BK Chicken Tenders

Last meal in the states was fast food and we decided to go to Burger King just before we got back to the other side of the border. And if you’ve been to the states, you would know how ridiculously cheap and large the portions of fast food are! 20 pieces of Chicken Tenders were just $4.99! They don’t have these in Canada at Burger King, however. It’s basically the same thing as McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets, but they do taste a little different. The crispiness is a little different, but I actually prefer the Burger King Chicken Tenders! Give it a try when you go down to the states!

Eagles Buffet in Seattle

Day two of my Seattle trip, we started heading back towards Vancouver and made a stop for the Seattle Premium Outlets. We were getting hungry and decided to stop by the Tulalip Resort Casino and have our lunch at the Eagles Buffet. Second time here actually, but we are always pleased at the variety of food they offer. Much better than the one we have at RiverRock in Richmond! I don’t remember exactly how much lunch was, but it was around $15 and definitely under $20 – so much cheaper than the buffet at RiverRock! Just some of the pictures of what I ate, but they offer so much more! They even have a ice cream section, which I was I was already unfortunately too full to grab some! Definitely a great deal for lunch or dinner if you stop by the Premium Outlets in Seattle, since it is basically right next to it.

Eagles Buffet on Urbanspoon

Din Tai Fung at Bellevue, Seattle

Located at Lincoln Square

In Process of Making Red Bean Dumplings

Pork Buns

 A Glimpse of the Menu

Braised Beef Noodle Soup

Steamed Pork Dumplings

Pork and Glutinous Rice Shaomai

Steamed Mashed Bed Bean Buns

Steamed Mashed Red Bean Buns

Steamed Mashed Taro Buns

Steamed Mashed Taro Buns

Went for some shopping in the states a few weeks ago and was excited to hear that Din Tai Fung was opened near where I was staying! It’s famous throughout Asia, from Tapei, Hong Kong to even Japan, for their dumplings! So knowing that it was close to our hotel, we had to go give it a try. It’s located in Bellevue, Seattle in the Lincoln Square, next to Bellevue Square Shopping Centre, which on Friday night, is terrible to find parking! Took us at least half an hour to find parking…almost felt like it was Boxing Day. First thing I saw when I got to the entrance were a bunch of cooks behind a glass window rolling out flour and   forming buns. They worked as a team and was almost like an assembly line, passing each part to the next team member. After a wait for about 40 minutes, we were finally brought to our seats. And I have to say, we were already eating really late, almost 9:00pm, but this restaurant has non-stop traffic. And to my surprise, I can say half the customers there were non-Asian. More to my surprise were that many of the servers were Caucasian and even the Asian servers spoke English. Quite contrary to our Asian restaurants back in Richmond, where some servers might even have trouble speaking English. I guess there is such a large crowd of Caucasian customers, that they must hire people with fluent English. The dumplings were typical I guess, but I really enjoyed the Pork and Glutinous Rice Shaomais. And I’m a huge fan of red bean paste, so I had to try  the Red Bean Buns. They were made with such fresh red bean that you could taste the bean. Same with the taro! Tasted real good! When we left, there were still people waiting for seats. What a busy restaurant, but I have to say, it’s worth the wait!

Din Tai Fung on Urbanspoon

Garden City Kabob Grill

Calamari Set

Gyro Chicken Donair on Pita

It took me three visits to finally try this tiny little store, Garden City Kabob Grill, but definitely worth it! First time, I was 1 minute late and they closed, and second time, they weren’t open on a Sunday. They offer a variety of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food, such as wraps, falafels, platters, and spring rolls. An interesting item they have on the menu is their Taho (Soy Milk Pudding). Apparently it’s really delicious, but I have yet to try it! It comes with tapioca pearls and syrup as well. I actually only decided to try this place because a friend recommended me to try their pudding! But I wasn’t craving sweets that day, and tried their food instead, and it’s really good! Took a little long for the food to be ready, and the seating inside reminds of a Subway or fast food restaurant with the tray and all, but the food is still great! No need to tip that way!

Garden City Kabob Grill on Urbanspoon

Pearl Castle

Fried Pork Chop with Noodle Soup

Chicken with Three Spices

Seafood Udon Soup with Sliced Pork

Pearl Castle is one of my favourite go to places for Taiwanese food or bubble tea. There is always a large variety of food and drinks to choose from and they all taste great! This Pearl Castle is the Richmond Centre location and I found that their food did not taste as great as the one on Capstan. Perhaps it is a franchise? Not too sure. Service also took a little longer. Overall, still decent food.

Pearl Castle 圓香茶坊 (Richmond Centre) on Urbanspoon

Trees Organic

Mango Cheesecake

Trees Organic is an European style cafe with many locations. This one is take-out from the downtown location. They serve 100% Organic & Fair Trade Coffee, decadent cheesecakes, fresh pastries, sandwiches, vegan treats and more. I tried the featured special – Mango Cheesecake! It actually had bits of mangoes in it which was a surprise. Quite delicious! I would love to try their blueberry cheesecake next!

Trees Organic Coffee on Urbanspoon

Kumare

BBQ Pork Skewer

Pad Thai

Beef on Green Curry

So I discovered Kumare on another food blog and was really interested as it was close by home but I had never seen this restaurant. I also learned it served Philippine cuisine and I had never had it before, so I decided to try it out. It is located in Richmond, near Richmond Centre on Park Road. I believe this is an authentic Filipino restaurant as every diner in there seemed to be Filipino. We opened the menu and seriously had no idea what to order. Maybe we should’ve asked for some recommendations, but we looked over and saw other diners with skewers so we decided to try them too. They were really delicious and I am going to get them for sure again when I go back. The Pad Thai was surprisingly not as flavourful as the ones I’ve had at Thai and Malaysian restaurants. I’m guessing most people don’t order that dish at Filipino restaurants. I found the Beef on Green Curry a little too salty, but it went well with a bowl of rice. It seemed that most people ordered a lot of dishes and had it accompanied with rice. I asked my Filipino friend the next day, and she told me that was usually the way it was eaten. Quite the same as the Chinese cuisine I guess. Overall, it was a very interesting experience and I think I might go there again. I would love to try their Ube Ice Cream or Chiffon Cake, which is taro flavoured. Apparently, it is their famous dessert!

Kumare Restaurant & Bakery on Urbanspoon

The Works Poutine

This is now the third poutine I have tried at New York Fries. This time I went for something more original, and got The Works, which is just bacon bits, sour cream, cheese and usually green onions but I asked to opt out for that. Really delicious, but everything fatty is delicious!

New York Fries (Richmond Centre) on Urbanspoon