Sherman's Food Adventures: Pizza

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Pizza Maru

Maybe it is a bit ironic that I featured Roseto Bistro in my last post where they offer a small selection of K-Pizzas. This is because this post is about Pizza Maru that is a new spot on North Road (Burnaby side) almost exclusively specializing in K-Pizzas. So what is a K-Pizza? Well, it is Korean-style pizza that features a wide range of Korean toppings. Also, if you know Korean cuisine, they love their cheese and on K-Pizzas, they aren't shy about piling it on.

So let me feature their most striking option on the menu is the Maru 5 that consists of, as you might've guessed, 5 different themed toppings on a large pizza. Looking at the picture, you can see that there is Bulgogi, Corn Cheese, Pepperoni, Potato Chunk and Chicken. Naturally, there is a whack-load of cheese too. They cut this pizza lengthwise and it is great for people who want it all in one pizza. I particularly enjoyed the corn cheese as it was so cheesy with sweet pops of corn. The chicken was great too with some tangy sauce on top.

Of course we tried other pizzas too including the Bulgogi and Hawaiian Shrimp. I felt that having the whole Bulgogi pizza made a difference compared to the slices in the Maru 5. I was able to get a whole slice with more beef. It was hearty with tender meat that was sweet and savoury. As for the Hawaiian shrimp, this was more about the peppers and onions than the shrimp. They were merely there for some coldwater crunch. A bit of sweetness from the pineapple and saltiness from the olives completed the flavour profile. As for the crust, all them so far were uniformly crunchy with a soft chewiness inside.

To get something a bit different than all of the available K-Pizzas, we tried their Real Chicago Pizza. Now I've had some Chicago deep dish before and this was their interpretation. I enjoyed their version as the thick crust was completely stuffed with stringy cheese. In the middle it was a lake of cheese with tomato sauce and pepperoni. If you like cheese, this would be the pizza for you. The addition of powdered sugar was a small detail, but it helped balance all of the cheesiness.

In addition to pizza, they also have a selection of pastas. We chose the Baked Meat Cheese Spaghetti loaded with onions, peppers, mushrooms and ground beef. Now this was not any ordinary pizza joint spaghetti as the tomato sauce had white wine and stock. Hence there were more layers of flavour than just plain tomato. We also tried their Korean BBQ Wings and they were fantastic. The sweet and sticky glaze was nicely caramelized while the chicken itself was moist and tender.

Lastly, we tried the Red Carbonara Topokki. This was great though as it combined Korean rice cakes with a spicy and creamy carbonara sauce with shrimp, bacon, onion, sliced mushrooms and cabbage. Definitely a meal in itself and being so rich, best to be shared. Overall, the stuff at Pizza Maru is pretty solid and unique enough. The pizzas are loaded with cheese and the crust is good with a uniform crunchy texture. The rest of the items on the menu are pretty solid as well.

*All food was complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Pizza has a uniformly crunchy crust

- Not shy with the toppings

- Sides are good too

The Bad:

- Pizzas are on the sweeter side

Roseto Bistro

Now here is an interesting blog post. It is about Roseto Bistro located in PoCo. Now that doesn't make it particularly strange or unusual. However, if you tried to search it on Google, it wasn't showing up for the longest time. In fact, you'd find Hearthstone Pizza as a result. You see, the reason for this is that Roseto Bistro replaces Hearthstone Pizza, but still has some of the K-pizza options leftover from the 2nd iteration of Hearthstone Pizza. Okay, if you are confused, I don't blame you. Currently, Roseto Bistro offers up legit Italian eats prepared by a chef who has worked for years in Italy, but also has some Korean influences in the pizza and the pastas. In fact, RoSeTo represents Rome, Seoul and Tokyo. The fusion between all 3 cuisines are evident in the menu.

I think they should add Athens as well since we started with the Calamari Fritti. Sure, this dish can be every bit Italian as it is Greek. However, let's just say there are influences. We found this dish to be prepared quite well with tender pieces of squid that also retained a pleasant chewiness. The light and crispy batter was properly seasoned where the tzatziki on the side wasn't completely necessary. However, for me, I always like to dip my calamari into it. This was a good start to our meal.

Next, we moved onto some pizzas, 2 of which were very similar. What you see in the picture is the Capricciosa. We also had the Proscuitto e Funghi which looked exactly like the Capricciosa except without the salsiccia, bacon and artichoke. Both featured a uniformly crispy crust that was nicely browned, but could've been a bit more charred. The crust was properly seasoned while the tomato sauce was balanced. Good amount of toppings and the proscuitto added salty meatiness. Both featured arugula on top.

Onto the pastas, the fusion aspect of the menu really showed. This was particularly true with the Kimchi Fettuccine with bacon and mushroom. I quite enjoyed the layers of flavours in this dish where the kimchi offered up mild spiciness along with tanginess and sweetness. The addition of cream toned down the spiciness but also made the pasta a bit heavy. The fettuccine itself was house-made and cooked until al dente. The addition of bacon added salty meatiness and the mushrooms added some pops of moisture and woodsiness.

On the topic of mushrooms, we had a new menu item in the Mushroom Pasta. It consisted of firmly al dente spaghetti with a good amount of mushrooms. This had a certain Japanese flair to it with the addition of butter and soy. This was full of umamainess as well as the classic Asian flavour to the pasta. This also sported a good amount of olives and capers which totally amped the overall flavour profile. There was more saltiness (in a good way) and tanginess to provide impact.

For our non-pasta dish, we had the Cotoletta di Maiale. This featured a pork cutlet breaded and fried until super crispy. The meat itself was tender and moist. However, the best part of this dish was the Japanese demi sauce. It was super savoury with sweetness and a touch of tanginess. It was super addictive and honestly, I could put that on anything and it would taste good. This came with some perfectly cooked veggies and nicely seared gnocchi. They were firm, but soft enough to be appealing.

For dessert, we had the Frittelle tossed in sugar. These little donuts were very soft and fluffy while the outside was crispy. They were a touch greasy though. I enjoyed the mild flavours and the slight crunch from the granulated sugar. Overall, the food at Roseto is quite good. The pasta is freshly made and totally legit. The incorporation of Asian influences is seamless and reasonably-priced. Totally loved the pork cutlet where it is a crazy good value at $22.00. If you are needing to eat out as a family in the area and were going to spend chain restaurant money anyways, go check out Roseto Bistro. You will be surprised.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- Well-prepared eats
- Totally reasonable pricing
- Quality is there with house-made pasta

The Bad:
- Wished the pizza was more charred

Broli Kitchen

At first glance, Broli Kitchen appears to be another restaurant in a strip mall in Richmond. However, there is more than meets the eye here (and I'm not talking about Transformers either...). The cuisine is a mix of traditional French, Italian and West Coast fused with Asian influences. Now before you begin to prejudge this place, consider the head chef is a Red Seal certified. Chef Zhuang Li has been the sous-chef at the Downtown Sheraton Wall Centre for 10 years and another 5 years of experience in French cuisine. Pretty unexpected at a little non-decript bistro. Jackie, Jacqueline, Andrew and myself were invited to try out some of their newest and most popular items from their menu.

We began with a pair of soups in the Lobster Bisque and the Wild Mushroom Soup. These looked legit and were exactly what we expected. The bisque was creamy and rich with a balanced amount of lobster aroma. It was lightly sweet and properly seasoned. Some herb oil on the top finished off the soup. As for the wild mushroom, it was also creamy and full-flavoured with the woodsiness of the mushrooms. With some truffle oil added to the mix, it was aromatic and even more earthy.

Next, we had the Pan-Seared Scallops with pea puree and crispy prosciutto. This was a well-prepared dish where the scallops were beautifully seared while the middle was slightly rare. Hence, the texture was on point being buttery soft. The scallop itself was properly seasoned while exhibiting a natural sweetness. On top, the crispy prosciutto added crunch and saltiness. Silky smooth and sweet, the pea puree helped bring the saltiness down a notch.

Our last appie was the Truffle Mushroom Risotto Ball (aka Arancini) with a onion tomato sauce. This was a huge portion of 6 large risotto balls that were somewhat crispy. This is because the onion tomato sauce was drizzled atop all of the risotto balls, resulting in them become soft and a bit crumbly. The aborio rice seemed to be fairly al dente, but with all the sauce, it was hard to tell. Loved the sauce as it was sweet and tangy. Maybe they should either put it on the side or plate the balls atop the sauce on the plate.

Maybe the most interesting and delicious thing we had was the Durian Pizza. Yah, this could be pretty polarizing due to the main ingredient. Durian is extremely pungent and isn't for everyone. However, in my opinion, they did a good job with incorporating it onto a pizza. They used a cream cheese base and combined with the sweet durian and mozzarella, this became reminiscent of a Chinese custard bun, except on a pizza. So this almost ate like a dessert and that was a good thing as the durian was definitely there, but not in a way that was overwhelming. All of the components sat atop a pizza crust that was somewhat similar to Domino's (which is a good thing as well).

Onto the bigger dishes, we had the Confit Duck Leg with rice, veggies and duck sauce. The duck leg meat fell apart easily and was rather tender. It was on the saltier side, but did go well with the rice. With the addition of some Asian spices, the duck had a different flavour than a regular duck confit. Nice twist on this dish to make it unique. There was a bevy of perfectly-cooked asparagus, broccolini, carrots and zucchini. They were vibrant and still had texture.

Classic in its preparation, the Roasted Rack of Lamb was perfectly medium-rare. It was crusted with dijon herb bread crumbs and served with Lyonnaise potatoes, veggies and lamb jus. I was pretty impressed with the lamb as it was slow-roasted which resulted in succulent meat. It was well-seasoned and the jus was meaty enough without being salty. Veggies were great like the previous dish while the potatoes were tender with buttery onions. I would've liked it to be a bit more buttery though.

One of the most surprising dishes was the Bolognese Strozzapreti. It was super legit and could be served at an Italian restaurant. The rich bolognese featured a mix of veal, beef and pork that was super tender. There was a nice balance of tomato and creaminess that made this lightly sweet, aromatic and full of umaminess. The choice of pasta was also key to making this a good dish as it captured bits of meat and sauce. It was also al dente, yet not in an overly firm manner.

We had two of their fish dishes staring with the Ginger Miso Glazed Salmon. Presented as a fairly large piece of salmon, this was a good portion of food. Although the salmon was a bit over, it was still moist and not dry at all. I found the salmon to be mildly-seasoned with some ginger flavour and miso saltiness. Underneath, the miso cream sauce was really good with depth and a balanced flavour. It was a nice compliment to the fish and also added extra moisture.

The other fish dish was the Pan-Seared Ling Cod with potato, seasonal veg and tomato pepper sauce. This was another large portion that was also prepared properly. The fish had a slightly crispy sear while the meat was flaky and moist. Being ling cod, it had a slightly firmer texture but it was still tender. I found it be well-seasoned and really didn't need the sauce. Although the tomato pepper sauce was pleasant enough, a lobster bisque sauce or dashi would've been a better match for the whitefish.

Onto dessert, we had the Lava Cake with vanilla ice cream. We really appreciated that they prepared this from scratch and baked-to-order. Many other places unfortunately use a microwave! This was more like a chocolate souffle than a basic lava cake. It was light and fluffy with a crispy exterior. Inside, the molten centre was silky and purposefully sweet. It was gave even more souffle vibes as it had the sauce built into it (rather than poured into it).

Lastly, we had the Caramel Macchiato Pot de Crème with pecan graham crumble and fresh whipped cream. It was rich and creamy with smoky caramel notes intermittently interrupted by coffee. The crumble on top added a nice crunch. I quite enjoyed this dessert. In fact, I enjoyed the meal as a whole. Lots of highlights including the lamb, scallop, durian pizza and pasta. Portions were large and proteins were mostly on point. Flavours were textbook and although the prices are necessarily cheap, the value is there due to the generous size of the proteins and the general execution.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- Textbook execution
- Generous portions
- Durian pizza!

The Bad:
- Definitely has hotel food vibes, but it was prepared well

Beechwood Cafe

For all the times we have visited the City of Angels, we have never hiked up to the Hollywood sign. I guess it just might be that we were always there during Summer and it would be uncomfortably hot to do so. This time around, Viv and I were here not in the midst of July or August. The weather was just right. We were able to snag a parking spot near the starting point of the hike and did the leisurely stroll up the mountain. Very strange that part of it is someone's driveway... After that, we were pretty hungry and did the touristy thing and stopped by Beechwood Cafe (apparently many people do this...).

After a 30-minute wait, we were seated and got started with the Housemade Spicy Buffalo Wings. These didn't look it but they were actually pretty hot. I personally love spicy food so this didn't make want to order milk, but it definitely had impact and left my lips tingling. I found the batter to be pretty crispy (even with all the sauce) and the skin was fairly rendered. As for the meat, it was moist and juicy. I really liked these and should've gotten more in a different flavor!

We ended up sharing a few dishes including the Backyard BBQ Pizza with grilled chicken breast, cilantro, red onions, jalapenos, cheese blend, marinara and housemade BBQ sauce. The crust was pretty thin and uniformly crispy. Interestingly, this pizza featured both tomato sauce and BBQ sauce. I actually liked that as it broke up the sweetness and added another layer of flavor. The pieces of chicken were fairly tender while the onions provide sharpness and the cilantro did its herbaceous thing.

For myself, I took the advice of our server and ordered the Kimchi Chicken Burger. I thought the addition of housemade kimchi was the key to this. It was crunchy and had a fermented spice to it. Unlike other Korean-style chicken burgers out there, this wasn't drenched in gochujang. Instead, there was only a modest amount of sauce. Therefore, the chicken was still crispy and also plenty juicy. Those fries on the side were pretty awesome, hot and crunchy.

From their breakfast menu and also acting like our dessert, we had the Classic French Toast with strawberries, fresh cream and maple syrup. This was really good where the bread completely soaked so it was a bit eggy and almost custardy. The outside was nutty from the pan-sear. Overall, our meal at Beechwood Cafe was pleasant with some real highlights. No wonder it is so busy and not only because of tourists. Food is good and done right while the portions are generous.

The Good:
- Diverse and large menu
- Food prepared properly
- Service was great

The Bad:
- Super busy, prepare to wait
- Cramped seating arrangements

Chez Pipo

We all know that Nice is famous for their Salade Niçoise. Heck the place is in the name of the dish! Now I love a good salade niçoise but really, there are more things native to Nice than that. So we ended up visiting Chez Pipo in the heart of Downtown in search of another famous dish - Socca. There are many places you can get this specialty in the area, but according to most, this is the place to get it. Is it a bit on the touristy side? Maybe, but we didn't care!

So we got there at opening and snagged a table outside. It quickly filled up and then a lineup formed. Before we got to the socca, we started with the Pissaladière. This version was a bit different than the one we had at Le Fromager de Saint-Paul. The flatbread was a bit thicker and the onions were not as caramelized. Hence, it was more robust and the natural onion flavour came through much more strongly. It ate more like an onion tart of sorts.

Staying on the same theme, we had their version of Pizza with tomatoes, parsley and garlic. Due to the thicker bread-like crust, this was more dense, but not in a bad way. The generous amount of fresh tomatoes on top added both moisture and natural tomato flavour. Equally present, the garlic was really prominent with both aroma and just a touch of sharpness. I much preferred this flatbread since it was not so full of onions.

We decided to get a set of their Tartinades featuring olive tapenade paste, anchovy cream, mix of Provence vegetables and sundried tomato. This was served with golden croutons on the side. Such a simple, yet delicious shareable appie. I was all about the anchovy cream as it was salty and briny. Tomatoes were impactful too with sweet tanginess. Naturally, the olives in the tapenade was salty and tangy while the veggie mix was bright and fresh.

Ordering all the local specialties, we had the Mini-Pan Bagnat as well. This is a small bun filled will all things found in a salade niçoise. Story goes, these were eaten with leftovers from the salad. Yep, this was indeed filled with tuna, egg, radish, anchovy, onion, green pepper, tomato and olives. The trick here was to soak the bread with olive oil and the tomato juice (since bagnat means "wet"). Therefore, the sandwich was moist, soft and conformed to the ingredients. Of course, we had the saltiness of the anchovy.

Now let's talk about Socca. This chickpea flour based pancake said to have originated from Roman soldiers cooking them on their shields or when residents in Nice sustained themselves with the 2 ingredients that were plentiful at the time (olive oil and chickpeas) when the city was under siege by Turkish forces. Whatever the case, we absolutely loved it! So crispy and light on the outside while satisfyingly soft and well-seasoned inside. This could be eaten as a snack or meal anytime in the day! We also got a variation with parmesan and it come out flatter and a bit denser. But had the salty nuttiness of parm really added another dimension to the already flavourful socca. Whatever the case, Chez Pipo really delivered with their delicious socca. The other dishes were fine too, but the real draw is their signature dish!

The Good:
- Delicious socca
- Reasonably-priced
- Good service

The Bad:
- Other dishes were okay
- Parking in Nice is not nice

Hearthstone Pizza

Almost 10 years ago, I had visited Hearthstone Pizza out in PoCo (more like Coquitlam, but technically PoCo). Fast-forward to the present, Jacky and I were invited to check it out. Despite still being a pizza place, it is now run by a wonderful Korean couple where they have put their own touches on the menu. Sure, there is still classic stone oven thin crust pizza, but they also have Korean-inspired pizza featuring a thicker crust that is actually not heavy. Of course, they've added Korean snacks and dishes for their dinner menu as well as a pop-up of cream buns. They are also licensed.

We ended up trying out most of their menu starting with the classic pizza. These featured a thin crust and barely-there edge. We started with the baseline in the Margherita. This consisted of tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and fresh basil. There was a good amount of everything on top, but despite that, the crust remained fairly crispy. I found the tomato sauce to be mildly tangy with a balancing sweetness. The decent amount of cheese made each slice rather hearty. Despite the big slices of tomato, it didn't make the pizza too wet.

To get an idea of the other offerings, we did half-and-half of the Meat Lovers and BBQ Chicken as well as the Mediterranean and Hawaiian. As with the margherita, the crust was relatively thin and was uniformly firm from edge to centre. I liked how the toppings and cheese made it almost to the very edge of the pizza. My favourite of the bunch was the meatlovers with the ample amount of meat. The Hawaiian was also solid with plenty of ham and pineapple. They weren't shy with the cheese either.

For the Premium K-Pizza featuring a thicker dough, we had the large No. 1 Signature that had a bit of everything atop its square pieces. Each piece represented the different pizzas available on the menu. The amount of mozzarella cheese on this pizza was ridiculous but welcomed. Very cheesy and filling. As for the crust, it was still thin on the bottom while thicker on the outer edge. However, it was airy and light while filled with more cheese! I feel that a large K-Pizza would easily feed 4 people (as long as they are not football linebackers).

Even though we had all of the pizzas represented already in the Signature, we ended up with 2 medium pizzas so we could try them in a bigger slice. We got the No. 4 Gold Rich and the No. 7 Garlic Shrimp. As much as there was just as much cheese and toppings on the gold rich as the signature, I wasn't a huge fan of it as it ate very heavy. The sweet potato puree sure tasted great, but carbs on carbs make for a heavy slice. However, the garlic shrimp was primo as the generous amount of melted mozzarella melded well with the buttery and well-seasoned shrimp. Each slice was so delicious and aromatic, I wanted to eat more of it. Alas, I was getting quite full at this point!

In addition to pizza, they also feature a few flavours of baked Chicken Wings. We ended up with the Honey Garlic. To ensure we were able to try the other flavours, we had side sauces of the BBQ and Spicy too. Since these were baked, there was no batter on the outside, which made the skin more rendered. As for the meat, it was fairly moist given that the wings were baked enough for the skin to be rendered. The honey garlic was mild and only lightly sweet. I loved the BBQ sauce, it was plenty tangy and sweet. The spicy did have a nice kick to it.

Onto the Korean eats, we had some snacks including the K-Corn Dogs and So-Ddeok So-Ddeok. I really enjoyed the So-Ddeok So-Ddeok as the rice cakes were crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. Such appealing texture. Also, there was just enough sweet and spicy sauce drizzled on them. The sausage was meaty and nicely grilled. Lastly, the corn dogs were coated aggressively, but the batter was not as heavy as it appeared. Nice crispiness on the outside and plenty cheesy on the inside.

At night, they serve certain Korean dishes including the Gamjatang and Korean-Style Sausage Stew. I really enjoyed the pork bone soup as it was served bubbling hot and was flavourful. There was a nice meatiness to it while exhibiting a noticeable spice. The pork bones were fall-off-the-bone tender. The sausage stew was a smaller version of the dish and sported noodles in a spicy broth. There was a good amount of sausage and tofu as well.

One more snack was the Corn Cheese that was served on a long and deep plate, the corn cheese had plenty of cheesiness while the corn niblets were nicely textured and sweet. Our last Korean dish was the Steamed Egg and if you look at the picture, it was plenty fluffy and light. There was a good amount of green onion on top which partially dominated the flavour profile (dependent on where you scooped). Otherwise, it was sweet and mildly flavoured.

Also located within Hearthstone Pizza is Golden Brown where they have a selection of savoury baked buns as well as their sweet cream buns. We tried all 3 of their savoury options including the Corn Cheese, Basil Pesto & Chicken and Ham & Cheese. All 3 featured a firmer exterior that was slightly crispy while inside was soft and nearly pillowy soft. There was no absence of ingredients and seasoning to make these tasty. I very much enjoyed the basil pesto as it was herbaceous and the corn cheese was sweet from the niblets. Ham & cheese was pretty basic, but had a good mix of cheesiness and saltiness.

Now those were really good, but I found their Cream Buns to be even better. The bun themselves were pillowy soft and had a slightest of chew that gave it a great mouth feel. Inside, there was so much filling that you can't help but get it all over your face. My favourite of the bunch was the basic milk cream as it was like eating an eclair but in a soft bun. The Oreo cream was good too, but sweeter. Chocolate was similar to the milk cream except tasting like milky chocolate. If red bean is your thing, the matcha & red bean had plenty of impact from the slight bitterness, but balanced off by the sweet red bean. So as you can see, there is a lot to eat here at Hearthstone. A bit misleading from the name, but rest assured, the Korean food is legit and the buns are heavenly. I guess you might have to make multiple visits to try everything!

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- That K-pizza has so much cheese and toppings (even in the crust!)

- Solid Korean dishes

- They even have Golden Brown cream buns

The Bad:

- They do a good job in pulling it off, but maybe a bit too many items on the menu?

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