REVIEW | SEOUL FRIED CHICKEN | EDMONTON

It's been a little over a year since Seoul Fried Chicken (SFC) first opened their doors and they haven't looked back since. Situated a little off of Whyte Avenue, SFC has become a popular laidback spot for Korean fried chicken. They've earned a diverse group of fans for their innovative flavours and reasonable prices.

I've sampled their chicken a couple of times, but this would be my first time visiting the actual store myself and writing a proper blog post about it. We visited a bit after noon on a weekday and found a packed room, with most people just waiting for their take-out orders. To bypass the line and cut out your wait time, you can now order online for pickup or delivery in a ten kilometre radius.

When SFC first opened, chicken shortages were all too common, and they would often sell out before close. I think they've grown better at anticipating demand, but you would still find line-ups during peak hours and you'd be hard-pressed to find a seat considering the limited number of tables they have.

The menu at SFC features seven different varieties of fried chicken, including SFC OG (original), SFC BBQ, onion lover, garlic soy, cilantro lime, G.P. cheese, and golden kari. You can order them in half or whole quantities. Salads, sides, and desserts round out the rest of the menu. 

If it's your first time at SFC, the 5 pc chicken set ($11.00) is a great introduction. In a takeout box similar to ones that house pizza, you get five pieces of fried chicken in the flavour of your choice, any single 1/2 order of salad, fries or a corn fritter, and a can of pop. If you feel like chimaek (chicken + beer), 5 pieces and a domestic beer will only cost you $12.50. Both sets are an amazing value if you consider that even fast food combos nowadays cost nearly as much.

For my set, I chose the garlic soy flavour with sesame potato slaw and a corn fritter. I've tried four of seven flavours on the SFC menu and the garlic soy is by far my favourite. The chicken pieces you get are a random assortment of cuts since they utilize whole chickens. The chicken is crispy, while the sauce is sticky and sweet with garlic undertones. I find five pieces of chicken a bit much for me to finish in one sitting, so those with big appetites would probably be more than satisfied.

The sesame potato slaw comes in a small boat and consists of shredded sweet potato and cabbage in a black sesame dressing. The dressing is creamy, tangy, and nutty, which makes the slaw a refreshing bite when you just need a break from the chicken. The corn fritter is a curious thing and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. Whole kernels of corn are suspended in a batter, deep fried, and drizzled with condensed milk. If the condensed milk was used a little more sparingly, perhaps I would like it a bit more.

LT went for the SFC BBQ chicken with mac n' cheese pesto and house fries. The SFC BBQ is a family recipe, passed down from the patriarch of Lee House fame. I'd say it's the most "traditonal" Korean flavour on the menu. Despite its fiery red appearance, the SFC BBQ is only slightly spicy. That being said, it is definitely spicier than other seasoned Korean fried chicken I've had in the past where the sauce is a mix of sweet and spicy. 

On the side, the mac n' cheese pesto is a cold pasta salad dressed in a creamy asiago sunflower pesto. LT thought the macaroni was a bit soft but it definitely delivered on the pesto forefront. Since we did takeout, the fries got understandably soggy on the commute home but I liked how they were thick cut with a soft potatoey centre.



KT chose his recently discovered favourite at SFC, the cilantro lime with kale caesar and house fries. The cilantro lime is SFC's OG fried chicken, topped with a bunch of cilantro and a side pot of cilantro lime chimichurri.

Since the chimichurri was served on the side, I was able to taste the OG fried chicken on its own and found it to be juicy and seasoned well. In regards to the flavour, cilantro is one of those divisive ingredients -- you either hate it or love it. I'm sort of in between. I did like how fresh and tangy the chimicurri was, but it wouldn't necessarily be my first flavour choice.

The kale Caesar is a romaine kale mix, with beet chips, oven dried tomato, and truffle oil. A seemingly healthier and lighter take on the traditional Caesar salad. 

For the parentals, we got them another half order of the garlic soy ($13.50). A half order equates to about ten pieces while a whole order ($25.00) is twenty pieces. Definitely a lot of chicken for a more than reasonable price.

On a past occasion, I've also tried their G.P. cheese flavour which is a bechamel sauce and grated grana padano cheese. I find the flavour too rich and heavy for me but cheese-lovers would be quite happy with this rendition. 

SFC has filled a niche for a hip, casual hangout spot with the perfect food to eat-in or take-out. If you want to be popular among your friends, skip the KFC bucket and bring a few boxes of SFC to your next potluck or party gathering. 

Seoul Fried Chicken

www.sfcseoulfriedchicken.com

7904b 104 St NW

Edmonton, AB
(780) 761-3616

- CT

SNAPSHOTS | YVR 2017 | DAY 5

Day 5 Itinerary:

• L'Opera Patisserie
• Uncle Lu
• McArthurglen Vancouver Outlet 

Short and sweet because it was the last and final day... (╥_╥)



L ' O P E R A   P A T I S S E R I E

5951 Minoru Blvd
Richmond, BC 
V6X 4B1

A midafternoon flight home meant taking it easy for our last few hours in YVR. L'Opera Patisserie was located just below our hotel so we decided to stop by for breakfast.  Hey, pastries for breakfast is a thing. 

If you followed my last trip, you'll know a little bit about L'Opera. It's a small French-inspired bakery, scratch-making their own cakes, macarons, and pastries.

L'Opera opens at 10:00 but they weren't quite ready when we tried to walk in just a couple minutes past opening. They asked if we wouldn't mind just waiting outside for a little longer.

When the lady finally let us in, we made our way to the small counter. Going early meant getting to pick from their full selection of goodies. Last time when I visited, the inventory was severely depleted at 4:00.

From what I understand, the cakes at L'Opera changes with the seasons. New items are regularly introduced and rotated through their line-up.

Macaron flavours are as creative as they are abundant. You'll find the typical salted caramel, pistachio, and vanilla, but you'll also find flavours such as lychee, honeydew, and apricot & passion fruit.

We decided to sit in to enjoy our goodies. During our time there, we noticed a few people coming in for a quick coffee to go.

The raspberry mille feuille ($6.20) was the only cake that seemed "appropriate" for breakfast. By appropriate, I mean... it had fruit in it! Flaky layers of puff pastry sandwiching vanilla cream and fresh raspberries. I liked how it wasn't too sweet which I think is a common trait for most of their goods.

We also got a ham and cheese croissant ($4.50). Super flaky, buttery, and delicious. You can even see how many layers of lamination their dough has, which means you'll be making a lot of crumbs. I've also noticed on their Instagram recently that they've been experimenting with new croissant flavours like gooey cheddar and taro! Sad that I'm not there right now to be able to try them out.


I love trying new places when I'm in YVR but L'Opera seems like a place that I'll visit over and over again. The pastries are refined and the interior is elegant, but there's just something about this place that makes it retain a cozy, homemade charm about it.

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We walked back to the hotel to check out and do some last-minute packing. For lunch, we had plans to hit up a sushi restaurant in Steveston but seeing as we had Japanese the night before, we decided to try something different. We wanted something closeby so we hit up Continental Centre (yes... again) to try out:


U N C L E   L U

3779 Sexsmith Rd
Richmond, BC 
V6X 1J8

Despite them being located in a very popular strip of restaurants, Uncle Lu was a restaurant that I actually never heard of before coming here. They serve Taiwanese food, a cuisine that I haven't dabbled with too much. I guess, that, combined with being in the very far corner lot, pushed them away from my radar.

One thing to note about Uncle Lu's is that they're cash only. Seems to be common as most other restaurants in Continental Centre are also cash only. Keep that in mind when visiting.

The restaurant space is a long rectangle with tall ceilings. It's decorated quite nice and modern. Look up and you'll see a lot of Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling.

Part of the reason why we chose Uncle Lu's was because I had a sudden craving for Taiwanese chicken nuggets. The deep fried chicken nuggets ($7.60) here are tender and fried well with a light batter. There weren't many basil pieces in our order but the chicken was seasoned well nonetheless.

We also tried their five spiced beef wrap ($6.50). The pancake wasn't very flaky as it was a bit doughy and chewy. I still liked it though, and they were quite generous with the sauce which gave the wrap a lot of flavour.

For our final dish, we got the Taiwanese sausage and egg fried rice ($9.50). A decent fried rice with good wok hei where the individual grains of rice are dry and separated. The bits of Taiwanese sausage tasted more sweet than smoky. Overall, it was a good filler dish but it wasn't anything too exciting.


Although the food was pretty good, I can't say that much for their service. It's to be expected but we weren't given any water or tea, and trying to catch the attention of the server was difficult. The fried rice was dropped off at our table before we could ask for bowls. Have you tried eating rice off a plate? It's quite hard.

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M c A R T H U R G L E N   D E S I G N E R   O U T L E T S

1000-7899 Templeton Station Rd
Richmond, BC
V7B 0B7

Before dropping off the rental car, we stopped by the outlets which is conveniently located near the airport. It's a good spot to visit if you have some time (but not too much time) to kill during a layover. Not much has changed since my last visit in terms of new stores, but I was quite sad to see Hugo's Churros close down before I was even able to try them. You will be missed. (´ヘ｀;)

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Until next time YVR!


 - CT

SNAPSHOTS | YVR 2017 | DAY 4

Day 4 Itinerary:

• Neptune Seafood Restaurant
• Beta5 Chocolates
• Coal Harbour
• Bella Gelateria
• Poké Time
• Yuu Japanese Tapas
• 720 Sweets

N E P T U N E   S E A F O O D   R E S T A U R A N T

8171 Ackroyd Rd #110
Richmond, BC 
V6X 3K1


During my last Vancouver trip, my mom and I went for dim sum three times in less than a week (see here, here, and here). In Richmond, you're spoiled silly when it comes to restaurants so you never really get tired of it.

This time around, it was hard filtering through restaurants and narrowing it down to just one. Proximity won over in the end, so we found ourselves at Neptune.

Neptune Seafood Restaurant is part of a larger restaurant group. They were established in 1997 and have quite a few restaurants under their umbrella in the metro Vancouver area. Their Richmond location is quite nice, and sits adjacent to their casual sister restaurant, Neptune Wonton Noodle.

We visited slightly past opening and already there were quite a few tables occupied. You know people are regulars when they have a newspaper out and just one or two dishes on the table.

Service is a bit abrupt but that's a Chinese restaurant for you. Dim sum is ordered by check sheet and if you pay your bill before 11:00, you get 20% off your bill. Take advantage and go early since their dim sum is on the pricier side. There's also a surcharge for tea, $1.00 per person.

Ordering dim sum for only two people is a bit tricky, so we limited ourselves to only four dishes.

Sort of the litmus test for any dim sum restaurant is their har gow or shrimp dumplings ($6.68). These were fresh and plump, really quite good. 

Steamed pork shao mai with fish roe ($6.68), another dim sum staple. Shrimp and mushroom are mixed in as well, which helps break up the firm meaty texture of the pork.

The deep fried Chinese donut wrapped with steamed rice roll ($6.68) is garnished with green onions and a drizzle of soy sauce. Hoisin sauce and sesame paste also comes on the side for dipping. It's usually one of my favourite dim sum dishes, but we found the rice roll to be a bit cold. The Chinese donut was also overfried, making it really hard and crunchy. I like it better when the donut still has some chewiness in the middle. 

Our last item was wu gok, or deep fried taro root and pork dumplings ($6.68). Mashed taro surrounds a savoury pork gravy filling. The whole thing is deep fried, forming a delicate wispy crust on the outside. I love wu gok for the contrast in textures but because it's literally a starch bomb, I find it difficult to have more than just one. 



We found the dim sum offerings at Neptune to be quite good but prices are steep if you don't make it in time for the 20% off discount. Go early; your wallet will thank you.

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After dim sum, we drove into Vancouver, with our first stop being:

B E T A 5   C H O C O L A T E S

413 Industrial Ave
Vancouver, BC 
V6A 2P3

I think I may have found my new favourite place.

Hidden away like a secret, Beta5 is an award-winning chocolate and pastry shop. Their creations rival works of art: visually stunning and technically precise. They operate out of a garage in a mostly industrial area. While the location is a bit out of the way, it's certainly worth the trip.

Most of the unit's space is dedicated to their kitchen which you can peek into from the storefront's window. On shelves and tables, you can pick up bags of their caramels and chocolate pebbles, or peruse their line of polygon bars and truffles. 

Besides chocolates and confections, Beta5 specializes in creampuffs. Their signature flavours, which you can get year-round, make up the first two rows that you see on the poster. The last row are their seasonal flavours, available for only a few months before new creampuffs take their place.

All the flavours sound amazing, in particular the Vietnamese coffee, raspberry earl grey, and spiced mango. If only I had stomach space for more than just one! 

Since it was only available for a limited time, I decided on the quince tres leches creampuff ($5.00). The fact that it was the prettiest one didn't hurt my decision either.

The quince tres leches is filled with vanilla custard and tres leches cake. Quince puree, light rose mousse, and white chocolate rose petals adorn the top. The best part of the creampuff was the craquelin shell which gave the choux pastry a sweet, crunchy bite. It was surprisingly sturdy considering the amount of creamy filling it held both inside and outside. You probably can't wrong with any of their creampuff flavours!

I also picked up a couple bags of their chocolate pebbles and a few of their chocolate bars as gifts. The mandarin crunch bar ($9.00) was a limited edition item, specific to Chinese New Year. The two items I got for myself were the hazelnut praline pebbles ($12.00) and the queen of hearts bar ($9.00).

The hazelnut pebbles are caramelized, coated in milk chocolate praline, and then finished with 66% dark chocolate and a dusting of cocoa powder. I'm usually not a fan of dark chocolate but the bitterness was a good complement to the toasty nutty flavour of the hazelnuts.

If I were to repurchase one thing, it would have to be the queen of hearts bar: freeze-dried raspberries and candied earl grey tea in 35% white chocolate. The raspberries give the chocolate a refreshing sour quality while the candied tea leaves lend some crunchy texture. Highly recommend this one!


Beta5 ships their chocolates and confections so it's never more than a click away. If only they can ship their creampuffs too...

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Unrelated, but the warehouse district around Beta5 is home to many murals. This one was my favourite:

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C O A L   H A R B O U R

We made our way to downtown Vancouver afterwards, with our main plan to walk around Coal Harbour, Pacific Centre, and Robson Street. Parking was horrendous, but we managed to find a public lot. Below are some visuals of Coal Harbour:

"lying on top of a building the clouds looked no nearer than when I was lying on the street"

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B E L L A   G E L A T E R I A

1001 W Cordova St
Vancouver, BC 
V6C 0B7

Around the Coal Harbour area, there's a shop that shouldn't be missed. Bella Gelateria has become somewhat of a Vancouver institution since opening in 2009. They've been on my Vancouver bucket list for who knows how long.

Occupying a corner space on the ground level of Fairmont Pacific Rim, the shop is small but perfectly capable to meet the high demand. Since 2014, they've also opened up a second location in Yaletown which creeps into restaurant territory with pizza and Italian fare also being served. 

Award-winning is somewhat of an understatement when it comes to Bella Gelateria, considering how many accolades they have under their belt. They may run out of wall space soon enough.

We decided on two flavours in a cup ($6.75), the Tahitian vanilla and black sesame. Looking back, it made for an unintentional yin yang.

So how was it? This was some of the creamiest and smoothest gelato I've ever had. The black sesame in particular was strong and impactful. I'm a huge black sesame fan so I'm usually disappointed when black sesame items are bland. This definitely delivered on the flavour forefront.

When it comes to popular spots, reality doesn't always line up with expectation. Fortunately, this lived up to the hype. The gelato does come at a higher price tag but the quality warrants it. Put this at the top of your Vancouver list.

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P O K É   T I M E

1258 Robson St
Vancouver, BC 
V6E 1C2

It's sort of crazy how fast and widespread a trend goes when it hits Vancouver. Poké, ubiquitous with Hawaii, has no doubt been the food trend of 2016 and 2017. I won't even count how many poké shops have opened since last year -- it's a lot.
 
After strolling down Robson Street, we stopped at Poké Time, quite possibly the first poké shop to have opened in Vancouver. Poké is a casual food, so the fast-food/lunch counter set-up makes sense here.

At Poké Time, you're in charge. The ordering process is entirely customizable, from your base (poké bowl, salad, half and half, nachos, or burrito) to protein (salmon, tuna, ahi, scallop, shrimp, or tofu), to mixers, sauces, and toppings. If you can't be bothered, you can also go for one of their signature creations.   

The sushi burrito isn't a new concept in the States, but it's relatively new here. We weren't particularly hungry so we decided to just share one between us. The poké burrito is $10.95, which gives you two scoops of protein (three scoops is $12.95). We decided to get their marinated salmon and ahi tuna (+$1.00). For mixers, we chose cucumber and for sauces, we got their sriracha aioli for a kick since the salmon was already pre-marinated. To beef up the roll a little bit, we added seaweed salad, crab salad, and lettuce. 

The girl offered to cut it in half for us, but it was essentially a giant uncut sushi roll at the end of the day. It might have got lost in the other flavours, but the salmon marinade wasn't particularly strong. It might be better appreciated it if you just ordered a much simpler poké bowl over rice. Everything did taste fresh though.


I'll have to go straight to the source one day (ie. Hawaii) to try some authentic poké but I'm glad we have access to some outside of the islands. Let's pray that Edmonton's own poké shop opens soon!

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Since we crossed off a lot on our itinerary, we decided to just take it easy at the hotel until dinner time. It took a while to decide on where to eat and even then, our GPS took us somewhere completely different. Since it brought us to Continental Plaza anyways, we decided to just stay and choose a restaurant from the many choices there.


Y U U   J A P A N E S E   T A P A S

3779 Sexsmith Rd #1118
Richmond, BC 
V6X 3Z9

Yuu Japanese Tapas is a popular Japanese restaurant offering something different than the usual sushi and teriyaki. After a recent expansion, they've taken up two lots in the plaza, essentially double the amount of space and tables that they used to have.

We were seated near the front window of the restaurant which made it sort of difficult to wave down the attention of the servers. One thing to note is that all the servers spoke Mandarin so I'm assuming Yuu's is Chinese-owned.

The menu is large and full of pictures which makes it a tempting read. Perfect for visual people, horrible for indecisive people like me. Appetizers and tapas take up three pages, while ramen, rice, noodles/udon, curry, iron plates, and hot pots make up the rest.

We decided to share an appetizer to start. The poutine ($5.95) is done up in Yuu's style as they say. Fries topped with cheese, nori, bonito flakes, Japanese mayo, and gravy. The fries were similar to Costco fries (if you know what I mean) so they were really good. I wasn't sure of the toppings at first but the flavour was sort of addicting. Something different to try for sure.

My sister's entree pick was Yuu's signature curry pork cutlet on rice ($11.95) which also came with a side salad. We switched dishes halfway through so I was able try some of this dish as well. I thought it was very meh. The pork was thin and quite dry. The curry didn't have much substance to it either. To be honest, I could probably make a better Japanese curry at home.

Everyone seemed to be eating ramen in the restaurant so I thought I should give theirs a go. The tonkotsu ramen ($10.95) came topped with savoury BBQ pork, corn, egg, bamboo shoots, and bean sprouts. I'm not exactly a ramen connoisseur since I prefer the likes of udon and vermicelli, so I wasn't particularly enthused with the dish. The pork was a bit dry and the broth didn't taste like anything too special.


The food is filling because they give you a decent portion, but I wouldn't exactly call Yuu authentic Japanese fare. If you're in the plaza and deciding where to eat, it's best to head over to Gyo-O instead.

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7 2 0   S W E E T S

1121-8328 Capstan Way
Richmond, BC
V6X 4B6

The night was still young so we headed to 720 Sweets for some dessert.

720 Sweets is one of the many specialty ice creams shops in Vancouver. Their Richmond location is one of three, the original shop located on West Broadway and an "express" location in Metrotown's T&T Supermarket. Apparently they plan to open in every T&T across the province.

What sets 720 Sweets apart from the competition is the use of dry ice in the base of their cups to create a cool smokey and bubbling effect. So unlike Mister which uses liquid nitrogen to make their ice cream, it's strictly used for visuals at 720. Good for Instagram likes I guess.

There's not too many flavour choices, only five in total. Each soft serve creation is given a star rating out of five, which refers to its level of sweetness. If you don't like things too sweet, go for their matcha madness ice cream which only has one star. If you wanted a sugar high, the cloud 9 might be up your alley, a 5/5 sweetness rating with additions like cotton candy, almond Pocky, and caramel popcorn.

Both my sister and I loved the honeycomb soft serve at Soft Peaks, so we decided to go for the Honey 720 ($5.95) to compare the two. Vanilla soft serve, honey drizzle, walnuts, and a piece of honeycomb. This comes at a three star rating. 

If you've ever had the organic milk soft serve at Soft Peaks, this one just doesn't compare at all. The ice cream is much sweeter and the texture is more icy than it is creamy. I liked the addition of the crushed walnuts but the piece of honeycomb that they gave was too dense and compact. It didn't seem to be the same quality as the one sourced at Soft Peaks which literally explodes with honey. Overall, we thought the dry ice was a fun gimmick, but in the end, it's just a gimmick. 

720 Sweets has a fun concept and a cool brand, but I don't think the ice cream is worth a repeat visit.  

  

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Only one more YVR post to go!

- CT