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Western Lake: Award Winning Signature Dishes

Western Lake is celebrating their 12th year in Vancouver and their latest win at the 2019 Chinese Restaurant Awards for Critic’s Choice winner of the Roasted Salt Free Range Chicken dish. They have always been highly rated for the dim sum and dinner service. It’s been my family’s go-to restaurant for many years now.

We were invited for their media appreciation dinner and they showcased a plethora of their signature and award-winning dishes.

Chinese Restaurant Awards: Critic’s Choice winner of the Roasted Salt Free Range Chicken

The Roasted Salt Free Range Chicken is very juicy, tender and flavourful. In order to get this consistency, this dish is cooked in a unique way. The chef turns off the heat when the water starts to boil and allow the chicken to get cooked in its entirety in the residual heat. After poaching, he then plunges the chicken into ice water to stop the cooking process.

If you get a chance to try this during dinner, it’s definitely a must-have dish.

The chicken’s skin remains light-coloured, nearly white and the meat is tender and flavourful. It is served in pieces with the skin and bone attached.

This dish is accompanied by a condiment made b finely minced ginger, finely minced garlic and green onion.

King Crab Dinner

King Crab dinner is a luxurious feast and in season in the Spring. This is usually the best time to indulge in this delicacy. King Crab is prized due to its sweetly succulent flavour and the short duration of its season. The rise in popularity can be seen by how much the price has gone up over the years.

My family has been here several times especially when relatives come over from Hong Kong in the Spring. My grandpa always requests fresh King Crab. Luckily, Western Lake has several King Crab set menus.

At Western Lake, they typically showcase the king crab in an elaborate multi-course dinner that uses every part of the crab. The steamed King Crab legs are topped with lots of sweet and nutty garlic. The sauce it sits on is the natural crab juices. It’s so good and I love how the shells are already open, so eating this is so darn easy.

Another staple of the King Crab experience is the lightly battered and fried knuckles topped with rice cakes – King Crab in Superior Soy Sauce Bedded with Rice Cake. This dish is also really good since the sweetness from the crab and the soy sauce aroma just go so well together. The chef cook this dish really well.

Last but not least, leftover sauce from the steamed garlic crab leg course is being used to toss with noodles, chives and bean sprouts. The item pictured below is the noodles tossed in shrimp roe. I love how every part of the King Crab isn’t put to waste. Delicious as well and with the noodles it makes the whole meal more filling.

Chives and Crab Garlic Sauce Fried Rice with Black Truffle Topped with Gold Leaf looks amazing as it is presented in the shell of the King Crab. Nothing goes wasted. You don’t have to be as fancy with the truffles and gold leaf. Their standard fried rice is very good as well.

Peking Duck Dinner

Peking duck, one of the most delicious dishes of Chinese cuisine with a history of more than 400 years. Peking Duck is a meal with royal lineage, as it has been a staple for the elite and ruling class for centuries. A lot of care and preparation goes into these dishes so I can see why it’s a popular item on the menu.

This dish of Peking Duck has a thin, crisp skin with very little meat attached. Traditionally the skin is sliced in front of diners, but they don’t do that at Western Lake as the dining room is pretty busy. Peking duck is usually served in two courses, one with crepes and another with lettuce wrap. The succulent Peking Duck skin is accompanied by hoisin sauce (a sweet bean sauce), scallions cut into brushes, and thin wheat-flour pancakes, all of which are eaten together as a wrap.

Having this dish is such a delight and always fun to eat. Love the interactivity! Add a little bit of everything and eat it up.

The second dish of Peking Duck is made into this dish – Lettuce Wrap with Minced Duck and Assorted Vegetables. The meat of the duck is cut up and served with vegetables as a second course.

I love the crunch of the lettuce and the different textures the of the duck, veggies, and crisp noodles.

Beef Tenderloin with Deep Fried Potato

Another dish is their beef tenderloin with deep-fried potato which is beautifully presented in this deep-fried basket. The beef is tender and so flavourful. Highly recommended if you want something added to your meal that isn’t duck or seafood.

Assorted Seafood with Pumpkin Thick Soup

Western Lake has a variety of soups on the menu and different daily soups as well. A unique dish is their assorted seafood with pumpkin thick soup. Lots of seafood in it like this big scallop.

Egg Tofu Braised with Pea Tips and Enoki Mushroom

To balance out all the meat in a meal, there is always a veggie dish. Pea tips are delicious and when accompanied with mushroom and tofu, it tastes good and hearty. The freshness of the ingredients also shine through.

Dessert

Don’t forget to end your meal with dessert. Usually when you have dinner here, they have complimentary desserts. You can ask them what they have or pay a little bit extra for something more unique like their baked tapioca pudding.

Final Thoughts

There is a reason why there are huge line ups during dim sum and full tables during dinner time at Western Lake. The food is solid and reasonably priced for what you get. It’s one of the top Chinese restaurants in Vancouver.

Address:
4989 Victoria Dr, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://westernlake.ca/

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Freshbowl: South-East Asian Cuisine in Vancouver

Freshbowl is a family run restaurant with 2 stores in Vancouver. They focus on healthy South East Asian cuisine and put their twist on it so its non-GMO, hormone & antibiotic free, and MSG free. FreshBowl also has vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, organic and natural options available on the menu for those with dietary restrictions.

They also strive to be more green by using a lot of compostable materials to keep waste away from landfills.

I’ve passed by many times before and I always assumed it was a salad bar due to it’s look, but there is nothing but South East Asian cuisine here.

Interior

You order up at the counter and then find a seat to sit at if you’re dining in.

The space isn’t too large, but there are still a decent amount of seats inside for small groups. You can have larger groups here if you come early enough to snag the tables.

Menu

Thai Iced Tea

A classic drink full of flavour and very popular among customers. It tastes very good and has strong bold flavours of the tea. It’s not too sweet compared to other places in town and has a creamy texture because of the milk.

Hibiscus Tea

The hibiscus tea has floral notes, good strong flavour, and a touch of sweetness.

Chicken Laska

You can build your laksa how you want based on the different options on the menu. It was very yummy and tasty, plus the noodles were nice and soft in texture. The laksa is served with veggies including kale, beansprouts, some red cabbage, cucumbers and carrot.

The chicken in this dish are small bite size pieces and is tender, beautifully presented. Can’t go wrong with that laksa broth either. This bowl was devoured quickly and it’s not too large.

Prawn Pad Thai

They use fresh tamarind in the dish and it really shows to build up the flavours. It tasted good but the noodles were broken for some reason. There could have been a touch more acidity in the dish. They also don’t use fish sauce as it’s hard to find one that is preservative free. The prawns are also OceanWise certified.

BANELLA Roti

Eat this when it comes out fresh so the roti stays very crisp. It is made in house with the banana and Nutella filling. There’s not a lot of filling but the flavours are there. It has a good level of sweetness and can be a shared dessert for those who just want a taste.

Final Thoughts

It’s a good option in the area as there aren’t a lot of healthy South East Asian restaurants options around in the area. If you’re looking for something healthy, definitely check out Freshbowl.

Address:
1128 Pacific Blvd, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.freshbowl.ca/

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Joojak Restaurant: Xian Cuisine in Vancouver

Joojak Restaurant specializes in Northern Chinese Cuisine, specifically Xian. I love this type of food known for their use of chili oil in their dishes. A lot of fragrant spices and its drool worthy.

I’ve been trying to go to a lot of restaurants specializing in Xian cuisine and this has been recommended a lot, so I had to come here and take my parents for lunch. Then I went an additional time with some friends to order more.

Interior

The space is quite small, so only 4 tables. 3 of the tables seat 4 and 1 table seats 6. As we came around 12:30pm on a weekday, it wasn’t hard to get a table for 3 people. On weekends, it will be much harder, so best to show up at 12 when they open.

Menu

Steamed Chicken with Chili Sauce (Saliva Chicken)

Don’t worry, there is no saliva in this chicken dish, it’s just a direct translation. This is one of their most popular dishes that you have to get. It has cold steamed chicken covered in their delicious chili sauce and under it are some pickled veggies. Highly recommended. It has a kick of heat but its so fragrant. The sauce is amazing!!

Spicy Fried Chicken Wings Griddle Cooked in Pot

This is essentially fried chicken wings and fries in a delicious chili and black bean mixture. Another item the staff highly recommended. It was good! Definitely not healthy at all but we couldn’t stop eating it.

Dumplings in Spicy Sour Soup

We got this with pork and chives dumpling and there were 12 pieces in total. It has a good hint of spice and not too overpowering and is balanced by the sourness.

Lamb and Green pepper Burger

This is a Xian specialty item. One of the better burgers I’ve had as the meat wasn’t too moist that is soaked the bun. The bun was crisp and everything held together very nicely. The cumin, garlic and Jalapenos went well with the lamb.

Spinach Biang Biang Noodles with Chili Oil and Pork

This dish was ok. The noodles were a bit overcooked so it wasn’t as firm. All the other dishes were excellent but this one was a let down. It could have use more chili oil too.

Biang Biang Noodle with Pork Meat and Hot Chili Oil

Similar to the dish above but with the regular biang biang noodles. It was a tad overdone as well, so the noodles didn’t hold together as well.

Xian Cold Noodle with Gluten and Sesame Paste

Mix this dish very well. It wasn’t too spicy and needed more sauce, so what we ended up doing was taking the extra Saliva Chicken chili oil and added it to these noodles and it really elevated this dish.

Fried Green Beans

We needed some veggies to go with our carb filled meal. It was a good balance of a mild spice and went well with the meal.

Final Thoughts

The best part of the meal was really the saliva chicken and most people order this at their table. The burger and dumplings are also very good too. It’s just too bad the biang biang noodles were a bit subpar. Nonetheless, still very good Xian cuisine in Vancouver.

Address:
3337 Kingsway, Vancouver, BC

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Alvin Garden: Szechuan Cuisine in Burnaby

Alvin Garden is located in South Burnaby just behind Metropolis at Metrotown. They have been around for many years specializing in Szechuan cuisine. They have been recipients of the Chinese Restaurant Awards and Vancouver Magazine restaurant Awards for many years and is quite reputable. It’s actually located close to our home but we never came here until now. I wanted to take my family somewhere we havn’t been before so this was a perfect opportunity.

Scroll to the bottom of the article for the whole menu. (All 23 pages hahaha).

Interior

The interior isn’t that special but the space did fill up quite quickly, so I was glad I made reservations ahead of time. If you’re coming in on a weekend, doesn’t hurt to have a reservation.

Soup

We started with a large soup containing lettuce and taro. Surprisingly very flavourful and delicious. A large size for 7 of us was perfect so everyone can try it and get seconds if they like it.

Stir Fried Beef and Onion

This was also a very flavourful dish. Remember to get a bucket of rice on the side to soak up the juices. Very good portions too.

Mouth Watering Chicken

This is a must order dish and highly recommend. It is delicious and tender cooked chicken with chili oil and peppers. Even though it looks spicy, it has a good amount of fragrant peppers that isn’t mouth numbingly spicy. Those who can’t tolerate too much spice also enjoyed this dish.

Tea Smoked Duck

You can get this as a half duck or a whole duck. For the 7 of us, we opted for the half as we had quite a few dishes ordered. It was a good size as there are a lot of pieces.

Good flavour of the tea and smokey flavours penetrating the meat. Very enjoyable.

Stir-fried Garlic Bolt with Hunan Smoked Pork

Another popular dish on the menu, I love the garlic bolts as its like a mild green onion and garlic combination. Pairs well with the pork slices very nicely.

Cumin Lamb

This is a very popular dish and I love the cumin spices with lamb. So good! It also has red peppers and green onions. The lamb is tender too.

Dongting Broiled Fish in Chili Soup

Even though you see all the chili oil and red peppers, it’s not too spicy at all. Very good amount of fragrant spice that won’t numb or sting your mouth badly. Highly recommended as the dish is very moist and tasty.

Cauliflower with Hunan Chili and Pork

This was the last dish to arrive and it looked like most tables ordered this too. It has cauliflower, thin slices of pork belly in their Hunan Chili oil.

Final Thoughts

We really enjoyed Alvin Garden for their Szechuan cuisine. The prices are very fair and the food is well executed. All the dishes were a hit and none of them were disappointing. Even with all the peppers, its still a good place to have spice and non-spicy eaters all at one table.

Address:
4850 Imperial St, Burnaby, BC

Menu

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Good Mong Kok Bakery: Take Out Dim Sum in San Francisco

Good Mong Kok Bakery is a popular spot for homemade dim sum and baked goods in this tiny shop. They are located in Chinatown in San Francisco. As we arrived on a weekend in the morning, there was already a long line up. Since we wanted a small snack and had some time to kill, we thought we would give this place a try.

Don’t forget to bring cash.

Line Up

Everyone self-organizes themselves into a line, so you just need to ask around to find the end of the line. The line up was long when we were here but it moved at a decent pace.

Interior

The space is very small and cramped inside and it is to go only as there are no seats. Dim Sum and buns are pumped out constantly from the shop. When you get your order, don’t forget to ask for utensils if you’re eating it nearby.

If you come later in the afternoon, they sell out of popular items so don’t come here too late or else you’ll be out of luck.

Menu

Shrimp and Chive Dumplings

It comes with 3 pieces each and it’s very very affordable. The skin was a bit thicker than what I normally like, but the shrimp and chive filling inside was good.

Sticky Rice Ball

The big round thing on the right side if a big ball stuffed with sticky rice. Something interesting that I haven’t seen that often.

BBQ Pork Bun

The BBQ pork bun was big and had a good amount of filling. Sweet and meaty. Highly Recommended.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I thought this Good Mong Kok Bakery was ok because I come from a city that has some of the best Dim Sum in the world. If you’ve never had dim sum before, you’ll enjoy this place. Just know its not very typical to have dim sum for take out. I personally prefer to sit down at a restaurant to have dim sum.

Address:
1039 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA

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Fortune Terrace Chinese Cuisine: Dinner in Richmond

Fortune Terrace Chinese Cuisine is a newer restaurant near the Olympic Oval in Richmond. I heard good things about this place, so, for my birthday, we decided to come here for dinner. It’s usually more popular for dim sum as they have some pretty unique items on the menu, but has a reputation for being very expensive.

We made reservations for dinner just in case it was busy as their dim sum rush is pretty crazy. As we arrived on the weekend for dinner, it wasn’t very busy at all. Maybe it was because it was raining.

Interior

The interior is very bright, full of red colour and surrounded by LED screens that play very scenic videos on repeat. Even the lights above have little koi on them.

Tea

Tea arrives on the table and you can choose among the more common teas at most Chinese restaurants. You also get another tea pot filled with water on a boiler if you want water or if you want to add more water to your other tea pot later on.

Complimentary Peanuts

You get some salted peanuts on the table before your meal arrives so you can pick at it.

Assorted Cold Platter

The assorted cold platter has BBQ Pork, Jelly Fish, duck, and pork hock. The items were delicious and devoured quickly.

Of the 4 items, the duck was our favourite as the fat was rendered out nicely and had a good taste and texture.

Soup

We ordered soup with our meal and it comes in a big bowl and what they do is individually scoop it out for each person at the table so they get their individual portion.

They also scoop out the other items in the soup like the meats, aromatics, and whatever else in a separate bowl so you can enjoy it as well. The broth was delicious and had quite a bit of depth. I enjoyed it.

Crispy Roasted Pork Belly

The crispy roasted pork belly was OK. The skin was crispy but each order is pretty small for what you pay for as it was around $25. I could buy a lot of pork belly elsewhere in town.

Stir-fry Chinese Pea Shoots in Garlic

You gotta have one veggie dish at a Chinese restaurant right? They had pea shoots today so we ordered that and it was cooked with garlic as usual. Pretty standard.

Pan Fried Scallops & Sea Cucumber Muscle with Pine Mushrooms

This is served up in these fried edible baskets. It was decent but we found the baskets got very soggy in a short amount of time that it didn’t really hold. The seafood itself was well cooked and delicious.

Truffle Chicken

Truffle Chicken is one of their specialties at Fortune Terrace. It is surprisingly good and almost everyone orders this when they come here for dinner. It is nicely cooked, but it does come with bones, so some pieces are harder to eat than others.

Scallop and Dried Scallop Fried Rice

This dish was shaped like a fish and topped with tobiko. You can even see the beans for eyes too. It’s was a decent fried rice but nothing stood out too much. They will also scoop this out into individual bowls for each guest too.

Complimentary Fruit

At the end of the meal, fruit comes to the table and it can be shaped like an animal for luck. This one was shaped like a fish I think with watermelon, honey dew and cantaloupe.

Complimentary Red Bean Soup

Next, was the red bean soup, which is very standard for dessert at Chinese restaurants. It seemed liked they used the Japanese Azuki beans to make this. It wasn’t too sweet and good enough. Not my personal favourite dessert since it’s so common.

Complimentary Birthday Buns

As we were celebrating my birthday, birthday buns arrived. It’s kinda a tradition and it’s good they provide these too. It’s freshly steamed and not too large. It is filled with lotus paste inside. After having 3 desserts essentially, we were pretty full by this point.

Final Thoughts

Overall, a lot of complimentary items arrived at the table, but the whole meal was still quite pricey. You get some good food and service, but it is more high end and expensive.

Address:
6200 River Rd #130, Richmond, BC

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No 1 Dumpling in Vancouver: Review

No 1 Dumpling is a new Chinese Restaurant near Broadway and Burrard specializing in all things dumplings. When I saw it, I needed to come check it out with some friends as we love discovering new hole in the wall restaurants especially when it involves dumplings.

Interior

The interior looks like a sushi restaurant, so I assume they only made minimal renovations prior to opening up. When you walk inside, you’ll see a brightly lit menu and a few tables in the front. There are larger tables in the back but the space isn’t very large. When we were here on the weekend, it seemed to get busier around 7pm.

Menu

Xiao Long Bao

The Xiao Long Bao comes with 8 pieces per ordered in a steamed basket. It was good but not as soupy as some other places in town. It wasn’t too salty and had a good flavour.

Spicy Soup Dumpling

The Spicy Soup Dumplings were really good. A good size to share among the table and there were a good amount of juicy dumplings inside. It has a decent spicy kick but it wasn’t too spicy at all.

Wonton Noodles

Wonton noodles were huge for what you pay for. Lots of noodles but the wontons could have been larger in size. It was pretty small so when you eat it with the noodles and veggies, it doesn’t stand out.

Peanut Butter Noodles

This peanut butter noodle is essentially dan dan noodles. It had a good amount of peanut flavour with a subtle spice behind it too.

Leek Pancake

The leek pancake is folded in half like a calzone and stuffed with leek and what seemed to be egg or tofu. They cut this up into 2 pieces so depending on how many people you are dining with, you may need more.

Green Onion and Egg Pancake

This is cut up into 4 pieces and had a good amount of egg and green onion inside. The exterior was crisp and delicious.

Guotie

These dumplings are pan fried and tasted good when you add some soy sauce, vinegar and chili oil to it.

Cucumber Salad

If you want some vegetables to balance out all the dumplings, the cucumber salad is good. It’s not marinated for a long time but it is delicious nonetheless.

Beef and Onion Dumpling, Steamed

They have a few varieties of dumplings but we chose the beef and onion dumpling and had them steamed. It comes with 12 pieces per order.

Chicken and Mushroom Dumpling, Pan Fried

This also has 12 pieces per order. The chicken and mushroom was really good and we found that having their dumplings pan-fried are the best as it adds texture to it.

Final Thoughts

The restaurant is homey and food is on point. The prices are also very fair. The downside is really the service as there is really one person taking care of the customers and 2 other people in the back preparing food when we were there. You really need to track the staff down to get water or tea refills, menu, bills and anything else. Don’t expect them to take any initiative of any kind to serve you.

Address:
1888 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.no1dumpling.com/

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Mama’s Dumpling and Coffee in Richmond: Review

Mama’s Dumpling and Coffee is located in South Richmond near a bunch of warehouses. You definitely wouldn’t expect this restaurant to be here, but it has gained quite a level of popularity recently for their delicious homey dumplings. I came here with a few friends on the weekday to check it out and see what everyone is raving about. It’s family-run and operated, so its a great business to support.

Interior

On the weekdays around noon, it wasn’t too busy just yet. It got busy closer to 12:30pm. We’re not exactly sure about on weekends, but we hear some of their dumplings can sell out.

Menu

Ordering

They accept cards, so we were happy it’s not cash only. Once you place your order and pay, you get this electronic device that will beep once your order is ready. As it wasn’t very busy, nor were we doing takeout, this didn’t do much for us as they delivered our order to our table.

Green Tea

We were tempted to get coffee, but it just didn’t seem like a match for Chinese dumplings, so we ordered hot green tea. They charge $1.90 per cup of tea.

Shanghai-style Fried Noodles

You get your choice of pork or chicken and we chose chicken. It was deliciously pan-fried with a good amount of char on some noodles. The noodles were a good texture.

Wontons in Spicy Chili Oil

There are 8 wontons to an order and the spicy chili oil is mixed with a sesame paste, so that was surprising as I didn’t expect that. Nonetheless, it was still delicious.

Shrimp, Egg and Chives Dumpling

You can get these in portions of 12, 16 or 20 pieces. We sent with 12 since it was just the 3 of using having lunch. They were really good! Delicious filling and the skin wasn’t too thick.

Nanxiang-Style Xiao Long Bao

Each order comes with 6 pieces. It’s hot and soupy in the centre, so be careful when eating it. You can pair it with soy sauce and vinegar on the side of the table.

Green Onion Pancake

The green onion pancake is cut up into 4 pieces. Super crisp on the exterior and has a good amount of green onion spread out.

Shanghai-Style Fried Pork Buns

When coming to Mama’s Dumpling and Coffee, a lot of people order their Shanghai-style Fried Pork Buns. It’s their most popular item and comes in 4 pieces. It can take up to 30 minutes to prepare, so they recommend pre-ordering the dish so you aren’t waiting a long time.

The dumplings are fluffy on top, crisp on the bottom and the inside is so savoury and soupy. Highly recommended.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I enjoyed the experience and all the dishes were very homey and hit the spot. For myself, the location is quite far for me to drive to and taking transit is a pain. If you’re in the area of South Richmond, definitely make a stop here.

Address:
103-11782 Hammersmith Way, Richmond, B

Website:
https://www.mamasdumpling.com/

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Pink Pearl: A Sustainable Cantonese Dinner

Pink Pearl Chinese Restaurant in Vancouver’s east end, has taken a major step in its sustainability journey – removing shark fin soup, a Chinese delicacy, from its menu – and highlighting the bounty of sustainable seafood options in classic, Cantonese cuisine.

To celebrate this milestone and the restaurant becoming an Ocean Wise Seafood partner, they hosted a banquet-style dinner featuring a delicious spread of sustainable seafood like steamed black cod, pan-fried clams and Dungeness crab, among other mouthwatering dishes.

Knowing where you food comes from and the impact on the environment is more important than ever as it impacts our health.

Pan Fried Clams in Black Bean Sauce

The pan fried clams were covered in black bean sauce and it was delicious. Make sure you get some rice to really soak up a that black bean sauce so it doesn’t go to waste.

Farmed shellfish like clams are some of the most sustainable seafood options widely available globally. These shellfish are grown in suspended rafts and beach farmed and are harvested by hand, hand rakes, or dredge worldwide.

Basa Fillet with Garlic and Roasted Pork Hot Pot

This dish has a combination of tofu, bok choy, mushrooms, garlic, roast pork and the basa fillet. Another delicious dish and the basa fillet was moist and went well with the sauce.

Conventionally farmed basa is not considered Ocean Wise. They are farmed in extremely high density ponds and as a result have a high risk and concern for disease and the spread of pathogens. As a result, chemical use is high.

In contrast, the basa served at Pink Pearl is from an Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certified farm raised in Vietnam. In order to be ASC certified, farms must adhere to standards set by ASC and are audited for compliance. This includes standards on minimizing disease, water pollution treatments and monitoring, criteria on the fish feed they are allowed to use, and minimizing impacts on the local ecosystem. ASC also has chain of custody which means that processors, distributors, or any supply chain company that handles an ASC-certified product can be certified throughout the supply chain to improve product traceability.

Oysters with Ginger and Green Onion Sizzling Hot Plate

These big fried oysters are massive and paired with aromatic of ginger, onion and green onion which is always a good pairing. The oyster is definitely a mouthful, so one piece is pretty hefty.

Similar to clams, shellfish are one of the most sutainable seafood options. As these species are filter feeders, they extract nutrients from the water and require no external feed inputs. In addition, chemicals are not used in the production and effluent is not a concern.

Steamed Black Cod in Preserved Vegetables

Steamed black cod with preserved veggies was well cooked too. Some people may not like the preserved veggies, but it add a tang of fermented taste to the dish. The cod was a good texture, but there were a good amount of bones so be careful.

Black cod/sablefish in BC is managed as part of a multi-species groundfish fishery using bottom longline and trawl fishing gear.The sablefish population in BC is considered healthy and fishing rate is stable. There is effective enforcement on the total allowable catch and where they are allowed to fish in order to avoid sensitive habitats.

All fishing boats have 100% at-sea, dockside, and observer coverage that records and accounts for each fish that comes on board a fishing vessel and makes it to land.

Dungeness Crab with Spicy Dry Garlic

The next dish was the highlight of the meal. It was our favourite item of the night, but then again, how can you resist a pile of dungeness crab? The exterior is deliciously seasoned and there was a good amount of meat inside.

Dungeness crab are caught by trap in BC and is considered a well-managed fishery that regulates legal catch limits based on size, sex, and season. They have a life cycle that makes them inherently low in vulnerability since they mature and reproduce at an early age, are quite reproductive and have a fairly short lifespan.

Bycatch concerns are considered low and the trap fishing gear has low impact on habitat since the trap is immobile once it’s dropped and does not drag along the sea floor.

Beef and Lettuce Fried Rice

To end off the meal, we had beef and lettuce fried rice to accompany the other dishes.

Final Thoughts

It’s great that another Cantonese Restaurant is getting the Ocean Wise certification as the clientele likes certain types of seafood like shark fin. The showcase of sustainable seafood for today’s meal tasted good and it takes a lot of effort to make the switch to ensure our oceans stay healthy without depleting the supply of seafood or causing additional harm to ourselves.

To find more about the Ocean Wise program, check out  seafood.ocean.org.

Address:
1132 E Hastings St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.pinkpearl.com/

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Shine Valley Lamb Soup: Chinese Lamb Soup, Dumplings, and Skewers in Richmond

Shine Valley Lamb Soup is located in Richmond and they specialize in exactly what their name suggests – lamb soup. I met up with a few friends and headed here for lunch as we heard it was good. They started in 2014 in a food court stall and since it was so successful, they decided to move into a storefront. Their more popular items are Chinese lamb soup, dumplings, and skewers.

If you’re a fan of lamb, you’ll like this place.

The restaurant is located on the second floor, you can take the stairs of elevator to get there.

Interior

The interior is large with lots of tables for small to large groups. The look is very rustic and feels like you’re transported back in time.

Menu

Lamb Soup with noodles and liver

We got the large size to share. The broth was really delicious and the noodles were cooked perfectly. We really enjoyed it. You can tell the noodles are hand made and the whole dish has a very homey feel and taste. Highly recommended.

Eggplant with Sweet and Sour Sauce

This is also one of their specialties. It was surprisingly good. Very savory and not too sour.

Green Onion and Ham Cake

The bun was very flakey and stuffed with a good amount of green onion and ham scattered inside. It’s easily sharable if you don’t want to have the whole thing. You can dab this in eggplant’s sweet and sour sauce too.

Grilled Chicken Gizzard

Chicken gizzard is the thick part of a chicken’s stomach that grinds the food. It’s very muscular and has a crunchy texture. We got this in mild spice level.

There is a minimum order of 5 pieces.

Lamb Skewer

You have to come here for the lamb skewers, we got these with medium spice level. There is a minimum order of 5 pieces.

Lamb Meat Stuffed Dumpling

The dumplings were boiled and can be eaten with vinegar and chili oil. Very delicious too. Simple and just like what you would get at home. It’s a nice change.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the food was delicious and had a homey taste to it. Not too salty at all. If you’re a lamb lover, you’ll enjoy their signature dishes. I would definitely go again.

If you want to pay with card, you have to pay the whole bill. If you want to split the bill, it all needs to be paid in cash. Fair enough, but just so you know.

Address:
4653 Garden City Rd #2215, Richmond, BC

Website:
https://www.shinevalleylambsoup.com/

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In Bubble Tea

Exposure Social House 曝光奶茶: Bubble Tea in Richmond

Exposure Social House is one of the newer bubble tea shops that opened in Richmond. They are also an event space and hiphop culture event centre. When I was in Richmond, my friend told me about this place, so we headed out to give it a try. They pride themselves of using real ingredients like Avalon Milk.

The parking is a bit tough during the day as there are a lot of other popular restaurants and a grocery store in this plaza. You may need some patience when navigating this area.

Interior

The interior is small as they only have seating capacity of 10. Most people come grab their bubble tea to go.

Mostly standing room, 3 tables, a washroom and a retail area at the back of the shop.

There’s also a lot of little figurines to look at all. This place sure has character.

Menu

Devil’s Fresh Milk

Devil’s Fresh Milk is essentially brown sugar milk tea using Avalon milk. It’s the most trendiest bubble tea drink lately and has taken Asia by storm too. You can get this at set times during the day and may sell out.

Japanese Roasted Milk Tea

Japanese Roasted Milk Tea with pearls was my friend’s choice. The tea is fragrant and tastes pretty good. A classic item to order.

Supreme Milk Tea

I went for the Supreme Milk Tea which comes with a base of pudding an pearls. You can choose your tea, which can be JX Light Oolong, Earl Grey, Assam, Spring Green Tea, Jasmine or Gyukuro. I went with Assam tea for mine. I also got it 50% sweet and less ice. It was pretty good and I enjoyed the combination of pudding and pearl toppings.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s good to have more diversity of bubble teas in Vancouver. Any opportunity to customize is great too. On the menu, there is a little bit of everything. They can also make your bubble tea with almond milk, soy milk, ice cream or yogurt.

Address:
131-4600 No. 3 Road
Richmond, BC V6X 3V7

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Old Xian’s Food: Now Open on Robson Street

Old Xian’s Food finally opened another location in Metro Vancouver. There are other locations in Richmond, Burnaby and Vancouver on Kingsway. Best known for their biang biang noodles that are soooo long and thick that you can’t help but take a photo of it. Besides that pork sandwiches and cold noodles are classic items.

I came here after work with M as it was only a few blocks away from his work and I was also craving noodles.

Interior

The space is a decent size and is best for groups of 4s. As it hasn’t been open for very long, the place wasn’t too busy around dinner time.

Menu

Xian Cold Noodle

The Xian cold noodles are a classic and one of the most popular dishes from that region. It is served cold with vinegar, chili oil, noodles, cucumbers and gluten. You give this dish a good mix so you get some of their delicious sauce coating the noodles. You can get this in a variety of spice levels, but I went with medium spiciness.

It wasn’t too spicy at all and barely registered any spiciness at all. There was a stronger vinegar taste to the sauce instead.

Brasied Beef with Biang Biang Noodles

Biang Biang Noodles are wide and very long. We went with braised beef and there was a good amount of beef and cabbage to the dish. It was delicious and a hearty meal.

Stewed Pork Burger

The stewed pork burger could have used some more work. It seems like when the added in the stewed pork, there was a lot of sauce, so half of the bun was soaked and hard to handle. There was pickled veggies missing too.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the noodles were the star of Old Xian’s Food. The spice level isn’t very spice, so you don’t have to sweat it. Most prices are $10 and under, which is nice for the area.

Address:
1517 Robson St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://oldxiansfood.ca/

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In Cafe

Hui Lau Shan: Now Open in Downtown Vancouver

It was late at night and my friends and I stumbled upon Hui Lau Shan open on Denman Street close to Robson Street. I have been anticipating their opening for a while as the first location in Kerrisdale is a bit far for me to get to.

Hui Lau Shan is a Hong Kong dessert maker that specializes in Mango desserts. If you’ve been to Hong Kong, it’s the place to cool off during the hot Summer with their mango drinks. They look like they are slowly expanding in Metro Vancouver with the next location inside the T&T Supermarket in Richmond.

Interior

The space is a decent size with a few tables for groups of 4ish. There seemed to be some people doing take out and some staying inside to eat and chit chat. My friends decided to stay a bit and enjoy the desserts while chit chatting.

After you put in your order, you get an electronic device that will signal you when your order is ready.

Menu 

Mango Romance

This is a popular item as it’s essentially a taster of 3 different dishes – mango pomelo sago, mango mochi and mango chewy ball. It’s full of mango goodness.

Mango Pomelo Sago

A classic item with mango puree, tapioca, mango pieces, and pomelo. You can devour this all yourself or share with a friend.

Final Thoughts

We got the 2 most popular items on the menu and it really took us back to Hong Kong. The mangoes were perfectly ripe with the right amount of tartness and sweetness. The size of the overall desserts could be a bit bigger for what you pay for but given the rising costs in Vancouver like rent, labour, and food costs, I can see why they charge higher prices in comparison to places in Asia.

The taste itself was good, but presentation could be a bit better as the mango chunks were hastily cut. It took then a while to create the desserts but given that it was their first day, they have some kinks to work out before they have their grand opening.

Nonetheless, they are in Vancouver and gives us more dessert options in Downtown Vancouver.

Address:
907 Denman St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.hlsvancouver.com/

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Hon’s Wonton House: Olympic Village new menu

We’ve already visited and reviewed Hon’s new Olympic Village location. We went back when they invited us to the media event and introduced their updated menu. We also learned that a new location will soon open near the Commercial and Broadway area.

The new menu

Hon’s Wonton is adding a few more items to their menu. New ingredients include bbq pork, curry sauce, and “vegetable bites” (seitan). The update includes:

BBQ Pork on Rice

The meat is tasty and had good caramelization, but the sauce is very salty. I would try to ask for the sauce on the side so you can control the amount.

Curry Beef Brisket On Rice

This dish is simple and tastes exactly what you would make at home. It’s a good option if you’re way too tired after work to make a hearty meal.

Sweet & Sour Veggie Bites on Rice

The sweet and sour sauce is good, but I expected the seitan to be crispy since it’s deep-fried before covered in sauce. Fun fact: Hon’s is the largest supplier of seitan in North America.

Same taste, new approach

We learned at the media event that the menu was created with the belief that restaurants must adapt and change to remain relevant. To cater to modern patrons, Hon’s seafood ingredients are Oceanwise and their beef is Canadian AAA. Additionally, they have a vegan option featuring seitan as the protein.

Final thoughts

Hon’s differentiates itself from the typical Chinese restaurant by offering a streamlined menu. I was very pleased to learn that they are using sustainable seafood and quality Canadian beef. It was also a nice surprise that they offer a vegan option.

We have to mention that the taste and quality in the food offered during the media event differs from our experience when we visit Hon’s on a normal day. The pork potstickers we tasted at the event was crispy, whereas our previous experience was not. Operational consistency is a challenge for many restaurants and I hope that Hon’s can regularly make their signature items the same, for each and every visit.

Address:
25 E 2nd Avenue, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.honswontonhouse.com/

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In Cafe

Miss Lina Crepe Cakes: Pastries and Drinks in Richmond

Miss Lina Crepe Cakes in Richmond is another new addition to Alexandra Road for desserts. There have been a few dessert shops in Metro Vancouver opening up that specialize in Crepe Cakes, so it’s interesting to see the demand for them. They also have a liquor license if you want a boozy drink to go with your sweet treats.

We came here specifically for the crepe cakes but they do have other items on the menu like Afternoon Tea.

Interior

The interior is nice and has lots of tables for small to large groups. They try to make the decor look luxurious with the simple and light colours.

Menu

Matcha Crepe Cake

Matcha crepe cake is a classic flavour with 25 layers of matcha creme and crepes. It’s definitely a labour of love to create, but delicious to devour. Matcha is generally bitter, so you will have to like matcha to fully enjoy the balance of sweet and bitter tastes.

Earl Grey Crepe Cake

Earl Grey tea is infused into this crepe cake with a good balance where the earl grey shines through and overall isn’t too sweet. Pair it with some tea and it hits the spot.

Taro Crepe Cake

Have you heard of taro crepe cake yet? It’s a pretty great combination that I don’t see that often. If you are a taro fan, you’ll enjoy this. The natural colour of the taro shines through and it’s very good.

Final Thoughts

The crepe cakes that we tried were very delicious and delicate but can be pricey as you are paying over $12 per slice. Even their rainbow crepe cake has a price tag of $16. Definitely not an everyday indulgence.

Address:
1200-8580 Alexandra Rd, Richmond

Website:
https://www.misslinacrepecakes.com/

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In Cafe

SweetHoney Dessert: Now Open in Richmond

SweetHoney Dessert is a new Hong Kong style dessert restaurant in Richmond. It’s tucked away in a small plaza near Aberdeen Mall. They serve many hot and cold soup based dessert items.

SweetHoney Dessert takes pride in preparing all ingredients in-house daily. They let us know that they don’t use powdered additives, instead they grind the raw ingredients in their kitchen. This extra step makes a difference in taste, texture, and quality. The morning is spent doing prep, then they open at 3:00pm until 12:00am everyday.

SweetHoney Dessert Richmond is part of a franchise that have over 600 locations in China, over a dozen in California, and now its first location in Canada.

Interior

The interior is cute, well lit, and welcoming. It’s a large space with plenty of comfortable seating. As part of a franchise, the look and feel is consistent with other locations throughout North America.

Mango, Strawberry, and Durian Pancakes

SweetHoney Pancakes is fruit and fresh cream wrapped in surprisingly thin crepe. The wrap is so delicate, there is one dedicated staff trained to make them.

We tried mango, strawberry, and durian. My favourite was the strawberry, which had sesame flecks on its wrapper and provided a flavour contrast.

Durian and Thai Black Glutinous Rice

Fresh durian and black glutinous rice ball are served on vanilla “frost”. Frost is a semi-sweet sauce that is half liquid, half very finely shaved ice. It looks liquid but retains a slushy texture as you eat it. The durian is flown in from Thailand.

Mango with Grass Jelly in Vanilla Frost

This is one of their most popular items. It’s served with a generous amount of fresh, ripe mango. The grass jelly and their signature vanilla frost is a great combination.

Mango Pomelo Sago Tofu Pudding

These are all ingredients that I know and love together. SweetHoney makes its own tofu in-house, which was very delicate and semi-sweet. The pomelo bits were a burst of flavour. It’s cool, refreshing, and is easily my favourite item on their menu.

Sesame and Almond Soup with Glutinous Rice Balls

SweetHoney also serve warm dessert options. They toast, grind, and make all the ingredients in this dish within their kitchen. It’s tasty, comforting, and would be a perfect cold, weather treat when fall arrives.

Final Thoughts

I visited during the heatwave and the cold desserts were a perfect way to cool down. The fruits were all very fresh and juicy.

Fair warning: the portions are large, and because the warm soup can be quite filling, make sure to bring a friend or two. Treat it like dimsum, more people means more options!

SweetHoney Richmond is slightly difficult to find because of the parking lot layout, but it’s worth visiting. They offer so many ingredient variations and options, that everyone can find something they will like.

Address:
160 4200 No 3 Rd, Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.sweethoneydessert.com/

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Hon’s Wonton House: Same Old Taste, Brand New Decor

Hon’s Wonton House is the rebirth of the Hon’s empire with their newest location on 2nd near Olympic Village. Hon’s has been around since 1972 and was a popular Chinese wonton house in the Lower Mainland. As our palates have evolved and the rise of other noodle shops has since given them stiff competition, they have seen better days.

With this new location, their look has been revamped to fit the neighbourhood. I was really curious how the food would compare this time.

Interior

All the seating are in tables of 4s and reminded us of seating in street markets back in Asia. You will see wooden panelling, black furniture, stone bricks and off white paint.

Their kitchen is in full view so you can see how they make your meal. No secrets and it’s all exposed, which is nice to see all the staff hard at work.

Menu

The menu is condensed and features customer favourites like potstickers, rice rolls, wonton soup, and beef brisket. The prices are affordable with fishes ranging from $5 to $11.

Pork Potstickers

For $5, you get 6 pieces of their classic pork potstickers paired with ginger and the potsticker vinegar. All the dumplings seemed like they were boiled or steamed. It would have been nice to have a pan fried version of theses to have more texture.

Wonton Noodle Soup

I got the wonton noodle soup with thin noodles and prawn wonton. There was a lot of noodles in each bowl, so you’ll definitely fill up on that. There were 6 pieces of wontons in this dish and tasted ok. They kept the standard the same and consistent  for all these years and I saw that they were using their prepackaged Hon’s wontons, which isn’t surprising.

One thing I didn’t like was the slightly sweet broth for the dish.

Beef Brisket Wonton Noodle Soup

The most expensive item on the menu is this beef brisket wonton noodle soup. It has the same broth as the wonton noodle soup, so it does have a sweet after taste. You get 3 shrimp wontons, lots of noodles, garlic chips, a scoop of the beef brisket, and veggies.

It looks great but the taste was lacklustre. The beef brisket was tough and chewy.

Final Thoughts

The new space is nice, but the food has definitely been stuck in the olden days. The broth was the most problematic for me as I personally prefer it to be saltier than sweeter.

The price range is great for the area and they are able to pump out bowls of food quite quickly, so they have a good rhythm going if they get busy. I really wanted to like the food, but it didn’t hit the mark. Felt like corners were cut so they can’t really create a good bowl of wonton noodle soup. There’s definitely better options around town, but if you like the nostalgia of Hon’s, you can give it a try.

Address:
25 E 2nd Avenue, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.honswontonhouse.com/

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[Sneak Peek] Vitasoy Summer Dessert Collaboration with 720 Sweets

Are you a Vitasoy fan? Growing up, we have always had this treat in our household since I can remember. It’s very nostalgic and Vitasoy is partnering up with 4 dessert shops in NYC, LA, Vancouver, and Toronto this Summer. Together, they will be bringing you unique summer Vitasoy desserts from June 30th to August 19, 2018. Some dates do vary.

These are the locations revealed so far:

  • Vancouver – 720 Sweets (July 7 to Aug 5)
  • New York – New Territories (June 30 to July 29)
  • Los Angles – ?
  • Toronto- Matcha Tea and Dessert (July 14 – Aug 12)

As I am in Vancouver, we were given a sneak peek of the Vitasoy x 720 Sweets collaboration prior to the launch, so lets see what you can expect on July 7th.

720 Sweets: Vancouver

720 Sweets have been known for their whimsical soft serve that was an instant hit when it open many years ago and has since opened various locations across the Lower Mainland. Their desserts are always stunning and the dry ice effect make it very photogenic.

The Special Vitasoy Creations

There are two options to choose from – Soy Good! and Oh Malt Goodness! Both are made with the 2 classic Vitasoy flavours – Original and Malt. They are so pun worthy with the naming of their desserts.

Soy Good!

A soy-milk soft serve with cornflakes, red bean, chocolate stick and condensed milk drizzle.

Oh Malt Goodness!

A malt soy-milk soft serve with maltesers, crushed almonds, Pepero sticks and caramel drizzle.

Behind the Scenes

The magic happens in their open kitchen where you can see the desserts being made. You have original soft serve on one side and then malt on the other. Once they pour in the delicious soft serve into the cups, it’s time for all the toppings.

Soy Good!

This soy-milk soft serve is topped with crushed up cornflakes, red bean, a chocolate stick and condensed milk drizzle. The Vitasoy is very subtle, but one it hits your tongue, it will bring you back to your childhood. Of the two, this was my favourite. The cornflakes were a nice touch to add texture and crunch.

Oh Malt Goodness!

This has malt soy-milk soft serve with maltesers, crushed almonds, Pepero sticks and caramel drizzle. Similar in look with the dreamy dry ice effect. The malt soy milk isn’t as strong in the soft serve, so you really need to concentrate to connect the flavours. Toppings complimented well and wasn’t too sweet.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the desserts were fun and it’s a great collaboration. With the subtle flavours of the soy milks, they did a good job incorporating the flavours and pairing with the toppings. If you’re a huge Vitasoy fan, you won’t want to miss this as it won’t be available for too long.

Also, from July 16 -22, 720 Sweets has a promo where if you purchase their Vitasoy creations, you can buy a 6-pack of Vitasoy for $1. Great deal!

Address:
3278 West Broadway, Vancouver

Website:
http://720sweets.com/

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