Portland Seafood Company [Tigard, OR]

9699 SW Washington Square Road
Tigard, OR

After a day of shopping at the Woodburn Company Outlets, it was time to think of a place to have dinner. Since we were a bit away from downtown Portland, venturing up north for dinner was out of the question so we decided to stay close and head back to Washington Square to try out Portland Seafood Company.

As the name indicates, they specialize in seafood, Pacific Northwest style. The restaurant inside was spacious and the interior looked like a dockside warehouse!

Arnold Palmer ($2.89) - half iced tea, half lemonade

This concoction of half iced tea and half lemonade was named after the American golfer Arnold Palmer because he liked to drink this beverage at home. One time at a bar while he ordered this drink, someone overheard him and told the bartender that they would also like "that Palmer drink" and that's how this beverage came to be! Anyway, the "half n' half" here was a bit lacking in lemonade....the iced tea flavour was more pronounced so it didn't seem like exactly half of each...

 Oven Roasted Crab Dip ($10.99) - served with warm tortilla chips

The first appetizer to arrive was the crab dip. The bowl was filled with lumps of crab meat on top of the creamy, gooey cheese while the chips on the side were warm and crunchy. This was so good! Definitely bad for the waistline though LOL...

Calamari ($8.59) - with signature lemon caper tartar

Our second appetizer was the calamari. The squid was sliced very thinly so a lot of times, it felt like I was just eating crunchy deep fried batter. I would have liked it more if the squid meat was thicker.

1 lb. Clam Bucket ($16.99) - bucket filled with Andouille sausage, baby red potatoes and corn on the cob, flavour of your choice

Arriving in a tin (aluminum?) bucket lined with wax paper, 1 lb. of clams appeared very little. Luckily, the clams were all plump and juicy. We chose a lemon-garlic-y broth for the bucket which we dipped with the complimentary bread afterwards. Aside from the broth being kind of oily, everything in the bucket was pretty good but I found the sausages too spicy for my liking.

Bronzed Wild Alaskan Salmon ($16.99) - Shrimp-basil-caper sauce, Parmesan mashed potatoes, fresh green beans

We also chose 2 fish entrees to share, one being the Alaskan salmon. It was pan seared to a golden colour exhibiting a crispy exterior. Some places overcook salmon to the state of being rough and leathery. The one here at PSC was not too dry so that was good! I found the sauce a bit salty but the shrimp was cooked just to the right doneness. And although the beans were vibrantly green and crunchy, they were so sour! I think they were tossed in a lemon-lime sauce... I love crunchy green beans but I just couldn't handle the extreme tartness...

Grilled Steelhead with Roasted Crab & Shrimp Cakes ($18.99) - lime basmati rice, whole grain mustard sauce, garlic green beans

I liked the second entrée more which was the grilled steelhead trout. This fish was done simply, with a savoury mustard sauce brushed on top. The meat was not too dry either after grilling. Again, I thought the crab cakes were a bit on the salty side. There were ample crab and shrimp in the cakes so I guess there wasn't a lot of filler but it made them very soft and fluffy, breaking apart very easily. And although the description said garlic green beans, they were the uber-sour lemon-lime beans again!! Such a waste of fresh crunchy green beans!

Sourdough Bread Bowl ($7.99) - filled with soup of your choice

Manhattan fish chowder - rich tomato sauce with braised seafood

The last to arrive at the table was the sourdough bread bowl. My mom and I love Manhattan clam chowder so we opted for this soup thinking it would be similar. To our dismay, we found the soup too much like a watery marinara sauce. I thought it lacked the qualities of a Manhattan-style chowder. There were lots of fish and fresh veggies in the soupy sauce though. Even though I thought the soup failed as a soup, as a sauce it was still pretty tasty.

If you're unwilling to wait over an hour for a table at the Cheesecake Factory inside Washington Square, the next best alternative for a nice, relaxed meal inside the mall would probably be Portland Seafood Company!

St. Honore Boulangerie [Lake Oswego, OR] ~ Photo-log

315 1st Street
Lake Oswego, OR

Another year, another trip to Portland! It seems that my family has created a tradition to visit this Oregon city every spring! After visiting St. Honore Boulangerie last year, we were all longing for their delicious viennoiserie, so we planned a visit to the Lake Oswego location this time. 

Situated in the city of Lake Oswego, Oregon, this bakery faces the Millennium Park and has nice views of Lakewood Bay. On the morning that we were there, the local farmers market had its opening day in the park. It really has a quaint small town charm here.

Croque Madame - brioche sliced with Emmental cheese bechamel sauce, Dijon mustard, Black Forest ham, topped with a soft poached egg

Yum yum yum! I love me some croquet madame! This time they were a bit heavy on the Dijon mustard though.

Brioche Cocotte - brioche with a poached egg inside, chive crème fraiche and two bacon strips

 

The Brioche Cocotte was just as good as last time! OMG the buttery brioche, the soft poached egg and the chive crème fraiche makes a wonderful trio!

 

Hazelnut Caramel Dacquoise - layers of caramel ganache, chocolate praline and hazelnut buttercream between crunchy hazelnut dacquoise cake

 

Sorry, I didn't take a picture of this dessert but let me tell you, this one tasted like a Ferrero Rocher chocolate in cake form. SO GOOD!

 

Quiche Jardiniere - savoury egg custard baked in a pastry shell with roasted leeks and mushrooms

On our second visit the next day, W and I shared one of their quiche offerings in order to save room for some sweets.

Chocolate Brioche -
brioche dough combined with bittersweet chocolate chips and topped with a chocolate streusel

Chocolate and brioche together? Yes please!! This wasn't as yummy as I expected though. The streusel was crumbly, crunchy and dry so if there was some gooey melted chocolate laced inside the bread, it would have provided some moisture to the otherwise dry loaf.

 

Strawberry Millefeuille - caramelized puff pastry filled with mousseline cream and fresh strawberries

Yes, we tried the millefeuille last year but the prettiness captured my attention once again! The strawberries were still a little tart so the sweet custard-like mousseline cream paired well with them.

 

Saint Honore - puff pastry with a ring of pâte á choux, vanilla custard topped with whipped cream, caramel and cream filled choux

What should you eat at St. Honore? Why, the Saint Honore of course! It's like a cream puff that had an extreme make-over haha...
 

Tarte Citron - a smooth and rich lemon custard on a bed of almond cream in a sable shell

As expected, the lemon custard was quite mouth-puckering tart but once eaten with the sweet cookie shell, it helped balance out the flavours.
 

Chausson aux Pommes - flaky dough filled with applesauce

To our Asian eyes, this pastry resembled the curry puff pastries of HK style bakeries LOL...

Croissant aux Amandes - twice baked croissant with an almond cream filling

 

And my mom's favourite, the almond croissant. Crispy, flakey layers of buttery richness wrapped around a sweet almond paste.

This was our spread on the second morning at St. Honore! I just love these relaxing vacation mornings filled with delicious food :)

Shanghai Elan Restaurant

上海粗菜館
1687 - 4500 Kingsway
Crystal Mall, Burnaby

I find that there is a short supply of Shanghainese restaurants in Burnaby. Whenever I want to eat Xiao Long Bao (steamed juicy pork dumplings; XLB), all the good places that I can think of are located in Richmond! Sure, there is a famous XLB stall in the food court of Crystal Mall, but it's not quite the same as sitting inside a restaurant and being served by someone.

Finally, there is a restaurant that steams up some pretty good XLB in Burnaby! Occupied in the space that was formerly Pittsburgh Café (a Hong Kong style café) inside Crystal Mall, Shanghai Elan is another option for XLB in the city.

I like the matching plates, tea cups and tea pot set. It adds a bit of traditional charm to the restaurant.

Green onion pancake ($4.50)

The first item to arrive for lunch was the green onion pancake. Arranged in a basket, the pancake was hot and flakey with a moderate amount of green onions inside. Not bad! For me, it would go really well with a hot bowl of sweetened soya bean milk. Yum!

Shanghai style juicy pork buns 小籠包 - AKA xiao long bao/XLB ($5.50)

Next up was the bamboo steamer of 6 Shanghai juicy pork buns! Fresh right out of the steamer, the wrappers were thin and still soft making it extra hard to pick them up with chopsticks without breaking! Luckily, my mad chopstick skills served me well and none of the dumpling wrappers ripped when I picked them up LOL...

These XLB were pretty good as the wrapper was thin and the ground pork filling inside was juicy and not too gritty. The soup was also flavourful...though maybe due to some MSG?

Shanghai chicken sauce small wontons ($7.50)

W likes their mini wontons so we ordered a bowl. There were probably a dozen or so of the mini chicken wontons in a savoury broth made from dried baby shrimp and preserved vegetables. A handful of chopped green onions and some seaweed garnished the soup. I also speculate that the broth or wontons had some MSG in it because I was quite thirsty after this meal. Nonetheless, I thought they were still tasty. These mini wontons were cooked well in that the wonton skin was soft and slippery but still intact after jostling about and the chicken meat inside had a nice umami flavour.

Turnip cake 蘿蔔絲酥餅 ($5.50)

Last to arrive was the turnip cake...which wasn't exactly a cake but more like a turnip pastry. When I saw them, I wanted to hold back some snickering because I thought they looked like pill bugs!! Sorry, I know that wasn't an appetite-inducing comment haha...

 

Despite the somewhat unappetizing appearance (to me at least!), the flakey crust yielded a soft and steaming hot filling of seasoned shredded daikon radish with some carrots and green onion. The bottoms were also crusted with toasted sesame which added a nice aroma and texture! These pastries were rather large and eating one whole pastry really filled me up! 

 

Now, I'm quite tolerant of salty and heavily seasoned food so I found the dishes at Shanghai Elan acceptable. However, for those who like lighter flavours without such liberal usage of MSG, you might not like them it as much. Still, I think Shanghai Elan would continue to do well as there aren't that many choices for XLB and Shanghainese cuisine in the area.

Pink Sugar Cafe

115 - 3030 Lincoln Avenue
Coquitlam, BC

Gosh! I can't believe I have completely forgotten to keep up with my posts! This is what the onslaught of hot, sunny, summer weather can do to me. It makes me lazy and sluggish and all I want to do is sip on an icy cold drink under the shade haha... Anyway, forget about the hot weather for a moment and rewind back to the cool spring day when I went to Pink Sugar Café.

Pink Sugar Cafe is a place that one would not notice if you don't work or frequent the plaza that it is situated in. Open only in the morning and afternoon, this small cafe serves coffee, tea, sandwiches, and desserts for the working crowd nearby. It also has daily lunch specials offering Japanese lunch box sets! Very unusual for a cafe that sells sandwiches but it makes sense once you know who the owners are. The owners are a husband and wife team who have roots in Japan. I believe the husband is Taiwanese(?) because he speaks Mandarin while his wife is fluent in Japanese.

 

Sometimes their desserts also reflect their Asian background. On the day that I was there, the chilled display case had a green tea pound cake. They also make Japanese style Swiss roll cakes on order!

 

I was quite curious about their Japanese lunch sets ever since I heard my sis talk about how popular it was with the lunch time crowd. She said it often sells out so pre-ordering is a must! With the help of my sis, I finally got to try it!

 

Japanese Bento (lunch box set; $9.99)

On the tray are 5 items (clockwise from top):

Minced pork patty in a tangy ketchup-based sauce topped with grated daikon radish and onions - I'm not sure what the stiff, red thread-like pieces are...they are edible though.

Cold soba noodles with nori (seaweed) strips - dressed in a light, savoury sauce

White rice topped with a small scoop of tuna salad and a sprinkle of black sesame

Miso soup filled with spinach leaves, tofu cubes and daikon radish slices

Steamed savoury egg custard topped with shrimp, edamame beans and sliced shiitake mushrooms

 

Overall, this lunch set had a very home-y feel. It felt like I was eating a delicious home-made lunch that a Japanese mother would make. I think one of the reasons I felt this way was because the sauce that the minced pork patty sat in tasted EXACTLY like the sauce that my mom makes for her steamed pork spareribs!!! 

 

The steamed egg custard was soft and silky with a touch of umami flavour from the mushrooms and shrimp. I really liked it!

 

I found it a bit odd to see a dollop of tuna salad on top of the rice but I didn't mind it. The soba noodles and soothing miso soup rounded out the traditional Japanese lunch set.

 

The size of the lunch was just right. It came with a cup of tea too but I found that I didn't really drink much of it due to the miso soup, juicy pork patty and the soft, almost-liquidy, egg custard. Everything just balanced out!

 

The workers nearby are so lucky to have this cafe around! 

 

A note: the dishes for the Japanese lunch sets varies daily so you may not get the same thing each time!

Pallas Athena Greek Kouzina

#22 - 2565 Barnet Highway

Coquitlam, BC

 

I get all these different cravings from time to time! Some time ago, I was suddenly craving for Greek salad! I really wanted to have some fresh, juicy tomatoes and cool crisp cucumbers with the soft salty tang of feta cheese! I was too lazy to buy all the ingredients and make it myself so I just dragged W and we hit up a Greek restaurant!

 

With the help of Urbanspoon, I decided to try Pallas Athena Greek Kouzina, located on Barnet Highway, next to Sushi Mori. I was happy to find it bright and nicely decorated inside.

 

There was a Greek statue standing in the middle of the restaurant and unfortunately, where we sat, the statue mooned at us the whole time =P

All the entrees and platters at Pallas included Greek salad and pita bread with tzaziki dip so we just ordered 2 entrees to share between the 2 of us.

Pita bread and Tzaziki dip (top) - thick cool tzatziki made with greek yogurt, cucumbers and garlic

Greek salad (bottom) - fresh cut tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, red onions, olives, feta and oregano with authentic kalamata extra virgin olive oil

W, the super ultra picky eater, did not like to eat tomatoes, cucumbers AND green peppers so he picked and ate the feta cheese and onion pieces and left the veggies for me to have. Ah well, since I was craving Greek salad, I was quite happy about that LOL... The salad was cool and fresh, exactly what I wanted.

The pita bread came warm with a crisp crust and soft pillowy centre. I could've eaten the whole basket alone with the salad!

Arni Psito ($17.50) - Pallas specialty; seasoned, slow roasted piece of New Zealand lamb shoulder with lemon roasted potato, rice pilaf and sauteed vegetables

 

W left the ordering to me so I chose the arni psito to try. The lamb shoulder was roasted really beautifully! It was quite a large piece but the meat was incredibly tender, falling off the bone with just a slight prod of the fork! The meat was juicy and seasoned well. It was gamier than I expected but still acceptable. Some people who don't like that smell and taste will probably be put off by the strong gamey flavour.

 

The lemon roasted potato was alright. I would have liked it to be more tart to help cut the gamey lamb flavour. The green beans were slightly crisp and vibrant in colour while the rice was seasoned nicely and was nice and fluffy as well.  

 

Chicken Souvlaki ($15.50) - two skewers marinated and charbroiled, served with lemon roasted potato, rice pilaf and sauteed vegetables

The 2nd entree was the chicken souvlaki. This dish tasted pretty good but the chicken was dry and a little tough to eat. Again, the sides were not bad. Green beans were also on W's list of disliked food so he ended up having very little veggies at this dinner. Doh!

These 2 entrees were pretty large! We ate about half of each one and had the rest packed up to go.

W actually had a coupon from his entertainment book but the restaurant didn't accept it because it was a holiday. Argh! Should have read the fine print! Anyway, we will probably go back again because it's a lovely and comfortable place to get some Greek eats :) And because we still have a coupon to use haha!

Penang Delight Cafe

Fine Malaysian Cuisine
3885 Rupert Street
Vancouver, BC

I've known about this tiny Malaysian restaurant for a few years already through some local food blogs but for some reason I've never went to try it. Since we were out in the area and my mom loves roti canai, we went to go check it out once and for all!

It is indeed a small restaurant, mostly filled with small tables of 4. There is a small room at the back that may be able to accommodate larger parties, although I think the max for that room is probably 8-10 people. The place was nicely decorated with some old photographs of Penang, Kuala Lampur and the Petronas Twin Towers.

Grass Jelly Soya Bean (left), Teh Tarik (Malaysian milk tea; right)

 

It was a warm spring day so I wanted to have a cold drink. I opted for a grass jelly in iced soya bean milk. W and my mom both had the Malaysian milk tea. I tried a sip and it was really good! A little like HK style milk tea but the tea was more creamy and less "bitter" (I don't really know how to describe it...it's a taste of tea leaves being brewed too long producing a sort of bitter aftertaste and leaving a film in the mouth). I really liked it and I half wished I had ordered the milk tea rather than my soya bean milk. My drink wasn't as good in comparison since it was rather plain.

 

Penang Shrimp Roll - Deep fried marinated pork and shrimp in beancurd sheet wrap

For starters, my mom chose the Penang shrimp roll and, of course, the Roti canai. The shrimp rolls were actually more like little fritters or deep fried meat balls. Inside the crispy beancurd wrappers were a mixture of minced pork and minced shrimp meat. It also came with a sweet and sour-ish dipping sauce. Though they were tasty, my mom complained that there was more pork than shrimp inside.

Roti Canai - Crispy Indian style pancake served with curry dipping sauce (2 pieces)

The Roti canai, on the other hand, was hot, flakey, chewy and delicious! The dish had 4 pieces (2 large pancakes cut into halves) and served with a mild curry dipping sauce. We all had different ways of eating it haha. My mom liked to eat it plain without any sauce. My dad and W dipped theirs in the curry sauce. And me? I drenched mine in the Penang Asam laksa broth!

Penang Asam Laksa - Laksa noodles with sardine, cucumber, pineapple, onion, mint leaves in hot and sour broth

Deviating away from the usual laksa that comes in a curry-coconut broth, we tried the Penang Asam laksa which had sardines, slivers of cucumber, pineapple, onions, mint leaves, and slippery, thick rice noodles sitting in a hot and sour soup. It was way spicier than I could handle but the flavours were so fantastic that I couldn't stop eating it! It was spicy, savoury, sweet from the pineapple, and a little herby from the mint. The roti was a very good agent in soaking up the broth from my bowl! If they could dial down the heat, I would definitely eat this whole of bowl of laksa!

Hainanese Chicken Rice - Hainanese steamed chicken with chicken broth rice

We also shared an order of the Hainanese chicken rice (there is a bowl of rice on the side). The chicken was not bad. It was flavourful and tender. The sweet soy sauce and bean sprouts below the chicken helped keep the meat moist as well. W said he liked the Hainanese chicken rice at Cafe D'lite (inside the Aberdeen Centre food court) the most though.

K.L. Hokkian Mee - Famous K.L. Hokkian Mee stir fried with thick egg noodle, shrimp, squid, pork, fish cakes and vegetables in Malaysian dark soy sauce

Lastly, we split a plate of noodles to round out the meal. These stir fried noodles reminded me of the Shanghai-style stir fried thick noodles as they were both similar in appearances. There were ample ingredients along with the noodles but I found the noodles to be too soft and the whole plate very oily. At least the greens (choi sum vegetables) provided some colour and a healthy factor to this dish!

Overall, Penang Delight is a quaint little restaurant serving up delectable Malaysian eats. I want to come back again and have their milk tea for myself and brave their deliciously spicy Asam laksa!!

McDonald's Fish McBites ~ photo-log

McDonald's

Bellis Fair food court

Bellingham, WA

 

While heading down to Bellingham for some cross-border shopping, I noticed a large banner hanging outside a McDonald's restaurant advertising a new product of theirs. Similar to their Chicken McBites, the Fish McBites were small, crispy, golden nuggets of Alaskan Pollock.



 

When W and I stopped at the Bellis Fair's food court for a mid-afternoon snack, we decided to give the Fish McBite's a try! I don't think these are available in Canada, or in BC (yet?).

I liked how the lid flap doubled as the condiment holder! So convenient!

The tiny fish nuggets were similar in size to popcorn chicken and yielded a soft and somewhat flakey morsel of fish meat. It's like eating a bite sized filet o'fish patty. It made for a nice small snack. We polished them off in no time so don't get these if you're hungry!

Cache Bistro ~ Photo-log

1269 Hamilton Street
Vancouver, BC

A gathering organized by W's colleagues was held at Cache one night. W and I dropped by for a quick bite and a little socializing as we had other plans later. Since a shipment of fresh lobster had just arrived, our tastebuds were treated to 2 different preparations of lobster!

Poached lobster salad

A simple salad with poached lobster on the side. This was the easiest and non-messy way to eat lobster!

Baked lobster with cheese

W opted for the baked lobster. He had to dig into the shell to get the bouncy morsels of flesh out. I thought that my lobster meat was more rubbery than his... W's lobster was prepared better but I still liked the simplicity of my salad.

Calamari ($8) - Five spice, chickpea flour, sake soy glaze

We also tried the calamari from Cache's lounge menu. Crispy batter with tender squid rings...pretty good! The dipping sauce reminded me of The Keg's calamari dipping sauce but I liked The Keg's savoury and sweet sauce more....just my personal preference.

Too bad we couldn't stay for the actual dinner...I was quite interested in that week's Menu 35... Pork done 3 ways? Blue cheese cheesecake? Hmmm! Oh well, next time!

Itadakimasu Restaurant & Sake Bar

4148 Main Street
Vancouver, BC

Way back when, it seemed like Japanese izakaya style restaurants were located exclusively in the downtown area. Now, there are more and more izakayas popping up outside the downtown core! Itadakimasu was on my radar for a while but I didn't have much reason to venture to Main Street so I never visited this place. On a Friday night, W and I were hanging out at Oakridge Centre so I decided, "Hey, we're sorta close, let's go there for dinner!" LOL...  Oh, and my apologies for the crappy photo quality...


When we arrived, the place was packed and we were relegated to sit at the bar. The bar stools had no backrests so by the end of the meal, my back was stiff and sore... They need to get more comfortable bar stools.
Anyway, after looking through their regular menu and their fresh sheet, we decided to order 6 items to share.

Daikon Salad ($6) - radish salad topped with deep fried potato sticks with plum sauce

From the fresh sheet, this salad was a cool and healthy way to start the meal. Ok...maybe not that healthy due to the deep fried potato sticks. They were so good though! Crunchy and lightly salted, it went well with the sweet and tart plum sauce dressing. Hiding underneath the greens were also slices of daikon (white radish), cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.

PARI PARI Ebi mayo ($7) - crispy prawns with sweet chili mayo

This was on their regular menu. It wasn't on the description but the prawns were actually coated with rice crispies! I was worried that the chili mayo sauce would be too spicy for me and was actually kind of skeptical when W wanted to order it. I'm just a worrywart haha.. The sauce just had a little zingy kick to it and it was delicious!

 Daily Cute Temari sushi box ($10) - 10 assorted flavours of "ball shaped" sushi

Oh, the power of facebook! I saw a friend post a photo of Itadakimasu's temari sushi box and I immediately squealed at how cute it looked! I vowed to try it if I ever went to the restuarant. Lo and behold, I have ordered it! The appearance was certainly cute but the taste was mediocre. The sushi rice was really bland, like it hadn't been seasoned or mixed with any vinegar at all. The sashimi was kind of dry too. A little disappointed, yes, but I'm still glad I tried it.

 Pacific Roll ($11) - salmon teriyaki, cucumber topped with tuna, rice pearls and ponzu jelly

Also from their fresh sheet, I chose the Pacific Roll to see how their specialty rolls fared. Aside from the bland sushi rice, everything else was great! I especially loved the burst of tart citrus flavour from the yuzu jelly on top of the tuna.

Tsukune ($2.50 each, min. 2 orders) - skewered chicken meat ball with salt, teriyaki or sour plum & Japanese basil

These minced chicken "sausages" on bamboo skewers were pretty good too. The inside was still juicy while the exterior had a bit of char from the grill. The one glazed with sour plum sauce was my favourite because I liked the liberal sprinkle of shiso leaves (Japanese basil). It was sweet, tart and a little minty-herby. The flavour of the teriyaki (on the left) skewer was predictable (sweet and savoury) but it was still tasty.

Gindara Saikyou Miso ($9.50) - grilled miso black cod

The last dish that came was the grilled black cod. The fish was quite small in size but the sweet, salty, umami flavours were huge in impact! Nicely grilled with some char marks, the dark crispy skin contrasted with the smooth, soft and flakey white flesh. Overall, this was a fish well done. Just wished the piece was bigger to warrant that price...

With a more subdued atmosphere (no loud music or yelling by the servers like Guu), I thought it made for a more pleasing and relaxed meal. Of course, if it was the rambunctious and energetic atmosphere you're looking for, perhaps heading to downtown would be a better choice. If I was ever back in the area and was craving for izakaya appies (no sushi!), I would definitely head to Itadakimasu.