Dinesty (Aberdeen)

May 21, 2015May 20, 2015Leave a comment

Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings

Dinesty opened up last year in Aberdeen Mall, and I was glad since the No.3 Road location is usually packed. Upon arriving for dinner time, there were groups of people waiting for seats. We weren’t really acknowledged for a good few minutes, but we waited probably only 15 minutes to get a seat. Of course, we started off with the Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings. An order comes with 6 and these were decent. The skin is thin and the pork is juicy with a good amount of soup.

Deep Fried Popcorn Chicken

Next, we ordered the Deep Fried Popcorn Chicken. Probably not something you would normally order at a Shanghainese restaurant, but these were actually decent. They were seasoned with basil leaves and were very crispy. Thee chicken could have been more juicy and moist, but they weren’t too bad overall.

Fried Rice with Baked Salmon

Lastly, we got a Fried Rice with Baked Salmon to change things up. We normally get fried rice with your typical ingredients, but we decided to go for something different. However, this was a bad call as the dish just tasted odd. It was literally flaked baked salmon mixed in the fried rice. This made the rice very fishy. Not going to be trying this again.

Overall, the experience at Dinesty Aberdeen was average. Service was not that great and it was difficult to wave down the servers. Other than the pork dumplings, the items we tried were just average. It seems that many believe that the No.3 road location has better food, which I think I would agree.

Pros:
– Steamed pork dumplings are pretty good
– Large amount of seating

Cons:
– Service lacked
– Other menu items we tried were just average

Price Range: $15-20

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 2.5 Service: 2 Ambiance: 3 Parking: 2.5 Overall: 2.5

Kongee Dinesty 金津粥品專門店

April 11, 2015Leave a comment

Kongee Dinesty opened up earlier this year in the complex on Garden City. It offers congee and limited dim sum items during breakfast and lunch, but becomes a typical Chinese restaurant during dinner time.

They offer a kitchen with glass windows so you can watch the chefs prepare your food. The restaurant itself is pretty nice with your typical dim sum restaurant decor. The restaurant itself is quite small though. We were lucky to score a spot at around 11:30 am, but it soon became packed by the time we left. The waitress basically put our bill down before we asked to shoo us out, since there was a line forming at the door.

Sampan Congee

Of course we had to try their congee, so we went for the Sampan Congee. We ordered this off their pre-customized congee menu, but you can actually customize your congee for $8.95. With this option, you can choose two toppings of your choice, the congee base and garnish. If you order from 8:00am to 11:30 am, you can also choose an extra side, like Chinese donuts, free of charge. Anyways, we ordered the Sampan Congee and added preserved eggs in addition. Sampan Congee comes with just about everything and it definitely had a lot of toppings. We shared this between four people, and everyone had at least one bowl or more. Quite delicious!

Gingko Nuts and Bean Curd Sheets with Baby Bak Choy

Next, we got some veggies, so we went for the Gingko Nuts and Bean Curd Sheets with Baby Bak Choy. This was a healthy choice and the bak choy was very fresh.

Chinese Donut Wrapped with Rice Roll

Then we went for a dim sum item, with the Chinese Donut Wrapped with Rice Roll. The Chinese donuts were fresh and crispy with the rice roll being relatively thin.

Yee-Fu Noodles with Golden Chives

Lastly, we got the Yee-Fu Noodles with Golden Chives. The noodles were chewy and were not too oily. It came with baby scallops and vegetables, so pretty good for the price you pay.

Overall, I was quite satisfied with Kongee Dinesty. Prices are reasonable, but the restaurant is quite small, so I can see it being packed very quickly. Great place to go if you want to get congee. I especially like how you can customize it.

Pros:
– You can customize your congee
– Items other than congee are pretty good too

Cons:
– Not a place to have long chats – they tend to kick you out
– Not a lot of seats

Price Range: $10-20

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 3
Overall: 3.5

Peaceful Restaurant

April 9, 2015April 9, 2015Leave a comment

Peaceful Restaurant was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives by Guy Fieri and I’ve been wanting to check it out since. It’s located right at Cambie and Broadway, so very close by to work. We decided to go check it out after work for an early dinner.

The inside is fairly small, but the turn around time for tables is pretty quick. They have an open kitchen concept, so you can watch the chefs prepare your food. It’s pretty cool to watch them prepare the noodles, which are what they are famous for.

Peaceful Beef Rolls

We started with the Peaceful Beef Rolls, which is beef marinated in five spice and rolled in a crispy green onion flat bread and filled with sweet hoisin sauce. These were some of the best I’ve had! The flat bread was super crispy and there was just the right amount of beef and hoisin sauce. Super crispy, but not overly oily.

Mu-Shu Stir-fried Noodles

Next, we tried the Mu-Shu Stir-fried Noodles. For noodles, you can choose either knife-sliced or hand pulled. We went for knife-sliced, and they were super chewy, but I loved it. The noodles were served with pork, cabbage, woodear mushroom and egg. The noodles are definitely the star of the restaurant. Must try!

Northern Pork Dumplings

Lastly, we had the Northern Pork Dumplings, which were filled with pork, chives, cabbage, and green onions. They came boiled with 10 pieces. The dough is rather thick, but I actually really liked it as they were very chewy. Very filling though.

Overall, I would definitely recommend Peaceful Restaurant. They have great noodles and the prices are reasonable. Service is average, but you manage to get their attention.

Pros:
– Hand-made noodles are delicious
– Must try Peaceful Beef Roll

Cons:
– Seating is a bit cramped

Price Range: $15-25

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4
Service: 2
Ambiance: 2
Parking: 3
Overall: 3.5

Happy Date

February 15, 2015February 15, 2015Leave a comment

Happy Date has been around for a long time, and they are famous for their pineapple buns and HK style food. Not the best looking on the outside and inside, but they are known for great food. My mom told me that they now serve Chinese dishes for dinner time, rather than just the HK style food during lunch, so we decided to go give it a try. The restaurant is packed inside and surprisingly, it has been renovated and is decent looking. Nothing special, but it was clean.

They have a few set menus for dinner, including lobster or pigeons. We went for the Pigeon Special Set Menu, which came with two crispy pigeons and your choice of 3 dinner dishes served with soup, rice and dessert for $69.88. First up was the soup, which had meat and vegetables. Your typical home-made soup which had been boiled for many hours.

Crispy Pigeons

Then came the feature of the set menu. You can choose more or less pigeons depending on how large your group of diners are. The choice of dishes increase when you add more pigeons as well. We went for two pigeons, which was more than enough. Everyone had around 2 pieces to eat. We found that the skin could have been more crispy though. Flavourwise, I liked how it wasn’t overly salty.

Pork Chop with Honey and Peach Glaze

With our set menu, you can then choose three dishes from a long list of choices. We chose the Pork Chop with Honey and Peach Glaze, which ended up being a huge dish! It was definitely glazed with lots of sugar, since the honey was very apparent. The pork chop was deep fried, but we all found it to be just average. The batter was sort of too thick and I found it to be too sweet.

Vegetable and Bean Curd with Lettuce

The second dish was the Vegetable and Bean Curd with Lettuce. This came in a fish broth, which I found to be too milky for my liking. The veggies were fresh, but other than that, nothing too special. Your typical veggie dish.

Deep Fried Chicken with Fish Sauce

Lastly, was the Deep Fried Chicken with Fish Sauce. The skin was crispy, but didn’t seem to attach to the chicken itself. The chicken was moist and seasoned well, and I liked the fish sauce that came with it. Not bad.

Dessert was red bean soup, but I guess it’s whatever they decide to make that night. Not a fan of red bean soup, so I didn’t have any to comment on.

Overall, Happy Date was pretty average to me. Good prices and large portions, but I wouldn’t say the food is too memorable or above average. Service was also very friendly, and it’s honestly pretty clean although you shouldn’t expect much ambiance here. It’s super basic and simple, but somehow still attracts all these diners!

Pros:
– Reasonable prices
– Large portions

Cons:
– Average eats
– Ambiance isn’t the best

Price Range: $15-20

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3
Service: 4
Ambiance: 2
Parking:2
Overall: 3

Legend House

February 6, 2015Leave a comment

Just across Coquitlam Centre is Legend House, a restaurant that specializes in Northern China and Szechuan cuisine.

Walking in, you can see the chefs preparing handmade noodles and dumplings.

Chicken with Spicy Sauce

We started off with the Chicken with Spicy Sauce. The free range chicken was tossed in a spicy Szechuan peppercorn dressing & garlic. I found the sauce to be very spicy, but I’ve had a spicier one. I’m sure Szechuan diners would think that this is not spicy enough. The chicken itself was also difficult to eat, since the chicken was chopped up in a way were there were bits of bones everywhere. Not a lot of actual meat to be honest.

Dan Dan Noodles

Next were the Dan Dan Noodles, which came in a huge bowl for a cheap price of $6.95. Eating this on your own would definitely fill you up very well. The noodles were handmade, but I found that they stuck together a lot. The texture itself is pretty good though, with a nice chew. The sauce was a spicy, tangy peanut sauce, and included minced pork & spinach. Of course, there were crushed peanuts as well. Slightly spicy, but I could still handle it.

Shanghai “Xiao Long Bao” Soup Dumplings

Next up were the Shanghai “Xiao Long Bao” Soup Dumplings, which were filled with minced pork and ginger. The soup inside was sizzling and creamy. The skin was also a good thickness. Pretty good and comparable to some of the ones in Richmond.

Legend Beef Rolls

We also got the Legend Beef Rolls, which were ginormous! The five spiced beef were rolled in a crispy green onion flat bread and filled with sweet hoisin sauce. We thought the outside was pretty burnt, but the roll itself was pretty good, with a good amount of filling. I found it difficult to eat since it was such a big roll though.

Szechuan Hot Chili Dumplings

Last but not least, we got the Szechuan Hot Chili Dumplings, which were filled with pork filling and tossed in chilli oil, garlic, vinegar & spinach. These were actually not very spicy, and we found it too oily. It was literally just dumplings in chili oil.

Overall, Legend House was decent, but not memorable. Service is actually pretty good here and the ambiance is much nicer than many Chinese restaurants. Very reasonable prices and there’s free underground parking. I guess this would be a good choice for Shanghai/ Szechuan food in Coquitlam.

Pros:
– Ambiance and service is pretty good for a Chinese restaurant
– Reasonable prices for decent eats

Cons:
– Some hits and misses for dishes, but overall not very memorable

Price Range: $15-20

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 4
Overall: 3

Top Shanghai Cuisine 上海一只鼎

January 18, 2015Leave a comment

Baked Scallion Pancake

Top Shanghai Cuisine has been around for years. I still remember going to their previous location years ago, but I haven’t revisited since they moved to their Ackroyd location. We started off with the Baked Scallion Pancake, which was fluffy and well seasoned. I liked how it wasn’t too oily.

Stir Fried Noodles with Beef

Next, the Stir Fried Noodles with Beef arrived, and it was a decent portion. I found it to be very heavy in oil though. I guess this dish is usually very oily anyways though. This was average in terms of flavour. I think I’ve had better elsewhere.

Steamed Pork Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao)

A weird timing, but the Steamed Pork Dumplings showed up last. I found that the skin for these dumplings were thicker than the ones at Ding Tai Fung. However, I liked how the soup inside was still sizzling hot and although I would’ve liked more soup in it, the broth was very flavourful. Not bad!

Overall, Top Shanghai Cuisine has some decent eats. No wonder this place is so packed! Don’t expect much ambiance or service here. Tables are packed so close together and the waiting customers are basically standing next to you while you’re dining. Arrive before 7pm or you’ll be waiting around for seats.

Pros:
– Decent eats with reasonable prices
– Menu is filled with pictures for easy ordering

Cons:
– Don’t expect amazing service
– You’ll be sitting very closely to the table next to you

Price Range: $10-20

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4
Service: 2
Ambiance: 2
Parking: 3
Overall:3

Copa Cafe (Richmond)

January 5, 2015January 5, 2015Leave a comment

On Christmas, most restaurants are closed and unless you make reservations well in advance, it’s pretty difficult to get a table on the day of. Mom had been talking about trying the new Copa Cafe on River Road in Richmond for some time now, and it was conveniently opened for Christmas. Not my ideal restaurant to go to for Christmas, but she really wanted to try it, so what could I say… I’m not a huge fan of HK cafe style food, which is essentially what Copa Cafe offers. What was worse was that on Christmas, they only offer their “Christmas menu.” I honestly thought it was a rip off since you had to get their 3 course menu, which was way overpriced for what I was eating. It started off with butter and bread. I didn’t end up eating this since I knew I would get too full by the end of the meal.

Shrimp Salad

First course starts with the Shrimp Salad, which was quite a large portion, but was missing the dressing sauce. I felt like I had a drop of dressing only. Therefore, the salad was really dry. You got some cocktail shrimps, bacon bits and croutons. I personally thought this was a pretty bad salad. Anyone could’ve made this and it definitely lacked flavour.

Shredded Ham Cream Soup

The second appetizer is the choice of Cream Soup or Minestrone. I chose the Shredded Ham Cream Soup. The soup wasn’t hot and already had a layer of cold soup at the top when it arrived. A medium consistency, which I liked, but it lacked any ingredients. You got the tiniest piece of shredded ham here and there.

Surf and Turf

For my entree, I chose the Surf and Turf. This came with a baked lobster tail, steak in peppercorn sauce, some blanched vegetables, and mashed potatoes shaped like a pear and deep fried. The dish was cold when it arrived. To add, my entree came 5 minutes after my two appetizers arrived. Do they expect diners to eat that quickly? It was the worst service possible, with three plates in front of me. I felt that was really unprofessional. As for the food, the lobster was just average. Nothing special. The steak itself was cooked perfectly to medium rare, but I personally thought the peppercorn sauce tasted disgusting. It ruined the whole dish. Something about the flavour was just off. The fried mashed potatoes were decent but needed to be flavoured. The potatoes themselves were bland. Overall, I wasn’t happy with this dish.

Turkey with Cranberry Sauce and Mashed Potatoes

Dad got the Turkey with Cranberry Sauce and Mashed Potatoes. It came with gravy and a side of vegetables. He said they were alright. Your typical turkey.

Crème Brûlée

For dessert, it was Crème Brûlée. The sugar at the top was burnt at the top, hence giving it a burnt taste overall. To add, the dessert was watery in the middle. I thought it was pretty disgusting. Your set menu also comes with your choice of hot drink. The menu ranged from $23 to $32, which I found wasn’t worth it considering the quality of food. It’ll get you full, but I wouldn’t order any of this again. Stick with their regular menu.

Pros:
– Decent amount of parking spots in the parkade shared with T&T
– Ambiance was pretty nice and decorated for a HK style cafe

Cons:
– Service was unprofessional – appetizers and entrees came out all at once
– The dishes we ordered weren’t that great

Price Range: $20-30 (Christmas menu); normally $10-20

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 2
Service: 2
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 3
Overall: 2

Din Tai Fung (Bellevue) – revisit

January 4, 2015January 4, 2015Leave a comment

It’s been over 3 years since I last visited Din Tai Fung located at the Lincoln Square in Seattle (Bellevue). Back when it first opened, the restaurant was bustling with long waits, and when S and I visited for lunch on Christmas Eve, it was quite the same. The wait wasn’t half as long though. You can watch the chefs prepare the dumplings and buns through the glass window while you wait. Their waiting system now offers a text to alert you that your table is ready, which is quite convenient. The restaurant is famous all over Asia, but it’s interesting to note that at this location, there are barely any Chinese employees. I guess they cater to the Caucasian population here.

Juicy Pork Dumplings

After a 20 minute wait, we placed our orders and first up were the Juicy Pork Dumplings. One order comes with 10 dumplings. I liked how the dumpling skin was very thin, but I found that the soup inside cooled down really quickly. I would have preferred it to be still sizzling hot. Nevertheless, they were pretty good or above average.

Rice & Pork Shao Mai

I suggested we order the Rice & Pork Shao Mai, which is essentially sticky glutinous rice with pork stuffed in the dumpling skin to appear like a shao mai. These were very sticky and rather filling. Not bad. Again, they one order came with 10.

Chicken Fried Noodles

Lastly, we ordered the Chicken Fried Noodles. A mix of chicken and vegetables along with the thick Shanghai noodles. I liked how the noodles had a good chewy texture to it and the dish wasn’t too oily or salty.

Pros:
– Good quality food at decent prices
– Ambiance is much nicer than your typical Chinese restaurant

Cons:
– Always a queue for a table
– Service was rather slow for us

Price Range: $10-20

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4
Service: 3
Ambiance: 4
Parking: 4
Overall: 4

Every Day is a Food Day

Category: Chinese

Dinesty (Aberdeen)

Kongee Dinesty 金津粥品專門店

Peaceful Restaurant

Happy Date

Legend House

Top Shanghai Cuisine 上海一只鼎

Copa Cafe (Richmond)

Din Tai Fung (Bellevue) – revisit