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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Kumare Restaurant & Bakery

Our friends wanted to get their Filipino food fix, so we booked Kumare Restaurant & Bakery for a Saturday night dinner.

Lumpiang Shanghai
The restaurant is in a small plaza and there were just enough parking spaces for the size of the restaurant. When we arrived, we were seated pretty quickly but it took a long time between visits from the servers to place our order. The place was quite busy, but the servers clearly weren't very attentive that night. The food also took a very long time before they were served, but it could have been due to the number of large parties dining that evening.

We ordered 6 dishes and split everything 'family style'. Following is what was ordered.

Chicken Pandan
Lumpiang Shanghai - Deep fried bite sized spring rolls made up of ground pork, shrimp, and onions. Served with a side of sweet chili sauce. The sauce was the best part of the dish. The spring rolls had a light, thin, crispy skin, but the stuffing was very 'mystery meat'-like. The ingredients were very well-ground up so the texture was very bland.

Chicken Pandan - Fried chicken marinated in coconut milk and wrapped with pandan leaves. The chicken was very tasty and juicy. I thought the coconut milk flavour was too light, and overall the dish was too greasy.

Kumare's Rice
Kumare's Rice - Shrimp paste (bagoong) fried rice garnished with shredded mangoes. The mangoes had little to no taste and didn't add much to the rice and could have been left off completely.

Adobong Sitaw - String beans, shrimp, and pork braised in soy sauce, garlic, and vinegar. The sour nature of the sauce made this a favourite at our table. It went well with the garlic rice and the flavours were well received. I never thought I would enjoy minced pork with vinegar.

There were also 2 pork dishes that I honestly can't remember the names/descriptions of. The grilled one was actually quite good and very flavourful. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it was extremely greasy. The second pork dish was a little overwhelming in terms of the 'porkie' taste. The sauce it came with was good, but it was a little light in taste and heavy on cream.

Adobong Sitaw
After all the mains, we also ordered a couple of Halo Halo desserts which I didn't end up trying because I was feeling sick (not from the food, just in general).

Foodwise, all the dishes were very tasty but they were also consistently too greasy. I'm not sure if this is something common with Filipino restaurants as 3 of 3 that I have tried in the Lower Mainland are all pretty greasy.

Grilled Pork
The restaurant location wasn't bad as they practically have their own parking lot in front of the restaurant. The interior was a little confusing as it feels modern with dark colours and dim lighting, but the nature of the food they serve is more family-oriented. 

Despite the hit on service and the greasiness of the food, I still recommend Kumare Restaurant & Bakery because the food is good. Although, I would also recommend the greasiest dishes in moderation. 

Summary
Food: Very Good. This one could have slipped down to Good, but in moderation the greasiness can be overcome. 

Braised Pork
Service: Poor. The servers are slow and aren't really attentive to all the tables in a consistent manner. The kitchen is also quite slow with serving up orders. 

Setting: Average. Just enough parking out front, and tables that can be easily arranged for large parties. 

Value: Good. Their prices are quite reasonable and the food is pretty good. 


Halo Halo
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Ginger Indian Cuisine

Ginger Indian Cuisine left me very pleasantly surprised.

Butter Mekhani
J ordered the usual Butter Mekhani which she shared with H. The portion size was generous and the dish was thick and very rich with flavour. It tasted great and went well with the naan and rice. It didn't taste over complicated with too many different spices. Since H shared the dish, she had to order it non-spicy. 

Daily Special
I ordered the Daily Special which is basically 2 types of curry on a plate instead of 1 (plus a samosa). That night it was Korma and Kadai Paneer (if memory serves). I asked for my dishes to be spicy. I felt that both were a little thin but they were tasty nonetheless. Again, the ingredients in the both curries gave them a rich taste, but they didn't taste too heavy in spices. The samosa was average. I thought it was very light on stuffing. 

The Naan was quite good. It wasn't too thick and it was cooked well and lightly crispy. It wasn't the best I've had in the Lower Mainland but it ranked near the top. We also ordered the Paneer Naan, which is naan stuffed with a combination of cheeses, cilantro, and spices. It was quite heavy and really could have served as a substitute to naam plus rice. It was very good, but in hindsight I probably would have skipped ordering rice. 

Naan
Service was pretty good. It wasn't very busy at the restaurant but many patrons came and went and also commented very positively about the food. Many of the other patrons shared my sentiments in that it was like a gem of a restaurant to find in Richmond.

The restaurant is located in a small plaza on Bridgeport Road near Costco. The other shops in the plaza are all closed at night so there was ample parking. The interior of the restaurant was moderately well-lit and they had a TV on one of the walls playing the hockey game.

Paneer Naan
Overall, I would go back to Ginger Indian Cuisine. I know of several good Indian restaurants in Vancouver, but this is the first one in Richmond that I have tried that I enjoyed enough to want to go back. I recommend it!

Summary
Food: Good. I would almost rate it Very Good, but I did feel that my curries were a little thin.

Service: Good.

Setting: Good. Ample parking and there`s a TV for the hockey game.

Value: Good. The price weren't outrageous and the quality is good.


Ginger Indian Cuisine on Urbanspoon