NOTE: All food and beverages were complimentary, but all opinions are based on my own personal experience.
Two weeks ago, MYST Asian Fusion opened in Burnaby. The parking lot in the front can get filled up quickly during peak hours, but free street parking is available along Kingsway. The restaurant features a variety of Asian inspired dishes and has modern decor that even lights up at night giving a lounge feel. We were invited by ChineseBites to check out some of their dishes.
Calpis Butterfly Pea Flower and Strawberry Lemon Butterfly Pea Flower
There is a long list of drinks available, including your typical bubble tea. They also have a few versions of the Butterfly Pea Flower, which has become a popular drink on many bubble tea shop menus.
Green Apple Slush
Their Slushies are also super cute, with marshmallows and chocolate eyes. Liquor is also available for drinks, including my favourite Taiwanese fruit beers!
Steamed Sticky Rice Dumplings
Onto food, we tried the Steamed Sticky Rice Dumplings which are common at Shanghainese restaurants. Because there is rice inside, I find that this dish tends to be on the dry side.
Assorted Deep Fried Basket
The Assorted Deep Fried Basket was filled with deep fried squid, pork blood, and chicken. A great dish to share.
MYST Deluxe Marinated Pork with Rice
This dish was definitely a deluxe take on the classic Taiwanese marinated pork on rice. It was topped with lots of Taiwanese sausage and a sunny side egg. Mix it all together, and this was delicious and full of flavour!
Marinated 3 Item Combo (Seaweed, Dried Tofu, Pork Ear String)
The Marinated 3 Item Combo is common among Taiwanese cuisine. Not my favourite though as I am not a huge fan of pork ear.
Chives, Shrimp & Pork Dumplings
The dumplings were simple but very tasty and flavourful. The chili soy sauce on the side was addicting!
MYST Beef Noodle Soup
The MYST Beef Noodle Soup is filled with shank, tripe, and tendon.
TaiNan Style Egg Noodle Soup
A very different noodle compared to the above, the TaiNan Style Egg Noodle Soup is less flavourful but a great option if you want a more clear broth.
Fried Chicken in Chili Pepper
The Fried Chicken were large in size and deep fried to a golden brown while the meat remained moist. Yummy!
Preserved Cabbage with Shredded Pork Fried Rice Cake
A simple dish, but very tasty, with the rice cakes being just the right amount of chew. Not too oily either.
Delicious Sandwiches
A classic favourite for kids, these sandwichese were filled with tomato, egg, ham, and cucumber.
Skewers
- Pork intestine $2.25/each
- Lamb $2.25/each
- Pork $2.25/each
- Chicken $2.25/each
- Fish cake $3.50/each
- Chicken gizzard $2.25/each
When I say MYST has a large variety of dishes, I’m not kidding because they even have skewers! You don’t need to go to the night market to get your fix of these. However, I did find that they lack the char that the night market ones have.
House Special Spicy Lamb Hot Pot
My favourite of the night was the House Special Spicy Lamb Hot Pot. It was filled with tender slices of lamb, imitation crab, and a variety of vegetables. The broth was spicy and very flavourful! This is served with rice and a few side dishes.
MYST Jelly
For dessert, we tried the MYST Jelly which is tasted like wintermelon and brown sugar. Slightly too sweet for some as wintermelon can often be. The texture was also a bit odd as it seemed like too much gelatin was put in it.
MYST Taiyaki
The MYST Taiyaki comes in a waffle bowl, with matcha ice cream, red beans, mochi balls, and a red bean filled taiyaki. The mochi balls are melon flavoured which was interesting! Not bad, but I found the mochi to be more hard than chewy.
Strawberry Shaved Snowflake
The Strawberry Shaved Snowflake is definitely picture worthy. They are smart to use a bowl shaped like this to maximize the effect of the dry ice. As for the dessert itself though, I didn’t like the artificial strawberry flavour. Perhaps the mango version would be better.
Hakka Style Sweet Rice Cake
Lastly, we tried the Hakka Style Sweet Rice Cake, but most of us were not a fan of it. Perhaps it was the dates inside which gave a bitter aftertaste. It also tasted like there was alcohol in it, which many of us were not fond of.
Overall, there are hits and misses at MYST Asian Fusion, but the good thing is they have such a large variety of choices so there is something for everyone. They also open from 7:30 am for breakfast until 1am from Sunday to Thursday and until 2am from Friday to Saturday.
very nice