Chinese Archives - Page 10 of 14

In Chinatown

Foo’s Ho Ho: Eerie Dining Experience

October 6, 2012

Foo’s Ho Ho is known to be the oldest Chinese restaurant in Vancouver. Since it has such a funny name, I decided to bring M and S here for lunch. When we arrived at 12pm, all the signs said the restaurant was closed. The door was open, so we walked inside and there was one customer but no staff to be seen. We decided to leave and walk around the block but didn’t find anything else cool enough to eat. So, we called the restaurant back because we knew it was open. We called twice and they told us they were open.

We went back but the signs said it was still closed. The chef had to seat us down as there was only one server. We were very confused by how disorganized this restaurant is. This restaurant has been on magazines an attract lots of tourist, so it was strange how they were not prepared.

The interior is very outdated, but some people like it because it gives them nostalgia of when this place use to be the “it” place to go for Chinese food.

Hot and Sour Soup was alright. It could of been more spicy in my opinion.

Curry Chicken had lots of onions, peppers, and celery. It tasted ok as well.

Beef chow fun has a nice char on the noodles and the meat.

Overall, our experience was quite poor and the food was also mediocre. I had high hopes for this restaurant since it has been around for lots of years and has a rich history. The organization is poorly executed and they didn’t even have fried rice.

Words of Wisdom:

Long rich history since the 50’s and 60’s
Village-style type of Chinese food

We Rate Foos Ho Ho:

Address:
102 E Pender St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.fooshoho.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=102+E+Pender+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=102+E+Pender+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6A+2V2&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Chinese

Excellent Tofu & Snack 好好豆品專門店: Tofu Dessert in Richmond

October 2, 2012

Excellent Tofu & Snack makes in-house tofu desserts and soy milk! M, TaiwaneseGirl, and I were eating at Dinesty and decided to take a trip to have tofu dessert. I love tofu dessert, so I never miss a trip for some yum yum tofu! The last time I came here was 2 years ago and I really wanted to come back.

The shop is very plain looking on the inside and outside, but the tofu dessert is the star of the show!

Menus are in English, Chinese, and Japanese.

Soy pudding with grass jelly ($3.50) was what I ordered. It tastes very bland without any sugar, so you will want to add ginger syrup or liquid sugar for more taste. I love it because it’s healthy!

Soy Pudding with red bean and coconut milk ($4) was what M ordered. He thought it was OK since he’s not too use to eating this.

Soy Pudding with Basil Seeds ($3.50) came warm instead of cold. All our other orders were really cold. We asked them to exchange it for a colder one and they did fix it.

There are items you can add into your tofu dessert – peanuts, ginger and liquid sugar.

Overall, I do really love this place. I also purchased a big tub of sweetened tofu dessert to bring home! It was devoured so quickly too!

Words of Wisdom:

Parking in the parking lot, but it’s usually full during peak hours. Alternative parking at Aberdeen Mall or Parker Place.
Tofu dessert is a must!
Really inexpensive, should cost you less than $5
They also sell a variety of soy drinks and soy desserts to go.

We rate Excellent Tofu & Snack :

Address:

160-4231 Hazelbridge Way
Richmond, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=160-4231+Hazelbridge+Way+Richmond,+BC&hnear=4231+Hazelbridge+Way,+Richmond,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia+V6X+3L7&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Causeway Bay

Unicorn Restaurant 麒麟閣酒家: Afternoon Tea in Hong Kong

September 29, 2012

Unicorn Restaurant 麒麟閣酒家 has been around for 30 years providing guest with delicious Chinese food for large banquet style events or just for regular dinner. The restaurant is located inside the Lee Theatre Plaza in Causeway Bay.

Since they do hold a lot of wedding receptions, you may see the exterior overly decorated in white and pink.

Even if you are going for regular Dim Sum, they probably are setting up for the banquet in the night-time. I don’t know who Yoko or Smith are, but hopefully they had a good wedding.

Steamed Beef Ball

Steamed Pork Buns

Pan-fried Radish Cake

Spinach and celery

Durian Pastries

Coconut red bean cakes

Lettuce and oyster sauce

Spare ribs

Duck and BBQ Pork

Vermicelli noodles with vegetables

Barbecued pork fried rice noodles with barbecued pork the Seto powder

Steamed sponge cake

Spring Rolls

Taro Pastry

Egg Tarts

Overall, Unicorn Restaurant has a comfortable environment with attentive service. Its in Causeway bay and close to a lot of shopping areas and the MTR. It was a great place for my relatives to have tea, food, and chit-chat. The food was pretty solid with no complaints.

We Rate Unicorn Restaurant:

Address:
22/F., Lee Theatre Plaza, 99 Precival Street,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Website:
http://www.unicornrestaurant.com.hk/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Lee+Theatre+Plaza,+99+Percival+Street,+Causeway+Bay,+Hong+Kong,&hnear=Lee+Theatre+Plaza,+99+Percival+St,+Hong+Kong&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Chinese

Ken’s Chinese Restaurant: Signature Dishes

September 28, 2012

Foodology Disclaimer: ChineseBites.com approached us to try a few signature dishes at Ken’s Chinese Restaurant. Although the meal was complimentary, the views and opinions expressed are entirely our own.

In early August, Foodology.ca headed out to Kingsway with the regular ChineseBites crew (Raymond, Sherman, Rick, Kevin, Janice and Romina) to try a few signature dishes at Ken’s Chinese Restaurant. The first dish our merry little crew dug into was the Lobster with Konyaku Hotpot. This was a great way to kick start the meal as we were all quite hungry and the lobster was cooked perfectly. I was not entirely sure why this warranted CRA recognition as I have had better lobster in Vancouver but the dish was still quite good. The lobster meat was very tender and flavorful and the portion was quite generous.

The second dish we dug into was Golden Dungeness Crab. This dish was interesting in that it is a standard fried crab dish but coated in an egg yolk coating. Personally, I prefer my crab prepared differently but this dish was actually pretty good. You could definitely taste the richness of the egg yolk along with a subtle saltiness which complimented the crab meat well.

The third dish we tried was a plate of Free Range Chicken. I really liked this dish as the chicken was very fresh and prepared very well. The skin was slightly rubbery but tasty and the actual white meat was very moist and delicious. I could have eaten this plain or with rice, served with a side of ginger. Note: We didn’t end up ordering any bowls of white rice as we ordered a lot of food already.

Our fourth dish is not something I usually order at a Chinese restaurant but still turned out quite delicious: Grilled Rack of Lamb w/ Black Pepper Sauce. I am a big fan of lamb so I ended up loving this dish, the meat was moist and well cooked with a beautiful grill top sear. The black pepper sauce was quite strong but went boldly with the strong red meat.

The fifth dish we tried was the Stewed Pork Hock w/ Peanuts. This is definitely something I could see my parents ordering as it was definitely very traditional home cooking. The dark soy definitely lent a deep, rich flavor profile to this dish and the long stew successfully made the meat tender. Due to the high heat, the peanuts were soft but not mushy which I appreciated.

The sixth dish we had was the Stewed Oxtail. I was excited to try this as I had just tried a delicious oxtail ramen the night before but was pretty disappointed with this dish. The meat was nowhere near as tender as I would have liked. Technically being a stew type dish. I definitely would have liked to see the meat falling off the bone. The included vegetables were also not that flavorful so overall, a pretty disappointing offering.

Thankfully, after the disappointing stew, our seventh dish was a delicious Stewed Pork Belly. When this dish first arrived at the table, I was a little concerned at the huge layer of fatty tissue but after taking my first bite, I was in love. The pork belly was prepared so perfectly that the cut literally dissolved on my tongue. The rich dark sauce was delicious and actually made me want to eat the accompanying broccoli. Overall, one of my favorite dishes of the evening and something I would definitely order again.

Our eighth dish was quite simply Ox Tongue. I cannot recall who ordered this but I very rarely eat this type of delicacy so was a little apprehensive. My first bite into my ox tongue made all my worries vanish as the meat was actually very good! I really dislike dishes like liver and was expecting the ox tongue to be of a similar consistency but it was much better. Again, the dark sauce helped a lot and seemingly goes well with anything served at Ken’s.

The ninth and tenth dishes of the evening were Four Seasons Green Beans and Salmon Roe Fried Rice. I just want to note here that by this point in the meal, I was beyond full. The heavy meat based meal definitely took its toll on my gastronomic prowess. I tried a couple green beans and a small bowl of fried rice but could not really fully enjoy either. From what I remember, the salmon roe rice was decent but not altogether flavorful. I believe the intent was for the rice to be somewhat bland to support the heavily flavored main dishes. The green beans were firm and you could definitely taste the garlic and shredded pork seasoning with every bite.

To wrap up with a few final thoughts, there was a lot of food served and other than one clear miss, the food really was very good. Our dinner definitely was dominated by meat entrees but it was clear that Ken’s can do a variety of dishes very well. On a return visit with a smaller group, I would definitely go for a few bowls of plain white rice and a couple meat dishes. The lobster and crab dishes were good but there are definitely better places for similar dishes but the meat dishes were definitely very strong.

Words of Wisdom:

Definitely go for the rich Pork Belly with a few bowls of white rice
Skip the Oxtail Stew but give the Grilled Rack of Lamp a try
Go with friends/family that love meat, you will not be disappointed

We Rate Ken’s Chinese Restaurant:

Address:
1097 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC, Canada
604-873-6338

Website:
http://www.kenschineserestaurant.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1097+Kingsway+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&hl=en&hnear=1097+Kingsway,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia+V5V+3C9&t=m&z=16 “]

In Chinese

Super Star Seafood Restaurant: Graduation Buns & Elephant Dumplings

September 26, 2012

Super Star Seafood Restaurant (or some called it Red Star Seafood Restaurant) is located on Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. They have various locations in Hong Kong and even one location in Richmond, BC. My grandfather took us to this location for some afternoon tea as it is one of the older location where all the celebrities dine.

As you walk upstairs, there are various awards and photos displayed.

There are lots of seats and can accommodate huge parties. We ordered a lot of dishes since we had a party of 7.

Crispy Whitebait and Peanuts come complementary at the table. It is very crispy and delicious! It’s quite famous and can be purchased in packages to take home.

Salted Peanuts came to the table too. It’s something to nibble on when you are waiting to order.

Graduation Buns (Steamed Oats and Milk Bun) was a special item in the Summer since everyone was graduating in the city. It was very cute!

We realized that after you take the top off of the hat, it looks like old grandmother buns.

This inside was a nice and creamy. It was not too sweet and was a lovely dessert.

Deep-fried BBQ Pork and Vegetable Dumpling in Elephant Shape.

It was very very cute and great for little kids to devour.

Congee with assorted items. You can design your own congee and add anything you want.

Roasted Chicken with Shrimp Chips

Hainanese Chicken

Braised Vegetables and Geoduck.

Jellyfish and Ham

Assorted Mushrooms and Bok Choy

Pineapple Buns were very unique here.

If you look inside, there is BBQ pork and bits of pineapples!

Steamed Rice Rolls

Steamed Shrimp Dumplings

Steamed Spare Ribs

Steamed Meat Balls

Steamed Fish

Rice and minced meat patty

Sui Mai

Sweet Fungus Soup

Daily Soup

Red Bean Dessert

Overall, the food is pretty solid with great service. I would definitely come here again. The prices are a bit higher, but its a good place to go for a large meal with the family.

We Rate Super Star Seafood Restaurant:

Address:
1/F, Tsimshatsui Mansion, 83-97 Nathan Road,
Tsim Sha Tsui

Website:
http://www.superstargroup.com.hk/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Tsim+Sha+Tsui+Mansion,+83-97+Nathan+Road,+Tsim+Sha+Tsui&ll=22.297792,114.172239&spn=0.010701,0.019269&hnear=Tsim+Sha+Tsui+Mansion,+83-97+Nathan+Rd,+Hong+Kong&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Causeway Bay

Yee Shun Milk Company: Steamed Milk Custard in Hong Kong

September 21, 2012

Yee Shun Milk Company is located in Causeway Bay and is a popular destination for tourists. I spotted this when using my Trip Advisor app and it was ranked quite highly. The company originated from Macau and opened 4 locations in Hong Kong.

They specialize in steamed milk custard. If you have heard about Australian Milk Company, the products are quite similar.

When you pass by the exterior of the store, you can see a large amount of the steamed milk prepared ahead of time. The turnover rate is quite high, so they do have to prep that many.

Double Steamed Milk (雙皮燉奶) is very smooth and creamy. My little sister loved it and would not put it down! If you come here, someone at you table must order this. The texture reminded me of tofu pudding.

Steamed Milk With Ginger (薑汁燉奶) has a strong intense taste of ginger. A lot of people online rave about how good it is and I absolutely hated it because I don’t eat ginger too often. Some people do love this but its not for me.

Red Bean Ice was what my mom ordered. Its a common drink found in Hong Kong and contains red beans, evaporated milk, ice and sugar syrup. Mom mom thought it was ok, but not great.

Overall, it was fun to come here for a snack to try Steamed Milk Custard. The line ups were not long and we did enjoy the experience despite my hate for ginger.

Words of Wisdom:

Not long waits compared to Australian Dairy Company
Double Steamed Milk is a must!

We Rate Yee Shun Milk Company:

Address:
G/F., 506 Lockhard Road,
Causeway Bay

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=G%2FF.,+506+Lockhart+Road,Causeway+Bay&hnear=506+Lockhart+Rd,+Hong+Kong&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Chinese

Chao and Hak: Chiu Chow Chinese Restaurant in Hong Kong

September 18, 2012

Chao and Hak has 3 locations all over Hong Kong – North Point, Sheung Shui, and Diamond Hill . They specialize in Chiu Chow cuisine. We came to the Sheung Shui location for some dim sum.

There was a large line up and getting a table for 5 took quite some time. If you come at 12 or 1pm, you will have to wait for a table.

The interior has a lot of tables and has a nice elegant decor.

Fried fish, bittermelon and vegetables in black bean sauce was not my favorite dish because I dislike bittermelon and bones. It’s also not kid-friendly either since its hard to find those small bones.

Marinated Pork Hock are the joints of the foot of the pig. You get a lot of flavourful skin, fat, tendon and bits of tender meat.

Pickled Jelly fish and Pork skin and meat in jelly tasted really good. It’s a dish served cold and makes for a great appetizer.

Pig ear, marinated egg, duck and pork sausage was quite an oily dish. This dish is great for sharing with others at the table.

Marinated eggs, beef, and marinated tofu with a side of vinegar. I enjoyed it!

Spring rolls were cool and long like bread sticks. No one else at the table seemed to like it, so I ate a majority of it.

Sui Mai was ok. We had to wait a long time for it and it was a bit disappointing.

Minced Meatball also took a long time to arrive. It was very moist and flavourful.

Xiao Long Bao was the last dish to arrive. We had high hopes for this dish, but was not what we were expecting.

Overall, the marinated appetizer dishes were very good, but the steamed dim sum items were very disappointing. Also the service was very slow.

We Rate Chao and Hak:

Address:
Shop 501, 5/F, Landmark North, No. 39 Lung Sum Avenue,
Sheung Shui

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=39+Lung+Sum+Ave,+Sheung+Shui,+Hong+Kong&hl=en&ll=22.502556,114.127629&spn=0.005739,0.009345&hnear=39+Lung+Sum+Ave,+Hong+Kong&t=m&z=17 “]

In Chinese

Lung Wah Hotel: Eating Pigeon in Hong Kong

September 16, 2012

Lung Wah Hotel (龍華酒店) in Sha Tin, Hong Kong is known for their deep-fried pigeons. My little sister loves to eat pigeons, so the relatives made sure we had pigeon during our trip. The restaurant is located in the middle of nowhere, so you can either take a long walk from the MTR or take a short taxi ride.

It does have a lot of history as it opened in the 1950s and is still in operation today. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been a hotel since the 1980s. The dining room is usually hustling and bustling with people wanting to eat pigeon. Rumor has it, Bruce Lee stayed here during the filming of his movie “Big Boss”.

From the main street, we walked up this long covered path to the hotel. You are in the right place if you see this path.

The interior is very out dated, so you kinda feel like you have gone back in time. The service is very horrible and the staff are always grumpy. If you only order the pigeon, the food comes fairly quickly since they specialize in that dish and is the most ordered.

We ordered additional dishes beside the pigeon but they lost our entire order except for the pigeon. Apparently this is a normal occurrence.

Deep-Fried Pigeon arrives all on one plate depending on how many you order for your table.

It comes with the head as well, so it can be a bit scary for some people. If you don’t want to stare into the eyes of the pigeon, you can just rip the head off. I know it seems cruel, but these pigeons were farmed especially for human consumption.

You are given gloves to eat the pigeon because it can get quite oily.

The meat is very flavourful and tender. The exterior skin is crispy and thin too. It’s way better than duck or chicken!

After our table devoured the pigeons, all that was left were the discarded bones and used up gloves. That’s what happens when you’re eating with a bunch of carnivores. Yum Yum.

Big Boy Tsingtao Beer is a great drink to accompany the food. It cuts through the greasy oily feeling of the pigeon.

Fried Noodles with mushroom, chicken and vegetables was very yummy! One of my favorite dishes since the crispy texture of the noodles blend well with the savory sauce.

Salt and peppery tofu was firm on the outside with spices on top. When you bite into it, it’s very soft and silky on the inside.

Rice noodles with beef and vegetables has very tender beef, but the sauce that accompanied the dish was a bit salty.

Tofu Pudding is another one of their specialty items.You just scoop some into the bowl and add some ginger syrup.

Afterwards, we walked about 15 minutes to the entrance of the Shatin Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery. It looked a little bit awkward with barbed wires, but it was not too scary. It wasn’t too steep compared to some other places I’ve been, but it is a workout when it’s 35 degrees outside.

Remember, if you see any monks asking for money, they are just beggars. Do not pay them money! There are signs posted all over the trail telling tourists not to fall for their tricks. On our way up, we were approached by 3 fake monks, but we just said “no” to every single one.

The walk up is very beautiful and is lined with a lot of statues. Each statue is different and some are very cool to look at.

The top has a few sights and the pagoda type of structure.

You also get a nice view of the town of Shatin.

Overall, it was an awesome day here! Having pigeon and going on a short hike was very memorable. I would still go back to Lung Wah Hotel for some pigeon!

Words of Wisdom:

Deep Fried Pigeon and tofu is a must!
Very horrible Service

We Rate Lung Wah Hotel:

Address:
22 Ha Wo Che Chuen,
Sha Tin, Hong Kong

Website:
http://www.lungwahhotel.hk/

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In Chinese

Grand Hall: More Dim Sum in Hong Kong

September 12, 2012

We were looking inside Silvercord in Tsim Sha Tsui for Ho Choi Seafood Restuarant, but in its place is Grand Hall restaurant. It serves the same exact food, except they did major renovations and changed their name. This was confirmed by our waitress and is still operated by the Ho Choi Group. They own various restaurants all across Hong Kong.

We went around 11:30 and it was quite empty until around 1pm. It got really busy around 1pm. We ordered a bunch of different dim sum dishes for a group of 9. There were so many dishes that it was hard to keep track of whats what.

Rice Rolls, Deep Fried Wontons, and Beef Stuffed in Rice rolls.

These all tasted pretty good especially with the sauces they are accompanied with. There were so many sauces on our table that it was hard to remember which sauce goes with what dish. As long as you dunk the rice rolls into a dark sauce, you’ll be alright.

Minced Meat Balls was very moist and contained a variety of items inside the meatball. Very delicious!

Minced Chicken on Steamed Rice tasted ok, but was a bit dry and could have used some more sauce.

This was another rice dish, but I don’t remember what this is.

Spring Rolls look like long bread sticks! It was so weird seeing them in this form!

Steamed Pork Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao) comes in 4 pieces. The skin was very thin, so no matter how carefully you picked it up, it would always break.

Big Dumpling in Soup tasted very good. The broth was delicious and the seafood stuffed inside was yummy.

Double Steamed Milk was so delicious and melted in your mouth like custard. So good!

Overall, the meal was pretty solid. Some items were a hit and miss, but it was a good venue for a large family gathering.

Words of Wisdom:

Great for large parties
Decent Prices
Gets busy around 1pm
Lots of tables
Recently renovated and clean

We Rate Grand Hall:

Address:
3 / F, Silvercord, 30 Canton Road, Tsim Sha

Website:
http://www.hochoi.com/

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In Central

Lin Heung Tea House: Oldest Tea House in Hong Kong

September 8, 2012

Lin Heung Tea House was established in 1926 and is one of the oldest tea houses in Hong Kong. With over 8 decades of serving locals and tourists, dim sum is served with the most traditional recipes that results in an endless flow of diners. This place is packed all the time! Not many places in Hong Kong still serve traditional dim sum. You may want to come very early in the morning or late in the afternoon ( 6am and 3:30pm).

They serve dim sum during the day and main dishes during the night.

Don’t be afraid to get cozy with strangers. You may be forced to share tables, but it’s a natural occurrence in Hong Kong. It really helps if you come with someone who can speak Cantonese! It will help a lot when ordering and finding your table.

Service is quite horrendous as the servers are very rude and not very helpful. People are here for the food and not the service.

You will need to wash your utensils even if they look its clean. Just dunk it in tea! They don’t give you napkins either, so make sure you bring a pack of tissues with you.

The tea doesn’t come in a tea-pot, but they have these traditional type of tea pots. You steep the tea in the larger cup and pour it into your tea cup when it’s done steeping.

It’s really difficult to pour if you’re never tried it before.

When you need to get your tea refilled with hot water, the server brings a huge kettle and pours with crazy accuracy. Every time they come by to pour hot water, I am always so scared just in case they scald us with hot water.

Steamed Beef Balls comes in 3 pieces and are delicious!

Pork tripe is a bit scary since it’s an organ. It’s a bit tough and chewy

Beef Tripe and intestines were very chewy, but the sauce that it was in was delicious.

Steamed Sausage Bun is yummy and a great item for kids.

Braised Chicken feet is a typical dish found in Dim Sum. Some love it, some find it super scary. You kinda have to get use to it. I personally like it since you essentially just eat the skin off the bones.

Steamed Fish Head is very succulent and has a delicious flavour when you suck the meat off the bones.

This dish has chicken, mushroom, and fish maw in a yummy flavourful sauce.

Braised Liver looks really nasty, but the liver does have a chalky flavour and texture to it. If you haven’t had liver before, you may not like it.

Chicken Feet wrapped in bean curd wrap was something I haven’t seen done before. the bean curd did taste good.

Fish Cake wrapped in Cabbage was one of my favorite dishes.

Steamed Chinese Sponge Cake (Ma Lai Go) is very very tall compared to most places. It’s usually made out of flour, eggs, butter, lard and brown sugar and then steamed. It tasted very good!

Words of Wisdom:

Wake up early to order the Big Chicken Bun (“Dai Bao”)
Very unique traditional dim sum items
Good Prices
Horrible service and cleanliness
Anthony Bourdain approved

We Rate Lin Heung Tea House:

Address:
160-164 Wellington Street,
Central

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In Chinese

Fatty Cow Hot Pot: Signature Dishes

August 19, 2012

Foodology Disclaimer: ChineseBites.com approached us to have dinner at Fatty Cow Hot Pot. Although the meal was complimentary, the views and opinions expressed are entirely our own.

On July 19th, I headed back to Victoria Street along with Raymond, Sherman, Rick, Kevin, Janice and Romina to have dinner at Fatty Cow Hot Pot. Widely acknowledged as one of, if not THE best hot pot in the city, I was eager to compare Fatty Cow to some of the better Chinese hot pot experiences I have had around Vancouver and abroad.

From the outside, Fatty Cow looks like your typical humble Chinese restaurant, however, the interior is a much different story. Boasting a smart, modern aesthetic with Asian elemental flair, I was very surprised at how clean and attractive the entire area was. I am quite used to enjoying hot pot in some pretty run down dives so this beautiful seating area was a pleasant surprise.

Anyone that is familiar with how hot pot works knows that the most important aspect of the experience is the broth. Singularly used to cook the various ingredients, the foundation or base flavor set of the entire meal is dictated by the broth used. For this particular outing, we had two pots going with a home-style peanut satay broth and a Fatty Cow ‘Hot and Spicy’ broth. Both broths were quite strong but personally I loved the spicy variation better. Seemingly anything we put into the spicy pot came out tasting delicious from thin strips of meat to seafood and veggies. Those with delicate palettes or aversion to spicy food may find the spicy broth a bit too much but I thought it was just perfect.

One of my favorite dishes of the night was a plate piled high with deep fried fish skin. A very simple dish but delicious nevertheless. The skin was perfectly crispy and flavorful, almost like the prawn crackers served with Peking duck.

Throughout the evening, it was very apparent that all the ingredients were extremely fresh. In addition to the marvelous seafood, I also really enjoyed the plentiful plates of thinly sliced meat. When added to the spicy broth, the meat became infused with flavor and when cooked properly, came out extremely tender. I cannot recall how many plates of meat we ended up polishing off but it was definitely very delicious. Note: Be sure not to cook the meat for too long however, as they are quite thin and do not require that long in the boiling broth.

A rare miss of the evening came in the form of the diced cubes of beef. Unlike the thin strips that cooked quickly and were eaten even quicker, these cubes were extremely chewy and difficult to get through. I definitely recommend sticking with the plates of sliced beef over these cubes as diners may find the thick form factor a bit difficult to manage.

You can never have hot pot without some form of fish balls! All three varieties of this fan favorite were exceedingly fresh and tender. The fish balls were well formed and constructed with zero filler content which lead to exceptional taste and flavor infusion.

Although the guys at the table had ‘conveniently’ forgotten to order any vegetables, one of the ladies with us ordered this basket of beautifully fresh veggies. Just like everything else, the vegetables were very fresh and definitely were a nice respite from the heavy seafood/meat experience we were engaged in for about 1.5hrs.

Two of the dishes we were served were special order and not part of the regular hot pot price. First, a Fatty Cow Giant Scallop served on a half shell! This scallop was simply massive and many of us at the table were gawking at the size of each serving. Although it cost extra, it definitely was worth it in my opinion as the scallop meat was delicious and the sheer size was amazing. I will definitely order this again on a return visit.

The second special dish we were given was lobster! Now, lobster can be quite expensive which is why it is understandable that this is not part of the normal hot pot package. The lobster was very fresh and sweet and really made for a luxurious hot pot. I sometimes order crab with hot pot but two entire lobsters is very uncommon. I think we were all very appreciative of the special offering at the tail end of the meal as it really capped the meal off nicely.

To wrap up with a few final thoughts, there are many hot pot restaurants in Vancouver but very few of them are actually any good. As iterated earlier, the keys to a good hot pot experience are 1) amazing broth and 2) fresh ingredients. It is clear after this dining experience that Fatty Cow has both in spades. I was personally very impressed with the aesthetic appeal and overall cleanliness of the interior as well as the very high quality of fresh seafood and other produce. After this experience, I have no reservations about stating that Fatty Cow may be the best hot pot establishment in the lower mainland. I will definitely be back soon with either family or friends, especially once Vancouver starts getting cold again.

Words of Wisdom:

Go with the spicy broth, your taste buds will thank you
The diced beef cubes were a bit tough, definitely go with the thinner slice sets
Enjoy with larger parties, hot pot is a social event!

We Rate Fatty Cow Hot Pot Restaurant:

Address:
5108 Victoria Dr.
Vancouver, BC, Canada
(604) 568-6630

Website:

http://www.fattycowhotpot.com/

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In Chinese

Moon Ting Fong Seafood & Hotpot Restaurant: Horrible Service in Hong Kong

August 4, 2012

Moon Ting Fong Seafood and Hotpot restaurant has a location in Tin Shui Wai. We want to cook dinner during this day, so we decided to just eat out for dinner. My grandpa said they have very good dim sum during lunch and at reasonable prices. He’s never tried dinner here, so we gave it a shot.

For dinner, the room was half full and some people were indulging on hot pots. We decided to go for a set dinner instead.

Pickled onions arrived at the table. We thought it was complementary, but at the end of the meal the did charge us for this. It tasted alright and I think we could have lived without it if we knew we would be charged for this. Also, they charge for tea too!

Daily Soup came with our set meal. It came in a huge pot to our table and what usually happens is the server will bring your bowls and pour it out for you. The server just left the pot there on the table and had no intention of serving us. This was the first thing that ticked us off.

The other ingredients in the soup get put into a separate dish for you to eat with your meal. It’s like two dishes in one! Eventually, we got the server to pour our soup.

Boiled Shrimp was good, but it did get quite messy after a while. The prawns were cooked well and were sweet.

We also got hand wipes to cleanse our hands after peeling all those shrimp shells.

Braised vegetables in fish broth tasted good as the choy absorbed the flavour from the fish sauce.

Steamed Fish in Fish Sauce was ok. The meat was soft and had good flavour. It had a few bones, but it wasn’t too bad.

Roasted BBQ Chicken was very dry and the only delicious part of this was the skin.

Overall, the food was ok, but the service was very horrible. Plus, there were a lot of extra charges that racked up to $100HK more than the price of the set meal. I wouldn’t return, not even for dim sum. A few weeks later, my grandpa wanted to go for some good cheap dim sum after 2pm and I just refused to go. Perhaps other people have had other better experiences, but I won’t return to a restaurant that treats their customers badly.

We rate Moon Ting Fong Seafood & Hotpot restaurant:

Address:
1/F, Block 1, Habour Plaza Resort City, 12 Tin Yan Road
Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong

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In Chinese

Maxim’s Chinese Restaurant: Dim Sum Stalking in Hong Kong

August 3, 2012

Maxim’s Chinese Restaurant has several locations all over Hong Kong. It is way cheaper than Maxim Palace, so it is affordable for random eats without breaking the wallet. The interior at the Tin Shui Wai location was very large and was quick to get a table on the weekend. There are some waits, but it shouldn’t be too long.

You can wash your utensils here too. It’s a normal thing, but if you are lazy, you don’t need to wash it again. Just double-check if there is grime on your dishes.

Thousand year old egg and pork congee was decent. It wasn’t the best congee, but definitely better than some other places I’ve been to. It could have been boiled for longer to let the flavours seep into the rice a little bit more.

Curried Octopus was a tad spicy, but bearable for those who hate spice. The octopus was slightly chewy, but nothing much to say.

Stir fried noodles had to be hunted down. It’s located way in the front of the restaurant, so you need to grab your slip of ordering paper and grab it.

Fried rice roll was a little bit different that other places, I’ve never seen the outside with this texture. It also comes with sauce on the side for dipping.

Braised Tripe with Fish Maw was ok, I was never a fan of the large honeycomb-like tripe.The part I liked was the fish maw because of it’s porous texture is great for soaking up lots of favour from the sauce.

Steamed Prawns and Fish Maw was very good and always one of my favorites.

Stewed Pork hawk had the meat falling off the bones and was very tender. Delicious sauce too.

Spicy tripe was very good. Ever since this Hong Kong trip, I’ve been into eating spicy food for some reason. This dish had a good amount of spiciness but I did find it a bit oily.

Sesame Seed Balls was crispy on the outside and the inside was very chewy.

Steamed pork buns comes with 2 in each order, so you may want more if you table loves the buns.

The bun had a good amount of meat and enough sweetness. My sister and I enjoyed it.

Overall, good decent dim sum in Hong Kong. Since the restaurant is so large and not all the cart can get to you quickly, you need to walk around the restaurant hunting the carts for what you want. It’s like getting exercise before and during your meal. It’s normal and it’s the part of dim sum that makes it kinda fun.

We Rate Maxim Chinese Restaurant:

Address:
Tin Yiu Shopping Centre, Tin Shui Estate,
Tin Shui Wai, Hong Kong

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In Chinese

Choi Fook Restaurant: Dinner After HK 15 Fireworks

August 2, 2012

On July 1st in Hong Kong, they were celebrating the 15th anniversary of the handover of British rule to the Chinese. Every year they celebrate by having fireworks at Victoria Harbour. I find it amazing how July 1st is also Canada Day on the other side of the world. No matter where my little sister is on her birthday, she can always see fireworks!

After the fireworks, we headed to Choi Fook Restaurant. They were having a busy nights with large celebrations, so at 9pm, we still had to wait for a table of 5. This restaurant is owned by the U-Banquet group and has various restaurant all across Hong Kong.

The interior space was reduced since they had to close off sections of the restaurant for a few events happening at the same place.

They have a huge tank with all the different seafood.

You have an option of washing your utensil here. Some people do it, some people don’t. Sometimes their dishwashers don’t clean everything off the utensils and dishes, so do look carefully.

Sauteed shrimp in green onion and peppers was a good dish, but nothing too special.

Steamed Chicken was good. It’s a classic dish to order and you can’t go wrong with it.

Braised Duck Feet and mushrooms in a pot was delicious and is recommended to have rice to accompany it. Don’t let those juices go to waste. To some people, eating duck feet is weird, but it’s not disgusting. It tastes very savory and kinda like noodles.

Steamed Fish in Fish Sauce took forever to come out of the kitchen. There was a banquet next door, so I assume they just prepared all the fish at one time.

Longevity Bun is a Chinese steamed bun in the shape of a peach. It was my sister’s Birthday and this was the only option they had off the menu. The reason why it’s shaped like a peach is because it’s a symbol of long life. There is an old story of a lady who has a magical peach tree that bears special peaches that grant immortality to all those who eat them.

The inside egg yolk is very oily and it’s a good things that the yolks flavour in the oil seeps into the bun. Very delicious, but yet again, probably high in calories.

Overall, the food was ok and not anything amazing. The service wasn’t that great because some servers seemed a bit rude.

Words of Wisdom:

Fortress Hill MTR Exit B
Busy at peak hours
Decent food

We Rate Choi Fook Restaurant:

Address:
3/F, Olympia Plaza, 255 King’s Road,
North Point, Hong Kong

Website:
http://www.choifook.com/

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In BBQ

Yun Fat Tea House: BBQ Meats in Hong Kong

August 1, 2012

Yun Fat Tea House (潤發茶餐廳) in Mong Kok is known to locals for their delicious BBQ meats. If you were just walking by, you would probably not notice this restaurant. It’s not aesthetically pleasing on the outside and has no english at all.

The inside looks like any other Hong Kong style cafe.

Chicken and bone soup was very good. The flavour from the meat and bones really made this soup fragrant and enjoyable.

Look at that meat!!!

BBQ Duck and BBQ Pork on Rice was what everyone else at the table ordered. You gotta eat their signature items here. The meat was very beautiful, tender and very flavourful.

Deep-Fried Fish in Creamed Corn Sauce on Rice comes in a large portion! I couldn’t even finish it! The creamed corn sauce was yummy, but I wasn’t a fan of the fried fish.

Minced meat and vegetable sauce with egg yolk on rice was very good! There was enough sauce for all the rice and my little sister really enjoyed it. I tried some of it too and the meat just melts in your mouth! Yum!

Overall, it was a good decent meal. The down side is that there is no English here. I had to get my mom to order something for me since I can’t read Chinese.

Words of Wisdom:

Get off at Mong Kok MTR Exit B3
BBQ Meats is a must
No English Menu
Floor Toilets and kinda dirty

We Rate Yun Fat Tea House:

Address:
56 Mong Kok Street,
Mong Kok, Hong Kong

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In Chinese

Chan Kan Kee Chiu Chow Restaurant: Michelin 2012 “Bib Gourmand”

July 31, 2012

Chan Kan Kee Chiu Chow Restaurant has been serving Chiu Chow cuisine in 1948, thus making them the oldest restaurant in Hong Kong serving that type of food. My grandfather took us here for lunch.

I was so excited because I haven’t been to a Michelin rated restaurant yet. They were selected this year as the “bob Gourmand” for restaurants with good food at moderate prices.

Baby Oyster with Minced Meat Congee is not like normal congee, but was one of my favorite dishes. It has a lot of oyster flavour and tasted very fresh, giving it a creamy texture when eaten. The aromatics – green onions and coriander freshen up the dish. Highly recommended!

Omelette with Baby Oyster was another one of my favorites! The freshness of the oyster really since through and make the egg and oysters go very well together. Highly recommended!

Marinated Cold Dishes of goose liver, goose intestines, and other guts. This isn’t a dish for everyone! Some may gag after figuring out what these items are. Some others may love it. I personally did enjoy it because it comes with a vinegar sauce on the side that makes it so much more delicious.

Marinated goose breast was very moist and savory. It was way better than chicken or duck meat!

Sauteed beef in rice noodle was really delicious! The beef was very tender and the sauce is like awesome gravy covering all the rice noodles. YUM!!

Overall, I was impressed by the overall quality of the dishes. I got to eat goose for the first time…and all it’s guts too. Even though most people in North America would gag at eating guts…it was really good.

Words of Wisdom:

Can get very busy during peak hours
2 floors of seating
Sheung Wan MTR exit A1

We Rate Chan Kan Kee Chiu Chow Restaurant:

Address:
11 Queen’s Road West,
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

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In Cafe

Maxim’s Hong Kong Day: Wontons, Sandwiches and Pineapple Buns

July 30, 2012

Maxim’s Hong Kong Day is a quick-service restaurant. We were in Olympic City shopping mall, so we decided to get a quick bite to eat. They sell the usual Hong Kong Style cafe food.

There are a lot of seats inside and nice interior.

You are able to see through into the kitchen to see the food and drinks being prepared.

Hot Chocolate was made with powder and it wasn’t stirred very well. After mixing it up more on our own, it tasted ok according to my sister.

Hot coffee and tea mix was good and it’s a perfect drink for people who love tea and coffee.

Wonton Noodle in Soup was alright but nothing impressive.

Maxim’s Hong Kong Day BBQ Pork Club Sandwiches were pretty awesome. It comes with layers of egg, pork, tomatoes and lettuce. The gooey egg definitely adds character to this sandwich.

Pineapple Crispy Bun with Butter

The slice of butter was quite large and too much for this bun. I took half of the butter out and it was still enough to cover a lot of the surface area on the inside. The bun was good, but there could have had more topping and be more crispy.

Overall the food was alright, but nothing to rave about. The service was ok as well, but we did notice another table had an issue with a fly in their drink and got the managers and security involved.

We Rate Maxim’s Hong Kong Day:

Address:
Shop UG65, Olympian City Phase 3, 1 Hoi Wang Road,
Tai Kok Tsui, Hong Kong

Website:
http://www.maxims.com.hk/en/main.asp

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In Chek Lap Kok

Ocean Empire: Congee at Hong Kong Airport

July 29, 2012

Heading to the airport for a red-eye flight to Korea makes a person skip dinner. We headed off to Ocean Empire at the airport for a quick dinner before our flight. We didn’t know what to choose since there were a good amount of options available. We eventually chose Ocean Empire because they were serving congee. We’ve been eating so much dim sum that we thought this would be a healthier option.

We ordered a variety of different congees and some side dishes.

Chinese donut wrapped in rice roll with soy sauce was disgusting. It wasn’t very fresh and the donut was a bit stale.

Fried Noodles was cold and was lacking in flavour.

Radish Cake was hot, but wasn’t very impressive tasting. It didn’t have a lot of ingredients embedded inside either.

All the differing congees that we ordered basically sucked. It had minimal flavour and is essentially fast food congee. They just dump in the ingredients you want in a generic congee soup.

Overall, I was not impressed by the quality at all. It was barely passable and the attitude of the staff was horrible. The cashier seemed like he was always yelling at the cooks to be quiet.

Words of Wisdom: