Dinesty

August 1, 20132 Comments

Dinesty is next to Starbucks and Ebisu in Richmond, and I believe they recently opened one in Downtown on Robson. I’ve gone by this restaurant multiple times, but I don’t think I’ve actually ate here before. At last, J and I decided to grab an early dinner, and he suggested we go to Dinesty. It seems to be his favourite place to go.

I think we got there around 5 pm, so it was quite empty. However, shortly after sitting down, the place quickly became filled. Apparently, there are usually long waits during dinner time, and it’s almost impossible to get a seat without reservations. The food here seems to be a mix of Taiwanese and Shanghainese food. Decor is simple and clean, and I like the open kitchen they have. You can see the chefs preparing your food, just like Shanghai River. Sort of a similar concept in terms of their floor plan.

Steamed Pork Dumplings

I wanted some Steamed Pork Dumplings, or better known as Xiao Long Bao! An order came with 8 hot and steamy dumplings. The wrappers were thin, yet held the pork, and inside, it was juicy. The soup was very delicious!

Ma Po Tofu

J chose the Ma Po Tofu. It was a large serving, and definitely too much for two people to share. The tofu was soft and the sauce wasn’t too spicy. It would’ve been perfect with white rice, but we had ordered another rice. We ended up mixing it with our Shrimp Fried Rice, since it would be too spicy and salty to eat alone.

Shrimp Fried Rice

Lastly, I chose the Shrimp Fried Rice. It had a hint of shrimp paste flavour, and the rice was cooked so it wasn’t too moist and sticky. There were also an abundant of shrimps inside.

Overall, I enjoyed the dishes we had at Dinesty. I can see why people enjoy coming here for meals. You get a good amount of food, which is of decent quality, at a decent price. I hear that service isn’t as great once it gets really busy during peak times, so perhaps going early is the way to go here. I also like how all their menu items have pictures, so you get a sense of what you are ordering beforehand. Perfect for beginners of Chinese food!

Guu Richmond (Revisit #3)

July 31, 2013Leave a comment

I’ve been to Guu in Richmond plenty of times, and for my birthday dinner with my family, we somehow ended there again. I wanted to Zakkushi, but we were quite last minute, and they were fully booked up. My family ended up wanting to go to Guu, so why not, since it’s close by.

Complementary Salad

After placing our orders, we were given two small bowls of this Complementary Salad. It was mostly yellow cabbage, and was lightly marinated with a sour sauce. Quite refreshing, but nothing too special.

Beef Tataki – thin sliced seared beef w/ ponzu sauce

As usual, I went with the Beef Tataki, because I always enjoy the sauce that Guu uses. I’ve had some bad experiences with the beef tataki at Guu Richmond, but this time, they were very nicely seared. It wasn’t overdone, and each bite was easy to chew.

Oden – Fish Puff

K ordered Oden, and got the Fish Puff. This was my first time trying this. It had a very funny texture and was a bit bouncy, but soft at the same time. It’s so hard to explain, but it was good! Reminded me a little of fish tofu puffs. The oden was also very delicious.

Kabocha Korokke – Pumpkin and boiled egg croquette

The Kabocha Korokke is also one of my all-time favourites at Guu. It’s essentially mashed pumpkin wrapped around a boiled egg and then deep fried. It’s then topped with a mayo sauce. I also love the pumpkin chips on the side.

Okonomiyaki – Deep fried squid & cabbage Japanese pancake w/ tonkatsu sauce & mustard mayo

This time, I also wanted to try some new items. I chose the Okonomiyaki, and this was really good! I think the mustard mayo really made the pancake taste really good. It had a decent amount of squid inside each piece. This is a perfect dish to easily share between four people.

Aigamo Pizza – teriyaki duck breast Guuu’d style pizza w/ tomato sauce & mayo

And then I decided to try the Aigamo Pizza! Yea, I’ve seen this plenty of times on their menu, but have never thought of trying it. So glad I did, because this was really delicious! There were an abundant of teriyaki duck breast, and each piece was thick, yet had an incredible chew. Extremely tender. We were however, disappointed that half our pizza crust had been burnt. Sort of too burnt to be edible, at least in a health perspective…

Karubi – BBQ garlic sauce marinated beef ribs

My dad is always a beef ribs person, so he ordered the Karubi. There were only a few on the plate, and it came with some mustard on the side. We thought that this was way too salty though. My mouth just felt like salt after and I had to wash it down with tea. Not recommended!

Crazy Salmon Sashimi – lightly seared salmon

We also wanted some sashimi, and like many authentic Japanese restaurants, salmon sashimi is not usually found. They had it in some assortment sets, but my dad wanted just salmon sashimi. Well we saw something on the daily special menu called Crazy Salmon Sashimi, so we asked our server what it was. She told us it was basically salmon sashimi, but it is lightly seared, just like tuna tataki. So we ordered 12 pieces. It was definitely lightly seared and melted in your mouth with a few chews. The only issue we had was the saltiness again! It was topped with way too much freshly ground pepper and salt. It had a very smoky flavour to it, which I didn’t mind, but the saltiness of it was beyond what I could take. It seemed that tonight’s chef seasoned everything too salty!

Yakiudon – Pan fried udon w/ beef, mushroom, green onion & soy sauce and butter

Lastly, we got our usual Yakiudon. Guu’s yakiudon is always my favourite. Their sauce is just spot on, and the udon is cooked so it has a nice chew, and the sauce makes the noodles a little sticky, which I really like.

All in all, it seems that the dishes I usually order are still spot on. And now I will add the pizza and okomiyaki to the list. However, I would stay away from the beef ribs and crazy salmon sashimi. Service was wonderful as usual, and we didn’t need to wait long before our dishes arrived.

To read my previous visits at Guu: https://everydayisafoodday.com/2013/01/04/kitanoya-guu-richmond/
https://everydayisafoodday.com/2013/01/24/kitanoya-guu-richmond-revisit/

Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant 海港大酒樓

July 23, 2013Leave a comment

Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant has been known for their quality in food. They used to be on No. 3 Road, but several months ago, they moved to a brand new location at River Rock Casino. The place is now extremely grand, like any other Chinese dim sum restaurant, and they even have a showcase of their wines upon entering. However, you definitely do not want to come here if you’re in a rush. Even though we made reservations, we waited 45 minutes to get a seat. It was pretty ridiculous, and I had to go to work in an hour. We had 5 people, so they kept giving up 4 table seats to other people, when we really could’ve gotten the seat. In the end, my mom got pushy and told them we wouldn’t mind taking a 4 table seat, and they finally gave us a seat. I guess you need to be a bit aggressive at these places… So once we got seated, we handed in our order list that we had pre-checked while waiting. Our food did come quite quickly, which was good. I ended up eating everything in a hurry and in less than 30 minutes, so I definitely didn’t taste everything carefully.

Flaky White Radish Pastry

These are one of their famous items. They were so flaky at the top and the mixture of white radish was savoury and seasoned so well. The pastry wasn’t oily at all and is a must order!

Special Honey Flavour Cake

This is supposed to be a dessert, but it actually came as our second item. I’ve had these before and they are an interesting texture. Looks like a honeycomb and there is a slight honey flavour to it. It’s not sweet at all, and the texture is very interesting. Not soft like a spongecake, but definitely has more of a bounce and chew to it!

Steamed Shrimp and Pea Sprouts Dumplings

I didn’t end up trying these, but they looked pretty good. The outer dumpling skin looks thin and the amount of filling is just right.

Pan Fried Radish Cake with XO Sauce

These pan fried rasdish cakes are great if you want some flavour to your dishes. They’re pan fried with xo sauce, so it gives it a bit of spice, although it is quite minimum. I love how they are fried ever so lightly so the sides and corners are a bit crisp, but definitely not burnt. Loved these ones!

Chicken Feet in Black Bean Sauce

I actually thought the colour of the chicken feet were a bit artificially red. It also tasted slightly off. It wasn’t exactly the black bean sauce or barbeque sauce that I normally taste at other restaurants. I didn’t think this was one of their good dishes.

Braised Ox Stomach with Tendons

The braised ox stomach with tendons also tasted sort of funny. It seems like their braised items have a marinade that isn’t too tasty. At least not one that I personally like. The ox stomach and tendons, however, were quite tender and soft and easy to chew on.

Crystal Shrimp Dumplings

I also didn’t try the Crystal Shrimp Dumplings, but they were plump and the skin was fairly thin.

Baked Barbeque Pork Bun

The pork buns are soft and the barbeque pork is full of flavour. The buns remind me of the ones you get at Chinese bakeries, and they were steaming hot when cut open.

Deep Fried Duck Meat and Taro Cake

The taro cakes are always one of my favourites. They have a nice taro cake paste inside with some duck meat filling and the outside is battered and lightly fried. Surprisingly, they didn’t feel too greasy.

Steamed Preserved Salty Egg Yolk Bun

I wasn’t able to try this during lunch time as I had to leave for work, but my family packed one of them up for me. They told me it was extremely good because the preserved salty egg yolk would literally just ooze and drip out and they warned me to be careful of dripping the yolk every where. However, after heating it back up, my bun did not ooze the yolk out. I guess you just have to eat this at the restaurant when it’s freshly made. My yolk ended up being quite gooey and solidified, but it was still pretty good. This is also one of their must-orders, so definitely give it a try if you like some running salty yolk in your bun.

Silky Chicken and Taro Wrapped with Bean Curd Sheet

I didn’t really try this one, since I’m not a big fan of chicken with black skin. I’m sure it tastes the same, but I’m just a picky eater I guess.

Deep Fried Assorted Seafood Dumplings

The Chinese name of this dish also includes the words pumpkin in it, so it’s basically a pumpkin batter dumpling with some seafood in it. I think it was mostly scallops. The batter is chewy and a little mochi-like. Then it’s lightly fried on the outside. Not bad.

Chinese Donut Rolled with Steamed Rice Rolls

Last but not least, my favourite Chinese donut rolled with steamed rice rolls! These ones were really different from other Chinese donut rice rolls. Inside the Chinese donut, they are stuffed with a fish filling. It’s a chewy, bouncy gluten fish filling that is often found stuffed in tofu puffs too. This gave it another level of texture and were extremely good!

All in all, Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant definitely meets the standards and I would say it is one of the best Dim Sum Restaurants in Richmond. However, it is quite pricey, and the place is always packed. If you’re not up for waiting long times even with reservations, then this might not be the place for you. Other than that, I think you should give it a try!

Seto Sushi (Revisit)

July 17, 20131 Comment

We were in Richmond, and J wanted some authentic Japanese food and some good nigiris. I honestly don’t know too many truly authentic Japanese restaurants, so I immediately thought of Seto Sushi. I always know that I’m going to be getting good quality food, even though their prices can be a bit steep sometimes. It’s worth it if you want some good food though!

Fresh Saba, Saba, Hamachi Nigiri

J and his nigiris… He keeps ordering fish that I would have never otherwise tried, but I guess that’s a good thing. I didn’t dare try the saba, since it looked pretty fishy, but I did try the Hamachi. It had a nice texture and was extremely fresh. Not fishy at all. J said the Saba was also pretty good, but you definitely get the fish taste to it. They also had Fresh Saba on the special menu, so he tried that as well. What I love about Seto’s nigiris are is that they put the wasabi inside the piece of sushi too. Makes it so much more authentic!

Chopped Scallop Roll, Negi Toro Roll, House Roll (4 pc)

Seto doesn’t have any creative rolls, and they stick to the basics and authentic sushis. So I didn’t dare try to explore and try something new, and stuck to some of my favourite items that I reorder every time. The Chopped Scallop is always good with an abundant of fresh scallops and a mixture of mayo sauce. I also got half an order of the House Roll, which is always too big to eat in one bite. I end up dissecting the sushi to eat, but it’s always good. It’s filled with salmon, imitation crab, avocado, and topped with tobiko. J also got the Negi Toro Roll, which looked quite typical.

Pickled Plum (Ume) Yakionigiri

J also got the Picked Plum Yakionigiri, which is essentially onigiri, but slightly grilled. It came with seaweed packets so you could wrap it up yourself, which we had some trouble in the beginning. The pickled plum is extremely sour, so it’s not for everyone.

Again, I was extremely pleased with Seto. Definitely one of the best Japanese restaurants in Richmond.

To see my previous post on Seto: https://everydayisafoodday.com/2012/05/21/seto-japanese-restaurant/

Boiling Point

July 6, 20131 Comment

I’ve been seeing people’s pictures of their miniature hot pots and of course I decided to check it out on one of the hottest days… Bad idea, but I guess it satisfied my craving. Boiling Point is located in a small plaza on No.3 Road and boy did I never think parking would be so bad there. We literally waited around 15 minutes, circling around the lot. It’s weird because there really isn’t that many restaurants here, so you would think that parking would be relatively easy…

Inside, the place reminds me of Taiwanese bubble tea spots. I have to say the service is quite mediocre. It took forever to get the attention of a server just for us to place an order.

Green Tea

Apparently if you dine before 3pm, then you get a complementary choice of Green or Black Tea. I chose the Green Tea, and it was a refreshing way to enjoy your hot pot.

Curry Fishball Hot Soup (Tiny Spicy)

I’m not sure what’s up with me and curry fishballs lately… probably because I keep eating them at the night market, but after minutes of indecisiveness, I ended up getting the Curry Fishball Hot Soup with tiny spicy. It included Nappa, Vermicelli, Pork Sliced, Enoki Mushroom, Imitation Crabstick, Kamaboko, Fishball, Fired Tofu Skin, Corn, Tempura, Mountain Yam, and Chinese String Bean. I have to say I wasn’t too impressed with it. The curry was so thin that it lacked flavour. I was expecting a thicker soup base, but it was more like curry powder in water. The fish balls weren’t even coated in curry, which was quite disappointing.

Beef Hot Soup (Very Spicy)

N got the Beef Hot Soup. It included Nappa, Vermicelli, Beef Sliced, Enoki Mushroom, Tomato, Firm Tofu, Tempura, Corn, Meatball, Kamaboko, Fired Tofu Skin, and Imitation Crabstick. It looked pretty good and apparently it wasn’t too spicy for her. We did find that it was weird how the beef was still quite pink, even though it was cooked for a long time.

Beef Hot Soup (Flaming Spicy)

J is crazy for spicy food, so she also got the Beef Hot Soup, but with flaming spicy. I like how there was a warning sign on the menu, but she clearly did not think it was spicy at all. I tried a piece of her cabbage in it, and I thought it was really spicy!!

All hot pots also came with a bowl of rice, so the meal is quite filling in the end. I like how you get a variety of ingredients and the choice of how spicy you would like the soup base. At a price of around $11 for most of the hot pots, it’s a great place to grab a filling meal.

Ningbo Seafood Restaurant 寧波海鮮酒家

May 27, 2013May 27, 2013Leave a comment

For Mother’s Day, my mom of course wanted Chinese food. She suggested we try Ningbo Seafood Restaurant since it is fairly new and we haven’t had Ning Bo cuisine before. The restaurant is located at Parker Place and you can enter from inside the mall or outside.

Even though we made reservations, we still needed to wait a while. We arrived at the restaurant and there wasn’t a hostess to greet us for more than 5 minutes. Service definitely lacks at the restaurant and they seemed to be understaffed on this busy day.

Chinese Mushroom with Bean Curd Roll

First we got the Chinese Mushroom with Bean Curd Roll. This was decent, but also quite typical. Nothing too special. The bean curd was cooked tender and the mushrooms inside gave it a good chew and flavour.

Dried Bamboo Shoot with Mushrooms

My mom wanted to try the Dried Bamboo Shoot with Mushrooms. Although the flavour was good, the texture of the mushrooms was way too tough to chew on. Only the dried bamboo shoots were chewable, but the mushrooms which were long and stringy were way over cooked.

Deep Fried Fish Sticks

We wanted to get a dish of fish, so my sister suggested the Deep Fried Fish Sticks. These are made of a batter made with seaweed, hence the slight green colour. The fish inside was extremely tender and was really delicious! We all agreed that the dish should have some sort of sauce to dip with, but it didn’t come with it. Or they just forgot. Overall, this was one of my favourite dishes.

House Special Chicken

We also saw on the menu the House Special Chicken and my mom immediately wanted to get it. However, it said that you must reserve the chicken in advance as they only have limited quantities each day. We asked the server and after a while, she said that she had snatched us an order! Apparently another table said they didn’t want it anymore, so she quickly reserved it for us.It came sizzling in a large pot.

Then our server cut up the chicken for us. The meat flaked off easily. The chicken was marinated in a soy based sauce and was actually quite sweet instead of salty. The skin was cooked so it was a little crispy as well. Not bad to go with rice!

Pan Fried Braised Pork with Veggies

The Pan Fried Braised Pork with Veggies is a famous Ning Bo dish. It is basically pork belly that is braised in a very flavourful sauce. I found that the pork was a bit too tough, probably because it was overcooked. There was lots of fat attached to it, but because the meat was tough, the texture overall wasn’t that good. I’ve had much better at other restaurants before. Plus, the dish actually didn’t’ have any veggies in it when it’s stated on the menu. The sauce is great to eat with rice though.

Sesame Dumplings and Osmanthus with Rice Gluten in Wine

Lastly, for dessert, we got the Sesame Dumplings and Osmanthus with Rice Gluten in Wine. This is one of my favourite desserts because it has tons of little mochi balls! They actually don’t have sesame dumplings in this dessert, so I’m not quite sure why it’s stated in the name. The alcohol isn’t very strong in it, so it’s definitely much more sweet with the osmanthus. A large bowl, which is plenty to share with 5 people!

Overall, we all agreed that Ningbo Seafood Restaurant was just average. Service was lacking and the food wasn’t superb.

New Spicy Chili Restaurant 小四川

May 15, 2013Leave a comment

J’s home is in Sze Chuan and we always see her eating food that is drenched in red soup or chilies. I still don’t understand how she takes the heat but we finally decided to go try it out with her. She told us that New Spicy Chili Restaurant is a restaurant that serves dishes which are less spicy. Okay… sure… we’ll see about that…

The restaurant was around half empty when we arrived on a weekday afternoon, although there was a large table of diners who looked like they worked at the same office. Office lunch I suppose? Soon after, the place began to fill up though. Definitely do not expect any service whatsoever here. It is extremely hard to get the attention of the lady, and I saw her talking to the phone while speaking with another customer too… Some of us might think it’s rude, but I guess she gets her job done?

Chicken with Spicy Sauce

We started off with the Chicken with Spicy Sauce. In Chinese, the dish directly translates to Saliva Chicken. Sounds a bit gross eh, but it tasted really just like any other chicken, or perhaps it was free range chicken. However, it was drenched in a red liquid. It scared me at first, but guess what…this was probably one of the least spicy dishes we ordered. The chicken still had skin on the top, and it was topped with the spicy sauce which also consisted of the seeds inside the chilies. I didn’t dare try the chicken that was soaked at the bottom. I only grabbed the top pieces to be safe.

Sliced Beef with Special Spicy Sauce

Next up, we got the Sliced Beef with Special Spicy Sauce. This was definitely the next level of spicy! The beef was sliced thinly and was tender, and even though there didn’t seem to be as much sauce as the chicken, it was spicy! I’m guessing it was marinated in the sauce or something…

Spicy Bean Sprout

We wanted some veggies as well, so we chose the Spicy Bean Sprout, which was again topped with chilies… Funny enough, I actually began to be able to eat the food though. Either I was getting used to the spice, or my tongue was just plain numb, because I could barely taste anything by now. And so I just kept stuffing myself with food now. The Bean Sprouts are one of my favourite veggies as they are tender and easy to chew. I ended up eating a lot of this, as it was also one of the less spicy dishes.

Spicy Fish Hot Pot

The Spicy Fish Hot Pot had to be the spiciest dishes we ordered. It came in a sizzling hot pot and was literally a pot of red liquid… Inside were fish filets and potato or glass noodles. Yea, I definitely did not dare try the noodles since noodles always absorb the liquid, and there was no way I would be alive after eating that… I did try the fish, and I’m not even sure if it was hot in temperature or just spicy. Yea, I pretty much had no feelings on my taste buds by now… Fish was tender though!

Sizzling Fish

I’m not exactly why they call it the Sizzling Fish (actually the menu said suzzling fish, but I’m not sure if that’s even a word), because this should simply be called grilled squid. That’s basically what it was! What the heck is sizzling fish…? Anyways, this came hot and sizzling in a pan and the squid were placed on tin foil. It smelled and reminded me of night market squid! Yum! The squid was cooked tender and the spice level was medium. A more acceptable spice, or maybe I was just getting used to all this spicy food.

Oh and a tip if you can’t take spice is to never place your food that is soaked in the red sauce on your rice. Your rice ends up being so spicy, that you can’t use it to cool you down. I also wonder how people eat here during the summer… I swear I was sweating by the end of this lunch. But for all you spicy lovers, this is the place to go! Most of these dishes are also popular Sze Chuan dishes and are also chef recommended on the menu!

Haroo (revisit)

May 14, 2013May 14, 2013Leave a comment

Appetizers – Kimchi, Seaweed, Sweet Potatoes, Bean Sprouts, Salad

For my sister’s birthday, she chose to have dinner at Haroo, which I’ve had lunch there before. So this was my first time having dinner at Haroo and I was excited to try out some of their platters which could be shared among the diners. First up, we were given appetizers, which included kimchi, a marinated seaweed, sweet potatoes, bean sprouts, and a salad. The appetizers were quite typical, but I loved the salad. The dressing seemed to be a vinaigrette which was a little sour, but so addicting! It was also presented nicely.

Congee

Each of us were also given a small bowl of congee. Apparently, you get a bowl for each dinner platter you order, and coincidentally we ordered five, so we each got our own! The congee was flavourful. It had a bit of sesame oil and was topped with both anchovy-like fish and black and white sesame. It was light and didn’t fill us up.

Bibimbab

We got a Bibimbap, which is part of the individual dinner set meals. It came with a small bowl of rice. We found this to be quite bland unless we add the red sauce which was a little sweet and spicy. This was just alright. I didn’t think it was amazing.

Japchae – stir fried potato noodle with beef & vegetable

We always get Japchae at Korean restaurants, so of course we chose to try the one at Haroo. This is essentially potato noodles which are clear and chewy, and they are stir fried with beef and vegetables. The sauce had a good consistency and the dish was flavourful overall.

Haemul Pajeon – seafood pancake

The Haemul Pajeon, which is a seafood pancake, was one of the best seafood pancakes I’ve had. The outer batter was crispy, with the inside being soft. It was also generously filled with seafood, with lots of squid and mussels. The seafood was also cooked so it was tender and easy to chew on. A must try at Haroo! The pancake also comes in two other variations: bulgogi and kimchi, which I have yet to try.

LA Galbi – marinated “AAA” sliced beef rib

We wanted some meat, so we went for the LA Galbi, which were marinated “AAA” sliced beef rib. This came sizzling hot and was a decent portion. The pieces I ate were quite tender, but my dad said some of it was tough.

Gunjung Tteokbokki – royal court rice cake with marinated beef

My sister and I love rice cakes, so we got the Gunjung Tteokbokki. I often see spicy rice cakes at Korean restaurants, but since I can’t take spice, this is the one I always get. The sauce is sweet and it is mixed with marinated beef and vegetables. Delicious!

Bulgogi Fried Rice

Since my dad loves to make his own fried rice (Chinese style), he got excited when he saw Korean style fried rice. So we ended up ordering the Bulgogi Fried Rice. It was much more moist compared to Chinese fried rice, and it definitely has much more flavours. I’m guessing it’s the garlic and onion. Mixed with some veggies, the dish was flavourful with a slight crunch. Not bad.

Overall, I was quite pleased with Haroo’s dinner menu. Don’t expect much service here as the man has limited English proficiency. You also serve yourself with water, tea, and utensils as they have a little drawer under the wooden table filled with the utensils and napkins.