Restaurant: Pho Lan
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Last visited: January 6, 2012
Location: Richmond, BC (Richmond Central)
Address: 6950 #3 Rd
Train: Brighouse Station Southbound
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: FMF Must Try!

Food: 4-4.5
Service: 3
Ambiance: 1.5
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Vietnamese owned/operated
• Hole in the wall/Dive
• Not the cleanest place
• Local favourite
• Busy at peak hours
• Casual/quick
• Cheap eats/budget friendly
• Parking at rear
• Cash only
• Dine in/Take out
• No delivery
• Daily 10:30am-10pm

**Recommendations: Pho Lan Special Beef Noodle Soup, Spring Roll (which I missed, but they’re supposed to be great), BBQ Lemon Grass Pork Chop

Talk about a hole in the wall huh? To be fair, this was just the back entrance. You can park in the rear for free and enter through the back door, which is very common of many divey/casual places. Heads up! Don’t focus too much on what’s going on in the kitchen as you walk by…

Okay so this is the front! Pho Lan is a local favourite and usually the first to come to mind when people ask for “the best pho in Richmond”. It was actually my first visit here, but I’m likely to come back.

To be honest, I did hesitate a bit since it failed a health inspection a few months ago and had to temporarily close. However it’s cleaned up now (I think) and has reopened, although the degree of improvement is very questionable. In a way I kind of expected a bit of uncleanliness for this style of dining though. I’ve likely dined at more dirty restaurants than I know… but it happens.

Referring back to my 10 Things to Look for When Dining Vietnamese! blog post, Pho Lan was rocking it! Let’s see… looks like a dive with a crappy sign containing lots of words? Check!

Cash only? Check! I saw about 4 of these signs throughout the restaurant.

Mostly Vietnamese people dining inside? More or less, but being in Richmond there were a lot of expected Chinese. There were actually a lot of Westerners too, but this place is a local favourite, so I was still buying into it. (This was taken just after the Friday lunch rush, otherwise it was packed.)

As for the authentic Vietnamese menu, I was surprised there was no Vietnamese on it. It had English and Chinese, but no Vietnamese. The owners are Vietnamese though, so it’s not Chinese style Vietnamese either. The food is cheap and the menu has all the typical dishes of any Vietnamese restaurant.

It’s Christmas time all year? Check, even though the string of lights weren’t turned on. I didn’t see the waving cat, but it already had about 5 of the things I look for when dining Vietnamese, so we’re looking good! On top of that, all I could hear was the yelling of orders in Vietnamese, which sounded like choppy out of tune singing… signs were pointing to legit! The owners are pretty friendly and quick with orders too, so that was a bonus!

Yes, definitely ghetto. There’s nothing like a sauce dish to fix a wobbly table…

Again, Pho Lan really isn’t the cleanest place, so if you’re a germaphobe you may want to reconsider. Of course even clean appearing restaurants can be dirty in the kitchen, but Pho Lan is almost obviously dirty in the front… so I really don’t want to know what’s going on in the back. I don’t want to scare you and it’s not like I got sick, and a lot of people I know who have eaten here have never gotten sick, but just giving you a heads up. If you want something more comfortable in the context of Vietnamese food in Richmond there are a lot of other options (like Pho Boi), but they might not taste as good as Pho Lan.

On the table:

Complimentary Bean Sprouts

• They serve them cooked so if you like them raw you need to ask.
• It was missing the chilies so you might have to ask for those too.

**#7 Pho Lan Special Beef Noodle Soup – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• Rare steak, well-done flank, tendon, tripe, beef ball Small $6.50 Medium $7.50 Large $8.50
• What?! #7? The special is always supposed to be #1! Well technically it was the first listed in the Beef Noodle Soups section, so we’re good!
• The large size was unusually larger than normal so $8.50 was very reasonable.
• It was served piping hot with very thin and tender pieces of rare steak and a good amount of meat.

• The thin rice noodles were dried rather than fresh and they were pretty firm and finished cooking in the hot soup.
• I prefer fresh, but almost nowhere in Metro Vancouver makes them with fresh noodles.
• The colour of the hot beef broth was pale and somewhat clear which is better than deep and dark brown.
• The soup wasn’t as oily as I prefer and I actually wasn’t hit with the beef flavour until later on when I scooped the bottom. It’s weird how that happens because the beef flavour shouldn’t really sink to the bottom, but it kind of does.
• There wasn’t any anise flavour and it wasn’t too salty or sweet. A lot of places have a sweet broth which is likely from MSG (which is salty and sweet, not just salty).
• The broth still didn’t beat Pho Tam which is the best pho I’ve had to date. Their beef broth really tastes like authentic home made pho.

• All the beef pieces were incredibly tender and delicious.
• The fatty beef brisket slices were almost falling apart tender and they still retained a natural beef flavour.
• Sometimes they can taste bland and the flavour of the beef all cooked out into the soup, but not this one.
• There were about 3 beef ball pieces and they were better quality than usual. They seemed darker with more beef content and flavour and firmer in texture overall.

**BBQ Lemon Grass Pork Chop on Steamed Rice – 4/6 (Very good)

• $7.50
• For $7.50 it was a huge portion and well worth it.
• The grilled pork chop wasn’t all bone or fat and they were marinated nicely with fresh lemongrass.
• I prefer them a bit more charred, but these were cooked well and not dry. They weren’t necessarily juicy either, but they were tender.
• I do like them a bit saucier with more intense lemongrass flavour and a bit of a sweeter glaze like the ones from Pho Boi (see here), but these were still delicious.
• It comes with a side salad and orange nuom choc fish sauce which I love. It’s a sweet, salty and tangy vinaigrette you can pour over the whole dish.

• The steamed rice was Vietnamese short grain broken rice, which is a bit unexpected.
• Most Vietnamese places I’ve been to just use long grain, so this was an interesting detail.
• Short grain is usually used for sticky rice and it does have a stickier texture and tends to clump together.
• I really wish they offered the dish with Vietnamese fried rice, but fried rice isn’t available here.

Vietnamese Steamed Rice Crepe – 3.5/6 (Good-Very good)

• Stuffed with pork, onion, Chinese mushroom, served with fried onion flakes and Vietnamese ham rolls $7
• I love this dish (Banh Cuon) and it can be enjoyed as an appetizer or a main. This was the main and it’s like a substantial warm salad.
• It’s a very light dish and it’s traditionally served with bean sprouts, Vietnamese ham, deep fried shallots and cucumbers.
• I personally prefer it served covered with bean sprouts, basil leaves and more cucumber instead of mostly lettuce, although there were bean sprouts underneath.
• The pickled carrots were a bit uncommon for the dish, but I do like them.
• The dish is eaten with the orange nuom choc fish sauce. It’s a sweet, salty and tangy vinaigrette.

There were about 5-6 warm crepes and they looked more Chinese in style than Vietnamese. They were rolled wider like Chinese steamed rice rolls at dim sum instead of  traditional thinner and log-like Vietnamese ones.

• The skins were thin, but a bit brittle and breaking apart. I question how fresh or made upon order they were.
• They were decently stuffed, but the skins weren’t chewy or as translucent, and the ends were slightly dry.
• The skins were heavier on the rice flour than tapioca starch so they really tasted more Chinese.
• The filling was marinated minced pork, black wood ear mushrooms and onions.
• The mixture was nice and peppery, but not spicy and the meat was very tender, soft and seasoned with fish sauce without being too salty.
• The wood ear mushrooms were completely soft and not crunchy, but overall the filling wasn’t dry and crumbly nor wet.
• There were a lot of textures with the steamed rice rolls and crunch of fresh vegetables.
• The crispy aromatic deep fried shallots and the nuom choc fish sauce just makes the dish come alive and it’s sweet, salty and tangy.
• It was good here, but Pho Tam is still my favourite for this dish – see Steamed Rice Rolls (Bahn Con).

BC Chinese Chef of the Year Award at BC Foodservice Expo Recap & Results!

A Follow Me Foodie Recap of the Chinese Chef of the Year Competition

All photos provided by Alvin K.C. Lee Photography

Congratulations to all the chefs who competed in the culinary competitions at The BC Foodservice Expo (January 29-30) at the Vancouver Convention Center. Organized by The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA), the B.C. Chefs Association (BCCA) and Canadian Culinary Federation (CCFCC), chefs from various restaurants in Metro Vancouver came together to compete for the title of “BC Chinese Chef of the Year” and “Roasted Chef of the Year”. After 2 days of Iron Chef like cooking challenges in front of a live audience the scores have been tallied and the results are in.

BC Chinese Chef of the Year

Gold Medal Winner: Chef Kent Wong, Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant

Other competitors include:

Gordon Ping Wah Chan of Always Seafood Restaurant
Sam Ka Bo Leung of Dynasty Seafood Restaurant
Wing Ho of Fortune Seafood Restaurant
Anthony Shy Wing Leung of Grand Dynasty Seafood Restaurant
Joseph Jiang of The Jade Seafood Restaurant
Chun Lum Ma of Shiang Garden Seafood Restaurant
Keng Wai Ng of Vivacity Restaurant
William Tse, The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant
Todd Bright of Wild Rice Modern Chinese Restaurant

**The competing chefs are members of the Canadian Culinary Federation (CCFCC) and the BC Chefs Association. Ten teams have been selected to date, based on merit and experience.

Roasted Chef of the Year

1st Place: Jeff Kang – Diva at the Met, Vancouver
2nd Place: Dan Craig – Delta, Burnaby
3rd Place: William Tse – The Sandbar, Vancouver

Other competitors include:

Rebecca Johnson – Italian Cultural Centre, Vancouver
Gerard Martin -Penticton Trade and Convention Centre, Penticton
Romeo Oloresisimo – Ora Restaurant, Kamloops
Tyler Leeson – Kingfisher Restaurant at Halcyon Hot Springs Resort, Nakusp
James Marinoff – Bon Rouge Bistro and Lounge, Victoria
John Waller – Victoria
Colman Herrington – Vancouver
Nathan Wright – Coast, Vancouver
James Hanna – RauDZ Regional Table, Kelowna

**All 12 chefs are active members of the Canadian Culinary Federation. Chefs from each of the four provincial chapters will represent their region thanks to a combination of merit, previous competition experience and success in regional challenges.

About the Chinese Chef of the Year Competition

For many of these Chinese chefs it was their first time competing in this sort of challenge, let alone in front of a live audience. Vancouver is world renowned for its excellence in Chinese cuisine and many, including myself, find that it’s just as good as what you can get in Hong Kong and China. For one, some of the best chefs in Hong Kong and China are the ones in the kitchen of many of our famous Chinese restaurants in Vancouver. Another reason is because the seafood quality and water is also better in Vancouver, which is especially important since Chinese food consists mainly of seafood. Quite often, it all starts with using the right ingredient. Sure there are dishes Hong Kong and China excel in, like Peking Duck, hand pulled noodles, and congee just to name a few, but generally speaking, Vancouver is the most well recognized North American city to house the best in authentic Chinese cuisine.

It’s not often to have a Chinese chef step out of a kitchen and that’s partially why I’m so passionate about this initiative. The BC Chinese Chef of the Year competition is a platform that gives them the opportunity to be equally as recognized as other well known and talented chefs in the city. Starting with a “Chinese Chef of the Year” is perhaps the first step, since it’s the most popular ethnic cuisine in Vancouver, but even better would be to eventually see Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and other Asian cultures being showcased in the same context. In the end, cooking is cooking, technique is technique and good food is good food, so seeing them all represented in their respective categories is something I look forward to.

Judging Panel & Criteria

This was the first BC Chinese Chef of the Year competition and I was honoured and overwhelmed to be invited as a guest judge. The judging panel was lead by Chef Alex Chen, who is the 2013 chef representing Canada in the most prestigious and demanding culinary competition in the world – Bocuse d’Or in France. Other culinary masters on the panel included Sylvain Cuerrier (Executive Chef of RiverRock Casino Resort), Paul Ho (Treasurer of BCCA), Michael S.Pinter (Director of BCCA), and Ned Bell (Executive Chef of YEW at The Four Seasons Hotel).

The judging criteria included: Presentation, Taste, Organization, Sanitation, Safety, Kitchen Skills, Creativity, Communication with Chef and Sous Chef, and Wastage of Food.

With a similar stage set up to Iron Chef, the additional ingredients, spices and sauces were provided.

If I look through a cultural lens at Chinese food there are many factors that come to mind, such as efficiency and cost. Yes, this could be true of many cultures, and I know I’m speaking quite generally, but it is especially true with Chinese cuisine. Quite often it’s about getting the food out there as fast as you can because one less turnover is one less sale. Wasting is also highly frowned upon and that’s why every part of the animal is used and for the most part eaten.

Being very familiar with Chinese cuisine I’ve become immune to the expected family style servings and presentation. Making a dish look nice is not exactly the important focus, although what’s considered “nice presentation” is also debatable. Nonetheless, part of the competition was to challenge these chefs to strengthen their presentation skills and hopefully one day be able to have them at a level fit for national chef competitions. In a way it does mean these dishes need to visually appeal to Western and European standards, but at the same time it isn’t to take away from what they already know and do.

If there was an award for “game face”, he would have won it hands down. This is Chef Sam Ka Bo Leung of Dynasty Seafood Restaurant who is currently training to compete in the World Culinary Olympics in Germany. Best of luck to him!

Although many of these Chinese chefs are classically trained in Chinese cuisine and have cooked for decades in Asia and in Vancouver, there were also some chefs representing Vancouver’s modern Chinese restaurants, like Chef Todd Bright from Wild Rice and Chef William Tse from The Sandbar. These two chefs have exercised the idea of fusion in their own style at their perspective restaurants. While some could consider this as comparing apples to oranges, it is more or less an equal battlefield when there are chefs trained in traditional Chinese cuisine trying to modernize dishes, and chefs trained in non-traditional Chinese cuisine trying to keep them authentic.

It was interesting to see the different approaches to the challenges. On one hand there were the chefs with a set of nicely sharpened knives, and on the other hand there would be the chefs with one knife, which is the cleaver. You can predict which teams had which knife. The cleaver is the one knife that does it all if you know how to use it, and this all partially goes back on the idea of efficiency too. There’s no right or wrong, but they’re just completely different set of tools for different cooking styles.

This also stems from the fact that most traditional Chinese cuisine will require chopping of bones and the fish rarely has to be de-boned since it’s served whole, so the clever is more or less required. In Asia you rarely come across perfectly packaged chicken breasts and quite often the whole chicken is used and presented. A personal default I find with the cleaver is that it makes it harder to be intricate and detailed with its blunter blade and I find this also affects presentation. Once in a while I would see carving knives to cut lotus blossoms out of daikon, but generally the cleaver played the dominant role as expected.

In terms of cooking techniques, the wok was typically the cooking equipment most used as you may have guessed. The ovens were pretty much decoration as Chinese cuisine rarely requires an oven, and in fact, many homes in Asia don’t have ovens.

In regards to ingredients, the most used ingredient was likely the mushrooms since they symbolizes wealth and prosperity. It’s also especially popular to use during this time since it’s around Chinese New Year. The ingredients that were never touched were quite predictable too, the beets and fennel. Those are just way out of Asian comfort zone, although I’m sure they could do something amazing with it once they start experimenting. Who knows? Maybe next year?

**I apologize in advance for those hoping to read the “critiques” of the food. I’m not going to be commenting on the food too much, since that’s not really the purpose of this blog post. I just want to share with you my insights and experience at the Chinese Chef of the Year competition. I will however include some general comments on interesting techniques I witnessed.

Day 1: Chinese Chef of the Year Protein Challenge

The first Chinese Chef of the Year cooking challenge was to create one dish using a protein they previously drew from a hat. Given time to prepare and bring their proteins to the competition, the time limit was 45 minutes to complete the one dish. The point is to maximize this time, which again is a rather new concept for traditional Chinese Chefs who are accustomed to speed. Each chef had one sous chef and 2 teams competed at a time. Protein choices included chicken, beef, pork, lamb, duck, or seafood. Just like Food Network’s Iron Chef, additional ingredients, spices and sauces were provided for use.

Always Seafood Restaurant – Protein: Chicken

Sauteed Chicken in Phoenix Sauce – Chef Gordon Ping Wah Chan, Always Seafood Restaurant

The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant – Protein: Seafood

Steamed Mussels with Black Bean, Sauteed Seafood, BC Spot Prawn in Coconut Broth – Chef William Tse, The Sandbar

Shiang Garden Seafood Restaurant – Protein: Beef

Diced Beef Tenderloin with Pepper – Chef Chun Lum Ma, Shiang Garden Seafood Restaurant

Dynasty Seafood Restaurant – Protein: Duck

Duck in Two Delicacies: Pan Fried Stuffed Duck Breast with Mushroom & Sauteed Duck Diced Meat with Fresh Greens – Chef Sam Leung, Dynasty Seafood Restaurant

• The Endive leaves are very modern to Chinese cuisine and in this dish they filled them with mushrooms like a lettuce wrap.

The Jade Seafood Restaurant – Protein: Seafood

West Coast Sablefish Duo – Stir-fried fillet of sablefish with salted egg and pan-fried fillet of sablefish with pea tips and ginger puree – Chef Joseph Jiang, The Jade Seafood Restaurant

• The sauce used for the calligraphy was a puree of peas and ginger.

Fortune House Seafood Restaurant – Protein: Duck

Duck Breast in Yunnan Wild Mushroom Sauce & Sliced Duck in Black Pepper Sauce – Chef Wing Ho, Fortune House Seafood Restaurant

Grand Dynasty – Protein: Pork

Baby Pork with Black Vinegar Sauce and Pork Chop with Golden Maple Syrup – Chef Anthony Leung, Grand Dynasty

• The pork chop cutlet reminded me of the deep fried prawn dish tossed in mayonnaise and honey with candied walnuts. It’s a modernized Chinese dish and in this case it was executed with pork and a maple syrup glaze which hardened like crispy candy mimicking pork crackling to me.

Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant – Protein: Beef

Year of the Dragon with Delicious Beef – Chef Kent Wong, Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant

• I’ve never seen this done before. Chef made egg crepes and wrapped them around thin strips of beef tenderloin and then rolled it all together with more beef tenderloin like sushi. It visually reminded me of oxtail, but the whole execution process I’ve never seen.
• The wraps along the edges were almost like Peking Duck Wraps, but stuffed with mushrooms.

Vivacity Restaurant – Protein: Duck

Shunde Style “Sammi” Duck – Chef Keng Wai Ng, Vivacity Restaurant

• This showcased duck breast and duck tongue. The orange sauce was made with salted egg yolk and red pepper which are ingredients I’m familiar with separately, but not together.

Wild Rice Modern Chinese Restaurant – Protein: Pork

Sauteed Pork Liver with Szechuan Caramel, Mushroom Steam Bun, and Sauteed Vegetables – Chef Todd Bright, Wild Rice Modern Chinese Restaurant

Day 2: Chinese Chef of the Year – The Black Box Challenge

Day 2 of the BC Chinese Chef of the Year was The Black Box Challenge. Each team was given a black box featuring 2-3 ingredients which had to be used to make an appetizer and a main. Each team was given 45 minutes and only discovered their ingredients a minute before starting their challenge. Each chef had one sous chef and 2 teams competed at a time.

Secret ingredients: Mussels & Monkfish

Appetizer: Mussels with 3 different sauces – Chef William Tse, Sandbar

Secret ingredients: Mussels & Monkfish

Main: Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Monk Fish with Coconut Milk and Vegetables – Chef William Tse, Sandbar

Secret ingredients: Mussels & Monkfish

Appetizer: Monkfish on Grilled King Oyster Mushroom with Sweet Thai Chili Sauce

Secret ingredients: Mussels & Monkfish

Appetizer: Black Bean Stir-Fried Mussels with Peppers and Baby Bok Choy

Secret ingredients: Beef Sirloin, Hamachi

Appetizer: Beef Tartare & Hamachi Tartare with Wonton Crisps – Chef Todd Bright, Wild Rice Modern Chinese Cuisine

Secret ingredients: Beef Sirloin, Hamachi

Main: Seared Beef Sirloin, Hamachi Sashimi & Pan-Fried Fermented Black Bean Stuffed Gyoza, Chef Todd Bright, Wild Rice Modern Chinese Cuisine

Secret ingredients: Beef Sirloin, Hamachi

Appetizer: Seared Hamachi (Rare) with Wasabi Mayo

Secret ingredients: Beef Sirloin, Hamachi

Main: Seared Beef Sirloin, Hamachi Sashimi Tower with Egg, Cucumber and Wasabi Mayo & Potato Salad with Mushrooms

Secret ingredients: Saba, Beef Chuck

Appetizer: Grilled Saba with Sweet Thai Chili Sauce

Secret ingredients: Saba, Beef Chuck

Main: Sauteed Beef Chuck in Satay Sauce with Saba Endive Wrap on Enoki Mushrooms

Secret ingredients: Saba, Beef Chuck

Pre-Appetizer: Fried Saba with Garlic and Onions – Chef Kent Wong, Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant

Secret ingredients: Saba, Beef Chuck

Appetizer: Saba Poached in Egg with Dried Scallop on Butternut Squash with Sweet Soy Sauce – Chef Kent Wong, Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant

Secret ingredients: Saba, Beef Chuck

Main: Sauteed Beef Chuck wrapped with Chinese Broccoli in Satay Sauce & Sauteed Black Trumpets, Chanterelles and Vegetables – Chef Kent Wong, Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant

Secret ingredients: Horse Mackerel, Kangaroo

Appetizer: Deep Fried Noodle Wrapped Horse Mackerel with Sweet Thai Chili Sauce in Endive Leaves and Sauteed Vegetables

Secret ingredients: Horse Mackerel, Kangaroo

Main: Kangaroo Meat Patties with Baby Bok Choy

Secret ingredients: Horse Mackerel, Kangaroo

Appetizer: Deep Fried Horse Mackerel with Butternut Squash

Secret ingredients: Horse Mackerel, Kangaroo

Main: Sauteed Kangaroo with Sugar Snap Peas in Black Bean Sauce

Secret ingredients: Monkfish, Sirloin Tip, Mussels

Appetizer: Fried Monkfish with Sauteed Mussels and Chinese Broccoli in Black Bean Sauce

Secret ingredients: Monkfish, Sirloin Tip, Mussels

Main: Seared Sirloin Tip on Lotus Root with Honey Sauce

Secret ingredients: Monkfish, Sirloin Tip, Mussels

Appetizer: Minced Monkfish and Mussels Wrapped in Egg Crepe

Secret ingredients: Monk Fish, Sirloin Tip, Mussels

Main: Sauteed Sirloin Tip in Sweet Soy Sauce with Leeks and Endive

Restaurant: The Jade Seafood Restaurant
Cuisine: Chinese/Dim Sum/Seafood
Last visited: January 23, 2012
Location: Richmond, BC (Richmond Central)
Address: 8511 Alexandra Rd
Train: Lansdowne Station Northbound
Price Range: $10-20 (dim sum) $ 30-50, $50+ (dinner)

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: FMF Must Try!

Food: 4
Service: 3
Ambiance: 4
Overall: 4.5
Additional comments:

• Authentic Cantonese cuisine
• Fine dining Chinese
• Popular for fresh seafood
• Local favourite/Busy
• “Chinese Chef of the Year” Tony Luk
• Voted “Best Dim Sum”
• Award winning Chinese restaurant
• Some modern Chinese dishes
• “Customized Cuisine” available
• Banquets/events
• Reservations recommended
• 15% off Take Out Menu before 6:30pm
• 9-11am 20% off
• Dim Sum/Lunch: Mon-Sun 9am-3pm
• Dinner: Mon-Dun 5pm-10pm
• Free parking
• See my Jade Dinner post here.

**Recommendations: For dim sum: Steamed Mushroom Dumpling, Deep Fried Shrimp Ball with Almond Chips, Baked BBQ Pork Bun, Steamed Beef Ball with Bean Curd, Baked Mushroom Pie, Steamed Vegetable with Preserved Vegetable, Mixed Mushroom Chow Mein, Jade Fried Rice, Preserved Egg & Pork Congee, Steamed Brown Sugar with Honey Cake, Blueberry Glutinous Ball (I’m curious about their Deep Fried Milk). For dinner recommendations see here. Any live seafood is a good bet.

Oh crap. I woke up late for dim sum. It was a Chinese New Year Eve dim sum and since I was going to be late, I told everyone to go ahead and order first. For most people you would feel guilty for showing up late, and I do, but as a foodie, it also sucks that you miss out on the ordering. Boo. That’s one of my favourite parts. Yes, that should also be in “Sh*t Foodies Say“. Therefore the items you see are not necessarily what I would order, but I did add a few items to the list.

It’s not even tradition, but my Chinese New Year Eve dim sum last year happened to also be at The Jade Seafood Restaurant – see here. It was with different groups of people, but it’s generally well liked by locals for upscale dim sum or Chinese fine dining. The prices have increased slightly since last year and most of the dim sum comes in 3 rather than 4.

I find the general issue with The Jade is that the items are a bit pricey for what they’re serving. While that is somewhat true, the ingredients and techniques are still good, and they do offer some specialties unique to the restaurant. Some dishes I can find better elsewhere, but it’s still never been “bad” from my experiences here, if anything just overpriced. They do have award winning credentials as the “best dim sum in Richmond” and the chef is Tony Luk, who was last year’s Chinese Chef of the Year, so all of the above sums up to higher prices and that’s somewhat expected.

What I like about The Jade is their willingness to challenge tradition by offering innovative dim sum and overall dishes. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it “fusion”, but they do add their own twists to authentic Chinese food without butchering it.

On this occasion I actually came to The Jade for dim sum on Chinese New Year Eve and then again for dinner for Chinese New Year with Tourism Richmond. I’ve come here on several occasions for dim sum and dinner without Tourism Richmond, and I’ve never had a bad experience although there are hit and miss dishes which I find is pretty normal. Whether it offers the “best dim sum” is debatable, but I feel comfortable to say it is one of the best in the context of Richmond from what I’ve tried, which is quite a bit. It’s not necessarily my favourite dim sum, but it’s still one I go to and like. I recommend it because they’re reliable, quite consistent, and offer dishes I can’t get anywhere else.

On the table:

**Steamed Shrimp Dumpling - 3.5/6 (Good-Very good)

• $4.88
• Well I’ve never seen it served like that before.
• I’m not sure if the prawn was special for the New Year, but it was an unexpected surprise. Deciding who got to eat it was the hard part, but out of respect, it’s usually the oldest person. Luckily I was at the kids table, so lucky me!
• The Shrimp Dumpling proves the skill of a chef and it’s usually the must try item at every dim sum restaurant.

• The skin was thin, but it wasn’t as chewy as I had hoped and that’s an important part to a prawn dumpling.
• The prawn meatball was juicy and crunchy with no bamboo shoots, but I do remember the skin being better previously.

Steamed Pork Dumpling – 3.5/6 (Good-Very good)

• $4.88
• It was about 50% pork and 50% shrimp and for a high end restaurant like this I expected it to be at least 70% shrimp. Most high end dim sum restaurants will give more shrimp since it makes it more valuable.
• They each had a little Shiitake mushroom and they were very juicy and tender with a nice crunch from the shrimp and sponge like texture from the pork.
• Personally I prefer the Red Star Seafood Steamed Pork Shiu Mai Dumplings, but these were still good.

**Steamed Mushroom Dumpling – 6/6 (FMF Must Try!)

• $4.88
• This is one of their signature items and award winning dishes and I have to say it’s a must try if you come here. I always order it every time I come.
• It’s very good and original, but at the same time it has few ingredients and the flavours are not necessarily complex, but simply enjoyed by all.
• It is made for mushroom lovers and they’re rich, but not saucy dumplings that would suit the tastes of both Chinese and non-Chinese.
• The dumpling skin was pretty perfect and it’s a different skin than the prawn dumpling skin. This one is a bit thicker, but it’s much chewier and has a great resistance to it.

• The inside is generously filled with sweet Shiitake mushrooms, Enoki mushrooms and Oyster mushrooms.
• The mushrooms give the dumpling a nice crunch and there’s a good balance of all three.
• There was supposed to be an accent of truffle oil, but I couldn’t taste it as much as I could get the aroma of it.
• It’s the best when you get one stuffed with a bundle of Enoki mushrooms because it gives the dumpling an extra crunch to contrast all the soft and juicy textures.
• The natural juices from the mushrooms are the sauce and it gives the dumpling a very slippery texture, although it can get a bit gummy at times if it’s over steamed.

Dried Oyster Seaweed Dumpling - 2/6 (Okay)

• $4.68
• This is a special dim sum dish only available for a limited of time during the New Year so I had to order it. It’s unique to Jade restaurant.
• The ingredients used to make it are quite pricey, but also symbolic to the New Year.
• The oysters and seaweed (actually dried black moss) translate to prosperity and good business.
• The execution was quite interesting and it was almost like a purse with 2 compartments, one for the oyster and the other for the seaweed.
• Underneath the two features was a roughly chopped mixture of prawns, dried oyster and seaweed. It’s not a creamy or saucy stuffing.
• I would say this dumpling is acquired in taste and texture because it can be a little mushy and pungent due to the dried oyster.
• There really wasn’t much dried oyster and it was all kind of crumbled into the mixture and I think it should have been one entire piece of dried oyster to show quality.
• It has a strong seafood flavour, but the pieces of shrimp gave it a nice crunch so it’s not as mushy as it could have been.
• Personally I would have loved more dried black moss because there was so little I couldn’t tell the quality.
• I feel kind of bad because black moss is going extinct so it’s hard to get nowadays and that’s why it’s so valued and prized.
• I’m familiar with all the ingredients and I would eat it again, but I wouldn’t order it again. I just expected more.

**Steamed Beef Ball with Bean Curd – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• $4.38
• I’m actually not a huge fan of these, but I’ll still eat them and I actually really liked these one and so did everyone else.
• I’m usually not keen on the orange peel flavour, which these ones still had, but I still liked them and the orange was quite obvious too.
• They were super soft and tender meatballs wrapped in tofu skins and they were juicy, spongy and full of flavour without being too salty.
• The meatball mixture had some chives, cilantro and minced water chestnuts for some texture and crunch and they almost melted in your mouth.

**Baked BBQ Pork Bun - 5/6

• About $4.18
• These are one of my favourite dim sum items. The baked BBQ pork buns are so much better than the steamed ones to me.
• These are rather new at Jade and not even on the menu yet, but I hope they eventually include them.
• They’re basically melt in your mouth savoury “donuts” and my non-Asian friend calls them savoury Krispy Kremes.
• My all time favourite baked BBQ Pork Bun is still at Top Gun J& C Restaurant, but these ones are definitely up there as one of my favourites.

• The topping on this one was almost like a meringue and it was all crispy and buttery, but not as sugary and sweet as it usually is and that I usually prefer.
• The crumbly topping forms a dome shaped crust, and this one was excellent, but I wouldn’t mind it a bit sweeter and more of it.
• The BBQ pork meat was a little heavy on the dye, but it still tasted delicious and the meat wasn’t fatty or chewy, but also not dry.
• The filling wasn’t too sweet and it was nice and saucy with some crunchy onions.
• The onions were more apparent and usually there are less onions and almost all pork.
• The bun was very soft and it’s a sweeter type of Asian bread and I just love these things!

Steamed Chicken Wrap with Fish Maw – n/a

• $4.98
• Okay so I know it looks like dead crow, but keep an open mind.
• The black chicken is Silkie Chicken and it offers lots of health benefits and is often used to create chicken stocks.
• I rated it “n/a” not because I didn’t try it, but I just don’t really know how to eat the chicken.
• Eating the Silkie Chicken just seems like sucking on skin and bones to me. I left it for the “older generation” to appreciate.
• The part I liked is everything else.
• Fish maw (gas bladder) is a Chinese delicacy. It’s a chewy, jelly-like spongy tube and it has a slight crunch. It’s a bit slimy and acquired, but I really like it. It doesn’t even really have a flavour and just absorbs the flavour of everything it’s cooked in.
• The broth is one of the best parts of this dish and it’s meant to be enjoyed as soup, but the qualities of it make it like a rich sauce.
• The broth was infused with a bit of ginseng which makes it naturally a bit bitter, but very healthy, and then some dried gogi berries are added which give it a sweetness.
• The broth was thick and full of rich chicken flavour and a sweetness that was not from granulated sugar, but from natural sugars.
• It almost tasted a bit caramelized, but this is considered a healthy and high end dim sum dish although acquired.

**Baked Mushroom Pie - 5/6 (Excellent)

• $4.88
• This is from my previous Jade dim sum post, but I still think it’s worth re-mentioning.
• Chef likes mushrooms and I love mushrooms! Actually Chinese people really like mushrooms because they represent wealth and prosperity.
• As “non-Chinese” as these were I still loved them! This was definitely modern dim sum and it is a signature dish that is very catered to Western tastes.
• Compared to a Western baked mushroom pie it might not be comparable, but I still liked it a lot.
• It’s almost like a quiche meets a mini mushroom pot pie, but made with Shiitake and Oyster mushrooms.
• It had a generous layer of baked cheese over top which is not Chinese, but it was all still incredibly delicious!
• Mushrooms + melted ooey gooey cheese in a tender buttery pie pastry shell… sign me up!
• If you like this you might also like the Baked Seafood Pie with Portuguese Sauce at Top Gun J & C Restaurant.

**Preserved Egg, Dried Oyster & Pork Congee - 5/6 (Excellent)

• Bowl $6.99 Casserole $14.99 (By “casserole’ they mean large bowl)
• This is my favourite kind of congee and this was likely one of the best versions of it I’ve had.
• I’ve never had huge chunks of pork in my congee like the ones they gave here, and I’m pretty sure it was their leftover roasted suckling pork. It was delicious!
• The congee was incredibly creamy and well flavoured on its own too.
• The pork was lean and slightly dry, but in the context of the congee, it was easily overlooked.
• There was a good amount of egg and I can’t comment on the amount of dried oyster since I didn’t get any.

The congee comes with savoury Chinese donuts which were completely crunchy, light and airy. There are also green onions, and some pickled Chinese radish as accompaniments. The Chinese donut is basically a “Chinese churro”, but it’s not sweet. The photo was a late photo, but it came with more of them.

Wok Fried Sweet Rice with Chinese Sausage Bits – 3.5/6 (Good-Very good)

• $15.59
• I’m not huge on this dish, but for what it was, it was very good.
• The rice is called sweet rice, but it’s not actually sweet. It’s sweeter than regular rice and does have a sweetness and chewiness, but it’s not dessert.
• It’s a bit like sticky rice and it was fried very well with a nice wok aroma and it wasn’t clumpy, wet, or dry.
• The Chinese sausage added a sweetness and there was also lots of dried shrimp which gave it salty nutty bites and intense flavour.
• For what it was, I actually liked it a lot, but it’s just not something I would order.

I came late and people had started on this so I tried reassembling the dish for the photo.

**The Jade Fried Rice – 5/6 (Excellent)

• $16.99
• Next to Red Star Seafood’s Dungeness Crab with Wild Rice Sea Conpoy & Chicken, this is possible my next favourite modern version of fried rice.
• It had fresh chopped prawns, scrambled eggs, minced carrots, slices of Chinese broccoli stems, preserved Chinese olives, and dried pork floss (dried and shredded pork jerky) generously sprinkled over the top.
• The Chinese olives and the dried pork floss was what made this fried rice different and I personally love those ingredients so it worked well for me.
• The rice was well fried, separate and well flavoured with a wok aroma and it was so much more interesting than your basic fried rice.
• There was crunchy texture from the vegetables and great savoury flavour from the pungent olives which were used sparingly because a little goes a long way.
• I would have loved some dried scallops for even more flavour, but it was still great as is.

**Mixed Mushroom Chow Mein – 5/6 (Excellent)

• $15.59
• I came late and people had started on this, but I have a photo of a special order dinner sized version below.
• It’s called “Mixed Mushroom and Truffle Chow Mein” on the dinner menu, but it should be the same thing.
• See description below.

I came late and people had started on this so I tried reassembling the dish for the photo.

Fried Rice Noodle with Beef in Satay Sauce – 4/6 (Very good)

• About $15.59
• The noodles were soft and chewy and there were plenty of tender beef slices and even some Enoki mushrooms which was a modern twist.
• The sauce was not heavy with the usual cornstarch so it wasn’t as gluey or gelatinous.
• The savoury and aromatic satay sauce had a bit of heat and it was slightly gritty and very nutty with garlic.
• It seemed heavier with Hoisin sauce and I don’t think there was peanut or sesame sauce since it was a Chinese version of satay sauce and not South East Asian version.

New Year Rice Cake Layered with Biscuit– 2.5/6 (Okay-Good)

• $3.98
• This is a special item new to the menu specifically for Chinese New Year. This is from my previous Jade dim sum post.
• This was their own creation. It was a sweet sticky rice cake called “New Year Cake” and it was topped with a pineapple bun crust that has no actual pineapple, but it tastes like a short bread cookie.
• I’m indifferent about New Year Cake, but it was pretty good here.
• It’s served warm and it’s very chewy, sticky and gummy and it’s made with rice flour and brown sugar.
• It’s not very sweet at all but has a caramel like flavour, but way less intense and sweet.
• Eaten together I kind of felt like I was eating a Fig Newton or Nutri-Grain Bar, but instead of fruit puree it’s a chewier sticker rice cake.

Steamed Layer Cake with Egg – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• $3.98
• This is from my previous Jade dim sum post.
• I actually really liked this! It was made very well for what it was.
• It’s a warm and layered sponge cake and there’s a bit of caramelized coconut custard and sweetened egg yolk layers in between.
• It’s moist, soft, chewy and slightly sweetened. It’s quite mild in sweetness, but it’s very aromatic and enjoyable.
• You can’t compare it to Western style cakes, but it’s unique and good in the Asian category of desserts.

Dinner at The Jade Seafood Restaurant

Complimentary Peanuts

• This is a common complimentary appetizer in China.
• It’s equivalent to complimentary bread and butter.
• Unlike North America, peanut allergies are very rare in China and peanuts and peanut oil are used in a lot of Chinese cooking there.

**Steamed Mushroom Dumpling - 6/6 (FMF Must Try!)

• $4.88 for 3 at dim sum.
• I wrote about them above, but we special ordered these for dinner and they were just as good.

Seafood is the specialty at all Chinese restaurants and the sign of an in house live seafood tank is a sign of quality and freshness. The whole sustainable seafood thing is a whole other topic that includes culture, so I won’t get into that although your comments are welcome below.

Most if not all Chinese restaurants will bring out your seafood before they prepare it to show you size and freshness. At this point you can approve it before they start. They do this all over Asia and part of the reason is to reassure you that you’re not getting tricked.

**Sautéed B.C. Dungeness Crab & Mixed Mushrooms with Amoy Premium Soy – 6/6 (FMF Must Try!)

• Seasonal and market price.
• You can select your choice of seafood and style of preparation.
• It may be apples and oranges, but personally I’ve always preferred the Asian methods of preparing seafood in Vancouver.
• This was won the Critics’ Choice Signature Dish Gold Award in the seafood category at the Chinese Restaurant Awards 2012.
• First off, it smelled delicious. The aromas were lifting off the plate.
• It was crab sauteed with lots of green onions, onions, garlic, ginger and mushrooms.
• The crab was no doubt fresh and cooked perfectly with flaky and juicy crab meat.
• The flavours were aromatic and a bit nutty with sauteed shiitakes and oyster mushrooms in a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil. The mushrooms had a bit of chewiness and they were quite meaty.
• The pieces of ginger were also sauteed to the point of almost being like jerky and I could eat them whole and they weren’t spicy or crunchy.
• The head of the crab is always served and the tomalley (sperm, guts, brain) is highly prized and “fought” for. It’s basically seafood butter and although rich and high in cholesterol, it’s often known as the best part. “Real foodies” will fight for it.
• Other Jade seafood dishes include: Braised Fresh Whole Australian Abalone, Sauteed Pumpkin & Prawn with Salted Egg, Fresh Crab Meat Sauteed with Egg Yolk & Soy Milk and Live Rock Cod.

**The Jade Smoked Grandpa Chicken - 6/6 (FMF Must Try!)

• $14.99 half
• I don’t know if they left the head out intentionally to not freak out the “Westerners”, but it should have been the whole bird, head to tail, to symbolize coming together of families… on the other hand dinner was “business-oriented” so I guess it wasn’t necessary. =p
• This is one of Jade Seafood Restaurant’s award winning dishes and most famous items on the menu.
• It’s not my first time trying it, but I love it.
• It’s a chilled chicken and full of flavour. It’s not heavy or greasy, but the flavours will keep your taste buds excited and guessing.
• There is a very light sauce, but the flavour is literally in every thread of the chicken meat, down to the bone. The sauce is still fantastic though!
• It was sweet and savoury and you could taste the smokiness infused in the chicken meat as well as the sauce. I just wonder if they use liquid smoke because there’s no grilling or barbequing going on here.
• It’s a free range chicken so the meat is naturally firmer and more flavourful with a drier texture, but it’s certainly not a dry chicken.
• The sauce has some sweet Chinese cooking wine that’s similar to Japanese mirin, and it’s combined with the natural flavours of the chicken oil. This is what gives it the savoury and sweet balance.
• It’s infatuating to not see a heavy sauce or any visible spices and rubs and to still achieve such intense flavour throughout. A real talent from the Chef.

The chicken is served with green onion and ginger oil, but it doesn’t even need it. It was made in house and nicely salted, but I prefer my onions a bit more minced. I love this condiment in general though and can eat it alone.

Pea Tips (Seasonal Vegetable) Sauteed with Garlic – 5/6 (Excellent)

• Around $13.99
• It’s just a simple vegetable dish and for what it was it was pricey, but expected and at least they did a good job with it.
• The pea tips and garlic were fresh and the dish wasn’t greasy or overcooked, so that’s pretty much all you look for in a dish like this, hence the 5/6.

**Mixed Mushroom and Truffle Chow Mein - 6/6 (FMF Must Try!)

• $15.59
• There’s a slight increase in price since last year and it’s also offered during dim sum, but called “Mixed Mushroom Chow Mein”.
• This is an original Jade creation and I would say it’s a must try here. It’s even better than the one I had last year and they even looked different.
• These were not the crispy chow mein, but the soy sauce wok tossed chow mein.
• It’s tossed with Shiitake mushrooms, Oyster mushrooms, bean sprouts, green onions, carrots and drizzled with truffle oil.
• I could definitely smell the truffle oil as soon as it hit the table, but I couldn’t really taste it in my noodles, which was disappointing. It was the same issue with the mushroom dumplings. Regardless, they’re both still delicious.
• It had more mushroom flavour and mushrooms compared to last time and it was better seasoned overall.
• There was nice crunchy texture from bean sprouts, green onions and carrots and the noodles had a great wok aroma and smokiness without being dry.
• It’s actually a great dish for vegetarians.

**Blueberry Glutinous Ball (Cold) – 4/6 (Very good)

• $4.28
• Being that I’m not a fan of most Chinese desserts, I actually like this one because it’s a modern Chinese dessert catered towards Western tastes.
• This is unique to Jade and it’s a Chinese-American style Japanese mochi.

• It’s a chilled light and fluffy mochi, but it’s not frozen and the skins were very soft and not as chewy as the Japanese kind. They also weren’t starchy or doughy.
• The inside is filled with fresh whipped cream that’s semi melted and some frozen blueberries that have thawed out so they’re a bit wrinkly.
• The inside was a super creamy semi melted mixture of very lightly sweetened whipped cream with the blueberries folded in and I found them enjoyable.
• At times in the past, some of them had harder bottoms which meant air got to them.

**Steamed Brown Sugar with Honey Cake - 6/6 (FMF Must Try!)

• $4.38
• This was delicious and so unique! Apparently it’s very common and traditional in Hong Kong, but I’ve never seen it in Vancouver.
• It was a very light and airy warm cake, and it had a caramel flavour, but as usual it still wasn’t that sweet like most Chinese desserts.
• It looked like honeycomb, but it was completely soft and seemed like a bunch of compacted mini straws.
• It was almost like a chewy very elasticky sponge cake and they used rice flour to make it.
• There were very squishy with a nice bounce and spring to them and they’re almost water resistant, yet incredibly moist from being steamed.
• It was the love child of a traditional Chinese sweet brown sugar rice cake and a traditional steamed Chinese almond cake (the almond cake is available at most dim sum places – see Steamed Sponge Cake).
• I’ve really never had anything quite like this cake though and it was very peel-able like cheese string. Definitely a must try for uniqueness.

Restaurant: Xi Shi Lounge – Chinese New Year Afternoon Tea
Cuisine: Tea/Pacific Northwest/West Coast/Fusion/Desserts
Last visited: January 24, 2012
Location: Vancouver, BC (Downtown)
Address: 1128 West Georgia Street (At Shangri-La Hotel)
Subway stop: Burrard
Price Range: $20-30+ ($34 Afternoon Tea)

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: FMF Must Try!

Food: 4 (for Chinese New Year Afternoon Tea)
Service: n/a
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 4.5
Additional comments:

• Inside Shangri-La Hotel
• Euro-Asian/Fusion menu
• Tearoom/Lounge/Restaurant
• Aafternoon Tea Service
• Lunch service
• Great for snacks
• Elegant/posh
• Cocktail/wine list
• Afternoon Tea with live classical piano
• 11.30am – 1am (Seasonal Patio from 11.30am – 11pm)
• 11.30am - 5pm (Saturday and Sunday)

**Recommendations: Afternoon Tea

Adding to the growing list of Chinese New Year menus in Vancouver is Xi Shi Lounge’s Chinese New Year Afternoon Tea (limited time). I’m loving the enthusiasm for the New Year and the various restaurant choices and menu options are more than welcome in a multicultural city.

Xi Shi Lounge opened late last year at the Shangri-La Hotel just underneath Market by Jean-Georges. It features an Euro-Asian fusion inspired menu with a focus on chilled and hot snacks, limited lunch items and a traditional Afternoon Tea. Yes, Afternoon Tea, not High Tea, there’s a difference (see my post here). On this occasion I was invited to their Chinese New Year Afternoon Tea which is offered from January 23rd through Sunday, January 29th from 11:30 am to 5:00 pm.

One of the things I valued most at the Xi Shi Lounge Afternoon Tea service was the live classical piano performance they had for entertainment. I’ve been to Afternoon Tea at the Fairmont Vancouver, The Secret Garden Tea Company, The China Cup Tea Company, Applewood Country Gifts, Tearoom & Bakery, Tracycakes Bakery Cafe, and The Urban Tea Merchant, but this is the only one that featured live entertainment which really made it an elegant and upscale experience. This is featured on a daily basis even with their regular Afternoon Tea service.

It was nice to see Xi Shi continue the Asian theme with the Nikko chinaware rather than the English brands. When it comes to Afternoon Tea I can get quite particular because there are a certain set of expectations and traditions that come with it. Ambiance is a big part of it. It was an elegant, stylish and posh tearoom, and I found it carried more of a cocktail atmosphere fit for after work drinks.

I recently tried the “Year of the Dragon” Signature Afternoon Tea at The Urban Tea Merchant a block away. It featured a standard version of Afternoon Tea, but with some playful Asian influences. It was definitely still more Westernized, and if you’re looking for something more traditional to the Chinese culture, that isn’t quite authentic as dim sum, then I would suggest trying this Chinese New Year Afternoon Tea at Xi Shi. Personally, the “foodie” part of me enjoyed the food, value and overall experience at Xi Shi more, but the “tea lover” (not connoisseur) in me appreciated the luxury teas and tea culture at The Urban Tea Merchant. They both offer very different experiences and each have their strengths and clientele so it depends on what you’re looking for.

Even though I am very familiar with traditional dim sum, I still appreciated this Chinese New Year Afternoon Tea at Xi Shi, but on another level. I didn’t have expectations for authentic dim sum, but I was expecting a general understanding of the East meets West concept since the menu was developed by Chef Wayne Harris of Market by Jean-Georges upstairs. Jean-Georges is notorious for Asian fusion, so I was quite confident in the Chinese New Year menu even though the chef is of non-Asian decent. The selection of dim sum was more traditional than I expected from a place like Xi Shi, and if it can introduce or warm people up to traditional Chinese food via a modern context, I’m more than happy.

Now for the “stick to tradition” readers, I wouldn’t compare this Chinese New Year Afternoon Tea at Xi Shi Lounge to authentic Chinese dim sum. However, they actually did a good job replicating dim sum dishes making it more approachable for Western tastes. I would say the food was probably more Westernized than a place like Wild Rice (where the chef is non-Asian, but culinary trained in dim sum), but I do respect the extra effort they went on creating an entire menu just for the New Year and it was representable of Chinese food. Food authenticity aside, I would recommend this for anyone who values ambiance and style and it plays well into the Chinese New Year celebration.

On the table:

**Chinese New Year Afternoon Tea - 4/6 (Very good)

• $34/per person (Includes choice of loose leaf tea)
• Available January 23rd through Sunday, January 29th from 11:30 am to 5:00 pm.
• It was Western style dim sum, but again they did a respectable job with it.
• I was very impressed with what was delivered and the value was certainly there, especially when you factor in the provided classical piano performance.
• The menu featured great variety and every item was handmade and actually representable of traditional Chinese food.
• If you compare the items to the real deal, this doesn’t really do it justice, but it also wasn’t disappointing and I really did enjoy it.
• It’s supposed to be an Afternoon Tea, but with 9 hors d’ouevres, it’s definitely substantial enough as a lunch, and that’s coming from me! (I eat a lot.)

Choice of Loose Leaf Tea – 5/6 (Excellent)

• It was a premium brand of loose leaf tea from England, and I would have loved if they offered an Asian brand to suit their Asian theme.
• I have to admit, The Urban Tea Merchant is my shrine for luxury teas and it’s hard to compete with that quality.
• **Shangri-La Blend
• A black tea blend with pineapple, kiwi and plum.
• This is the signature tea. It was a fruity tea, but it smelled fruitier and sharper than it tasted.
• It was floral, with a hint of citrus, but I couldn’t pick up the kiwi although I enjoyed it overall.
• **Classic Chai
• An assam tea with exotic spices – India at its best.
• How can I resist “India at its best”?
• This was an excellent Chai and it was heavy with the cinnamon with a hint of cardamom and even spicy ginger notes.
• The spices were quite apparent and well rounded after adding cream.

Barbeque Pork and Puff Pastry, Vegetable Spring Roll, Shrimp Dumplings

• The items on this plate is representable of Cantonese style dim sum.
• It had something baked, fried and steamed and there was good variety.

The tier of hot appetizers were served with a soy and rice wine vinegar, Hoisin sauce, and lemon plum sauce. Traditionally the only item that would come with a sauce is the spring rolls, but this was the Westernized version.

Barbeque Pork and Puff Pastry - 4/6 (Very good)

• This is more or less an Asian inspired “sausage roll”, but it does exists in authentic Chinese dim sum. See BBQ Pork Pastry.
• This was meant to be eaten with the Hoisin sauce, which is the modern take.
• It was a soft and flaky buttery puff pastry that wasn’t dry and it was well stuffed with sweet and salty barbeque pork and green onions.
• The barbeque pork was lean, but not dry and although I prefer the authentic version, I still easily enjoyed this one.
• It was less saucy than the traditional version and since it had the Hoisin dipping sauce, it was understandable.
• If you like BBQ pork style buns, I would highly recommend these Baked BBQ Pork Buns.

Vegetable Spring Roll - 4/6 (Very good)

• A spring roll is a spring roll, but for a vegetarian spring roll, this was very good!
• It was well stuffed with carrots, cilantro and sweet Shiitake mushrooms and a bit of cabbage and celery.
• They were very crispy and the vegetables still kept their flavours and textures and it had a great crunch.
• There was a very subtle heat, but it wasn’t spicy. This was meant to be enjoyed with plum sauce and I was surprised that I even liked it at all since it was just a spring roll.
• A traditional Chinese style spring roll would be stuffed with prawns and the dipping sauce would be Worcestershire sauce. As for their vegetarian versions, I actually don’t think it’s as good as this one.

Shrimp Dumplings - 2/6 (Okay)

• It’s ambitious to take on the shrimp dumpling.
• This is what dim sum chefs and restaurants pride themselves on and it’s one of the hardest things to master. You judge a Chinese restaurant based on their Shrimp Dumplings.
• This requires a lot of technique to make so it almost holds too much significance for me to enjoy unbiasedly.
• The skin was actually quite chewy and nice, but it was too thick and classically it should be very thin and transparent, but not breaking.
• The prawn was a Side Stripe (?) and it had a mild infused ginger flavour, but it was on the dry side.
• It just didn’t carry that desired juicy crunch of an authentic prawn dumpling – see “Har Gow“.
• The effort is commendable, but if you’ve had a great version of the real thing, this was tough to appreciate.
• It was served with a soy and rice wine vinegar which is very modern, but it actually made it taste better. Traditionally soy and vinegar sauces are served with fried meat dumplings.

Green Onion Pancake, Steam Buns, Crunchy Sesame Balls

• This was the starch tier that was in between sweet and savoury. It led up to the top tier of sweet desserts nicely.
• The items on this plate is more traditional of Shanghainese dim sum.
• Green Onion Pancake – 1.5/6 (Poor – Okay)
• Next time I would start by eating this one first. It hindered from being eaten cold. That being said, I’ve had cold versions of the green onion pancake that have worked better.
• Usually there is more green onion and it should be all crispy and flaky.
• This one was quite dense and chewy, but it tasted better with the Hoisin sauce, which is not an uncommon method to enjoy together.
• I prefer it fried, but traditionally Shanghainese cultures tend to deep fry it – see Grilled Onion Pancake (it’s not actually grilled).
• Crunchy Sesame Balls – 2/6 (Okay)
• I loved that they served these, but the only thing is that they under baked/fried them and the inside was still doughy and stretchy. The flour flavour was cooked out, but they were still under cooked.
• This is very traditional to Chinese New Year – see my post on Chinese New Year Food.
• Traditionally they’re known as “Laughing Sesame Balls” and they’re enjoyed as a dessert or sweet snack.
• The sesame balls have a crack or dent in them which represent a smile and the seeds are symbolic for “having kids” (procreation) so you’ll get pregnant after one… just kidding.
• It’s actually a deep fried sweetened pastry and usually it’s crusted with white sesame seeds.
• I actually liked the black sesame seeds better and it made it even nuttier and more aromatic.
• They’re supposed to be crunchy throughout, but these were crunchy just on the outside and then soft and bready in the middle and unfortunately still doughy in the centre.
• I really loved the flavour of these (even more than the traditional ones) because I think they used all butter rather than lard/shortening (which Chinese people use). It was richer, a bit sweeter and not as greasy or dry as the traditional ones – see traditional Laughing Sesame Ball Cookies.

Steam Buns – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• Wow. This was impressive. They did a great job with this and I was surprised to even see them. It was almost the “scone” on the tier.
• It’s traditionally a Shanghainese dish and they’re basically deep fried buns known as “Mantou buns”. Terracotta Modern Chinese actually uses them to make amazing Short Rib Sliders.
• These tasted very authentic and perhaps even better than some traditional ones.
• They’re meant to be dipped in condensed milk (in the centre) and enjoyed as a dessert.

• It’s deep fried, but it’s not a doughnut and it’s only the outside that is meant to be crispy.
• The inside was soft, somewhat spongy and fluffy as it should be, and the bread is a sweeter type of Asian white bread.
• The larger versions of mantou (loaves) are rolled like cinnamon buns before being deep fried and it creates a noodle like inside that Asian kids often enjoy. You can peel them like cheese strings.

Lychee and Osmanthus Flower Shooter, Red Bean Mochi Ball, Egg Tarts

• Oh gosh. Chinese desserts. Desserts is not the forte in Chinese cuisine and usually it’s just fruits, which I kind of expected, but this was still appreciated.
• I eat everything, but Chinese desserts and Indian desserts are hard for me to love.
• Indian desserts I find often too sweet and Chinese desserts often not sweet enough, and it bothers me that they’re usually served warm.
• Anyways, they took the “better” of Chinese desserts and I didn’t fear getting to the top tier.

Red Bean Mochi – 2/6 (Okay)

• Alright, so I kind of feared this so I ate it first. Save the best for last…
• If you know this blog, you all know how I feel about red bean. Basically, it’s something I think I’ll appreciate when I’m older.
• Red bean mochi is more of a Japanese thing, but Chinese people still have their own version and so do Koreans. I prefer the Japanese kind – see here.
• The mochi skin was a bit doughy, dense and starchy and sprinkled with coconut, the coconut I liked!
• The inside was filled with sweetened red bean paste that was smooth and sweeter than traditional Chinese red bean paste.
• This was very rich and pasty and it’s just not my thing. That being said I still swallowed my bite and it wasn’t bad for what it was.
• A mochi that is my thing that I love (since it has no red bean) is the one from Hapa Umi that’s filled with ice cream – see Passionfruit Mochi Ice Cream.

Egg Tarts – 3/6 (Good)

• They did a good job with the egg tarts and they’re made in house too.
• It was a sweetened, crumbly, soft and moist shortbread like tart and the egg custard was also smooth and well made.
• It wasn’t a flaky or crispy egg tart shell, but they were very tender and even better than some Chinese dim sum places.
• There are some amazing ones at authentic Chinese dim sum, but these were still good.

Lychee and Osmanthus Flower Shooter – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• When I heard “shooter” I expected a drink, but this was actually jello.
• Jello shooters at Afternoon Tea was new, but of course non-alcoholic… boo. Just kidding.
• This was a version of the traditional Longan & Wolfberry Pudding or Lychee and Gogi Berry Jello.
• The bottom was the Chrysanthemum(?) flowers and I’m not sure if they meant them to sink to the bottom, but traditionally the flowers float throughout the jello.
• The gogi berries usually float throughout the jello too, but they just had the one dried one on top. This is perhaps a bit “exotic” so I understand the interpretation.
• This lychee jello was probably the best lychee jello I’ve had to date. It was full of fresh lychee fruit flavour (how? I don’t know since it’s not in season), but I loved it.
• It was fragrant and fruity and definitely sweeter than most Chinese desserts, and as sweet as most American jellos.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Provided by: Martin Newman – casinotop10.net (How appropriate since it’s Chinese New Year when everything is about $$$)

Gong Hay Fat Choy! Sun Lien Fai Lok! Gong Xi Fa Cai! Xin Nian Kuai Le!

The day has finally come, but the Chinese dinners should have started last night! If you missed out, there are still 15 days to go! It’s not as long as the celebrations for an Indian wedding, but the Chinese can still party half as hard! Hey there’s tea involved, not alcohol. Don’t judge… or did I just do that for you?

Anyways I’ve been gearing Chinese New Year up since Friday with a post on Chinese New Year Menus (which are still available at some places), followed by a post on Continental and Kirin. After all that talk about Chinese food I’m going to talk more about Chinese food, except this time it’s specific to the New Year.

If you don’t eat these things you’ll be poor and unsuccessful and have bad se… whoa! Ha! Just kidding, this is a Chinese post, you don’t make mention of that ever. The poor and unsuccessful thing is actually more true, but it’s all based on superstition so you can believe as much or as little as you want to. All jokes aside, Chinese New Year food is very symbolic and it’s part of the celebration to eat these things amongst family and friends.

Note: The following are only some of the foods, but there are a lot more! I listed them in order of “foodie beginners” to “foodie experts” … beginners first.

Follow Me Foodie to Chinese New Year Food!

Mini Honey Mandarins

Credit: flickr.com/photos/garysoup | CC BY 2.0

Yes! Come to mama! I love these things! No! They’re not the “Cuties” or regular mandarins, but they’re the little mini honey mandarins that are the size of golf balls. I’ve literally had a mini box for breakfast for the last 2 days and that’s about 30 mini mandarins. They’re so tiny though and 30 of them is about 3 oranges… whoa… okay never mind, that’s actually quite a bit for breakfast. Building up my immune system!

The mandarins translate to “gold” in Chinese so you’re supposed to eat them during the New Year. You’ll be rich. It doesn’t have to be these mini honey mandarins, and it can be any mandarins or even oranges, but they all translate to “baller”.

Sesame Ball Cookies

These are Laughing Sesame Ball Cookies which are deep fried sesame crusted cookies. It’s supposed to symbolize a laughing head… eat them and you’ll start to giggle! The sesame seeds (or any seed) also represent having lots of children, so don’t blame me if you happen to get pregnant or start popping out babies after eating one.

Chinese Cakes and Puddings

I’m warming up to the more “exotic” stuff. This is a Taro Cake and I mentioned the Turnip/Radish Cakes in my post on Chinese New Year Menus. To repeat myself, both are savoury cakes and the Radish/Turnip Cakes (different names, same thing) are definitely available all year. There’s also a traditional sweet brown sugar rice cake called “Nian Gao” and these cakes symbolize a sweet year and growth… growth in prosperity, success, and height… although the last is wishful thinking. Just kidding, but cake or pudding in Chinese is “Gao” which means height or raising higher. You can try these all or even buy them at almost any dim sum restaurant or purchase them at Saint Germain Bakery.

Whole Chicken

Not exactly exotic, but serving it whole may be different. The whole chicken should be presented with the head and tail and it symbolizes the coming together of families and completeness. In Vancouver they don’t always serve the head and tail anymore because people don’t really eat it as much as they would in Asia. Yes, people do eat the tail, but not everyone can make it well. This is The Jade Smoked Grandpa Chicken, one of the Jade Seafood Restaurant’s award winning dishes and most famous items.

Abalone

Abalone (sea snail) symbolizes good fortune, wealth and prosperity… and if you’re eating it, you likely have all of the above. The one you see above is a Braised Whole Fresh Australian Abalone (Medium) and it goes for $34.99 each at The Jade Seafood. There are lots of different qualities for abalone and some can taste like mushrooms while the more expensive kinds can taste like clams. 

Braised Dried Oyster, Pork Tongue & Black Moss

See I told you I was warming you up. I know. It doesn’t look good and it sounds pretty exotic and adventurous. But if you’re a “real foodie” you should at least give it a try. If ordering it at a restaurant is intimidating then just order it to go and dissect it at home.

For those familiar with this dish, you’re likely drooling at your screen. This is an expensive dish and it’s full of Chinese delicacies. It comes with a price tag, but if you want quality, you got to pay for it and the portion is enough for 10.

This is the mother of all dishes when it comes to symbolism because it has some of everything. The braised dried oyster is a Chinese delicacy and they represent wealth. The Chinese Shiitake mushroom and Abalone sauce also represent wealth and the black moss also represents wealth. It all has to do with money, which I think is no surprise anymore. The reason for the pork tongue (which can also be pork hock or pigs hand/feet) is the idea of giving money to the hands of people. Super creepy thought, but it’s true!

This photo is the Braised Dried Oyster, Pork Tongue & Black Moss from Kirin and another one is the Dried Oyster with Fat Choy from Fisherman’s Terrace at Aberdeen Centre in Richmond.

Restaurant: Continental Seafood Restaurant 辛運海鮮酒樓
Cuisine: Chinese/Seafood/Dim Sum
Last visited: August 18, 2011
Location: Richmond, BC (Richmond)
Address: 11700 Cambie Rd
Bus: WB Cambie Rd FS No. 5 Rd
Price Range: $10 or less dim sum, $20-30+ dinner

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: FMF Must Try!

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

• Traditional Cantonese cuisine
• Chinese/English menus
• Live seafood tanks
• Popular for dim sum
• Push cart dim sum
• Popular for take-out BBQ meats
• Known to Chinese locals
• Nightly live entertainment
• Ballroom dance floor
• Very affordable prices
• Large space/venue
• Free parking
• Dim Sum/Lunch/Dinner
• Monday 10am – 12:30am
• Tuesday 10am – 12am
• Wed-Thurs: 10am – 12:30am
• Fri-Sat: 10am – 1am
• Sunday 10am-10pm
• Banquet dinner post

**Recommendations: Double Boiled Winter Melon Soup with Mixed Seafood, Black Cod & Eggplant, Sauteed Beef and Seasonal Vegetable with Satay Sauce, Golden Crispy Roasted Pork

Chinese New Year Eve is tomorrow so I’m continuing the Chinese theme! I posted on a few different types of Chinese New Year menus yesterday (see here), but perhaps there was still nothing you fancied? Well that just makes you picky because I had quite the variety! Kidding… sort of.

If you don’t have reservations by now, you’re likely screwed since all the “best” and popular Chinese restaurants have been booked for weeks/months. However here is an option that might still be available. It’s one of Richmond’s largest Chinese restaurants and you might be able to get seated for dim sum if not for dinner… and if neither, then there’s also their discrete take out window. It’s not the best place for Chinese food in Richmond or Metro Vancouver, but it’s not bad either, and your procrastination leaves you with slim pickings anyways.

I’ve been coming to this restaurant since I was in elementary and I’ve seen it change names, chefs and hands on a few occasions. To be honest, I usually dread coming to this place because I know I’m usually in for a long banquet dinner featuring very mediocre mass produced food. The thing I look forward to the most is the Dairy Queen Blizzard I get for dessert since it’s conventionally across the street.

Although I’m not crazy about the food, the reason for the return is usually due to mandatory obligations and the fact that my parents love ballroom dancing. Yup! This is the “hot spot” in Richmond for the Chinese baby boomers. They come to eat, sing and dance… or in their words, “eat, sing K, and disco”.

I’ve blogged about a banquet dinner at Continental Seafood Restaurant before (see here), and I’ve never really been impressed. I rarely come here for dinner since I come here enough for banquets throughout the year, but when “K and disco” are a must, then I can bet my parents’ dancing shoes that I’m likely to end up here.

Anyways, on this occasion I was definitely caught by surprise and I ended up being incredibly impressed with the food, quality, portions and price. I think the majority would agree that banquet dinners don’t properly represent a restaurant, and this is a perfect example. Sure, it might have just been a good day, but regardless, the food was good enough to make me want to come back on a regular night and that’s what matters.

Personally, I find it extremely difficult to order at pretty much all Chinese restaurants even if they have English menus. The menus are the size of bibles and the descriptions are vague or poorly translated. Well it’s no different here, but I’m hoping to help!

On the table:

**Double Boiled Winter Melon Soup with Mixed Seafood (Advance Order) – 6/6 (FMF Must Try!)

• $50
• You have to order this in advance and it’s enough for at least 10 people which makes it $5/bowl with more left for seconds.
• What better time of the year than to have this healthy comfort food/soup?
• It’s a premium soup that exists in Hong Kong, but it’s not that easy to find and it’s even harder to find in Metro Vancouver, so it’s quite special.
• It’s an entire winter melon that’s carved and used as a pot.

• Needless to say, I loved the presentation.
• Although it might not be “the best” in Vancouver, it’s not something easily made at home and this one was still excellent, so I would say it’s definitely still a must try.
• The winter melon is super tender from being boiled and the meat gets scraped and scooped into your bowl. At the end it’s just the outer shell of the melon.
• The winter melon is extremely tender, juicy, soft and creamy and it just absorbs all the flavours of the soup.
• It’s naturally sweet and very mild and neutral in flavour and comparable to a cucumber, zucchini or perhaps squash, but less filling and not starchy.

• The soup was full of ingredients like dried scallops (Chinese delicacy), fresh mushrooms, Shiitake mushrooms, straw mushrooms, Chinese broccoli (kai lan) slices, dried red dates, boneless dark meat chicken, little pieces of pork shoulder, pieces of duck, ham, crab, fresh prawn, and fish maw (Chinese delicacy).
• Fish maw (gas bladder) is a chewy, jelly-like spongy tube and it has a slight crunch. It’s a bit slimy and acquired, but I really like it. It doesn’t even really have a flavour and just absorbs the flavour of everything it’s cooked in.
• It was a clear soup that wasn’t oily and it didn’t taste like an intense meat and seafood soup.
• It was more of a savoury vegetable and chicken soup.
• The meat and seafood was obvious, but the flavours didn’t really infuse into the soup since there were no bones or shells used.
• It was more flavourful than a standard vegetable soup of course, and although it was a light broth, it was full of hearty ingredients and flavour.

Golden Crispy Roasted Pork & BBQ Duck – 4/6 (Very good)

• $15.80, 1/2 BBQ Duck $16.80
• Golden Crispy Roasted Pork – 4/6 (Very good)
• I had the suckling pig last time too (here), but it was even better than I remembered this time around.
• The pork was ultra tender, falling apart and almost melting as you can see in the picture.
• It wasn’t as fatty as last time with a better balance of lean meat and fat, but the fatty parts were still a bit chewy and gelatinous rather than creamy.
• It had a delicious crispy crackling skin that was well salted and overall it was delicious!
• BBQ Duck – 3.5/6 (Good – Very good)
• The duck had a sweet soy sauce marinade and it was tender and moist.
• For some reason it tasted more like squab than duck and it wasn’t juicy, but still moist.
• It wasn’t too fatty (which I like) and it had a crispy skin, but the fat part was still slightly gelatinous for my liking rather than creamy.
• It was a good BBQ duck, but there are others I prefer in Richmond.

Garlic Chicken – 3/6 (Good)

• Half $16.80 Whole $29.80
• I’m not really a fan of this dish, but it was still good for what it was.
• It was covered with crispy nutty fried garlic chips which I could have used more of.
• It was salty and oily with an unexpected spicy kick at the end, but I wouldn’t say it was a spicy dish.
• The chicken juices were strong and it was likely in a brine of cooking wine, salt, sugar, ginger and garlic before it was steamed and drizzled with sesame oil.
• The free range chicken was flavourful moist and juicy, but I prefer mine slightly more slippery and silky smooth.
• Usually free range chicken like this tends to be a bit on the dry side, but this one was nice and oily and well done.
• I had this last time too – see here, and I think it was better last time with more garlic.
• For a change I also recommend The Jade Smoked Grandpa Chicken from The Jade Seafood Restaurant.

Green Onion Ginger Oil -  This is the condiment for the chicken. This was a very chunky version of it and I liked it. The garlic seemed nuttier than usual because they fried it and it also had some fried onions/garlic/shallots in it for extra flavour. There was a good ginger and onion balance and it was well salted and I actually like the frying method better than having it raw (which I do also like).

Fresh Rock Cod Steamed – Whole Fish – 4/6 (Very good)

• Current price
• The fish was fresh and it was boneless and skinless so very easy to eat.
• The fish was firmer than expected, but not like halibut either. It was moist and light, but a bit mushy rather than flaky.
• The vegetables included carrots, scallions, snow peas and celery and it actually wasn’t all celery which is good.
• It was simply sauteed with soy sauce and a bit of garlic, ginger and onions, and it was quite a standard and simple dish, but done well.
• It was slightly oily, but only as oily as expected.

**Black Cod & Eggplant – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• $20.80
• I love black cod (sablefish) and eggplant, so naturally I’m going to love this dish.
• The sable fish was lightly deep fried in huge pieces and although the skin was slimy, it tends to be when it’s made in a clay pot like this since it’s covered with sauce.
• The fish was very moist and juicy (as black cod usually is), but it was a bit slimy since the gravy was a bit thick and oily (as it tends to be in clay pots).
• I expected it to be black bean sauce, but surprisingly it wasn’t.
• There was some ginger, garlic and onions and the sauce was the standard soy sauce, garlic and maybe oyster sauce gravy.
• The eggplant was tender and plentiful and super creamy with all the sauce and there were also pieces of fatty pork in it.
• The pork just made the dish richer, heartier and more flavourful.
• If you’re familiar with these clay pot dishes, than this was good, but if you’re not, then the slightly slimy texture may take getting used to.

Pan Fried Prawns with Wasabi Sauce – 1.5/6 (Poor-Okay)

• $18.80
• I was pretty disappointed with this modern Chinese dish and expected something very different.
• The menu said “pan fried”, but it was very obviously deep fried and the batter was very thick and mushy with no crispiness or crunch.
• It looked and tasted like deep fried prawns tossed in a mayo salad dressing and I couldn’t taste an Wasabi sauce either.
• The wasabi sauce was just some wasabi paste/powder mixed with some mayo an  perhaps honey. It had a bit of a powdery texture.
• It wasn’t spicy and more sweet and carried very little wasabi kick.
• The prawns were cooked well and tender with a crunch, but the batter and sauce just wasted it.

Buddha’s Feast with Pumpkin- 3/6 (Good)

• $16.80
• I know it sounds super “Caucasian” to order “Buddha’s Feast”, but the pumpkin was the selling factor for me!
• It’s basically a vegetarian dish, but this was a modern yet traditional Chinese way of making it.
• Note it’s not actually vegetarian because it had fish maw (gas bladder) in it (Chinese delicacy).
• The ingredients were traditional Chinese and a bit exotic, but the pumpkin was the modern twist.
• It was half a Japanese Kaboocha Squash used as the bowl and the whole thing was creamy, sweet and super saucy.
• It was perhaps too saucy and the vegetables were all a bit slimy and it was almost soupy.
• The sauce just tasted salty with soy sauce and it was quite basic and not offensive, but texturally a bit goopy.
• It was filled with fresh crunchy bamboo shoots, baby corn, crunchy chestnuts, a couple Shiitakes mushrooms, soft black wood ear mushroom, straw mushrooms and fish maw.
• I would have liked more Shiitakes and I wish the chestnuts were soft.
• The broccoli was tender and the fish maw (gas bladder) was unexpected, but it’s what made it worth the price.
• Again, fish maw is a chewy, jelly-like spongy tube and it has a slight crunch. It’s a bit slimy and acquired, but I really like it. It doesn’t even really have a flavour and just absorbs the flavour of everything it’s cooked in.

**Sauteed Beef and Seasonal Vegetable with Satay Sauce – 5.5/6 (Excellent!)

• $15.80
• We had chicken, pork, duck, prawn, fish and needed beef!
• This is a very typical dish, but it was excellent here! I was very impressed with the quality of beef and how tender it was.
• The slices of beef melted in your mouth and it was nice and saucy with a satay sauce likely made with garlic, ginger, soy, sugar and a little chili.
• It was sweet and savoury with a little heat, but it wasn’t spicy and just creamy in texture. It wasn’t dry at all.
• The seasonal vegetable was Chinese broccoli (kai lan) and it was young, tender and crunchy and cooked perfectly.
• I hope they’re consistent with this dish because it was a sure winner.

Braised Fish Head and Tofu in Brown Sauce – 4/6 (Very good)

• $19.80
• It wasn’t the actual head, but pieces of the head. It’s the best part of the fish and has the most flavour although it might sound intimidating. It’s for the “real fish eaters”.
• This is for those who have graduated from eating fish with the skin and bones, and if you’re not even at that point, then you might not want to start here.
• It had the collar or neck, and pieces of the cheek which is my favourite part of the fish. The collar and neck is great too! They have great texture and flavour.
• The fish pieces were lightly battered and fried and it was a bit greasy, but that was a bit assumed.
• The pieces of fish have a lot of meat and the cheeks were big pieces of cheek.
• The meat was also easy to eat because the bones are big and easy to remove. The cheek just slides off the bone.
• It was sauteed with garlic and a typical soy sauce/fish sauce gravy and it even had a little bit of dark meat chicken in it.
• The tofu was lightly deep fried and crispy, just like the fish, and it was an interesting component for those who don’t eat fish.
• It should have come in a clay pot since it was braised, but it didn’t. It didn’t really bother me, but it adds to the fresh factor having it bubbling hot in a pot. On the other hand this makes it easier so people don’t pick through the dish.
• There were some hidden baby bok choy and mushrooms underneath as well.

Fried Rice with Shrimp & Chicken in 2 Different Sauces – 4/6 (Very good)

• $16.80
• Popularly known as Honeymoon Fried Rice, or Ying Yang fried rice, this is one of my favourite fried rices to be served at a Chinese banquet dinner, or really any Chinese dinner.
• It wasn’t exactly 50% of each sauce, but I do like the red sauce better so I was happy. Most like the cream sauce, but I actually like it best mixed.
• The tomato sauce was a bit too neon for me and I like it a deeper darker red – like this one at Gingeri – see Fried Rice with Shrimp and Cream & Chicken in Tomato Sauce.
• The tomato side has onions, chicken and tomatoes, but the chicken was a bit dry. It’s typically a Ketchupy sweet and sour like sauce, but this one wasn’t that tangy.
• The cream side was creamy, but could have been creamier and it was slightly gluey from the corn starch.
• The cream side had tender baby shrimps and peas, but it was slightly bland overall.
• The fried rice underneath was just regular white rice and I was hoping it would have some scrambled egg in it at the very least.

Dessert - Red Bean Soup - n/a

• You bet there was complimentary red bean soup! And you bet right again that I left before it even came! Dairy Queen across the street was about to close!
• I’m not a fan of red bean, and like I said in the intro of this post, usually when I come to Continental I look forward to the Dairy Queen after (just out of convenience).
• It’s almost the only time I have DQ unless it’s an ice cream cake at someone’s birthday.

Dairy Queen

Bananaless Split

• I was incredibly disappointed they ran out of bananas and the service was actually pretty awful.
• I had to ask them not to charge full price for a banana split that had no bananas. Then they made it into a blizzard which wasn’t what I requested and sold it to someone else at full price. Ouch.
• This ended up being a triple sundae with marshmallow cream, pineapples and strawberry sauce.
• Really not the same without bananas and I should have just went with an ice cream sandwich or Oreo Blizzard.

Caramel Toffee Cookie Blizzard

• It was the flavour of the month so I was curious, but it was way too sweet for me. It was almost hurt your teeth sweet.
• The toffee cookie was pretty hard and again I should have just went for a reliable Oreo Blizzard or ice cream sandwich.

Follow Me Foodie to the Chinese New Year Kick Off & Chinese New Year Menus!

Gong Hay Fat Choy! Sun Lien Fai Lok! Gong Xi Fa Cai! Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Nom nom nom! Ah yes, those are phonetics everyone might understand! Happy Chinese New Year and welcome to the year of the dragon! “Puff the Magic Dragon lives by the sea…”, I bet you’ll be singing that all day now. Anyways, it’s the year of the dragon, one of the few animals Chinese people don’t eat… and why? Because they’re mythical creatures that only exist in forms of tattoos on Asian gang members… and in Mulan. Anyways, if you missed my Foodie Friday segment on NEWS 1130AM radio this morning (11am every other Friday) here’s a quick recap.

If you don’t have reservations for your Chinese New Year dinner or more importantly Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner, you’re likely not going to get any of the “Best Chinese Restaurants” the city has to offer. But no worries! There are lots of other options! Being in Vancouver, even plan B or C isn’t that bad for Chinese food. We’re lucky to live in a place where excellent Chinese food isn’t hard to find.

There are endless options in the city for Chinese food and various ways to participate in the celebration of the New Year. If you want to do it the traditional way, then a traditional Chinese restaurant with a traditional Chinese menu, and a group of 10 people is the way to do it. However we’re in Vancouver and traditions don’t have to be followed, it’s more about the spirit and always about the food, so grab your chopsticks and toothpicks and Follow Me Foodie to various Chinese New Year Menus in Metro Vancouver, BC!

This is a very small dent in the Chinese restaurant scene and there and many more options than this, so please use this as a rough guide. Feel free to leave a comment if you have questions or need further suggestions.

Follow Me Foodie to Chinese New Year Menus!

“I’m a foodie of tradition and I’ll eat all 10-12 courses myself if I have to! Bring on the real deal!”

Dried Oyster with Fat Choy from Fisherman’s Terrace at Aberdeen Centre in Richmond, BC

You said it! Almost all the formal Chinese restaurants will have a set menu for Chinese New Year. It should include Chinese mushrooms, fish, chicken, noodles, and abalone if you go for the higher end menu. There are different menus and prices usually set for 10 and you can expect to spend anywhere from $280-$800 for a table of 10 at a nicer Chinese restaurant. Each restaurant should have at least 4 different set menus for you to choose from.

Dried Oyster with Fat Choy is a very traditional dish for Chinese New Year and there is a lot of symbolism behind it. You can listen to my explanation of it here on air with CBC Radio last year.

Here are some sample menus of traditional Chinese New Year dinners I’ve had: Fisherman’s Terrace, Shun Feng Seafood Restaurant, Kirin Seafood Restaurant and The Jade Seafood Restaurant.

“I want to do something traditional, but less formal and I can’t get a reservation for dinner.”

Make it a dim sum! It still may require a reservation, but your chances are higher for dim sum than dinner. A few dishes traditional to Chinese New Year are the Pan Fried Radish/Turnip Cakes and the Pan Fried Taro Cakes. They are both savoury cakes and the Radish/Turnip Cakes (different names, same thing) are definitely available all year. There’s also a traditional sweet brown sugar rice cake called “Nian Gao” and these cakes symbolize a sweet year and growth… growth in prosperity, success, and height… although the last is wishful thinking. Just kidding, but cake or pudding in Chinese is “Gao” which means height or raising higher.

You can also buy premade ones and pan fry them at home yourself. Almost all the of dim sum restaurants will sell ready to fry ones during this time. It’s tradition to buy them and give them away to people as gifts during the New Year. Saint Germain Bakery sells nicely packaged ones (see here), so if you really want to impress someone… *ahem* bring one for their mother.

Dim sum options: Richmond options: Red Star Seafood, J&C Top Gun Restaurant, Rainflower Restaurant, The Jade Seafood Restaurant, Empire Chinese Cuisine, VivaCity Seafood, Kalok Seafood Restaurant, Sea Harbour, Kirin Seafood Restaurant, Good Eat Seafood Restaurant etc. Vancouver options: Kirin Seafood Restaurant, Red Star Seafood, Dynasty Seafood Restaurant, Golden Ocean Seafood etc., and Burnaby option: Grand Dynasty Seafood Restaurant. There are honestly so many options and if you’re not familiar with your dim sum, then get cracking! Not knowing what or how to order is no excuse when I have pictures to help

“I prefer a modern take on Chinese food and don’t have 10 friends/family I like.”

Try Wild Rice. It’s a modern fusion take on traditional Chinese cuisine and they have a special Year of The Dragon Prix Fixe Menu designed for 2 from January 22 – February 4, 2012. (I hope you have at least one person you like). The menu includes Water Dragon Platter for Two, Dungeness Crab Salad, Steamed Ling Cod, Albacore Tuna Tartare and a dessert Plate of Food Wishes. $38.88 for two people.

Wild Rice Vancouver: 117 W. Pender Street at Abbott on the edge of old Chinatown, 604-642-2882

Wild Rice New Westminster: 122-810 Quayside Drive in the River Market, 778-397-0028

“I’m a tea connoisseur, and I’ve done the dim sum, but I want something new and modern.”

This is the shrine for tea lovers. Their tea library and quality of luxury teas are incredible. From January 16th – January 31st, 2012, The Urban Tea Merchant is introducing their “Year of the Dragon” Signature Afternoon Tea Service. The menu includes Tiger Hill Tea-infused egg salad sandwich, traditional wrapped Peking duck & plum sauce, chocolate dipped dragon fruit, dragon eye fruit, Matcha tea-infused fortune cookie and many more savoury and sweet bites. $48 per person. Full menu here.

The Urban Tea Merchant Downtown Vancouver: 1070 West Georgia St. Vancouver, 604-692-0071

The Urban Tea Merchant The Village at Park Royal: G3 – 825 Main St. West Vancouver, 604-926-3392

Now heads up! Xi Shi Lounge at the Shangri-La Hotel nearby is also hosting a Special Chinese New Year Afternoon Tea Monday, January 23rd through Sunday, January 29th from 11:30 am to 5:00 pm. $34 per person. See my post here.

“I prefer the hotel version of Chinese New Year.”

Photo Credit Pan Pacific Vancouver

So you’re a little less adventurous and maybe not a fan of the traditional stuff? Or your dining with some “white bread and butters”? Or you need something for the kids? (I personally believe kids should be introduced to unfamiliar food at a young age though). Well whatever the reasons are you’ll get a good mix of everything (including non-Chinese items) at the Cafe Pacfica Restaurant.

This Sunday January 22, Cafe Pacfica Restaurant at Pan Pacific Vancouver is hosting their annual Chinese New Years Day Brunch Buffet which includes a fancy buffet featuring: Chinese Charcuterie, Dim Sum, Lemon Chicken, Wok Station, Sushi Station, Omelette Station, Carving Station and many more things. The dessert buffet offers Chocolate Dipped Fortune Cookies, Sweat Bean Sesame Balls, Egg Tarts, Sago & Lotus seed pudding, Chocolate Mousse and Creme Brulee. See the full menu here.

The buffet also includes a live piano performance and a great view – see here for prices and more details.

Pan Pacific Vancouver: 300-999 Canada Place, Vancouver, 604.891.2555

“Just take me to a Chinese New Year fair and let me sample random Chinese goodies!”

Aberdeen Centre in Richmond, BC is hosting their annual Chinese New Year flower and gift fair January 19-29 (see hours here). There will also be a live countdown on January 22 at 10:30pm – 12:10am in the Central Atrium of the mall. Parking will make you want to pull each strand of hair out one by one and you may discover a heightened sense of road rage, so I highly recommend taking the Canada Line… thank me later.

Make sure you check out the Dragon’s Beard Candy stand. It’s Chinese style cotton candy stuffed with sugared ground peanuts and it will be extra popular this year since it’s the Year of the Dragon. It’s a special dessert that’s labour intensive to make and the “cotton candy” is hand pulled.

Aberdeen Centre: Suite 130, 4400 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond, 604.270.1234

Restaurant: Sushi Garden
Cuisine: Japanese/Sushi
Last visited: December 16, 2011
Location: Burnaby, BC (Burnaby South)
Address: 4635 Kingsway
Train: Metrotown Skytrain
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: FMF Must Try!

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

• Korean owned/operated
• Bang for your buck sushi
• Extensive menu
• Popular for sushi
• Hot items available
• Local favourite
• Very popular/busy
• Line-ups/wait list at 6pm
• Budget friendly/Cheap eats
• Family friendly
• Serves alcohol
• Same owners as California Sushi in Coquitlam
• Free parking at rear
• Dine in/Take out
• Mon-Sat 11am-10pm
• Sunday 11:30-9:30pm

**Recommendations: Alaska Roll, Tuna Gomae

Sushi Garden in Burnaby, BC is probably one of the busiest sushi restaurants in Metro Vancouver. It’s a large restaurant, but it fills up quickly and there’s a guaranteed line up that usually starts at 6pm. I’ve come here on numerous occasions, and it’s not my favourite sushi restaurant, but it’s bang for your buck sushi and it does the job if you’re in the area… especially after a hard day’s worth of shopping at Metrotown mall across the street.

I wouldn’t say Sushi Garden is high quality, but the food is actually decent especially for the price. I really don’t expect too much and if I take it for what it is, it’s good. Cheap sushi in Metro Vancouver isn’t really hard to find, and I wouldn’t make an effort to come here, but it’s an easy go to place if you’re in the neighbourhood. It’s actually Korean owned an operated and we can forget about “authenticity” because when you’re paying $3-4 for a roll, it doesn’t really matter.

The restaurant is for those who have graduated from All You Can Eat sushi and Samurai Sushi, and I would choose this before I would the other two. Sure AYCE sushi can vary depending on the restaurant, but generally, I’m not crazy about it.

If you can’t get a seat here, which is common, then I would also suggest trying Asakusa Sushi just a block away. It’s pretty much the same deal and that one is Vietnamese owned and operated. I like the menu selection better at Sushi Garden, but Asakusa Sushi offers really cheap bento boxes and nicer presentation. Their stuff has a little bit more care since they’re not as busy as Sushi Garden, but their both good options for cheap sushi in the area that actually tastes decent.

On the table:

**Tuna Gomae – 3.5/6 (Good-Very good)

• $4.95
• The gomae sauce is a bit on the thin side and I prefer mine a bit thicker, but this was still good.
• It was half spinach gomae and half tuna gomae, but the portion was still big and worth the price even if it wasn’t all tuna.
• The sauce was thin in texture, but not in flavour and it was a bit sweet and I prefer mine nuttier with a gritty texture of freshly ground toasted sesame seeds.
• There was some pureed sesame seeds, but not a whole lot.
• The tuna isn’t the highest in quality, but again I don’t expect it for the price. When it’s covered in sauce it doesn’t really matter anyways.
• The best tuna gomae I’ve had so far is at Tokachi Japanese Restaurant.

Tako Yaki – 2.5/6 (Okay-Good)

• Octopus ball, 6 pcs $3.95
• If you’ve never tried tako yaki than these are good, but otherwise they’re pretty standard for tako yaki.
• It’s a popular street food usually made of batter, diced octopus, pickled ginger, green onions and topped with fish/squid shavings, Japanese mayo and okonomiyaki sauce (thicker sweeter Teriyaki like sauce).
• It was creamy, gummy and almost like a glutinous dumpling. It’s like eating a very soft mochi.
• It was a bit mushier than usual with a very tiny piece of octopus and it was a bit tough from being overcooked.
• I wanted more filling, because they were a bit too airy even though they are supposed to be somewhat airy and light.
• I could taste the pickled ginger and onion although it was very little. I appreciated it being in there though when lots of places just ignore it.
• They weren’t amazing here, but they’re not bad either and I wouldn’t mind ordering them again.

Seafood Salad – 3/6 (Good)

• Prawn, smoked salmon, tobiko $5.95
• This was a huge salad and well worth the price.
• It’s definitely not your Hapa Izakaya Sashimi Salad, Guu Sashimi Salad or Nan Chuu Sashimi Salad, but it was also half the price of all of them.
• It was a fresh salad with lots of ingredients and I liked it!
• It was crunchy with lots of fresh cabbage, carrots, cucumbers and lettuce and the chilled and firm Japanese vermicelli noodles (used in sunomono) were unexpected, but appreciated and original.
• The seafood wasn’t all sashimi, but I didn’t expect it for the price.
• There was only one piece of tuna sashimi and then lots of artificial crab meat, some tiny thin slices of salty smoked salmon, a piece of cooked shrimp, a piece of cooked octopus, and a generous amount of tobiko which I loved.
• There was a drizzle of wasabi mayo on top, which I could have used more of, but the best part was the dressing that came with it!

This dressing is their secret house made dressing and it makes everything taste delicious. It’s a vinaigrette and the same one they put on their famous Alaska rolls. It’s a very sharp and tangy Miso like Ponzu-Soy sauce. It’s an orangey-citrus vinaigrette that’s almost like an Asian inspired Italian dressing and it’s a bit savoury and sweet too. It had a grainy texture and you could tell it was made with a fresh puree of onions and apples.

**Alaska Roll – 5.5/6 (Excellent!)

• Avocado, tobiko, salmon $3.95
• This is what they’re famous for and it’s their most popular roll. I order it every time I come.
• I would possibly make the effort to come here just for this roll. It’s one of my favourite sushi rolls in the city.
• It was a perfect one-bite piece of melt in your mouth sushi. You have to love avocado to like this.
• They don’t use the rice to make it look big, but the rice was slightly bland and the seaweed a bit chewy.
• It was super rich and creamy and stuffed with buttery, over ripe, semi mashed avocado that comes across as guacamole.
• There was more avocado than salmon, but I don’t even care because it was good enough to overlook.
• What makes this roll different from all other Alaska Rolls is that they pour a special sauce onto it.
• The special sauce is actually the same home made vinaigrette they served with the seafood salad. I love that dressing!
• The acidity of the sauce really cuts through the richness of the creamy avocado and makes the whole thing pop.
• I wouldn’t mind some crunch of cucumber to break things up, but it’s still excellent!
• The salmon wasn’t great quality, but again, you stop caring because it delivers beyond a $3.95 roll and any other ordinary Alaska roll.
• This roll doesn’t require any soy sauce or wasabi.

Spicy Tuna Roll – 3/6

• $2.95
• Unlike most spicy tuna rolls, where you would just get spicy tuna, this one also had cucumbers, green onion and tobiko. For $2.95 I can accept not having as much tuna.
• The spicy sauce tasted like a Korean chili soybean paste and it could have been Gochujung sauce which I love.
• They don’t use the rice to make it look big, but the rice was slightly bland and the seaweed a bit chewy.
• It was a bit sweet and slightly spicy and I could have used more spicy tuna sauce.
• The best spicy tuna roll from a cheap eats sushi place I’ve had so far is still from Tokyo Joe’s Sushi Factory.

Toro Sashimi (Tuna Belly) – 2/6 (Okay)

• $9.95
• So this is the section I prefer to skip – the sashimi. It’s quantity over quality.
• Toro is one of my favourite sashimi so I just wanted to give it a try here.
• Most cheap sushi places don’t specialize in sashimi since it’s expensive, so it’s really not the place to indulge in sashimi although it’s still very popular with their customers.
• The cut was quite random and it seemed previously frozen and thawed because it was colder than being simply chilled.
• It wasn’t as oily and a bit firm rather than buttery, and it wasn’t toro I wanted to finish.
• The flavour just reminded me of very mediocre tuna sashimi which I’m not keen on.
• I could appreciate this toro sashimi much more if it were in a roll context (eg: Negitoro – tuna belly roll) because then the quality doesn’t become as important and the flavour would be more forgivable and somewhat masked.

Island Roll – 2/6 (Okay)

• Cooked tuna, fish flake with fresh kiwi sauce $4.95
• This was from a previous visit. It sounded the most original and interesting, but I wouldn’t order it again.
• It was basically something you might attempt at home, but I appreciate the creativity.
• It was a bit dry because the tuna was jut a canned tuna and I think it needed to be marinated more. They just marinated it in mayo and not enough of it either.
• The kiwi sauce was mashed kiwi with perhaps some lemon juice for tang.
• The roll was salty and sweet, but more on the sweet side, and the kiwi was a bit overpowering and the roll could have been saltier.
• There was also tamago in it, but it got lost in the mixture and kiwi and tuna was basically all I could taste.
• This roll is actually better if you dip it in soy sauce and wasabi… yes even with the kiwi sauce. It works!

Haru Maki – 3/6 (Good)

• Vegetable, Tobiko, crab meat $4.50
• This is from a previous visit. From the description I would never think to order it, but I’m glad I did because it was unexpected and good.
• It was almost like a Vietnamese salad roll, but instead of vermicelli it was all artificial crab meat. There was a lot of it!
• It was creamy from the avocado and crunchy from the fresh vegetables which included a red pepper, one asparagus, a little lettuce, lots of cucumber and a little bit of tobiko.
• They served it with a Teriyaki Hoisin like sauce which was great.
• There was another Japanese salad dressing that tasted like Thousand Island dressing and I wasn’t keen on that.
• The two sauces didn’t really complement and I liked it better with the Teriyaki Hoisin sauce, which I ended up asking for more of (no charge).

Prawn & Sweet Potato Tempura – n/a

• $7.50
• This wasn’t my order, but I had to snap a photo just in case you’re interested to see what it looks like.

Restaurant: Nan Chuu Japanese Izakaya 南廚
Cuisine: Japanese/Tapas
Last visited: January 3, 2012
Location: Richmond, BC (Richmond Central)
Address: 1160-8391 Alexandra Rd
Train: Lansdowne Station Northbound
Price Range: $10-20+

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: FMF Must Try!

Food: 3.5 - 4
Service: 2.5
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 3.5
Additional comments:

• Gyoza King Group
• Japanese chefs
• Izakaya/tapas
• Traditional menu
• Authentic
• Very casual
• Good for sharing
• Ramen available
• Reasonably priced
• Beer/cocktails/wine
• Reservations recommended
• Mon-Sat 5:30pm – 1am (often later)
• Sunday 5:30pm-11:30pm
• Closed Wednesday

**Recommendations: Negi Chashu, Salmon Nanban, Saba Shioyaki, Gyoza, Tori Karaage, Deep Fried Oysters

Nan Chuu is part of the Gyoza King Group which also owns Gyo-O in Richmond and Chicco Cafe and Gyoza King in downtown Vancouver, BC. They used to own G-Men Ramen in Richmond too, but due to rent issues they recently closed shop. It was quite a shocker since G-Men Ramen was always busy with line ups, but the ramen menu is now being served at Nan Chuu.

I think the owners of Gyoza King are actually Chinese, but the food at all their restaurants are prepared authentically by Japanese chefs. Each of their restaurants are very different, and not like how each Guu or Hapa Izakaya is different. Each Gyoza King Group restaurant specializes in a specific category of Japanese cuisine like ramen (G-Men), seafood/sashimi (Gyo-O), Japanese desserts (Chicco Cafe), traditional izakaya (Nan Chuu) and fusion izakaya (Gyoza King). I’ve tried all of their restaurants and generally I do like them. Of course I can’t clump them all together, but so far I haven’t had a bad experience.

Located on Richmond’s famous “eating street”, Alexandra Road, is Nan Chuu Japanese Izakaya. I’ve been waiting ages to try this place and after several unsuccessful attempts and unforeseen closures it is finally reopen. It was closed the whole summer for apparent renovations, but I’m not sure what has really changed besides the signage.

The restaurant is really long and narrow with a small bar, some tight booths and group dining in the back. At first glace it really took on that traditional Japanese izakaya feel, but it wasn’t until later that it felt a bit enclosed. The on again and off again quirky jazz music alternating with the at times working silence just didn’t seem as lively or ideal for this style of dining.

Izakayas are Japanese pubs, so they’re supposed to be casual and fun watering holes for people to drink and eat tapas until wee hours. In the context of Vancouver they’re usually quite glorified and pricey, but it wasn’t the case here. The menu makes it one of the more traditional izakayas I’ve been to so far with reasonable prices and portions.

The food isn’t fancy or creative, so it might not be as exciting or interesting, but it is simple and authentic. Guu with Garlic is also great, but the menu items are more fusion and modern. If I forget about authenticity and focus on what I like, I personally like Suika, but overall izakaya is one of my favourite styles of dining and I like a lot of them. There are way more than the few I mentioned and generally the izakaya scene is solid in Metro Vancouver.

On the table:

Asahi Black

• $5
• A good izakaya place should have an extensive and affordable drink list featuring beer, cocktails and sake.
• I’m not a beer drinker, but you should drink beer with izakaya. It’s like having champagne on New Years.
• Izakaya food is more or less catered for it.

Goma-Ae - 2.5/6 (Okay-Good)

• Spinach salad in sesame sauce $3.50
• I almost always order goma-ae. This one is considered cheap.
• The spinach was very watery and that affected the sesame sauce and made it runny, so overall it was too wet.
• The sesame sauce was house made with freshly toasted sesame seeds, but it was on the salty side and I have a high tolerance for salt already.
• I prefer a bit more sweet salty balance and more sesame seeds and flavour.

Seafood & Avocado Salad – 3.5/6 (Good-Very good)

• Shoyu dressing $11.95
• This was a huge salad and it was enough for 4.
• The romaine leaves were cut in huge pieces so it was really messy to eat. I would have preferred the standard mixed greens, but this was fine.
• It came with a good amount of ahi tuna, salmon sashimi, a few pieces of scallop sashimi, and 6 wedges of avocado sprinkled with tobiko.
• It was pretty standard with some shredded daikon and a few julienne red bell peppers.
• The shoyu dressing was sweet, salty and tangy, but it tasted like shoyu-ponzu (citrus) dressing.
• The other dressing was a sweet Japanese mayo, but it wasn’t that tangy and usually that sauce would taste like Thousand Island dressing.
• I prefer the sashimi salad at Guu with Garlic or even better at Hapa Izakaya with the deep fried prawn heads (see here).

**____ Negi Chashu – 5.5/6 (Excellent!)

• BBQ pork slice, and thin cut green onion $7.50
• It was simple, but still something I wouldn’t be able to make at home.
• It was almost like a BBQ pork salad that was served room temperature. It was my kind of salad.
• The pork was the BBQ pork used for their ramen and it was incredibly tender and flavourful and not too salty.
• The pork was on the leaner side and it wasn’t juicy, but not dry or chewy either.
• The fatty parts of the pork were all chopped up, not gelatinous and practically unnoticeable. They came across as creamy bits mixed with BBQ pork slices.
• The spicy raw green onions helped cut the grease, but it wasn’t even greasy. It just lightened up the dish.
• It was all lightly dressed in a sweet soy sauce (shoyu?) mixed with sesame oil, which was really strong and aromatic.
• I just wish this had crispy garlic bits on top for more texture, but at least there was a refreshing crunch of onions.

Takoyaki – 3.5/6 (Good-Very good)

• Grilled octopus balls 4 pcs $3.75, 8 pcs $7
• These were a bit smaller than normal and about the size of golf balls.
• They were generously sauced with sweet Japanese mayo and sweet and tangy Takoyaki sauce.
• It was topped with bonito flakes which is standard.

• These are rich one biters and basically lightly grilled balls of creamy fluffy Japanese pancake batter.
• They were melt in your mouth, pillowy and creamy, but not potatoey or floury.
• Each one is stuffed with a little piece of octopus tentacle.
• Authentically there should be some flavour of pickled ginger or green onion, but this one had none and I missed that.
• They are lighter than croquettes and great as hot snacks.
• Nan Chuu’s sister restaurant Gyo-O Japanese Restaurant (also in Richmond) used to make a stellar takoyaki, but I haven’t had them in a while.

**Saba Shioyaki – 4/6 (Very good)

• Grilled mackerel $6.75
• I always get Black Cod/Sablefish, but it wasn’t on the menu, however it’s not in season anyways.
• For mackerel, it actually didn’t taste that fishy and I really enjoyed this. I do like mackerel though.
• This was a very traditional version of a saba shioyaki and it was very good, but I was hoping for more robata (grill) aromatics/flavour.
• The skin was crispy, but I prefer it a bit more charred.
• It was marinated in sake and soy sauce, but it wasn’t too salty at all.
• The meat was incredibly juicy, moist and tender and it was almost flaking like cod.
• The juices were leaking onto the plate and it was likely one of the juiciest mackerel I’ve had.
• It was traditionally served with grated radish and lemon and overall this was very good.
• I prefer the Grilled “Saba” Mackerel from Guu with Garlic (see here), but that version is fusion.

**Gyoza – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• $5.25
• The gyoza is signature to the restaurant brand, so it’s almost a must try.
• As a gyoza, it was better than most gyoza, but it was still just a gyoza.
• They were house made and fried pretty perfectly with nice crispy bottoms. However I think they sat a bit before serving because they weren’t as crispy as they looked.

• The skins were nice and thin and not too chewy or doughy and they were stuffed with a good quality pork mixture and big pieces of chives.
• The pork was lightly seasoned with soy, tender and moist, but not super juicy either.
• It wasn’t strong with sesame oil or ginger and they tasted a bit better than normal, but I wouldn’t guess it was their signature.
• They have more varieties of gyoza at their downtown restaurant Gyoza King – see here.

Ebi Mayo – 2/6 (Okay)

• 6 pcs Deep fried fresh tiger prawns dipped in mayo sauce $6.50
• This is one of the favourites here, but unfortunately I didn’t get it.
• They came out quite soggy and the batter was really thick and doughy.
• They were heavily sauced with sweet Japanese mayo and I missed a chili kick and spice.
• As a non spicy ebi mayo, usually the mayo would still have a bit of a tang to it, but this one had no tang either.
• It was just super intense with mayo and the prawn was crunchy, but hidden by the heavy batter.
• I prefer the ones at Hapa Izakaya – see here.

Deep Fried Oysters – 4/6 (Very good)

• $7.50
• It was what it was, but they did a great job with them!
• I’m not keen on cooked oysters, but I’ll eat them.
• These were medium sized, plump, and juicy and perfect as is or for a Po Boy Sandwich.
• They were crunchy and panko crusted and fried until golden brown.
• They weren’t even that oily for being deep fried and the white paper they sat on wasn’t clear at the end.
• The dipping sauces were sweet Japanese mayo and Tonkatsu sauce (Japanese style BBQ sauce with Worcestershire kick).
• A squeeze of lemon and dip of each sauce was the best way to enjoy these.
• They kind of reminded me of the deep fried oysters from Rodney’s Oyster Bar in Yaletown, and I remember liking those too.

**Salmon Nanban – 5.5/6 (Excellent!)

• Deep fried salmon marinated in “nanban” vinaigrette with onions and carrots $4.50
• This was likely my favourite dish of the night.
• It was a big portion for the price and it was the daily special.
• It was about 7-8 pieces of boneless salmon and they had a soggy skin due to the sauce.
• I wish they removed the skins and deep fried them separately and sprinkled them on top.
• The salmon pieces were slightly dry, but after you dip them in the delicious vinaigrette it was easily forgotten.
• The Nanban sauce was amazing enough to forgive the slight dryness.
• Nanban sauce is made with rice wine vinegar, mirin, soy, sugar, Worcestershire, boiled radish/konbu seaweed and a bit of chili so it has depth and it’s not just regular vinaigrette. This one didn’t taste spicy though.
• It was super citrusy, tangy and salty and intense with lots of flavour and it just made the dish pop and come alive. I was drinking it alone! (Dying of thirst after)
• It was a juicy dish and the crunch of raw spicy onions was refreshing and made it like a salad.
• The Chicken Nanban at Miku Restaurant is my favourite “Nanban” dish, but this is a serious competitor!

Assorted Sashimi – 4/6 (Very good)

• Fresh tuna tataki, salmon & scallop sashimi $12.50
• This isn’t a place for sashimi so the selection is very limited, but I needed a break from the fried stuff.
• For not specializing in sashimi it was a bit more pricey, but the quality was actually pretty good and I liked it.
• The salmon was surprisingly buttery and good.
• The scallops were fresh and sweet and topped with tobiko.
• The tuna tataki (ahi tuna) had a salt and pepper crust, but it wasn’t done that well.
• The tuna was good tuna though, but it seemed more like ahi tuna than tuna tataki.
• My favourite tuna tataki so far is from Suika – see Tuna Tataki or Taka’s Take-Out – see Peppered Tuna Tataki.

Beef Yukke – 3/6 (Good)

• Fresh beef sashimi marinated in yukke sauce topped with quail egg $7.50
• This was best eaten immediately. No surprise there.
• It’s Japanese beef tartar, but it didn’t look appetizing.
• I have no problems with beef sashimi, but the way this one looked was a bit unsettling.
• It actually looked like raw ground beef ready to be made into patties and I thought it would be cut into mini cubes or slices.
• Mixed together it was better, but it was all quite slimy and texturally acquired.
• There were a few pine nuts which helped, and the spicy onions broke things up a bit, but that was about it.
• The yukke sauce is a predominantly sweet and syrupy garlic soy sauce with sesame oil and it absorbed into the meat well.
• It should have been served with crostini, prawn crackers, or lotus chips because it was a bit repetitive and excessive alone.
• I’ve tried their Salmon Yukke at the Gyoza King location and Guu does one as well – see Salmon Yuke. If you want to be even more adventurous try the Salmon with 7 Friends from Guu with Otokomae. (That was totally an unintended play on words)

Dessert – There was only ice cream ($3) so I passed. It wasn’t homemade or anything, so I just had dessert at home.

Restaurant: Mazazu Crepe
Cuisine: Japanese/Desserts/Ice Cream
Last visited: January 7, 2012
Location: Richmond, BC (Richmond Central)
Address: Unit 3110, 4151 Hazelbridge Way (In Aberdeen food court)
Train: Aberdeen Station Northbound
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: FMF Must Try!

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

• Franchise
• Japanese style crepes
• Crepes only
• Sweet and savoury crepes
• Made upon order
• Soft serve ice cream
• Snack
• Food on the go
• Budget friendly/cheap eats
• Lunch/Dinner

**Recommendations: Soft serve ice cream in a cone.

The Aberdeen Centre food court in Richmond, BC is one of my favourite shopping mall food courts in Metro Vancouver, let alone Richmond. It’s predominantly Asian cuisine with a random Vera’s Burger Shack. The set up is clean with a good variety and the prices are affordable. After Vietnamese food at Pho Lan I was up for dessert (no surprise there), and in the context of Richmond, this is actually one of my go-to places for it.

I’ve wanted to try Mazazu Crepe since it opened, but I always get distracted with Frappe Bliss (my fav) and Qoola. On this occasion I almost got distracted again, but I finally decided to just try the crepe and settle my curiosity once and for all. I wish I didn’t mean that so literally too.

Mazazu Crepe is a franchise in Japan under the name of Mother’s Crepe. It’s a crepe only shop, but it’s not your traditional French crepe so don’t expect authenticity. The crepes are basically wannabes of French crepes, but with the occasional Japanese toppings and ingredients. The franchise could be better in Japan, but it just didn’t work here.

The sweet crepes come with either custard, soft serve ice cream, whipped cream, strawberries, bananas, chocolate brownies (not house made), Japanese cheesecake, glutinous rice cakes or red bean. It’s actually just a switch up of the same ingredients so there’s really not much selection.

The savoury crepes include ham, cheese, tuna salad, hard boiled eggs and sausage. Again it’s just a switch up of limited ingredients so there is not much selection for savoury crepes either. All the crepes are around $3.50-4.95 and they’re quite large and cheap, and unfortunately so are the ingredients. You do pay for what you get.

Personally the crepes just came across as poor imitations of French style crepes. The only thing I would come back for is the soft serve ice cream, which I actually liked, but I’d ask for it in a waffle cone.

On the table:

I ordered the Green Tea Shiratama Azuki Soft Ice Cream crepe because it was the most unique, even though I dislike red bean.

This is what I got.

Green Tea Shiratama Azuki Soft Ice Cream - 2/6 (Okay)

• $4.95
• It’s served with your choice of milk, green tea or twist soft serve ice cream. I ordered twist.
• It’s only served wrapped up to-go and they don’t offer it served on plates.
• The crepe is made upon order so it was still warm.
• It’s filled with soft serve ice cream, glutinous rice balls, red bean, whipped cream and sprinkled with matcha powder.
• She tried alternating the layers, but there was only one scoop of red bean at the top.
• The whipped cream was really thick, rich and greasy and not that sweet, and I wasn’t digging it.
• The red bean paste (azuki) was really thick and creamy and pretty sweet, but I’ve never been a fan of red bean.
• There were some actual red beans in it and it wasn’t completely smooth. It’s actually not bad for what it was.
• The 3 glutinous rice balls (shiratama) were chewy, squishy and plain (naturally that way). They’re filling and dense and traditionally served with azuki.
• Shiratama have a very neutral flavour and they taste like nothing and they’re one texture throughout.
• I would have preferred mochi which is at least a bit sweet and lighter.

Needless to say, they were incredibly messy and drippy to eat. Soft service ice cream in a warm crepe ends up being a soggy mess. I love crepes and ice cream, but not like this.

• Even alone the crepe was not good and it was likely the only home made part.
• For a crepe place they should have nailed the crepe.
• The crepe was very thick and doughy and I could still taste the flour in the batter.
• The crepe batter wasn’t sweet or eggy and it just tasted like flour and water.
• It wasn’t crispy or browned at all and ended up being really chewy and almost stretchy.
• The best part was the soft serve green tea ice cream. I love soft serve ice cream in general though.
• The soft serve ice cream was quite light which I liked, but it was richer than McDonald’s soft serve which I still like!
• It wasn’t icy, overly rich, creamy or sweet (like Dairy Queen) and I would actually come back for it. I’d order it in a waffle cone next time for sure.
• The Milk flavoured soft serve ice cream is $2.86 and the Green Tea flavoured soft serve ice cream is $3.10.
• On a similar note, the best soft serve ice cream I’ve had so far was at Dessert Club, ChikaLicious.