Category

South Burnaby

Category

  is a classic musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It’s been brought back to Michael J Fox Theatre from November 3 – 18 by Align Entertainment Inc.. The story, set in ancient Egypt, is based on the rags to riches journey of Joseph, his eleven brothers, and his “coat of many colors” from the Bible.

The show features a full orchestra, sets, costumes and stars: Stuart Barkley (The Drowsy Chaperone) returning in the lead role of Joseph, with Katie-Rose Connors (Cabaret, Rocky Horror Show) as the Narrator, Justin Lapena (Pharoah), Robin Sukurokoff (Jacob), Brennan Cuff(Potihar), and Erin Matchette (Mrs. Potihar).

The Biblical saga of Joseph and his coat of many colors comes to vibrant life in this delightful musical parable. Joseph, his father’s favorite son, is a boy blessed with prophetic dreams. When he is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and taken to Egypt, Joseph endures a series of adventures in which his spirit and humanity are continually challenged.

He is purchased by Potiphar where thwarting advances from Potiphar’s wife lands him in jail. When news of Joseph’s gift to interpret dreams reaches the Pharaoh, Joseph is well on his way to becoming second in command. Eventually his brothers, having suffered greatly, unknowingly find themselves groveling at the feet of the brother they betrayed but no longer recognize.

After testing their integrity, Joseph reveals himself leading to a heartfelt reconciliation of the sons of Israel. Set to an engaging cornucopia of musical styles, from country-western and calypso to bubble-gum pop and rock ‘n’ roll, this Old Testament tale emerges both timely and timeless.

I couldn’t remember this story, but my husband remembered every detail, so it was interesting to see our different interpretations of seeing the story unfold. I really loved Align Entertainments injection of pop cultural references and symbols of the Lower Mainland that we know very well. We both love musicals and enjoyed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Tickets are very affordable and the show is family friendly, so if you are looking for something to see in the next few weeks, definitely consider this.

We would consider watching it again, but Align Entertainment is working on Legally Blonde and A Christmas Story, which we are also excited to see.

Address:
7373 MacPherson Ave, Burnaby

Website:
http://alignentertainment.ca/

Deer Garden Signatures has been expanding in the last few months with 5 locations in total. Their Burnaby location is on Sperling and Kingsway. They took over the location of Pearl House Restaurant. I came on the weekend for lunch and it wasn’t as busy as their Vancouver location, so that was great for us.

Interior

There are a few booth-style seating for larger parties, but there is also smaller tables for those with 2 or 4 people. The space isn’t too large but they can still seat a good amount of people here.

Menu

You order your meal using the form provided to you. You can customize your noodles anyway you like. I’ve also noticed prices have gone up since my last visit back in 2014 by a few dollars.

Milk Tea

Whether you have cold or hot milk tea, you still gotta get it. M got the cold house special milk tea and I got the regular cold milk tea. Both were really good.

Laksa Noodles

This is the laksa soup base with beef brisket, beef balls and egg noodles. M loved it and he was able to eat this entire bowl, which is massive.

Coriander and Century Egg Soup Noodles

The coriander and century egg broth is one of my personal favourites. It has a very comforting taste and I had it with beef brisket, fish balls and thick rice noodles. So good! I wasn’t able to finish all the noodles but I tried my very best. Most people end up getting their remainder to go.

Pan Fried Boneless Chicken with Teriyaki Sauce

This chicken was delicious! The skin was crisp and the meat was very moist.

Desert Wings with Ginger

There are 3 pieces to an order and I also love this item too. Very crisp and the ginger is subtle. Pairs so well with soupy noodles.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s a great additional to the neighbourhood. It’s the same ol’ delicious noodles, so they have kept the quality consistent. I’ll be back for more.

We Rate Deer Garden Signatures

Address:
7150 Sperling Avenue, Burnaby

Website:
http://deergarden.ca/

Deer Garden Signatures Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

MYST Asian Fusion just opened in Burnaby and they are serving up many different kinds of Asian cuisine. We were invited for a tasting of their menu to see what they offer. There is a parking lot but it can be quite full at peak hours, but there is free street parking too.

The restaurant is a bit hidden but just look out for the bright blue sign.

Interior

They have lots of seating inside with booth style configurations. This location took over Lester’s Arcade, so they really did a lot of renovations to get this look.

Drinks

Taiwanese Beer

They have a selection of Taiwanese Beer on the menu. It’s sweeter than the average beer and infused with fruity flavours.

Uchikinoki ice cream smoothie

A green tea drink with ice cream, mochi and red bean.

Slushies

They have huge slushies with marshmallow and chocolate eyeballs. This particular one was green apple flavour.

Pea Flower Tea

They have a series of pea flower tea, which have been quite popular among bubble tea shops around town. These 2 particular drinks were Calpis butterfly pea flower tea and the Strawberry lemon butterfly pea flower tea.

Potted Milk Tea

The milk tea base to topped with a cookie crumble and a green leaf. it was a really cool concept, but I didn’t like the gritty texture of the cookie crumble.

Takoyaki

It comes with 6 pieces and has a piece of cooked octopus inside. It is topped with mayo, teriyaki sauce, and shredded seaweed. It was interesting to see this on the menu, but tasted decent.

Fried green beans with minced pork

It has a good portion size for a table to share this. It had a nice caramelization from the hot pan. It was good.

Steamed sticky rice dumplings

7 pieces to an order in a steamed bamboo basket. The wrapper is filled with all the delicious sticky rice. It was an interesting dish but it was too carb heavy for my personal liking.

Skewers

They have a large variety of skewers on the menu. They were all pretty meh I would have wanted more char for added flavour.

  • Pork intestine
  • Lamb
  • Pork
  • Chicken
  • Fish cake
  • Chicken gizzard

Japanese style egg fried rice

There is a good amount of seafood in the fried rice and it’s topped with a fried egg, seaweed and mayo. My kind of comfort food.

Golden sand prawns with salted egg yolk sauce

Very delicious and the egg yolk crust is so addictive. I peeled the head off and at the rest with the shell on. Some people hate it with the shell but I oddly like it with the crunchy texture.

Chives & shrimp spring rolls

Mediocre spring rolls and nothing was special about them.

Pan fried beef pancake

The green onion pancake is rolled with beef, green onions and some sauce. 4 pieces some in an order and they are big pieces.

House special spicy lamb hot pot

This was my favourite dish of the evening. It is lit underneath with some fire to keep it nice and hot as you eat the meal. It is served with rice and 2 side dishes.

The hot pot was packed full of ingredients like spam, tofu, fish cake, bean curd, and imitation crab.

Deep fried ginger flavour chicken whole wings

This is their large order and each wing was perfectly fried. The exterior was crisp and golden brown.

Fried chicken in chili pepper

The pieces had a lot of bones so it wasn’t as enjoyable to eat. Meh.

Sandwiches

The sandwiches are pretty basic. Egg, tomato, ham and cucumber are inside the slices of white bread.

Chives, shrimp & pork dumplings

Pretty decent for dumplings and there is 10 pieces to the order and some sauce on the side.

Taiwanese style fried rice vermicelli

Soft vermicelli noodles with some veggies and meat mixed throughout.

Assorted deep fried basket

This basked had squid tentacles, salt and peppery chicken, blood sausage, and other deep fried items.

MYST beef noodle soup

Inside, we added beef shank, tripe, and tendon. It was decent and filling.

Marinated 3 item combo

This had dried tofu, seaweed and pork ear string. It was served cold on this dish and we slowly picked at it.

TaiNan style egg noodle soup

This was an ok dish but it didn’t compare to the other soupy dishes on the menu.

Myst deluxe marinated pork with rice

This dish had a lot of ingredients in it. Just mix it all together and enjoy.

Preserved cabbage with shredded pork fried rice cake

It was a good dish for sharing around the table. The chewy rice cakes with the preserved cabbage and pork were a nice combination.

Hakka style sweet rice cake

Nope. The dates gave it an odd bitter preserved flavour to the dish. No one likes it, but maybe you have to have an acquired taste.

Myst Jelly

This is a Winter Melon Jelly and has a consistency of a harder jello. It was very sweet and I didn’t really like this either.

Shaved Snowflake

They have this in either strawberry or mango flavours. We got the strawberry version and it sit on top of dry ice that makes the fog underneath. The strawberry shaved ice and the ice cream have a sweet artificial taste to it, kinda like Pocky. The strawberry slices were fresh.

Myst Taiyaki

The taiyaki sits in a ice cream cone bowl, matcha ice cream, mochi, red bean sauce, chocolate drizzle and a chocolate wafer stick. It was a dessert fit for a kid.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the food was so-so, but there is quite a variety that you’ll find something to enjoy. My favourite were the House special spicy lamb hot pot, deep fried chicken wings, and the golden sand prawns with salted egg yolk sauce.

We Rate MYST

Address:
6400 Kingsway, Burnaby

Website:
http://www.myst6400.com/

Myst Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

720 Sweets is a popular shop serving up soft serve ice cream, drinks, and other treats. They have opened up their newest location inside T&T Supermarket at Metropolis at Metrotown. They have plans to open at every T&T Supermarket in the country, and the opening of its first supermarket location in Burnaby marks the beginning of their long expansion.

Their other locations are a bit too far away from me to make a regular trip, so having this location here is very convenient.

The menu is limited to 2 of their flavours – Milk Tea and Green Tea. Both very popular flavours and their top sellers.

There are 4 different soft serve ice cream combinations:

  • Milk’ee – Chocolate stick, almonds, caramel boba, and caramel sauce
  • Milk’ee Way – almond waffle, almonds, caramel popcorn, and caramel sauce
  • Matcha Madness – mochi, red bean, rice krispies, and condensed milk
  • Matcha Kinako – korean rice cake, roasted soy bean powder, pocky and condensed milk

When I went there, the space was small and had only one person working there. The line up was long, but he was able to pump them out at a decent pace.

I went with the Matcha Madness and it came in a cute santa cup. Inside the cup is dry ice and water to create a nice steam coming from inside the cup. A super cool effect that has drawn a lot of people to take photos of this beautiful treat.

I enjoyed the combination of the mochi, red bean, rice krispies, and condensed milk. It wasn’t too sweet and it was a nice treat at the end of lunch to share with family.

Overall, the same delicious treat and convenient location. Since the malls have tons of seats, you can either walk around or find a place to park yourself. The only downside about this location is the limited flavours.

We Rate 720 Sweets

Address:
Metropolis at Mterotown inside T&T Supermarket

Website:
http://720sweets.com/

720 Sweets Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

bourbon-st-grill-1

Bourbon St Grill just open at Metropolis at Metrotown and it’s slowly become M’s favourite food court place to eat at. Their menu is pretty interesting as it’s Americanized food but with a cajun twist. It’s like Manchu Wok but more variety in flavours. The few times that we’ve been here, there was a line up but it moves really quickly.

You can also find them at other malls across Metro Vancouver.

bourbon-st-grill-2

I got a plate with green beans, BBQ pork, battered chicken and cajun rice. A good portion for 3 item and rice. As for food court food, it was pretty average, but you get your moneys worth.

We Rate Bourbon St Grill3rated

Address:
4700 Kingsway
Burnaby

Website:
https://metropolisatmetrotown.com/stores/bourbon-st-grill/

Bourbon St. Grill Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-1

Liu Yi Shou Hot Pot Restaurant is a new hot pot restaurant in South Burnaby on Kingsway. They are a chain restaurant from China quickly expanding in Vancouver.

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-2

They have over 600 restaurants in China. They have 2 more locations on Robson Street and in Richmond. What is unique about their menu compared to their other locations is their pan fried hot pots.

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-3

I was invited by the Chopstick Fest, a Chinese Cuisine Festival happening in October later this year to try out a few of their signature dishes.

Interior

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-4

The interior is nice and has lot of seating. Depending on your group size, the seating can be quite squishy. For us, we had a group of 7 and it was very tight. We also found that for a hot pot place, there wasn’t very good ventilation.

All of us smelled quite intensely of hot pot afterwards.

Pan Fried Hot Pots

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-9

We started with the Pan Fried Crab with ginger onion and short rib soup in the centre. Apparently, you eat the items in the outer rings and then drink the soup in the centre.

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-10

The crab was hard to pick at since there were no metal seafood crackers. The taste of the soup was very nice.

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-6

The second pot we got was Pan fried fish and sauteed beef  in a hot and spicy soup.

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-7

This pot had a lot more flavour. The sauteed beef went really well with the hot and spicy soup and spices.

Hot Pot

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-14

More spicy soup base is added to the pot. I thought this was pretty strange since the broth would be super oily from the pan fried ingredients originally in the pot. This was definitely a unique experience. We assumed we would get a new pot to switch over but it seemed like it wasn’t the case.

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-16

The spicy soup base has quite a kick to it. I always find that spicy is good for cooking meat. It’s a great match to have beef and a good amount of heat.

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-15

More of the short rib broth was added to our non spicy hot to cook some meat, veggies, seafood and other items.

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-13

To accompany both hot pots, all the extra items are a la carte. So, it’s not all you can eat.

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-18

Some of my favourite items were the frozen tofu, quail eggs, and veggies.

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-19

Some items were felt were not very fresh like the shrimp. Also the diced beef had bits of shell inside it.

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-17

Other menu items

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-12

Deep fried buns with condensed milk comes with 6 pieces of buns. Crisp on the outside and I like how there were 2 slits on the top so you can get some condensed milk in the cracks.

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-11

Green onion pancake was not good at all. It was only and didn’t have a lot of green onion taste to it. Mostly dough.

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-8

Yang chow fried rice was good and an easy item to share with the group.

liu-yi-shou-hot-pot-5

Fresh young coconut was great for the meal as it quelled the heat from the spicy hot pot.

Overall, we felt like the items were a hit and miss. We also didn’t like how they added the broth into the pan fried hot pot as it made it super oily when we were doing the regular hot pot.

We rate Liu Yi Shou Hot Pot Restaurant25rating

Address:
5507 Kingsway, Burnaby BC

Liu Yi Shou HotPot Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

szechuan-cuisine-1

Chuan Chu Ren Jia is a Szechuan restaurant in South Burnaby on Kingsway. I’ve passed by this place so many times, but have never made a visit until now.

I was invited by the Chopstick Fest, a Chinese Cuisine Festival happening in October later this year to try out a few of their signature dishes.

Interior

szechuan-cuisine-12

The interior is pretty basic with Chinese decor and a few tables. It was pretty packed at dinner time and seems to be a local favourite.

They have large tables available for big groups, but just call ahead of time to make reservations.

szechuan-cuisine-11

Soup

szechuan-cuisine-7

Seaweed Spare rib soup was good and tasted pretty nutritious. This is the large size that 6 of us shared.

Appetizer

szechuan-cuisine-4

Sautéed Free Range Chicken with Chili was pretty good. Very flavourful and not too spicy. Try avoid eating the red chilis as those have a kick kick of spice to them.

szechuan-cuisine-3

Clear Noodles in Chili Sauce was pretty hard to pick up with chopsticks and forks. The noodles pick up most of the flavour from the sauce and the noodles themselves are tasteless.

Entree

szechuan-cuisine-6

Kung Pao Chicken is cooked with chilis, green/red pepper, peanuts and a delicious sauce. The chicken is tender and very flavourful. A good amount of spice to this dish, but it isn’t too intense.

szechuan-cuisine-2

Sauteed Pork with Chili pepper also has shaved jalapeños. It’s spicy, but I enjoyed the flavours.

szechuan-cuisine-5

Grilled Lamb with Cumin was very good. It reminded me of lamb skewers from other restaurants. I gobbled this plate right up.

szechuan-cuisine-8

Braised fish with hot sauce was the most spicy dish of the evening. The fish still had bones on it, so it was a bit difficult to pick out the bones. You definitely want to get a side of rice to go with this dish so it absorbs the hot sauce.

szechuan-cuisine-9

Overall, it was a pretty good dinner and the dishes were all delicious in their own way. If you love spicy food, you’ll enjoy this place. I would definitely come back again.

szechuan-cuisine-10

We rate Chuan Chu Ren Jia4rated

Address:
6408 Kingsway, Burnaby

Szechuan Cuisine Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

cora-1

Cora has finally opened up in South Burnaby, so now I can stop driving a long distance to have some delicious brunch here.

We came with a friend for a quick brunch and just indulge in all their fruit. I’ve been to various Cora locations through out Canada and it’s a place that people have to go at least once.

Interior

cora-2

On the weekend it was packed but we only waiting about 10 minutes for a table of 3. The decorations in here is consistent with the other locations with the yellow walls.

Menu

cora-3

A lot of people come for the fresh fruit and the breakfast items. They also have a gluten-free menu, which is great for those with dietary restrictions.

cora-4

Drinks

cora-5

Kale-Mango Smoothie is what the server recommended. It is topped with a strawberry and has kale and grapes on the plate below. The grapes were a bit dirty, so we had to clean it more before we ate them.

We also got coffee, but I forgot to take a picture of it. Non stop refills too!

Breakfast items

cora-7

Jo Construction has 3 eggs, 3 sausages and 3 strips of bacon served with roasted potatoes and your choice of toast. There’s a bit of fruit on the side too.

cora-8

10 Star Omelette has bacon, ham, sausages, frankfurters, bologna, spinach, green onions, tomatoes, onions, red and green peppers, mushrooms and Cheddar cheese. Served with toast and your choice of fresh fruit or tomatoes. M got fruit for his side.

cora-9

Buckwheat blessing is the one item I always get. It comes with 3 sausages and Cheddar cheese rolled in a blanket of buckwheat and sorghum crêpes and served with fresh fruit. I love the balance of the savoury sausages and the refreshing taste of the fruits.

cora-6

For all the toast we got, there was also jam and peanut butter that came along with it.

Overall, Cora is a solid place to get brunch with friends or family. The food isn’t outstanding, but all that fruit is pretty fabulous.

We Rate Cora3rated

Address:
7155 Kingsway, Unit 142
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.chezcora.com/

Cora Breakfast and Lunch Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

shiny-tea-2

Shiny Tea is a new Bubble Tea shop established in Taiwan back in 2005 and have now opened their second location in Canada inside Crystal Mall in South Burnaby. They have over 360 shops around the world in countries such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Macao, Australia, and most recently, in L.A. and New York.

Their other location is in Richmond, but since I live in Burnaby, this location is more convenient for me to visit.

shiny-tea-1

White Pearl Tea (Original) has Taiwan-style milk tea with sweet potato balls. It got it in a large size and half sweet. Even at the original sweetness, it isn’t very sweet at all. So, having it half sweet was pretty bland. I also noticed the tea taste wasn’t strong at all, it was mostly a milk taste. Even at 50% sweetness, I should be able to taste more of the tea flavour.

shiny-tea-3

Panda Milk Tea is a small size was what Amy ordered. She wasn’t impressed with the drink either.

Overall, we both didn’t like the drink. With so much competition for Bubble Tea in Burnaby and Vancouver, this doesn’t hit the mark. Its very bland and doesn’t have much tea flavour, plus the pearls were not cooked well. I wouldn’t come back.

We rate Shiny Tea2rating

Address:
4500 Kingsway, Suite 2210,
Burnaby, Vancouver, BC

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShinyTea.Vancouver/

Shiny Tea Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

victory-seafood-1

Victory Seafood Restaurant is located on the 2nd level of Crystal Mall close to the food court. They serve dim sum into the late afternoon.

What I love about dim sum is that the dishes can range from very tame like shrimp dumplings to chicken feet and braised stomach.

I came here with ChineseBites to try 37 items off their menu to see what they offer. I’ve been to Crystal Mall a lot but I’ve never stopped here before.

victory-seafood-2

They have a private room available if you are in huge groups.

victory-seafood-15

They have all the classic dim sum items. Of course we had too many items, but if you wonder how many dishes to order, the rule of thumb is 2-3 dishes per person.

Steamed Rice Rolls

victory-seafood-16

Plain rice roll was too plain for me after eating all the other steamed rice roll dishes. So, grab some soy sauce and XO sauce.

victory-seafood-10

Steamed rice roll with Chinese donut and pork floss is another classic item. Paired with soy sauce and then sesame sauce and hoisin sauce on the side. Another classic dim sum dish.

victory-seafood-11

Steamed rice roll with deep fried fish paste is another item similar to above, but it has the different filling inside.

victory-seafood-12

Steamed rice rolls with mushrooms is a great item too.  You can’t go wrong with any of these steamed rice roll dishes.

victory-seafood-36

Steamed Shrimp rice roll another good one is the shrimp version. As a shrimp lover, I always try to get this dish at dim sum.

victory-seafood-40

Steamed rice roll with beef, needle mushrooms, and parsley. Another good items and I like the added texture from the other ingredients.

victory-seafood-41

Steamed Red Rice Roll with Shrimp looks pretty crazy. The red rice roll really tasted like nothing. The shrimp inside is deep-fried was similar to the other shrimp dishes.

Steamed baskets galore

victory-seafood-27

One of the essential items of dim sum is seeing the steamed bamboo baskets overflowing the table. We had so many that they had to be stacked on top of each other.

victory-seafood-14

Steamed pork ribs with black beans, taro and garlic.

victory-seafood-18

Steamed chicken feet in black bean sauce was ok, but I don’t normally order this item if I’m with M since he’s so squeamish about seating odd parts of animals.

victory-seafood-19

Steamed Pork Buns or Xiao Long Bao were mediocre. It wasn’t very juicy inside and the skin was a bit thick.

victory-seafood-20

Steamed Pork Buns come in 3 pieces in a basket and easily split among more people.

victory-seafood-21

Steamed beef tendon and tripe in Chu Hau sauce is another dish that isn’t for everyone. To me, tendon is more like jelly.

victory-seafood-22

Steamed Shrimp, Mushroom, & Mixed Vegetable Dumpling comes with 3 pieces to a basket. I like the mix of veggies in this.

victory-seafood-25

Steamed sticky rice bun was really filling. I didn’t like it.

victory-seafood-26

Steamed Bean Curd Wraps with Mushroom in Abalone Sauce is pretty good. Can’t go wrong with it.

victory-seafood-28

Siu Mai or steamed pork and shrimp dumplings is an item that you need to order. Most tables will order this. The shrimp and meat mixture is wrapped in a wheat flour wrapper than then topped with tobiko.

victory-seafood-29

Steamed Sticky Rice or lo mai gai has 3 pieces with the stick rice inside with a savoury filling.

victory-seafood-30

Meatball are served over tofu skin. It is paired with a Worcestershire sauce. These ones tasted ok, but the colour looked a bit off.

victory-seafood-32

Steamed pork stomach and preserved vegetables in black bean sauce. Not a dish for everyone. The taste I thought was surprisingly good and tender.

Other Dim Sum items

victory-seafood-3

BBQ Pork Pastry comes with 3 pieces to an order. The exterior is somewhat crisp and butter with the pork filling inside.

victory-seafood-4

Baked Pineapple Buns with BBQ Pork is an amazing invention. The best of both worlds.

victory-seafood-5

Deep fried shrimp spring rolls was pretty good. It comes out crispy, but if you leave it too long it goes a bit limp. When going to dim sum, I love all the shrimp items.

victory-seafood-6

Deep Fried Shrimp gyoza was kinda similar to the deep fried spring roll, but in a wonton wrapper.

victory-seafood-7

Panfried Chinese pancake with leeks was ok, but i didn’t really take a liking to it.

victory-seafood-8

Deep fried  glutinous rice dumpling with pork and dried shrimp in the centre.

victory-seafood-13

Pan Fried Radish & Taro Cake was pretty plain on its own. You can ask for soy sauce or their XO sauce to use with it.

victory-seafood-9

Smoked Salmon with fruit salad tart with mayo was pretty bad. I always found this flvour combination pretty weird. Some restaurants have pulled it off pretty well, but Victory Seafood doesn’t make it tasty. Best to avoid this dish.

victory-seafood-34

Taro Dumplings also know as wu gok has a crispy and wispy exterior of deep fried taro and inside is a savoury pork filling. Definitely a favourite item when eating dim sum.

victory-seafood-35

Deep fried lotus root cakes wasn’t very exiting.

victory-seafood-17

Pan Fried Shanghai Dumplings were ok, but a bit dry.

Claypot items

victory-seafood-37

Rice with chicken and black fungus was good but the rice was pretty dry. I would just eat the items on top.

victory-seafood-38

 Rice with Spare Ribs and Chicken Feet gave me a similar feeling with the dish above. The rice was dry.

victory-seafood-33

Mixed Meat and Shrimp Dumplings in Cordyceps Flower Broth was pretty good.

Essential Egg Tarts

victory-seafood-42

Egg Tarts is a good way to finish the meal. Flakey exterior and sweet egg mixture in the middle.

victory-seafood-43

I always have to make sure I have a can of coke to drink to wash down some of the grease for some dishes.

victory-seafood-39

With all the dishes we tried, there’s only a handful of dishes I would order. The quality is ok, but there are so many other options close by.

We rate Victory Seafood Restaurant25rating

Address: Crystal Mall, 4500 Kingsway, Burnaby, BC

Website: http://victoryseafoodrestaurant.com/

Victory Seafood Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

chachis-1

Chachi’s is the newest addition to the Metropolis food court in South Burnaby. They are originally from Calgary and now they have their first location in BC. There are plans to open 2 more locations at Crossiron Mills and Tsawwassen Mills.

Their mission is to make mall food better by crafting gourmet sandwiches with local ingredients. It’s great to see they are working with local suppliers like Arctic Meats, Valbella, Nossack, and Alberta Cheese. Their produce is also sourced from Yen Bros in Vancouver.

chachis-2

Spicy Mac n’ Cheese with Capicollo comes in 2 separate containers. You put the together when you’re ready to eat it.

chachis-3

Taking the first few bites, it was really good. The mac n’ cheese is very cheesy, plus the capicollo added the right amount of spice.

I would order this again.

chachis-4

Hot Philly Sandwich has rib steak, bell peppers, onion, jalapeno, provolone, garlic aioli and spicy mayo. This sandwich has a good amount of spiciness and not too overpowering. I love the amount of provolone in this.

chachis-5

Clubbin’ Sandwich has bacon, turkey, lettuce, tomato, cheddar, garlic aioli, and spicy mayo. Not as exciting as the other sandwiches, but still good.

chachis-2-1

Spicy Italian Sandwich has calabrese salami, cry-cured capicollo, jalapeno, jack cheese, garlic aioli, red pepper spread, red onion, lettuce, and tomato. M loved this.

chachis-2-2

Pork with Mac sandwich has pulled pork, sweet chili BBQ sauce, and then slathered with mac n’ cheese. This is total comfort food, but it would have been nice if the mac n’ cheese was spread evenly. You can see there was more mac n’ cheese on one side than the other. Other than that, it still tasted darn good.

Overall, it’s a nice new option at the food court at Metrotown. Although it is pricier than other options at the food court, it’s pretty darn delicious.

We Rate ChaChi’s4rated

Website:
http://www.chachis.ca/

Address:
4820 Kingsway, Burnaby

Chachi's Metrotown Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

dinesty-burnaby-19

Dinesty has a brand new location in South Burnaby under the Elements building. It is a few minutes away from Metropolis at Metrotown. They are best known for the Xiao Long Bao aka steamed pork dumplings.

Since foodies like to get together and eat, a few of us decided to meet up for the first time at Dinesty. Always good to put a face to someone’s online foodie persona.

dinesty-burnaby-1

Similar to the other locations, you will see a bunch of teapots in display cases when you walk in. It’s awesome to look at because each tea pot is different.

Even if you are waiting in line, staring at those tea pots can help speed up the wait perception.

dinesty-burnaby-2 dinesty-burnaby-3

The space has a lot of large round tables, so its great for families or large groups. Just make sure you put down a reservation ahead of time to avoid any waits.

I always like how they have the kitchen showing into the dining area, so you can see how all your food is put together.

dinesty-burnaby-4

Chinese Spinach and Bean Curd was good. Always my favourite item to order at Dinesty. It also has sesame oil, so that taste comes through.

dinesty-burnaby-5

Marinated Mushroom and Bamboo looks pretty creepy. Taste was ok, but nothing very notable.

dinesty-burnaby-6

Spicy Pig Ears was a pretty mediocre dish. More oily and not spicy at all. I found the similar experience at other Dinesty locations too.

dinesty-burnaby-7

Fried rice with shrimp, vegetables and ham was ok. A tad bland but would fair well with some chili sauce.

dinesty-burnaby-8

Nom. Nom. Nom.

dinesty-burnaby-9

Shanghai Fried Noodles was delicious. Not to oily and had a good mix of veggies and meat.

dinesty-burnaby-10

Wontons with Sour Chili Sauce could have been better. It was more oily and didn’t have much hot chili flavour to it.

dinesty-burnaby-11

Stir Fried Rice Cake with Pork Chop Shanghai Style was pretty good. The chunks of pork chop were flavourful and tender. I would order this again.

dinesty-burnaby-12

Stir fried basa fillet with wine sauce was good as well. Flavourful wine sauce with the tender flakey basa.

dinesty-burnaby-14

We made sure we loaded up with the Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings by getting 3 orders.

dinesty-burnaby-15

When they came out, it wasn’t super hot. It shriveled up a bit, so it wasn’t as soupy. Very minimal soup. The day before, I was actually at the Robson location and it was different.

Although, this visit was decent, it wasn’t as good as it could have been.

dinesty-burnaby-16

Camphor & Tea Smoked Duck came with 8 buns to eat with the duck. We were surprised by the flavour of this. Very good smoky flavour and the meat was so good.

dinesty-burnaby-18

We wished there were so duck breast meat on the plate, but it was mostly bone. I think I snagged one of the only plump and juicy breast pieces.

dinesty-burnaby-17

The rest were bony, so you couldn’t devour it without needing to pick out some bones.

dinesty-burnaby-13

Of all the locations, I would say my go to location would be the Dinesty on No 3 Road as it was the first on in Vancouver.

This South Burnaby location still has a few kinks it needs to work out. Some items are a hit and miss, but if you can’t get the steamed pork dumplings right, you gotta try again.

We rate Dinesty3rated

Address:
104 – 4501 Kingsway, Burnaby

Website:
http://dinesty.ca/

Dinesty Dumpling House Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

fraser-park-1

It’s been years since my last visit to Fraser Park Restaurant in South Burnaby. M comes all the time without me, but it was time to take my food buddies here to the subburbs to enjoy this hole in the wall restaurant for German Breakfast. We came early in the morning and it was already packed by 10am.

I’m always surprised because there’s nothing around here except for warehouses.

fraser-park-inner-1

The interior has nothing special, just a bunch of tables everywhere.

fraser-park-inner-2

It’s not about the decor, its really all about the food they serve.

fraser-park-2

Dee went with their Classic German Breakfast with 3 scrambled eggs with sauteed peppers, onion and cheese. It also has hash browns, sausage, bacon, ham, potato pancake and toast.

fraser-park-5

The rest of us went one step crazier and got the Deluxe German Breakfast. It has everything in the classic German breakfast, but with added Schnitzel and Gravy.

fraser-park-3

Meat on meat on meat. This is the perfect start to the day if you have a big appetite. Everything tasted good and you can’t go wrong with a brunch of grilled meats.

fraser-park-4

Overall, the price is good and you get a large meal. Total comfort food for breakfast right here. Of course they have more than just German Breakfast. They have the usual items you can think of for breakfast and lunch. A true hidden gem.

We Rate Fraser Park Restaurant35rating

Address:
4663 Byrne Road, Burnaby

Website:
http://www.fraserparkrestaurant.com/

Fraser Park Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

ha-cafe-7

Ha Cafe is a Vietnamese cafe located in the Old Orchard Centre near Metrotown. KoreanGirl and I wanted to grab some pho but find a place that we haven’t been before. Looking up online, Ha Cafe seemed like a promising restaurant, plus it wasn’t far from home.

ha-cafe-6

The space isn’t too large but their mirrors in the back make it seem like a bigger space. The space is decently clean but there is a bit of a draft closer to the washroom.

ha-cafe-3

Spring Rolls has 3 pieces per order and you can choose between meat or veggie. We got the meat spring rolls and it was very crunchy and was very tasty. I would highly recommend it.

ha-cafe-5

Special Beef Noodle and Soup has beef brisket, rare beef, tripe, and beef balls, rice noodles, bean sprouts, onions and cilantro. I found the broth to be quite clean tasting. It’s not overly salted and it kinda has a corn taste. The bowls are big but the broth is definitely different from most places. Sweet, but it seems to lack depth.

ha-cafe-4

Spicy Beef Noodle and Soup has beef flank, Vietnamese ham, rare beef in spicy beef soup, rice noodles, bean sprouts, onions and cilantro. It’s supposed to come with thick vermicelli noodles, but we asked for the rice noodles instead. It’s not too spicy but it has a bit of a kick. To have it more spicy, we just added chili oil to it.

ha-cafe-8

Overall, not a bad alternative for Pho in the area. Looking at the menu and what other people were ordering, the rice/vermicelli bowls were popular and so was the banh mi sandwiches. Prices were good under $10. The pho is large but the broth is sweeter and lacks depth to it.

We Rate Ha Cafe:3rated

Address:
Old Orchard Centre, 28-4429 Kingsway, Burnaby

Ha Cafe Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

mongolian-little-sheep-1

It’s winter time and when the temperature drops, my friends and I get a craving for Hot Pot. Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot was the closest to our neighbourhood, so we decided to come after work during a weekday.

They have 3 locations in Burnaby, Vancouver and Richmond. We went to this one in Burnaby right across from Metrotown.

mongolian-little-sheep-2

It is $20.98 per adult plus the price of broth ($9.99 per table). Drinks and premium items are extra.

mongolian-little-sheep-3

There are a lot of tables and not too busy on a weekday. On the weekends, this place is busy.

Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot

While you are waiting for you order, make sure you go create your own dipping sauce.

All the sauce for the hot pot is available in the middle of the restaurant. It’s on top of a cart and you’re free to grab as much as your like.

mongolian-little-sheep-4

The different sauces are:

  • Soy sauce
  • Vinegar
  • Peanut Sauce
  • Chili paste
  • Chili oil
  • Satay sauce

The peanut sauce and satay sauce are most popular.

mongolian-little-sheep-5

The broth we had was a mix of spicy and original broth. It’s a good option to get if you have a group of friends who can’t decide which broth to get.

I generally find that spicy is great for cooking meat and the original is great for vegetables.

mongolian-little-sheep-6

We ordered an assortment of items for the hot pot. Mostly yam noodles, udon, frozen tofu, tofu curds, tofu puffs, and lotus roots.

mongolian-little-sheep-7

We piled on almost every kind of meat. We made sure to keep the vegetables to one basket.

mongolian-little-sheep-8

All the food was great and the spicy side of the hot pot wasn’t too hot at all. A good balance.

mongolian-little-sheep-9

Overall, a good hot pot option in South Burnaby. I hate coming when its busy, but a week day night is great.

The service here was pretty good as well, which was surprising. When we needed water, tea or coke refilled, they were very prompt and even took the initiative to ask us. In a Chinese restaurant, thats pretty crazy.

mongolian-little-sheep-10

We Rate Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot

Website:
http://littlesheephotpot.com/

Address:
#200 – 4755 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.littlesheephotpot.com/

Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

pearl-house-4

Pearl House Restaurant in South Burnaby in the Edmonds area specializing in casual Taiwanese food. I came here with a few friends for a quick lunch before going to the mall. I haven’t heard too much about this place, but I always love trying new places.

pearl-house-1

The interior is bright and has tables configured for groups of 2’s and 4’s. There is one larger table near the back for big groups.

pearl-house-2

Deep Fried Boneless Chicken Leg on Rice comes with 3 side dishes on the plate – marinated cucumbers, tofu and seaweed. A good portion for the price.

pearl-house-3

When digging in, I realized they gave me the one with bone, but I let that slide since the service was already bad here. If I sent it back, it would take sometime for them to correct the dish. I was hungry in the morning, so I didn’t want not eat. The skin was very crispy and tasted good.

We also ordered the marinated pork ear slice and Wontons in chili sauce as appetizers, but it felt a bit below average. I forgot to take pictures, but the pork ear slice just had way too much green onion in it. The wontons in chili sauce tasted quite bland and not very spicy either.

My other friends ordered a noodle dish and another rice dish, but this place doesn’t compare to other Taiwanese cafes.

Overall, the food we had was all below average. There wasn’t any dish that would make us come back to have more. The service was poor and our waiter was a bit unhygienic when touching our plates and cups.

We Rate Pearl House Restaurant2rating

Address:
7152 Sperling, Burnaby

Pearl House Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

fondway-cafe-6

Fondway Cafe is the latest cafe to open up in South Burnaby right by Metrotown. It is literally a few steps away from the skytrain. They specialize in coffee, tea and asian-inspired pastries.

fondway-cafe-12

The space is quite nice with a lot of natural light coming in. Very hip.

fondway-cafe-13

They have a Chinese and English menu available. At first I grabbed their Chinese menu and had no idea what I was reading. I’m such an asian disgrace.

fondway-cafe-5

They have a pretty large collection of tea along one of their walls.

fondway-cafe-15

During peak hours, it’s pretty hard to find a seat. It’s getting quite popular.

fondway-cafe-14

Once you order and pay, you get a giant clip with your order number.

fondway-cafe-16

Milk tea with grass jelly is served in a super cute cup. The drink wasn’t too sweet, which was great. It tasted pretty awesome and it definitely rivals some of the best milk teas in town.

fondway-cafe-17

Cheesecake with burnt sugar on top was a dense type of cheesecake. Not too sweet which caters to the asian tastebuds.

fondway-cafe-18

My friends got their Okinawa milk tea and they though it was pretty good.

What more could you want? Girl talk, milk tea and cake. Best combination ever.

fondway-cafe-8

If you are a coffee lover, you may want to try some of their specialty coffee drinks like their cold brew on tap and their soda coffee.

fondway-cafe-4

Overall, I love the space and its a great place to chill with friends. You definitely have to grab a slice of cake and milk tea when you’re here.

We Rate Fondway Cafe

Address:
4462 Beresford Street, Burnaby

Website:
http://fondway.ca/

Fondway Cafe Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

chatime-burnaby-1

Chatime Burnaby finally opens up in the suburbs right on Kingsway and Royal Oak just steps away from Boiling Point. I’m a big fan of Chatime when they first opened a few locations around Metro Vancouver since their Roasted Milk Tea with Grass Jelly is freaking amazing.

KoreanGirl and I came here after dinner to get our Chatime fix and the line was half way out the door. We didn’t mind since there was nothing else to do for the day.

chatime-burnaby-2

The interior is spacious with a good amount of seats, but most people were getting their drink to go. We waited in line for 20 minutes and it was quite strange how slow it moved. Soon, the line built up so it was almost out the door. Some customers walked in and immediately walked out cause it looked like chaos.

Getting closer to the counter, you could see the bottleneck was near the cashier area with their under trained staff. The cashier was confused by most orders and there always seemed like there were 3 people around the ordering counter trying to figure out the next drink to make. Clearly large communication issues really held up the line.

Once we put in our order, it was another 10 minutes for our drinks. They almost gave us someone else’s order but we made sure it was ours before we grabbed it.

chatime-burnaby-3

My half sweet roasted milk tea with less ice was the most disgusting bubble tea I’ve had in a long time. The staff really rushed through the orders and didn’t take much care in making them.

My drink tasted overly sweet with lots of ice. I’ve had this drink over 10 times at various Chatime locations in Richmond and Vancouver and this was the first time it tasted terrible.

chatime-burnaby-4

I had high hopes for this location, but there seems to be more kinks they need to work out with training staff to be more efficient and improve accuracy of orders. I came a week after opening, so I thought any little kinks would be sorted. Clearly not. I would avoid this location for the next little while. I left pretty angry and it ruined my entire night. I’m usually pretty chill about everything but when the service and product both suck…theres nothing you can be happy about.

We Rate Chatime Burnaby

Address:
5216 Kingsway, Burnaby

Website:
http://www.ichatime.com/

Chatime Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato