Bo Laksa King's Bubbles and Bits

Since last year or so, we have heard lots about Bo Laksa King, ever since Chowtimes reviewed their first location on Joyce Street. Chowtimes raved about the food and many bloggers followed with great praise and many reviews. A visit to Bo Laska had been on my list for quite a while, especially since we learned that the chef and owner is from Burma, which is where my family is originally from.

We were in the neighbourhood of their second (and now only) location on Hastings Street, and decided to finally pop in. I must say, the exterior did nothing for the place, with the broken 'Open' neon sign and many pictures of bubble tea. In fact, without knowledge of Bo Laksa, I would hardly know that real food was actually served there.

The interior is simple and utilitarian, with black plastic tables and chairs and dark teal walls. When we arrived for an early lunch, we were the only customers there and this felt a little awkward.

We were pleased to see a number of Burmese dishes on the menu, but we decided to go the non-Burmese route, to save comparisons with my mother's cooking. We ordered the chicken satay, which arrived in a rather impressive arrangement, with 3 skewers arranged tee-pee style on the plate with sides of rice and peanut sauce. The chicken itself was pretty good, with a nice grilled taste. However, the peanut sauce was a little on the sweet side, without the balance of spicy and savory. As an appetizer, we were very impressed by the size of the dish.

Here is their famous laksa ($7.50). This came in a huge bowl filled with tofu puffs, shrimp, fishball, chicken, beansprouts, and a whole boiled egg. You had a choice of yellow egg noodles or the rice vermicelli, and I got the vermicelli. The noodles were well cooked, not too soft, and the soup had a nice coconut creaminess. However, I felt that it was lacking a little in spice; the soup was very mild. I also though that the soup could have used a bit more salt, because it tasted a little bland.

Shane ordered the Mee Goreng, a Malaysian fried noodle dish. I heard that the owner's wife was Malaysian, so we had great expectations of this. Unfortunately, this was the weirdest Mee Goreng I'd ever tasted. The noodles had a sauce all over it, and it was extremely sweet. I'm not sure what happened, but it was really bad.

So our first experience with Bo Laksa was a rather mixed one; I must confess that I left the restaurant a little let down. Perhaps my expectations were too high? Nevertheless, we are willing to return, if only to try the Burmese dishes, which will be the ultimate test.

Hawker's Delight

My friend Rachel introduced me to Hawker's Delight years and years ago. I remember stepping inside and being reminded of what it was like to be at a roadside restaurant in South East Asia: a little sketchy and basic, but knowing you'd be getting really cheap, great food.

Hawker's Delight is a hole in the wall on Main Street and King Edward. It's a really no frills place. Don't expect any service or special attention here. You get your own water and napkins, you know? To me, there is something a little refreshing about how non-fine dining this place is.

The menu is smallish, and what's great is that there are pictures of every item on the menu, so you know what to expect even if you may not know the name of the dishes. The cuisine is Malaysian / Indonesian / Singaporean, and the prices are really, really great. Almost all of the dishes are six dollars and under, and that is a bargain these days.

I ordered the Laksa (around $6), a coconut curry broth with noodles, egg, fried tofu and chicken. This was pretty tasty. There was a good amount of spice and seasoning, and the broth had a nice richness. The noodles slightly overcooked, but it was a decent bowl of food.

Shane got the Mee Goreng (around $5), Malaysian style fried noodles. This was good and pretty tasty, although it was not the best Mee Goreng around. However, for the price, it was an amazing deal.

We also ordered 6 pieces of satay at $0.75 each. The pork was nicely cooked, with lots of charcoal flavour, and it was surprisingly tender. The satay came with a peanut sauce with was a little too sweet for my liking, but it went pretty well with the pork.

Hawker's Delight is a great place. It's always consistent and reliable, which is saying quite a lot. It is one of the best cheap eats you'll ever get in Vancouver.

Going there feels like visiting Asia.

The Noodle Box - Victoria, Douglas St.

One evening, we were on our way to an event and decided to stop by The Noodle Box. We were curious about this place because it always seemed busy and popular. There is a Noodle Box restaurants in Vancouver, but there seems to be a great many more in Victoria.

The interiors are nice--modern, though a little generic.

Shane ordered the Spicy Peanut Box with pork ($11). One thing I can say about this place is that the portions are HUGE. Two people could easy share a dish and be stuffed. The noodles were actually pretty tasty, with a not too overpowering peanut flavour. The coconut milk added a nice richness to the dish. However, the problem with this dish is texture. It's a gloopy mess. Fried noodles are supposed to be a little crispy and chewy, not overcooked and dripping in gluey sauce, as this was. You would not find this on any street corner in Asia.

I'm not sure why I did it, but I went for the "Tom Yum" with Prawns ($11). Again, this was really big. But see the red oil slick at the top of the container? Let me assure you that it shouldn't be there. It was a little unappetizing. I taste the broth. It is fine. Not great, but fine. The weird addition is the noodles. Why would you do this? This is unheard of in Thailand. The noodles again were overcooked and emitted that white starchy flavour that just ruined the broth. However, I can say that they were tremendously generous with the shrimp. These were huge, plump and pretty delicious.

I wouldn't say that the food here is bad--actually in many aspects they provide tasty meals. However, don't come here looking for any authentic Southeast Asian dishes.

Oru

My co-workers and I decided to visit the new Fairmont Pacific Rim that just opened in February. The hotel is in a gorgeous location right near the new Vancouver convention centre; the building has a beautiful view of the water. I was pretty excited to try Oru, the new restaurant because I was told that the restaurant is a 'Pan-Asian' restaurant, not meaning fusion, but with actual dishes that were authentic to the dishes' respective cultures.

The restaurant itself is on the mezzanine level of the hotel, and is a huge room with crisp white tablecloths and shiny glasses and silverware (and bright orange chopsticks). The service was polite but a little slow, but always befitting a fine dining establishment.

We were asked if we wanted a 'bread basket' and we said yes. So two of them actually arrived, with maybe six quarters of naan bread and a pappadum, which were accompanied by a green mint chutney. The bread was warm and delicious, with charred parts that indicated that it had been cooked in a tandoor oven. However, at $8 for a basket, the price was a huge surprise at the end of the meal. Ouch.

I had checked out their menu online and was excited to try their ramen, which was raved about by the Georgia Straight magazine a few weeks prior. However, we were informed that the menu had recently changed, and that the ramen (along with a few other dishes) were off the menu.

A bunch of us tried the banh mi subs instead ($14-16).

meatball sub

tuna sub

I had the lemon grass chicken banh mi, which I forgot to take a picture of...! The bread was absolutely wonderful - warm and crispy crust, with a soft interior. However, the rest of the sandwich was just ok. The chicken itself consisted of dark meat, but did not have any lemongrass flavour or that nice charcoal taste at all. Plus, there was too much mayo in the sandwich (mayo...really?). It was all bland. The matchstick potatoes served as the side was ok--a little salty though. But what I found weird was the amounts of the potatoes each person got--some of our containers were half filled, some overflowing....

That being said, my co-workers liked the tuna and meatball sandwich quite a lot. The shrimp one looked a little disappointing, because there didn't seem to be a lot of filling there.

shrimp sub

Another co-worker ordered the murgh makhani ($16), a chicken curry with rice, naan, and chutney. This was merely okay. He would not get it again.

My other co-worker ordered the caramelized beach scallops and spot prawns ($22). She was really disappointed in this dish. It arrived cold, and she didn't enjoy it at all.

All in all, the visit was a disappointment. It did not live up to the hype, I would say. It is very overpriced for what you get, considering you can get a good bahn mi in Chinatown for less than a third of the price being charged here. For this price, we all were expecting really good ingredients, but this did not happen.

Pho Vy - Victoria

Walking down Fort Street in Victoria, we were intrigued by two Vietnamese restaurants right across the street from each other. One of the restaurants was actually a popular chain Vietnamese restaurant in Vancouver, but the other one, Pho Vy, I'd never heard of; however, we looked through the windows at both places and chose the one with the most customers (always a pretty good indication).

Like a lot of Vietnamese restaurants, Pho Vy's decor is nothing to write home about--really functional and basic. The service is minimal, but polite.

I ordered the large pho with beef balls and steak (around $8), and this looked wonderful. As usual, the soup came with the side of sprouts, Vietnamese basil, and a wedge of lime. The soup was dotted with thinly sliced onion, bits of green onion and cilantro. This was a comforting and delicious bowl; the noodles were nicely cooked, and they were also generous with the meat. The broth had a clear, brown colour, and it wasn't too fatty; however, the broth also had a particular sweetness which I usually don't like in pho broths (this is a personal preference, though), but this kind of grew on me, and I really liked it in the end.

Shane had the grilled pork vermicelli bowl (around $8). It arrived in a huge bowl, and came with a spring roll and veggies. This was delicious. The meat was tender and well marinated, and had a wonderful grilled flavour. This was probably one of the better grilled pork I've tasted. The sauce that came with the dish was also good--not too sweet, and with a really nice savoury quality to it.

We really enjoyed this place--if we lived in Victoria, we would definitely be regulars here. Simple atmosphere, unpretentious food at a most affordable price, what else can you ask for?

Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh is one of the restaurants you always hear good stuff about; it is very well loved by critics, chefs (like Anthony Bourdain), foodies, and locals. Yet for all its success and fame, the restaurant still maintains that very basic, no-frills quality that is ubiquitous in ordinary Chinese restaurants. It's located at the edge of Chinatown, next to a few Chinese grocery stores, and the exterior is very plain and non-descript. You could easily walk on by and miss it entirely. Inside is no better, with a large room with light coloured walls and plain grey tables. Very basic.

For this visit, we decide on the fried squid with lemon pepper sauce ($7.50 for a half portion). This is basically the squid version of their famous chicken wings. The squid was pretty tender and the lemon dipping sauce gave a great tang and cut the greasy element quite a bit. However, I confess I'm one of the rare ones that finds this dish (and indeed the chicken wings) not too likable. I mean, it's okay, but to me there seems to be something sprinkled on the batter that I just don't like. There's this strong tasting crystal that's on there --- so I think I have a good idea about what that is, but that would just be speculation. Anyway, many people seem to love this batter on the wings and squid. To each his own.

Shane got the beef Luc Lac ($8.85). This was thinly sliced beef fried in a sort of peppery, slightly sweet gravy. This was really good and savoury, especially with rice. It reminded me a lot of the kind of food you could get on every street corner in Thailand.

I was hankering for something soupy, so I decided to get the Phnom Penh Beef Noodle in Soup ($6.95). This looked really good--there was a nice clear brown colour to the broth, and there was plenty of cilantro and fried onion oil. However, the broth was really bland, and there was barely any beef taste. I had to add a ton of soy sauce to this to make it taste like something. On the other hand, the beef balls were fantastic (just like in Thailand!), and so was the rare beef in the soup. Overall, a huge disappointment.

We've eaten here a couple of times, and despite some disappointments, we would come here again, if only to explore more of their voluminous menu.

Tamarind Hill

On Friday night we visited Tamarind Hill, a Malaysian restaurant in New Westminster, at 6th Ave and 7th Street. I'd been there before, and was very impressed by the flavours. The restuarant itself is small and colourful, and there are pretty touches in the decor, like the antique door that decorates the waiting area, and the amber 'tear-drop' light fixtures. We arrived at a quarter to 6pm, and we were the only ones in the restuarant, but as we dined, the restuarant quickly filled every seat.

The first dish we ordered was the lamb satays. They were okay, though I'm not a fan of lamb in general. The meat was flavorful (but it could be MORE flavorful), but the portion was small and the meat was also a bit on the dry side. This is served with a chunky peanut sauce that could have been spicier.

Next came the Mee Goreng, a spicy noodle dish with tofu, shrimp and vegetables. We love this. The noodles were delicious and spicy, with a hint of smokiness and sweetness.

We also ordered the okra, green beens and eggplant in a sambal sauce. The veggies were perfectly cooked, with the beans and okra still crispy, and the eggplant soft and yeiding. The sambal was a bit sweet, but there was balance and a salty complexity to the dish. This is great with rice. However, I had a couple of pieces of old (ie. stringy and tough) okra.

Probably our favorite dish of the night (aside from the noodles) was the Beef Rendang, which is essentially a beef curry with lemongrass and spices and looked a long time. The beef was tender, and the sauce had a underlying spiciness that was very pleasant. This and a bowl of rice is a kind of heaven.

The biggest surprise of the night was the dessert Ais Kacheng (sp?), which is shaved ice with grass jelly, corn, red beans, green chewy things, and sweet coconut milk. The last time I was here they served it in a tiny bowl, but this time it came in a huge soup bowl (there were 4 servings in this). What a deal! There is a version of this in Thailand as well, so the taste was familiar to me. It's so delicious and refreshing. It might look bad when stirred up, but don't be fooled by appearances! So yummy!

We had no idea the other dessert was going to be so big, so we'd ordered the deep fried bananas with ice cream. This is a pretty standard dessert, I don't have much to say about it.

We sure were stuffed after the meal!

Pho 99 - Coquitlam

The number 2

I grew up in Thailand and some of my best memories were of eating street food from roadside vendors. There were fresh, spicy northern Thai sausages, grilled beef balls, deep fried chicken, and so many other kinds of food that could be bought for only a few cents. I adored Thai-style noodle soups, or kwaytao, which would be served off on the side of the street among plastic tables and chairs.

When our family first immigrated to Vancouver there was barely a Thai community, and we were always disappointed in Thai restaurants around the area because it wasn’t authentic. I think that’s why we never went to Thai restaurants; even now, the occasion is pretty rare. But we discovered Vietnamese pho, which reminded us so much of the Thai noodle soup dishes. Of course, pho is totally different—in Thailand, the more common kind of stock is pork or chicken, while the Vietnamese pho soup base is beef. But the rice noodles were the same, and the flavours were familiar and comforting.

I can’t say I’m a pho expert or anything, but I like my broth to be clear, a deep brown, simply tasting of beef and spices, but without any added sugary sweetness. I like the noodles to be cooked just right, not to soggy, to rest in the broth without adding any cloudiness to the clear liquid. I’m a soup girl, and to me, the broth is the most perfect thing in the dish. But I notice that when I go to Vietnamese restaurants, so many people leave the broth in their dish after they’ve eaten the noodles and meat. There they are, bowls upon bowls of untouched broth! Why is that?

One of the local Vietnamese restaurants we frequent is Pho 99, in the little mall on the corner of North Road and Lougheed. Let’s get it straight: this place won’t be winning any awards for ambiance, décor, or service anytime soon. The atmosphere is utilitarian, with chipped tables, scratched chairs, and not the cleanest tile floors. The walls have tacky and colourful wall decorations made from Styrofoam and plastic ferns, and the bathroom is kind of gross. Plus, the service is severely basic; if you’re lucky you’ll get a server that smiles, otherwise you’ll get ones that carry on conversations with other people while you’re trying to talk to them, or you’ll get a sullen one. It’s best not to be high maintenance here—requests for water, or extra lime, or anything will frustrate you. It’s best to keep your head down and focus on the food.

As for the food, it’s really good. And so affordable! The pho here is (most of the time) consistently delicious, with a nice broth and generous additions of meat (except for beef balls, that is). There have been a couple of times when the meat didn’t seem that fresh, or when the soup came not piping hot, but those occasions are extremely rare. I don’t know whether they use MSG or not, but I don’t leave feeling thirsty at all. The pho, of course, always comes with fresh bean sprouts and chili and lime/lemon; sometimes it comes with Vietnamese basil, sometimes not. The prices are reasonable: the small size is $5.65 and the large is $6.65.

This time, got #2 small, which is raw eye round steak (which cooks in the hot broth), and beef balls (a measly 2 half-pieces). My husband got #1, which is just with the eye round steak.

I forgot to mention the condiments: at the side of your table you have the hoisin sauce, fish sauce, sriracha sauce, salt, and pepper but the best thing about this restaurant is their chili oil. The chili oils I’m used to just have two ingredients: chili and oil, but this one has the addition of lemongrass, among other ingredients. Put a dollop in your pho, the bowl becomes a beautifully aromatic, spicy masterpiece. It’s gorgeous. I’m used to spicy foods, but the chilli oil doesn’t seem that spicy to me. It’s the best condiment ever.

My darling chili oil!

You are not going to get the best service here, but they have a good bowl of savory noodle soup (also, their rolls and grilled meat are pretty good too) for a really great price.