anchored with a steak house.  We decided to go to Old Homestead located in Ceasars Palace because its menu offered a 26 oz rib steak.

The bread basket offered four different types of breads. My favorite was the cheese bread.  The pretzel stick was also a nice touch and reminder of this restaurant's New York roots.

Bread basket : Cheese bread and and pretzel stick

The Maine Lobster tail is slightly overcooked,  so a little tough. Simple presentation and lemon was nicely tied up in practical yet visually appealing package.

Main Lobster with lemon juice and butter

This 26oz rib steak was grilled to perfection.  The charcoal flavor combines perfectly with the meat.  Dry aged to perfection, juicy and tender. We were able to share this among the three of us.

The “Gotham Rib” Steak on the bone

All in all, this was an excellent steakhouse. 

What I liked:

• excellent service
• beautiful cut of meat and perfectly seasoned

What I did not like:

• service is slow 
• lighting is too dark
• pricing is still on the expensive side. With all the offerings in Vegas, it is hard to justify spending this much on the steak alone.

Nero Begium waffle bar

Nero Belgium Waffle Bar -1703 Robson St, Vancouver, BC V6G1C8

This cozy little waffle store located in the busy downtown Denman area has been one of our recent favorites.  I've been here multiple times and despite being busy,  service is always friendly.

 The Dame Blanche is served with vanilla ice cream, whip cream and dark chocolate.  You have a choice of liege waffle or Belgium. The vanilla and dark chocolate combination can never go wrong! 

Dame Blanche

The hot chocolate is made with real chocolate bits. The milk is served piping hot.  They tell us to stir the milk thoroughly until it melts.  The  rich chocolate makes this drink different from all the other ones that we have tried.  I love this hot chocolate!!.

Belgium hot chocolate

Liege, is a sweet dense waffle with sugar lumps inside.  The owner tells us that the sugar has to be imported from belgium.  The waffle is made fresh in front of us and served piping hot.

Liege waffle

Although this is a small store,  it is always busy! Great location
near to the busy Denman and Robson area.  I love that everything is made fresh to order.  This store is definitely here to stay! 

What I love:

• fresh ingredients
• fresh waffles
• the Belgium hot chocolate is a must to try!

What I did not like:

• does not really have much room for sit down customers.  

Modern City Chinese Restaurant

Located in the heart of Kerrisdale, and a block away from another 2 Chinese restaurants, the modern city Chinese restaurant opened to some tough competition. Unlike its predecessor, they have adjusted pricing to become more competitive, in an area that is overflowing with restaurant choices.

At first glance, there has been little change in the decor. They took over another Chinese restaurant that had lasted less than a year, so most furnishings were still new.

We chose some simple dishes in order to test the skills of the chef.


Soymilk (salty). The soymilk has a nice creamy consistency. Imo a stronger soybean taste would be nice, but the thickness of the soymilk was perfect as a soup like breakfast item.



Sliced beef with tripe in chili sauce. Allergy alert.... lots of peanuts, which really accents the marinated beef. I like that they make it less saltier than many other restaurants.


Steam dumplings. Juicy and holds its shape, this dumpling has a medium thickness skin that holds up to being picked up by chopsticks. Juicy and slightly chewy skin. Although not the thinnest that I have tried, it was still above average.


Ji Cai dumpling soup. A little on the oily side, but not too salty. The dumpling is a little denser than some that I have tried but I prefer the one at The Place restaurant on Granville & 64th because they add seaweed and egg floss to the soup.


Shanghai style pressed meat with noodle. Generous portion for the noodle. The pressed meat is standard for most shanghai restaurants.

What I liked:

• Good and attentive service - they refilled our tea regularly
• Spacious and clean - still relatively new restaurant
• Competitive price point and good quality good

What I did not like:

• Stereotypical food pictures outside the restaurant made it less appealing
• Very large space that is hard to fill with patrons

I think they have everything done right, good service, higher quality food at a competitive price point. I will definitely revisit this place to check out the consistency of its food.

3 1/2 out of 5 ( reserving the other 1/2 for consistency the next time I come here)

Nakamura in kerrisdale.

This small and cozy Japanese restaurant in Kerrisdale is tucked away on the less busy side of the street.  They do not have take out and the restaurant only has 7 small tables.  I like that this restaurant is small so everything is made to order.
I love the presentation of the food.  The menu has several less common items as well as the option of a $29 or $49 chef's menu. 
We tried most of the staple items:

It is hard to find monk fish liver on the menu of most japanese restaurants, so I had to try it. Good citrus yuzo flavour. 



Monk fish liver



The homemade gyoza was a bit of a dissappointment as the skin was too soft and falling apart.  Gyoza King still ranks first in this category.

Home make gyoza

Baked oyster has a bad reputation thanks to all the all-you-can-eat restaurants out there. I have to say this was a good dish.  Oyster was cooked just right, juicy and there was a thin layer of sauce. 

Baked Oyster

The flounder was the special of the day.  This fish is normally too fishy for sashimi,  but the citrus sauce covers the fishyness and makes that a very interesting dish. I love the presentation with the green plate. 

Flounder sashimi

Fresh seafood with a beautiful presentation,  I love the thought that the chef put into arranging the dish. 

Assorted Chirashi

All the sushi was fresh and the kani and tobiko roll had lots of crab in it.

Hamachi sushi, Ika sushi, and Kani and Tobiko roll,

There was a mix of good value as well as pricier items,  but I love that presentation was key in all the dishes.  Imo this shows the chef's passion for his craft.  Every dish came in a different dish, or plate and have lovely presentation.

What I liked:

• 2 thumbs up for presentation. 
• daily specials worth trying
• monk fish liver a must try

What I did not like:

• portions are on the small side
• restaurant not noticible from the street

Dunn's Smoked Meat

Dunn's famous smoke meat: 827 Seymour St.

Smoke meat sandwich with split pea and ham soup

Ruben Sandwich

I have always loved smoked meat, so when I heard that this restaurant was open, I could not wait to try it. The restaurant was spacious and the waitress was friendly and attentive.

I like that you have a choice of lean, medium or fatty meat. As I have never been here before, I chose the Montreal smoke meat sandwich with medium fattiness. The soup of the day was split pea and ham. As the platter comes with a choice of soup or fries, I chose the soup.

Our orders arrived swiftly. I loved the coleslaw that was sour instead of creamy. The split pea soup was lightly salted but not over powering. The smoke meat was just the right level of saltiness.  The mustard helped to cut the grease of the meat. Although a reasonable portion, I found the Ruben portion to be of better value.

I have to say that I did not really look at the other items on the menu, but given that I thoroughly enjoyed my smoke meat sandwich, I would definitely come back to try the other items on the menu.