Richmond Archives - Page 5 of 11

In Fast Food

Burger King: Chicken Fries Review

November 6, 2016

Burger King has had Chicken Fries for sometime now, but it’s the first time I’ve had them.

Before my flight to San Francisco, I grabbed some before I headed on my flight. It was a pretty bad choice since it did take a while for them to crank out orders. We were almost late boarding our flight.

The box is pretty cute and has a chicken on it of course.

The chicken fries are made of white chicken meat coated in a crispy breading seasoned with savoury spices and herbs.

It reminded me of chicken nuggets but shaped like fries. It’s a cute concept for kids to eat, but I didn’t really have a fond liking to it because it was more limp than crispy.

Location:
YVR Airport – US Terminal

Website:
http://burgerking.ca/

In Chinese

Xi’An Cuisine: Dumpling Trail in Richmond

November 5, 2016

Xi’an Cuisine is located in the Richmond Public Market and is popular for their hand-pulled noodles. It’s a local favourite and the owner started Xi’an cuisine since he couldn’t find it anywhere else in Richmond.

Dumplings

Potstickers are triangular in shape and golden brown on each side. The skin was a bit thick, but the meat inside was juicy.

Spicy wontons were really good. Soy sauce, chili oil and peppers made my tastebuds tingle.

Other items

Beef Roll was crisp on the outside and had a good ratio of meat.

BBQ Lamb Skewers are covered in spices. This was ok, but I wanted a bit more char to it.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I enjoyed the spices and flavour profile of Xi’an cuisine. The dishes are made from scratch and is something unique at the Richmond Public Market food court.

We Rate Xi’an Cuisine:

Address:
2370-8260 Westminster Highway, Richmond

In Bubble Tea

Shake Shake Tea: Bubble Tea in Richmond

November 1, 2016

Shake Shake Tea is a new Bubble Tea shop in Richmond at Empire Centre. I was invited to try a few items and since I was in the area with a few friends, I thought it would be convenient to stop by and try some of the teas. With the amount of Bubble Tea shops opening in Metro Vancouver, it’s pretty tough competition since a lot of the large chains in Asian has started opening up shops here.

What made Shake Shake Tea unique as they use real milk, loose leaf tea and quality ingredients in their drinks.

Interior

Their shop has a few seats and can fit a few groups inside. Most people we noticed did take out. It gets busier later in the evening when people need their bubble tea fix.

The menu has their milk tea, iced milk, flavoured tea and hot drinks.

Milk Tea

We started off by trying their milk teas.

Roasted Oolong Milk Tea was my favourite. At 100% sugar, it was the perfect amount for me without toppings. The tea was very strong and the roasted flavour shined through. The use of real milk makes a difference in the taste too.

Jasmine Milk Tea was my second favourite. Similar feelings to the roasted oolong milk tea but with the different flavour of Jasmine tea.

Grass Jelly Iced Milk and Caramel was more sweet than the first 2 drinks. The caramel was more present and good for those who have a sweet tooth.

Iced Milk and Black Sugar with Pearls was the sweetest of them all since they cook the pearls with sugar. I prefer the milk teas.

Flavoured Teas

I also got the Peach Green Tea with coconut jelly. It was really good and just the right amount of sweetness.

Toppings

They have pearls, grass jelly, pudding, coconut jelly, agar, green bean, red bean and taro.

A good selection of toppings, but I really enjoyed the grass jelly. It helps add texture to the drink and it’s not sweet. The pearls were a bit too sweet for my liking. It was good that they tried to infuse more flavour into the pearls by cooking it with sugar, but not my personal preference.

Seasonal Desserts

For the fall, they have introduced their Jar Desserts for a limited time. They have 3 different combos to choose from:

Original Milk Tea + Rocher Mousse
Jasmine Milk Tea + Matcha Granola Mousse
Earl Grey Milk Tea + Caramel Banana Mousse

The combos are around $15, which is a bit pricey, but they only have limited quantities a day and do sell out.

Rocher Mousse is topped with a Ferrero Rocher and a chocolate straw. There are delicious layers of chocolate and mousse and accompany the teas well.

Matcha Granola Mousse was good as well and the added granola texture worked. The matcha was strong but not bitter at all.

Caramel Banana Mousse has bits of banana bread on top.

Overall, I think their milk teas were really good. It’s not overly sweet and is good with 100% sugar. The dessert prices seem a bit high but could be due to the ingredients they use inside. I would come back for their Roasted Oolong Milk Tea, Oolong Milk Tea and Peach Green Tea.

We Rate Shake Shake Tea:

Address:
4600-3 Road, Suite 131, Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.shakeshaketea.com/

In Kid Friendly

Suhang Restaurant: Dim Sum + Dumpling Trail

October 31, 2016

Suhang Restaurant is a Shanghainese restaurant located in Richmond on Ackroyd Road.

We were invited by Tourism Richmond to experience the Dumpling Trail. Suhang is one of the restaurants featured in the trail for their diverse selection of dumplings from crispy to chewy to all types of textures.

Interior

We came here on a weekend around noon and it wasn’t busy at all. We did have reservations just in case it was busy.

Dumplings

Xiao Long Bao had a nice thin skin, so we were afraid to accidentally break them. All that precious soup inside shouldn’t be wasted. The meat filling inside was delicious.

Potstickers had a bit of the thick skin to them compared to some other restaurants. Nonetheless, the meat filling makes up for it.

Pan Fried Dumplings had a nice golden brown colour on the bottom. The bun was fluffy and the filling was delicious just like the others.

Other Dishes

Dan Dan Noodles were pretty bad and the worst dish of the meal. It was like eating peanut butter with noodles.

Hot and Sour Soup was delicious. Always a delight having hot and sour soup.

Stir-fried Rice Cakes has a chewy texture to them, but it was good to have rice cakes instead of noodles.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the dumplings were delicious here but a few dishes were a miss especially the dan dan noodles.

We Rate Suhang Restaurant:

Address:
100-8291 Ackroyd Road, Richmond

Website:
http://www.suhang.ca/

In Dessert

Wild Sweets: Designer Cakes and Experiences Gallery in Richmond

October 24, 2016

Wild Sweets sells some stellar chocolate in Richmond and recently, they launched their new line of delicious designer cakes. A few of us were invited for a tasting of their new cakes. I have a bit of a sweet tooth, so I couldn’t resist.

Experiences Gallery

They also expanded their retail store to make room for their Experiences Gallery. It gives guest a sneak peek into the chocolate making process. It features their Cocoa Bean-To-Bar Chocolate-Making Lab, Chocolate Art Gallery & Chocolate Tasting Bar.

What I thought was super cool was their display of the raw cocoa beans. You can touch them and smell them.

Chocolate Tarte Macaron

Chocolate Tarte Macaron has a few different versions:

Banana Macadamia
Chestnut Pear

It’s a pretty intricate dessert. On the outside, you don’t see any macarons, but it does include it. The macaron cookie is loosely crushed and then mixed with crushed fruit, butter and baked crunchy-soft as a single layer. The “macaron” is place on top of a tarte made of a base layer of the crunchy-soft and buttery Sablé Breton cookie topped with an almond cream mixture. When baked, a luscious egg ganache made with our cocoa bean to bar dark chocolate is added and cooked to a perfect custard-like texture.

It is then finished with a dark chocolate coating, a hand-painted chocolate decor.

Cream Cakes

They have 2 versions of these cream cakes:

Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Cream Cake
Milk Chocolate & Passion Cream Cake

This cake blends the richness of a pound cake with the lightness of a sponge cake. It is coated in chocolate studded with ground roasted almonds or coconut for a wonderful texture, simply finished with a chocolate plaquette.

Apricot Milk Chocolate Crème Brûlée ‘Gateau’

There lies layers of crispy crêpes hazelnut praliné, milk chocolate Crème Brûlée cream, apricot fruit Crème Brûlée cream, milk chocolate almond paste Sacher sponge cake and caramel gelée, elegantly finished with hand-painted chocolate bark.

One of the favourites of the cakes we tried. I love the texture of the different ingredients and it’s definitely a delicious treat.

Cherry Dark Chocolate Crème Brûlée ‘Gateau’

You will find layers of crispy crêpes hazelnut praliné, dark chocolate Crème Brûlée cream, cherry fruit Crème Brûlée cream, dark chocolate almond paste Sacher sponge cake and cocoa gelée, elegantly finished with hand-painted chocolate bark.

Another delicious cake. Very similar to the other cake, but still good.

Venezuela Ocumare ‘Intensely’ Chocolate Terrine

Inside, there are layers of double chocolate Brownie cake, crispy crêpes hazelnut praliné, dark chocolate & vanilla bean ganache, dark chocolate Crème Brûlée cream, dark/milk chocolate sabayon mousse, chocolate spray, and elegantly finished with hand-painted chocolate decor.

All these cakes really appeal to be because of the crispy crêpes hazelnut praliné. It really gives it a nice balanced texture.

Crème Brûlée ‘Chantilly’

There are 2 types of Crème Brûlée ‘Chantilly’ cakes.

Apricot Milk Chocolate Crème Brûlée ‘Chantilly’
Cherry Dark Chocolate Crème Brûlée ‘Chantilly’

This cake is their version of the classic French Tarte Bourdaloue — with a few twists. The typical harder sweet dough base is replaced with crunchy/soft cookie. The unctuous custard cream laced with poached fruits is still front-and-center, but they have added another layer of pure decadence: a cloud-like chocolate ‘Chantilly’ mousse.

The mousse is what makes this cake very indulgent.

Crème Brûlée ‘Sabayon’

There are 2 versions of this cake:

Passion Milk Chocolate Crème Brûlée ‘Sabayon’
Raspberry Dark Chocolate Crème Brûlée ‘Sabayon’

There are the layers of Sablé Breton cookie, crispy crêpes hazelnut praliné, chocolate & fruit ganache, the fruity Crème Brûlée cream, dark/milk chocolate caramel sabayon mousse and crème fraîche gelée, elegantly finished with hand-painted chocolate citrus crystal barks.

Overall, the cakes were pretty good. My picks would be for their Crème Brûlée ‘Gateau’ and Venezuela Ocumare ‘Intensely’ Chocolate Terrine cakes.

We Rate Wild Sweets:

Address:
2145 – 12191 Hammersmith Way, Richmond, BC

Website:
http://dcduby.com/

In Chinese

R&H: Chinese Food + Dumpling Trail

October 22, 2016

R&H Chinese Food is located in the Lansdowne Centre Food Court. They serve up delicious Chinese food that’s a bit different that the other stalls here.

We were invited by Tourism Richmond to experience the Dumpling Trail. R&H Chinese Food is one of the restaurants featured in the trail for their diverse selection of dumplings from crispy to chewy to all types of textures.

You can watch them make the dumplings right in front of you. I love watching them make dumplings since it’s really a craft. I’ve tried making dumplings and I can never make them look beautiful.

Potstickers with cabbage and pork filling had a nice colour on the bottom. As the skin is a bit thicker than the other ones that we ordered, these can be quite filling. Best to share dumplings among others.

Boiled Pork Dumplings with Chives was one of our favourites. Delicious filling and reminded me of a little taste of home.

Xiao Long Bao are steamed juicy pork buns and they come in a bamboo steamer. Nice thin skin, but the tops of them were a bit dense.

You should return the bamboo steam to them once you’re done.

Overall, R&H has a good amount of dumplings on their menu. If you want a taste of homemade dumplings and other Chinese food, come give them a try. Prices are very good too.

We rate R&H:

Address:
5300 Number 3 Road, Richmond

In Kid Friendly

Samsoonie: Korean Food in Richmond + Dumpling Trail

October 18, 2016

Samsoonie Noodle & Rice is located in Richmond and they serve Korean cuisine. I love Korean restaurants especially for their dumplings – mandu, so I couldn’t wait to try this place out.

We came here as part of the Tourism Richmond’s Dumpling Trail trying out the different dumplings in town. Richmond is a foodie city filled with amazing Asian cuisine. They get pretty busy around noon, so make sure you beat the rush.

Interior

The inside looks ok, but people come here for their food as they have a good variety of Korean food on the menu.

Dumplings

Wonton Soup was delicious. Good flavour of the broth and the wontons inside. A nice twist on what I’m used to having.

Boiled Dumplings come in either 5 or 10 pieces. We went with the 5 pieces so we could try more dumplings on the menu. It comes with a soy sauce mixture to dip your dumplings into. The filling was good but a tad dry.

Pan Fried Dumpling is half way between boiled and fried dumplings. We found this filling was a bit dry too. Perhaps it was the batch for these dumplings.

Deep Fried Dumplings was the favourite of the bunch as this filling was a bit more moist compared to the pan-fried and boiled dumplings. A nice crisp exterior with the juicy filling on the inside. Very good.

Side Dishes

I love the different that arrive at the table complimentary. At bean sprouts and kimchi are the ones that come to the table. Both very delicious.

Other dishes

Sweet and Sour Pork is very different that what you would find int a Chinese restaurant. It is deep fried in a batter and then has a little bit of sauce on top.

Korean Style Roll has carrot burdock, spinach, egg and radish pickle. Is like a Japanese sushi roll but cut thinner and uses similar ingredients in a bibimbap. A good item to share with the table.

Pork Bone Stew has big pieces of pork and a very flavourful stews. It really hits the spot for days when its cold and wet outside.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Samsoonie is a pretty decent Korean restaurant in Richmond. It brings me back to some of my favourite Korean dishes.

We Rate Samsoonie:

Address:
8211 Westminster Highway, Richmond

In Japanese

Ryuu Japanese Kitchen at McArthur Glen Designer Outlet

October 16, 2016

Ryuu Japanese Kitchen is your place for sushi and Japanese food at McArthur Glen Designer Outlet. There’s a handful of dining options in this outlet, but you’ll only find sushi and a few other dishes here unless you travel further to Richmond city centre or Downtown Vancouver.

I came here as a guest of McArthur Glen Designer Outlet to try out a few items off Ryuu Japanese Kitchen’s menu.

Interior

The interior is large for small to large groups. It wasn’t too busy when we went. The interior is very clean and modern.

Drinks

Asahi beer is on tap. It is light and citrusy and pairs well with Japanese food. We got a large pitcher to share amongst the group and poured our individual glasses.

They have hot and cold sake for those who enjoy it.

Food

Philly Roll has crab meat, avocado, cream cheese and topped with salmon and mayo. Anything with salmon and avocado excites me.

Dragon Roll has avocado, shrimp tempura and topped with sauce, BBQ eel and tobiko. A decent roll to have with your meal.

Takoyako is a ball-shaped snack filled with a small piece of cooked octopus inside. It is topped with mayo, seaweed, garnish and takoyaki sauce. It comes with 8 pieces to an order.

Overall, the items we tried were decent. Pretty standard sushi rolls compared to some other Japanese restaurants out there in Vancouver.

We Rate Ryuu Japanese Kitchen:

Address:
1000-7899 Templeton Station Road, Richmond

Website:
http://www.ryuujapanesekitchen.com/

In Dessert

Hugo’s Churros at McArthur Glen Designer Outlet

October 10, 2016

Hugo’s Tacos & Churros is a popular place at McArthur Glen Designer Outlet. When they had their pop-up a year ago, they were met with great success and people would make the trip out to Richmond just for a taste of their churros.

Now, they have their dedicated space servings up burritos, tacos and their addictive churros.

Interior

The interior is filled with handmade picnic benches great for fitting large groups here.

Ice Cream Churro Sandwich

They have their ice cream sandwiches filled with either:

Pistachio Gelato
Vanilla Gelato
Strawberry Gelato

This can be pretty messy to eat, so make sure you have some napkins and eat quickly.

Gelato Churro Bowls

Gelato Churro bowls are a bit easier to to eat as it will all drip into the cup. 4 pieces and a big scoop of gelato.

Hot Chocolate with Churros

This is a new item for the Fall/Winter. There are 2 long pieces of churro which you can dunk into the hot chocolate.

Overall, if you want to get your fill of churros, come visit Hugo’s Churros. The churros are warm and made right for each order.

We Rate Hugos Churros:

Address:
1000-7899 Templeton Station Road,
Richmond

Website:
http://hugoschurros.com/

In Italian

BiBo Pizzeria: Italian Food at McArthur Glen Designer Outlet

October 7, 2016

BiBo Pizzeria has opened their second location at McArthur Glen Designer Outlet. They specialize in authentic Neapolitan pizza and handmade pastas created from the highest quality ingredients selected specially by their team and imported directly from the gardens and farms of Italy.

I came here as a guest of McArthur Glen Designer Outlet to try out BiBo’s signature menu items.

Interior

The interior is large and has lots of seats, so they can cater to small to large groups. They also hots private parties too.

Wine

Gavi di Gavi is their exclusive white wine made for Bibo. Wine and Italian food go very well together.

Sangiovese Tollo is their signature red wine pairs very well with their pasta and pizza dishes.

Neapolitan pizza

Pizza Crudo has fresh tomato, mozzarella, Parma prosciutto, arugula, and Parmigiano Reggiano. Very fresh ingredients on top and I love the prosciutto and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Pizza Diavola has tomato, mozzarella, and pepperoni. Nice and meaty. I like the parts of the pepperoni that get crisp on the edge.

Pizza margherita has tomato, mozzarella, and basil. A nice char on the pizza and crunchy crust. I love a good simple pizza. One of my favourites.

Handmade pasta

Ravioli ricotta e spinaci has handmade ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach, served with Italian datterini tomato sauce. Large pieces of ravioli and tastes good.

Gnocchi alla Tirolese has handmade gnocchi with speck, radicchio, gorgonzola, and sprinkled with walnuts. I felt this dish was pretty rich and heavy. It’s best shared with a group rather eating it all yourself.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the food is decent, but I felt the pizza could be more crisp in the centre. The centre is a tad soggy.

They also have gluten-free options for their pizza and pasta dishes.

We Rate BiBo Pizzeria:

Address:
1067c Templeton Station Rd, Richmond

Website:
http://richmond.thebibo.com/

In Kid Friendly

JapaDog: Dining at McArthur Glen Designer Outlet

October 2, 2016

JapaDog has a location at McArthur Glen Designer Outlet in Richmond just a few stops away from YVR Airport. For those who have a short layover at YVR but want a little taste of Vancouver, this is a good option if you’re around.

They are best known for their Japanese street style hot dog that has taken the world by storm. I remember my relatives would want us to take them here when they visit.

Drinks

They have draft beer, bottled beer and cocktails. I went with a Sapporo to go with our meal of JapaDogs and shake fries. Sapporo just pairs so well with fries and hot dogs. A combination that is perfect.

Cocktails are exclusive to this location only. There are 4 different ones to choose from.

Shake Fries

There are a few flavours of shake fries to choose from:

Regular
Black pepper
Ume katsuo
Aonori
Butter & Shoyu
Shichimi & Garlic

The most popular of them all is butter & shoyu. Shichimi & garli, and aonori are most other favourites too. The size of the fry reminds me of McDonalds but it’s a bit more limp that crisp.

JapaDogs

Avocado JapaDog has a beef hot dog topped with cream cheese, Japanese mayo, and avocado. Surprisingly good if you love avocado.

Ebi-Tempura Japadog has the crunchy shrimp tempura on top of rice and seaweed.

Love Meat JapaDog has Arabiki pork sausage, cheese, and a Japanese meat sauce made of beef. It is saucy, but great for meat lovers.

Okonomi has kurobuta pork sausage, Japanese traditional sauce, Japanese mayo, fried cabbage and topped with bonito flakes. It’s okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) in hot dog form.

Kurobuta Terimayo JapaDog is the most popular item. It has Kurobuta pork sausage, teriyaki sauce, Japanese mayo, fried onions and topped with lots of seaweed.

Oroshi JapaDog has pork bratwurst with radish/daikon, green onions and their special soy sauce. One of my favourites cine I love radish.

Final Thoughts

Since I live in Vancouver, getting a JapaDog is not a regular occurrence. I have it once in a while but it’s very accessible in Downtown Vancouver as there are various locations. They have expanded a lot but the quality is still there.

It’s definitely a good food option at McArthur Glen Designer Outlet if you want a quick bite.

We Rate JapaDog:

Address:
1064 Templeton Station Road, Richmond

Website: http://www.japadog.com/

In Bubble Tea

Peanuts Bubble Tea: Richmond Public Market

September 29, 2016

Peanuts Bubble Tea is located inside the Richmond Public Market in the food court. This bubble tea stand has been here since 1996 before the wave of all the other bubble tea shops opened across town in huge numbers.

While having lunch at the food court, we decided to make a stop here to quench our thirst.

Original milk tea with pearls and oolong milk tea.

I got the oolong milk tea half sweet. A good tea flavour with a good mount of milky balance.

They also serve Che Lung Bing for $0.60 each. These are the little wheel cakes with fillings inside. The fillings can include peanut, chocolate, coconut, radish, cheese, cream or red bean.

I didn’t end up getting the wheel cakes since they ran out of the cream flavour. $0.60 is such a good price since most places at the night market charge $1 or more.

Overall, a good place to get bubble tea at the Richmond Public Market.

We rate Peanuts Bubble Tea:

Address:
2130-8260 Westminster Highway, Richmond

In Chinese

Empire Seafood: Dim Sum + Dumpling Trail

September 26, 2016

Empire Seafood Restaurant is located in Richmond on No. 3 Road and New Westminster Hwy. Surprisingly, I haven’t been here for dim sum before. With so many amazing dim sum restaurants in town, this is one of the popular ones to go to.

We were invited by Tourism Richmond to experience the Dumpling Trail. Empire is one of the restaurants features in the trail for their diverse selection of dumplings from crispy to chewy to all types of textures.

Interior

Dumplings

Shrimp dumplings (Har gow) are a staple in Chinese dim sum. The dumplings are filled with shrimp and wrapped in a tapioca starch pastry. It is them steamed in a bamboo basket.

It comes with 4 pieces in each order. I enjoyed the bounce of the shrimp inside and the skin was a good thickness. Best eaten with some hot sauce or XO sauce.

Pork and Shrimp Dumpling (Siu Mai) is a dumpling stuffed with pork, shrimp and then topped with roe. It is wrapped in a yellow wrapper. It is also steamed in a bamboo basket.

It comes with 4 pieces too. Good mixture of shrimp and pork inside without too much fat.

Taro Dumpling (Wu Gok) is made with steamed mashed taro with mushroom, shrimp, and pork in the centre. It is deep-fried so it gets the wispy texture on the outside. It comes with 4 per order too. You typically get this cut in half before eating.

A nice texture since you get the crunch from the outside and the savoury filling inside.

Fried Pork Dumplings (Ham Siu Gok) has a crisp crust on the outside and inside the the minced pork centre. The filling is pretty good.

Other items

Spring Rolls come in 4 pieces but are cut up into 8 for easy sharing. These are deep-fried and filled with a delicious shrimp centre.

Chicken Feet is a staple in dim sum but not everyone can stomach it. I grew up with chicken feet at most dim sum meals, so this isn’t out of the ordinary for me. It has a nice sauce and essentially you are eating away at the skin and cartilage.

Spareribs with squash comes in one serving in a bamboo basket.

Shrimp Rice Roll comes with 3 pieces and are cut in half. The shrimp is nice and fresh, good colour and tastes great when you pour the soy sauce over top.

Veggies

Pea tips in broth is a delicious dish. The sweetness from the pea tips is really good. Do be careful of bugs since I did find a caterpillar in my portion.

Sweets

Egg Custard Tart is a bit different here since they add some coconut into it. It was good, but unexpected as we devoured these.

Egg Yolk Bun is pretty good here too. The steamed buns have a week yolky centre. Very delicious and you can’t leave here without one.

Final Thoughts

Empire Seafood has some pretty solid dim sum and good prices. Just be aware that they do charge for tea. So don’t be surprised when that pops up on the bill. Try to make reservation in advanced and try to go earlier in the day before some key items run out.

We Rate Empire Seafood Restaurant:

Address:
London Plaza, 5951 Number 3 Rd #200, Richmond

Website: http://www.empirerestaurant.ca/esr/dimsum/

In Chinese

Moral’s Village: Hot Pot in Richmond

September 21, 2016

Moral’s Village is a new a la carte hot pot restaurant in Richmond. They are a chain restaurant in China and has now expanded to Toronto and Richmond.

The main difference in the Toronto location is that they have all you can eat, which isn’t the same as Richmond.

I was invited to try out their signature dishes on their dinner menu by the crew at Chopstick Fest.

Interior

They have private rooms for larger parties or private functions. You should call ahead of time to reserve these rooms. The private room that we were in also came with our own washroom.

Starters

Before the hotpot began, they shared with us 4 starters. All cold dishes to get our appetites going.

Creating your sauce

There is a cart in the hallway with a bunch of sauces and ingredients to create your own sauce.

Hot Pot

Our table got 2 soup broths – preserved egg and pork bone soup. They have a bunch of different broths that range from mild to spicy.

They even have a soup base called Beauty in the Golden House. It’s quite elaborate and at $68, its not any regular broth. It needs to be ordered in advanced and will really impress guests.

As the different ingredients arrived at the table, we put them into the hot pot one by one. The quality of their ingredients are pretty good and it’s reflected in the price they charge.

Meat

Deluxe Lamb Roll came with quite a lot of slices for an order. Fresh and not frozen when it arrives at the table.

Ox Tongue was sliced nice and thin, so it more tender than usual.

Angus AAA Short Rub was very nice quality too. Very fresh and a good amount of marbling.

Standard Joshu Wagyu Kobe Beef is mouth watering. Very expensive cut of meat for $58 for only 5 large pieces.

Look at all those delicious ratio of meat to fat. So good. Since it is such a nice cut of meat, we made sure not to overcook it.

That marbling is awesome.

Beef Balls with cheese, fish balls, pork balls and prawn balls were all fresh and went well with the hot pot. My favourite was the prawn balls.

Seafood

Deluxe Seafood Platter is decadent and costs over $100. It has fresh crab, abalone, prawns, oyster, and grouper. It was so fresh that the prawns were still moving. The presentation is very nice and comes with a cup of smoking dried ice. Fancy Fancy.

Other items

Pea sprouts are one of my favourite veggies to have with hot pot.

They have fresh handmade noodles and its a nice option to have here.

Bean Curd Roll has 7 pieces and it is deep fried. You dip this into the hot pot until it becomes a bit soggy.

They have a lot of different mushrooms that are great too.

Corn is a great item to add to hot pot to add a bit of sweetness.

Deep Fried Chinese Donut with fish paste and tokibo was an interesting item to have as I’ve never seen anything like it.

Overall

The quality of the hot pot was superb, but it can cost quite a bit. They have pretty premium options when it comes to selecting broth, meats, seafood and other ingredients. Definitely not your everyday hot pot place.

We Rate Moral’s Village:

Address:
4540 Number 3 Road, Richmond

In Chinese

0755 Restaurant & Lounge: Dinner in Richmond

September 16, 2016

0755 Restaurant & Lounge looks like a club on the outside, but surprisingly, they have really good dishes. They showcase dishes from different regions and provinces in China. They are named after an area code of Shenzhen.

I was invited to try out their signature dishes on their dinner menu by the crew at Chopstick Fest.

Interior

The 2 sides are split up between the restaurant and lounge. It has a dark atmosphere and doesn’t look too much like a regular restaurant setting.

Drinks

Their drink menu is pretty large but I found that most of the drinks are very sweet.

Appetizer

Sweet Olive Chin-Yam was an interesting dish on the menu. I really didn’t like it as it was strange to be slightly sweet. It might of been better if this dish was colder.

Sour Jellyfish Head was really good, I liked the amount of vinegar in the dish, plus the jellyfish pieces were large.

Chongqing Spicy Chicken was another delicious dish. It wasn’t too spicy and it added a lot of flavour to the chicken.

Spicy and Sour Lotus Roots was delicious, but I didn’t like the chopped up into smaller pieces.

Mains

Braised Spot Prawns was bathing in the spicy sauce with corn pieces. They give you plastic gloves so you can peel off the shells with your hands. They try to tone down the messiness, but I still found some seeped into the gloves.

Lobster Noodles had a good amount of lobster and the noodles soaked up all the precious lobster juices.

Garlic Steam Scallop had a lot of garlic on the noodles with the piece of scallop on top.

Pepper Steam Mandarin Fish was a surprising dish. I thought I wouldn’t like it, but the fish was so juicy and well executed. It wasn’t spicy at all. From the looks of it, I thought it would be, but just good flavours.

Spicy Sour Beef in Soup looked unappealing, but the flavours of the beef and enoki mushroom were good. A subtle amount of spice but not too strong.

Roast Duck Slices with Spring Pancakes was ok, but the taste of the duck is masked by all the sauce that its covered with.

Steamed Garlic Loofah was another surprising dish. Even though it was stuffed with garlic, it wasn’t too pungent.

Sauteed Pea Sprouts in Broth is a good refreshing veggie dish. I love pea sprouts.

0755 Stir-fried rice with preserved ham came in a tall bucket with the rice packed in it. Lots of ingredients inside the rice.

Soup

Stewed Chicken Soup came in a jar for everyone that orders it. It was a nice clear soup with pieces of vegetables and chicken. There was a good amount in the jar.

Dessert

Ice Cream Toast was large and a good item to share with a group. They make all the ice cream in-house and the green tea ice cream was delicious.

Coconut Pudding was electrifying when it arrived at the table. It had a sparkler inserted up top and lit when it comes to you. When you pop off the top, you will see the milky pudding up top, but when you did deeper, you’ll find the clear coconut water is gelatin form underneath. It tastes so good and refreshing after the heavy meal.

After you eat the pudding, you can then eat the flesh off the inside of the coconut. I would highly recommend this.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the food here. As a restaurant and lounge, I wouldn’t expect them to have a killer dinner menu. I came here once before for some nibbles and alcohol. I was impressed.

Some dishes were a miss, especially the drinks, but there were a few items that I really enjoyed.

We Rate 0755 Restaurant:

Address:
3779 Sexsmith Rd, Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.0755lounge.com/

In Kid Friendly

The Captain’s Boil: Seafood in Richmond

August 25, 2016

The Captain’s Boil is a new seafood boil restaurant in Richmond. They have a few locations in Toronto, but now has opened their first location in Metro Vancouver.

They take the seafood boil and toss it with their blend of secret, Asian inspired spices and aromatics. They are open quite late and do take reservations.

I was invited to give their signature items a try.

Interior

The interior uses wood, stone, and ropes to really give you a sense of being on a boat. There are long tables and booth seating for those in small to large groups.

Bibs and Gloves

Everyone gets bibs and gloves to keep clean. I love the pirate themed bibs, super cute. The gloves can break quite easily if you are vigorously cracking away at those shells.

Drinks

They have a range of domestic and premium beers, as well as soju and sake. I went with a light Asahi beer, which goes with seafood very well.

Seafood Boil

We ordered a pound of each seafood item on the menu:

clams
mussels
crawfish
shrimp
chicken slices
lobster
king crab leg
Dungeness crab
snow crab legs

It comes in one bag for each kind and arrives a few bags at one time. We got all of ours with the Captain Boil’s Mix, which combines their 3 flavours – cajun cajun, lemon pepper and garlic sauce. We also got it at medium spice.

You can order sides to go into boil like corn, lotus roots, sausages, and potatoes.

The best way to enjoy everything is to pour it all on the table, so everyone can grab it easily.

Of all the types of crabs, I really enjoyed the King Crab Legs, but it is super costly at $36.95 per pound. It was so big and meaty.

The other legs were hard to open, but there are scissors and clamps to crack the shells open.

They sell the lobsters at a seasonal price but always good to double check the cost. The bulk of the meat is in the claws and tail.

Of all the seafood, I thought the crawfish wasn’t worth it since it’s mostly shell. The shells are hard to crack open and there is very little meat inside. But then again, where else are you going to crawfish in Vancouver?

After eating a bunch of the seafood, the Captain’s Boil sauce was too heavy. I would have liked to choose the lemon pepper or the garlic sauce.

Sizzling Plate

Chicken Teriyaki Sizzling Plate Combo with rice includes their seafood platter before 4pm. You get 2 crawfish, 2 shrimps, 2 mussels, and 2 clams. A pretty good deal if you can go there for lunch.

Sides

Fried shrimp basket comes with 10 pieces, which is great for sharing.

Fried Chicken Wings comes in large or small, but we chose the small size. It was fried with light seasoning, which I enjoyed.

Overall, its a great addition in Richmond. Since all the seafood is by weight, it can get pricey if you’re a big eater. The Captain’s Boil sauce is overpowering, so you might want to consider the lemon pepper or garlic sauce to be able to taste more of the seafood.

We rate The Captain’s Boil:

Address:
1226 – 8338 Capstan Way, Richmond,BC

Website:
http://www.thecaptainsboil.com/

In Late Night

Maji: Taiwanese Cuisine in Richmond

August 19, 2016

Maji is a Taiwanese Stir Fry restaurant in Richmond. I’ve been here before and I remember liking it for their dishes and beer. We came her for dinner and it was pretty packed with people waiting outside.

I was invited by Chopstick Fest to try their signature dishes in anticipation for Vancouver’s first Chinese Cuisine Festival in October.

Interior

There are lots of tables inside for small to large groups. It’s best to call ahead to make reservations so you don’t have to wait in line during peak hours.

Taiwanese Beer

They have Taiwanese Beer available in delicious fruit flavours. Alcohol content is pretty low compared to the usual beer. It’s a super light beer that goes well with Taiwanese food.

Food

Spicy Deep Fried Chicken uses boneless chicken leg served on shredded cabbage, chili sauce and cilantro. I liked the use of the dark meat from the chicken leg.

Crispy Chicken Skin is super crisp and served with salt, pepper, green onions, and chili. One of our favourite dishes of the night.

Braised Food platter comes with your choice of braised items. For our platter, we had:

braised egg
braised pork intestines
braised beef tripe
braised chicken gizzard

A nice dish for all to share assuming they like the taste of innards. I grew up with similar food, so I never flinch at eating this. The sauce that the items were braised in was delicious.

Dongpo Pork has delicious pork belly marinated with soy sauce and their secret brown sauce. The layers of fat and meat were so delicious.

Deep Fried Shrimps with Pineapples has the shrimp tossed in pineapples, house-special dressing, and garnished with parsley.

Taiwanese-style stir-fried noodles use oil noodles with shredded cabbage, carrots, shredded pork and basil.

Basil Clams has the clams sauteed in garlic, ginger and basil. The basil didn’t stand out too much but the clams were yummy.

Hakka Style Pork and Squid has shredded pork belly stir-fried withy squid, bean curd, dried shrimp, celery and chili.

Sesame Oil Pork Fried Rice has shredded pork, egg, rice, veggies and tossed in sesame oil. A good solid fried rice, but could have use a pinch more salt.

Pan-Fried Egg Tofu with Soy Bean Paste has egg tofu, vegetables, and soybean paste served in a hot skillet. The tofu was really good and silky smooth.

Overall, I really like Maji. The small plates are great for sharing and it reminds me of eating a dinner at home where you have the many dishes to pick from.

We Rate Maji:

Address:
1180-8391 Alexandra Road, Richmond

Website:
http://www.majirestaurant.ca/

In Chinese

Sun Sui Wah: Dim Sum in Richmond

August 13, 2016

Sun Sui Wah is a popular dim sum restaurant in Metro Vancouver. They have locations in Vancouver and Richmond. We came to the Richmond location with Chinesebites to check out a few of their popular dim sum items. I’ve never been to this location, so I was excited.

A large enough menu for dim sum. Lots of choices!

The interior is large and can fit quite a lot of people. They also have a few large screens for viewing sports games.

Baked BBQ Pork Pastry is topped with sesame seeds and crisp on top.Comes with 3 pieces, but you can easily cut them into bite-sized pieces to have 6 pieces. Good ratio between the pastry and filling.

Deep Fried Squid doesn’t have that much of a crunchy texture. It was ok, but could have used more seasoning.

Shrimp Rice Roll is another classic item to order. It has 3 rolls and cut into 6 pieces. You will want to drizzle some of the soy sauce over the rice rolls to add more flavour.

Bean curd wraps with fish paste was pretty good. I love bean curds and fish paste. a delicious combination.

Donut Rice Roll has dried pork floss on top and little green onions for colour.

Rice Roll with fish paste is a good version of the classic rice rolls. I actually really liked this.

Beef Rice Roll is another classic. Delicious as usual.

Spring Roll comes with 3 pieces cut in half so it is easily sharable. It has shrimp inside.

Har Gow AKA shrimp dumplings are a staple among Chinese Dim Sum. Most tables would order this. The shrimp inside is soft and has a nice bounce to it. One of my favourite items at any dim sum. It goes well with XO sauce or hot sauce.

Deep-fried glutinous rice dumpling stuffed with pork comes with 3 pieces and was pretty standard.

Daikon Cake with XO Sauce needed a sauce to dip into…perhaps more XO sauce.

Duck webbed feet with taro isn’t for everyone. Some may find it gross and creepy since you’re basically eating its skin.

Stuffed Treasures has 3 pieces of green bell pepper, tofu and eggplant topped with fish paste and black bean sauce.

Steamed BBQ Pork Bun has 3 pieces as well. Comes piping hot and a good a mount of pork filling inside. I would definitely share a piece with a friend since it can be filling.

Tripe with ginger and onion was tender and had a good texture to it. Another item thats not for all.

Beef Tendon in BBQ Sauce was like jelly.

Xiao Long Bao comes 5 to a basket and were ok. Skin thickness was ok too with piping hot soup.

Sui Mai is the classic pork and shrimp dumpling and was average as well. It isn’t too fatty.

Deep Fried Taro with meat filling is crispy on the outside and the meat mixture on the inside is always delicious.

Mini Sticky Rice comes with 3 to an order. Another staple item to order in dim sum.

Halibut Collar has a good amount of spice to it and was a dish I wouldn’t think about ordering for dim sum.

Creamy Egg Yolk Bun comes with 3 pieces and the delicious egg yolks hide inside. Super delicious.

Egg tarts are small, but come with 4 on one plate. You definitely want to eat it right away when its warm. I kinda prefer the smaller egg tarts since you want to save room for other items on the table. I just wanted a small taste of the golden yellow custard.

Overall, a good place to get dim sum in Richmond. You will find the classic dim sum items and a few different items that they specialize in.

We Rate Sun Sui Wah:

Address:
4920 Number 3 Road, Richmond

Website:
http://www.sunsuiwah.ca/

Richmond

Dumplings

Other items

Final Thoughts

Interior

Milk Tea

Flavoured Teas

Toppings

Seasonal Desserts

Interior

Dumplings

Other Dishes

Final Thoughts

Experiences Gallery

Chocolate Tarte Macaron

Cream Cakes

Apricot Milk Chocolate Crème Brûlée ‘Gateau’

Cherry Dark Chocolate Crème Brûlée ‘Gateau’

Venezuela Ocumare ‘Intensely’ Chocolate Terrine

Crème Brûlée ‘Chantilly’

Crème Brûlée ‘Sabayon’

Interior

Dumplings

Side Dishes

Other dishes

Final Thoughts

Interior

Drinks

Food

Interior

Ice Cream Churro Sandwich

Gelato Churro Bowls

Hot Chocolate with Churros

Interior

Wine

Neapolitan pizza

Handmade pasta

Final Thoughts

Menu

Drinks

Shake Fries

JapaDogs

Final Thoughts

Interior

Dumplings

Other items

Veggies

Sweets

Final Thoughts

Interior

Starters

Creating your sauce

Hot Pot

Meat

Seafood

Other items

Overall

Interior

Drinks

Appetizer

Mains

Soup

Dessert

Interior

Menu

Bibs and Gloves

Drinks

Seafood Boil

Sizzling Plate

Sides

Interior

Taiwanese Beer

Food