GOOD EAT

MSG Soup Again: Sha Lin Noodle House

2012-05-18T10:07:00.001-07:00

After an event at another restaurant, although I was quite full, Kevin convinced me to go try out Sha Lin Noodle House with him. It was really the knife shaved noodles (or dao xiao mian) that convinced me to go, since I loved the ones from Lucky Gate last time.

Located a few stores down from the infamous Peaceful Restaurant, it was actually quite packed and we waited a while for a table. Not sure if it was because of the excess people that couldn't wait in line for Peaceful though. There was also a window where chefs were pulling noodles and shaving noodles. I was so excited for the shaved noodles!
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Dim Sum: Kirin Seafood Restaurant (Starlight Casino)

2012-05-15T22:38:00.001-07:00

Originally I had intended to go for Starlight Casino's $6.99 pasta lunch with my family (since we were in the area), but since my grandfather refused to have something non-Asian, we ended up going to Kirin Seafood Restaurant for dim sum instead. It's been a long time since I've gone to Kirin because the wait-time at the Richmond Centre one is ridiculous.

I actually wasn't going to even bother writing a post since I didn't have my camera on hand, but this dim sum dish alone convinced me to: the fish paste and bean curd rice roll (~$4.98). This is probably one of the places that does this the best, though I recall Sea Harbour Restaurant having a fairly solid one as well. And Dragon View can't even compare. The fish paste here, which isn't filled with other stuff like water chestnut, is wrapped in bean curd sheet and fried before rewrapped in rice roll and steamed. Really good here and comparably cheap compared to the other dim sum dishes.
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Plates and Tulips: Accord Food House 一心麵典

2012-05-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

After a failed attempt to try Xu's Wonton House in Crystal Mall, I headed across the street to try out another place that I've wanted to go to for a long time: Accord Food House.

Looking at the house numbers, I realize that I had arrived but I had to look around before I was sure. Indeed, I was at the right place but the exterior seemed a bit iffy. It wasn't going to open for another 15 minutes at 12pm, so I walked to the nearby Staples to loiter rather than hanging around outside.

Upon walking in, I realized it is actually really quaint and cozy inside! And I mean really cute. I can't think of another restaurant with a batch of tulips in a vase and porcelain and frames on the wall, something you would totally not expect from the exterior. It also smells really delicious inside, probably from the beef noodle broths and shanks boiling!

Click to enlarge

Since I already had the more standard Taiwanese beef noodle a week or so prior at Sunway, I ordered the a different variation: the tomato flavoured stewed beef noodle (蕃茄牛肉麵, $8.95). Although when it came it smelled really strong of star anise, the soup was a bit weaker in comparison, but still quite delicious. Combined with the tomato, the soup overall was quite good.

The highlight for me was the beef shank though! I think this was the only time that I've had Taiwanese beef noodle where I could taste a strong and rich flavour from the shank. I can taste it in my mouth right now. It kind of has a buttery savoury taste to it and it was not tough at all!

Rating: ★★★★
Compared to cha chaan tengs, this wasn't that cheap of a meal, but it was delicious and filling. The tomato soup, although fragrant, was not as strong as that of Sunway's, but I definitely like the beef here a lot more.

Accord Food House 一心麵典
4611 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC
(604) 435-5777

How to Enjoy Ramen: G-Men / Ramen Izakaya @ NanChuu 南廚

2012-05-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

After an unsuccessful attempt at going to Crawfish King (since it's only open at night), Kirby, Krispybites, and myself headed across the street to NanChuu. It has been on my wishlist for a while, but since it's never open for lunch and Alexandra is sort of a pain, I never bothered trying it. After G-Men closed and merged with NanChuu, they have started serving lunch as well.

Not really sure why there was some Tokyo Tower merchandise, but it was cute.

After the merger, they serve primarily only ramen during lunch. There's a sign teaching "how to enjoy ramen", and I realize that it was pretty close to what I actually do because I usually taste a bit of the soup and noodles without seasoning before adding garlic.
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DD Mau

2012-05-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

Before we headed to a restaurant opening in the area, Kevin and I hit up DD Mau, a fairly new banh mi specialty shop in Yaletown.

The shop itself isn't too small but it's really cute! The store is kind of like Subway where they build the sandwich right in front of you. There were quite a few fruit flies floating around though, and that was a bit unappetizing.
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More Taiwanese Food: Sunway Restaurant and Super Wok

2012-05-05T11:51:00.001-07:00

No, that's not a typo. Sunway Restaurant is a Taiwanese restaurant in Richmond's Empire Centre (that's the mall next to Parker Place). In Chinese, it's called 三味食堂 which actually sounds like "Sunway" when spoken in Mandarin.

After several recommendations while on the hunt for Taiwanese beef noodle, I gave Sunway Restaurant a try. Being a fairly tiny restaurant, the place was packed when I went in for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. It wasn't until 20 minutes until the first dish arrived though, which we were disappointed in.

We ordered the deluxe beef noodle soup ($8.50) to share; originally we were going to go for the plain Taiwanese beef noodle, but this one was a recommended item! Instead of just the typical beef shank, this had some different parts too, like stomach and tendon. The stomach and shank were alright, but I thought the tendon was quite soft. The soup was quite flavourful with lots of star anise. It did get a bit saltier as I ate though.
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Tai Hing Congee and Noodle House 大興粥麵之家

2012-05-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

Ahhh... Tai Hing. This congee and noodle house has been here since the beginning of time. Coming back here brings back two awful memories: Sunday mornings here before math class next door and coming here when I was sick, since congee is supposed to be a magical healing food.

That day, everyone in the house woke up pretty late (#604lateriser much?) and we weren't feeling that hungry. Even though they do serve noodles, most people there get "their special", combos that include a congee and a choice of noodle.

Shogun Set: Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

2012-04-30T11:00:00.000-07:00

Since Ivan was leaving forever (a year actually) for Ottawa, we had to celebr- I mean see him off with food. Rather than going to Deer Garden, which Anthony and Bryan really pushed for, we went to Gyu-Kaku, which is actually a Japanese BBQ franchise with over 700 locations worldwide. The only one in Canada is in Vancouver!

Since there were eight people, we ordered two pitchers of Sapporo draft ($16 each), which was kind of a bad idea since the beer warmed up a bit sitting next to the stoves. Order one at a time!

Everyone was being lazy and didn't really want to order so we ordered the shogun set ($130) as recommended by the server, which is meant to serve 6 people. The set has 2 of each item listed above and six bowls of rice. We also ordered some more food as well -- two of each dish since we were a larger group.
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"Best Noodle Soup in Town": Pho Tam

2012-04-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

Something that I was excited about last semester was that I had two classes at SFU Surrey – this was my first time ever there during my entire undergrad career! This meant: actual food and not just Tim Horton’s and Subway! The first day of classes there (and a few more times after that), I visited Pho Tam, which has been touted as having “the best pho in the Lower Mainland” by a few other bloggers.

This is the tiniest steel teapot I’ve seen -- a personal-sized teapot because #foreveralone. It kind of reminded of those jars used to hold sugar at cha chan tengs.

Afternoon Tea at the Airport: Fairmont Vancouver YVR

2012-04-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

Recently there was a group voucher fury over the afternoon tea special at Fairmont YVR, but I missed out! Fortunately, someone found that there was a coupon on this issue of the Richmond Review, page 20! It expires April 30, 2012, so you have a few more days to go try it! So I still managed to get a buy 1 get 1 deal. Since it was still a bit expensive at $36 for two people, I saved it for a special occasion -- Mama Leung's birthday!

Since we were quite early (2pm, sharp!) and it was a Monday, we were seated by the window, where we could see the airplanes. From that table, we could kind of see them take off -- well, actually only the beginning part.

Service here was really good (whereas you might recall we got absolutely no service at Van Dusen. After we were seated, we were promptly offered a variety of tea leaves to see and smell before picking. There were a lot, including some sweet teas, black teas, green teas and herbal teas.

Megapost: Best Bubble Cafe

2012-04-25T10:35:00.002-07:00

My Foursquare friends (yes, all 5 of you that are both my 4sq friends and actually read this blog) should know that I frequent Best Bubble Cafe quite a bit. Foursquare mayorship, yo! Main reason being: I have a 20% discount card (thanks Krispybites for sending me the link). Food is quite decently priced and not bad taste-wise. This is a "megapost" since it's a compilation of multiple visits.

A long while back, I came here with Kirby and Krispybites... actually it was our first time meeting, after a meal at Sushi Hachi, so it was quite the while back. We came after a failed attempt to go to What8ver and had some bubble tea.

Hot milk tea with pearls

Wheat germ milk tea

I honestly can't remember what it tasted like, but it was pretty good. And cheap! Way cheaper than Pearl Castle and about the same as What8ver.
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Truffles Fine Foods Cafe in Van Dusen Garden

2012-04-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

Recently I noticed a new afternoon tea promo floating around twitterverse again -- $50 for 4 people or $28 for 2 people at Truffles Cafe in the Van Dusen Garden! I thought $12.50 was a really good deal, especially with a view of the garden! I rounded up afternoon-tea connoisseur Krispybites, Kirby, and another foodie friend!

I think it was the first time in years that I've been to Van Dusen. The building is quite fance. Inside there was a small cafe:

Lucky Gate Chinese Restaurant 前門飯店

2012-04-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

In a recent family trip all the way to Lougheed (ha, you thought it was something farther, didn’t you?), where we went to visit my cousin, we had dinner around there as well. I was sort of set on something Korean, but if you have Asian parents, you’d know they need Chinese food regardless of where they go. So instead, we went to Lucky Gate Chinese Restaurant.

I noticed signs on the wall recommending their special, which was a mysterious pork bone dish for around $5! (I say mysterious because there wasn't a description and the name was really obscure, like most Chinese names for food.) The bones kind of felt like those used to boil broth, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was where they were from. However, it was also stewed in a sauce before it was served cold. The flavours kind of reminded me of red fermented bean curd (南乳), but I don’t think it was that. Not quite sure, but it was good.
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Hog Shack Cook House

2012-04-15T09:27:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to try Hog Shack out for a while since tweets about it keep floating around, and it's the only real BBQ place in Richmond. Recently, I got a few $5 gift certificates for filling a survey of theirs. Yay! I overheard on Twitter (thanks to CrispyLechon) that they had a lunch special for $9.95 on weekdays (!) so I went with krispybites for a bite. And... after that I went another time with my mother for lunch on a weekend!

Located at Steveston Harbour, I had originally thought it was right on the pier. Rather, it's one minute away (by foot) near the Blenz, in its own building, which was much smaller than I had expected. Peeking outside, I saw that they had a few racks cooking outside! I like being able to see the "behind the scenes" of restaurants! Some passer-bys stopped to take a look at it as well.
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Cookies and Cream and Bon Iver: Bel Cafe

2012-04-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

Doro and I dropped by Bel Cafe the other day after some La Taqueria for some tea and snacks. She's a regular here, but it was my first time after hearing her mention this place for so long.

Rather than a typical coffee shop, if you're dining in, you get to be waited on! You wait to be seated, get service and get the bill after. Super fance. They also play cool jazz music, but halfway through our stay there, they played Bon Iver. Really random, but I was impressed and happy.
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Teleport to China: Point Zero Four Fusion 零點串吧

2012-04-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

Another group voucher adventure with Dorothy! Originally we were planning to use another one for Tapenade Bistro, but we ended up going to Point Zero instead. I've passed by this place so many times, but I was always a bit hesitant to go, especially when there were so many hot pot options right at Alexandra.

When we stepped inside, I was pretty sure we had teleported to China. I remember seeing boards like these in China, but I couldn't find any extra post-its or else I would've written something. Everything else about the interior still screams China to me, especially combined with the really classical Chinese music (they even looped the Chinese version of "Happy Birthday" at least five times).

Click to enlarge

Sour plum juice

The $25 voucher I bought includes AYCE hot pot for two, as well as soup base and two drinks. They typically offer hot pot at around $18, but that doesn't include soup base which is another $7 or so. Point Zero also has a AYCE skewer and hot pot deal for $24!
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Delicate Pastries: Faubourg

2012-04-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

For the longest time, I've wanted to visit Faubourg. French pastries, where the staff actually have thick French accents? Yes, please. Both times I went though, they were nearly sold out of everything. I think this calls for a trip to Faubourg in the morning.

There's a huge window at the hallway in the back for your viewing pleasure.

Nooch Snack & Chill

2012-04-05T11:30:00.000-07:00

Tired of our Aberdeen food "adventures" (so called adventures), I dragged Anthony to try Nooch near the Richmond City Hall instead since I had a group buy voucher for it.

I really like the chairs.

I also like the art. They change up the art sometimes and feature different works from different artists.

I remember Nooch being a pho place on Capstan Way in its previous life, but this time it had reincarnated in the form of a soup and sandwich shop. This is the second Nooch in Richmond (not counting Nooch Pho), since there's another one by Ikea.

Bacon-Wrapped-Anything: Butaya 豚王

2012-04-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

A long while back, I noticed Butaya had open in Richmond when I was visiting True’s Tea on Alexandra Road, but I never took the time to go there. I was excited to see a tonkatsu place had popped up since there weren’t any other specialty shops back then (now there’s Saboten too)! I went to a tonkatsu specialty restaurant in Tokyo a while back and wanted to relive that here. They pride themselves as the first in the Lower Mainland.

Finally, I went last week with Mama Leung. As I walked in, I saw familiar faces! That’s right, I had an obsession with Wo Fung a few years back and went there every week, so I recognized the Wo Fung family. No wonder I never see them at Aberdeen anymore. The fact that it’s run by them gave me a bit more confidence in their deep-frying skills, but it also made me question its authenticity.

They have a few combos that came with miso soup and rice.

Sriracha with Breakfast: Bob's Submarine Sandwiches

2012-04-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

After I picked up Doro from the airport, we went to Bob's Sub for breakfast. She came back from a vacation in Hong Kong, and I don't think she was exactly in the mood for more cha chaan teng style breakfasts. And I think I've been to Bob's only once.

I got the breakfast combo with two eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon (~$3.50?). I don't know why I had a bacon craving. Usually I try to be a tad "healthier" (in my own bubble/world) and order ham or links, and I'm actually not the biggest bacon fan. But I think bacon might be the weapon of choice next time I go back to Bob's. It was quite crispy and delicious. Eggs done over easy were good too.

But the main highlight of that breakfast and why I even bothered writing this post: the hashbrowns. AND SRIRACHA SAUCE. I never knew that these two things could co-exist, but they do. I don't think any other breakfast places would have Sriracha sauce either. (Bob's is Korean owned and operated.) So bloody delicious.

Rating: ★★★★

Get the Sriracha Sauce. And yes, I'm serious about this post. Maybe.

Bob's Submarine Sandwiches

6390 No 3 Road

Richmond, BC

(604) 273-6710

Revisit: Tapenade Bistro

2012-03-31T10:25:00.000-07:00

Last week, I went with Doro to Tapenade Bistro for dinner – mainly because we had a group voucher! Last time around, I had a voucher as well, but I think we spent it more effectively this time. I was contemplating whether or not to post, but decided to since this time we tried a whole bunch of different things!

Complimentary bread to start – even when we had only taken one piece each, the servers asked us if we wanted more! Of course we did, since we wanted to have bread with our mussels:

Mussels were the recommended dish that day; I think they were different from the ones on the regular menu since they didn’t come with fries. Once again, not my loved style of mussels with the creamish white wine sauce, but these were good. Some of them were quite big, and they were overall quite moist. (I still think Seasons has some of the best I’ve had in the past few months.) We also ended up getting fries on the side, which came with aioli. So good.
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Sauce and More Sauce: Teppan Kitchen

2012-03-27T23:09:00.000-07:00

Friday lunches at Aberdeen seem to happen every week now, since it's Anthony and Bryan's favourite place for food. Kind of unexciting, and I don't really want to post on all of them. This one is probably one of the more interesting ones since I've never tried Teppan Kitchen before!

Charles had mentioned this place almost a year ago, but I always forgot about it! If you find yourself at Aberdeen, hungry and without cash, this is one of the only food court stands that takes card.

Hello? Haro? Haroo

2012-03-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

Something that Richmond is known for is its plethora of Chinese restaurants, especially on Alexandra Road. Another thing that it should be known for is its lack of Korean restaurants. Seriously, there's only a handful of Korean restaurants here. So, when I noticed Haroo while waiting in line at Deer Garden Signatures, I put it on my wishlist.

#SIFEHungerArmy: Trip to the Surrey Food Bank

2012-03-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hi, this isn’t a post on a restaurant. But it’s important. (And about food. Sorta.) If you follow me on Twitter, you may or may not have noticed that I’ve been retweeting a bit from @SIFEHungerArmy. Well, that’s actually an initiative started by Troy, Al, Hao, and myself for (social media) class. Yes, we have a class on social media. Our main goal for this project was to create an army and collect cans for the Surrey Food Bank.

Well, just yesterday, we went to the Surrey Food Bank. And gosh, was it an eye opener. I went for lunch at Pho Tam afterwards and I was kind of depressed, as I ate my lunch reflecting on what just happened. And I’m writing this post to you on the skytrain. For myself, call me a princess, but it was actually the first time I have ever been to a food bank.

As we walked into the building at around 12pm, there were a bunch of volunteers in a row under a few tents. In front of them were various types of food, like a huge box of green beans. More on this later.

Low Tide: Rodney's Oyster House

2012-03-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

A while back, Kirby, Krispymilk, and I had planned to hit up a whole bunch of Buck-a-Shuck restaurants in an afternoon. Well, that didn't happen, but we did go to one of the many restaurants: Rodney's Oyster House, located in Yaletown.

No, those two men aren't Kirby and Krispymilk, FYI.

Just from looking at the outside, we could tell that this wasn't one of those super fancy restaurants that were doing oysters on the side. I felt like we had gone to the pier at Seattle or something! It was quite casual -- we sat upstairs right next to the balcony and they would pass us the bill there or pass things to the other waiters around there as well.

They offer a low tide menu from 3pm to 6pm daily. We arrive a tad before 3pm and it was quite empty -- it wasn't until 3:15ish that it started to get busier. At 3pm, Rodney's kind of felt like an izakaya, with bells ringing and everyone shouting it was low tide.