El Pescador Fish Market - San Diego, La Jolla

I came down to San Diego to visit a good friend of mine and he wanted to take me to a local spot in La Jolla where they have fresh seafood.  He took me to this little small take out place that served seafood.  If you look at it from the outside you probably wold not come in.  It looks like a simple fish store selling fresh seafood but they serve some of the freshest fishes here.  It's a really small place with maybe 10 seats and it's pretty busy.  Locals mostly come here but if you are a tourist make your way here you will not be disappointed.


We ordered 3 items to share.  We had the fish tacos which were okay.  Nothing to really brag about.  We ordered the salmon and Cajun sea  bass sandwich .  Both sandwiches were SO GOOOD!  It was the daily special when we were there.  Check with the chef and see if they are serving it.  It's a must order dish.  They have this Italian fish soup called cioppino and that was really good.  It's a tomato based soup with all sorts of fish and veggies in the soup.  If you have never tried this before you should really because it's tasty and light.  Both sandwiches were cooked to perfection.  The skin from the Cajun sea bass was crispy and the meat was perfectly cooked and lightly seasoned where you could taste the freshness of the fish without the Cajun spices overpowering the sandwich.  

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La Sardine

I remembered one year we came here for a company Christmas party a few years ago and finally figured out the restaurant name La Sardine.  The past couple of times we came here was on a Wednesday because they have a 25 dollars 3 course pre fixe menu.  One thing I really like about this prefix menu is that you are not limited to certain dishes on the menu.  So you can pretty much pick any entree, any appetizer and any dessert for 25 dollars.  It's a pretty big place with a cute decor inside with an open kitchen facing the restaurant.


For the appetizer we ordered the La Queue de Boeuf which was the braised oxtail with potato gnocchi.  This was probably my favorite appetizer.  The oxtail itself was very flavorful and the sauce was a great compliment to even out the strong flavors from the oxtail.  We also ordered the Les Escargots à la Bourguignonne.  This was my wife's favorite appetizer and she really liked this dish a lot because the sauce really made the dish.  Like the oxtail appetizer, we finished every drop of the sauce with the bread they provided for both of the appetizers.


My wife ordered the skate wing entree and that was amazing!  The flavors were nice and light while cooked to perfection.  The skin was nice and crispy while the inside of the skate wing was kept moist.  I loved the contrast of the texture from the skin to the meat itself.  This dish isn't something they have on their menu all the time.  I believe that dish was a seasonal dish so if you see it on their daily special, I would definitely recommend it.  I ordered the Le Poulet Rôti "Sotero" this was the roasted chicken with potato puree.  I thought the dish was cooked very well and flavors were good.  It wasn't a dish that wowed me with the french flavors.  Maybe it's not fair for me to judge this dish after I came back from Seattle "Mistral Kitchen" and this restaurant served probably the best chicken I've ever had in my entire life.  


For dessert we had the creme brulee and the chocolate souffle.  The creme brulee's texture had a great smooth consistency and it wasn't too sweet.  We both loved this dessert a lot and haven't found another french restaurant that have served better.  The souffle was also another hit.  At first we thought the dessert was going to be super sweet but we were surprised that it was very light and super fluffy.  The Wednesday deals are a great way to try out this restaurant without breaking your bank.  You can't beat 25 dollars for an appetizer, entree, and a dessert with no restrictions on items.  The service was good and I have no complaints every time I've been here.

Braised Oxtail with Potato Gnocchi

escargot

skate wing

roasted chicken with potato puree

creme brulee

chocolate souflee

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Bonsoirée

We came here with a Opentable coupon before it expired. I've never heard of it before but I was thoroughly impressed. It's a very small space and no name on the front so definitely hard to find. We were asked many times for any dietary restrictions as they only offer pre fixe. My wife couldn't eat any raw or undercooked food as she is pregnant. It was a bit odd when we sat down, there was no menu, no drink menu nothing. We realize it's BYOB, but they don't serve any drinks (soda, juice) other than water and coffee. So we asked the waiter what's on the menu so he gave us a rundown. The waiter didn't mention the duck 3 ways but I saw it on the website so we ordered that too. Each dish was tasty and beautiful to look at. For my wife, they replaced the first item - a yellowtail sashimi dish for a celery soup (yum!) and a rabbit dish for artichoke hearts (which I didn't think was a good substitute), and a tobacco ice cream for espresso ice cream. My favorite was the duck 3 ways and the wagyu beef which actually tasted like real wagyu because of how it just melted in your mouth. The desserts had inventive unique flavors that was still tasty. For example, there was tobacco flavored ice cream, which seemed to go well with the sweet beet sauce. Highly recommend as a place to try. You'll be surprised.

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Fisherman's Terrace Seafood Restaurant (Richmond, Canada)

So after the successful and tasty meal recommended by our concierge we decided to eat at the Fisherman's Terrace in the Parker Mall.  The decor is very nice which reminded me of the places we ate at in Hong Kong.   Most dim sum places have large spaces and they are usually loud.  Luckily we came here on a weekday to avoid the crowds and noise.  This place doesn't push carts, instead you order off the menu and they bring it out to you.  So everything is cooked to order making it fresh and hot when you eat the dishes.  We ordered:


Sticky Rice with dried scallops - This was one of my top dishes here.  The rice was cooked perfect and the flavors from the scallops was in every bite.  


Pork Dumpling (shu mai) - These were really good.  As you bite into the pork, it's not hard but very tender and the flavors were great.


Chicken Feet -  The dish was good but I've had better elsewhere.


Pan Fried Fish Paste - I thought this dish was a bit bland and oily.  


Green Onion and Dried Scallop Crepes -  I like this dish a lot.  Most places don't evenly distribute the meat and veggies on the crepes evenly but they did a good job here.  I liked how the crepe itself was not too thick.


Spareribs infused with Pumpkin Flavor with black beans - This was my other top dish.  The ribs was so tender and full of flavor.  At first I thought the pumpkin flavor wasn't going to be tasted but they were in each spareribs I ate.  We ate everything and the sauce also.


Steam Duck Tongue with Taro - Okay so I've never tried this before but I wanted to try something I've never seen before at least in the Dim Sum in the States so we ordered it.  The tongue was very gamy and there is a small piece of cartilidge in each tongue sort of like Chicken Feet.  I think if it was flavored more maybe I would have like it more but at least I can say I've tried Duck Tongue.


Chilled Mango Puree with Tapioca - I loved this dessert!  You can taste the fresh mango and it was a nice dessert to finish off after all that dim sum we chowed down.


I thought the food was really good.  There was 1-2 dishes that was a miss.  The service was good and maybe it was because we came here during the weekday.  I can't imagine what it would be like on a Saturday or Sunday.  I would definitely recommend this place to others.  

Dried Scallop & Green Onion Sticky Rice

Pork Dumpling and Chicken Feet

Pan Fried Fish Paste

Dried Scallop and Green Onion Crepes

Spareribs infused with Black Bean and Pumpkin Flavors

Duck Tongue with Taro

Chilled Mango Tapioca Puree

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Alleluia Cafe (Richmond, Canada)

We decided on a short trip to Vancouver for 1.5 days to feast on the popular Chinese cuisine and do some shopping.  We stayed at the River Rock casino hotel in Richmond.  We did not know where to eat so we decided to ask the concierge for good/cheap eats and cheap shopping.  We ended up going to Parker place which was 100% Chinese and we went to try Alleluia Cafe (Cantonese style) for dinner that night.  I ordered preserved shrimp paste with fried tofu, pork and Chinese broccoli.  This is very typical Cantonese dish where most non Asian would probably not dare try this due to it's heavy aroma.  My grand parents made this for me when I was younger and it brought back some great memories.  My wife ordered some tonkatsu dish, chicken wings, and curry beef with some veggies on the side.  This meal costs us under 8 bucks that includes a soup, drink, and the meal itself.  You don't come these places for service.  You come here for great cheap authentic Cantonese style food under 8 bucks!  I would say if you come to Richmond and you want some good eats stop by Alleluia Cafe.  One more thing, they don't take credit card so bring CASH!

preserved shrimp paste with fried tofu

Tonkatsu Dinner

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Matts In The Market (Pike Place Market)

We only heard about this place from the waiter who said we should go there for amazing food at Mistral Kitchen which I highly recommend.  I was a bit disappointed at this place.  First off, they charge for bread.  Really ?  This is the first time I've been charged for bread at any restaurant.  For appetizer we ordered the calamari and that was disappointing.  It was super chewy and wasn't good.  The bread we paid for was mediocre.  The wait staff didn't take any time to explain the dishes after they dropped them off.  They didn't even come back to check up on us.  The food here was okay.  The salmon was okay.  We liked the chicken the most but I didn't think it was worth 35 bucks.  People hype this place way too much and the fact is we tried 3 restaurants at pike place that people raved about and each time they have been a miss.  I wouldn't waste my time at this place.  I would say go to Mistral Kitchen where the food is way better and more attention to detail to the flavors.

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