Miku Restaurant – Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi

2011 Follow Me Foodie Favourites & Yearblog

Happy New Year! Welcome to my Follow Me Foodie Favourites & Best of 2011! This is a recap and yearbook/yearblog of the BEST Follow Me Foodie (FMF) Food and FMF Foodie Moments in 2011.

I wrote a Follow Me Foodie Favourites & Best of 2010, so I decided to do another one this year. I don’t even know where to start. It’s been a crazy year, and I’m so grateful for everything that has happened with this blog. I’ve loved every minute of it (even the parts where it hurt to laugh because I was so full) and I’m so happy to have shared these delicious moments with you. Thank you for following me foodie and cheers to another year of gastronomic indulgence!

NOTE: IT’S NOT NECESSARILY “THE BEST“, BECAUSE FOOD IS PERSONAL AND I CAN ONLY DISCOVER SO MUCH IN A YEAR. THESE ARE JUST SOME WORTH MENTIONING IN MY BOOKS… OR BLOG? BLOG. IT’S MORE OF A 2011 RECAP/SUMMARY. ALL EXPERIENCES ARE FROM 2011 ONLY.

Top 20 BEST ASIAN/FUSION Restaurant Dishes & Food in Vancouver:

Suika – Beef Short Rib

Being in Vancouver, we’re spoiled by great Asian/Asian Fusion cuisine, so I decided to make it a separate category. Vancouver dominates and excels when it comes to Asian/Asian fusion cuisine.

Listed in no particular order. Based on the menu item, not the restaurant.

1. Suika – Beef Short Rib

2. Aki Japanese Restaurant – Black Cod (Sable Fish)

3. Pho Tam – House Special Pho

4. Wing Kee – Fresh Steamed Scallops with Vermicelli and Garlic

5. Dan Japanese – Tuna Chili Sashimi

6. Wang’s Beef Noodle House – Beef Brisket Noodle

7. Kirin Seafood Restaurant – Black Cod Braised with Squash and Roasted Pork Belly

8. Jade Seafood Restaurant – Steamed Mushroom Dumpling

9. Rainflower Restaurant – Pan Fried Tiger Prawns with Basil

10. Tokyo Joe’s Sushi Factory – Volcano Roll

11. Empire Chinese Cuisine – Alaskan King Crab Dinner – 4 ways

12. Red Star Seafood – Dungeness Crab with Wild Rice

13. Motomachi Shokudo – Bamboo-Charcoal Dark Miso Ramen

14. Tokachi Japanese – Tuna Gomaae

15. Empire Chinese Cuisine – Deep Fried Alaskan King Crab Knuckles

16. Ichiro Japanese – Dragon Roll

17. Delicious Cuisine – Deep Fried Shrimp with Salted Egg Yolk

18. Hapa Izakaya (Kistilano) – Salmon Shooter

19. Suhang Restaurant – Steamed Soup Buns with Pork Filling (XLB)

20. Jade Seafood Restaurant – Jade Smoked Grandpa Chicken

Honorary Mentions from 2010 list: Miku Restaurant – Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi, Top Gun J & C Restaurant – Baked BBQ Pork Bun, Hakkaido Ramen Santouka – Toroniku Shio Ramen

See “Follow Me Foodie Best of 2010 Asian/Fusion Dishes” here.

See the full “Follow Me Foodie Best of 2011″ here.

Restaurant: Shanghai Wonderful Restaurant
Cuisine: Shanghainese/Chinese/Dim Sum
Last visited: August 12, 2011
Location: Richmond, BC (Richmond Central)
Address: 8380 Lansdowne Rd
Price Range: $10 or less for dim sum, $10-20+

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4
Service: 2
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Shanghainese owned/operated
• Authentic Shanghainese
• Local favourite
• Extensive menu
• Very busy/line-ups
• Reasonably priced
• English/Chinese menus
• Family friendly
• Reservations recommended
• Sometimes cash only… “machine broken”
• Free parking
• Mon-Sun Dim Sum/Lunch 11am-3pm
• Mon-Sun Dinner 5pm-10pm

**Recommendations: Shanghai Style Juicy Pork Buns aka Xiao Long Bao, Turnip Cake, Pan-fried Pork Dumplings, Boneless Duck with Eight Treasures (Reservation required and for dinner only)

I’ve been coming to this restaurant before it moved to this location. It used to be a hole in the wall located on No 3 Road across from Richmond Centre. It was fantastic as a hole and the wall and I found it still very good after it moved and re-opened here. There was a lot of debate about the quality going down hill after the move, but I didn’t visit it often enough to be able to tell a significant difference. Regardless, it’s been a few years after the move, and it still remains as busy as ever and reservations are highly recommended.

On this occasion I came at around 2pm so the restaurant was a lot quieter than usual. They offer a dim sum menu for brunch and lunch and then a separate larger menu for dinner. There’s English translations and some photos, but otherwise I’d recommend coming here with someone who knows what to order because “Onion Cake”, “Baked Short Cake”, and “Deep Fried Salty Cake”, isn’t exactly a helpful menu description. I guess that goes for almost every Asian, Indian and ethnic restaurant out there though. It even drives me insane and I know the culture, but you’re bound to get lost in translation sometimes.

Shanghai Wonderful is probably one of the most popular and well liked Shanghainese restaurants in Richmond, BC. It’s one of my go-to Shanghainese restaurants although I like to switch things up and try new places, however if it’s a big group, nobody ever objects to this as a dinner spot. It’s clean, comfortable, casual and reasonably priced and the quality of food is generally there. I’ve had my hit and miss dishes though so not everything is superb, which is the case for most restaurants anyways. This isn’t my favourite Shanghainese Restaurant because I really find my experiences have been heavily based on what I ordered, but I still like it and do come back every so often.

On the table:

**Shanghai Style Juicy Pork Buns – 4/6

• 6 pieces $5.25
• I think by now almost everyone knows what a “juicy pork bun/dumpling”, “xiao long bao” or “XLB” is… and if you don’t, I almost feel bad for you. Go try one!
• This is the must order dish at any Shanghainese restaurant and it’s supposed to show what the restaurant and chefs are capable of.
• They were served steaming hot and  hand made upon order as they should be.

• So many of my friends think they’re the best here, but I’m not as excited about these ones, although they are still very good.
• Yes, they are delicious and the skins are paper thin, but I found the meat too heavily marinated with soy sauce and it overpowered the natural flavour of the pork broth.
• There was a ton of “juice” or pork broth/soup, but it was noticeably saltier than usual and you can tell just by the colour of the broth.
• I couldn’t taste much of the onion or ginger either, which in some cases I can.
• The meatball was tender and good, but I actually prefer the XLB from Suhang Restaurant, Shanghai House, Shanghai River, or maybe even Beijing Cuisine better (all those are located in Richmond).

Usually there should be much more ginger in the vinegar served with it.

**Pan Fried (Pork) Dumplings – 4.5/6

• 6 pieces $5.25
• I really enjoyed these and for what they were, they were done really well, except the skins were a little thick.
• Shanghainese skins tend to be a bit thicker for the pan fried dumplings, but I’ve had them thinner than this before.
• They were fried incredibly well with a nice and crispy golden brown bottom, but it was a tad oily, but that’s to be expected.

Sorry, it’s not the prettiest picture, but I had to show how much tasty pork juice these dumplings held.

• This is the same dumpling and as soon as I bit into it, the juice squirted all over the table. It was almost a one biter. When this happens though, it’s usually because the skin is a bit thick and your teeth didn’t sink through it.
• The skin was chewy and the pork and vegetable filling was incredibly tender with lots of pork flavour.
• The meat used was actually quite fatty although you couldn’t tell and it wasn’t gelatinous at all.
• I really enjoyed these!

Shredded Chicken with Starch Cake – 3/6

• $6.50
• Just by the title, I would never order this. Usually they would call it “glass noodle” “mungbean noodle” or “clear noodle” instead of “starch cake”, and by calling it “starch cake” even I got confused.
• This is one of my favourite Shanghainese dishes, but they didn’t do a great job with it here.
• If you’ve never had it, you would probably still find this good, but it can get so much better.
• In the simplest “American” description it’s basically clear mungbean noodles tossed with sesame sauce and shredded chicken, but there should also be freshly sliced cucumbers in it.
• It’s served room temperature or slightly warm and sometimes even cold. This one was in between. The sauce was warm, but the noodles were room temperature.

• It’s not always spicy, but sometimes it is, and I like it when it is a bit. In Shanghai they serve it with Chinese mustard on the side.
• This one had a lot of sesame sauce, but the sesame sauce tasted more like melted peanut butter than it did sesame sauce. It was very peanutty rather than heavy with the sesame. It was well seasoned and salty though so at least it wasn’t bland.
• There wasn’t much chicken, but the pieces it had were dark meat and a bit gelatinous. This is the authentic and typical chicken it would be served with though.

• The noodles are really slippery and they were all shapes and sizes. Some of them were very bitty and others were sheets of noodles.
• They were quite thin, but slightly crunchy in texture rather than chewy and springy.
• I would recommend the Beijing Style Chicken Fenpi (Mungbean Pasta) Salad from Lin’s Chinese Cuisine, although it is a bit more Western in style, or the Tossed Mung Clear Noodles in Sauce, Sesame Paste & Shredded Meat from Beijing Cuisine, which is a Beijing interpretation of the dish.

**Turnip Cake - 5/6

• 3 pieces $5.25
• These are really labour intensive to make and not many Shanghainese restaurants will offer them, but they are very authentic to Shanghainese dim sum.
• It’s a very filling and dense appetizer and half of one is plenty.
• The pastry is quite rich and it’s very tender, flaky and crisp on the outside, but also soft like a pastry dough on the inside.
• The inside is stuffed with well seasoned Chinese ham, chives and shredded radish and it’s savoury, but not saucy.
• It was also a bit sweet and some of the shredded radish which seemed pickled in a sweet vinegar, so the flavour was more than just savoury, which I liked.
• The pastry dough can come off as a bit dry, but with the moist filling, it all balances out and it’s delicious!
• The base of the turnip cake is crunchy and almost pan seared with a nutty toasted sesame seed crust.
• The only other place I’ve had it at where I’ve enjoyed it as much is Shanghai House – see Turnip Cake.

Onion Cake – 2.5/6

• 2 pieces $3.95
• The onion cake is good if it’s your first time having it, but it does get better than this.
• I wanted lots more onion, but the pastry was quite good with a crispy flaky exterior and then a soft and chewy inside.
• It was moist and savoury and very doughy, but a bit too thick of a pancake for me.
• An authentic Shanghai one is lighter than this, so this would be considered a dense onion cake, but it was still okay and not too oily.

Pork and Salted Vegetable Fried Rice Cake - 3.5/6

• $10.95
• I love Shanghainese Fried Rice Cakes. It’s basically a flat oval shaped thick noodle that’s chewy and also very filling.
• I actually prefer the “Shanghainese Style Fried Rice Cakes”, which has a bolder, darker, richer, saltier and stronger soy based sauce.
• The noodle was sliced very thin which I liked and they’re very chewy and they kind of stick to your teeth. I love them.
• This pork and salted vegetable version is quite traditional as well, but sometimes I find it a bit boring.
• This one was quite savoury with the natural juices from the pork acting as a sauce.
• The pork pieces were very fatty and gelatinous and a bit chewy and I really didn’t like that, but that is traditionally how it is made.
• The pickled cabbage gives in a tanginess and it does make it seem less greasy and takes the heaviness of the fatty pork away.
• It’s also sauteed with bean sprouts for a nice crunch and added texture. The flavour of this dish is not offensive at all.

Tofu with Four Treasures - 2/6

• $6.95
• I actually ordered this at dinner on a previous occasion and it looked nothing like the picture on the menu.
• There are photos on the menu, but after this, I don’t know how trustworthy they are.
• I love all the ingredients, but they really skimped on the toppings and the presentation wasn’t there.

The photo looked like this, so I wasn’t expecting what we got at all.

• It just looked like a block of tofu dumped straight from the plastic container it came in and it even had the ridges of the container imprinted around the edges.
• The “four treasures” will vary depending on the restaurant, but this was the vegetarian version.
• It was topped with some chopped up salted duck egg yolk, preserved century egg, pickled cabbage and another preserved pickled radish.
• The one they serve here will always come with the salted duck egg yolk, preserved century egg, and pickled cabbage, but the fourth “treasure” will vary according to what they have in stock.
• Other “four treasures” often include shrimp, smoked fish, peanuts, black wood ear mushrooms or other preserved, pickled, or dried Chinese ingredients.
• As much as I enjoy all the “four treasures” in this version, overall the execution was disappointing and they skimped on the toppings.
• The sauce was a soy based sauce and it was a bit oily, but it gave flavour to the tofu, which is obviously just bland.
• It’s a chilled salty and tangy appetizer and it was pretty much something I could have done at home after a quick stop at T&T.

**Boneless Duck with Eight Treasures - 4.5/6

• (Reservation Required, Dinner Only) $36.95
• This is another item I ordered at dinner here before. It’s a famous Shanghainese dish.
• It’s visually stunning, but it is pricier, although it is meant to be shared by at least 6-8 people.
• It’s pretty much an Asian style stuffed “turkey”.
• The duck is braised and it’s incredibly rich, filling, greasy, and heavy. One piece is almost more than enough.
• The “Eight Treasures” are different than the “Four Treasures” from the appetizer above.
• The duck is swimming in a bed of sauce and traditionally it’s supposed to be as well.
• This is also offered at Suhang Restaurant, and it must be pre-ordered there too.

The whole duck is incredibly tender and it cuts like a meatloaf.

• Unless you’re familiar with this type of cuisine, most of the ingredients in the stuffing will be foreign to you and perhaps a bit acquired, although it’s generally not hard to accept if you’re prepared for what to expect.
• It was stuffed with sticky rice, lotus seeds, duck meat, duck livers, shrimp meat, possibly pork or chicken gizzards, green soybeans, dried scallops, ham dices, bamboo shoots, dried mushrooms and maybe ginko nuts and dates.
• I’m not exactly sure which of those 8 were in there, but it was some combination of those listed and it was a bit hard to pick out.
• It’s all sorts of traditional Chinese ingredients that are bound together with duck fat and foie gras drippings. Yum!
• This wasn’t the best stuffed duck and it was a bit heavy on the sticky rice rather than the ingredients, but it’s still good and I would recommend you to try it.
• The skin is incredibly fatty and then the inside is almost mushy and creamy and a bit wet from all the ingredients, but it isn’t always like this.
• The duck is tender and moist and braised for hours so it melts in your mouth, but then there’s some texture from all the other ingredients too.
• It’s heavily sauced with a oily, rich, thick sweet and savoury duck broth gravy, and it is good, but just heavy.

Steamed Sticky Rice with Eight Treasures – 1/6

• $8.95
• I call this Asian style “Christmas Pudding” or “Rice Pudding”.
• This is not for me at all, it’s pretty much everything I dislike about Chinese desserts in one bowl.
• For people that like this dessert, it might be a 5/6.
• It was another menu item with “treasures” in the title, which is super vague for anyone unfamiliar with the food or culture.
• I don’t even know what the eight treasures in this dessert were, but it was different than what was in the stuffed duck and tofu appetizer… thank goodness.

• First, I saw red bean… ew. It was extra thick and pasty too. Sorry, not for me.
• Then there were those artificial tasting syrupy preserved fruits that remind me of Maraschino cherries…
• To top things off it was served warm and it’s incredibly dense, heavy, filling and gluey.
• Basically it’s sweetened sticky rice, sweet dried dates, dried apricots, ginko nuts,  and some type of artificial candied jellies or fruit and other beans and overall this was an utter nightmare for me.

Restaurant: Northern Meixi Fast Food
Cuisine: Shanghainese/Chinese
Last visited: May 30, 2011
Location: Burnaby, BC (Burnaby South) – Inside Crystal Mall food court
Address: 4500 Kingsway
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2
Service: 2
Ambiance: n/a (food court)
Overall: 2
Additional comments:

• Shanghainese owned/operated
• Located inside food court
• Northern Shanghainese cuisine
• Specializes in dumplings
• Handmade dumplings
• Very casual/quick
• Chinese menu (some English)
• Budget friendly/cheap eats
• Cash only
• Lunch/Dinner

**Recommendations: n/a, but if you’re craving Shanghainese or “Shanghainese Juicy Pork Dumplings” then visit the other Shanghainese stand located in the back of the food court called Xu’s Wonton House (previously Wang’s Shanghai Cuisine).

Crystal Mall is an Asian Mall located next to Metrotown and I rarely come here because the parking is horrendous (worse than Aberdeen Mall in Richmond). The food court itself is actually pretty good and if you’re looking for cheap eats and Asian food, it’s a solid bet that you’ll find something satisfying here. It’s busy to Chinese locals in the neighbourhood and you may have to fight for a parking space as well as a seat for lunch, and that is certainly as big of a headache as it sounds. Luckily I was with Sherman who took one for the team and did the driving with almost no complaints!

I’ll just save you the gas and throw it out there early that Northern Meixi Fast Food probably isn’t worth your time unless you’re on foot and in the area anyways. But on that note I’d still suggest another food stand if it’s Shanghainese food you’re craving.

The ordering at Northern Meixi Fast Food was already quite difficult. There are some English translations, but most of it is in Chinese. Thank god there was some photos though! I managed to find out that the specialty here is their hand made dumplings (different than the XLB), so already knowing that I wasn’t expecting great XLB.  The food was hand made and made upon order, but it just wasn’t very impressive and I probably wouldn’t come back for anything I tried. At least it’s dirt cheap though so even the cost of a bad experience is easy to absorb.

I guess it wasn’t inedible, but it also wasn’t good or enjoyable. If I didn’t do a direct comparison of their food with Xu’s Wonton House, which is also located in the same food court, then it might not even be as poor as I am considering it. That was the whole reason for trying this stand though. It was a Shanghainese Juicy Pork Dumpling aka “xiao long bao” (XLB) show down and these are the only two stands in the food court offering them. It was no contest that Xu’s Wonton House XLB’s were better though, which I posted about here.

On the table:

Steamed Shanghainese Pork Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao/XLB) – 2/6

• 6 pieces $4
• It’s already hard to enjoy these dumplings when they’re served this way. Being that it’s food court style, I can overlook it.
• It’s kind of difficult to pick them up without breaking the skins since they were sticking, but they were quite thick anyways so it made it easy. That’s not a good thing either.

• There was barely any soup in them and the skins were doughy and very soft.
• The little broth it had didn’t even really taste like pork broth, but it tasted a bit like mushroom soup.
• The meat wasn’t very tender and overall there was no competition that Xu’s Wonton House had better XLB.

Steamed Pork and Vegetable Dumplings – 2/6

• 10 pieces $4.75
• This is supposed to be their specialty, but there are better versions of it even at other food courts. There’s a place that does a pan-fried version in Admiralty food court, which are pretty decent.
• These are hand made and dirt cheap, but I likely still won’t order it again.

• They were quite juicy and the pork was moist, but bland.
• The skin was really thick and chewy and it overwhelmed the filling. It tends to be thicker since it’s Northern Shanghainese cuisine, but I still found it too much.
• There was also some Napa Cabbage and diced onion in the mix which were kind of the only flavours I could taste.
• I just wanted to eat the inside and leave the skins, which isn’t the proper way to enjoy them either.
• Although it’s not the best, but it is better than this, I’d suggest Beijing Cuisine for these dumplings – see Boiled Pork Dumplings Stuffed with Leeks, Shrimp and Eggs.

Tossed Noodle in Pork Sauce – 2.5/6

• $4.75
• This is one of my favourite noodles, but it just wasn’t done that well here.
• It’s a saucy dish topped with a savoury lean ground pork sauce and gravy and some raw cucumber.
• It should have been spicy, but it wasn’t at all.
• The cucumber should be cut julienne to retain flavour and texture, but this one was either old or grated because it was watery and soggy and lost its crunch.

It’s tossed all together before eating it.

• The handmade noodles were soft, buttery, yet firm and they did have a bite, but I didn’t care for them too much.
• The minced pork sauce was actually quite tasty and well seasoned and it had some diced sweetened potato in it which is unusual. It tasted like the Korean sweet potato appetizer so it had this savoury and sweet balance and good texture.
• The sauce was predominately the savoury soy bean paste sauce and there was a significant amount of it to coat the noodles well.
• Although it’s comparing apples to oranges, I prefer the Cantonese Chinese version of these noodles found at wonton houses – see Lo-Mein with Shredded Pork in Spicy Brown Sauce from Michigan Noodle Shop.

Pancake with Egg and Pork Floss – 1/6

• $3.75
• I usually really love this item, but it was very poorly executed and sloppy here.
• I watched her make it on the spot too and it looked really good. I also think there was something lost in translation because this had no pork floss in it.
• It’s a very thin crepe that was quite carb heavy and filling, but it was very soggy and wet and not enjoyable.
• The crepe is made with a lightly mixed in egg and some green onions.
• The pancake is usually crispy, but this one was closer to a soft and and pliable crepe. It was chewy and a bit bland.
• There should be a slightly crispy and layered aspect to this pancake, but this one was served like a log and it was a very “careless” way of making it.

• The inside was two deep fried savoury donuts (the ones you eat with congee) and some chopped onion and cilantro.
• The worst thing is when these donuts are soggy and they were completely soft and soggy. Yes, it was bound to happen since the crepe is hot, but there are better ways to execute this crepe and it shouldn’t have been like this.
• I could taste some of the egg and then there was some soy bean paste and a bit of sweet and spicy chili paste in it, but it just really didn’t work overall.
• Please don’t veto this item if you see it available on future menus though because it does get much better.

Restaurant: Xu’s Wonton House
Cuisine: Chinese/Shanghainese/Dim Sum
Last visited: May 30, 2011
Location: Brunaby, BC (Burnaby South) – Inside Crystal Mall Food Court
Address: 4500 Kingsway
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3.5 (based on the 2 items I tried)
Service: n/a (food court)
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 3.5
Additional comments:

• Popular for Shanghai Juicy Pork Dumplings
• Inside Crystal Mall food court
• Handmade dumplings
• Made upon order
• Chinese & English menu
• Very casual/quick
• Budget friendly/cheap eats
• Lunch/dinner
• Cash only

**Recommendations: Shanghai Juicy Pork Dumplings (XLB)

I recently blogged about Lin’s Chinese Cuisine and their ever so famous Juicy Pork Dumplings which are supposedly the “best in Vancouver”. Although I did find them excellent, I didn’t find them “the best” and that sparked a debate on Twitter for which was “the best”.

To be honest, I don’t know and I don’t think anyone does unless they’ve tried every single one in Vancouver. Anyways I have my selected Shangainese xiao long bao (XLB) go-to’s, but I haven’t tried them all yet either. Personally, the ones I enjoy the most are from Shanghai House, Suhang Restaurant, Chen’s Shanghai Kitchen, Shanghai River and I guess Lin’s Chinese Cuisine could go in there now too.

Before Xu’s Wonton House opened, it was another Shanghai restaurant called Wang’s Shanghai Cuisine. Wang’s was notorious for having “the best XLB” in Metro Vancouver, but I actually hadn’t tried them yet, which was almost considered a “foodie” crime. I guess I won’t ever get the chance to try them either because Wang’s has now closed and it is now called Xu’s Wonton House. Nobody really even knew it had closed, and when I discovered that it was, I was quite disappointed that I missed out.

Xu’s Wonton House is located inside the Crystal Mall food court in Burnaby, BC right next to Metrotown Mall. A food court isn’t the first place I’d consider visiting for amazing XLB so it does fly under the radar. Although the owners are different, the menu has more or less stayed the same. They’re still specializing in handmade Shanghainese Juicy Pork Dumplings and this time I wasn’t going to miss out. Since I can’t compare it to Wang’s Shanghai Cuisine I can’t say if they were better or worse than before, but luckily I was with Sherman who had tried them both.

The whole “best XLB” topic is what inspired it, but I suggested that we do a back to back comparison with the only other food stand in the food court serving them. So we decided to compare the XLB from Xu’s Wonton House with the ones from Northern Meixi Fast Food – see here.

On the table:

**Steamed Shanghainese Juicy Pork Dumplings - 3.5/6

• 5 pieces $3.57
• This is probably one of the cheapest places for XLB and if I consider the price they’re probably a 4/6.
• According to Sherman, they weren’t as good as the ones from the previous Wang’s Shanghai Cuisine. I never tried them, but I trust his opinion.
• I loved that it was in a food court and they still made the effort to serve them in bamboo steamers.

• The skins were actually very thin and I was scared it was going to break because they were almost too thin.
• They were also folded in a way that left a hole at the top for the steam to escape, which I don’t see being done too often.
• The dumplings held lots of soup and I could taste the pork flavour and a hint of ginger and sesame oil.
• The meat was tender, but  not as tender or melt in your mouth as say the ones from Shanghai House, Suhang Restaurant, Lin’s Chinese Cuisine or Shanghai River.
• Considering it’s a food court and the price, there’s not much to complain about and I would still order them if I was there, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for them either.

Tan Tan Noodles – 3.5/6

• $5.13
• This is one of my favourite Shanghainese (actually Szechuan) noodles and it was quite good here.
• It was moderately spicy and very creamy, rich, indulgent and very peanutty.
• Make sure you mix in though because a lot of the sesame sauce is at the bottom, which is weird because oil floats so I thought it would be at the top.
• It’s topped with lots of toasted black and white sesame seeds, green onions, sesame and chili oil, but it’s not too oily if you mix it well.

• The noodles were not hand made, which didn’t bother me, but it was the standard choice of noodle, and I found them too soft and a bit overcooked.
• The broth had some chili oil and crushed peanuts and it was more sesame sauce heavy than I’m used to, but I prefer it extra nutty so I didn’t mind at all.
• It was a bit sweet, savoury, aromatic and then spicy, but the spice didn’t linger too much.
• The broth was quite thick and pretty red and it definitely looks spicier than it actually was.
• I’d order this again, but I wouldn’t want an entire bowl of it for lunch since it’s quite heavy.

Restaurant: Lin Chinese Cuisine & Tea House
Cuisine: Chinese/Shanghainese/Dim Dum
Last visited: May 25, 2011
Location: Vancouver, BC (Fairview)
Address: 1537 W Broadway
Price Range: $10 or less, $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3.5-4 (based on what I tried)
Service: 2
Ambiance: 2.5
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Cantonese & Shanghainese cuisine
• Award winning
• Attracts locals and tourists
• Somewhat catered to Western tastes
• Famous for “Shanghai Juicy Pork Dumplings”
• Handmade noodles
• Local favourite
• Busy/line-ups
• Cheap eats/budget friendly
• Chinese & English menu
• Casual/quick
• Minimal service
• Lunch specials
• Bubble tea available
• Take out 10% off
• Free delivery
• Open daily 11am-3pm, 5pm-10pm
• Closed Tuesdays

**Recommendations: If you want great and specifically Shanghainese cuisine, then head to Richmond for it, but if good will do, then Lin’s will do. I’d say order Shanghai Juicy Pork Dumplings (xiao long bao) and Beijing Style Chicken Fenpi from what I tried. Their other specialties that I haven’t tried yet include Tofu Noodles in Soup, Tea Smoke Duck, and Braised Meatball Hot Pot.

It’s taken me forever to finally try Lin Chinese Cuisine. I always hear so much about the restaurant and how they have “the best juicy pork dumplings (aka xiao long bao or XLB)” in all of Vancouver, BC. Of course one would have to try every single XLB in the city to know which one is truly the “best” though. Anyways, the XLB was definitely on my must try list, but I had to see why else locals and tourists seem to flock to it.

I actually didn’t have that high expectations coming in, even though I knew that it was an award winning restaurant with award winning dishes. I had spoken with some friends familiar with Shanghainese cuisine and they had mentioned to me that they found it a bit overrated. So I was prepared with what to expect. I didn’t make a huge dent in the menu, but from what I tried, I could not agree with them more.

It was lunch time and the place was packed. I was actually surprised to see so many Chinese locals eating there because honestly I found almost all the dishes I ordered catered to Western tastes. It’s not comparable to my Din Tai Fung experience, but it was reminiscent of it.

In cases like these, I’m not hesitant to use the word “authentic” and say there is truly more authentic Shanghainese than this in Metro Vancouver. The menu showcases a lot of Cantonese dishes too and there’s more authentic for that as well.

The food I ordered was a decent representation of Shanghainese cuisine. Yes, it was good and very affordable, but I could also get the same thing and better in Shanghainese restaurants in Richmond (15 minutes away from Lin’s). I could maybe even find it in Vancouver, but I haven’t tried that many other Shanghainese restaurants in Vancouver, and this one is supposed to be “it”.

Therefore I have to say that Lin’s is probably good for the neighbourhood, where there’s not much competition for Shanghainese, but there is easily better 15 minutes outside of the city… in which case I’d make the drive.

On the table:

Complimentary Tea

• I don’t know if it’s the brand, quality or actual flavour of the tea leaves they’re using, but it tastes like dirt.
• I don’t know how else to put it, and I don’t want to be rude, but that was the flavour. Maybe it just needed a couple rinses before steeping, but I didn’t enjoy it.
• I don’t normally comment on tea, but it was noticeably different tasting here.

**Xiao Long Bao (Shanghai Juicy Pork Dumpling) – 4.5/6

• $4.99 (6 pieces)
• This is their claim to fame and their famous Chinese Restaurant Award winning dish.
• They might have made them popular and if they were first to introduce it to the city, then yes it would have been amazing and “the best”.
• The price is good and the dumplings are very good, but again there is better.
• The skins were handmade with one of the thinnest skins I’ve seen which is great.
• The pork soup or juice was hot and the flavour was good, but it wasn’t particularly anything to rave about, however the amount of soup in it was because there was a lot.

• In case you didn’t know already, but the soup comes from the fat from the pork as well as a pork stock that’s made into a gelatin and incorporated into the meat stuffing (thanks Sherman for the gelatin part, makes me feel less guilty for eating the tray).
• The steaming process releases those tasty juices.
• The meatball was tender and there was a hint of ginger and white pepper in the seasoning.
• The broth wasn’t as rich and creamy as a lot of the “tres excellent” ones in Richmond though.
• The meatball wasn’t even as tender as some of my personal favourites that just melt in your mouth.
• The places I’d recommend for even better juicy pork dumplings are from Shanghai House, Suhang Restaurant, Chen’s Shanghai Kitchen, Shanghai River, and even Beijing Cuisine has a more flavourful broth.

**Beijing Style Chicken Fenpi (Mungbean Pasta) Salad – 3.5/6

• $6.99
• This is one of my favourite dishes and it’s award winning here, but I think it’s better at other places.
• It’s an appetizer, but the portion is huge and it’s quite substantial and filling.
• It’s rich, creamy, indulgent, and usually a bit oily, but I really like it. This one did have a lot of sauce though.
• It had a decent amount of chicken, but it was a little on the dry side.
• There should be sesame seeds on top too.
• You mix it all together before enjoying it and it’s served room temperature.

• The “glass noodles” were smooth and slippery and jelly like with springy chewy texture, but they were too chewy.
• It’s a soft noodle, but they’re still supposed to break apart when you chew them and they just didn’t here, which was odd.
• It’s swimming in a pool of garlicky peanut sauce that usually has a combination of sesame sauce.
• This one tasted just like melted peanut butter with garlic and soy sauce though, and it had a distinct salty sweet flavour in the aftertaste more so than in the initial taste. This is likely from some MSG.
• It’s creamy, savoury, nutty and smooth and mildly spicy from some chili flakes.
• I like the one from Beijing Cuisine better – see Tossed Mung Clear Noodles in Sauce, Sesame Paste & Shredded Meat.

Honey Prawn Lunch Special – 3.5/6

• Available daily 11am-3pm. Meals include Hot & Sour Soup or Chicken Corn Soup, and steamed rice $7.99
• Honey prawns is another popular favourite and Lin’s signature dish, and they were good, but they didn’t seem that special to me and overrated.
• It’s a good deal for a sit down restaurant in the area, but just seeing the lunch special options it just screams out “Westernized Chinese food” outside of a food court context.
• It was almost like a warm crunchy Chinese style Ebi Mayo prawn salad served with rice. It’s better as an appetizer.

Honey Prawn – 3.5/6

• One of their signatures, but they do taste like honey prawns I could get from other Chinese restaurants.
• They do give you a lot of prawns, but it is a very Western tasting dish.
• How do I say this? Well on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives Guy Fieri showcased an “authentic” Chinese restaurant in Alaska making a very similar dish and it was the house favourite.
• There’s basically a dish called honey prawns with walnuts and that’s what this was, but without the walnuts.
• The prawns are medium sized and they’re deep fried and apparently have no batter. They definitely taste like they have a batter though.
• I think maybe chef does some double deep frying with a coat of cornstarch and honey in some specific process. It doesn’t taste as complicated as it probably is to make.
• It has a crunchy like batter and then a firm and tender crunchy prawn, but it seemed so Westernized that I was caught off guard and was expecting something else.
• The prawns are coated in a simple creamy mayo and honey sauce so it’s sweet and savoury, but more on the sweet side given “honey” in the name.
• It also has a tang from some lemon juice they probably mix in the mayo.
• Deep frying anything and topping it with honey and mayo is usually a good sign of a Westernized dish… but with those ingredients, it is usually pretty good, and it was.
• I wouldn’t care to order them again as I prefer other versions of this at Chinese restaurants (some with sesame seeds and some with walnuts), but this was a fair deal and the honey prawns do make for a good shared appetizer.

Hot & Sour Soup – 1.5/6

• Yeah this was major “gwai lo” or “white” version of hot and sour soup.
• It was very simple with very limited ingredients which were basically egg white, couple Chinese black wood ear mushrooms, couple shreds of carrots and couple bamboo shoots and some firm tofu. It was mediocre at most.
• The stock was a bit gluey, and it was more tangy than hot, but not nearly as tangy or hot as the authentic versions. The flavour was pretty flat, but it wasn’t bland.

“We are noodle folk. Broth runs through our veins.”
—Mr. Ping

Enter to win 2 tickets to the advanced screening of Kung Fu Panda 2!

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The Noodle Series – 20 Asian Noodle Dishes

In celebration of Kung Fu Panda 2 I’m featuring Mr. Ping’s favourite food! NOODLES! Here are some delicious noodles that come to mind for me. They’re not all necessarily my favourite or the “best”, but it showcases a variety. This is only within the Asian noodle category too. There are so many more choices and these 20 noodle dishes just touch the surface! Now how big of a noodle fan are YOU?!

The Vietnamese Noodle

Pho Tam – House Special Beef – Combination of Beef and Rice Noodle in Soup

The Beijing Noodle

Beijing Cuisine – Tossed Mung Clear Noodles in Sauce, Sesame Paste & Shredded Meat

The Chinese Noodles

Michigan Noodle Shop – Traditional Wonton Noodle Soup

Michigan Noodle Shop – Lo-Mein with Shredded Pork in spicy Brown Sauce

Rainflower – Hometown Style Pan Fried Silver Needle Noodle

Rainflower – Scrambled Egg & Scallop Fried Rice Noodle

The Thai Noodle

Khunnai Chang Madame Elephant Thai Cuisine – Pad Thai

The Japanese Noodles

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka -  Toroniku Shio Ramen

Miku Restaurant – Soba Pepperoncino

Aki Japanese Restaurant – Nabeyaki Udon

The Taiwanese Noodle

Wang’s Beef Noodle House – Beef Brisket Noodle

The Shanghainese Noodles

Northern Delicacy – “Dan Dan” or “Tan Tan” Noodles in Black Sesame Soup

Northern Delicacy – Shredded Chicken with Glass Noodle

The Malaysian Noodle

Seri Malaysia – Mee Goreng Mamak

The Singaporean (Malaysian) Noodle

Bo Laksa King – Laksa

The Korean Noodles

Jang Mo Jib – Jab Che or Jap Chee  (Potato Noodles)

In Korea (but available in Vancouver) – Stir Fried Korean Rice Cake Noodles with Gochujang Sauce (Ddeokbokki)

Celadon Fine Korean (whistler, BC) – Chilled Pink Angel Hair Noodles

The Szechuan Noodle

Sichuan Da Ping Guo Restaurant – Sichuan Glass Noodle with Soy Nuts

The Persian Noodle (Dessert)

The Apron – Faloodeh

Restaurant: Din Tai Fung
Cuisine: Chinese/Shanghainese/Dim Sum
Last visited: April 30, 2011
Location: Global locations – Seattle, WA (Bellevue)
Address: 700 Bellevue Way NE Ste 280
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3.5
Service: 3.5
Ambiance: 4
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• World famous restaurant
• 1 Michelin Star restaurant
• Locations in Asia, US, Australia
• Famous for “juicy pork dumplings”
• Started in Taiwan
• Very long lines/busy
• Tourist attraction
• Shanghainese cuisine
• Made upon order
• Fresh/home made
• Modern atmosphere
• Clean/comfortable
• Extensive menu, but with limited choices
• Vegetarian options
• Bubble tea available
• Brunch/lunch/dinner

**Recommendations: Go to Vancouver, BC… if not, the Seaweed and Bean Curd in Vinegar Dressing and Shrimp and Pork Wonton with Spicy Sauce are great. I guess you have to try the Juicy Pork Dumplings, but I found them okay compared to others I’ve had.

A 1 Michelin Star restaurant (but not for this location), named “Top 10 wonders of Taiwan” by Reader’s Digest, “One of the top 10 gourmet restaurants in the world” by The New York Times (1993), and ranked by New York Leisure Magazine as “the must-visited tourist destination” – This is the world famous Din Tai Fung. Finally it has arrived and it’s in Bellevue!

At first glance everything may look authentic. Chinese name, Chinese characters, deeply rooted Chinese history, and perhaps the most famous restaurant to introduce and establish Shanghainese cuisine to the popular mass market.

The line up for Din Tai Fung is out the door and it’s not shocking if the wait is over 2 hours as it was when it first opened. I was lucky to only wait about 30 minutes. People travel near and far just to visit Din Tai Fung.

The restaurant welcomes you by featuring a large display window of 20+ staff making these delectable Shanghainese “juicy pork dumplings” we have all grown to know and love by its proper name of xiao long bao.

So far so good as you can witness the xiao long bao, siu mai, and wontons all being hand rolled, stuffed and wrapped. All set, ready to go and made upon order. It sure seems authentic enough, but take a closer look and you’ll realize that there’s nothing quite “authentic” or “Shanghainese” about Din Tai Fung…

From the staff…

Hola Amigos! (Mind you, don’t let this fool you! They were all trained and wrapped a pretty good XLB, but I was assuming it was going to be Shanghainese chefs and cooks)

To the clientele… (and the pretty hostesses and waitresses)

To the fancy take out gift bags…

To the recyclable cardboard boxes… I can’t help but to think there is something very modern/Western/commoditized/commercialized about Din Tai Fung.

If this is America’s idea of authentic and traditional Shanghainese cuisine, then they need to come to Canada! Okay well maybe just to Vancouver, BC! It’s a closer and cheaper trip than to Shanghai and it’s beautiful up here! I have to admit, Vancouverites are extremely spoiled by high quality and traditional Shanghainese cuisine, let alone just Asian cuisine in general.

There’s no other way to say this, but if Cactus Club invented a Shanghainese restaurant it would be Din Tai Fung. Just like Cactus Club I found the food good, atmosphere trendy, and dishes overpriced. Actually the menu is quite limited to a whole bunch of “mix and match items” and it only touches upon the popular Shanghainese dishes. The menu looks extensive, but it really boils down to five things with slight variations of switching the protein or the noodle.

It’s quite overrated if you compare it to lots of other places you can find in Vancouver, BC. I don’t want to say Vancouver is the “best” and “most authentic” for Shanghainese, but it sure gives you a better idea of excellent Shanghainese food. Any of the following: Suhang Restaurant, Beijing Cuisine, Chen’s Shanghai Kitchen, Shanghai River, Shanghai House, Spicy Szechuan Seafood Restaurant, Northern Delicacy, Dinasty Chinese Restaurant would all be better than Din Tai Fung for almost all items. However in the case that there are no other restaurants of this quality and style in Seattle, then yes, Din Tai Fung might be considered a “local favourite” and “must try”.

I don’t have a problem with who is making or serving the food, and I’m all for recyclable material, pretty boxes and I guess I do enjoy posh atmospheres, but I can’t help to poke at Din Tai Fung a bit. I really don’t want to be too harsh because the food is decent, made in house, and still somewhat traditional with a powerful name and history to back it up. But with all its credentials, I wasn’t that impressed considering I’ve had easily better in Vancouver. Just know that Din Tai Fung is really just a taste of what Shanghainese cuisine is and only an introduction to what it has to offer. I hear Vancouver calling your name (if not already from there/here).

On the table:

Jasmine Tea

• $2.50
• Oh yes! I forgot about the tea. The tea can be added to the list of contributing factors that suggests “modern” Shanghainese food.
• The tea is from Mighty Leaf. Great teas, but at an authentic 1 Michelin Star Shanghainese/Chinese restaurant… someone please… insert your comments below.
• I was hoping for some imported quality Jasmine tea… and the restaurant also serves bubble tea.
  

**Seaweed and Bean Curd in Vinegar Dressing – 5/6

• $4.50
• I’m not sure if this was an authentic Shanghainese dish I haven’t tried before, or if they were going for the authentic Shanghainese appetizer – Marinated Bean Curd with Special Vegetables also known as “Malantou” by its traditional name.
• Whatever it was, it seemed quite modern but I did really like it! So for me it didn’t really matter if it was authentic, but it just wasn’t “Malantou” if that’s what it was supposed to be.
• It was a cold appetizer salad with strands of firm bean curd, clear mung bean noodles, fresh seaweed, and bean sprouts.
• It had great texture and flavour as it was all marinated and tossed in sesame oil, a malted vinegar and soy dressing with a hint of chili oil.
• It was crunchy, slippery, refreshing, tangy, savoury and had a nice mild spicy heat to follow. Delicious!

Xiao Long Bao 101: Each person is served a saucer of julienne ginger and self-serve malted vinegar to be eaten with the Juicy Pork Dumplings.

Juicy Pork Dumplings - 2.5/6

• 10 pieces $9.50
• I’d recommend these because it’s what they are famous for. But were they good? Yes, if you’ve never tried Juicy Pork Dumplings before, but otherwise there is easily better.
• They were a bit smaller than I’m used to and slightly more expensive without the flavour to back it up. I just found them overrated.

• There really wasn’t much soup, which is the point. The soup  or “juice” wasn’t as creamy or rich as I’m used to either.
• The pork flavour was good, but it wasn’t as melt in your mouth tender and not as fatty so therefore there wasn’t going to be much soup.
• The skins were great though and paper thin with still a nice chew.
• For comparisons sake see Juicy Pork Dumplings here at Suhang, here at Beijing Cuisine, or here at one of Vancouver’s most beloved places for them Shanghai River.

Noodle with Sesame Sauce – 3/6

• $6.50
• Tan Tan noodles! Or Dan Dan noodles! Whatever you want to call them, it’s the Shanghainese/Szechuan/Beijing noodle and soup bowl staple.
• The noodles were long and soft, but I actually question if they’re handmade. Part of me doubts they are because they don’t advertise or show it.
• There’s not as much soup and I’m used to this being served with julienne cucumbers and minced pork, but this was a vegetarian version.
• It was a creamy, rich, nutty, medium spicy sesame soup with chili oil and it was quite thick with a bit of a granular texture from the ground sesame seeds.
• It was topped with toasted ground peanuts and sesame seeds for added flavour and texture.
• The whole sesame sauce thing is actually an American touch to traditional “tan tan noodles”, but I’ve grown accustomed to it and I like it.
• This was good, and not bland, but compared to the Tan Tan Noodles at Shanghai River – see here, or Shanghai House – see here, or even Japanese restaurant Ramen Santouka – see here, it would be considered on the mild side.

**Shrimp and Pork Wonton with Spicy Sauce – 5.5/6

• $8
• Okay, I have to give it up to them for this dish! Bravo! If I was to come back, it would be for this rather than their famous juicy pork dumplings.
• It’s more of a Cantonese Chinese dish with Shanghainese flavours, but they sure mastered it well and it was excellent!
• I can get solid wontons in Vancouver, but these ones rival the ones I’ve had.
• There were 8 handmade wontons and I found it a heck of a good deal since it did have the flavours and quality.

• It was very aromatic in the initial notes and there was a little bit of spicy sauce that was almost like a soup to nicely coat them all.
• The slippery wonton skins were al dente and had a nice chew to them almost like pasta skins. The skins were a bit thicker and seemed more Shanghainese than Cantonese in style so that didn’t bother me and I actually liked it since the sauce was more bold.
• Each wonton was filled with fresh crunchy pieces of juicy prawn and there was more prawn than pork.
• The sauce had a delicious roasted nutty chili aroma and spice, yet it was sweet in the beginning with a heat lingering afterward.
• The dish had a little bit of sweet pickled Chinese cabbage to give the sauce some depth and tang and overall the flavours were strong and well rounded.

1/2 Red Bean Dumplings & 1/2 Sweet Taro Dumplings - 4/6

• 10 pieces $6.50 (You can order half of each flavour)
• Considering I don’t like many Chinese desserts and especially red bean, I actually could tolerate these and somewhat saw there appeal!
• For my personal tastes it would be 2/6, but I would give it a solid 4/6 if I liked these desserts. It was very well executed.
• Both flavours were actually very good, but it just depends on what you like. It’s like chocolate versus vanilla.
• They were steamed and piping hot dumplings and the skins were paper thin, but a bit dry.

• You pop these mini pockets in your mouth and it’s a rich, creamy, puree of a 2:1 ratio of red bean or taro root filling to dumpling skin.
• It just oozes out of the wrapper like a thick paste.
• It’s quite chewy from the skin and paste combination, but the puree fillings were very nicely done and moist.
• The taro root is a bit starchier and drier and the red bean had more flavour, yet both were nicely sweetened.

Restaurant: Beijing Cuisine
Cuisine: Chinese/Beijing/Shanghai
Last visited: April 24, 2011
Location: Richmond, BC (Richmond Central)
Address: 1118-3779 Sexsmith Rd (Continental Square)
Price Range: $10 or less, $10-20 for lunch, $10-20+ for dinner

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4.5 (based on what I tried)
Service: 2
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Beijing/Shanghainese cuisine
• Authentic
• Popular to Chinese locals
• Fresh home made pastry
• Clean/comfortable
• Quick/casual
• Chinese/English menu
• Good for groups
• Very affordable
• Cheap eats for lunch
• Family friendly
• Cash only
• Mon-Sun: 11am-3pm, 5pm-10pm

**Recommendations: Tossed Mung Clear Noodles in Sauce, Sesame Paste & Shredded Meat, Fried Pancake with Leeks and Eggs, Steamed Bun Stuffed with Pork

Thanks to a very loyal and regular commenter Bow for suggesting me to try this restaurant. I’m sure you can tell he knows his food just by the the extensive knowledge behind all the wonderful comments he leaves! I was looking forward to trying this restaurant especially since it was Bow’s recommendation, and a fine recommendation it was!

This restaurant has gone through changes in names, and I’m quite sure ownership as well, in the last few years as it struggles to find its niche. I mean they’ve always been serving some take on Shanghainese cuisine whether it’s executed with Shanghai, Cantonese Chinese, Taiwanese or now Beijing style. I remember dining here in previous years and the last time was when it was called Chopsticks Taiwanese Cuisine, but since then I haven’t gone back due to the mediocre food I experienced. I guess part of me always thought that it was the same restaurant with a different name, but it’s actually not the case. Or maybe it is, but the chefs are sure different this time around!

I wouldn’t say Beijing Cuisine is a hidden gem, but it is often overlooked in a strip mall plaza of restaurants. However the Chinese locals do know about it and the place is decently busy for lunch and dinner.

On this occasion I came here for lunch and I must say that the service was a bit interesting. The menu is in Chinese and English (with a few things only in Chinese), but as usual the English translations are very vague. Since my server didn’t speak much English either it made things quite confusing for both of us. In the end I had two random dishes that I didn’t intend to order on my table. After pointing it out, nothing really changed and it just became really pointless. She was pretty young and the prices are more than fair and the random things she gave us weren’t bad, so I just let it go.

I might as well stop beating around the bush and just say it. Expect great food at a great price, but with the standard service you would expect from a Chinese restaurant… which is notorious for not being good.

On the table:

**Tossed Mung Clear Noodles in Sauce, Sesame Paste & Shredded Meat – 5/6

• $7.95
• I’d be satisfied to have this alone for lunch or dinner… all to myself… and I like variety so that means a lot.
• I love this dish in general, but everywhere makes it different depending on the region.
• This is perhaps a more Beijing style of preparing it, but I do like the Shanghai way of making it as well – see Shredded Chicken with Glass Noodle at Northern Delicacy.
• It’s usually an appetizer, but this was entree sized. It was served warm and it can be served chilled too.

All mixed up.

• The noodles were thick, fresh, slippery and springy and the pork was lean and tender and well marinated in a garlic chili soy sauce with sesame oil.
• It’s a very aromatic and flavourful dish and it’s savoury, nutty and quite spicy with dried Szechuan pepper flakes.
• The heat lingers and it’s about a medium spicy. The fresh cucumbers cut the spice and add a refreshing crunch to the dish.
• It was more intense with sesame oil than sesame sauce flavour, so it actually wasn’t very creamy.
• I loved it! The noodles were perfectly cooked with a bite and there were lots of ingredients.

Boiled Pork Dumplings Stuffed with Leeks, Shrimp and Eggs – 4/6

• 15 pieces $7.50
• I wasn’t expecting them to offer such a variety of boiled pork dumplings and they were on every table, so I figured it was a specialty.
• It’s a lot of dumplings so hopefully you have a group.
• These were reminiscent of the ones I had in Hong Kong from Wang Fu Restaurant, except these were much more Shanghainese in style.
• They’re home made, and made upon order but the skins are a bit thick and doughy for my liking.

• This one was a bit undercooked, but the rest were fine. The gray pieces were actually raw shrimp, I still ate it and I’m still alive, but that was a major no no.
• They were savoury and full of leeks with coarsely chopped prawn and some scrambled eggs for flavour and texture, but I actually couldn’t taste much pork.
• These are eaten with malted vinegar which was noticeably tangier and very good here.

**Steamed Bun Stuffed with Pork – 4.5/6

• 6 pieces $4.95
• The xiao long baos, XLB’s, juicy pork dumplings, soup dumplings, Shanghai steamed pork dumplings… whatever you call them, you have to order them or at least try them! It’s a staple at any Shanghainese restaurant, I guess Beijing in this case though.
• I didn’t expect much from them since it was a Beijing restaurant, but they were solid!
• They were filled with soup! A lot of soup! More than usual.

• They were incredibly delicate and thin skins that weer so transparent you could just see the soup from the outside.
• The size was good and they were piping hot!
• They flavour of the soup was great, but perhaps not as creamy or rich as say the ones from Suhang or Shanghai House.
• The pork may have been a bit leaner and actually seemed more marinated than I’m used to. It was incredibly tender and juicy but it tasted like they used more soy sauce in the marinade.
• Regardless they were well made, flavourful, and they did hold more soup than a lot of places.

**Fried Pancake with Leeks & Eggs – 4/6

• $7.50
• This was the first random order that arrived. I actually like it though, so it didn’t bother me too much that I didn’t order it.
• For what it was it was a 5/6 because it was made very well, but in general I find it a 4/6 based on my enjoyment of it.
• The pancake was very thin and crispy on the top and bottom and it’s a very large portion.

• It’s generously stuffed with lots of leeks, Chinese vegetables, diced omelette pieces, and dried shrimp (the clear things).
• The eggs were pieces of a thin omelette crepe and it was made from preserved salty duck egg so it had a naturally salty flavour compared to a regular egg. They could have used a combination of the two, but I definitely tasted duck egg.
• The whole thing was very savoury with a slight seafood taste from the mini dried shrimp.
• I loved the contrast of the juicy texture of the sweet chives and leek filling with the crispy pancake and it’s a great snack to share with a group.

Fried Green Onion Cake – 2/6

• $4.50
• This is the other random item that showed up that I didn’t order. I had originally pointed to “beef pancake roll” and then this landed.
• Anyways everyone seems to love these in general, but I don’t see the big deal. Well I did have excellent ones in China once though – see here (The busiest restaurant I’ve ever been to in my life).

• The pancake pastry was handmade upon order, fresh, flaky and crisp, but overall it was bland.
• There was green onion filling but I didn’t get the flavour or the aromatics of it.
• I did like that it wasn’t too oily for what it was though.
• It looked pretty good, but the ratio of dough and onion wasn’t ideal.

Restaurant: Kalvin’s Szechuan Restaurant
Cuisine: Taiwanese/Chinese/Szechuan
Last visited: April 10, 2011
Location: Vancouver, BC (Kensington)
Address: 5225 Victoria Drive
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4 (based on what I tried)
Service: 3
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Taiwanese Family run
• Authentic Taiwanese
• Authentic Szechuan
• Some Shanghainese items
• Extensive menu
• Popular to Chinese locals
• Big portions
• Very affordable
• Better with groups
• Limited seating
• Reservations recommended
• Chinese & English menu
• Chinese written specials
• Frozen products to go
• Cheap eats/budget friendly
• Cash only
• Mon-Fri $6.50 lunch specials
• Mon-Sun 11-2:30pm, 5:30-9:30pm
• Closed Wednesdays

**Recommendations: Crispy Salty Peppery Chicken, Prawn & Peanut with Chili Pepper, and Chicken with Three Spice. Apparently the Smoked Duck is a signature item and the Fondue Spicy Pork with Organ Stew is the must try here, but I’m not too keen on offal.

My Taiwanese friend from Japan came back home for a visit and she was craving authentic Taiwanese food. After my recent delicious experience at Delicious Cuisine, so was I! Taiwanese food in Metro Vancouver is limited to endless bubble tea cafes, so there’s really not much selection for an actual Taiwanese restaurant. We decided on Kalvin’s Szechuen Restaurant and despite “Szechuan” being in the title, it is also known for traditional home cooked Taiwanese food. It’s funny because I’m supposed to make another trip out here in a couple weeks with a larger group.

Let’s forget about “authenticity” for a moment because Chinese cuisine is shared throughout China let alone Asia in general. Quite often Szechuan, Shanghainese, and Taiwanese food will cross paths and borrow ingredients and cooking methods from each other. Quite often they will offer some similar menu items, but the execution of each will be quite different depending on the chef’s style and area. Kalvin’s Szechuen Restaurant is actually a mixture of all three cuisines, but a predominant focus on Taiwanese and Szechuan. They do offer Shanghainese items, but from what I tried and could gather, it’s not the specialty here.

It’s a small and very casual restaurant and had steady traffic through the entire dinner service. It’s Taiwanese owned and operated, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the chef had some Szechuan culinary experience. It’s an obvious local favourite and it’s popular for a restaurant that flies under the radar, especially with the dodgy looking outside. They also have a frozen foods section in the back with dumplings, pancakes and Shanghainese specialties to go.

The daily specials are written only in Chinese, which totally sucks, but the menu has English so it wasn’t too bad. On the other hand it made it seem more authentic which I liked. I must say though English translations for Chinese menus really frustrate me. It makes it difficult to explore a menu when there’s a lack of description and it causes people unfamiliar with the cuisine to keep ordering the things they already know and like.

I mean with over 20 items for beef and names which are also descriptions like “Shredded Beef with Onion”, “Shredded Beef with Green Pepper”, “Shredded Beef with Bamboo Shoots”… how am I supposed to order without winging it?!!? Please. Help. The best I could do was observe the tables and see what everyone else was ordering. Luckily I had my Taiwanese friend with me… but too bad she’s not a foodie and always orders “Pork Chop on Rice”… argh… useless I tell you… j/k!

Nonetheless Kalvin’s Szechuan Restaurant was a great find and I would come back. The food was solid, the portions are very generous and the menu is more than affordable for lunch and dinner. It’s a quick and casual go to if you live in the area with plenty of traditional Taiwanese and Szechuan options. However if you’re looking for traditional Taiwanese that’s a bit more formal I would highly recommend Delicious Cuisine.

On the table:

**Crispy Salty Peppery Chicken - 5/6

• $6
• This was very good, but it’s not an item you have to get here, unless you haven’t tried it before. I just like the dish so I like to compare.
• It’s a good appetizer, but it’s common at a lot of bubble tea places too.
• My favourite is the one from Pearl Castle because it’s crunchier and crispier see here, although this one has a better flavour and it’s a bit more authentic.
• It’s Taiwanese street food and it’s not your average salt and pepper chicken or chicken nuggets.
• It’s very crispy boneless pieces of moist and tender juicy dark meat chicken marinated in garlic, wine and soy sauce and battered in potato flour and deep fried.
• It’s very well seasoned with salt, white pepper and Chinese 5 spice powder.
• It’s also tossed with some garlic and crispy fried basil leaves, which makes it more traditional. There should be more, but this is already one of the few places that serve it this way. Beefy Beef Noodle does it as well, but they’re not as good as here.
• It’s a very aromatic chicken with a wonderfully savoury flavour that is incredibly addicting like popcorn chicken.

5 Spice Beef in Chinese Pancake – 3/6

• $5
• I really like this and it’s another Taiwanese street food staple that’s also found at many Shanghainese restaurants.
• It’s served hot and made upon order and I usually love this item, but this one wasn’t well executed.
• It was a crispy and flaky home made green onion pancake or crepe, but it was much too thick and doughy with very little beef in the roll.
• There was one sweet scallion, a bit of sweet Hoisin sauce, and one slice of beef  that was a bit dry and much too thin that I could barely taste it.

Deep Fried Pork Chop with Rice – 3.5/6

• $5.50
• It’s one of the most popular lunch time items in Taiwan.
• This is classic Taiwanese peasant food, or comfort food.
• It was a really big portion and enough for two people.
• It’s a generous bed of rice topped with a typical Taiwanese pork broth/sauce made of light soy sauce and white wine.
• It’s a large fillet of crispy bone in pork chop, but it was really thin and a too battered for me. It’s executed the same way as the salt and peppery chicken.
• It was well flavoured and marinated in soy sauce, white wine and garlic before being crusted with a potato starch batter seasoned with 5 spice powder, salt and white pepper.
• The pork was moist, but the quality wasn’t great and the skin was a bit gelatinous and just too heavily battered that it kept separating from the meat.
• The sauce over the rice was a bit bland and thin and I like it more thick, savoury and sweet.
• This was good, but there is better versions of this dish.

**Chicken with Three Spice – 5.5/6

• Small $10 Large $20
• It’s actually supposed to be called “Three Cup Chicken” and it’s delicious!
• This is one of the most popular Taiwanese items and it’s supposed to represent the quality of the overall restaurant. It’s the prawn dumpling or har gow of dim sum.
• It was another large portion and it’s served in a clay pot. I had it at Delicious Cuisine, but can’t say which was “better”.
• I wish it was actually cooked in the clay pot though because it should be sizzling.
• It’s “Three Cup Chicken” because it’s made with 1 cup soy sauce, 1 cup white wine and 1 cup sesame oil.
• It’s stew like with aromatic bone in pieces of tender chicken generously coated with a thick and rich syrupy sweet and savoury honey like garlic soy sauce gravy.
• The chicken had a bit of a pan fried crust on them and it seemed slightly shallow fried and a bit oily as expected, but they were excellent.
• It’s like a sweet Taiwanese BBQ sauce with fresh basil, nutty sesame oil aroma and creamy caramelized cloves of whole garlic and a faint gingery background.
• It’s sweetened with sugar and it’s lick your fingers good… although eaten with chopsticks.

**Prawn & Peanut with Chili Pepper – 5/6

• $16
• Ohhhh! So this is what “kung pao chicken” is, well this was kung pao prawn, but same flavour. Based on the description I didn’t know.
• The waitress insisted on having it prepared mild instead of my requested medium, and thank god! Holy crap! Mild was so spicy already!
• This is a very typical Szechuan dish and it was pretty authentic except for the Sichuan peppercorns which were very minimal. It was spicy enough though!
• It was a huge portion with plenty of saucy prawns, lots of roasted chillies and tons of crunchy peanuts.
• The prawns were crunchy and coated with a spicy version of a similar sauce used in the “Chicken with Three Spices”.
• The initial flavour is sweet garlicky soy sauce and sesame oil and then gradually the heat picks up and then it hits you right away. The spice lingers for a long time afterward.
• It’s quite salty and it’s fragrant spicy, not hot, with the dry chillies and peanuts being flash fried in the oil to prepare the base of the sauce.
• The spiciness is powerful, bit still flavourful and addicting, but it’s really spicy! It had my nose running after the first three bites and I can handle my spice.
• The crunch of the nutty peanuts helped tone down the spice, but barely and I would have liked some more scallions. It took a long time to be able to taste the other dishes afterward, but it was really good!

Stir Fried Seasonal Vegetable – 3/6

• $8.50 or $9.50 depending on vegetable. This “tung choy” was $8.50.
• Tung Choy or Tong Choi or Water Spinach, is a popular vegetable in Asian cultures. It’s often in the “Morning Glory” dish at Malaysian restaurants.
• It’s a mustard green and it has a hollow stem and nice crunch.
• This one was simply sauteed with some minced garlic and it was a bit bland, but simple. It’s how it would be prepared in the home.
• I prefer the Malaysian version best, or Cantonese version which uses fermented bean curd and it adds so much more flavour.

Red Bean Pastry Pancake – n/a

• $4.50
• I hate red bean, so I can’t even rate it. The people that like it thought this one was decent.
• This is a Shanghainese dessert and it’s made fresh and piping hot and I still tried it.
• It was flaky, crispy, a bit oily and not that sweet at all with a thin layer of creamy red bean paste sandwiched in between the crepe.
• The pastry is fresh and made in house and it was nice and thin, but I just don’t like it.
• If you like this dessert there’s a better one at Northern Delicacy – see Sweet Red Bean Paste Pancakes.

Apparently the first 5 drinks are typical of any traditional Taiwanese restaurant. The “Root Beer” isn’t the American Root Beer either. It’s Taiwanese Root Beer made with Sarsaparilla root so it’s supposed to be more aromatic with a hint licorice flavour.

Restaurant: Suhang Restaurant
Cuisine: Shanghainese/Dim Sum/Chinese
Last visited: December 2, 2010
Location: Richmond, BC (Richmond Central)
Address: #100-8291 Ackroyd Rd
Price Range: $10-20 (dim sum), $20-30 (dinner)

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4 (based on what I tried on 2 visits)
Service: 3.5
Ambiance: 3.5
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Shanghainese chefs
• Quite hidden
• Familiar to some locals
• Clean/Comfortable
• Quick/Casual
• Affordable
• Dim Sim/Lunch/Dinner
• Complimentary dessert
• Serve alcohol
• Free parking
• Suhang Restaurant – Review/Visit 1

**Recommendations: Marinated Bean Curd with Special Vegetables, Steamed Soup Buns with Pork Filling, Drunken Chicken, Shredded Beef with Chili & Brown Sauce

This was another dinner after dinner. I had just come from an event fully catered by One Planet Catering and I was already quite stuffed, but when it comes to Shanghai Juicy Pork Dumplings, I can somehow always manage to find room. Same thing goes with desserts I guess! I’ve only come to Suhang once for dim sum before – see here, so I was anticipating their dinner since it would offer an entirely different menu.

Suhang is considered a hidden gem in Richmond, and it’s not even known by too many locals. However for the ones that do know the secret, it does have a reputation for reasonably priced authentic Shanghainese cuisine. As I stated in my first post for them, the owners of Suhang are actually ex-employees from Shanghai River, which is known as one of the best Shanghainese restaurants in Metro Vancouver. It’s a great casual place, and the inside actually looks a bit “fancy” and there’s never really a line up, but I’d recommend reservations for larger parties.

I must say that my first experience didn’t help me to understand the hype and love for this restaurant, until coming for dinner and trying more of their items. I have bumped up the ratings because making a bigger dent in the menu and trying more dishes did give me a better idea of what they could do. This is a perfect example of giving second chances and that you can’t really tell what a restaurant can do by trying only a few dishes. That is especially true if their menus are extensive too. Being that this is Chinese, or Shanghainese cuisine to be specific, it is no doubt that they offer a huge menu… in English and Chinese, but the descriptions don’t give any detail as usual.

On this occasion I took some recommendations from the server and the food I had was definitely quite authentic. I’m not going to compare to Shanghainese food in Shanghai, but for Vancouver standards, the flavours and style are representable of true Shanghainese cuisine. Quite often the Shanghainese restaurants here will cater to Cantonese tastes because of the population, and at times even to Taiwanese tastes – see Dinesty Chinese Restaurant, but Suhang is actually quite traditional Shanghainese, although at times it seemed bordering Szechuan flavours. Some of the food on this occasion was quite spicy, typical of Szechuan and Shanghai, and some quite salty, typical of Shanghainese. I still don’t think I’ve tried enough to see what they can really do for dim sum and dinner, but I’m definitely not opposed to going back a few times to figure that out!

On the table:

Live Prawns Daily Special – 3.5/6

• Market price
• These were small to medium sized and they were brought in fresh as the daily special.
• I like the Chinese style better, but these ones were still good although it reminded me of Szechuan food.
• It was actually quite spicy and carried a lot of heat from freshly roasted chili peppers and oil.
• There was an exotic aromatic spice to it that was almost like freshly ground Thai chili powder or even a combination of roasted chilies.
• I can handle my heat, but I wasn’t particularly into this kind of spicy because it was slightly bitter, although still flavourful.
• The fresh cucumber was a nice side to balance out the spice.

Drunken Chicken – 4.5/6

• $6.95
• This is a pretty traditional Shanghainese appetizer, and it can be pretty boozy, but delicious when well balanced with flavours.
• It’s a chilled chicken and it’s free-range so naturally the meat is a bit drier and tougher although it wasn’t dry.
• The sauce it marinades in is incredible, but very strong.
• It marinades overnight so that the chicken meat is well absorbed and flavourful.
• It’s a very savoury and strong wine sauce and it was actually quite salty. It’s made with a Chinese dry Sherry cooking wine called Shao Xing and the end notes were really strong with a liquor flavour.
• This one was a bit too boozy and salty for me although the saltiness is sometimes a sign of it being more “authentic” Shanghainese.
• It’s much stronger and boozier than the Drunken Chicken from Shanghai House (see here) so it’s personal preference on which you might enjoy more.
• I’ve had it at Shanghai River before too – see here, but I wasn’t a fan of that one.

**Steamed Soup Buns with Pork Filling – 6/6

• 6 pcs $6.50
• I swear these tasted different from the first time I had them – see here. This time they seemed way larger than normal sized xiao long bao (XLB).
• These ones were bigger, better and the filling even look and tasted different. New chef, or new recipe, or maybe it was just a better batch this time?
• This is a staple item to order when dining Shanghainese and served piping hot as they should be.

• The skins were nice and thin and chewy and the “soup” was creamy, rich and full of pork flavour and juice.
• The “soup” part is actually from the pork fat used in the meatball and then all of that flavour just releases into a liquid as it steams.
• These ones had a slight gingery flavour in the background, like they sometimes do, and then there was also no chives unlike the ones from last time – see here.
• The meatball was tender, super soft and just melted in your mouth with little chewing.
• Dipped in the ginger vinegar it gives a nice tang to contrast the savoury soup and cut through the grease, although it doesn’t taste greasy at all.
• It’s such an indulgent treat and it’s so deceiving since it’s “steamed” and holds only “soup”.  These were fantastic here though, so I hope they can stay consistent.

Shredded Beef with Chili & Brown Sauce – 4/6

• $14.50
• The description told me nothing, but this was very good and came highly recommended as well. Great with a bowl of rice.
• This tasted very Szechuan in style to me again, except it wasn’t as spicy with whole roasted chilies or anything. The spice was different and well rounded compared to the one from the prawns.
• It’s basically a shredded beef stir fry with tons of sweet bell peppers, some chilies and chili oil.
• It was a sweet in the initial notes, savoury, and then spicy after.
• The beef was tender and well marinated and there was some julienne Chinese celery in there as well to help break up the heat.
• It was crunchy and tender veggies and lots of beef swimming in a honey like chili sauce with a spicy kick that follows and lingers.
• It was a bit oily though, as authentic Shanghainese food can be sometimes.
• It wasn’t anything particularly special but it was very good and well executed.

Fried Duck with Shanghai Sauce – 3.5/6

• $16
• I hate blogging about DUCK because the “D” is so close to the “F” and the “U” is so close the the “I”
• I was aiming for the “stuffed duck”, which is the specialty here, but too bad you had to preorder it.
• Anyways this was the alternative the server recommended and it was a Shanghainese version of “Peking Duck”, although they do offer Peking Duck here as well.
• It didn’t have a “Shanghai Sauce” though so the description is misleading and I was lost in translation.
• It’s well made and it’s really a 4/6, but as much as I love a fried duck, this one wasn’t personally my favourite.
• This is Chinese style duck confit pretty much. It’s very savoury and I’m actually not sure the execution for it, but it tastes cured before it’s deep fried in it’s own fat, aka “duck confit”.
• It was salty enough on its own, but I did miss a sauce.
• A bit too salty for me and I have a high tolerance for salt, but then again authentic Shanghainese food tends to be pretty salty.

• The duck was actually a very well chosen duck. The crispy skin, to fat, to meat ratio was pretty perfect.
• It reminded me of he Chinese roasted suckling pig in flavour and the skin was super delicious and crispy and the fat was creamy and not gelatinous or chewy. I HATE when it is.
• The meat was decently moist and juicy and it wasn’t that greasy for being deep fried.
• It came with these steamed mantou green onion buns that were soft, fluffy and moist. They don’t have much flavour though. Although a traditional side to the duck I find the combination too dry for me without any sauce.
• I had a variation of this at another good Shanghainese restaurant, Northern Delicacy, see Tea Infused Smoked Duck, but I prefer this version more.

Complimentary Coconut Jello

• They serve complimentary dessert for lunch and dinner! It’s one I like too!
• It was a home made layered coconut jello and the top layer was creamy and almost like foamy coconut cream bubbles.
• I loved the soft texture with the gelatin like layers underneath.
• It could have been more sweet though, it was really light and barely sweet at all which is ideal for most Asian taste buds – just not mine, although I still enjoyed it.