Tasty Rice Noodles

September 6, 2015September 5, 20151 Comment

If you haven’t noticed already, Deer Garden at Continental Centre has moved to Union Square (where Richmond Sushi is). What’s replaced it is Tasty Rice Noodles. Thinking it would be a new restaurant, we decided to go give it a try. Upon arriving, we noticed that the logo and colours still looked like Deer Garden’s.

The interior has also not changed. The menus have been updated to show Tasty Rice Noodles, but all the menu items and layout is exactly the same… Even the piece of paper to order your noodles has not changed.

Original Fish Soup with Instant Noodles, Pork Balls and Vietnamese Style Pork

We both decided to do the customized fish soup noodles where you can choose a soup base, two toppings, noodles, and a drink for $8.95. S got the Original Fish Soup with Instant Noodles, Pork Balls and Vietnamese Style Pork. Everything looked the same as Deer Garden. Even the choices to customize were the same! Soup tasted just the same and was delicious and filling.

Malay Laksa Soup with Rice Noodles, Cuttlefish Balls and Fish Puffs

For myself, I got the Malay Laksa Soup with Rice Noodles, Cuttlefish Balls and Fish Puffs. I like how the laksa soup isn’t too spicy. All the soup noodles already come with bean curd, cabbage, and mushrooms too. They’re big portions so you will be filled up for sure.

Deep Fried Pork Chop

When you order the noodle combos, you can also get a side order by paying an additional $1.95. It always seems like a good deal, but we never realize how much food we end up ordering… We got the Deep Fried Pork Chop, which S loves.

Desert Wings with Ginger

I suggested to get the Desert Wings with Ginger. They are always plump and the flavour is on point.

For our drinks, we both paid an additional $1 to get it cold. We both got the Lemon Ribena. For under $25, you will be very full and satisfied. So I guess we can conclude that Tasty Rice Noodles is essentially the same as Deer Garden… Another location to get the same the food and you don’t need to fight the parking on Alexandra. Plus, it seems like there aren’t as many line ups to wait for a seat here.

Pros:
– Reasonable prices
– Huge portions

Cons:
– Don’t expect much service

Price Range: $10-15

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

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

Hashi Sushi

September 5, 2015September 4, 2015Leave a comment

I’m always up for trying out new sushi spots in Richmond, so since we were heading to East Richmond, I suggested we try Hashi Sushi. Located on Jacombs Road, it is hidden within all the offices around this area. I can imagine this being a great place to get take out if you work around here.

The interior is very clean and spacious. When we arrived, there weren’t many diners. It seems that many people don’t know about this spot.

Salmon, Toro, Octopus Nigiri, Chopped Scallop Roll, Negitoro Roll

I decided to order a few nigiris and rolls. The fish was very fresh and the nigiris were very well priced at under $2 for most. The rolls were decent and had a good amount of filling. I did find that the rice was a little hard for my liking.

Yam Tempura Roll, Beef Terriyaki Roll

S got the Yam Tempura Roll and Beef Teriyaki Roll. Rolls were a good size, but what we both realized was that the rolls were not rolled tight enough. Our fillings easily fell out since the seaweed wasn’t sealed properly.

Overall, I thought Hashi Sushi was average. The fish was fresh and prices were reasonable. Unfortunately, the execution of the sushi wasn’t as good since the rolls easily fell apart. Service is just average, but our tea cups were always filled. Not bad.

Pros:
– Reasonable prices
– Decent eats and fresh fish

Cons:
– Rolls fell apart really easily

Price Range: $10-15

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

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

Beijing Noodle House

September 2, 2015September 1, 2015Leave a comment

I drive by Beijing Noodle House pretty much every week and I’ve noticed that there’s always people dining in there. It’s been around for many years, but I’ve never wanted to try it since it doesn’t look very appealing from the outside. S told me that the food is actually pretty good there, so we headed over to try a few dishes.

Surprisingly, the inside looks much better than what I imagined. Still, it’s not the nicest ambiance, but everything felt clean, so that’s good.

Crispy Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin

S suggested we try the Crispy Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin. This was very crispy with the sauce being more of a thin consistency. The pork was slightly dry, but I quite enjoyed the flavours.

Stir-Fried Shredded Pancake, Beijing Style

The Stir-Fried Shredded Pancake, Beijing Style, was an interestnig dish. It tasted basically like noodles but more chewy. It tasted similar to knife cut noodles and I really enjoyed the chewiness. It was mixed with a variety of noodles and shredded pork. I quite enjoyed this dish.

Overall, I was surprised with this hidden gem. The prices are quite reasonable and the food is decent. I wouldn’t say the food blows my mind, but based on the dishes we tried, they were executed pretty well.

Pros:
– Food is decent
– Reasonable prices

Cons:
– Ambiance isn’t the nicest

Price Range: $10-20

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

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

Pho Han Vietnamese Restaurant

August 30, 2015August 29, 2015Leave a comment

I’ve been trying to convince S that good food sometimes comes in the dingiest looking restaurants. So that’s when I tried to convince S that Pho Han might be one of them after reading some of the positive reviews on Zomato. Pho Han is located on Garden City in the same mall as Capstone and Manzo. It’s on the very corner, so you usually only see a sign pointing into the mall, but not the actual store front.

The outside already looks pretty dingy looking, but the inside is quite the same. It fits less than 20 diners at a time and is run by husband and wife. We were seated on the side next to the windows and there were bars on the windows for security. S described that it felt like he was in a prison… Anyways, first thing I noticed was that the prices had increased from what I had saw online. Previously, a small pho was only $5.99, but it was now $6.50, so quite comparable to other pho spots.

House Special Beef Noodle Soup

I chose the House Special Beef Noodle Soup and it came with rare sliced sirloin beef which were presented laying on the side of the dish. For some reason, that didn’t feel really appetizing to me, even though I eat rare beef. The bowl also came with beef flank, brisket, tendon, meatballs and tripe. The bean sprouts that came with the noodles were old and wilted. The soup itself was okay, but not mind blowing. There is definitely better pho around Richmond.

Grilled Lemongrass Pork Chop on Rice

S got the Grilled Lemongrass Pork Chop on Rice, which S complained throughout dinner. The pork chop was dry and most of it was inedible since it was either fat or too chewy. The dish also came with shredded pork, fried egg, and vegetables on rice. To be honest, the plate looked pretty sad and I felt like my parents could do a better job. S obviously was unhappy with the dish.

Overall, I guess S proved me right with Pho Han that it was dingy looking and also had poorly executed food. They also completely forgot our order of spring rolls, but we didn’t want to give it a try anyways after having our food. Service is also basically non-existent and we had to go up to pay since we weren’t able to get the attention of anyone. Still, I have yet to prove to S that there are spots with poor ambiance but delicious food.

Pros:
– 10% off on Mondays
– Pho is somewhat cheaper than other spots

Cons:
– Poor ambiance and service
– Pho is average and pork chop was poor

Price Range: $10-15

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

Food: 2 Service: 1 Ambiance: 1 Parking: 3 Overall: 2

Cook Your Life – 2015 Gateway Theatre Pacific Festival

August 26, 2015Leave a comment

NOTE: I was provided two complimentary tickets to the Cook Your Life show.

I was invited by Gateway Theatre to enjoy the Cook Your Life show happening this September 17-19. Just like last year, the Gateway Theatre is bringing back the Gateway Theatre Pacific Festival, showcasing the best contemporary theatre Hong Kong has to offer. This year’s festival runs from September 3 – 26, 2015, with various different acts, including Cook Your Life, which is perfect for anyone who enjoys food!

Cook Your Life stars MayMay Chan in a hilarious solo performance, cooking live on stage as she draws insightful parallels between food and love. The show incorporates a 4-D theatre approach where the audience can see, hear, smell, and taste the experience. May is also a seasoned cook herself with her own cooking channel in Hong Kong. The show will be in Cantonese with English subtitles.

By going to watch Cook Your Life, you’ll also get to watch MeChat, which explores the delightful and not so delightful aspects of the Internet, with rising Hong Kong theatre and television star Eric Tang guiding the audience through online romance, cybersex, selfie-mania, Groupons, and the price we pay when we trade in real life for cyber-living.

Dates:

Full festival: September 3 – 26, 2015.
Cook Your Life / Me Chat: September 17 – 19 at 8pm (2hrs45min, including 15min intermission)

Ticket information:

Festival Passes: $60 (Includes one ticket to the double bill Cook Your Life / MeChat plus one ticket to Tuesdays with Morrie, and priority registration for all free events)

Individual Tickets: $40 adult; $20 student; $35 groups of 10 – 19; $30 groups of 20+

For more information, visit gatewaytheatre.com, or check out their social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Mango Yummy

August 22, 2015Leave a comment

Mango Yummy started out at the Richmond Night Market, and late last year, they opened their first store just across Richmond Centre on No. 3 Road. The interior is rather small, so you may need to get take out if it’s really busy. You first order at the front and then they will call your name for pick up.

Durian Shaved Ice

I came here looking to get some mango type of cold dessert, but I have no idea how S convinced me into getting two durian desserts… Apparently there is a durian menu and so we ended up with the Durian Shaved Ice as one of our desserts… A big bowl of ice with blobs of durian and topped with vanilla ice cream and condensed milk. I wished that the condensed milk was unlimited, but it wasn’t. Well the durian was creamy and fragrant and I think durian lovers will enjoy this dessert. This is one of their pricier shaved ice though since durian is expensive.

Durian Pancake

And next was the Durian Pancake. The pancake was thin and soft, but very smooth. It was topped with some whipped cream and chocolate pearls.

The durian again was very creamy so this dessert is quite mushy with all the cream. You get quite a good amount of durian though.

Overall, based on these two durian items, I thought Mango Yummy was pretty good and I would revisit to try their other items. I guess this visit should be called more like Durian Yummy for us though…

Pros:
– Large variety of desserts – hot and cold
– Reasonable prices for what you get

Cons:
– Not much seating
– Don’t expect any service

Price Range: $15-20

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

Food: 4 Service: N/A Ambiance: 3 Parking: 4 Overall: 3.5

MoMa Contemporary Bistro

August 12, 2015October 6, 2015Leave a comment

For my birthday this year, I decided to do a small birthday dinner and wanted to stay in Richmond. The foodie inside of me told me that I needed to try something new though. And so I looked around and finally decided on MoMa Contemporary Bistro, which is in one of the oddest location hidden next to a printing company on Cambie Rd., hence most people don’t even know it exists.

The two chefs are Asian but have extensive culinary experience in Italian and French cuisine, so MoMa offers a fusion of that. The interior is small, but can fit probably around 30 diners. Simple ambiance and definitely bistro style. On a Friday night, it was rather empty. Service was a bit disappointing as our server was almost too quiet for our large group and was difficult to hear the specials. She also had to read off her paper, which didn’t seem too professional.

Steamed Clams

Anyway, onto the food. Our server had warned us that the dishes are quite small, but are meant for sharing. How are you supposed to share when the dishes are so small though…? Well SF got the Steamed Clams and this had a sake-miso broth, wakame, and scallions. I almost wished this came with bread or fries, since it seemed like a rather small portion to get full. I had a taste of this and the broth was quite good with the clams being fresh.

Prawn Fritters

MC and K shared the Prawn Fritters which are crusted with seaweed and came with a MoMa chili aioli. Again, the portion was quite small for around $11.

Seafood Bouillabaisse

Their special of the day was the Seafood Bouillabaisse. It had clams, shrimp, and peas. My friends said this was just alright. I also found it sloppy that the rims of the dish wasn’t cleaned since they seemed to focus on appearance here.

BC Sablefish

For myself, I shared with S a few dishes. The first dish was the BC Sablefish, which came with farmer’s vegetables, spaetzle, and a soy marinade. I really enjoyed the salad as the dressing was slightly sweet with a hint of citrus. The fish was cooked sous vide and was moist, but the portions were quite small given it was $25. Seemed more like an appetizer, but priced as an entree.

Fresh Chorizo Linguine

A got the Fresh Chorizo Linguine which features their house made marinara sauce. He said it was good but quite average. Didn’t blow his mind.

Slow Braised Veal Cheek Pappardelle

ML got the Slow Braised Veal Cheek Pappardelle, which was also an item I was eying. It’s topped with parmigiano cheese and he said it was quite good.

Portions were quite small again though, but price was more justifiable at $17 since Ask For Luigi prices and portions are similar.

Mushroom Tagliatelle

MC and K also shared the Mushroom Tagliatelle. It features truffle oil and a mushroom raga. Not bad.

Scallops

Next, I shared the Scallops with SS and it was beautifully presented. For a dish like this, I don’t mind paying a little more if they take the time to plate it nicely.

It came with a celery root puree, potato chips, peas, and MoMa bacon. The scallops were seared nicely and there wasn’t any gritty sand in it. I also quite liked the celery root puree and those homemade potato chips.

Pemberton Meadows Beef Striploin

Lastly, SS and I shared the Pemberton Meadows Beef Striploin. The dishefeatures a 8oz grass fed natural beef striploin, roasted potatoes with snap peas and a black pepper jus.

We asked for medium rare, but I felt that it was closer to a medium. I also really disliked how there were these fatty parts still stuck on the rims which were chewy. I ended up cutting most of that off. It was alright, but definitely not worth the $28 given the beef was rather chewy.

Overall, my friends and I found MoMa to be quite disappointing based on that nights service. I came here knowing that portions were going to be small and pricey, but I would have been fine with it if the food was executed well. My favourite dish was probably the scallops, but many of the other dishes were just average and I wouldn’t pay that price for it. Service was also very disappointing since the server had took down our orders based on where we were seated, but for some reason, our dishes were being placed in front of the wrong people. There was also an 18% gratuity as we had a larger group, but when we gave her more cash than what was on the bill, she did not return any of our change until my friend asked. Quite a disappointment overall, but I guess they are doing something right since they have been around for a few years.

Pros:
– Most plates are presented quite nicely
– Some decent dishes and many dishes use local ingredients

Cons:
– Small portions and average food for high prices
– Felt that service we received that night was unprofessional

Price Range: $30-40

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

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

Sushi House (revisit)

August 11, 2015August 10, 2015Leave a comment

Sushi House has been around for many years, and I realized the last time I visited and blogged about the restaurant was over 3 years ago! Looking for something quick to eat in Richmond, I suggested we give Sushi House a revisit.

Spicy Tuna Combo

I realized that they have some combos and they are quite well valued! My Spicy Tuna Combo was only $8.50 and consisted of the Spicy Tuna Roll, Negitoro Roll, Tuna, Salmon, and Ebi Nigiri.