SHiRLEY SEES

Hapa Izakaya @Kitsilano 1-A whole new experience ;)

2011-04-24T20:22:00.002-07:00

The first Hapa Izakaya I went to was their Yaletown location (post here) and I didn't really like it. I like the food, though. It's just the atmosphere wasn't quite right for me...maybe that's just only me hmm :/

Anyway, so why would I end up in their Kitsilano location? Dine Out Vancouver is the answer to the question (yes I know it was long long time ago...) My friend invited me to go Dine out with her at Hapa; however, the Dine Out Vancouver menu was only available at their Kitsilano location. So before heading to the YVR airport that night, I decided to give myself a little break from all the school work, and went to Hapa with my friend as a treat for myself :)

Hapa Izakaya (Kitsilano)

1516 Yew Street, Vancouver BC

RATINGS

Food: n/a (I should rate when I come again next time!)

Price: 4.5

Service: 5.5

Ambiance: 6

Overall: n/a

Sun-Thur 5:30pm-Midnight
Fri & Sat 5:30pm-1am
Parking is available along the street. (Not bad, you can find a spot easily :))
Other locations: Robson & Yaletown
Gets busier as it gets later. (Hint: Reservation is highly recommended!)
They have (private?) functions occasionally, so make sure that they are available that night.

(Sorry for the crappy photo...) This is only part of their interior. They have more seatings behind this area, and also a bar.
You can check out their menus and fresh sheets on their website.

For the Dine Out menu (which cost $28), you could choose between these three menus: Vegetarian, Meat, or Seafood. Each menu included three items: Appetizer, Main Dish, and Dessert.

My friend and I did not spend much time deciding. We chose...

The Seafood menu!! :D

Sashimi Salad-4/6

Mixed sashimi on a bed of organic greens with soy herb dressing.
While there isn't much to say about the greens, I do like the soy herb dressing, which is not tangy but still gives enough flavour to the salad.

Aside from the ebi, they gave us one slice of sashimi of each fish. I remember eating tuna and salmon...but I already forgot what else is in there...

Ahi Tuna Steak-3.5/6

Seared ahi tuna drizzled with sesame sauce.
The tuna steak looks really good in the picture but I found the edge was pretty dry.

Luckily, the sauce saves the tuna steak this time. The sesame sauce tastes similar to the gomae sauce but this one is less salty and does not have a very strong nutty flavour.

Gindara-4.5/6

Miso-marinated sablefish baked; garnished with seasonal veggie.
A very simple dish. As you can see from the photo above, the "seasonal veggies" are steamed baby carrots and long beans. The do not have much flavour, though. So I guess that's what those two circles are for: sauce!

The fish itself is very moist and soft. Again, the fish is very light in flavour so I did make good use of the sauce they provided :P

Halibut Chowder

Halibut, scallops, carrots, fingerling potatoes and onions; topped with croutons and oba oil. Served with garlic toast.
This is their award-winning dish. My friend ordered it so I didn't give it a try. She liked it :)
The garlic toast actually came when my friend was almost done. LOL! We totally forgot about it, so we did not remind the server...

For desserts, I forgot to take a shot at the menu. Hapa only hadtwo types of desserts for Dine Out, and since we had two people, we decided to try one of each :D

Creme Brulee-2/6

Vanilla-scented creme brulee.
I like the way it looks but I was expecting more from "vanilla scented". Towards the end, I did find some vanilla bits; however, I wish this can be more flavourful.

By the way, the creme breluee has a strawberry inside! :)

Sesame Cheesecake

Sesame crust, toppped with raspberry sauce.
My friend actually thought the flavour of the cheesecake would be sesame; however, it turned out only the crust was made of sesame.

Anyway, she enjoyed it and was happy that she chose the cheesecake instead of the creme brulee :P

Overall, I enjoyed my experience this time at Hapa Izakaya's Kitsilano location. I actually came back few weeks later and I will start another post on it for sure :D

Faubourg

2011-03-01T18:09:00.003-08:00

I remember before all my finals and leaving Vancouver for Christmas, I spent my last "free time" in Kerrisdale and randomly saw a cute, little cafe along 41st Ave., next to Asa Sushi. Maybe because it was new, this small cafe was packed with people eating, drinking, chatting, and, standing waiting for tables.

During one weekend, when I was (always) having a hard time deciding where to go for lunch, my friend, EU, brought "Faubourg" back to my mind.

Faubourg ("fo-boor")?.....What is it?

Faubourg
2156 W 41st Ave, Vancouver BC

"Fauburg is an ancient term meaning a quarter or 'suburb' jsut outside the gates of a French city. Growth saw faubourgs enfolded within city walls and many streets still retain their old names. Therefore each Faubourg relates to a chapter of Paris history."

Ratings (Lowest-1 Highest-5)

Food: 4 (Haven't tried their bistro though)
Price: 4.5
Service: 2
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 4.5

7am-7pm
Breakfast (M-F) 8am-11am
Lunch (M-F) 12pm-2pm
Brunch (Weedends) 9am-3pm
They also have high-tea/afternoon tea now.
(M-F) 12pm-5pm
(Weekends) 2pm-5pm
Famous for their breads, which are made using traditional French recipes.
You can always see people coming in and buy loaves of bread :)
They have 5 baking times: 8am, 10am, 11am, 2pm, and 5pm.
The picture above is only the coffee shop part, with the pastries and breads on the left-hand side. Behind that is the bistro part, which have about 10-15 seats I think.
You can find the menus on their web here.
There are quite a lot of servers in the coffee shop...but that what causes the trouble. You lineup. Ordered. Went to pay, but since there are too many orders and too many servers, mistakes happened.
Basically, I will say they have "everything": sandwiches, pastries, desserts, drinks, and bistro. Given that wide selection of foods in such a small location, I am quite impressed by Faubourg ;)
Other than food, they also have drinks. However, they do not have a lot of tea choices; they have latte, brewed coffee, mocha, espresso...etc etc.

Mediterranean Grill Panini-3.5/6

$4.80
You can either choose 1/2 or whole. (The above picture is a 1/2 order.)

It has spinach, tomatoes, some olives, onions, and feta.
The inner surfaces of the bread are flavoured with some vinegar. I could taste it right away in my first bite :)
My server asked me whether I wanted to have my panini grilled. Of course, I did but disappointedly, the panini didn't look/taste it had been grilled. Grilled marks? No. Lukewarm? Hmm...not really.
Maybe because of that, the bread is quite hard and tough to cut.
Forget the bread. The ingredients are fresh and tasty, but if they can add a little more ingredients to the panini, it will be perfect.

Ham & Cheese Panini

$4.80
Contains ham, cheese, and asparagus.
When I saw four long green asparagus are included in EU's panini, I couldn't help but smile. :) First, the presentation is cute. Second, I like to see when restaurants give you the exact and enough ingredients you see on their descriptions.

After the paninis, EU did not wait and went straight to the desserts. Anyhow, DESSERTS are her main purpose to come here :P Even though I'm sick, I still decided to give their Lemon Tart a try. (Yes, have I ever mentioned that I am a citrus-dessert fan? :D)

Lemon Tart-5/6

$5
Simple. I am sure you already know what it is without any description haha.
Just when I wanted to dig in and cut through the lemon filling, I got...ahem, "stuck". Why? It's because the base is way too hard! I couldn't cut it with a fork nor a spoon.
So, I began eating the top and waited for the base to cool-down a bit...

Finally! The white bottom part is the vanilla foam, which actually tastes like egg white. The yellow part is the zesty lemon filling, of course. It is very tart. I like it very much :) It is also very dense and smooth.
The small white cubes on the edge are sugar, to balance out the pungent flavour of the lemon.

Matcha Raspberry Mille Feuille (Napoleon)

$5
There is also another napoleon in store: with lemon and raspberry instead of with matcha.

I tried both the matcha and raspberry creme. Maybe because I had my dessert first, I couldn't really taste what they taste like.
At first, EU and I thought napoleon would be crispy but the one here is different! It is "soft", not as soft as marshmellow, but you can gently use your spoon to break the napoleon into parts. What a huge difference to my Lemon Tart :/g

Before we left, I got myself a cup of hot Faubourg Brewed Coffee and EU got a cup of non-fat Mocha (both are not pictured, oops!). The hot coffee is great, I like it a lot. EU also enjoyed her cup of mocha and the white layer of foam on top......while she shared her "mocha experiences" with me......

Okay, done with the food. I just want to explain why I have stopped updating my blog in the past few months. The reason is...well, school work. This year is a new beginning for me, and the workload just keeps increasing and increasing and increasing......
However, I am still passionate about food blogging; bringing my camera and taking food photos are just too fun to forget! :) So, please bear with me....drop in sometime or you can follow my twitter for new updates) THANKSSSS!! :DD

East Is East visit #2-CHAI N' SPICE!

2010-11-14T22:43:00.011-08:00

Middle Eastern. For some reason, I always go for Middle Eastern restaurants when I am not in the mood of having Chinese/Japanese food, which are the most common ones I usually have (especially Japanese, thankyouverymuch ;)). Maybe I like the pungent smell and flavour of the spices they use, and also the curiosity to know more about the cuisine.

Like last night, when I was feeling something "special". The first Middle East restaurant I could think of was East Is East, where I have been there once in the early summer. So, any other choices? Yes of course; however, I didn't have Wi-fi at that time and could not think of any except East Is East. Well, since I did not get to try a lot from their menu...why not?

East Is East
3243 W Broadway, Vancouver BC

Ratings
1: Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 5 (only based on their vegetarian dishes)
Price: 4.5
Service: 6 (last time it was 5.5; this time was better because it was less busy)
Ambiance: 6
Overall: 5.5

Authentic Middle Eastern Cuisine
Dine in/Take out
Vegan and Vegetarian friendly
Since there are a lot of other restaurants around, parking may be a problem.
Other location: 4413 Main St. (Check out their website for more detail)
(Usually) Reservation is recommended.

It was almost 6pm when I got there. I planned to go there earlier because I had to wait for quite awhile last time. Well....I guess I was wrong this time :/ Look at the picture this time (above) and the one last time (below).

Ahh, this made me miss summer a little.

The one next door is called "Silk N' Spice" but it is actually the extended part of East Is East. I didn't get to sit there last time because it was too crowded. Not this time though! I even got to choose where I wanted to sit :)
The upper level is called "Chai". I didn't go up though, maybe I will make a reservation there next time.
East Is East offers live music (think classical indian and gypsy music!) every night, and I was lucky to enjoy some guitar that night ;) They also have dancers sometimes (flamenco, bellydance...)
LOVE the exotic ambiance. Wooden chairs and tables, knitted carpets on the walls, lots of cushions, etc.......YES.

As usual, you got a free sample of the Darjeeling Masala Chai Tea, and this time, I was also lucky enough to have a bite of their Boulani, which is a traditional Afghan wheat roti stuffed with potato, green onion and herbs. If you order it from the menu, it is also served with chickpeas, dehydrated yoghurt, beets and sprouts. It was actually really good and tasty. I may order this next time :D

I didn't try their drinks last time and, given their wide choices of drinks, I knew I have to try one this time. They have:

Eastern Shakes (a mixture of ice-cream/frozen yoghurt + soy milk/organic milk)
Yoghurt Lassies (plain organic yoghurt + fresh fruits + ice)
Smoothies (fresh fruits + ice)
Fresh Organic Juices
Eastern Teas (hot/cold)

I looked at their hot teas and it didn't take me long to decide what to get.

Lemon Ginger Chai-5/6

$4
This is one of their dairy-free teas; the other one is Soy Chai.
Chai tea is made with tea, brown sugar, milk, ginger, and a blend of spices.
Lemon and ginger are some of my favourites (yes, I like foods with a high pungency), so for me, nothing can go wrong when you mix these two ingredients together.
Of course, it is a little spicier than the original chai tea as expected; however, the drink tastes more like a...lemon juice. The first sip is very lemony, then you got the heat in your throat afterwards.
In all, it is still a nice drink for me because it has more tartness than I thought. I finished everything at the end :P

On the food! They have starters, and food plates($19) which is served with a dahl(lentil) soup, salad, boulani, roti, Afghan and coconut rice, AND a choice of any 2 items from their Silk Route Feast menu. If this sounds too much for you, you can order the Eastern Roti Rolls separately, like what I did.

Eastern Roti Rolls

$11.50/Single $14.50/Double (*Note that meat rolls have different prices)
Each roll comes with green salad, dhal soup, brown lentil rice/Afghan rice

Dahl Soup-5.5/6

It is basically a lentil soup with chickpeas, tomatoes, cauliflowers, spinach, herbs and spices.
It is quite thick and is loaded with ingredients! Also it is very tasty and I enjoyed it a lot.

Green Salad

Baby greens, spinach, carrots, beets, green peppers, tomato and cucumbers
They are average. Fresh vegetables served with an acidic dressing.

Ganghara Blues-5/6

Baked eggplant (sauteed with herbs, tomato, onion, garlic and spices) and rice stuffed in a roti.
You can never go wrong with baked eggplant! This one is moist and soft, and was very rich in flavour.
Does this ensemble look familiar to you? This totally reminds me of a burrito! You got some very soft eggplant to begin with, then a bed of tasty rice. At the end, it is a mixture of more eggplant and some rice.
You can choose to have brown lentil rice or Afghan rice. I chose Afghan rice, which is basmati rice with raisins and carrots. It is tasty and I found...2 raisins in total. I didn't really find any carrots though but that's fine with me as I don't really like carrot. However, don't get me wrong! The rice is still good and it goes well with the eggplant.
Not sure whether the roti is handmade or not. It looks more like the pre-made ones...and it is very thin. I was worrying the fillings would fall out from the bottom.

Again, since I didn't try their desserts last time, I decided to try this time even though they only offer 4 desserts.

Gulab Jamen-1.5/6

$4(?)
Traditional Indian cakes topped with pistachio and rosewater (served hot)
This looks cute and appealing I know, but don't let them fool you! I don't really care about the pistachio (see the finely chopped "powder" on top?). The rosewater, on the other hand, smells very refreshing, also very sweet.
The Indian cakes, which come more like balls to me, are very sweet. They taste like mochi balls (without the white powder) serve in a hot/warm liquid. I don't want to continue to describe the texture of it.......I know it will sound nastier and nastier... : You can give it a try and tell me what you think :)

Again, the same question: Will I come back? Yes I will, definitely. There are still other roti rolls and starters I want to try.

Meloty-Late-worthy "lunch" ;)

2010-11-02T17:44:00.001-07:00

I know I know...it's been a (long) while since my last post. Reason? Very simple-because I have a bunch of tests/exams every week! But how could I waste the one-and-only Halloween sitting in front of a pile of numbers (ahem. calculus, to be precise.)?

So I first started my Halloween with a late lunch. I mean really late, like 2pm. Why so late? It's not because I woke up at 1pm or studied till 1-2am last night, no no no. So...why? I met up with EU and she suggested Meloty in Richmond.

I am no stranger to Meloty. I think it is probably the only "high-tea" place in Richmond. I have tried Secret Garden at Kerrisdale before (posts here and here) and I really like it. Honestly, who doesn't love hightea? ;D It is always great to sit down with friends, enjoying savoury and sweet goodies, and spend almost the whole day at a restaurant. So I have no reason not to give Meloty a try...

Meloty
#1161-8328 Capstan Way, Richmond BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 5
Price: 6 (only on their Deluxe High Tea)
Service: 5.5 (actually it is almost 6, but since there is not enough waiters so the service is a bit slow)
Ambiance: 6
Overall: 5.5

Tue-Sun 11am-11pm
Dine in
Parking is available. It is located at the same mall where Richmond Sushi and Lucky Fortune Seafood Restaurant are at.
Owned by Taiwanese (lady?)
All products are freshed baked in house daily. Their desserts change from time to time (not sure about their savoury products though).
I used to think they focus on hightea or dessert but actually they are focused on the main meals (lunch, dinner).
They have salads, soups, sandwiches, wraps, pasta, pizza, rice....basically any Western food you can think of.
For afternoon tea, which starts at 2pm and ends at 5pm, you can choose:
i) English Special Tea For One $12.99-includes a beverage + a dessert
ii) Deluxe High Tea $25-includes a beverage + all-you-can-eat hightea
iii) Waffle Power Zone $15.99-includes a beverage + a waffle/puff pastry
For the afternoon tea time, I think it will be better for you to make a reservation. I thought not many people knew Meloty but I was totally wrong. More people came in the late afternoon and don't forget: people LOVE to spend time chatting, eating, and reading magazines right? ;)
Talking about magazines, Meloty has a wide selection of magazines (mainly Chinese) for customers to choose from. All of them are placed near the washrooms.

They have two levels but I never see anyone going up. So I think the upper level is only available for tea parties or other functions.

By the way, don't get fooled by their front door! You think they didn't open because you can't see any lights from the outside, but when you take a closer look, you will see a stand in the front door showing that they are opened!

So EU and I decided to go for the Deluxe Hightea. Yes, an ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT deluxe hightea. For $25, I think it's a quite reasonable deal. You can eat as much sweet and savoury baked goods as you want eh :D Here's the plan, after we ordered the beverages, they would serve the savoury goodies first. After that, you can choose to have another round of savoury or you can go for the sweet ones.
EU and I chose to try their desserts then went back for some savoury foods. After the second round of savoury, we finished our meal with their desserts. Sounds good? ;)

Jordin Bleu-3.5/6

Included in the Deluxe Hightea set
The tea is supposed to be "Citrusy + Strawberry" but honestly, I could only taste/smell a hint of strawberry :/

Here is out tier tray! The one at Secret Garden definitely looks better and prettier, but the food here looks much bigger than Secret Garden's.

Top Tier: Mushroom Pocket Pies & Tuna Sandwiches

Tuna Sandwich-4.5/6

First the tuna. There is nothing I can say about the tuna...I mean I didn't expect anything special from some regular tuna salad.
Next the focaccia. It was soooo good! The outside was a little bit crusty but the bread part was super soft. It was still a bit warm when I ate. I believe it would be better when I ate this first.
I ordered this again after I had their desserts :)

Mushroom Pocket Pie-6/6

Just talk about the smell. Once I cut a small opening on the pie, the herbed smell of the mushroom and the onions already rushed out immediately.
It was very hot when I ate. The crispy puff pastry with the nicely flavoured mushroom and onions--heaven.
We loved this so much that both of us chose to order this again in the 2nd round.

Mid Tier: Pizza Waffles

Pizza Waffle-4.5/6

I have to admit for some reason, the waffle is the dessert/food I was most looking forward to try at Meloty. So I really appreciate how they give "pizza" a little twist and turn them into waffle! :)
The waffle overall was done nicely. It was still warm inside and crispy outside. They probably added some lemon and/or orange zest into the waffle mixture because when I cut the waffle into pieces, I could surely taste and smell a bit of tangy aroma.
The only part to complain about was the centre part of the waffle, where the toppings were laid on. Imagine some warm, just cooked ingredients are put on a warm waffle, what will happen to the waffle? That's why the centre part was a little soggy but was still acceptable.
Again, given that EU and I are both waffle-lovers, we ordered this again in the 2nd round.

On the ingredients, they have bacon, bell peppers, onions, and cheese. No doubt, it looked appealing and tasty...but maybe too tasty. Both EU and I found the toppings were too salty for the waffles.

Low Tier: Herbed Scones & Beef Croissants

Herbed Scones-5/6

It was very strong in herbs aroma! Even though I am not a fan of scones, I really like this one.
EU said maybe they didn't add as much butter as the regular scones because these textures looked more like bread than scones. Good or bad, well it really depends how much butter you like ;) I found them alright as I like a more bready texture.

Beef Croissant-3.5/6

If you are a meat-lover, I will have to say this croissant may not be satisfiable. The beef was very thin, and the fillings were mainly lettuce and cheese. However, since I cannot eat beef, a thin slice for me is just fine ;D
Does the cheese look weird to you? EU and I would like the cheese to be a bit melted rather than this more solid version.
The croissant was very crispy and crunchy. EU loved it so much so she ordered it again afterwards.

Garlic Butter

"Intermission": Almond Biscuits & Almond Crisps

Almond Biscuit-2/6

Although this looked better than the Almond Crisps, it did not have any almond flavour at all. It was simply a cookie with amond bits on the outside :/

Almond Crisps-6/6

These were so good! I didn't expect to be that good. As you can see, every bite of the crisp has almonds and it wasn't sweet at all. The best thing to have while I was having an intermission, where I was getting ready to try their desserts.
We re-ordered these again later! They were seriously addictive!

Dessert Round #1: Crème Brûlée, Caramel Pudding (not pictured), Mango Panna Cotta & Blackberry Panna Cotta

Crème Brûlée-3/6

It was served cold, so the top was actually a thin slice of (burnt) caramel candy.
I don't really like crème brûlée, and the top tasted bitter. I did not like it.

The size of this dessert is the size of an espresso cup, so it was not really big.

EU liked this so she ordered it again later.

Blackberry Panna Cotta-3/6

The blackberry jam on top tasted weird. It was a bit tart at first but then it tasted more like medicine afterwards.
I could not taste anything actually because the blackberry jam was more overempowering than the panna cotta. The jam just did not match with the panna cotta.

Mango Panna Cotta-5/6

This tasted waayyy better than the blackberry one. The mango tasted more "normal" and it went well with the panna cotta.
I loved this so I ordered it again afterwards.

Caramel Pudding-3/6

Basically all the flavour from this dish was from the liquid (caramel). Other than that, the pudding tasted quite bland...

Dessert Round #2: New York Cheesecake, Peach Cheesecake, Tiramisu & Blueberry Cheesecake

Blueberry Cheesecake-6/6

This was the best and was my favourite among all the cheesecakes. The blueberry flavour was very strong so the cheesecake tasted more tart than sweet.
It also got blueberries in the cheesecake.
The cookie base was a bit moist but it did not affect the cheesecake.

New York Cheesecake-2/6

There was not much flavour in this cake; only a teeny bit of cheese flavour.
It was basically moist cheesecake without the cheese flavour. I definitely have had better ones in other places...

Tiramisu-2/6

Again, except the top with cocoa/espresso powder had some flavour, the mid part of the cake did not have any flavour at all.
At first I thought the small cake in the middle would taste something different; however, it was also flavourless.

Peach Cheesecake-3/6

What a weird combination. This was my first time having a peach cheesecake and was also my first time seeing one.
The colour was actually very interesting; it didn't look appealing nor real at all! But we still decided to give it a try...

Similar to the Blueberry Cheesecake, this also had peaches in the cake.
Surprisingly, it didn't taste that bad! The cake did taste peachy, but not strong, and was a little bit tart.
This cheesecake was very watery for some reason. The cookie base was crumbly and moist, and the top part was slightly liquidy.

After these, we ordered some savoury to balance out our taste buds. We were already very full at that time. About 4pm, the waiter suddenly brought us another tray of dessert and told us that was the last round. There were Strawberry Cream Tart, Lemon Tart, and Green Tea Red Bean Tart. I wanted to try both Lemon Tart and the Green Tea one, but I ended up getting...

Green Tea Red Bean Tart-6/6

This was probably the best dessert on that day. To me, I like green tea in desserts to taste bitter, and this Green Tea Tart was just right. The green tea flavour was very strong, I enjoy it a lot.
There was red bean paste under the green tea cream. Again, they were the pre-made red bean paste so there was nothing to comment on it.
Another thing I like about this tart was the tart was stored in the fridge before serving, so the tart shell was firm and unexpectedly went so well with the red bean paste.

Will I come back again? Of course, I still want to try their waffles! I cannot wait to spend one day here alone/along with someone, enjoying their foods again, reading books, chilling with their beverages... :) Next time when you want to worthier hightea, you can come to Meloty instead of Secret Garden or Adonia (also at Kerrisdale). Or if you have tried either/both Secret Garden and Adonia, give Meloty a try then. I'm sure you won't be disappointed ;)

Dinesty Chinese Restaurant

2010-10-03T23:18:00.017-07:00

Autumn is almost here/is already here, but I can still remember the heat in Vancouver this summer (someone told me the temp went up to 33'C one day!?). The worst thing is there isn't any air-con or fan in my house! So I tried to stay indoor as much as I could; it didn't have to be long, but just long enough for me to cool down a bit. In that case, being here at Dinesty is simple: I live near and it got air-con. But most importantly, it's the food that makes me wanna come back again and again! :)

Dinesty Chinese Restaurant
160-8111 Ackroyd Rd, Richmond BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 5
Price: 4
Service: 3.5 (not always consistent)
Ambiance: 4.5
Overall: 5

Mon-Fri 11am-3pm 5:30pm-10pm
Sat-Sun 10am-10pm
Dine in/Take out
Parking is available (but again, good luck! ;D)
Reservation is (highly) recommended. You can never tell when is their busiest hour.

Shanghainese restaurant with a more modern decor compare to other Shanghainese restaurants in Richmond.
They have an open-kitchen which you can see people preparing and making the food. It is fun to see them preparing the dumplings! You have to sit on the side in order to have a clear view though.
Really neat, detailed menu, with pictures included.
Sometimes when I order dumplings in restaurants, it's important for me to know the number of dumplings per order. Here, you can find pictures of both savoury and sweet dumplings that show the amount per order. Nice. :)
When you have seated, they will bring you a set of menu: A booklet with all the dishes' names and pictures, an order sheet, and a pencil. The booklet has both English and Chinese, but I am not sure whether they have the order sheet in English...

Chinese Spinach with Bean Curd-5/6

$3.95
One of my must-order dish. I order this wherever I see it on the menu. Honestly, I can finish at least one order.
This appetizer/side dish is normally seasoned with a bit of sesame oil. I guess maybe that's one of the reasons that make this dish a little moist. And also smell good, of course.

The one here is moister than the one I had at Snow Garden in Hong Kong and other restaurants. It still tasted good and flavourful though. My favourite ones so far are from Chen's Shanghai Kitchen and Shanghai House Restaurant.
I ordered this again when I revisited. It tasted sour! :( Maybe there's something wrong with their tofu or whatever.
Just a random thought: I find many restaurants like serving this dish in an inverted-bowl shape :D

Sliced Lotus Roots with Sugar & Vinegar-4/6

$3.50
I like vinegary stuff, so when I decided to order another side dish, this caught my sight immediately.

Tastewise. Its more on the tart side than the sugar side, which I prefer, so this side dish ended up pretty well.

Pan Fried Pork Buns-3/6

$3.95
After being pan-fried, the buns still came out soft. So whether it is good or not good really depends on a person's liking. I found them alright but if the base of the bun was crunchier, it would be better.

For carnivores, I mean "real, big" carnivores, they will say the buns don't have enough pork. But for me, I find them acceptable. So again, whether this bun is a success or fail does depend on a person's liking ;)

Steamed Green Vegetable & Egg Dumplings-5/6

$6.95
The thing that made me order this right away was the word "egg". Why? Because I seldom see steamed dumplings have egg inside!

The skin was surprisingly thin and the dumpling had quite a lot of finely chopped veggies. Once I bit open the skin, the vegetables already started to pop out! These were really good.
So is there any egg? Yes. If you look closer, there are some light-yellow stuff in the fillings :P Well, since I did not expect much, I was already satisfied to see there's actually egg inside the dumplings.
I have mentioned that I like Chen's Chopped Spinach more; however, the dumplings here are better than Chen's! I have tried their vegetables dumplings before but the skin is too thick for my liking. The dumpling skin here is just right.

Steamed Fish Dumplings-4.5/6

$6.95
Sorry that I forgot to take a picture of these :( They actually look similar to the dumplings above but have white colour fillings instead of green ones.
This was a really light dumpling. If you are already half full and still want to order some dumplings but not the veggie ones, you can consider having this.
While the dumpling tasted light itself, the fish/filling was not flavourful. But when you are planning to dip the dumpling into some vinegar anyway, that won't really bother you I'm sure ;)

Fried Egg Wrapped in Pancake-2/6

$3.50(?)
The above picture is just showing half of the pancake. We divided it before I took the picture.

I was quite disappointed when they brought me this because I didn't expect the "pancake" to be like this :/
Also, I thought the fried egg would be a little bit thicker. This was like an egg pancake with green onions, and it was a little too salty for my liking.
The pancake tasted like the less-flaky crust of a pastry.
They still offer plain fried egg/"egg cake". Maybe I will try that next time and see how it looks like.

Steamed Mashed Red Bean Dumplings-6/6

$5
These were sooooo good, seriously. I finished everything, yes, all 5 of them! My favourite red bean dumplings are actually from Din Tai Fung, and Dinesty comes the second :D
As you can see from the picture, these dumplings are smaller than the regular ones because this is a dessert! (I suggest to cover it first while you are eating the main dishes, or you can tell the waitress to serve them later.)

The skin was ultra thin! And despite it is a dessert, it does not taste too sweet; only a very starchy consistency of red bean paste!
Beware when you eat this! Try not to put the whole dumpling into your mouth right away. Unlike me, I was too eager to try that I burnt my tongue :P

Steamed Sesame Bun-4/6

$3/3pcs
Sorry again for the unavailable picture :( This is just regular steamed buns with sesame filling.
The buns were very fluffy and soft, but if they just gave us more filling, maybe this would become my another favourite dish here.

Steamed Mashed Taro & Gingkyo Buns-3.5/6

$3/3pcs
I am not a fan of taro but since it has gingkyo seed in it, I will give it a try.

Same as the Steamed Sesame Bun, the bun was also fluffy and soft when it was served.
Each bun contains half a gingkyo seed that is placed in the middle of the bun. Since I'm not a fan of taro, having that amount of taro filling was already good enough.
One good thing of the filling is the taro was not as sweet as I expected. So I could still have one after all the foods I had!

*If you don't like to have buns/dumplings for dessert, you should really try the Glutinous Rice in Red Dates with Sugar Sauce. It was soo good and best to share with a crowd. Yum!

In my summer visit, they gave me a fan after I paid the bill. I didn't take it though, but...pretty good service eh? A good thing to have for summer ;D

Buzz Cafe and Espresso Bar-Art + Cofee

2010-10-02T21:43:00.001-07:00

I know there are quite a number of cafe posts going on in my blog, especially during the early summer. The reason is simple. It's because I was bored. As a result, I decided to visit the cafes that I have always wanted to visit: Arbutus Coffee, Bojangles Cafe, and Elysian Coffee.
I would go to Urbanspoon and see which cafes I was interested in :P There's one that caught my sight right away due to it's location and name. I know there is a gallery there in the corner but I never noticed there's also a cafe!

So, curious enough, I decided to go there and see what's actually inside this gallery...

Buzz Cafe and Espresso Bar
901 Homer St, Vancouver BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: n/a
Price: 5
Service: 6
Ambiance: 6
Overall: 5.5

Mon-Tue 7am-6pm
Wed-Fri 7am-8pm
Sat 8am-6pm
Sun 9am-6pm
Dine in/Take out
Free wifi

As I have mentioned above, it is a gallery or the cafe is part of the gallery...
(FYI: The gallery has different operation hours!)
It has 2 levels. The picture above is the upper level and it only has about 3 tables (not including the sofa though). The lower level has about 3-5 tables.
The upper level is very opened and big! I didn't walk around the gallery though. But when I was sitting on the table opposite to the paintings, I felt...small :/ (sorry for the bad description but that's really how I felt at that moment)

I like how the tables are separated. You can't really see who is there or you won't even know there is someone sitting on that table! High privacy.
Although I felt small(?) due to the widely opened area, it actually makes the atmosphere more relaxing. Plus, Buzz is playing some backgrund music (pop, jazz...) which makes the ambiance more homey...well, at least to me though :P
The service is just amazing. I love the cashier (I'm not sure he is the owner or not) so much; he is soo nice and friendly!
Sandwiches, wraps, paninis, and other baked goods are available. However, there isn't a large selection for the baked goods. I went there at 9am and nto all of them are available, hmmm...
The breakfast menu is on the wall, behind the cashier.
Cold drinks and teas are also available

Hot Coffee-4.5/6

$1.75
They use 49th Parallel coffee beans.
Tastewise. It was rich and taste and was served in a mug.

Blueberry Bran Muffin-4/6

$2.60
I ate half of it before taking a picture :( It was really yummy and chewy with bran included in every bite!

Right amount of blueberries, some dried shredded coconut...and they may have added some orange zest as well.

Banana Loaf-6/6

$2.50
Not trying to exaggerate anything, but this was probably the richest banana loaf I have ever had! It was very rich in banana flavour and moist. I was so excited when I took the first bite, and after this, I got another one haha :P (Yea I am kind of a banana-flavoured food addict.)

Next time when you need a place to hang out or relax or study, you can always come to Buzz and enjoy some coffees and food. Or if you just want to go to a place for inspiration, you can also go and visit the gallery. I didn't have the chance to take a look this time but I'm sure I will go there again :)

Tokyo Thyme

2010-10-01T04:26:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since my summer holiday ended. I know there are various new restaurants opening here and there, and I can't wait to try them! During my two months in Hong Kong, I gotta admit that sometimes...I would miss the food here in Vancouver (i.e. SUSHI!). So when I came back, I just wanted to go to any restaurant, any.

Last weekend, EU and I finally decided to start our food journey together again. For some reason, we both wanted to go to Kerrisdale (maybe this was due to the perfect weather last saturday :P). At first, I thought we're going to the one we have tried before-Asa Sushi. Then when EU suddenly pulled over and parked her car by the roadside, I realized we're going to try something new today woohoo! Well, actually this was EU's second visit, but she was also excited to show me this little restaurant across the road. Aha...Tokyo Thyme...herbs from Tokyo? :P
(all photos are from her blog since I didn't know we're going to try a new restaurant...)

Tokyo Thyme
5405 West Blvd, Vancouver BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 5 (only based on the food I ordered this time!)
Price: 4.5
Service: 6
Ambiance: 4.5
Overall: 5

Mon-Fri 11:30am-2:30pm 4:30pm-9pm
Sat 12am-3pm 5pm-9pm
Closed on Sundays
Dine in/Take out
Owned by a couple
The lady is a Japanese, and her service is beyond "Heavenly". She makes sure all customers are satisfied and asks for your comments after your meal. The man, on the other hand, is the sushi chef. He is really nice as well. We didn't talk to him, except asking him for the bill :P LOL. But we saw his hands changed from moderate to fast during busy hours haha.
Have a large variety in the menu, including lunch bento sets, sushi rolls, appetizers, sashimis, rice bowls, and noodles.
Apart from the menu, they also have a small bamboo stand in each table showing their special rolls and lunch special.
We were their first customers because we went early. It got crowded as lunch time appoached. They also got various take-out orders that day.
It is a small restaurant, so seatings are limited. Its design is like a mix of pop-art and country...hmm it just looks and feels very homey :/

House Special Sunomono Salad-5/6

$5.50/half order $9.50/full order
Imitated crabmeat, prawn, smoked salmon, yamaimo, and avocado wrapped in ribbon of cucumber
"Errr sunomono? Where's the sunomono? Aha, is it under the rolls? Or its actually inside the rolls? :O" That was my reaction when the lady brought this dish to our table...
I seldom order sunomono salad in Japanese restaurants but this is recommended by EU. She said they are very impressive: the taste, the presentation...
I couldn't wait to try one and I tried to eat them in parts as usual. The sauce resembled the sour liquid from sunomono, but this was definitely lighter.
The cucumber was nicely cut; thin and was very crunchy.
Unlike sunomono, the rolls were not soaked in a bowl of liquid. If so, the cucumber would taste horrible :
The ingredients were average BUT the yamaimo was interesting. This was the first time I had yamaimo and it tasted like Chinese yam. It is also called Dioscorea opposita which is a type of yam and can be eaten raw. For info, you can visit their page on wiki :)
If you chew the yamaimo longer, you will find it's actually slimy. It is close to tasteless but the texture is just...interesting.
The presentation here is more than I expected. I wouldn't notice such restaurant can make such pretty presentation! The lady does the presentation, and the man makes sushi and sashimi.

Nanbanzuke Salad-5.5/6

$6.50
Marinated salmon served with mescalin greens
The sauce of this salad is sour, but I seriously love it. I especially like the combination of sour sauce and cooeked salmon.
It had salmon chunks, salad greens, sliced lotus roots and well-cut cucumbers. The dressing of the salad, again, did not overdrench the ingredients. I like.
Another note on their service. The lady first got our order wrong; she though we order Nanbanzuke instead. The thing was after the nanbanzuke was cooked, she again spend sometime to make the presentation as great as possible. EU and I both felt bad after we clarified :( We also knew she's upset; yet, she still able to make another Perfecto! presentation :)

House Special-3.5/6

$5.50
Red tuna, yamaimo, and Japanese mint
"What? I thought House Roll is supposed to be huge, or at least big!" Aha, that was my reaction when this came...
Red tuna and yamaimo did not make the House Special special though. They were average and did not add any "aha-point" to this dish.
A good point on their sushi rolls is the use of Japanese mint, aka shiso leaf; almost all the sushi rolls here have shiso leaf.
The first time I had shiso leaf is at Guu Garden, when I ordered the Grilled Saba Shima Sushi (OH MY!). After that, I start loving the taste and aroma of shiso leaf. (For my Guu Garden posts, you can read here and here.)

Bloody Winter-6/6

$13.50
Spicy albacore tuna, yamaimo and Japanese mint, topped with albacore tuna and tobiko
This is one of their special rolls. And it is special. I mean this was EU and my favourite among all the foods we ordered!
Thumbs up for the mixed texture. The spicy albacore tuna was finely chopped with the shiso leaf (Japanese mint). All the tuna in this dish were soft; however, the lady played with the texture by adding some crunchy sticks on top of each roll. I kind of ate this sushi roll from the top to the bottom, which mean I ate the crunchy stick first then moved on to the tuna. The mixed of textures were amazing. I like it, really. I WILL order this again next time for sure.
I won't discuss whether the spicy albacore tuna is spicy enough or not. Everyone can stand a different level of spiciness, so...I will just leave that as: It's good on its own ;)

Tokyo Thyme is a hidden-gem in Kerrisdale. I know there are already many sushi restaurants there (Shota, Asa Sushi, Ajisai, Irashai...etc.) but trust me, you won't be disappointed/regret by giving Tokyo Thyme a try. They don't have many special rolls now; however, their other sushi rolls may already take you a long time to decide ;D

Elysian Coffee

2010-09-26T21:14:00.001-07:00

VANCOUVERRR! This is one of the long-lost posts that are "supposed" to be posted this summer. This summer I got to go to a lot of different cafes that I've always to try, or actually I should say I will like to try any cafes that have wifi. Why? Because one of my summer vacay habits was to bring my laptop wherever I go. Aha, good memories, good memories ;)

So here it is, Elysian Coffee. It will definitely be one of my favourite cafes so far.

Elysian Coffee
590 W Broadway Ave., Vancouver BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: n/a (I will get to try more next time!)
Price: 5
Service: 5 (really friendly staffs :))
Ambiance: 5.5
Overall: 5.5

Mon-Sun 7am-7pm
Free wifi (there's the you can get in the cashier, with the password on the back, says its only available for 30mis...I used it for like 2hrs though :/
A simple menu with only 5-6 drinks on the blackboard hanging on the wall behind the cashier. Also, no sizes for ANY DRINKS.
All pastries, muffins are baked fresh daily in house from scratch.

This was taken in the early morning when they just opened. You can choose to sit close to the window, which has a long table there. Or you can choose to sit on the tables.

Inside, you can also find a small "coffee bar", displaying the mugs, jars, coffee beans, and teas for sell.
A little note: Can you see a small door on the left, next to the displays? You can actually see them making pastries there! :D
All their coffees are roasted fresh weekly. Also, they are all organic!
They brew seasonal coffee beans, so their coffees will change from time to time.
Other than coffees, they also have a selection of loose leaf teas.

Hot Coffee-6/6

This was probably one of the best coffees I've had so far. (P.S. I'm not a coffee pro, so if I say it's good, I really mean it.)
It was so smooth and rich in flavour. I almost order this everytime when I come here. It's like a staple. Now I understand why coffee can be addictive ;)

Served in a glass cup. You will have to pour as much as you want into the cup.

Cranberry Poppyseed Loaf-4.5/6

To me, anything goes with poppyseed. I mean poppyseed is good, no matter it's used in muffins, or loaves, or whatever.
Similar to other bread loaves, this was also quite moist. I remembered my fingers were sticky and had breadcrumbs sticking on them.
It was rich in orange/lemon flavour. I think they might have added orange/lemon zests into the mixture.

The funny part was I like how the poppyseeds pop when I chewed. This was surely tasted better than the one from Arbutus Coffee.

Pineapple Bran Muffin-5.5/6

Honey-glazed on the muffin, which made my hands really sticky after I finished.
Really crunchy muffin top. The bran added extra texture to the muffin. Yum!

The muffin also had raisins, which was a bonus!
The muffin tasted just right even though it had pineapple and raisins inside.
Another bonus: Don't worry that you will not get enough ingredients. I'm sure you can find bran and raisins in every bite ;)
FYI: This muffin is piping hot in the early morning!

Overall, Elysian Coffee is one of my favourite cafes. I will definitely take the skytrain (in the early morning) just because of it! :D

And oh, I didn't know the exact prices of the things I ordered, but this came up a total of $7.75.

Hong Kong-Loshan Snow Garden Restaurant

2010-09-23T16:27:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned in the last post, we actually finished celebrating my mom's dinner before heading off to Macau. There is always a "Restaurant List for Celebration" in our family, Snow Garden is one of them; we will have dinner here at least once every year for birthdays, festivals, etc. So, here's my last post on my Hong Kong trip this summer. Enjoy! :)

(photo taken by my sister)

雪園飯店Loshan Snow Garden Restaurant
2/F Man An Plaza, 8 Sunning Road, Causeway Bay
銅鑼灣新寧道8號民安廣場2/F
Tel: (852) 2881-6837/(852) 2881-6335

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 6
Price: 5.5
Service: 6
Ambiance: 5.5
Overall: 6

Mon-Sun 11am-3pm 6pm-11:30pm
Shanghainese cuisine
Valet parking availble, or you can park in Times Square/Lee Garden
Signature dish is Stewed Shark's Fins in Chicken Soup (for more information, see below)

鎮江肴肉Zhenjiang Meat Dish-4/6

This is one of the appetizers you always see in Shanghainese restaurants.
I read somewhere from the web before, saying this is actually made from pig trotters. I'm not sure whether this is true or not though. (I've tried to find more information about this dish, but there really isn't much. So, sorry about that!)
It looked a little bit dry but actually it's already flavoured. Maybe they have marinated the meat before...I'm not sure :/

See the transparent layer on one of the ends of the meat? Some restaurants will give you more of that, but I never eat them! NEVER! Mainly because I consider that layer as f-a-t.
Overall, the flavour of this dish tasted similar to the ones I had in other restaurants. But there's one thing they did better here: their meat is less fatty compare to the others.

Vegetarian Dumplings-3/6

This was the first time I had this. It was basically some finely diced vegetables wrapped in fresh beancurd sheet.
They probably added a little bit of wine into the sauce, which was quite common in Shanghainese cuisine. (Think: Drunken Chicken)

Anything that is made of tofu/beans, is my favourite! However, while I enjoyed the drunken sauce, I did not like the beancurd sheets to be very soggy.

馬蘭頭Finely Chopped Kalimeris with Beancurd-6/6

Another popular appetizer in Shanghainese cuisines. This is my favorite dish of all time! I can have more than 10 of these, really! :P
Some restaurants call it as "chopped spinach", but by translating the Chinese name to English, this is actually (or should be) made of kalimeris indica, a very common edible plant that is used in different Asian cuisines.

This was supposed to be a dry, yet a little bit moist appetizer. It is normally flavoured with a bit of sesame oil, that's why it always smells soo good!
Normally, restaurants will mix in some beancurd for extra colour/texture, but Snow Garden also adds some carrots for extra colour.

脆鱔Crispy Eel-4/6

I know it looks and sounds disgusting, but the flavour was actually quite good. There wasn't any fishiness I'm sure. (I remembered my dad had quite a lot of these...)
Tasted like barbeque with a hint of sweetness. It looks like a good wine-food to me.

It was very crunchy, but overall, I didn't find this impressive. After having a few of them, their flavour would gradually taste like burnt :

Here comes the biggie! :D

火瞳雞燉翅Stewed Shark's Fins in Chicken Soup-6/6

Snow Garden's signature dish (It's best to order it when you make your reservation)
(Sorry for the blurry photos above!) I couldn't describe how big the pot was! It was so huge and, you could already see the shark's fins once the cover was removed.

It was 100% LOADED with shark's fins. The proportion of the soup and shark's fins is definitely 50:50! :P
The first time I had their signature shark's fins soup, I was amazed by how flavourful the soup was. It was very rich in flavour because they made the soup with one whole chicken.

The shark's fins were crunchy and they really did come in chunks! I tried to use my spoon to take a picture of the amount of shark's fins I got, but they were too big that I could not lift everything up!
For the price, I forgot to take a look at the menu. But I think it's probably about $1050 (about $139CAD) for 4 people.

This is the chicken they used to make the soup. There really was not much flavour in the chicken now since all the "chicken extract" had already gone to the soup.

金華火腿Chinese Jinhua Ham

Another a-must for the shark's fins soup.
Jinhua ham is supposed to be really tasty, or I should say, it is very salty. Since it's very salty, so it is good for making Chinese soups/stews.
Also, Jinhua ham is supposed to be blood-red in colour. However, the one above looks very pinkish because all its salted flavour had already gone to the soup (again).

清蒸時魚Steamed Fish-4.5/6

This tasted average, but the thing that I still remember was how fishy it was ;D
I love fishy fish, that's why I can still take fishy sashimi (like the one I had in Guu Garden). The fish here were not as extreme as sashimi but it still tasted fishy and the meat was very fresh.

Topped with some green onions, Jinhua ham, and mushroom.
FYI: I think we ordered two servings that day, so there were two fish on a plate. I saw some pictures on the web with only 1 serving costs about $680 (about $90CAD).

豆瓣浸莧菜Amaranth with Broad Bean-5/6

Another one of my favourite dishes :P
The amaranth absorbed the broth and was already very tender and tasty.
Don't expect any crunchy beans from this dish. The broad beans already became very soft after cooking.

Fish Maw and Bamboo Fungus in Broth-4/6

I actually can't remember what this is. I can only recall it had fish maw, bamboo fungus, bok choy, mushrooms, and some Jinhua ham.
Tastewise. I didn't get too try much; it was finished quite fast for some reason. Maybe it was so good?

炸子雞Fried Chicken-4.5/6

Average fried chicken. I didn't find this surprisingly good but I heard a lot of positive comments on this.

How can we miss out the birthday buns?

壽包Birthday Buns-6/6

Pre-order is needed. Order the amount you want when you are making a table reservation :)
The bun was soft and fluffy. They were even softer than the ones in Yung Kee. However, the steamer was not that crazy big. Yung Kee's steamer was epic.

This might probably be one of the reasons why I love Shanghai food so much. I simply knew it that Shanghainese restaurants use red bean paste instead of egg yolk/lotus seed paste as the filling! Correct me if I'm wrong. Do Shanghainese restaurants really tend to use red bean paste as birthday buns' fillings? Or is Snow Garden the exception? :O
Anyway, Snow Garden is always one of my fav restaurants in HK.

Fresh Fruits

Other than birthday buns, we still got some fresh-cut fruits, which we all really needed after such fulling feast!

So, here are all my posts in Hong Kong. Hope you all enjoy them! Next time if you're on a (long) vacation, try to put Hong Kong as one of your consideration :D Heheehe
I will go back to normal now and will post some Vancouver posts from time to time :)

Macau-Restaurante Platao

2010-09-20T00:15:00.001-07:00

Before posting my mom's birthday dinner, let me start a new post on our short trip to Macau. Talk about the food, there isn't a Macau-nese or Macau cuisine. Most restaurants in Macau are actually Portuguese/Portuguese fusion because it used to be a colony of Portugal before.

We will normally go to the same restaurants when we go to Macau; in other words, we seldom explore ourselves to new restaurants even though we know they have similar foods. My sister, however, brought us to a new Portuguese restaurant this time...

(Picture from backpackers)

九如坊Restaurante Platao
G/F Block B, Jardim Lok Wa, Travessa S, Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro
新馬路板樟堂巷3號樂華花園地下B舖
Tel: (853) 2833-1818

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 4.5
Price: 5
Service: 6
Ambiance: 5.5
Overall: 5

Tue-Sun 12pm-11pm
Closed on Mondays
Location is somewhat hard to find. You have to walk up a hidden alley to find this restaurant, which should be on your right-hand side.
Parking is not available
They have two levels, but I truly encourage you to make a reservation before visiting.

Their atmosphere is very unique. It is modern but also has a little Greek style.
Suitable for crowds, families
They offer almost everything you want: soup, appetizer, seafood, curry, vegetable, sandwiches, and desserts.
They use fresh seafood daily. You can find "Daily Fresh from the Sea" on the first page of the menu, or you can ask the waiters for more information.

蒜茸包Garlic Bread

$26 (about $4CAD)
I didn't try this because I hate the taste of garlic.
My mom ordered this, and she loved them.

罌粟子腰果麥包Poppy Seed and Cashew Nut Rye Bread-6/6

$11 (about $2CAD)
This was served warm and, it was sooooo good. I fell in love with it right away when I tore the bun into half.

Poppy seeds? Check. Cashew nuts? Check. I could chew on the crunchy cashew nuts when I was munching the super soft bun.
Another bonus: Sometimes I don't like bread with a lot of nuts inside, but this just had the right amount of nuts. I love it.

三文魚餅Salmon Cake-5.5/6

$42 (about $6CAD)
This only came in 2pcs, so $42 (which means $21/ea) was quite pricey.

The fish cake itself was quite good. For non-fish eaters (i.e. my dad), these were good enough for them because these did not taste fishy at all. For fish eaters, these were also great because you could taste that there's real salmon inside!

See the salmon? The inside was soft and hot; the outside was covered with a golden thin, crispy crust.

咸牛利Ox Tongue

I actually did not remember what this was...but I guess it's probably something about beef/ox...

With some diced vegetables served on the side.
I didn't try this because it's beef and, it's...tongue (ew!) :@ But I heard them say that this was really good.

清炒雜菌Stir Fried Mixed Mushroom-6/6

$72 (about $10CAD)
Served on the top of a 1/2-potato
$72 for this might seem expensive, but the mushroom was surprisingly good! The smokey sauce made the mushroom taste amazingggg!
This was one of the most popular dishes we ordered that day. Everyone said this was a good dish to balance out all the meat we ordered :)

焗蛋白菠菜茸Baked Mashed Spinach with Egg White-6/6

$60 (about $8CAD)
Honestly, I couldn't believe how good this was. I was thinking how good it could be with just mashed spinach and egg white...but the result was terribly good!

It tasted so light, similar to souffle. I can finish off one of these, really.
The crust was a little hard, but once I inserted the spoon, I could see how soft the inner part was :P

海鮮焗馬介休Baked Bacalhau with Mixed Seafood-4/6

$152 (about $20CAD)
Bacalhau is actually codfish; "Bacalhau" is just the Portuguese word dried codfish.

Except bacalhau, it said "Mixed Seafood", but all I could find were prawns, and potatoes.
There was not much flavour in this dish, even though they gave us a generous amount of bacalhau :/
This dish was actually quite heavy due to all the potatoes and thick sauce. My mom almost finished everything, and she was bloated then.

白烚菜Poached Vegetable

$70 (about $9CAD)
Contained 3 types of vegetables: cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli
This was HUGE. I didn't know poached veggie could be this big in restaurants. I think they almost gave us 1/2 of the cauliflower.

炭燒豬肋骨Charcoal Grilled Enhanced Pork Rib-4.5/6

$280 (about $37CAD)
Served with some grilled veggies on the side
At first, I thought the pork rib will be kind of tough. However, it turned out to be really juicy and tender.
The grilled vegetables were as good as the rib, especially the grilled eggplants ;) Yummy.

特級羊鞍配羊肚菌汁Prime Rack of Lamb with Morel Sauce-4.5/6

Served with vegetables(in whole) on the side
I seldom order lamb because I always find there's a "unique" flavour in lamb that makes me dislike it. However, I have to say Platao makes pretty good lamb, especially how well the sauce goes with the meat.
They did not drench the lamb with the sauce; instead, they only pour some of it on 1/2 of the lamb. You can choose to dip as much sauce as you want ;)
Don't underestimate the side veggies! They were actually stuffed with brown rice(?).

Here comes the desserts! :P

木糠布甸Biscuit Mousse-5/6

$58 (about $8CAD)
This was their best-selling + well-known dessert. I am not sure whether they use biscuit or bread crumbs to make the toppings...

Mousse is supposed to be a lighter choice for dessert; however, this did not taste like mousse at all! It was rich in texture, like a frozen ice-cream cake.
I did not find this particularly special or tasty though :

西梅千層餅Prune Cake-6/6

This was definitely better than the Biscuit Mousse!
It was very pretty with all those layers :) You can tell it's very moist by looking at the picture above.
On the flavour, it was very rich in prune flavour! I could also taste some prune between each layers.
The best thing about this dessert: It wasn't too sweet, so we could still have a slice of it after finishing up all the food we ordered.

Next time if you have the chance to visit Macau, make sure you come and try Restaurante Platao. Well, if you don't want to order this much food, you can also just order their desserts and a cup of coffee, sit on the patio, and enjoy the rest of your afternoon :)

Hong Kong-Lock Cha Tea House

2010-09-09T22:53:00.003-07:00

My sister is a good party-planner. No matter its my birthday or her friends' birthday, she just knows how to give them an unforgettable birthday. Because of this reason, my dad and I decided to give not all, but most, responsibility to design a memorable birthday for my mom.

Well, the first surprise she gave my mom was flawless. She secretly booked a restaurant for lunch without telling my mom (and me) the location. Then in a sunny Saturday afternoon, she brought us to the...Hong Kong Park. What? A Park? Yes indeed, that was exactly my reaction. We would have our lunch in a park......with a restaurant hidden inside ;)

(photo from Openrice)

(photo from LockCha)

樂茶軒Lock Cha Tea House

G/F, The K.S. Lo Gallery, Hong Kong Park, Admiralty, Hong Kong
金鐘香港公園羅桂祥茶藝館
Tel: (852) 2801-7177

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 5
Price: 3.5
Service: 4
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 5

Mon-Sun 10am-10pm (except every Tues of the month)
Dine in vegetarian dim sum
Local retail tea shop
Founded by Mr. Wing-Chi Ip, who is a tea and teapot expert
Teas and teawares are availble for sale
Suitable for all age groups
No MSG added
One of the best places in town for high-tea
The dim sum menu is changed once in a while, so customers can never get bored visiting.
Dim sums are rather small here though
There is a Music Tea Concert every Sunday at 4-6pm.
If you are interested, you can join the tea classes. (For more details, please ask the waiters or send them an email)
Parking available at the Pacific Place and Queensway Government Offices

The moment you stepped in the teahouse, you will see a tall and large cupboard with many small drawers. This is the "tea cupboard" where all the teas they have in store are stored. (Sorry for the blurry photo btw)

Each person has a set of utensils...

They gave us 2 kettles of boiling water for the teas.

(photo taken by my sister)

I forgot which kinds of tea we ordered. Each person can order a type of tea; teas ranging from $2x-10000+, including red, yellow, herbal/floral, white, black, green, and of course, vintage teas.

有機油菜Organic Vegetables

Dim sums are ranging from $2x-3x (about $3CAD+)
Regular choy sum; nothing to comment about.

炒烏冬Fried Vegetarian Noodles-3.5/6

Maybe because it's vegetarin, it did not have much flavour, except they did add quite a generous amount of cabbages and carrots in it.
Don't get confused! The actual bowl of noodles was actually quite small...

迷你荷葉糯米包Mini Glutinous Rice with Mushrooms

Each order comes with two

Can you see how hot it was! See the steam coming out from it........

Apparently, it was loaded with all kinds of ingredients: mainly mushroom, carrot, and corn.
They were "mini", really. My sister normally shares a regular glutinous rice with someone, but she could finish one this time.

龍華寺素卷Vegetarian Roll-6/6

A mixture of vegetables wrapped in fried beancurd

Fillings include celery, mushroom, carrot, and cabbage.
I know this was just a simple dish, or even a common appetizer you find in many Chinese restaurants. However, Lock Cha made these really good. I could not stop eating this! Luckily they ordered two of these. Haha :P
I always find these type of dishes oily, probably because of the fried beancurd. But the good thing is the one in Lock Cha was not as greasy as the regular ones.

百摺鍋貼Vegetarian Fried Dumplings (Wo Tip)-4.5/6

Each order comes with 5/6

Fillings are a mixture of chopped vegetables.
They were not overcooked, but the crust was a bit tough as I remembered.
A little bit bias here: Another thing I did not like is the overloaded sesame seeds they sprinkled on top :

Stuffed Mushroom with Cabbages-2/6

Each order comes with 3
There wasn't really any flavour in this dish, even though the mushrooms were already served in a bed of thick sauce.

The only thing I could recall was the fresh flavour of the mushroom. You know, the fresh mushroom taste you will find in salad sometimes.
The cabbages stuffed in the mushroom were very soft, or maybe too soft.
I think they have overdrenched the mushrooms in the sauce :(

燈籠餃Steamed Lantern Dumplings-5/6

Each order comes with 2
As the name suggests, they are called lanterns because of their appearance.

Fillings include mushroom, 1 edamame (only), few cabbage, and carrot.
The dumplings were actually great, except they should add more fillings in them.

蒸粉果Steamed Dumplings-5.5/6

Each order comes with 2

I apologize for this crappy photo. This was actually my mom's left-over; I finished mine before taking a shot, so I had to take a photo of my mom's left-over.......
Fillings are actually all beans, mostly the black eye beans. Since I'm a fan of beans, I certainly enjoyed having this :D
As you can see from the first picture of this Steamed Dumpling, the outside of it was like Japanese mochi: soft and chewy.

素咖哩Vegetarian Curry-4.5/6

Loaded with carrt, potato, and fried tofu.

Came with plain steamed buns.
This vegetarian curry was definitely less flavourful than the regular ones.
Dipping the buns into the sauce was a fun way to eat as they can absorb as much curry sauce as they possible.
Another bonus for this dish, the fried tofu also absorbed the curry sauce. So when you bite into it, you can taste the sauce as well.

腰果糯米滋Cashew Mochi-6/6

Each order comes with 2
Sprinkled with dried coconut

I am not a nut fan, but this dessert was surprisingly good! I thought the filling would be similar to the peanut filling; however, it turned out to be very smooth and rich in flavour. There was still some cashew bits in the filling. Yummy!

南瓜小蒸包Pumpkin Paste Dessert-3/6

Each order comes with 2
Again, can you see the heat coming out from the steamer? It was served right off the steamer from the kitchen.
The presentation was really cute. The tip part was actually a nut.

The smooth pumpkin paste was not as sweet as I thought. Despite it's called the pumpkin dumpling, I did not find (much) pumpkin flavour in it.
The dumpling itselt was slightly sticky but not sweet at all, which was great because I was already very stuffed at that time.

It was a nice experience to enjoy tea and delicate vegetarian dim sum in a quiet place :) I will certainly come back and try their other creations next time!

Speaking of vegetarian restaurants, there is another restaurant called Long Men Lou-Chi Lin Vegetarian at the Nan Lian Garden. Oh, it is also a hidden place :)

Long Men Lou-Chi Lin Vegetarian
Long Men Lou, Nan Lian Garden, 60 Fung Tak Road, Diamond Hill, Hong Kong
鑽石山鳳德道60號南蓮園池龍門樓
Tel: (852) 3658-9388

Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30am-2:30pm
Sat-Sun 11am-3pm

Tea-time: Mon-Fri 2:30pm-5:30pm
Sat-Sun 3pm-5:30pm

Dinner: Mon-Sun 6pm-9pm

For more information, please read here.

Hong Kong-Yung Kee Restaurant

2010-09-08T03:47:00.010-07:00

August is a "big month" in my family, probably because it's the last month of my summer holiday so I need to play hard, but the main reason is because there are a lot of celebrations this month. For example, my sister and mom's birthdays; my sister's is on the 20th and my mom is on the 21st. How nice isn't it?
Okay, so here comes the downside. I need time to digest all the stuff I had in my sister birthday dinner before having another feast for my mom's birthday!

For my sister's birthday, we went to a well-known restaurant in Central (near Lan Kwai Fong)...ready to have another feast in August.

(photo taken by my sister, with her new camera)

鏞記酒家Yung Kee Restaurant

32-40 Wellington Street, Central, HK

中環威靈頓街32-40號

Tel: (852) 2522-1624

Ratings

1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 6

Price: 5

Service: 6

Ambiance: 5.5 (it's actually a 6, but sometimes you will find it's a bit too noisy)

Overall: 6

Mon-Sun 11am-11:30pm
Dim-Sun Dining ("Yum Cha"): Mon-Sat 2pm-5:30pm
Sun 11am-5:30pm
Dine in/Takeout
Famous for Roasted Goose
(FYI: You can actually see the people making them in the window near the main entrance)
They have won a list of awards in the past (You can learn more from their website)
One of the tourist spots in Hong Kong; It's kind of a must-go restaurant when you visit Hong Kong.
Little note: Some dishes (including the dishes I mention below) may not shown on the menu. You are very welcome to ask the managers what's in-season and their recommendations.

特製皮蛋酸薑Preserved Eggs and Pickled Ginger-6/6

$7/set (1/2 Preserved Egg+Few slices of Pickled Ginger) (about $1CAD)
Simple. This is just another appetizer you see in typical Chinese restaurants. However, this is one of my favourite dishes in Yung Kee.
The preserved egg was sooo good seriously, especially when it's eaten together with the pickled ginger. For pickled-ginger haters, try a small piece in the beginning. Please give it a try! It may look simple, but it does worth a try.

See? The yolk of the preserved egg looked different here. It had a super thick and smooth consistency, and rich in flavour. Yummmm.

燻雞Smoked Chicken-5/6

To me, nothing can go wrong with "smoked" in Chinese restaurants. This chicken smellt so good when it came. Looking good, smelling really great, smokes coming out from the freshly-made chicken just came right out from the kitchen......you can imagine ;)

There were eggs decorated on the side of the dish. They were cooked with chicken, so they were also rich in flavour and had that smoky smell.

豬耳Pig's Ears

Served with some sweet beans.
Actually I don't remember what this really is. I didn't try it because I don't eat intestines and stuff like that :/

燒排骨Spare Ribs in Honey(?) Sauce-5.5/6

This was actually similar to Cha Siu/roasted pork, but this is the more boney version.
As far as I could remember, this was probably the most popular dish of the night. Everyone loves the mild honey sauce with the ribs.

The colour was gorgeous. The black parts did not taste burnt literally; instead, they were crunchy, crispy...
For someone like my sister loves the burnt ends because she finds them tastier.
I remember I watched some TV interview before showing how the people make Cha Siu/roasted pork...hmm wonderful is that method similar to making the roasted goose?

清蒸海鮮Steamed Live Fish in Soya Sauce-6/6

Normally the manager will show you the live fish in a plastic bag before they start to cook.
The fish was actually reaaally big when he first showed us!

Tender meat, still with a little fishiness.

冬瓜盅Winter Melon Urn(/Tureen) Soup-5.5/6

$400+ (about $53CAD)
Another famous soup in Chinese restaurants. It's basically a big winter melon with a mixture of ingredients.
They have used double steaming to cook this soup.
"It is prepared by emptying the inside of a winter melon to make an urn...The inside is then filled with soup ingredients such as Chinese cured ham, and several Chinese herbs. The whole urn completed with its original melon lid is double steamed for at least four hours. The flavor of the soup is soaked into the "flesh" of the melon. The whole melon and its content is brought to the dinner table. The soup is served by scooping out the liquid and the inside wall of the melon...This application is possible because winter melon has a waxy, and thus waterproof, rind."-Wikipedia
For nice presentation, some restaurants like to serve the winter melon in a gold tureen/urn, or carve some patterns on the melon before steaming.

The ingridients (except the winter melon) include: mushroom, Chinese ham, lotus seed, pork, crab meat, and the top part (bulb-shape) of asparagus.
This may be one of my favourite soups; I get excited every time when my family order this. I like to see so many ingredients in a soup! :)
This was nice, and I don't think they added much MSG/additives in this. This tasted pure with winter melon. That's it.

玉環繞翠Hairy Melon with Fat Choy and Mushroom-6/6

Served with broccoli on the side

Another popular dish of the night. I couldn't describe how cute and beautiful this dish looked! Everyone was shocked to see such beautiful presentation of the final dish.
Of course, despite all of us were already very stuffed, we still manage to finish this dish quickly.

For the stuffing of each hairly melon, it had fat choy, thin mushroom and enoki mushroom.

蓮茸壽包Lotus Seed Birthday Buns-6/6

Normally, you need to order the amount of birthday buns you want (1/2 dozen or 1 dozen) when you reserve the table.
I could not describe how big the steamer was! It was as big as the table I'm not kidding! I was shocked to see this when the waiter brought the steamer to the table. Honestly, I think this is the biggest steamer I've ever seen so far :O

There are various kinds of fillings in other restaurants; the most common ones are red bean and lotus seed.
The one we had here was lotus seed with an egg yolk. It wasn't too sweet and was smooth in consistency.
The bun itself was perfect, soft, warm, and fluffy :)

Next time when you visit Hong Kong, make sure to give Yung Kee a visit. Even though you are not a fan of Roasted Goose (it's ok, because I'm not a fan too), there are still other special Chinese dishes here. Lunch or dinner is all up to you. Aha, apart from the roasted goose, also give their other roasted and soya dishes a try. If you want more, you can also try bird's nest, frog, pigeon, shark's fin, abalone...etc.

Remember: You are always welcome to ask the managers for recommendations! :)

Japan trip-星岡茶寮

2010-09-08T03:23:00.001-07:00

I remember this was the last day of our Japan trip. My dad decided to end the trip with a wonderful, perfect, filling meal.

We did not really plan for the last day, so my mom (and ahem, my sister) chose to make a last minute shopping at Isetan. We, well at least I, were totally exhausted after spending the entire day walking and walking around Shinjuku. My dad and I were too tired to bother finding a fancy restaurant for our last meal. At last, we went to Isetan for dinner again (To see the first dinner I had at Isetan, please read here), and we saw this Japanese restaurant that was hidden inside an alley.

新宿星岡茶寮(しんじゅくほしがおかさりょう)(Shinjuku Hoshiga Okasaryo)
7/F Itoparadaisu, 3-14-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku Isetan, Main Building
東京都新宿区新宿3-14-1 伊勢丹新宿店本館７Fイートパラダイス
Tel: 03-3352-0976

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 5
Price: n/a
Service: 6
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 5

Mon-Sun 11am-10pm
The thing that attracted me to try this restaurant was the colourful food models on the window, especially they offered more than one kind of Kaiseki sets.

I did not walk around the restaurant, so I'm not sure how many seatings they have exactly. Bonus point: Each room is divided--high privacy.

Pork Curry Noodle Set

Came along with an appetizer (marinated veggies), miso soup, and steamed egg.

Fried Fish Set

Fried Fish-4.5/6

My mom digged in immediately once the waitress put the tray down, so I could not take an original photo of the fish.
I tried some...It was actually quite good: tender meat with a hint of soy sauce, not too salty though.

Tuna and Tai Sashimi-5.5/6

My mom only ate one piece of Tai, and I was the one who ended up finishing all the sashimi for her.

Tempura

Including shrimp, long bean, and pumpkin.

Kaiseki Set Layer #1

Fresh Shell, Mini Prawns, and Marinated Mushroom-3.5/6

I was not a big fan of fresh sea-shell but this did not have much flavour, so it was okay for me.
The marinated mushroom was put on a small aluminum case to separate from the seafood. I found it a bit too salty for my liking...
Like I have mentioned before, shrimps/prawns are no-no for me.

Tuna and Tai Sashimi-5.5/6

Let's talk about the tai sashimi first! It wasn't that impressive, maybe because I don't really like its texture compare to tuna's and saba's...and salmon's...
On the other hand, the tuna sashimi was really good! I actually wanted more after finishing my 3pcs! So, thanks mom for giving me hers hehe :D

Seaweed in Marinated Sauce-5.5/6

Similar to other seaweed (I mean the thicker ones), this was also slimy in texture.
The first time I had this kind of thin seaweed was at Takifugu, which they called it "seamoss".
Afterall, I still prefer the thicker ones because they are chewier than these.

Marinated Vegetables

With cucumber, seaweed, and chopped carrot.

Fish Meat, Tamago, and Sweet Bun-6/6

As you know, the fish meal and tamago did not taste and look special; they were average.
I did not know the red bun on the right hand side was sweet until I had my first bite! It was not as sweet as dessert, but just the right amount of sweetness to clear your throat after trying so many dishes.
The texture of the bun was very chewy (and also a bit sticky). Like dumplings!

Kaiseki Set Layer #2

Fried Tofu, Lotus Root, Long Beans and Tofu in Clear Broth-6/6

There were two kinds of tofu here: fresh and fried. The white one on the bottom is the fresh tofu, and the brownish yellow one next to the long beans is the fried tofu.
The green-and-yellow thing on top was actually a piece fish meat. They just made it into something like this for better presentation.

Fish-3.5/6

I'm not sure, but I believe it's cod fish.
Decorated with a thin slice of lotus root.
The fish does not look as big as the photo shows; it was only a small piece of meat.

Fried Chicken-3.5/6

Decorated with asparagus and eggplant.
The chicken did not overcook. It was still juicy inside with a thin and crispy crust.

Salmon Mousse-2/6

This might be the mot controversial dish of the night! My sister and I were discussing what this was and, I believe...it was a salmon mousse!
The texture was similar to mousse but this was denser than the regular ones.
I did not like it...I'm just not a fan of the mousse-y texture :S

Marinated Vegetable and Gourd

Steamed Rice with Marinated Vegetables and Mushroom-6/6

Steamed rice might seem simple, but the mixture of rice+marinated veggie+mushroom tasted soo good!
The rice was very tasty.......tasty in a healthier way without adding too much additives/MSG.

Miso Soup

Everyone of us was very satisfied when we left. My dad got his cooked meat; my mom got her (fry) fish; I have tried some interesting/rare Japanese dish here.

A conclusion to this Japan trip---Japan is a wonderful place for vacation really. Shopping, eating, shopping, sleeping, eating......what more can you ask for for vacation? ;)

Japan trip-うまい鮨勘(Umai Sushi Kan)

2010-09-07T23:05:00.000-07:00

A sashimi lover, one of the must-go tourist spots is the Tsukiji Market. We went there in the afternoon and were planning to have lunch there. However, when we arrived, almost all the restaurants we saw were already packed with people! Disappointed enough, we then decided to go to somewhere else for lunch. While we were planning to leave, a small but quiet restaurant appeared in a aisle that nobody had noticed yet.

Without thinking, we entered this small restaurant and could not wait to try some fresh fish! (Sorry dad!) :P

(Picture from gourmet.livedoor.com)

うまい鮨勘(Umai Sushi Kan)
〒104-0045 5-2-1 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Tsukiji Fish Market (in the No.4)
〒104-0045東京都中央區築地5-2-1　築地市場内4號館
Tel: 03-3541-2458

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 5
Price: 4.5
Service: 6
Ambiance: 3.5
Overall: 5

Mon-Sat 6am-3pm 5pm-9pm
Closed on Sundays
They don't have quite a lot of seatings, about 20 seats in total (?)
Each table has a set of menu, but you can also look at their posters to see which kind of fish is fresh and in-season.
Customers can choose to order in pieces or in sets. Apart from sushis, they also have tapas, salad, desserts, and miso soups.
Don't underestimate the miso soups here! They have about 6 kinds of miso soups with different ingredients, including fish, lobster, minced fish, clams, prawns, and seaweed. (We didn't order this time but I saw they give a generous amount to every order!)

ほたて磯邊握り(Seared Scallop Nigiri Sushi)

Forgot the price; it should be around ¥140-230 (about $2-3CAD $13-21HKD)
It came with a piece of seaweed that you can wrap around the sushi.
My mom ordered this and she liked it a lot.
It actually came in two pieces; my dad ate the other one :D

うに三昧(3 Concentrations of Uni)

¥840 (about $10CAD $77HKD)
My mom is a fan of uni! She ordered this right away after spotting its promotion of the wall.

Marinated Uni

Fresh and Seared Uni

So...were they good? I did not try them because I don't eat uni. My mom's reaction? She said this is the best uni she has ever had ;)

さば棒すし(Saba Battera Sushi)-6/6

¥1050 (about $13CAD $96HKD)
This is another must-order when I go to a Japanese restaurant. My sister and I literally fell in love with saba after having the Grilled Saba Shima Sushi in Guu Garden (posts here and here).

This came in 8pcs with a thin layer of pickled sheet (ginger?) on top.

These were so good. Even though it was early in the morning, I could not help but to stuff myself with this saba sushi!
Apparently, there were extra ginger and green onions in the rice. And the rice itself also had that typical vinegar flavour.

鮨勘太卷(Sushi Kan Futomaki)-6/6

¥810 (about $10CAD $74HKD)
Another one of my favourite sushis :) My favourite futomaki so far is the one from Torarenbo.

Also came in 8pcs but were cheaper than the Saba Battera, of course.
Like other typical futomakis, this also had cucumber, mushroom, crabmeat, tamago, and some plum powder (the pink one).
The proportion of the rice and ingredient was 50/50. Perfect to eat and see :D

穴子つまみ(Grilled Conger Eel)-5.5/6

¥695 (about $9CAD $64HKD)
Eel may be the most popular fish in my family. Since we already ordered some sushis previously, my sister decided to go for Grilled Eel instead of Eel sushi. By the way, I don't know what conger eel is :/

The eel was soft, but definitely was not as soft as the normal ones I had before. Now looking at the pictures, I can still recall the texture of this eel...the soft bones in the flesh...yummm!
Another bonus point for Sushi Kan: They did not drench the eel with the sauce; instead, they put most of the sauce on the side.

厚燒たまご(Fried Egg)-3/6

Forgot the price; it should be around ¥140-230 (about $2-3CAD $13-21HKD)
Japanese fried egg is my all-time favourite! I ordered this right away after spotting it on the menu :P

However, this was somewhat dried...not the one I expected to be :(
FYI: Apart from fresh seafood/fish, fried tamago is also one of the popular products in Tsukiji Fish Market.

Tsukiji Fish Market is quite far from, say, Shinjuku. But honestly, it really worth the visit. If you are lucky, you can see some Japanese chefs showing how to cut a fish on the street (which I did)! You can also find fresh, local products there as souvenirs :DD
It is/can be a tough trip, especially in Summer. But no matter what, next time when you go to Tokyo, make sure to go there once!

Japan trip-雷門滿留賀(まるか)

2010-08-25T10:45:00.007-07:00

Our plan that day was to go to Asakusa, the place where you will see that big red lantern hanging. I remembered the weather was brutal that day; we were all wet after taking the subway. So before we continued our journey, we decided to find a place to restore our energy first. The one restaurant that we were facing was Marukan, an old-style soba restaurant.

雷門満留賀(かみなりもんまるか)(Kaminarimon Maruka)
1-1-5 Asakusa, Taito-ku 〒111-0032 Tokyo, Asakusa Kannon Street
〒111-0032 東京都台東区浅草1-1-5 浅草観音通り
Tel: 03-3842-2020

Ratings

1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 5
Price: 4
Service: 6
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 4.5

Wed-Sun 11am-8:30pm
Famous for soba (For more details, you can view their website with a detailed soba history. Unfortunately, their website is in Japanese.

The menu is short, and is placed on each table. Since it's all in Japanese, I decided to go outside and look at the samplers, the perfect way to order food ;D (Another bonus for Japan: Most restaurants have samplers outside, so you can use them as references.)
Its location was pretty hard to find. There wasn't many people pass by there; it was hidden in a hallway.
Owned by a family. They are really nice and friendly. The lady knew we were tourists, and she tried her best to help us when we're ordering.

天丼(Tempura Rice Set)

¥1400 (about $11CAD $83HKD)
Came with a sidedish (which was some marinated gourd and plum), a miso soup, and a cup of hot tea.

The prawn tempura was finished with their homemade sauce after frying.
This was for my dad. He always order tempura in Japanese restaurants because that's the most common cooked food in all restaurant.

Cold Tempura Mix Soba

Forgot the price, probably it's about ¥900-1500 (about $11-19CAD $82-137HKD)
With mushroom, crabmeat, sliced carrot, seaweed, and prawn tempura.
Such a smart choice for my sister! She was the only one ordering a cold dish.

Tempura & Tamago Soba

Forgot the price again, probably cost like ¥900~
There's also plain Tempura Soba, but my mom wanted to have an extra egg with her soba.

おかめそば(Okame Soba)-5/6

¥900 (about $11CAD $82HKD)
Came with mushroom, and assorted "fishballs" (I mean they are similar to the food you see when you are having hotpot).

I was pretty sure that the broth was MSG-free. It was very clear and distinct.
The soba was soft and not as chewy as I thought. I am not a soba-pro, so should a nice soba be chewy...or not? Hmmm

Japan Trip-Oto Oto: Desserts

2010-08-25T08:29:00.005-07:00

Of course, we need some desserts to end our wonderful meal at Oto Oto right? ;) (Not to mention that we were already very full at that time)

My dad was already so full that he could not stuff anything more into his stomach. So the rest of us each ordered a dessert...
Greentea Ice-cream

Decorated with a cracker.
I didn't try this though...

Greentea and Vanilla Ice-cream with Brown Syrup

It also came with some red bean paste with sesame seeds sprinkled on top.
If you look clearly, there are also mochi and some fruits with the ice-cream.
Again, I didn't try this but my sister did enjoy this a lot (She loves desserts anyway).

Tofu Pudding with Pieces of Fruits, Served with Syrup

The pudding was smooth and yummy. I enjoyed it a lot.
It actually reminded me of their Soften Tofu I just had for dinner.

If you like to know more about Oto Oto or their other branches, please visit their website here.

Japan Trip-Oto Oto

2010-08-24T08:23:00.001-07:00

Oto Oto is probably the nearest restaurant where you can find all kinds of Japanese food, which means it has both cooked and raw food that can satisfy those who don't eat sashimi, and also some/most of the sushis. My dad is the only person in the family who does not-or even cannot-accept raw fish. So, Oto Oto is the best choice for us.

We went there on the first night we arrived. It was about 8:30pm and this restaurant was already full; we had to wait for 20-30mins at least. We went to somewhere else of course, but before we left, we made a reservation for next day's dinner. There we go: this fancy, busy restaurant.

Oto Oto
1-25-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo 〒163-0690 Shinjuku Sentabiru annex 1-2 F
〒163-0690東京都新宿區西新宿1-25-1新宿センタービル別館1-2/F
Tel: 03-5908-2282

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 5.5
Price: n/a
Service: 5.5 (I would have given them a 6 if the reception's attitude was better :/)
Ambiance: 6
Overall: 5.5

Mon-Sun 11:30am-2:30pm (Lunch) 2:30pm-3:30pm (Tea) 5pm-11:30pm (Dinner)
*(Except Sundays close at 11pm)
"[Oto] means sound, including sound of chopping block(board?) and simmering sound that mother cooks food.
The on-the-site made rice."--Oto Oto
Gets really busy at night, especially Japanese like drinking, eating, and chatting with friends/business partners for quite "awhile". (Ok, I admit I like that too.)
They also have a mini sushi bar but I seldom see customers seating there.
This Shinjuku is only a part of its branches. If you visit their official website, you can find many other restaurants that are also under this company.

Lychee Ume Wine (I just made up this name, but it did describe what's inside the drink).

It was very mild. It's more like sipping on some lychee-flavoured water. (FYI: Ume=plum, prunes)
Not too sweet, just the right sweetness for me.
My dad actually ordered another glass of alchoholic beverage (Honey Ume Wine?), but he preferred mine after trying both ;)

Appetizer-1.5/6

Steamed egg with sesame paste, and shrimp and fish roe on top.
There was not any flavour in the steamed egg even though there was some sesame paste on the side.
But despite it was not a good opening for this meal, this appetizer was free, so my appetite was not affected by it ;D
I did not try the shrimp due to my allergy.

朝採り茹立て枝豆(Boiled Fresh Green Soybeans, aka Edamame)-5/6

In Japan, they serve edamame in a bunch (if you understand what I mean)! They didn't sprinkle extra (sea)salt on top, but really, who cares?

音音名物: ふんわり手作りもち豆富(Special Product Soften Tofu)-6/6

"We have carefully selected our sashimi soy milk at that time the most delicious.
Please come (and) taste our commitment to the wealth of sound and fresh peas."--Oto Oto
Really nice and cute presentation. My sister and I could not figure out what this was when the waiter brought this to our table.
Tofu tofu tofu...What can you expect from a tofu? And oh, I was wrong......

The texture was interesting! This rounded tofu's texture was chewy! (Yea, I can't believe that I use this word to describe tofu)
Apart from chewy, it was also very smooth, like a tofu pudding. Really nice.

茨城産こだわりエコ農園直送農園野菜のバーニャカウダー(Fresh Vegetables of the Season Served in Bagna Cauda style)-5/6

Vegetables are fresh from eco-commitment farm.
Bagna Cauda style means you have to/may dip the vegetables into the hot garlic sauce.

The sauce was yummy! It wasn't too salty, and the flavour was not as strong as typical dressings/sauces; however, it was quite addictive. My family and I finished the sauce but left a few fresh vegetables behind.
The vegetables (mainly root vegetables) were fresh and crunchy. However, my family did not like some of them because they cannot accept the "raw" flavour of the veggies. For example, radish is the most unwelcomed in my family.

天然出汁たっぷり奥久慈玉子と京都九条葱の出汁巻き玉子(Baked Egg with Kujo Leek)-6/6

A simple dish but is one of my most-order food because I love Japanese-style egg :)
The best part of this dish? The egg was not fully cooked, so it was still moist inside with the leek.

鹿児島薩摩香潤鶏のチキン南蛮(Chicken Nanban)-4/6

FYI: Oto Oto uses Kagoshima, Kaoru Zyun Satsuma chicken.
My dad would like to have some meat! So he ordered this to satisfy his craving. The chicken was fried nicely without excess oil. He liked it a lot, of course.
The lettuce and the dressing on the side could be a salad, and the dressing itself also went very well with the fried chicken.

彩り野菜の海鮮お刺身サラダ山葵ドレッシング添え(Fresh Sashimi and Vegetable Salad with Wasabi Dressing)-3.5/6

There were all kinds of sashimi; I could not even tell which was which.
It was a sashimi salad, so it should taste good. And it was.

The sad thing was, they only gave us a few slices of sashimiand a lot of shredded lettuce.

豪快漁師刺身七点盛り合せ(Assorted 7 kinds of Special Sashimi)-5.5/6

Suitable for 4-5 people. They also have Assorted 5 kinds of Special Sashimi, which is suitable for 2-3 people.
For the sashimi, they are from the fresh items of the day. If you want to know what fresh fish they have that day, you can ask the waiter for a fish menu :)
Sorry that I didn't take a photo of each sashimi. But my favourites among all 7 kinds were tuna and scallop.
While my dad was all satisfied with his cooked food, the rest of us got to enjoy this nicely-presented sashimi. Yum!

Intermission: Everything was cleaned! (Except that left-over radish on the lower left-hand corner. Haha)

お好み和タパス三種盛合せ(Assortment of 3 kinds of Japanese Tapas)

There is a short list of Japanese Tapas on the menu which you can choose from.

セロリのきんぴら黒七味掛け(Stir-fried Celery with Red Pepper)-6/6

The names of all dishes are from their website. I can't remember what's exactly on the menu, so don't ask me about the "red pepper".
The pure taste of this dish came just right while we were waiting for other food to come. Also after having 7 kinds of sashimi, we need some veggie to balance it out.

愛知完熟無花果と海老の胡麻酢掛け(Fully-ripened Fig & Shrimp dressed with Sesame & Vinegar Sauce)

I only tried the fig, and it was soft and sweet.
The sauce was just right to give the fig an extra flavour without overpowering the natural flavour of it.

冬瓜の鶏スープ煮紅ズワイ餡かけ(Simmered Wax gourd with Chicken Soup, Served with a sauce of Crab)-6/6

Again, this dish did not have much flavour like the Stir-fried Celery.
I actually wanted to have more, but it was the first one to finish among the 3 Tapas.
From it broth-y presention with some shredded crab meat, this reminded me of the Avocado Tempura with Sakura Ebi Sauce I had in Miku Restaurant.

Tuna Sashimi-5.5/6

After having the Assorted 7 kinds of Sashimi, my sister and I wanted to have more tuna! So we decided to order more...

土鍋　炊きたて白ご飯 ”銀しゃり”(Steamed Rice in the Earthen Pot)

Oto Oto also has quite a lot of Steamed Rice choices on their menu. All of them will take 30mins to steam, and are suitable for 2-4 people.
Okay, this was a mistake (that's why the picture was so blurry). My dad ordered it becasue he needed rice, and thought there was pork/chicken on-top on the rice. However, this was just a plain pot of steamed rice.
You can tell from the picture...This was a big pot of rice, I'm not kidding.
To solve the problem, my dad ended up ordering the following...

Stewed Pork

I only tried a little bit of the pork, but I could recall my dad saying this was very tasty, tasted like the Dongpo's pork.
If my memeory serves me right, the right object on the right must be yam.

These are all the main dishes we ordered at Oto Oto :) I will be posting up the desserts we had soon. Stay tune!

Japan trip-Isetan Dining

2010-08-23T12:20:00.001-07:00

It's very common to find a lot of restaurants on the top levels (normally) of every shopping malls/centres in Japan. One of the must-go shopping places in Japan is Isetan. We went there one night, already exhausted after spending almost the whole day shopping in the same district. Then my dad suggested let's find a nearby restaurant for dinner. So we went to the top level, walked around to see what restaurants there were...lastly, we decided Isetan Dining because it has the most variety of food, which can satisfy my mom and dad.
Isetan Dining
7/F Isetan Shinjuku 3-14-1, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
東京新宿區新宿3-14-1 伊勢丹 7/F
Tel: 03-3352-0909

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 4
Price: n/a
Service: 4.5
Ambiance: 3.5
Overall: 4.5

Large variety of food, including set meals, rice bowls, noodles, desserts, drinks, etc.

Family-friendly

Japanese and English menus available (Bonus: They are full of colourful pictures.

Although it has quite a lot of seatings, (maybe) you still have to wait during busy hours.

The interior is like a better version of a foodcourt. Well, their food are also better than the foodcourts of course.

Pork Noodle Set

Came with a mini appetizer, a Chinese-style fried rice, and a dessert.
I didn't try this, but judging by my dad's reaction, he was really satisfied by this cheap and filling meal.

Pork Noodle

Chinese-style Fried Rice

With some shredded egg, lettuce, and a few crab meat on top.

Appetizer and Dessert

The appetizer was the marinated vegetables.
I am not sure about dessert. Is that a almond tofu? I don't think my dad tried it because he is not a dessert-eater.

Fried Pork Rice Bowl Set

Came with an appetizer, a salad, and a miso soup.
I didn't try this but my mom enjoyed a lot. She likes pork (especially fried pork). She also ordered a Cutlet Sandwich Set in Coffee Negishi :)

Japanese Set (Sorry I forgot the name, so I just gave it a random name.)

Looks pretty, right? ;) That's why I ordered this right after I saw it on the menu.
This set came with a lot of dishes; I will break them down below.

Purple Rice

Tasted average. It was a bit sticky and moist.
You can choose either white or purple rice. I decided to go for the special one ;)

Miso Soup-3.5/6

Again, tasted similar to other miso soups I've had. The good thing was this soup was loaded with ingredients.

Eggplant and Okra-2.5/6

I was not sure what sauce/paste they've used but still, the flavour was not enough in this dish.
The eggplant and the okra were not crunchy; they were a bit too soft instead.

Tofu-3/6

It was smoother than I expected. This was not the typical ones I had in Canada/Hong Kong.
The sauce did not overtake the tofu. It was very light that you could still taste the fresh bean flavour of the tofu.

Fish-4/6

Came with a small section of yam and a thin beatroot.
I chowed down the yam right away so that I could not really tell what it tasted like.
Not everyone likes beatroot. I am not a fan of it but I do not mind eating some. It was a little bitter and crunchy.
The fish was soft; yet, it would be so much better if they gave me a larger piece.

Sashimi Salad-3/6

There was not any dressing in the salad, so it was a little bit dry. (but that's ok for me)
There were 2 small slices of tuna, and 1 slice of salmon sashimi.

Dessert-1.5/6

Actually, they are Green-tea mochis.
I tried one of them, did not like it, so they ended up in my sister's stomach.
My mother ordered dessert after her meal, which was Green-tea ice cream with a generous amount of red bean paste on the side (sorry that I didn't get a picture of that). Since my mother does not like red beans for some reason, I, being a good daughter, then "helped" her to finish off all the red bean paste :) YUM.

Japan trip-Coffee Negishi

2010-08-21T09:38:00.002-07:00

Underground restaurants are very common in Japan, almost every department store has a basement where you can find small shops, restaurants, bakeries, etc.

Since we lived near Shinjuku, the basement of Odakyu (one of the big department stores in Tokyo Japan) was the most familier to us. Most restaurants there are cafes. So when we decided to have breakfast one morning, the first coffee shop that appeared to us immediately became our first choice.

Coffee Negishi
Ace # 1 Underground Kitadate Azuma Odakyu Shinjuku Nishiguchi 1, Tokyo
東京都新宿區西新宿１西口地下街1號　小田急エース　北館　東
Tel: 03-3344-3016

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:HeavenlyFood: 4
Price: 5
Service: 4.5
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 5

Mon-Sun 7am-11pm

One of the greatest thing I find in most restaurants in Japan is they always have samplers outside! For people like me who do not understand Japanese, you are more than welcome to bring the waiter with you and point at the sampler you want :D
They have quite a large variety in menu, including drinks, food, and desserts.

Sandwiches and toasts...They also have a three morning sets, but I did not get a shot of that menu.

The coffee here are all distilled. If you sit near the window, you will see different distillers standing next to the kitchen.

モーニングセット B (Morning Breakfast Set B)

¥550 (about $7CAD $49HKD)
2 butter toasts and a hard-boiled egg, comes with black tea/coffee/milk
They also have other morning breakfast sets:
A) 2 butter toasts + drink
C) 2 butter toasts and a hard-boiled egg, with a side salad and a drink

My dad didn't say anything about the toasts, but he wished the hard-boiled egg could be scrambled egg instead. Sadly, hard-boiled egg was the only egg they got.

Milk

Came with the breakfast set
There was a thin layer of foam on top. I did not try this but am pretty sure it's not bad.

Black Tea with Milk

Came with another set (but not breakfast set)
When you order black tea, they will also give you a small cup of milk/cream aside.

Hot Coffee-5.5/6

Came with my set (but not breakfast set)
The coffee here was really good. I wish they can give me a bigger cup.

Tuna and Egg Open-Sandwich Set

¥950 (about $11CAD $85HKD)
2 of each with a salad on the side

Side Salad-2/6

The sliced tomato on top was average; it was neither sweet nor crunchy.
I found the sliced cabbage on the bottom was a bit too over-dressed. I ended up leaving some in the bowl, and began to dig into the sandwiches...

I thought this soggy-looking egg salad would not taste good, but I was wrong. Though it was indeed a bit too moist for my liking, its soft texture tasted great with the crunchy toasts.

On the other hand, the tuna sandwiches were comparatively better. Not only because they were not as soggy as the egg salad sandwiches, they also had come shredded lettuce that added an extra texture and freshness to the sandwiches.

カツサンドセット (Cutlet Sandwich Set)

¥980 (about $12CAD $87HKD)
4 cutlet sandwiches with a side salad, and a drink

I didn't try this, but judging from the way my parents ate this, I could tell the pork was very tender.

サーモンオープンサンドセット(Smoke Salmon Toast Set)-4/6

¥950 (about $11CAD $85HKD)
2 thick toasts with lettuce and smoke salmon on top, a side salad, and a drink
The thick toasts were really good. They were soft, fluffy, and warm.
I scraped off all the ingredients first because I did not want the toasts turn soggy.

There were also pieces of onion slices on top of the smoke salmon.
They added some sauce to the salmon. Despite it did not affect much, but I thought the sauce and the smokiness of the salmon had a little too much going on...

Coffee Negishi is really a great place for people to hang around. The "people" here means ANYONE. I saw businessmen here having meetings with their partners, teenagers were chilling with friends, ladies....and those who have retired......etc.

Japan trip-Cha-Cafe

2010-08-01T17:05:00.002-07:00

My dad was constantly thirsty because he kept sweating and sweating and sweating like crazy (yea he sweat A LOT). Also because he did not feel too well in the beginning of the trip, so when we knew he really need to rest, we stopped and would find a place to get a drink, took a rest and recovered a little bit...

The same case happened when we were in Shibuya (Omotesando to be precise) one day. A cafe caught out sight immediately when we looked up a random building :D

Cha-Cafe
150-0001 Shibuya (along Omotesando) 5-8-5 2/F
150-0001 東京都渋谷區神宮前 (表參道) 5-8-5 2/F
Tel: 03-5464-8090

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 5
Price: 5
Service: 5.5
Ambiance: 5.5
Overall: 6

Mon-Sun 11:30am-8pm
Serves both food and drinks, and also some daily specials.
Suitable for all age groups

Despite it is located on the 2nd floor, it's really busy during lunch and tea time. It is certainly a good place to hang around.
Popular for teas. They sell teas and teapots on the first floor, and have a "tea school" on the fifth floor.

Ginger Tea

¥980(?) (about $12CAD $87HKD)
I didn't get to try this, but could smell the strong ginger flavour from the side.
The tea was served in a bowl rather than a cup. Great idea for my thirsty dad ;D

天使の海老のトマトクリームパスタ＆ポタージュ Set

Angel hair in shrimp and tomato cream sauce
¥1300 (about $15CAD $116HKD)
Came with tea, soup, and mini dessert
This was impressive. My mom found a couple of whole shrimps in the tomato sauce.
Also, even though the menu said it's tomato cream sauce, both my mom and sister originally thought it's lobster soup. They said the sauce is very rich in flavour.
Again, I didn't get to try this due to allergy problem.

Tea Light Meal

2 pita sandwiches with soup, a side salad, and a drink (I chose Iced Tea)
About ¥1050 (about $12CAD $94HKD)

Soup-3/6

Not sure what soup it was...I guess it was Cream Corn Soup; it has a mild corn flavour.
I found it was a bit too bland for my liking. I tried to find out what soup it was, but...the flavour was really too light.

Side Salad

Fresh baby spinach with light dressing on top.
I ended up eating this with the soup :) They tasted great together.

Cheese & Chicken Pita-4/6

Light melted soft chesse between the pita and the chicken.
The soft melted cheese went very well with the warm, also soft pita.
The chicken was average. Another note on that: Don't expect you will get a big piece of chicken here ;)

Ratatouille Pita-5/6

The ratatouille was served cold, but it went alright with the warm pita.
Another plus I found: It's actually quite good to have cold fillings in a pita/sandwich in such hot weather.

Japan trip-Roku-Maru Gogenton

2010-07-26T11:50:00.011-07:00

After staying in Hong Kong for about a week, I had to pack my stuff again and readied for another trip to Tokyo Japan.

I did not spend much time taking photos of the tourist attractions; instead, almost all the photos I took this time were all about the food! So, here is our first meal in Japan! :)
Roku-Maru Gogenton
Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku Mitsui Building 2-1-1 B1/F
東京都新宿區西新宿2-1-1新宿三井ビル B1/F
Tel: 03-5909-1696

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-S0~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 4.5
Price: n/a
Service: 6
Ambiance: 4
Overall: 5

Various locations, and each has different business hours
Japanese (pork) hotpot restaurant

Open-kitchen
Suitable for adults to have a drink/relax after work
Gets busier as it gets late

Similar to other typical restaurants in Japan, the restaurant is divided into smoking and non-smoking areas.
Teas, Japanese beers, sake available

Oolong Tea

Restaurants in Japan love serving water/tea in cold. It was alright since the weather was pretty hot...even hotter than Hong Kong!
Unlike Chinese restaurants, every cup of tea costs. I'm not sure about the second cup though...maybe you are allowed to "refill".
I actually wanted to have ocha/green tea, but they didn't have any tea except oolong tea :/

Fresh Shell

Free
Each person got 3; served after you've ordered
My mom ate the first one with the chopsticks; but then the waiter taught us to eat them with a toothpick instead.
Soaked in some light soy sauce, which had a mild sweetness.
They were really fresh and chewy. My mother loved these.

Spinash Salad-4.5/6

Dressing served aside, with an egg in it.
Some people hate the raw flavour of onions; but I love it. The onions and the black pepper sprinkled on top were really good. I almost finished all the onions. Yum.

Some pork/ham cubes were mixed into the salad; they were a tad tasty and went well with the fresh veggie.

Fried Pork-4/6

Served on a bed of sliced cabbage. You can mix in the sauce and turn it into a salad (which my dad seemed to quite enjoy).
They were fried at the right point. The skin was just a little oily.
After deep-frying, the pork was still juicy and tender.
They may look big here, but actually it's 1/2 pork 1/2 onions. I didn't get to try the onions though :(

Cold Tofu-3.5/6

Another one of my favourites-tofu!, with some dried small fish on top.
After trying a couple of times, I found the fried fish taste like dried pork floss....they did have some "pork-y" flavour.
Standard soft tofu served in some sort of ponzu sauce.

Egg with Masago & Spinach-6/6

This was the best dish of the night! Everyone loved it!
It looked like an omelette actually, with chopped spinach and some masago mixed into the egg.
The egg was not fully cooked; it was still quite watery inside. The great thing was, however, the egg just melt in your mouth with the other ingredients. Yumyumyum.

Seared Saba Sashimi-4/6

Of course, I need raw fish (that's probably one of my purposes to be here in Japan)! So I was really excited to have this.
Roku-Mary does not have quite a lot of sashimi; they only have 1-3 kinds of sashimi.

They sure look as good as they taste. Tender meat with a hint of vinegary taste...
However, speaking of sashimi, they were not as raw as I thought. Yes they were nicely seared, but I was expecting some sashimi :(

Fried Ham-4.5/6

Sorry I didn't take a photo of this. You can imagine using ham as a tempura...
Tasted interesting to me because I seldom have fried ham, haha.
This was surely better than I expected. It was not greasy, crunchy with a thin crust.

Sweet Potato Dessert

Roku-Maru does not offer many desserts, e.g. yuzu sorbet, matcha ice-cream, and this. Since this was the most "special" dessert on the menu, my mom chose to have this instead of ice-cream.
It looked like noodle on the outside, but there's vanilla ice-cream inside.
Sprinkled with some cinnamon/cocoa powder on the side.

So, here's my first Japan post :) If you want to know more about Roku-Maru Gogenton, please visit their website.

Bojangles Cafe in Yaletown-Seaview & Coffee

2010-07-17T06:58:00.000-07:00

I was in Yaletown one late afternoon. When I planned to make a left turn to the Skytrain Station, the sparkling seaside just caught my sight right away. The weather was hot like crazy, but walking along the seaside was what people do during summer, right? So I changed my direction, headed to Pacfic Blvd...

There were A LOT of people when I got there; sitting outside the coffee shops, taking their dogs for a walk, cycling on the bikes, taking pictures of the wonderful seaside...As I continued to walk along the seaside, I saw Bojangles Cafe, which I've tried to look for it for a couple of times. Though I was not hungry/thirsty at all, I still decided to go in and take a look.
Bojangles Cafe
1097 Marinaside Cres, Vancouver BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: n/a
Price: 4.5
Service: 5
Ambiance: 4.5
Overall: n/a

Mon-Fri 8am-6pm Sat 8:30am-6pm Sun 9am-6pm
Free wi-fi
Street parking

The interior design is very homey and cottage-style, but definitely not the "homey-ness" of Arbutus Coffee.
It is very open-spaced and has a lot of seatings.

(Sorry for the dark photo.) There's outdoor dining, and if you see clearly, that's your seaview! It is certainly a good place to relax during summer.
Breakfast/Brunch available
They offer lots of choices in the menu: sandwiches, salads, muffins, cookies, scones, squares...etc.
Other than coffees, they have teas and bottled drinks as well.
Other location in West Vancouver.
I think this location is owned by a Chinese lady (not sure); most waiters are Japanese though.

I walked close to the counter and took a look at the baked goods they had. Since I was the only customer standing in the counter at that time, and the nice, all-smile Japanese lady already readied to serve me, I decided to order something at last.

Hot Coffee-3/6

$1.80
It was regular, not particularly impressive.

Mixed Berries and Raisin Bran Muffin-3.5/6

$2.25
The muffin top was crispy and I could already chew on the bran. Yum :)
I know muffins are supposed to be greasy; however, this was not as greasy as I expected to be.

Here comes the bad part. After I finished the top, there was barely any ingredients left. So I turned out to be having a regular Bran muffin at the end :(

Bojangles Cafe is a good place to relax and grab a quick snack (or have a breakfast/brunch if you like); but not the best cafe I've had in Yaletown.

Miura Waffle Milk Bar Revisited-Free sample tasting!

2010-07-10T20:39:00.008-07:00

I was twittering yesterday and saw a tweet from Miura Waffle Milk Bar, saying: "Free Samples Tomorrow (Sat) between 6-8pm! We will be sampling: HEC, Hoisin, Bulgogi, Wasabi Salmon & 2 new Sweet Waffle Sandos!"

"Free waffle samples". Of course, I knew I have to go and try some waffles that I didn't have the chance to try last time.
Miura Waffle Milk Bar
829 Davie St, Vancouver BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 5
Price: 5.5
Service: 6
Ambiance: 5.5
Overall: 6

Summer Hours - Mon-Sun 10am-2pm 5pm-11pm
Run by a (Japanese?) couple
Dine in/Take out (They are now one of "Vancouver's Best Takeout" chosen by the Vancouver Magazine!)
They serve both savoury and sweet waffles.
Everything is made upon order (except the coffee of course).
To make it a perfect breakfast/lunch/dinner, you can +$2 for a soup/salad.
For drinks, they have home-made flavoured milk, yakult with milk, and coffees.
Free wi-fi

BeforeAfter

I also noticed something different this time. Now they have a new counter with waffle-makers lining up next to the cashier! I didn't take a closer shot of that; but really, the new counter was neat and organized.
They offer quite a number of seatings. You can choose to sit outside if you want ;)

Free sampling going on outside...

Given such hot weather, I chose to sit inside, a table that was close to the window. I did not pay special attention to the people's reactions; yet, I believe the results today are pretty good :)

Mango Flavoured Milk-4/6

$2.99
This was not on the menu in my first visit. I think this was added about a month ago.
It was not sweet, and not strong in mango flavour. There was a hint of tartness when I kept it in my mouth longer.
What interested me the most was its consistency. It was creamy and smooth. Don't get me wrong. The creaminess was not the one you find in desserts.
I've tried the strawberry and the coffee flavoured ones. If my memory serves me right, this consistency is different from the previous ones.
After trying all three flavours, I will still prefer the coffee one. Maybe I'm a little bit bias, given the fact that I am a coffee lover ;)

Banana Caramel Waffle Sando-3.5/6

There was a dilemma: I hate caramel, but I like banana-flavoured goods. Still, I decided to give it a try. I mean...it's a sample anyway ;D
A slice of fresh banana on a dollop of cream with some caramel dressing
Normally, I will order something less sweet when I am in a Western dessert shops/restaurants. So when this sample came, I saw those caramel on top of the waffle, I began to worry this might be too sweet for me.
HOWEVER, this was definitely not as sweet as those typical cakes, cookies, or other desserts! I mean, even though you are not a dessert-lover, you can still take this.
The caramel dressing and the cream were not (overly) sweet. Great.
The waffle was served warm and soft, and rich in egg flavour. If they add some banana flavour to the waffle, I am sure it will be extra good.
Apart from this Banana waffle, there was also another new sweet waffle that day: tiramisu.

Hoisin Sausage Waffle Sando-5/6

$5.99
Pork and pickled veggie with some spicy sauce
This savoury waffle was also soft and rich in egg flavour.
It smelt really good when it came. The smell of the sauce and the pickled veggie came right off the waffle...
The pickled veggie went very well with the sauce. This combination reminded me of those Vietnamese subs...

So, where's the pork? This is another thing they impress me the most: creativity. This time, they sandwich-ed the pork with the batter, causing there were two layers in each waffle.
The minced pork was cooked nicely; soft and a little salty.
Overall, the flavour of the minced pork, pickled veggie, and the sauce went very well together. You will feel the spiciness of the sauce when you begin to swallow ;)

While I was waiting for my samples and the Wasabi Salmon Waffle that I ordered to-go, I could portray myself sitting there with/without friends, chatting, using my laptop, reading, or even relaxing in a hot afternoon. I can see Miura is constantly improving themselves, including the well-improved counter, new summer hours, new stand-menu outside, and most importantly, ALWAYS adding new items to their menu. Constantly improving...is this what a good restaurant/shop should be? :)

Arbutus Coffee-Cafe + House?

2010-07-09T00:10:00.007-07:00

There's one small cafe caught my sight every time when I was going to W 4th Ave/Kitsilano. Its old, cottage-like outlook always seems fascinating to me. Then I told myself, I must come someday, not necessarily for their food and coffee...but definitely for their setting ;P

I woke up early one day (as usual) and felt like going for breakfast. Since I also planned to spend my day at Kitsilano that day, I decided to find a relaxing cafe there and grab a quick breakfast. Wait...Kitsilano? Isn't there a coffee shop I've always wanted to try?

So, here I came, the long-waiting Arbutus Coffee.

Arbutus Coffee
2200 Arbutus Street, Vancouver BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 4
Price: 4.5
Service: 6
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 5

The antique interior looks like Finch's Tea & Coffee House, but Arbutus Coffee looks even older, and very homey.
The thing is, some people may not like its old style. So if you plan to come, don't expect it's an ordinary cafe like Starbucks ;)

Cookies, muffins, scones, squares, cakes...baked goods you normally find in other cafes.
Other than baked goods, they also have grilled paninis (can pair with soup/salad), quiche ($4.50), and lasagne ($6.99).
"All of our food is prepared and baked at Arbutus Coffee...Also...none of our food contains hydrogenated or Trans Fat products."
There are quite a number of staffs. My server was a really nice and friendly lady :)
Free wi-fi
Different kinds of coffee beans are sold in store.
They offer matcha drinks now (i.e. Matcha Latte). If you want to have something that can cool you down a bit in such hot weather, they also have iced drinks on their menu.

Hot Dark Roast Coffee-3.5/6

$1.80
Freshly brewed in house everyday
It was served in a mug because I chose to stay there, and it came in one size only.
They have four sizes for take-out though: 8oz, 12oz, 16oz, and 20oz.
It was average; but not as rich as I thought.

Banana Loaf-3.5/6

$2.75
I love everything made made from banana! So banana loaf is kind of a staple for me in cafes.
If you like to add some nuttiness/texture to the bread loaf, they also have Banana Walnut Loaf.

Back to the bread loaf, it was very moist.
For a banana loaf, it did not have much banana flavour. It got that banana smell, but that's not really what you would look for in a banana loaf, right? Well...I mean the flavour should be the main thing to consider first...at least for me :D

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin-3/6

$2.67
I love poppy seeds, especially when it is mixed with lemon! I was struggling to order this or the Mixed Berries Muffin, but the poppy seeds just made me drool!

Like other typical muffins, a BIG and crispy muffin top, and a small cake under that.

The muffin was very soft and fluffy. Once I started to tear the top into pieces, few cranberries began to fall off. Since the cranberries were a "plus", I could not expect more; but it sure would be better to have more ;D
While I was enjoying the poppy seeds and appreciating the cranberries they added, I felt like something was missing. Yes...Where's the lemon? There wasn't any lemony in the muffin.
After all that, I broke that down into two parts. If I were to think on the good side, they might have put the wrong label on the muffin. On the other hand, they might have run out of lemon, or forgotten to add the lemon...

Another tick on my wishlist. Despite the food and the coffee are only average, Arbutus Coffee actually gives me more than I expected. Next time when you are around Kitsilano and want to find a quiet, relaxing cafe where you can spend the whole day, Arbutus Coffee is absolutely another great choice. If you also appear to be an antique/vintage fan like me, you will like its interior as well ;)

"Have a nice day!"

New Town Bakery & Restaurant-Red Bean Bun Battle Cont'd #6

2010-07-06T16:29:00.009-07:00

Finally. I've finally finished taking all the photos I need for this post. The first time when I decided to take some final shots of their steamed buns, I couldn't wait after I got the buns and started to put them into my mouth. The second time, I successfully took the photos, but deleted them by accident. Now, these photos are here. I can finally review on one of the best and one of my favourite bakeries in town :)

To read my previous reviews on other Red Bean Buns I've tried, click here (it also has all the links to other reviews).

New Town Bakery & Restaurant
#4-6360 No.3 Rd, Richmond BC (the mall next to Brighouse Skytrain Station)

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 5.5 (based on their buns only)
Price: 6
Service: 4.5
Ambiance: 3.5 (Actually it's more like a bakery than a restaurant...)
Overall: 5

Mon-Sun 10am-7pm (closed on Wednesdays)
Other branches are located in Chinatown (main branch), Surrey, and on South Cambie Street
Run by Filipino
All buns are baked and steamed fresh daily
Other Filipino products are available in store
They also have Filipino cooked foods, but their buns are definitely more popular.

Simple setting; only about three tables and a few chairs available. But that doesn't really matter because most customers are here for their buns (take-away).

These are just a part of the customers at that time. It was craaazy! Each customer order at least a dozen of buns (mostly steamed buns).
At first, I thought I can avoid the crowd if I went there at about 10 sth. I did try; however, they only have #5 Chicken Deluxe (See menu below) in the morning :( Don't go too late though. I think about 11-12 is the best timing.

Ta-da! This is the menu of their famous steamed buns. As you can on the bottom, you don't have to pay the GST if you buy 6 or more buns.
All baked buns and pastries are sold half-price after 6pm.
If you are not a fan of steamed buns, no worries. They also have other Chinese and Filipino breads and cakes.

They also sell frozen steamed buns, so you can make them at home.

Red Bean Bun-3.5/6

$0.90
There was a glazing on the top of the bun. Standard glazing: sweet and really sticky.

The bun was a bit tough for my liking, but was laden with red bean paste filling.

Steamed Sweet Black Bean Paste-5.5/6

$1.10
The big steamed bun was served lukewarm. Apparently, it was bigger compare to the typical steamed buns I used to have.

The bun was soft and chewy. Steam began to come out once I tore it into half. Yum.

The steamed bun was loaded with filling! No wonder it is so weighty! ;)
The red bean filling this time was more paste-y than the regular Red Bean Bun. I will certainly prefer this because its consistency stays longer in my mouth. Mmmmmmmmmm...

Steamed Vegetable Bun-6/6

$1.50
The bun was also served lukewarm. Its size, weight, and texture were same as the red bean bun.
Needless to say, the red "V" marking on the bun was a symbol for them to identify the bun.

As I mentioned just now, this bun was as heavy as the Steamed Red Bean Bun. Steam came right out once I tore the bun and, the fully-loaded fillings started to emerge.
I've also tried their Chicken Bun but did not get a shot of that. The Steamed Vegetable Bun was relatively less flavourful, of course; but it's still good on its own :)

I really recommend you to give their baked and steamed buns a try. They definitely taste different than the ones in the restaurant. I hate queues and hate to see people go crazy over something; but New Town Bakery is an exception. I will come back for their steamed buns without a doubt. Also given their location, it's another convenient way to grab lunch/snack when you are in a rush! ;)

Red Bean Bun Battle Cont'd #5

2010-07-05T14:57:00.013-07:00

It's gettin' there, it's gettin' there. I think this Red Bean Bun Battle is going to an end soon. I want to try as many bakeries as possible before I (officially) start my summer vacation: a trip to Hong Kong.

These are the previous reviews of all the Red Bean Bun I have tried:
Maxim's at Richmond Centre-Red Bean Bun Battle #1
Red Bean Bun Battle #2 (La Patisserie, Michele Cake Shop, Wheat Garden Bakery, Langley Farm Market Bakery)
Red Bean Bun Battle #3 (Castle Cake Shop, Kam Do Restaurant & Bakery, Pine House Bakery at Parket Place, Regent Bakery)
Red Bean Bun Battle #4 (De Fresh Bakery at Empire Supermarket, Saint Germain Bakery at Aberdeen Centre)

So, here we go again! :) The first stop is the well-known Yaohan Centre.

Yaohan Centre Osaka Supermarket Bakery
#1000-3700 No.3 Rd, Richmond BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 4 (including the cooked, steamed food)
Price: 4.5 (really depends which food you buy)
Service: 4
Ambiance: n/a
Overall: 4

Mon-Sun 9:30am-11pm
One of the most popular Asian supermarkets
Parking available
Be prepared for customers may go crazy when they see something on sale, especially the fruits and produces. That's the reason why I hate going to the Osaka Supermarket. Maybe that's just my problem :/
Busy busy busy every day, even any time
Their bakery has a lot of buns for you to choose. If you don't like buns, they also have cakes and other Asian desserts.

Red Bean Mochi Bun-4/6

$1.29
When I was looking for the Red Bean Bun, I saw this on the shelf. I am not a fan of mochi (except the freshly made ones), but this was really the first time I saw a Red Bean Mochi Bun, so I gotta try it.

Tastewise. The bun was not as soft as the other ones I tried previously, and the red bean paste filling was average.
I can't compare this bun with the others because I think the "main focus" of this bun is the mochi, not the red bean filling nor the bun.

Okay, so if I put all those red beans aside, the "mochi-ness" of the bun was actually quite impressive. I didn't expect to see that much amount of mochi in the bun!
Still, the Japanese ones are definitely better ;) But I won't discourage you to give this bun a try.

Red Bean Paste Bun-3.5/6

$1.09
They have both Red Bean Paste Bun and Red Bean Bun, which I will talk about it later.
The bun's outlook is similar to the one from Kam Do. (To read my review on it, please read the Red Bean Bun Battle Cont'd #3.)

The bun was somewhat tough, but they did fill it with a decent amount of red bean paste.

Red Bean Bun-4/6

$1.09
Similar to the Red Bean Paste Bun, it was also topped with bits of black sesame seeds. However, the shape went back to a regular dome shape this time ;)

Everything turned opposite. The bun was very soft, but totally not enough filling :(
I will prefer this bun than the Red Bean Paste Bun though, since this bun was softer than the first one.

Everytime when I see bakeries have two different kinds of red bean buns, it makes me want to compare them and see whether there is really a difference between "Red Bean" and "Red Bean Paste" ;D
So, no exception this time. Despite how similar they both look like, the Red Bean Bun did have bits of red beans in the filling. I was satisfied to see that, heheehe.

After finishing two buns from Yaohan Centre, I walked further until I saw the Union Square. I remembered there's a bakery, so I went there first before I moved forward. Janice Cake Shop
#1106-8328 Capstan Way, Richmond BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: n/a
Price: 4
Service: 2 (I wanted to give a 1 because the services were really unfriendly in my first few visits, until another girl served me this time, she was better.)
Ambiance: n/a
Overall: n/a

Mon-Sun 9:30am-7pm
Run by Chinese (I'm not sure, but I think it's operated by a Chinese lady.)
Cakes and cookies are also available in store
Parking available
It is quite hidden, and is located next to K Fever. You can also find other restaurants in the same mall, like Richmond Sushi, Pho Tai Hoa, Lucky Fortune Seafood Restaurant, and Gala Seafood Restaurant.

Red Bean Paste Bun-5.5/6

$1.23
Despite the service sucks, their buns were actually pretty good! The bun was very soft, and...

It was LOADED with red beans!
The amount of bun is not in proportion to the amount of filling, but I'm totally fine with that ;) I was very impressed with their Red Bean Bun; it may be the best one so far.
The only thing I did not like about the bun was the amount of seasame seeds on the bun. There were waay too many black and white sesame seeds.

After finishing such an awesome bun, I walked to the Continental Mall/Plaza on Sexsmith Rd. I saw there's a bakery on Sexsmith, but was not sure whether it's located inside the mall or not. Anyway, I went to the mall and made sure I didn't miss any bakery ;D Mega Bakery
#1163-3779 Sexsmith Rd, Richmond BC (at Continental Mall/Plaza)

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: n/a (I will try more next time!)
Price: n/a
Service: 5
Ambiance: n/a
Overall: n/a

Mon-Sun 8:30am-7pm
Run by a Chinese lady (She's very nice :))
Many choices of buns available
They also have cakes, Chinese dumplings, Chinese pastries, and turnip cakes available in store.
If you have trouble finding it (like I did at first), it is located right next to New Asia Deli Restaurant. You can also find Pearl Castle, Dragon View Chinese Cuisine, and Posh in the same mall.

Red Bean Bun-4.5/6

$1.22
Like other regular buns, it is also topped with some black sesame seeds.
The bun was quite big, and was tightly wrapped in the plastic bag. It was average: soft and fluffy.

Now, this is what I call the "right proportion"! Haha ;) 50% of the bun, 50% of red bean filling.
Moderate filling; I did find bits of red beans in the it though.

Another bakery came to my mind was Maple Castella (which I have reviewed previously on their AWESOME bread loaves here, here, and here). Although I was not sure whether they sell red bean buns or not, but I really had to give it a visit. I mean, it's Maple Castella, it's one of my favourite bakeries in town! :DMaple Castella Bakery
#1068-8700 McKim Way, Richmond BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 6
Price: 5.5
Service: 6
Ambiance: n/a
Overall: 6

Mon-Sat 9:30am-7pm (except Thursdays) Sun 9:30am-6pm
Closed on Thursdays
Chinese/Taiwanese Bakery
Famous for their bread loaves. They have three flavours: pumpkin, taro, and pork floss. (Oh I wish they have red bean!)
One of the most popular bakeries to Chinese in Richmond
Hole-in-the-wall; you will not notice how good their buns are by judging their outlook/location ;)
Compare to other local bakeries, they don't really have a lot of buns to choose. But that doesn't really matter; their bread loaves are already good enough, really.
Parking available

Red Bean Bun-4/6

$1.12
I was really excited to try it, given how crazy I was after trying their Pumpkin Bread Loaf.
The bun itself did not disappoint; it was very soft and fluffy.
The red bean filling looked like pork floss to me at first. They gave a respectable amount of filling, but it was a bit too sweet for my liking. Its filling was the sweetest among all the red bean/red bean paste buns I have tried.

An off-topic: Where is Bubble Queen? Do I have to say goodbye to their amazing egg waffles? :(

Cafe In at Kerrisdale

2010-07-04T00:31:00.007-07:00

Sometimes I will like to spend the entire day sitting in a cafe and relax. Or I will finish running errands in the morning, then spend the rest of the day in a cafe. I've tried once last week at Michi Waffle & Espresso Bar (To see my previous visit, please click here), and this time, I decided to go to Kerrisdale, where has always been one of favourite places.

Instead of just walking along W 41st Ave, I went further this time. Until I saw Pastry Club Dessert Cafe and a hidden cafe, I stopped.

Cafe In
5707 Balsam St, Vancouver BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 4.5 (only based on the baked goods I've tried this time)
Price: 4
Service: 6
Ambiance: 5.5
Overall: 5

Mon-Fri 7:30am-6pm Sat-Sun 8am-6pm
Holidays 8am-5pm
Run by Taiwanese
Parking is available along the streets, or you can park at the Kerrisdale Parking near the Canada Trust Bank
Free wi-fi
Popular to Chinese and locals

Comfy atmosphere; definitely a good place to hang out with friends :)

Use "Award-winning" Intelligentsia coffees
Not sure whether they sell hot chocolate or not, but they do sell Godiva Choocolates products
Use and sell Secret Garden Tea Company teas (Secret Garden Tea Company is actually located in 5559 West Blvd)
Muffins, croissants, and cakes available
Want some savouries? They also have wraps, and "fresh natural", home-made sandwiches.

Grande Hot Coffee

$2+ (I forgot the price.)
It was just regular hot coffee. I am not a coffee expert, so I can't tell whether the Intelligentsia coffee tastes special or not :P

Cranberry Orange Muffin-4/6

$2.14
They also have blueberry muffin.

When I tore the muffin into two, there was a pungent orange aroma came right out. I later discovered that the muffin had some orange zest that gave it a strong flavour.

The muffin was surprisingly loaded with cranberries, and they were not overly sweet.
The douge itself was quite dense. The muffin was not as greast as the other muffins I have had in the past though.

Banana Bread-4/6

$2.14 ($5.24(?)/loaf)
They also have Chocolate Banana Bread.
If you are lucky, they will have samples on the table for customers to try ;D
Topped with some dried banana chips

Similar to the muffin, the banana bread was also very dense.

I am a huge fan of banana products, especially banana flavoured baked goods! The bread did have banana flavour, but I don't think it has enough.
Tastewise, but it's definitely not the best banana bread I have had so far.

I know there are more other cafes in Kerrisdale, but next time before you enter any cafes along W 41st Ave, make a visit to Cafe In. It is really a nice, relaxing place for people to spend their afternoons :)

Red Bean Bun Battle Cont'd #4

2010-07-03T19:49:00.017-07:00

The Red Bean Bun Battle is back! Actually I tried all these buns on the same day, but I just tried to post them separately :P To read my first three posts, pleases click here, here, and here.

In order to find the bakeries in Richmond, I, of course, rely on Urbanspoon. However, sometimes I discovered some unfamiliar bakeries that I have not heard of or seen before; De Fresh Bakery is one of the examples.
De Fresh Bakery
111-4600 No.3 Rd, Richmond BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: n/a
Price: 5
Service: 5
Ambiance: n/a
Overall: n/a

Located in the Empire Supermarket (I had a hard time finding it at first...) It is located at the Empire Centre where you can also find Pink Swirl and Shiang Garden Seafood Restaurant.
Run by a Chinese couple
Parking available

Red Bean Bun-5/6

$1
Topped with some poppy seeds, which I love.

The bun was super soft and fluffy!

The red bean paste filling they used were different from the other ones I've tried. It was moist and really got bits of red beans in it. Another good thing was they gave a generous amount of filling to the bun!
I was wondering whether they used the prepacked red bean paste or, they actually steamed the red beans then mashed them into paste....Hmmmmmm

When I already prepared to pay, the owner introduced me to another red bean bun they have. I asked him what the difference was, and he said, "One is made with red bean, the other is made with red bean paste." Okay, I had to get both without a doubt since they both have red beans and that's what it's all about ;)

Red Bean Paste Mini Buns-4/6

$1.50/3pcs
Topped with poppy seeds
Again, same with the regular Red Bean Bun, the bun was super soft and fluffy. However, the effect was not as "dramatic" as the last one because the buns were smaller this time.

The way how the owner explained the differenences between the two buns made me want to compare them both.

Needless to say, there wasn't any difference between them. The buns had the same texture, and the fillings were exactly the same. LOL!

Another must-visit bakery in Richmond is Saint Germain Bakery. I have tried their other buns previously and do not find them particularly impressive, but given its popularity, I have to try their Red Bean Bun, right?

Saint Germain Bakery
4151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond BC (located at Aberdeen Centre)

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 3.5
Price: 4.5
Service: 3.5
Ambiance: n/a
Overall: 4

Mon-Wed 11am-7pm Thur-Sat 11am-9pm Sun 11am-7pm
Parking available (It's kind of crazy, but be patient ;))
Popular to Chinese
The services were not friendly all the time. As I observed, they only greet those customers who they are familiar with.
Drinks available (but I seldom see people buy coffees there)
Other locations at Oakridge Mall, Metrotown, and on Denman Street. For more information, please visit their website.
Cakes, cookies, and pastries are also available
"Founded in 1986"
No artificial essence. They use fresh, local ingredients, and import some ingredients from other parts of Canada.
Apart from Canada, they also have retail and wholesale in Seattle and Los Angeles.

Red Bean Bun-4.5/6

$1.10
Topped with some sesame seeds

The bun was very soft. That's why it looks so flat in the picture (sorry about that).

With that flat/small amount of bun, I could really see that they gave a lot of filling! I enjoy eating every bite of this bun!
The first time when I tried their Red Bean Bun, I even got flour between the bun and the paper. Interesting....maybe it's there just to prevent the bun from sticking to the piece of paper when it was baking :/

2010 Richmond Summer Night Market #2

2010-06-28T01:20:00.013-07:00

Cont'd...

(To read my first post, please click here)

Totoro Bubble Tea

The first stall you see when you enter the foodcourt is also called Totoro Bubble Tea, and they're both from the same owner.
Have a location at Alexandra Rd (#2140-8391 Alexandra Rd, Richmond BC)
Offer tempura and waffles

I didn't try their tempura, but they were quite popular to the locals.
They have bottles of sauces on the table for you to add to your tempura.

They have four flavours for the waffles: nutella (chocolate), peanut butter & condensed milk, red bean, and black sesame butter.

Sweet Black Sesame Butter Waffle-4.5/6

$3.50/ea $6/2 waffles
The waffle itself was crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside.
Despite they call the filling as "black sesame butter", it was not as thick as it might sound. The filling was actually a very smooth liquid.

The warm waffled gave the dressing an extra kick by making it
smooooooother.

Hong Kong Egg Puffs

This may be the most popular stall in the foodcourt.
The night market usually has more than one stall selling egg waffles (remember last year?), but this is the only one this year. Given that reason, everyone rushes to this one-and-only food stall for their egg waffles.
They have four flavours: original, chocolate, strawberry, and sesame.
The strawberry flavour one comes in pink, of course. BUT, the chocolate and the sesame ones look very similar! After hearing someone asking about the chocolate flavour, the lady explained they actually use chocolate chip.

They kind of have a...errr......"system". They use those mahjong tokens to indicate how many waffles they have to make. Once you've ordered and paid, they will give you a number. You can either walk around or stand there while you are waiting ;)
See those jars at the back next to the paper boxes? Those are the batter they've made. Everytime they need to make a waffle, they will pour the batter into other small measuring cups. Hmm, this is my first time seeing people making egg waffles with such exact amount of batter :/

In the making, in the making, in the making......

Right before the waffles are served, they are set to cool down a little in front of the fan. This step is known to add crunchiness to the waffle.

Original Egg Waffle-1/6

$3.50/ea $6/2 waffles
Just by looking at it, I could already tell this waffle was an epic failure. Who on earth will roll the egg waffle especially when it is still warm??

Needless to say, the waffle was very bland and soggy. For better egg waffles, I will rather going back to Bubble Queen (posts here and here)

Sumo Bites Rice Burgers

Japanese-style rice burgers
Have three flavours: teriyaki beef, teriyaki chicken, and pork sausage.
Other snacks available as well

Has appeared on newspaper, and they are on facebook and twitter now. You can also visit their website here.

There are a bunch of people working in this food stall. Someone is cooking the fillings...

Someone is grilling the rice burgers...and two ladies are working as the cashier in front.

Kurobuta Pork Sausage Rice Burger

$4
I didn't try this, but I found it quite interesting to see the sausages piled up in a burger :D
For the Teriyaki Beef Rice Burger, I didn't get a shot of that, but it is just regular teriyaki beef on a burger.

Teriyaki Chicken Rice Burger-3/6

$4
The burger was small, but the chicken was all piled up!
The chicken was surprisingly soft and the teriyaki sauce went well with the the burger.

Before you dig in, remember to prepare some tissue paper as this will eventually get really messy!
Though I like the idea of using rice burgers, the rice burger itself was too soft to support the entire thing. Also, it was not crunchy as I expected it to be.

Cool Zone (outside the foodcourt)

Local fresh seasonal fruits, and drinks available

The berries and cherries were only part of their stall. They also have rambutan, mangosteen, lychees...most seasonal fruits you want.

Blueberries

The price changes along with the season ;)
Apart from blueberries, I also tried their other kinds of berries and cherries. They were fresh, and certainly gave me a refreshing moment after all those crazy snacking in the foodcourt.

All the foods I've tried are only a part of the Night Market's foodcourt, there are still a lot of stuff going on in there. Next time when you're bored or still want to hang around after all the malls are closed, go to Richmond Night Market and I'm sure you will have a great time ;D

2010 Richmond Summer Night Market #1

2010-06-27T22:25:00.016-07:00

Finally! Here comes my post of the Richmond Summer Night Market! Though it's already mid-July, I hope it's not too late for me to post all the stuff I've tried.

Rollies

Mini rollers; they are basically the mini version of the Asian fried spring roll.
Samples available. If you don't see them, ask the people to give you some ;D

I don't remember the price exactly (about $1 each maybe?). However, these can only be snacks because they are really tiny.
Of course, these were not as oily as those regular spring rolls. They were simply crunchy.

They offer several flavours: blueberry, apple cinnamon, chocolate...that's all I can remember. They were quite average, but I did appreciate that you can still taste the fillings given their tiny sizes.

Taiwan Traditional Snacks

Offer common taiwan snacks, but no shaved ice. If you want shaved ice, please go to another stall nearby.
They have those "big" sausages, sugar-coated strawberries, and wheels cake.

Wheels Cake-3.5/6

$1
Thick-battered cake with fillings

Three types of filligns available: red bean, nutella (chocolate), and custard cream.

I've tried the ones from Peanut's Bubble Tea in Richmond Public Market before, and they make really good ones. Compare the appearances from both stores, the one here wasn't well-seared. Is that a good or bad thing? :/

The cake did have quite a lot of filling, but the dough itself was a bit too soggy for my liking.

Top Wok

Occupies the most stalls in the foodcourt

Offer common Chinese snacks (e.g. fish balls, shiu mai, cha siu buns)

Cha Siu Bun-2/6

To be honest, I was quite excited to see most stalls actually keep the buns warm by using the traditional bamboo steamers. However, when I first got my Cha Siu Bun from Top Wok, it was piping hot on the outside but was totally frozen inside!

Anyway, I returned and asked them to give me another one ;)
The bun was tough even though it was kept inside the bamboo steamers, and...

The filling was just quite dry. Of course, I am pretty sure that most of the steamed buns here are the frozen ones you normally find in T&T.

Takoyaki

Run by Japanese
Offer different fillings: scallop, octopus, and squid

The man at the back is a real pro! His action was really fast, especially when he was transferring the takoyaki from one tray to another.

Scallop Takoyaki-4.5/6

$5
These were really good. They were soft, and I could find scallop pieces in each takoyaki.
They were served hot both inside and outside. Nice :)

Korean Street Food

One of the most popular stalls in the foodcourt
Offer roasted potato chips (not sure what is it? The "potato slices on a stick" that everyone's holding), and "fish cake", which is similar to the wheels cake but in a fish shape instead.
For the fish cake, they also have nutella (chocolate), custard cream, and red bean filling.

Custard Fish Cake-3.5/6

$1
The cake was served lukewarm, but the custard was very hot! Once I bit the top fish head off, the custard began to ooze out and literally burnt my lips, ahaha :D
Despite how nice the custard's consistency was, I found it overly sweet.

Red Bean Fish Cake-5/6

$1
The cake again was served lukewarm, but this time the filling was not as hot as the custard. Also, the amount of red bean was not as much as the custard.
The red bean filling in the fish cake was relatively more paste-y compare to the wheels cake one.

There will be another post on the Night Market later. Stay tuned! :)

Bonchaz Bakery Cafe-Small buns? Yum.

2010-06-23T15:19:00.013-07:00

I am no strange to Bonchaz and have always wanted to give it a try. Since I woke up a bit earlier this morning and felt like trying something new, I decided to take the skytrain to Waterfront and gave their little buns a try.

Bonchaz Bakery Cafe
426 W Hastings St, Vancouver BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 4.5
Price: 6
Service: 4
Ambiant: 5
Overall: 5

Mon-Fri 8am-6:30pm Sat 10:30am-5pm
Closed on Sundays
Dine in/Take out
Free Wi-fi
Board games, playing cards, books, and newspapers available
A good place to relax and hang out with friends
Deliveries available (surcharge may apply)
"Freshly baked before your eyes!"
"The Bonchaz recipe and namesake were inspired by concha, a festive Mexican pastry best known for its soft dough and cookie-like crust." -from the back of their paper bags
Apart from their well-known bonchaz, they also have sandwiches and soups.
Want both? They offer combos as well.

Before you order, make sure to check their daily specials on the stand outside the door.
Other small snacks available (French baguette, brownies, cookies, muffins, etc.)

They only have a few seatings, but I find most customers choose to take away their orders.

You can also see them preparing the food here! :D

French Press Coffee

$1.75/12oz $1.95/16oz
They use organic fair trade coffee
I like the idea of using press coffee; it seemed "fresh" when I drank.

Banana Walnut-5.5/6

$1.75
Fresh bananas & California walnuts
Anything made from bananas (especially the fresh ones) is already an Okay for me, so there may be a little bias here ;)
It was right from the oven behind the cashier! So, the bun was lukewarm when I received it.
Topped with chopped walnuts
The top did resemble the Mexican buns I found in the Asian bakeries/Chinese restaurants; however, Bonchaz's version was less sweet and had more texture.

I could tell they really used fresh bananas in the bun instead of just using the banana essence. There were chopped walnuts and mashed bananas in the buns. Oh I just wish they can give me more filling! :P
The bun was soft and crunchy because of the cookie-like crust.

Matcha Green Tea-4/6

$1.75
Creamy matcha filling with coconut flakes
Again, it was also from the oven behind the cashier, so this was served lukewarm as well.

I was surprised that the creamy custard did have green tea flavour. When I took a closer look, I figured out that they added green tea powder to make the custard.
Compare the two buns I had, I would prefer the Banana Walnut because it had more texture and flavour than the Matcha Green Tea.

I will definitely come back! Next time I will like to try the Apple Cinnamon. Though I hate cinnamon, apple in the bun sounds good to me :)