As near as I can tell there will never be any pizza but we love the campy name and concept of this new Chinatown joint. They say that they serve Japanese snack food and while libations may be an equally important attraction, we enjoyed our snacks!
Located in the space that was recently Mitzie's (and used to be a Bino's at one time?), at the corner of Main and East Pender, the neighbourhood is colourful during the evening hours but perfectly safe.
Arriving early, as usual, we were seated immediately and started with a salad. Tomato Carpaccio is exactly what you would expect, thinly sliced tomato. Along with iceberg lettuce, radish etc and a Japanese-style sesame dressing, this was a nice clean and refreshing start.
I have to admit that the Blooming Onion was one of the main things that drew us to PCS. I saw it on the menu and was immediately sent into nostalgic visions of state fairs past. Certainly, one of the most unhealthy dishes possible that you could still call a vegetable, this battered and deep-fried onion is served with a mayo-based dipping sauce with some serious dill flavour. Admittedly, it just missed the mark a little bit for me as I had built it up into something else in my recollection. To me, there could have been more batter and there was a bit of burnt taste on some of the 'fingers'. Still it was a tasty dish and worth trying.
We were also intrigued by the idea of Periyaki Chicken and so we ordered half a bird. The chicken comes grilled with teriyaki and is served with house-made peri-peri sauce on the side and half a nicely charred lemon to squeeze over the top. All the pieces including the breast meat were nicely grilled and charred but remained tender and moist. The peri-peri sauce was very tasty. When combined, it's a very good mix of flavours that maybe you wouldn't expect to see together. We didn't get a whole lot of the teriyaki part however as it seemed to have been a little overwhelmed in the mix.
Finally, and though we are not big dessert people, we sampled and loved the Matcha Panacotta with Strawberries. This was smooth and tasty without being too sweet. The velvety pannacotta contrasted well with the nicely firm strawberries.
Service was upbeat and everyone seemed to be in a good mood. BTW, I can gauge the background music by how many songs I Shazam and how many albums I subsequently download (music I don't know obviously) and the answer is four. This tells us that I loved the cool jazz musical vibe including Yasuko Agawa, M'Du and the Dynamics. This was in contrast to the K-Pop that we listened to at lunch elsewhere today and that I did not Shazam or download (sorry K-Pop people). Tables have adequate separation or barriers and pandemic protocols are in place. You can have a safe and nice meal in a chic space.
Food 3 out of 5
Comfort 4 out of 5
Service 4 out of 5
Value 3 1/2 out of 5
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