Goldfish Pacific Kitchen

Restaurant: Goldfish Pacific Kitchen - Restaurant Review
Cuisine: West Coast/Pacific Rim/Fusion
Last dined: December 8, 09

Area: Vancouver (Yaletown/Downtown)
1118 Mainland Street
Price Range: $20-30

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3.5 (Based on lunch)
Service: 3
Ambiance: 5.5
Overall: 3.5
Additional comments:

• Located in Yaletown
• Mostly Asian chefs/cooks – Chef William Tse (previous sous chef of Joe Fortes and Chop House)
• Asian fusion/Asian inspired menu
• Focus on seafood
• Sophisticated and creative food
• Extensive Wine Bar
• Contemporary, trendy & “Yaletown” atmosphere & décor
• Quite a large dinner menu
• Dining Room/Lounge/Patio
• Covered sun room with lounge couches
• Great for appies/drinks/late night
• M-F 11am-4pm “$10 Gold Plates”
• M-F 4pm-6pm Happy Hour – appies and drinks

**Recommendation: Chicken satays, tuna tartare, short rib sliders, bacon fried rice (very popular but I haven’t tried), Trio of West Coast Sushi Pizza, Shiitake mushroom meatloaf

I posted my resstaurant review for Goldfish’s Happy Hour yesterday so this review focuses on the lunch I had there. For more details on the restaurant and overall review please see my post from yesterday: http://tinyurl.com/yfqzr6l

I came for a late lunch at 3pm and it was almost empty. Therefore I think the food I had was actually probably better because they could take the time to prepare it and do it well. It’s not always the case, but just my thoughts…

On the table:

• Flash Seared Ahi Tuna Sandwich 2.5/6
• Sweet onion marmalade, mustard greens $14

• 

• I love ahi tuna and when I see it on the menu I’m likely to order it. There was nothing really wrong with this one, but I expected more from it. The ahi tuna was slices of ahi tuna rather than an ahi tuna filet. I felt like they used their tuna tataki appetizer and made it into a sandwich by serving it on toasted white bread. There wasn’t that many pieces of tuna, but just enough slices to cover the bottom layer of bread. I think it could have used more ponzu sauce. It was more sweet than tangy because of the marmalade.
• 
• The sweet onion marmalade was basically a red onion relish – it was tangy, sweet and savoury and went well with the tuna, however there was a little too much of it and not enough tuna.
• I wish they used better sandwich bread – they either used Wonder Bread white bread or the white bread from T&T Supermarket. I think they used a combo of butter and garlic aioli before toasting it. It was nice and crispy, but boring at the same time.

• It came with fries which were I think are hand-cut. They were quite starchy but were really good with the garlic ginger aioli. The aioli is made in house and you can really taste the ginger – it’s so aromatic. It came with ketchup too – I really think they should start making their own ketchup. The new restaurant Society also in Yaletown does and it’s great. I really like the sauces at Goldfish so I think they should really make their own.

• **Shiitake Mushroom Meatloaf 4/6

• Tomato Hoisin jam, confit of whole shallots, roasted garlic jus $10
• This is their Tuesday Gold Plate – basically the Goldfish lunch special of the day for $10
• It was a bit small, but that was somewhat expected. It was only $10 anyways.
  
• 
• The meatloaf was actually really good. It was made of pork, shiitake, white pieces of bread (not crumbs), onions, garlic, Hoisin sauce, and some other spices. It was really tender, soft and moist. It was almost like bread pudding, but in a good way. There was a decent amount of pork pieces, almost chunks and I was surprised they didn’t use ground pork. This made it more gourmet and I appreciated that. I loved the addition of shiitake mushrooms. It absorbed so many juices they were all plump and juicy and gave the meatloaf a whole other level of sweetness and moistness.

• • 
• The meatloaf was baked and maybe even pan-fried to the point where the glaze became charred. I liked it though. I was scared it was going to be dry, but it wasn't. It had a crispy crust and was very well marinated and coated with a deep and rich tomato Hoisin jam. The Hoisin jam tasted like it was made with a cranberry jam. It was sweet, tangy, savoury and tart. I would have appreciated more roasted garlic jus though. There wasn’t enough sauce for both the meat and the rice.
• 
• I didn’t like the rice, it was really dry and needed sauce. The whole shallots were amazing though. They were really really soft and basically melted in your mouth.

• **Trio of West Coast Sushi Pizza 3.5/6
• Hokkaido scallop, salmon, albacore tuna, wasabi tobiko $10

• This is their Thursday Gold Plate. I actually tried it on September 10 when I went for happy hour – but I’m including it in this review because it’s a main dish.When I ordered it they had it as a special, so you would choose 1 of the 3. Now they offer it as a sampler. I tried the salmon and the albacore tuna pizza. Those were the 2 the waitress recommended so I just went with that.
  
• This was a sushi rice patty pan-fried until crispy and topped with chopped sashimi. I liked the salmon better than the tuna, but both were good.To make it better they should marinated them in a little bit of ponzu or something. Give it more flavour becuase they don't have too much going on. It's a very simple recipe.
• It’s not too greasy and the patty is nice and thin so you really taste a nice ratio of ingredients. The fry the rice up very nicely to the point where it’s a bit charred so it’s all nutty and crispy on the outside, but still soft on the inside. They drizzled a teriyaki citrus glaze or reduction before serving it. The wasabi tobiko tastes like regular tobiko to me – I missed that spiciness.

• I liked it better than the sushi pizza I had at Sushi Sky. I liked the rice patty here better, but I liked the addition of avocado at Sushi Sky. Ideally I would want to have a drizzle of teriyaki glaze and wasabi mayo. They use Teriyaki glaze at Goldfish and Japanese mayo at Sushi Sky, but it’s not wasabi mayo. To see my review: http://tinyurl.com/yefvj9r

Goldfish Pacific Kitchen – Happy Hour Review

Restaurant: Goldfish Pacific Kitchen – Happy Hour Review
Cuisine: West Coast/Pacific Rim/Fusion
Last dined: December 8, 09

Area: Vancouver (Yaletown/Downtown)
1118 Mainland Street
Price Range: $20-30

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4 (Based on happy hour)
Service: 3
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 3.5
Additional comments:

• Located in Yaletown
• Mostly Asian chefs/cooks – Chef William Tse (previous sous chef of Joe Fortes and Chop House)
• Asian fusion/Asian inspired menu
• Focus on sea-food
• Sophisticated and creative food
• Extensive Wine Bar
• Contemporary, trendy & “Yaletown” atmosphere & décor
• Quite a large dinner menu
• Dining Room/Lounge/Patio
• Covered sun room with lounge couches
• Great for appies/drinks/late night
• M-F 11am-4pm “$10 Gold Plates”
• M-F 4pm-6pm Happy Hour – appies and drinks

**Recommendation: Chicken satays, tuna tartare, short rib sliders, bacon fried rice (very popular but I haven’t tried), Trio of West Coast Sushi Pizza, Shiitake mushroom meatloaf

I’ve came here on a few occasions before I started blogging so I’m going to summarize my visits. This review focuses on my happy hour visit. I tried everything on their happy hour menu besides their house made potato chips and toast & jam, which sounds a bit boring. I can’t be as detailed in this review because it was a visit from September 10, 09. So I’m writing on recollection. The positive to this is that I can tell you what was truly memorable about the dishes I ordered. Overall their happy hour is worth it and I must give credit to their dips and sauces which were all really good. I actually think the food during happy hour is better becuase they have more time to prepare it. I will post my lunch visit tomorrow. (For my lunch review)

The restaurant isn’t as busy as it should be and I’m not sure why. The food is not bad and the atmosphere is fantastic. It’s very trendy, contemporary and spacious. They have a lot of room to occupy so I think they would do better with a smaller space. I’ve sat in covered patio in the back, the lounge, and the dining room. I liked the patio the best. The patio has blankets, heat lamps and comfy lounge sofas. It’s not great for lunch or dinner, but it’s great for drinks, appies, and after work/late night socials. I would prefer the patio in the back over the lounge in the front.

A while back they were closed for lunch, but they decided to re-open for lunch recently.

The food is very East meets West – very Asian inspired. It’s probably because the owners and chefs are Asian, so they reinvent a lot of Asian classics by putting an “American” or West Coast twist to it.

On the table:

• Beef Satays 2/6
• Madras curry, cucumber ginger yogurt $3.75
• The beef was a little dry and over cooked a bit all the times I’ve ordered it. The pieces are nice and lean though.
• The sauce is like a raita sauce (that cucumber yogurt condiment they give you an Indian restaurants). It’s refreshing, aromatic and bit spicy from the fresh ginger. I’m used to having these with peanut sauce from Malaysian restaurants and I prefer that version.
• Chicken Satays 4/6
• Thai red curry sauce $3
• The menu now says “Thai red curry sauce” – when I ordered it it was a Thai yellow curry sauce, which was really good! It was like a curry peanut ginger and garlic sauce. I’ll have to re-order this to see if they’ve changed it. I hope they only changed the curry paste and not the recipe beucase it was so good already…well maybe it’s better now? I’ll have to see. The chicken itself is nice and seasoned with a dry rub. These ones weren’t dry.
• Short Rib Sliders 5/6
• Spicy Hoisin mayo, crispy onions $3
• These were memorable. It was very tender falling apart beef short ribs. They were nice and saucy and tasted like an Asian barbeque sauce – which is the Hoisin sauce. It wasn’t spicy for me though. More sweet and tangy. The crispy onions were a nice touch. I think they’re using the mini dinner rolls from superstore rather than actual slider buns. It’s more like a hot dog bun. It didn’t bother me though because it was nicely grilled and crispy yet soft. You got a lot of meat and it’s nice and tender – that was the most important part. It was nice to have it not pre-shredded as well. It shred away easily just by me biting into it and th at’s how tender short ribs should be.

  

• Mini Crab Cakes 2/6
• Thai basil yogurt $4
• To be honest I don’t really remember these. I know they weren’t bad, but that also can’t mean they were really good. They were forgettable. I know they were a nice size, crispy, hot and not overcooked though. I usually take a picture of the inside of the crab cake so you can see the ingredients. I’ll have to order these again next time to give a better review.
• Freshly shucked Oysters
• Freshly shucked oysters grated horseradish $2.75
• I can’t remember which type of oysters they gave us. They weren’t Fanny Bay’s which was surprising, since these are most available being in Vancouver. I do appreciate the grated horseradish, that was a nice touch. I think they should use freshly grated wasabi though – it suits their Asian-inspired theme better.
• Tuna Tartare 3/6
  
• Crisp butter lettuce $4
• These served these with deep fried taro chips which was a great idea because I was expecting regular chips or crostini. Well from the menu I was expecting just butter lettuce.
• I like tuna tartare so that’s why I recommended it, and for the price you're paying it's worth it. The colour of the tuna doesn't look great, but it doesn't taste bad either. It has some avocado, green onions and I think some red peppers it it. They make it better at Japanese places, but this one was decent.
• Chilled Tiger Prawns
• Mango lime aïoli $4.75
• The prawns were nice and big and I don’t really remember the dip. I will have to reorder this to give a better review. I’m sure it was good though because we didn’t have one bad dip. They do a good job with all of them.

Mandalay Lounge & Steakhouse - Drink review

Apple Crunch
Pear Cobbler

Restaurant: Mandalay Lounge & Steakhouse - Drink Review

Cuisine: European/American/EuroAsian/Fusion/West coast

Last visited: August 28, 09

Area: Richmond, BC (Steveston Village)

140-3900 Bayview Street

Price Range: $20-30

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very Good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Drinks: 6

Service: 4

Ambiance: 4

Overall: 5

Additional comments:

• Drinks are amazing - professional mixologist
• Very creative drinks, you can't find anywhere
• Very affordable, about $7 for a "gourmet" style cocktail
  
• Sister restaurant to higher end Correlis next door
• Attracts 30-40 crowd
• Outdoor patio dining - all white Las Vegas/Miami feel
• Upscale lounge feel
  
• Waterfront view
  
• Upstairs lounge and balcony
  
• Open for lunch and dinner at 11am - close
  
• Late night crowd
• Sports lounge

**Recommendation: Apple Crunch, Pear Cobbler, Asian Mary

I came here for drinks with some friends late Friday afternoon. Wow! I was so impressed with their drinks. I can't drink much myself, but the friends I was with can...and they sure made a dent in the menu. All the drinks are so creative it made you want to try them all. Everything sounded so good - and it was. The mixologist is a genius, I don't know how he does it but everything tasted like juice - and all cocktails were at least doubles; if you couldn't taste it, you could feel it ;) There's so many ingredients in each drink and he balances them out so well - perfect ratio. He uses real fresh fruit puree where possible and all the fruit is so ripe it adds a natural sweetness and texture to the drinks. I hope he gets paid really well, because I'm sure he'll be in high demand once people discover this new restaurant. It's around $7 for a cocktail - which is really cheap...and it tastes like something that should be $10-12 especially in a restaurant with this kind of upscale lounge decor. The patio is the best place to dine here - all white sofas and beautiful waterfront view. Outside more impressive than inside. It's a new restaurant and they're still playing around with their menu. I have no idea how they'll narrow down their drink menu because the selection is huge and we didn't have one bad drink. Try them all before they narrow it down.

On the table:

• Tropical Cyclone 5/6
• Absolute, hypnotiq, malibu, fresh pineapple juice and a swirl of blue caracao with a sweet slushy cloud (the slush kind of floats on top) - 6.95
  
• This drink is one of their popular signature drinks. This is yummy, it's more of girl drink (sweeter) and you get a really strong pineapple and coconut taste. Malibu stands out in this one. You feel like you're in Miami sipping on one of these - especially when you're sitting outside on their patio that is Miami inspired - all white lounge couches etc.
  
• The 22 5/6
• Raspberry absolut, malibu, banana liquer, fresh pineapple and cranberry juice, soda with a hint of champagne and a fresh raspberry slush - 6.95
• Another popular signature drink. De-licious. This one tastes like a raspberry slurpee. It's sweet and tangy at the same time. The raspberry stands out the most in this for sure. The fresh pineapple adds that special note that completes this fruity drink. More of a girl drink - sweeter again, and you can't taste the alcohol. I prefer this over the Tropical Cyclone.
  
• **Apple Crunch 6/6
• Apple liquor, butter ripple, with fresh pineapple and apple juices with a touch of real honey 6.95
  
• Holy crap...this is amazing. Want to know what apple pie tastes like as a drink? This is it! This is a dessert and drink all in one. If you like apple and apple pie you'll love this! It's like a blended McDonald's apple pie. The real honey shines through and there's even a hint of cinnamon I tasted. It comes with this fruit skewer of melon ball sized apples and it's coated in this brown sugar cinnamon syrup...the perfect garnish for this amazing drink. One of the best drinks and garnishes I've had...ever. One of their most popular signature drinks. A girl drink a guy would appreciate.
  
• **Pear Cobbler 6/6
  
• U'livka, pear liquer, triple sec, pear puree, topped with brown sugar. 7.75
• This is dangerous...you would never know there's alcohol. This was my favourite! This tastes like eating a frozen pear blended up - a real pear slushy! He uses fresh pear puree and you can totally taste it in the drink. It's all blended up and it adds this natural sweetness. Pears have a grainy texture so it gives this drink a really unique texture I've never experienced before. Truly incredible. If you love pears, don't leave without trying one. It comes with a fruit skewer made up of melon ball sized pear coated with the same brown sugar syrup the apple crunch skewer was in. This is a dessert/drink/treat...everything! It's their most popular and creative belnded cocktail on the menu.
  
• Fresh mojito 4/6
  
• We had the kiwi lime 7.50
  
• All the mojito's are twisted and built on a combination of 2 flavours eg: strawberry kiwi, vanilla pear etc.
  
• This was really fresh and really light tasting. You can actually see the fresh kiwi puree, but you couldn't taste the kiwi as much. The actual fruit isn't that flavourful and there's no "kiwi" flavoured alcohol so this drink tastes all natural. The lime really comes through. I prefer the blended mojito at Earl's - if it's done right, by an actual bartender.
  
• Smashed Pinata 5/6
  
• Jose Cuervo, Bacardi 151, fresh lime, pear liquer, pear puree 7.45
• A man's drink. You can taste the alcohol in this one and it's pretty strong. But again it's mixed well, so if you like the taste of these liquers you'll enjoy this drink. The pear again adds this natural sweetness. I based my rating on people that like these alcohols.
  
• Mandalay Fiesta 3/6
• Jose Cuervo, fresh lime, chili sauce, soda and raspberry puree 7.45
  
• I didn't get to try this one, but my friends said the other stuff I tried was better. They said it was good, but because everything else was AMAZING - this was just good.
  
• **Asian Mary 6/6
  
• A twist on a Bloody Mary/Caesar - sake, tomato, soy sauce, Tobasco, with freshly crushed dry wasabi rim 7.00
  
• Wow! This is genius. So creative. I prefer this to any ordinary Caesar/Bloody Mary anywhere. What a brilliant twist! It's the perfect amount of spiciness too. He really nailed this one. The wasabi rim is real wasabi, which don't even come across at a Japanese restaurant. The best Caesar I've had.
  
• Tequila Moon 3/6
  
• A twist on a Tequila Sunrise with Jose Cuervo, Absolute raspberry, sake, triple sec, watermelon puree, and orange juice 7.45
• I'm not a fan of Tequila or Tequila Sunrises - but if I had to have a Tequila Sunrise, I'll drink it this way. Again taking an ordinary cocktail to the next level. This was the most Tequila tasting drink that we tried from their Tequila cocktails section.
  
• The Wet Poncho 4/6
  
• Jose Cuervo, triple sec, blue curacao, orange juice, soda with a hint of vanilla 7.45
• In between a girl and guy drink. I thought the blue curacao stood out the most in this.
  
• Giddy Down 4/6
  
• Wild Turkey, absolut vanilla, shaken with fresh pear, fresh apple juice 7.00
• This was strong on the alcohol which was a bit surprising seeing the ingredients. It's the Wild Turkey - if you like whiskey then try this. The flavours complement the whiskey well.