Chow Times » Burnaby

Top Gun Hot Pot in Crystal Mall, Burnaby

Ben — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:15:12 +0000

I had visitors again at work.

This time it was Martin who is a Project Manager from our office in Toronto. He is here to explore the feasibility of joining our project team which is short of PMs. Although our project teams are scattered around in Atlanta, London, Singapore, New Delhi and Vancouver, we had never had a PM sitting remote from all team members. Frankly, I don’t know how one could manage a project that way despite all the communications technology and all. I had always maintained that no video or web conference facilities in the world will replace face to face meetings.

Anyway, it was two solid days of meetings and planning that the three PMs had. At least we managed to arrive at agreements in many key issues. I must say that the meetings were somewhat contentious because there are a lot of interests that each of us PMs need to protect. At the end of the grueling meetings, we decided to put work behind and go out for dinner. I was determined NOT to talk anymore about work.

I wanted to bring Martin and Gage to an Asian restaurant. Both of them are as white and despite being Canadians do not have a lot of experience eating Asian. While I played safe by bringing my boss to a French restaurant, with these colleagues I could be more adventurous and get away with it. LOL!

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I brought the PMs to the Top Gun Hot Pot which is located at the top floor of Crystal Mall. It was perfect because just a short walk from the office.

One thing that I had not quite figured out is why non-Asians generally do not enjoy Asian food. I know I am generalizing here but just humor me for a moment. I do find that non-Asians are suspicious about Chinese and Korean food. However, I find that they are more receptive to Thai and Japanese food. Why is it so?

With Gage and Martin, they are the type of people who will not normally walk into a Chinese restaurant, let alone going to a Hot Pot place. So I asked them about it but did not quite get the answer I understand. They did say that it is the texture of some Asian food that puts them off.

It is their first time going to a Hot Pot restaurant so they were really intrigued with things that I had always taken for granted. For instance, they were quite amazed with the heating surface for the hot pot which could bring the hot pot to boil in seconds.

The ordering was all left to me. To be kind to them, I ordered all the “safe” food (see selection above). I stayed away from ordering things like large intestines, kidneys, liver, tendon, pig’s blood and tripe.

Oh yeah, they did ask me what I ordered but I told them to …
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Au Wing Kee Restaurant on Kingsway and Royal Oak, Burnaby

Ben — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:00:02 +0000

Eons ago, before we started blogging, we used to go for lunch at Au Wing Kee several times a month. Back then our network of friends were mainly in and around Burnaby. It had been a while since we visited this place.

I look at Au Wing Kee as one of the old timer Chinese restaurants. Today, we hear of new restaurants sprouting up every week that often we forgot about the old favourites like Au Wing Kee. As far as Chinese and Asian restaurants goes, gone are the days of the wave of new Cantonese restaurants. What we see a lot of these days are restaurants the likes of Izakayas, Shanghainese, Korean, and Thai. We are spoilt for choices.

For so many years, Au Wing Kee had not only survived but thrived on a quiet stretch of Kingways that is not known for many good restaurant.

The place is exactly the same I remember it. It is not overly clean … but not dirty though, mind you. The place shows the age with some modest renos around lightings.

Service is also exactly the same I remember it. It is very typical old school Chinese style where the waitresses are serious, do not greet you, do not make eye contact, and no smiles. They are there only to clean your tables, take your orders, deliver your food … they are not there to socialize with you. I won’t say they are grumpy. If you want anything, you gotta get their attention and ask.

Despite these shortcomings, Au Wing Kee is a really popular restaurant. After all these years, they still pull in a big crowd.

We decided on getting a few dishes to share between the four of us in the family, instead of individual dishes which the boys wanted. The boys have never said why but they always seem to prefer having individual servings rather than the communal shared dishes that Suanne and I prefer. Anyway, dad is paying and he gets to make the call.

We like hot pot soup. So, we ordered the Chinese Herb and Special Chicken Hot Pot. I know, the name sounded funny and …
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Nando’s Chicken on Marine Way, Burnaby

Ben — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:00:57 +0000

Nando’s wrote to us out of the blue a couple of weeks ago letting us know that Rochelle Schätzl, the world’s foremost authority on Peri-Peri Chili, will be in Vancouver asking if we would be interested in meeting her. Rochelle is an award-winning author and chef from South Africa, the home of the Peri-Peri Chili. She had written a book about it called “Peri-Peri: The Contrasts and Contradictions of the African Bird’s Eye Chili”.

We said yes, because we knew it will be an opportunity to learn more about the Peri-Peri Chili and its exotic flavours … and boy, was that some learnings we had! Never in my imagination could someone share non-stop about everything Peri-Peri for two straight hours. LOL! We had a great time and this is what we learned.

After a few email exchanges, Mark suggested that we meet at the new Nando’s Restaurant in South Burnaby, in the new big boxes shopping mall by Marine Way. We were greeted by Nick, the owner of this outlet, and Mark and Rochelle. Believe it or not, Suanne and I had never been to Nando’s before because we thought that it was just a spicier version of fried chicken.

We found out how different Nando’s is from KFC and Church’s and that it is not quite the fast food the way we know it. Well, it is like a cross between fast food and slow food is how I would describe it. You place your orders at the fastfood style counter and given a wooden block with a number where there will bring the food to your table when it is ready.

This particular store was busy during lunchtime when we were there during a weekday.

Nando’s originated from South Africa in 1987 and is a restaurant with a Portuguese theme. Nando’s operates in 35 countries today with their biggest market in South African and Britain. There were a lot of other facinating stories about Nando’s history and beginings but am not going to bore you with those.

Anyway, this restaurant we visited carries the South African theme with African decor and artifacts. The restaurant was pleasant, clean and tastefully designed.

Rochelle gave a copy of her beautiful book on Peri-Peri. It took her two years of research to write it. It was a privilege to be given the inside scoop of this brilliant pepper and how it is impacting the global culinary landscape. Specialty Food Magazine recently listed the Peri-Peri Chili as one of the Top 10 Flavour Trends of 2009.

From our time with her, we can clearly see that Rochelle is proud of South Africa, it’s food, people and culture. She told us how the tiny Peri-Peri Chili represents very much a way of life of the South African adding that all restaurants in South Africa will have some form of Peri-Peri.

Peri-Peri is the African version of the Bird’s Eye Chili. It is very much like the South East Asian version of Chili Padi or Thai Pepper. This chili packs a punch despite its size. Peri-Peri is used in a dry form and not fresh. Do you know why?

Let’s see a comparison of Scoville Scale (a measurement of hotness) of Peri-Peri Chili against other common peppers:

Law enforcement grade pepper spray: 5,000,000 Scoville Rating
Naga Jolikia (Hottest chili in the world): 1,000,000
Habanero: 100,000 to 300,000
Peri-Peri: 50,000 to 175,000
Thai Pepper: 50,000 to 100,000
Cayenne Pepper: 30,000 to 50,000
Tabasco Pepper: 30,000 to 50,000
Chipotle Pepper: 10,000 to 40,000
Jalapeno Pepper: 3,000 to 8,000
Bell Pepper: Zero!

There had been attempts to cultivate Peri-Peri Chilies outside of a small region in southern African but all attempts had failed. Rochelle said that the Peri Peri is a chili with a bad attitude … the harsher conditions and weather, the meaner the chili gets. There had not been much success in cultivating the Peri-Peri commercially.

Suanne and I sampled a lot of food at Nando’s but there is one I love a lot … the Chicken Livers ($7). Oh major yum. I guess it is not for everyone but if can get over the texture and the thought of it, chicken liver is really delicious.

We ignored the bread that came with the Chicken Livers. We can’t help but notice the tempting looking Portuguese Garlic Bread ($2) …
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Meok Ja Gol (MJG) Korean Barbeque Restaurant on Kingsway and Nelson, Burnaby

Ben — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:00:45 +0000

I bet you will find Meok Ja Gol (MJG) interesting enough to want to check it out — we did.

Even though I work one short block away from MJG, I had never paid any attention to it.

This is because MJG is hidden in a recess from Kingway in Burnaby. The best way to find it is to know that it is located east of Nelson on Kingsway. But then the address is not really Kingsway … kind of weird I know. If you are driving and want to get to MJG, the entrance is on the short road almost parallel to Kingsway called Newton St. Forget what I just said … just drive to the back lane on Kingsway!

I feel for MJG. They are a very unique and interesting restaurant and yet the location sucks. What a shame.

MJG is so authentic Korean that they can hardly speak English at all. They were so authentic that they even have loads of Korean magazines and newspapers neatly stacked for the customer’s use. Even the TV was playing Korean serial drama. They asked if we wanted to switch to another channel but we told them we’re fine … Suanne loves Korean love drama with dashing young handsome Korean actors. LOL!

Suanne and I went before 5PM … the place was empty at that time. Actually, MJG had only a couple of tables taken the whole time we were there. We like the cleanliness of MJG and also the rustic villagey feel to it.

They brought is some hot tea in a plastic container just as we got settled down. I assume that Korean restaurants commonly serves tea this way.

They have a really big menu … 16 pages of glossy pages with lots of pictures. Even their take out menu is printed in high gloss and comes in a 16 page booklet. You can’t beat that, can you? If there is an award for the best take out menu, MJG will win hands down.

Without even bothering with the rest of the menu, Suanne and I already know what we wanted. It is on page #1 … the one thing that MJG is known for … the MJG Dinner BBQ Combo. Read on … this is NOT any kind of Korean BBQ you normally see around. This one is high tech. LOL!

Ordering is simple:

For 2-3 people: $49.95 with 12 (best) items
For 4-5 people: $99.95 with 13 (better) items
For 6-7 people: $149.95 with 17 (bestest) items.

With this combo, you don’t need to order anything else. There are more than enough food for everyone — trust me!

We were warned that it will take at least 30 minutes to prepare. Sure, we could wait said … we had all the time in the world that afternoon. I was actually quite pleased with the wait because it meant that good food cannot be rushed.

Since everything is Korean, it was hard to entertain ourselves during the long wait. If you go, bring along a book or something. Let’s talk a bit about ho hum matters. OK … for one, they have one of those wireless service buttons on each table. I was not sure initially what it is because there is no icon or something to indicate what it is. I guess this also acts as a panic button of sorts in case the BBQ flares up.

I can’t get used to Korean chopsticks. They are so flat and narrow that it’s hard to get a grip. Japanese and Chinese chopsticks are easier to handle. Also, you will notice that Korean spoons have very long handles. I think there is a practical reason for it but am not sure why … anyone knows?

The above is their high tech BBQ computerized device (their brochure said so!). It was pretty interesting. It is a complete eating system designed from the ground up not just for table top charcoal BBQ but also for soup, etc! Read on … you will know what I mean.

This is what the wait was about … the charcoal. They need 30 minutes to heat it up. It was a pretty glow-y sight … and very hot. I can feel the heat radiating from where we were sitting.

They do everything for you. When they left the charcoal by the side of the table I thought I am supposed to handle this myself! They opened up the grill and put in the two baskets of charcoal.

Underneath the charcoal is a tray of water. I guess the water serves a dual purpose of moderating the heat and also to prevent the entire BBQ’ing cavity from getting too dry.

The delicious looking meat is put on skewers specially to rotate at a constant speed in the BBQ machine. Our combo included beef ribs, beef ribeye, chicken and prawns. Mind you, I am not even half way there on this blog entry!

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Burgers Etc on Hastings, Burnaby

Ben — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:00:16 +0000

At work, I report to someone whose base is in Atlanta. I don’t see my boss very often. Maybe once every quarter. Last month, he told me he’s coming over to Vancouver and did not state his agenda for the visit. Some of us were uneasy because I know the company had clamped down on traveling during these uncertain times. Who knows, right? For all we care, he could be here to serve Termination Notices! I mean serving of Termination Notices had to be done by the boss and in person too.

Nothing of that sort happened. LOL!

Do you guys ever get worried about losing your job?

I used to read a lot in the papers of some company laying off 10 people here, 1200 there, and 50 in another place. They were just numbers … and it did not hit home until I began to hear about substantial layoffs in Vancouver companies … EA, McKesson, Best Buy and others. All of the sudden, I began to know names of people who had been laid off … they are no longer numbers, they are real people … and people I know. *shudder*

Enough of these depressing thoughts … back to food.

So, the thing is I brought Frank (my boss) and Stevie who are both from Atlanta out for dinner. As much as I would love to bring them to the best that Vancouver could offer in terms of ethnic food, I know the Americans would not really enjoy it. I played safe and brought them to a burger place.

I brought them to Burgers Etc. I could have brought them to a pricier place but as you know, expenses are harder to claim these days and trying to pass a $50 per head dinner is not going to fly. But then Burgers Etc is not exactly really cheap.

Burgers Etc is well known as the “Best Burger in Metro Vancouver” by viewers of CTV News. Burgers Etc is not a big place with just about 10′ish tables or so. I guess this is a place where people come pick up a burger, eat and go.
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Lao Shan Dong Homemade Noodle House in Burnaby

Ben — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 15:00:56 +0000

As strange as it may seem but Lao Shan Dong is one of my fav eating spots but had never ever gotten to blogging about it. This is despite also the fact that it is located within a 3 minutes walk from my office.

Lao Shan Dong is located at the busy intersection of Kingsway and Nelson in Burnaby. The location is less than desired, I reckon. You see, the restaurant is snucked into a recessed area of a principally an office building.

The looks of this place is just like any ordinary Taiwanese noodle house. It is small with tables all packed that makes it sometimes impossible to navigate through. But despite that Lao Shan Dong is steeped in history. Apparently this Lao Shan Dong is a branch of the legendary Taipei restaurant which dates all the way back 60 years. The original Lao Shan Dong was opened in 1949.

I finally brought the whole family to eat here. It is a long drive from Richmond which we do not normally do anymore. OK, I work around here but driving that distance to work and driving to eat is a different thing altogether.

This restaurant is always busy but I had never had to wait for long even at the busiest of times. They turn the tables very fast. Frankly, this place seems very much like a fast food joint. People come in, order, eat and go.

For starters, we had the House Special Cold Meat Combination. They have it in two servings … large for $8.95 and small for $6.95. We had the large one. It consists mainly of Pig Ear and Beef (?) slices. It was good except that we find the sauce a little too thick and salty. If they had diluted it a bit, it would be just perfect.
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Saffron Indian Cuisine on Kingsway, Burnaby

Ben — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 14:05:19 +0000

I brought the project team out for a Christmas lunch just before Christmas. The choice of the lunch places is somewhat limited as I have now a few contractors from India who wanted vegetarian dish. Moreover, I was told that they had been going to the Curry Express stall at the Metrotown Food Court for their daily fix of curry. So, I know they will then enjoy Saffron.

Saffron is located on 4300 Kingsway which is just walking distance away from the office. With all the snow still falling, no one was in the mood of driving anyway. Despite the fancy name (Saffron Indian Cuisine), it is just a buffet place.

The place is almost always crowded at lunch time. When I called for a reservation, I was told that they will take the reservation if it is for 11:45 AM. If we do not show up at noon, they’ll give up the table … and … no, they don’t take reservation after noon.
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Howie’s Bistro and Bar on Lougheed Highway, Burnaby

Ben — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:00:53 +0000

I must admit. It had been a horrid week at work last week. Fresh from a successful roll out of one project, I had been plonked right into a distressed project which had been millions over budget, months overdue and the scope loosely defined. That goes without saying that team morale is not particularly high. I had to virtually reset the project plan and that resulted in 10-12 hour days. At the end of the week, I was totally drained and what I wanted was just forget about work and go out for a drink and a meal.

Of late, we had quite a lot of recommendations for places to try. Maria suggested that we check out Howie’s in Burnaby. I checked Howie’s website and decided that this is exactly what I wanted. Since Suanne was around Kingsway on errands, we made plans for a nice dinner and drinks … just the two of us.

Howie’s Bistro and Bar is located on Lougheed Hwy and Bainsbridge Ave.

We were there just after five and we found that we were the only customer there. We love the setting. It was really well maintained with everything arranged so carefully. They even have a stage and a dance floor. It was after seven that the crowds began to turn up. Apparently, they have nightly events and tonight was a dance night. Suanne and I are not into the dancing scene and we were quite surprised to see how many people actually come by for a dance. They even have karaoke on Thursday nights.

My mind was fixated on a nice drink. This was perfect because Howie had quite an extensive drink and wine menu. We took our time and just ordered the drinks before we figure out the food. For all I care, I wanted to take my own sweet time and forget about work!

I ordered the Howie’s Com’n Gold which is described as “aliz? gold passion, peach schnapps, lychee liqueur, mango & raspberry”. I had no idea what it is but were told that it is like Bellini … fruity and all but with a Howie’s twist. It sounded good to me. This one is $7. This gave me a severe brain freeze when I took my first sip too fast.

Suanne does not (officially) drink alcoholic drinks. So she tried to choose something from the puny 1 page non-alcohol section. There were nothing quite exciting except for the “Nordic Non-alcoholic Beer” which is basically a Molson Exel.

The drinks came and Suanne took a sip of my cocktail and a sip of her “beer” and decided that she likes my one better. She kept the drink. Midway through the meal, she kept on asking me, like for a trillion times, if her face is red. How can I tell, I told her … the place is not exactly very bright. She also kept on telling me her heart is beating like mad. Oh yeah … she likes it alright.

In my dating days with her, I would have gotten her a couple more of this … get her drunk … and then … oh … I digressed. Back to food. LOL!

We next got ourselves a couple of appys. The $8 Coconut Shrimp was awesome. The prawns were huge and very fleshy. The orange marmalade sauce in the middle was the perfect dip for the shredded coconut battered shrimp. I highly recommend this one for an appetizer.

We did not count on the second appetizer being so large. When they brought it to our table, it smelt so wonderful. We were told that this is coated with some Japanese ingredient called “panko” to make the batter lighter.

Although this is called the Hot and Spicy Calamari it is not hot except for the jalapenos which was quite mild. This apparently is a popular one because we overheard the customer who sat behind us immediately ordered this even before they sat down. For $8, it is quite a huge dish … more like an entree sized serving if you ask me.

The bread came next and it was warm and chewy, just the way we like it. I wished that the butter they served were not so hard (perhaps just out from the fridge). Thumbs up.

For the mains, I ordered the Chicken Oscar. It consists of a chicken breast topped a very creamy hollandaise sauce …

… but what I love most is it is also topped with lots of crab meat. I enjoyed this tremendously and am glad I selected this. This is $18. For a cheap person like me, I find it a tad too expensive although I must say it did not disappoint me.

Suanne ordered the Linguine with Prawns. It was beautifully garnished with green onions, don’t you think? Suanne felt that the white wine lemon sauce is too light to her liking but I thought otherwise. The thing we both agree is that the springy prawns were great with the pasta. $16.

I wanted to resist desserts but Suanne insisted on it. I know she is as full as I was but I also know she cannot pass on dessert. You know, I think desserts are girl things … I am not sure why but most girls I know get very delighted with dessert.

We ordered the Banana Foster ($6) which has a delightfully crispy crepe wrapping ice cream with thinly sliced bananas on it.

It was sinfully awesome and we dripped the dessert everywhere (it was kind of hard sharing a dish across the table).

All in all, we totally enjoyed the meal and a total diversion from work. If you are around Burnaby, I really think you should check this place out, especially if you are into dancing as it seems like a very popular event.

This is a good recommendation, Maria and exactly what I needed. Thanks a bunch.

Vassilis Souvlaki Greek Taverna on Kingsway, Burnaby

Ben — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:00:52 +0000

For the good three quarter of this year, my work life had been consumed with what is called Project “ONE”. It was an important cornerstone for a series of ambitious projects that will put in place the world’s largest system that will manage and distribute “fares”. You probably have no idea how archaic existing aviation systems are — many of which are still done on mainframes with green-screen monitors. This is because aviation systems are one of the early adopters of computers and it had been that way for generations. So the so-called Project “ONE” goal is to move systems out of mainframes to an open system — sounds easy but it’s not.

The eight months of hard work were filled with daily voice, web and video conferences because the various teams are located in many parts of the world with the project managed centrally in Vancouver. There were quite a bit travel when face-time is required especially when it comes to plannings. Anyway, this blog entry is dedicated to the “boys and girls” who had so successfully rolled out a swanky new system which is getting rave reviews from airlines all over the world.

To the team members of Project “ONE” — this blog entry is for you.

We had a little celebration for the successful execution of the project by having a lunch at Vassilis. Timing was bad such that we had been given directive that cost cutting is to strictly enforced because of the expected downturn in the aviation industry viz the meltdown of the financial sector in the US. Going to an Asian place is out of the questions because the white blokes would end up eating nothing. So, we eventually settled for Greek. It narrowed down to either Minoas or Vasssilis.

We eventually decided on the Vassilis Souvloaki Greek Taverna. Vassilis is located on 6558 Kingsway in Burnaby. That is at the almost eastern end of Kingsway. Parking is plentiful in front of the building and you will not miss it along Kingsway.

Question for you all … does anyone of you know why the Greeks like blue and white so much? I mean, I know the colors on their flag is blue and white but why blue? Just about EVERY Greek restaurant I know paints their restaurant blue and white.

Inside, it is really spacious with many sections and rooms. This is because this restaurant used to be a mansion of sorts eons before Kingsway became commercialized. All over the place … there are these little plants hanging all over the place. Geez … I was thinking how much time they had to spend watering them. Despite this, the interior were very bright because they installed sky lights (?) that allows natural sunlight into the dining rooms.

We went on a Friday afternoon. I expected lots of people but no, it was just half full the whole time we were there.

Most of us took a lot of time figuring out what to order. Other than Souvlaki, many of us knows next to nothing about Greek cuisine. You know, hardly anyone ordered drinks at all.

Surprisingly, they have a really tiny 2-page menu only. It makes the selection easier. I was not very sure but the menus we were given were perhaps just their lunch menu.

Most people will just order the most expensive item because the project is paying! I had planned for $40-$50 per person but according to the menu, $30 will cover it quite nicely.

We got a couple of their Hot Appetizer Platter. It has spanakopita, kalamari, artichokes, “fektethes” and tzatziki. This one is $29 each which I thought was quite expensive and the most expensive item on the menu. It was great but I would think that this should not have costs that much.

The above is tzatziki, I think. I said “I think” because this one looked prettier than the blob I normally had with Souvlaki in the food court. How does one normally eat this? I use it like a spread on items like bread, the spanakopita and such. I sometimes apply it on top of the rice too.

The bread was just so-so but it was served warm. At first glance, the bread looked dry, don’t you think?

I ordered the Paidakia which is described as “charbroiled loin of lamb chops marinated with fresh herbs and spices, served with Greek salad, rice pilaf and potatoes”. It was quite good. I wished the lamb chops have more meat because about 1/3 of them are bones. Although I am not much of a salad person, I must say I really enjoyed the Greek salad on the side. $16 for the dish above.

I did not go around taking pictures of the team members’ plates because it was quite impossible to move around.

I think the one above is called Saganaki, pan fried cheese ($9). I wanted to share with you the rusted through plate they served this in and that for some strange reason we all accepted that it was kind of great it was served on this.

Bombay Bhel on Hastings in Burnaby

Ben — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:00:38 +0000

You know, our boys used to think the world of their dad. To them there is nothing that Dad does not know. They trusted Dad’s judgment in everything.

However, of late, they are beginning to feel confident of their own opinions and that means that there are a lot of disagreement that they will stand up to. So, when I suggested that we drive all the way to north Burnaby to try one of the best Indian cuisine, they vehemently protested saying that I am exaggerating! The nerve of them!

Since I am still the king of the household, I have direct veto power and the authority to force the boys to endure the long drive. I told them it will be worth the drive and for them to trust me. “Yeah, right!” they said.

Bombay Bhel is located on 4633 Hastings in Burnaby. I had been there several times before and East Indian friends in my company swears that they are the best around Burnaby … even much better than Saffron or Samosa Garden on Kingsway. I tried Bombay and I agree … totally.

The interior of Bombay Bhel is spacious. Even though it was a good restaurant, I always wondered why it had never been full. This is especially glaring seeing Bombay Bhel is located just next door to Anton’s Pasta which had torturous queues everyday during peak meal times.

We were there on Sunday and for the whole duration of our time there, there were only two tables taken. Strange.

I still don’t know what is what when it comes to Indian Cuisine. They all looked alike … curries in pot with various kinds of meat (except beef!). I can’t make out Vindaloo from a Massala from Paneer. Whatever they are, ALL of them taste great.

So, we ended up ordering three different kinds of mains from three separate sections on the menu. The waitress did not ask how spicy we wanted it and it did not occur to us to say … so the curries come up a bit on the mildly hot side. But they were all creamy and rich and loaded with spices.

One of the main was the Spinach Curry called Palak Paneer which are mushed up spinach with tofu-like cheese with a creamy texture.

The curries came with rice. I like Indian style rice over Chinese ones. They are less glutinous and sticky and I think they also flavour this with something. They garnished it with cilantro (I think). They smell great too.

We also ordered Naan … not plain Naan but Garlic Naan. Garlic Naan are the best. Their Naans are crisp. We liked it so much that we ordered some more to mop up the curries until all of them were gone.

The best way to eat Naan is to dip it into the curry. We did not care about double or triple dipping. The boys gobbled them down a piece after another. The Vindaloo Lamb, in particular, is the best to go with the Garlic Naan. The Vindaloo Lamb is a bit more hotter that we could feel the lingering heat in the tongue even minutes after. The lamb was tough though but quite OK.

The total came up to $47 and worth every bit of the price together with the drive all the way from Richmond.

And the boys? Well, despite their initial protest, they enjoyed the meal … a lot! I asked them if I “rock” and they answered “You rock, Dad!”. Nanzaro declared this is the bestest East Indian meal and liked the Naan particularly. Arkensen grudgingly agrees as much.

It’s good to know that father knows best … still.

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