808: Istanbul Hawaii

Some have asked if I'm a Persian mix because of my obsession with Mediterranean food, and so when a friend suggested to catch up at this restaurant my eyes instantly lit up.

This place is an upscale Turkish restaurant with a giant outdoor terrace that allows pet owners like us to enjoy our meals with our furry friends. When we arrived, the server immediately brought a bowl of water for our dog.

Not only do they have great customer service and a good atmosphere but the food was also spectacular!

Appetizer:

MEZE PLATTER

💵 Price: $29 USD

🤤Taste: 4.4 / 5

Descriptions: Comes with different dips including hummus, muhammara, and babaganush, with Pita bread. Also includes su borek + Spanakopita, and peynir & karpuz.

Humus: Mashed chickpeas with olive oil, tahini, and saffron

Muhammara: roasted red bell pepper and walnut dip

Baba Ganoush - similar to hummus but with mashed grilled eggplant

Spanakopita - also known as spinach pie. Consists of feta, spinach, and crispy shredded phyllo pastry sheets

Peynir & Karpuz - Watermelon with Turkish Feta Cheese and grapes and olive.

Thoughts: Everything was delicious. It's on the lighter side compared to the Mediterranean food I've had in Canada - the tahini and hummus I'm used to are much stronger in taste.

Main:

DONER PITA WRAP (Shawarma/Gyro)

💵 Price: $18 USD

🤤Taste: 4.85 / 5

Description: shaved grass-fed delectable lamb in Pita wrap

Thoughts: So so delicious!

The wrap is thick and soft with a slight chew. The inside has some fresh lettuce, sliced onion, tomato, and lots of lamb gyros. The doner is seasoned adequately, but not overpowering, with salt and pepper, saffron, and other spices. The pita bread reminded me of naan bread. On the side, it's served with dill yogurt sauce.

It's a bit pricy but it's the biggest doner I've ever had. I split it with my aunt and it was the perfect amount for us. If this wasn't the best Doner I've had, it's probably the 2nd best? You pay for what you get but I would say it has a lower price-performance ratio due to the steeper pricing.

LAMB TENDERLOIN

💵 Price: 2 SHISH $23 USD || 3 SHISH $31 USD

🤤Taste: 4.7 /5

Description: grass-fed lamb tenderloin

Thoughts: Traditionally, Shish Kebabs are grilled. I can't tell if they were grilled or seared from the stovetop, but it was cooked to perfection. It had the perfect pink inside and it was so soft and tender! It was seasoned with some salt, pepper and thyme, and other herbs. It also came with saffron rice in a miniature crockpot. The rice reminded me a little bit of Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Dessert:

HATAY KUNEFE

💵 Price: 2 SHISH $12 USD

🤤Taste: 4.7 /5

Description: Fresh cheese, shredded fillo with honey and syrup Turkish pistachio, and kaymak

Thoughts: Not sure what to expect as I'm not a big fan of cheese and was slightly blown away by (a.) the size and (b.) the concept. We all thought it would be as big as a 10-inch pizza but it was as small as my palm (about 3 inches in diameter?). In the end, we were glad about it because it's really filling. The texture of the shredded phyllo is like crispy fried noodles, and sandwiched in between was a thick layer of cheese. The top is loaded with grounded pistachio and clotted cream, and the bottom is soaked with honey and syrup. This dessert is served warm.

The texture has a few folds with the soft and stringy cheese combined with some crispiness from the shredded phyllo dough. My taste buds were confused as I was expecting it to be sweet and salty from the cheese and syrup, but it wasn't salty at all. Neither was it overly sweet. Not sure if the flavor is on the milder side or if this is what an authentic Hatay Kunefe should taste like, as I recall how sweet Baklavas could be. Overall, it's a very good dessert but I still prefer Baklava. Again, I'm not a fan of cheese.

Bonus: You can get an Instagram worthy photo or video out of the cheese pull.

TURKISH COFFEE WITH TURKISH DELIGHT

💵 Price: $5

🤤Taste: 5 /5

Description: with medium caffeine

Thoughts: Other than Vietnamese dripped coffee and UCC milk coffee, I resent coffee because the bitterness always outshines the coffee flavor. When coffee is added with condensed milk or milk, it drowns the bitterness and makes it more pleasurable to drink (for me anyway).

But boy, their Turkish coffee is SOOOO good! This is a great introductory for coffee beginners! The coffee was not bitter and I was able to fully enjoy the coffee flavor. It's balanced and mild without the strong bitter taste. Though mellow, the roasted coffee bean was aromatic but did not have the (unpleasant) punch.

Last but not least, the Turkish delight was amazing! I've had Turkish delights in Turkey before and it always gave me shivers from the sweetness. Their Turkish delights have the perfect sweetness with a strong floral note from the Rosewater. Hmmm, what a delight!

📍 Location: Here

Menu: Here

💵 Price: $30 USD pp

🤤Taste: 4.7 / 5

🕯Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🪑Seating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📈 Price Performance ratio: 4 / 5

Retention Rate:100%

Summary:

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕤

* Upscale Turkish Restaurant

* Pet friendly

* Great customer service

* A good selection from the menu

* Best coffee I've ever had

* Lamb Tenderloin Shish Kebabs were super tender

* Seasoning was on point

* Best Turkish Delight I've had - not too sweet

* Adequate portion

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤:

* Flavors on the milder side for what I'm used to but it's still flavorful!

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

* Would definitely return

808: Piggy Smalls

I brought my folks to Piggy Smalls as I have read some great reviews about this place on Xiao Hong Shu. This is a Vietnamese Fusion restaurant and from a glance, the price point seemed a bit steep, but when the food arrived we felt that the large portions justified the pricing.

We ordered the oxtail beef braised pho, crispy chicken wings, Banh Mi with French beef dip, and a Japanese style Napoleon Spaghetti and here's my take:

OXTAIL BO KHO

💵 Price: $22 USD

🤤Taste: 4.7 / 5

Description: A rich & aromatic Vietnamese style beef oxtail stew, South Asian spices, star anise, lemongrass, a herb mix of garlic chives, Thai basil, cilantro

Thoughts: The broth was flavorful and the seasoning was on point. The meat was fall off the bone tender and the noodles were excellent. It was slightly chewy and not mushy. My uncle and aunty both expected to be overly thirsty from the MSG afterward, but we were surprised how clean the broth was and with minimal or no MSG added.

LE FRIED CHICKEN WINGS

💵 Price: $15 USD

🤤Taste: 4 / 5

Description: their famous twice fried LFC, mint, makrut, peanuts, pickled red onion, money sauce

Thoughts: Recommended by a lot of Xiao Hong Shu users. It's not the crispiest fried chicken wings I've had but it's not bad. It's pretty crispy. What I liked about this was the pickled red onion and the monkey sauce, which is a vinegar-based sauce, which helped cut down the grease.

CLASSIC PHO FRENCH DIP BANH MI

💵 Price: $17 USD

🤤Taste: 4.2 / 5

Description: 12 hour slow-roasted beef brisket, spicy hoisin, Thai basil chimichurri, sautéed bean sprouts & onion, toasted la tour baguette, side of our classic beef pho broth for dipping

Thoughts: I didn't look at the description in detail but was pleased to see that they've used quality beef brisket in their Banh Mi, and with the French dip, the concept's very fusion.

The French dip is a small bowl of pristine beef broth but it doesn't add too much flavor to the sandwich. It's a bit too clean but even without the French dip, the sandwich alone was already amazing. I ended up eating the sandwich on its own.

I liked that they had the right amount of fat on the brisket and the Banh Mi was toasted perfectly. This dish would score a higher rating if the interior of the baguette was fluffier but it's not a big deal.

BREAKFAST SPAGHETTI NAPOLETANA

💵 Price: $17 USD

🤤Taste: 4.2 / 5

Description: a nostalgic Japanese comfort food of pasta cooked with arabiki sausage, bell peppers & onions, parmesan, and sweet tomato sauce, finished with creamy soft scrambled eggs

Thoughts: Spaghetti Napolitan is a classic Japanese pasta and it is one of my favourite comfort food. I love a good ol' classic Japanese Spaghetti Napolitan. The sauce is a ketchup base and the tang stimulates the appetite. It's lightly dusted with parmesan cheese so it's not as filling. Their pasta is also cooked perfectly with an al dante chew.

📍 Location: Here

Menu: Here

💵 Price: $30 USD pp

🤤Taste: 4.7 / 5

🕯Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🪑Seating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

📈 Price Performance ratio: 4.6 / 5

Retention Rate:100%

Summary:

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕤

* Huge portion

* Oxtail beef braised pho is available here (which is a rarity in Vancouver)

* The Pho broth was flavorful

* Crispy chicken wings were accompanied with a vinegar sauce that helped cut the grease

* Hardly noticed any MSG.

* Wasn't thirsty afterward

* The Banh Mi with beef dip was sandwiched with quality brisket

* Brisket was tender and had a good amount of fat on it

* The Napolitan Spaghetti was saucy and the pasta was al dante

* Good customer service

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤:

* A bit pricy BUT the portion justified the pricing

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

* A great restaurant with Vietnamese food with a fusion twist!

604: The Bund Shanghai Cuisine

This Shanhai restaurant is newly opened along Marine Drive in White Rock and has already earned many good reviews from Instagram and Xiao Hung Shu. The reviews on Xiao Hung Shu are reliable because none of them are paid, and I've read many amazing reviews from the bloggers at Xiao Hung Shu so I was quite confident about this restaurant.

The owner's from Shanghai and she was really hospitable. Good customers are rare to find in Chinese restaurants so this was surprising. To me, good customer service is just a bonus. As long as the food is good, I don't mind eating good food sitting on a bucket.

The food they offered was innovative. It's shanghai food with a modern twist! We were given the choice to steam or fry the soup dumplings (Xiao long bao). The soup dumplings were filled with a lot of soup and the meat was tender. The whole thing just dissolves and slides down your throat. I don't like it when my soup dumplings are meaty and dense, so this was a nice surprise! The dumpling skin was thin and smooth. Overall, this was a pretty high-quality xiao long bao.

The potstickers (pan-fried dumplings) were glued together by this thin crispy layer on top and inside was stuffed with a shrimp. We really liked this cause it was crispy and it wasn't too filling since they used shrimp instead of fatty meat. Dipping it with vinegar also helped cut the grease.

The pork nuggets were pretty bland and lacked crispiness. It needed more seasoning and a longer frying time.

The cucumber salad and sweet vinegar rib met the standard.

The Shanhainese fried noodles were delicious! The noodles were chewy. The meat to veggie to noodle ratio was perfect! It's also not too greasy.

The lamb skewers were flavorful and juicy. Normally these skewers are dry, but they tasted great. It was marinated perfectly with my favorite cumin herb.

Overall, the food wasn't too greasy and everything, other than the nuggets, was amazing. The great customer service was a nice bonus. We enjoyed our five-star experience sharing a delicious shanghai dinner, chatting away while mesmerizing the sunset and the gorgeous water view. This luxurious dining experience was so reasonably priced too!

📍 Location: Here

💵 Price: $25 - $30 pp

🤤Taste: 4.8 / 5

🕯Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🪑Seating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

📈 Price Performance ratio: 4.8 / 5

Retention Rate:100%

Summary:

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕤:

🥡 Shanghai food with a modern twist - innovative dishes

🥡 Quality food

🥡 Great customer service (rare find in chinese restaurants)

🥡 Food isn't greasy

🥡 Thin dumpling skins

🥡 Dumpling contains a lot of soup

🥡 Patio dining facing White Rock beach - great atmosphere

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤:

🥡 Fried pork nuggets are a bit bland and need more seasoning. Also, it was a little soggy.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

🥡 A great new Chinese restaurant added to the Fraser Valley. This will be my new go to in the area now