Taste of Aberdeen – ChineseBites Media Event

September 23, 2015September 23, 2015Leave a comment

NOTE: As part of the ChineseBites media event, all food and beverages were free, but all opinions are based on my own experience.

Last week, I had the pleasure of joining 60 other foodies at the Taste of Aberdeen event hosted by ChineseBites. When you think of the food court, you might be thinking of Flaming Wok, Taco Bell and that sort of stuff. Well, the Aberdeen food court is a whole different story, with stalls serving up cheap, delicious Asian food. You’d be surprised to hear that many people regularly dine here for lunch or dinner. I brought along S to dine with me and we were seated with fellow foodie Instagrammers, Tea.Latte and Vancouverfoodie.

Dinner started off with an array of drinks from various shops. Starting from left to right was the Matcha Soy Bean from Strike, Iced Lemon Ribena from Bubble Waffle, Iced Honey Matcha Tea from Teppan Kitchen, House Special from 8 Juice, Milk Tea with Pearls and Coconut Jelly from Estea Express, and Iced Genmaicha Tea from Saboten. I was able to try the House Special which consisted of mango coconut juice with tapioca, mango and pomelo bits. It’s like drinking the mango pomelo dessert!

Sakura Roll

First up was the Sakura Roll from Aji Hana, which is the only Japanese stall selling sushi at the food court. The roll is filled with prawn tempura and avocado and topped with chopped scallop and tobiko. The toppings are quite abundant and I would say it’s pretty good considering it’s from the food court.

Bubble Waffle

Next was the infamous Bubble Waffle from Bubble Waffle. This was the original flavour and the outside was crispy with the interior having that nice mochi-like chew.

Curry Fish Balls

Included in my top favourites list (at the bottom of the post) were the Curry Fish Balls from Bubble Waffle. I loved the kick these had without it being numbing. These bite-size fish balls had that bouncy texture and were fun to eat.

Pan Fried Chinese Chives with Pork Dumplings

Also making it on my favourite list is the Pan Fried Chinese Chives with Pork Chives from Chef of Dumplings. I would have never thought of ordering these at the food court, but these were amazing! The wrappers were pan fried to a nice crispiness and there was a ton of filling inside. Flavours were great!

Hot Sour Noodle

The Hot Sour Noodle from Szechuan House was average for me. It had the strong numbing effect and reminded me of the Szechuan Boiled Fish Soup. Not sure if I would consider this a soup since I wouldn’t want to drink it… There were mostly glass noodles in it and tons of chilies. If you like spicy and Szechuan food, this is for you.

Prawn Wontons

The Prawn Wontons at Lung Kee were surprisingly pretty good! The wrappers were thin and the prawn was big and juicy. These are big wontons for sure!

Deep Fried Squid and Deep Fried Chicken Wings

Always making it on my favourites list is the Deep Fried Chicken Wings from Wu Fung Dessert. They are famous for them and you’ll always find the stall with a line up. What surprised both S and I were how good the Deep Fried Squid were! I never even knew they sold them, but they are just as good as the wings! The squid is extremely tender!

Drunken Chicken Hot Pot

The Drunken Chicken Hot Pot from Tofu Hot Pot was a crowd-pleaser as the broth was delicious. You get an array of vegetables, chicken and glass noodles in a broth cooked with Chinese wine. I could really taste the Chinese wine in the chicken and it tasted great.

Popcorn Chicken Nuggets

The Popcorn Chicken Nuggets from Yougo Chicken were nice and crispy and well-seasoned.

Club House Sandwich

The Club House Sandwiches from Strike were visually pleasing and was a bit of a surprise for us. The triple stacked sandwiches are filled with a meat patty, eggs, cucumbers and tomatoes. It had a sweet flavour to it and wouldn’t be bad for lunch.

Egg Rolls

Also from Strike were the Egg Rolls, which are filed with a thin slice of egg, canned tuna and corn. The wrapper reminded me of the Chinese chive pancakes. Thought this was just average.

Baked Pork Chop on Rice

A typical order from Mambo Cafe usually consists of the Baked Pork Chop on Rice. This is a huge filling portion at a cheap price. You can probably share this between two people. You get a ton of pork chop and the cheesy tomato sauce is delicious on top.

Chicken Bulgogi & Pork Belly

My least favourite item of the night was the Chicken Bulgogi & Pork Belly from Kitchen Korea. I found that both the chicken and pork were rather dry and tough. The flavours were also rather bland. I’ve tasted better Korean meats for sure.

Sticky Rice

The Sticky Rice from Leung Kee is filled with Chinese sausage and was quite flavourful.

Soy Sauce Chicken and Long Gong Chicken

Also from Leung Kee was the Soy Sauce Chicken and Long Gong Chicken. Both had a nice gelatinous layer of jelly and were marinated well.

Saboten Set

From Saboten, we got to try the Saboten Set which came with prawn, pork tenderloin and pork loin. It comes with a large choice of dipping sauces as well as a miso soup. The batter is extremely light and crispy. I preferred the tenderloin and the prawn the most as I found the pork loin to be rather dry.

Hainanese Chicken on Rice

Making it on my top favourites list is the Hainanese Chicken on Rice from Cafe D’Lite Express. The rice was well seasoned and the chicken had that nice jelly like skin. Loved the chili sauce on the side too!

‘A’ Grade Ribeye Teppan with Egg and Corn

If you like sizzling meat and rice, then Teppan Kitchen‘s ‘A’ Grade Ribeye Teppan with Egg and Corn will satisfy you. Coming in a hot skillet, the meat is sizzled along with the rice and you just mix everything together. Similar concept as Pepper Lunch.

Mini Cream Puffs and Cheesecake Sticks

Onto desserts! First up were Mini Cream Puffs and Cheesecake Sticks from Beard Papa’s. Always a good option for desserts!

Choco Banana Fresh Cream Mini Crepe

The Choco Banana Fresh Cream Mini Crepe from Mazazu Crepe was a bit of a disappointment for me since it had way too much cream. The crepes you normally get when you order the full size is usually really good with delicious fillings.

A Dream in Eden

To finish off our enormous meal, we got to sample two shaved ice from Frappe Bliss. The first was A Dream in Eden which came in these adorable flower shaped bowls. Almost looks like a bouquet of flowers! This one has strawberries, kiwi, mango, and mango ice cream. I liked the sweetness from the condensed milk.

Matcha Delight

The second shaved ice from Frappe Bliss was the Matcha Delight and this was one of my favourites. Topped with matcha icream, chewy rice balls and red bean, this is perfect for those who like matcha desserts. I especially like their shaved ice since it is the snow powder type where it isn’t chunks of ice. The powder like ice just melts into your mouth.

Thanks again to ChineseBites for hosting the event. To finish off, here are my favourite items from the night:

Deep Fried Squid
Deep Fried Chicken Wings
Hainanese Chicken on Rice
Curry Fish Balls
Pan Fried Chinese Chives with Pork Dumplings

Zabu Chicken

August 9, 2015August 8, 2015Leave a comment

KH and KC finally made our trip to Zabu Chicken after months of talking about fried chicken and beer. We headed over on a random weekday after work, and we were surprised that that it had a decent amount of diners. Zabu Chicken offers Korean fried chicken and beer, and most of their diners are Korean. By 7:00 pm, the place shut off their lights and had some night club music going on. Contrary to what many people had said about their poor service, I actually didn’t find it a problem and the service was quite attentive. Food did take quite some time to come out, but since we had our drinks, it wasn’t too much of a problem.

Complimentary Coleslaw and Pickled Radish

After you place your order, you get some complimentary dishes. They served us Coleslaw as well as some Pickled Radish. At first, we thought the dishes were pretty underwhelming, but once you have some beer and chicken, you will appreciate it. The sourness of the pickled radish will help you cool down from the spicy chicken.

Sapporo

With fried chicken, you have to get some beer. We ended up getting two pitchers of Sapporo for the night. Not the cheapest, but at $17, it was a reasonable price to share. I like how they provide you with beer mugs which have been put in the freezer so that your beer is kept cold.

Zabu Hot Combo (M)

We decided to share a few dishes and started off with the Zabu Hot Combo. You can choose between medium and large size. We went with the medium, and you get a mix of wings and drumsticks. These were delicious! They are spicy, but a tolerable one and great with beer. The batter is so crispy! Something about it just tastes a lot different compared to American fried chicken. The sauce makes the chicken moist, but you still get the crispiness. The meat is also kept moist and tender.

Zabu Soy Combo (L)

We also got their original Zabu Soy Combo, and we got this in large. These were also very delicious, and it had a nice sweet taste to it. A must order! It’s funny because you can also order a whole chicken… When we asked the server about it, she said they literally chop up the whole chicken and fry it…

Overall, we were extremely satisfied with Zabu Chicken. The fried chicken isn’t the cheapest, but I’ve realized that fried chicken can be quite expensive. I also liked how we were able to sit around and chat and continue drinking our beer and the servers didn’t kick us out. Cool place to chill at night!

Pros:
– Chicken is crispy and moist
– Fun, chill place to drink and hang with friends

Cons:
– Prices aren’t exactly cheap

Price Range: $15-25

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

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

Man Ri Sung Korean Restaurant

April 12, 2015April 12, 2015Leave a comment

Man Ri Sung used to be located in the strip mall where Banzai is on Westminister. It recently moved to the third floor of Aberdeen Mall and is famous for their peking duck. I believe it is run by Koreans, but they seem to cater to the Chinese. Looking through the menu, there are quite a few dishes that lean towards the Chinese cuisine.

The interior is quite spacious with many tables. It’s great for large groups, and each table has the grill set up on the table in case you order bbq items.

Banchan

Dinner started with complimentary banchan, which included kimchi, marinated radish, marinated bean sprouts and sweet potatoes. These were just average, with the kimchi being probably the best as it was just the right amount of spice and sourness for me. The sweet potatoes were underwhelming. The sauce wasn’t that great compared to other restaurants. Seemed a bit watery.

Pan Fried Potato Noodles

Anyways, we didn’t get their famous peking duck, since you need to pre-order and it was just S and I eating. S chose the Pan Fried Potato Noodles in a small size, and it was quite a huge plate. I think he only ended up finishing half of it. The potato noodles were quite underwhelming. They were not very flavourful and I’ve definitely had better. It also seemed like they lacked beef in the dish.

Short Beef Rib Soup

For myself, I had the Short Beef Rib Soup. I found the beef short ribs to be overcooked so the meat was quite chewy. The soup itself was pretty good, although it lacked depth in flavour. I ended up dipping my kimchi in to give it some spice and flavour. This was just average.

Overall, Man Ri Sung was quite average based on the dishes we tried. Korean food can be quite pricey, but I think some of their items seem to be quite reasonably priced for the portion sizes. It would definitely be better to eat with a larger group so you can share more items. Service was quite slow near the end and I didn’t find it too friendly. I think I would prefer Sura downstairs even though it’s pricier.

Pros:
– Large portions
– Comfortable seating

Cons:
– Dishes we tried were just average
– Service was a bit slow

Price Range: $15-25

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

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

Midam Cafe

April 6, 2015Leave a comment

Midam Cafe is hidden in a complex just off North Road. It’s been a year since I’ve visited, and K was desperate to get some shikye (a Korean rice drink). So desperate that we drove almost an hour to get here to find out they didn’t offer it right now. Probably because it’s more of a summer drink. Anyways, Midam is famous for their rice cakes, and I have to say they are pretty good! The spot is filled with diners at night for drinks and food, but we were surprised to be the first diners here during your typical lunch time on a weekend.

We were served the complimentary ban-chan or Korean side dishes. These were all very good, consisting of kimchi, sweet potatoes and marinated kelp. The kimchi was a lot spicier than your typical, but was still delicious.

Korean Traditional Rice Cake Soup

I chose the Korean Traditional Rice Cake Soup, which was surprisingly a very large bowl of soup. The broth was flavoured well, but definitely not salty. The rice cakes were cooked perfectly, so they were slightly chewy. It was filled with green onions, egg and seaweed. I put some of the kimchi in to give it some spice, which complemented the dish very well.

Fresh Vegetable Porridge Set

K got the Fresh Vegetable Porridge Set, which again was a very large bowl. It had chopped vegetables and the porridge was flavoured just right. Very delicious!

Grilled Mochi with Red Bean

We finished off our meal with dessert, which oddly came at the same time as our food. I would’ve appreciated it more if the dessert was served after we finished our meals. The Grilled Mochi with Red Bean came on a hot plate and didn’t look too appetizing, but was actually quite delicious. The mochi was soft with a slight chew, and the sweetness from the red beans and roasted almonds worked well with the dish. The only concern was that the mochi was slightly burnt, so you could taste the charcoal.

Overall, Midam has solid Korean dishes and is great for desserts and drinks. I would suggest you try their rice cakes as they are probably some of the best in town. Service is just average, and there honestly isn’t much since you need to press the button to get the attention of your server. Parking is pretty good as well, although I can imagine the complex getting busy with the Korean supermarket also located in the complex.

Pros:
– Delicious home-made rice cakes – both savoury and sweet
– Great selection of desserts and drinks

Cons:
– Lack of service

Price Range: $10-20

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

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

Gyu-Kaku (Broadway)

November 26, 2014November 25, 2014Leave a comment

Pitcher of Beer

Gyu-Kaku has two locations – one in downtown, and the second on Broadway. Since it was relatively close to work, I headed down there to meet up with the girls for dinner. On Mondays, the whole day is Happy Hour, so there are some pretty good deals! For drink deals, the pitcher of Sapporo is just for $9! (It’s a full pitcher by the way, just that I took the picture after pouring.)

Steamed Chili Dumpling

We ordered one of the items off the Happy Hour Menu. The Steamed Chili Dumplings are normally $6.95, but is $4.95 during happy hour. They were your typical dumplings with some spicy sauce on it. Not bad, but it’s nothing too special.

Gyu-Kaku Salad

Gyuk-Kaku offers many set course meals. The best part is that you can have more people than stated on the menu and still order these sets. We chose the Meat Lover’s for 2, although we were a table of three, and we were more than filled. The set is for $55, and when split between 3, it comes to around $20 each. It starts off with some appetizers, including the Gyu-Kaku Salad. Topped with burdock, greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, and hard boiled eggs, it’s quite a salad. It came with a Japanese mayo sauce, which was very delicious!

Edamame

Next up were the Edamame. Lightly salted, and a huge bowl!

Chicken Karaage

The Chicken Karaage came with a spicy mayo dip. I found that there was too much batter compared to meat. This could’ve been worked on.

Garlic Steak, Spicy Pork, Toro Beef Tare

Then our meats came. Each table is equipped with a built in barbeque so you can self-barbeque. However, I found that your meat could be easily burnt when you don’t look after it. My favourite had to be the Toro Beef. It was thin, tender and fatty. The Spicy Pork was probably my least favourite since it was easy to overcook it so it became rough. Many of the meat are already marinated, but they also provide you with three sauces. A spicy, sweet, and ponzu sauce.

Bistro Hanger Steak Miso, New York Steak Miso, Yaki-Shabu Beef Tare

More meat came and another favourite was the Bistro Hanger Steak. Well marinated and tender meat. All cuts were very good. I didn’t have a single piece that was tough to chew. Other than meat, there was always Corn Butter, which were corn niblets that were wrapped in tin foil with butter inside. When you place it on the grill, the heat melts the butter. Very yummy!

Sukiyaki Bibimbap

There was also a Sukiyaki Bibimbap. However, I found that it tasted more like Chinese sticky rice, rather than a bibimbap. I guess it was the type of rice they used. Not bad!

There was also dessert to end the night. Since it’s a two person course set, it only came with two scoops of matcha ice cream, but they were one of the biggest scoops I’ve had. Overall, I was quite satisfied with Gyu-Kaku. Service was very attentive. Our grill was switched multiple times, and they even switched up our beer mugs to frozen ones once in a while. Quality of food is pretty good, and the price isn’t too bad. One of the better barbeque spots I’ve been to.

Korean Twist – Portland

October 17, 2014October 14, 2014Leave a comment

Near S.W. 10th Ave. & Alder St., you’ll find Portland’s largest hub of food carts. However, when we arrived it was noon and there weren’t large line ups like the ones we have in Vancouver. Taking a stroll along the food carts, nothing really struck me either. I’m sure the food is good, but there weren’t really unique menu items that made me desperately want to try.

Anyways, I ended up going for Korean Twist, which seemed slightly more interesting. It’s run by two young men and there was a steady customer base. They essentially sell tacos, burritos and rice bowls with a Korean twist to it.

Chicken Burrito

J and K shared the Chicken Burrito, which was huge! They said it was flavourful and very filling.

Spicy Pork, Bulgogi Beef, Tofu Taco

For myself, I shared the taco set with K. The taco set comes with 3 tacos, but we added an additional taco at regular price. She got two of the Tofu Tacos, while I got the Spicy Pork and Bulgogi Beef Taco. Both of the meats were super flavourful! It’s the sauce that really does it for me. A mix of coleslaw and cilantro, but they fill the tacos with a lot of meat. You definitely get your money’s worth as these tacos aren’t small!

Overall, I think Korean Twist is a great place to try if you want to get value out of your money. You’ll be full and the flavours are great if you want some Asian flare.

Potter’s Garden

October 4, 2014October 4, 2014Leave a comment

Since we were in the Metrotown area, we decided to grab some food after hiking. We ended up going to Potter’s Garden. There were customers constantly coming in, which is always a good sign! I believe the owners are Korean as well, but they can speak fluent English, so no problem with ordering here!

They first start you off with some appetizers. Here, we have marinated seaweed salad, beansprouts, sweet potatoes, and kimchi. We actually got two sets of these for 5 people, and I’m pretty sure you can ask for a refill.

They also provide you with lettuce so you can wrap your grilled meat, some dipping sauces, and my favourite ssamjang.

Bulgogi

We started off with the Bulgogi, which is just stir fried marinated tender beer with vegetables. Since we only ordered two grilled dishes, they did not open up the grill for us to grill on our own. I actually prefer that since I don’t exactly enjoy the grilling part and smelling like grilled food afterwards. The meat was very tender and flavourful. Along with ssamjang and wrapped with lettuce, it was very delicious!

LA Galbi Jui

Next, we got the LA Galbi Jui, which are grilled marinated prime ribs. I found the ribs to be slightly disappointing as the meat was a bit tough to chew. And of course, there weren’t too much meat as well. The sauce was very good though.

Nakji-dolsot-bibimbap – rice mixed with assorted vegetables, octopus, optional red pepper paste in a hot stone pot

My favourite of the night was the Nakji-dolsot-bibimbap. This was your typical bibimbap or rice in hot stone bowl with a twist. It has assorted vegetables like bean sprouts, carrots, and zucchini, but also octopus! The octopus was very tender and easy to chew. It was also dressed with the red pepper paste so it was very flavourful and feisty! Recommend!

Japchae

We got our all time favourite Japchae, which is potato noodles stir-fried with vegetables and beef. This was a small size and was a good portion to share so everyone could get some. It was filled with lots of vegetables and beef, so you would get some crunch to it.

Haemul Pajeon (seafood)

Lastly, we got the Haemul Pajeon, which is the Korean style pancake with seafood. Again, this was the mall size. I thought this was done very well as the top was crispy, and they didn’t cheap out on the seafood. It had a mix of squid, shrimp, and of course lots of chives.

Overall, Potter’s Garden was quite good for the value. Nothing too outstanding, but I would probably revisit again when I want Korean food near Kingsway. I believe they are also open until 2 a.m., so a perfect place to get some drinks and late night snacks.

Japanese Snacks

September 17, 2014Leave a comment

Last post to wrap up my trip in Japan is going to be about all the random snacks I had along the way. First up, was MOS Burger near the Shibuya station. We grabbed a quick bite here while waiting for our Airbnb host. MOS Burger is a fast food chain and the second largest in Japan after McDonald’s. I got the beef, onion and cheese melt. Tons of flavour from the onions and the cheese was really good.

In the mornings, we would sometimes go down to Family Mart to grab a quick snack. Family Mart is a convenience store, similar to 7-Eleven. We got the onigiris, which are rice shaped like triangles and wrapped with seaweed. Inside, they are filled with different ingredients, but ume or pickled plum is probably the most common. I chose the Spicy Tuna Onigiri, which was super delicious! It’s under 200 yen for one as well! Such a steal.

At Family Mart, we also found many alcoholic beverages. We got this lychee cider, which was so good! Wish we have this in Vancouver. Only 4% of alcohol content, so the lychee fruity flavour really comes through.

We also checked out Tokyu Food Show, which is connected to the Shibuya station. It’s located inside the Tokyu Toyoko Department store and offers many different stalls with food. We decided to get some nigiris at one of the stall. Here is the Tuna Nigiri, which was slightly disappointing. It wasn’t as fresh as the ones we had in restaurants and slightly overpriced.

We also got the Geoduck Nigiri, but it was only alright as well. All the ingredients didn’t seem very fresh for the price we paid.

Address: 2-24-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Hokkaido Milk is very popular, so we had to give it a try. Hokkaido milk has a very unique taste and is very creamy, but light at the same time. It has to do with what they feed the cows. You could definitely immediately taste a distinct flavour, which was very good!

While in the Harajuku area, we got hungry and spotted a crepe kiosk. It’s called Cafe Crepe Harajuku, and offers many pretty looking crepes. We chose the Matcha Tiramisu Crepe. The crepe was thin and filled with a slice of matcha tiramisu, topped with whipped cream and matcha powder. It was actually very good! Not too sweet!

While in Yokohama, I picked up this super cute bag of ramen at a shop in World Potters. It features the Sapporo Maruyama Zoo Bear. So cute! I have yet to try it, but hopefully it’s as good as how the package looks!

At the Cup Noodle Museum, we purchased this cute box of ramen. You add eggs on top of it, and it’s supposed to be sort of like a ramen pancake. However, we made it the other day, and it kind of failed. Definitely did not look as good as the picture. Perhaps it was because we couldn’t read the instructions properly. It wasn’t bad though.

At the Narita International Airport, we did some Duty Free shopping. We picked up this bottle of Sparkling Ume Wine. The packaging definitely caught our attention. We had it on the plane and it was really good! Sweet and fizzy!

We also picked up a box of the Yubari Melon Pocky. They were the giant Pockys, so they are individually packed inside. It actually had a very strong cantaloupe flavour. Yummy!

At the Narita International Airport, after you pass security and customs, there isn’t much to eat in our terminal. We ended up having a last meal of Japanese food. K got the Soba Noodles which came with a side of fried potato croquettes.

For myself, I got the Shoyu Ramen. It was quite salty and very oily! Not good at all…

This probably shouldn’t be in this post, since it was a Korean snack we bought, but I’ll throw it in here anyways. These were banana puffs! Crispy and light chips with a strong banana flavour. It’s weird how Koreans make banana flavoured everything… So weird, but so good. We found it at Walmart in Vancouver!

And here were our suitcase filled with our goodies. Just some of them actually… A trip to Asia isn’t complete if you don’t bring back tons of goodies!

Every Day is a Food Day

Category: Korean

Taste of Aberdeen – ChineseBites Media Event

Zabu Chicken

Man Ri Sung Korean Restaurant

Midam Cafe

Gyu-Kaku (Broadway)

Korean Twist – Portland

Potter’s Garden

Japanese Snacks