The Dirty Apron


This will be an unusual review. The Dirty Apron is actually a cooking school & delicatessen (owned by Chambar & Medina), Debbie gave me a gift card for a cooking class there a while back and finally had a chance to use it!

So this post will actually be me posting a review on my own cooking skills!

EEP!

You book the class online, and choose your menu, I chose the Ultimate Seafood class.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived here is how amazing the kitchen is. Every person who takes a class here is given their own professional gas stove, prep area, & sink. The Chef instructor has his own area where he will demonstrate each dish in front of us. A very impressive setup.

After cooking your dish you take it to the communal dining table where you're given complimentry wine, bread, & dips, and you get to enjoy your meal with the other guests.


We started out with Citrus Olive oil poached Spot prawns, with pan roasted Halibut cheeks and Saffron aioli.

Not too shabby huh? The prawns were nicely poached and I learned a bit more on cooking the cheeks better with a white wine sauce. The Grape Must drizzle added a nice bit of sweetness to the dish. The Emperor is happy!

Soy & sesame Tuna tartar with roasted shiitake mushrooms on pressed avocado, topped with a yuzu foam.

The easiest dish of the night, but very tasty (if a bit too salty, need to cut back on the soy and add more mirin). This dish makes me more confident on handling raw tuna. We all received what I thought was a very small piece of tuna, but when cut up and mixed with the diced mushrooms it makes a shockingly large amount of food! I also learned a new trick with the avocado I'd never seen before!

Pan seared Arctic Char, with a Vegetable Nage
A simple dish, but it's easy to mess up! I learned a few tricks to ensure the fish stays nice a medium rare, and the vegetable nage was simple and easy to do (a little butter always does the trick!)

Overall I find this place to be wonderful special treat as a gift for yourself or to someone special, because it isn't cheap. Not even close. A class here costs $150 per person!!! So this isn't an everyday experience. I strongly recommend this for anyone who enjoys cooking, and would like to learn new skills.

Sushi & Roll


Wow. Am I the only one who thinks that's a dumb name for a restaurant?

A few months ago, Surrey got a new Sushi restaurant, not a bad looking place, very similar to other Korean owned Sushi restaurants like Sushi Garden (though I believe they most likely serve Escolar instead of Tuna).

This will be a quickie.

I ordered a bunch of takeout rolls, both fusion and regular maki, and none of it really stood out. They tasted fine, but didn't stand out in any way. Some of the rolls (like the BC roll) was filled with a lot of filler (cucumber) and very little of the main ingredient (salmon skin)!

I didn't even bother to take a photo.

Until...

I saw something on their menu I hadn't seen before. A true diamond in the rough.

The Seared Salmon Nigiri.

This was amazing! A simple Nigiri with fatty salmon belly topped with a little mayo and seared with a torch. So simple yet so incredibly tasty! The top is nicely seared while the bottom is still nice and rare. I would come back to this restaurant any day for this!

Would I recommend this restaurant? Sorta*

* Again the food is decent, but nothing special. But if you do come here, you must order the Seared Salmon Nigiri! It is worth it. Otherwise the place is comparable to a Sushi Garden.

Tex Mex in Bellingham...

First things first. I'm not a fan of Tex Mex food, I do enjoy freshly made tacos when I can get them but this isn't that type of place.

In Bellingham they only seem to have Tex Mex places, and to me at least, are all the same! I don't even remember the name of this place, it's one of the three Tex Mex restaurants near Bellis Fair mall.

So take my review with a grain of salt, this isn't my favourite cuisine.

On with the show!

Here is what Debbie ordered a Grilled fish (not sure what type) with a creamy pepper sauce with Rice, Beans, & Salad. Fish was very salty but was cooked well. Huge serving though.

I ordered the Chicken & mushroom crema, basically some pan fried chicken pieces with a creamy pepper sauce with Rice, Beans, & Salad. Not much to write home about here, was boring and just tasted of cream and pepper, kinda like an Alfredo sauce with some chillies mixed in. Huge serving though. American sized!

Again I'll say that Tex mex is not my preferred cuisine, so if you like it I'm sure you'll enjoy these places. If you like a massive amount of food, I think you'll enjoy this place.