Restaurant Review: Osum

By Sherman Chan,
Special to The Post

 

We sampled the Hot Dry Noodles consisting of house made thick noodles, bean sprouts, carrots, pickled mustard greens, cilantro, chili oil, garlic sesame chili sauce and braised pork belly. I enjoyed the chewiness of the noodles and when mixed with all of the ingredients, there was a spicy kick at the start and lingered right until the end.

My favourite bao was the Osum Beef with braised brisket, pickled mustard greens, crispy shallots, toasted pine nuts, cucumber, cilantro and spicy peppercorn sesame sauce. The beef was well-charred and caramelized. Hence it was sweet and smoky while tender to chew. Garnished with crunchy cheese puffs and processed cheese, the Osum Chicken also had cucumber, red onion and cilantro in a Korean sweet & spicy sauce. Although the chicken was tender and there was a nice crunch to go with the sweet glaze, the whole thing tasted of processed cheese and was salty, which I didn’t like.

The process cheese was thoroughly featured on the Korean Cheesy Chicken over handmade noodles, cucumber and kimchi tossed with chili flakes and kimchi mayo. This had somewhat similar elements to the bao, but the saltiness of the cheese was more evenly distributed amongst the noodles. There was more tang due to the kimchi and the spiciness was different as well. Not unlike Bao Down and Heritage Asian Eatery, Osum fits a niche that hasn't been necessarily filled up until now. I must give it to them for offering up some unique and interesting items. On the other hand, some tweaks are needed here and there.

 

Osum

125-3531 Bayview Street, Richmond, BC

 

The Good:

• Dare to be different

• Not devoid of flavours

• A change of pace compared to other spots in the area

 

The Bad:

• A few tweaks with the flavours are needed

 

Sherman Chan is the #1 ranked food blogger on the Vancouver portal of Urbanspoon.com. Read more of his reviews at www.shermansfoodadventures.com.

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