2011-11-26 Dinner @ Tropika at Aberdeen 星馬印

64151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond, BC

604-233-7002

We hooked up with Little Lee's for dinner to catch up with the latest happenings.  Mrs. Little Lee had a craving for roti canai.  With limited exposures locally, we ended up at Tropika again, this time, at the Aberdeen location.

The first thing we ordered was the Roti Canai 印式即烘薄餅.  Need I say more?  These were just as enjoyable as our last visit to their chain restaurant on Robson (see post 2011-04-06 Dinner @ Tropika at Robson 星馬印).

I wanted to try the Thai Style Red Curry Duck 泰式紅咖哩鴨.  The duck was stewed to a nice tenderness and the curry had a nice a nice combination of spices.  Flavorful, creamy...overall well-balanced!

The Kari Lembu 乾咖哩牛 was shared amongst Buddha Boy and the Little Lee's.  According to Buddha Boy, the beef was tender and extremely flavorful, but overall, it's a bit too oily.

With Mrs. Little Lee present, she'd make sure there's some kind of veggie on the table.  Luckily, she ordered something we'd eat...the Sambal Bunchies 三巴青豆.  Pretty standard and good, but nothing spectacular about it.

The Hainanese Roast Chicken 海南燒雞 was not something we enjoyed.  The chicken was quite dry and chewy...not something we'd order again.

While Mrs. Little Lee wanted her bread, Mr. Little Lee wanted his K.L. Pork Chop 甘香豬扒.  The meat was amazingly moist and tender.  While it's a bit on the saltier side, it's no doubt a tasty dish.

And of course, we just couldn't walk out of the restaurant without having the Goreng Pisang 炸香蕉...hehehe!

2011-11-25 Dinner @ Pok Pok

3226 SE Division Street, Portland, OR

503-232-1387

After a small snack across the street at Fuego de Lotus, Pok Pok finally had a table ready for us.  We had to order responsibly, after all, we had a six-hour drive home to look forward to after this meal.

Of course, we started off with the famous Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings, aka Pok Pok Wings.  These were perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned, perfectly balanced.  We ordered the spicy version, but, to us, it wasn't spicy at all.  I admit, while these wings were probably one of the best I've had, if I had to choose between these versus Phnom Penh, I'd choose the latter, even when the latter is always loaded with visible MSG.  It's really personal preference.

Buddha Girl wanted Kaeng Hung Leh, a pork belly and pork shoulder curry.  The pot had subtle flavors, balanced but nothing jumped out.  The meat did not "melt in your mouth" but it was cooked perfectly to a nice tender texture while it held its form.  Nothing special about the Coconut Rice.

Kai Yaang was simply the roasted game hen stuffed with lemongrass, garlic, pepper and cilantro.  The meat was very moist and perfectly seasoned.  This came with a spicy sweet and sour dip and a tamarind dip, both worked well with the bird.

Buddha Girl ordered a to-go special, Mama Chix, or instant noodles in tom yum soup with chicken.  Since we had a long drive home, Buddha Girl requested to have the soup and the noodles packed separately (yes, she does that every time when ordering take-out soup noodles).  Our server hesitated for a moment and was not sure if the kitchen could accommodate the request.  In the end, they did...thank goodness.

If you find yourself in Portland, swing by Pok Pok and give it a try.  We thought the value and flavors were satisfying.  We'd definitely be back.

2011-11-25 Quick Visit @ Fuego de Lotus

3221 SE Division Street, Portland, OR

503-753-9167

Our long day was slowly winding up.  To finish off Portland, we ended with Pok Pok, mainly for their wings.  While waiting, we took a peek at the pod across the street.  With only a few carts open, something attracted Buddha Girl's attention...pork belly.

Since we're having dinner soon, we ended up ordering only one thing, the Pork Belly in a Red Chili Maple Sauce.

Both Buddha Girl and I were blown away with this.  This wasn't greasy at all.  It had multiple levels of flavors going on.  This had a light sweetness with subtle hints of chili (without being hot or spicy).  It was topped with pickled onions, cilantro and cotija cheese.   The carb was a deep-fried cornbread, and it had a nice crisp/crunch on the outside.  We enjoyed this so much that we ordered two orders to-go (brought back and shared one with Little Lee's).

2011-11-25 Cart-Hopping @ Downtown Portland

After Pine State Biscuit, we made our way downtown for some food carts.  Unfortunately, being the day after Thanksgiving, very limited carts were open in this pod, and none of the ones operating were what we were looking forward to.

The Frying Scotsman was the only cart on Buddha Girl's list while I had Eurotrash, but both were closed.  Grrr...

NONG'S KHAO MAN GAI

971-255-3480

I heard lots about Nong's Khao Man Gai but it wasn't something on my wish list.  Since they were one of the carts that opened, this was my day to try it.

I ordered the Khao Man Gai, or Chicken and Rice.  Looking into the cart, I could see them deboning the chicken.  Khao Man Gai 雞油飯 is basically the Thai-version of Hainanese Chicken 海南雞飯.  It was introduced by Chinese immigrants from Hainan.

The accompanied Chicken Broth Soup had sour cabbage 酸菜 and ginger.  Simple and good, especially on a cold day, but nothing really special about it.

I've heard and read many good things about the rice, unfortunately, I hated it.  The rice was stale, dry, and only lukewarm, I think this may have been a result of being closed the previous day, but that's really not an excuse.  The flavor in the rice was weak.  The chicken was quite moist, but without the dip, it's just plain boring.  The dip was good, but didn't have any "wow" factors.  Overall, not a return for us.

ISLAND GRILL HAWAIIAN BARBEQUE

000-000-0000

Our next stop was a Hawaiian food cart, unfortunately, there really wasn't much on the menu to try.

After waiting ten minutes, the owner return and acknowledged us about a problem with the fryer.  He asked if we're okay waiting a little longer for our katsu-don.  Well, with limited choices of carts, I guess we really didn't have a choice.  We waited for at least another twenty minutes before our order was complete.

I ordered a Spam Musubi (left) and a BBQ Chicken Musubi (right).  Both had ample meat but lacked in flavors.  I had to used the Teriyaki sauce.

I also ordered a Pork Katsu Regular Lunch Plate.  Unfortunately, while the pork was tender, it was a bit too thin, the panko texture overpowered the meat.

In the end, out of 30+ carts in this pod, approximately ten opened for business, and we only tried two carts.

We'll definitely be back to try some more food carts on a weekday...perhaps soon...very soon.

2011-11-25 Breakfast @ Pine State Biscuits

3640 SE Belmont Street, Portland, OR

503-236-3346

Yup, call us crazy, we ventured down south for Black Friday.  Crossing over the border at almost 9pm on the US Thanksgiving, we shopped our way down I5.  Somehow, we ended up at the door of Pine State Biscuits in Portland, Oregon.

At 11am, this place was busy.  With limited tables and counter seats, you must order and pay at the entrance first before finding yourself a seat, or hope that you can get a seat before your food is ready.  Thankfully, a few diners noticed that our food was ready and we were still standing, they vacated quickly so we could enjoy our breakfast while it was fresh.

I had the Reggie Deluxe, with crispy fried chicken, bacon, cheese and an egg, then smothered with country gravy.  The meat in the gravy was bland, but the sauce had enough flavors to make up for it.  The best part of this was the chicken, it was crisp, moist and seasoned perfectly.  The biscuit was just okay.  I'd prefer more crisp on the top and the bottom of the biscuit.  The biscuit wasn't too dense, just a bit more than a slice of bread.   

Buddha Girl had The Chatfield.  It was pretty similar except with no egg and no gravy, instead, there was apple butter.  Buddha Girl's not a fan of biscuits, so it really wasn't her cup of tea.  However, she did enjoy the chicken and the accompanied apple butter.  I had a try of the butter and loved it.  With a little touch of the habanero sauce, the apple butter was perfect.

 

If I had more time, I would have ordered more.  Unfortunately, we had to get going...we had more places to visit and more food to try.