Lao Shan Dong Homemade Noodle House

February 24, 2012May 3, 2013Leave a comment

Boiled Seasonal Vegetable

Braised Beef Flank with Noodle In Soup (Small)

Braised Beef Flank And Tendon with Noodle In Spicy Soup (Large)

After a early shopping trip at Metrotown, my friend brought be to a Taiwanese Noodle House nearby that was claimed to be really good. Apparently, it’s supposed to be the best Taiwanese noodles in Vancouver! To be honest, I think it wasn’t THAT amazing, but I have to say, the noodles are really good. You can tell that they’re handmade, and not like the ones you get at bubble tea places. The vegetables were a dish that I actually hadn’t had before. I’m not sure if it’s some typical Taiwanese dish, but it tasted really good. They had like bits of onion and garlic chips as well as a special sauce in it. Quite different from the Cantonese style dishes I’m used to. The size of a small was already very big, and when my friend’s large came, I was in shock. It was huge! That would probably be enough for two. The soup base was very good, and they say that there isn’t any MSG, which I trust, as I wasn’t thirsty afterwards. They have a lot of seasoned radish type of things on top which gave it a nice crunch while eating the noodles. Overall, pretty good, but I don’t know if it’s the BEST.

Bubble World

January 18, 2012May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Tofu Dessert with Red Bean

Matcha Ice Cream Slush with Agar Jelly

Been to the Bubble World in Richmond a few times already actually, but never really took pictures in the past… Bubble World is usually really packed during after dinner hours, especially on weekends. I went on a random weekday in the afternoon though, so it was basically my table and another table. Quite empty so service was really quick. They’re similar to Pearl Castle, with a variety of food and drinks to choose from. I tried their Matcha Ice Cream Slush with Agar Jelly which was quite large in size to my surprise. The Matcha was not bad, but I wish it actually had ice cream in it. I didn’t really get the ice cream texture, and it was more like all slush and ice instead. It was my first time trying agar jelly, which I heard was pretty good. I wanted a change from the normal pearls and coconut jelly. To my surprise, it didn’t really have any flavour to it, but it had a very nice chewy texture – not as chewy as pearls or coconut jelly. Nice change for once, but I think I still prefer coconut jelly!

Deer Garden

January 15, 2012May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Salted Jelly Fish in Chili Sauce

House Special Desert Wings and Vegetables in Fish Soup (in back)

Probably the most random food you can order at Deer Garden, but that’s cause we had all ate lunch or weren’t that hungry at the time… Deer Garden is famous for their “Make your own noodles”, just like Bubble Waffle Cafe, but it’s supposed to be much better! I always hear people raving about how good their noodles are. Unfortunately, I still haven’t tried them yet, but I will do so soon! Got some appies instead this time and I have to say their desert wings are really delicious! Almost as good as the ones at the Aberdeen food court. I haven’t gone there in a long ti me, but I hope they still exist! Food is good, and service is great here. It’s always packed during lunch or dinner hours though, so be sure to go early to grab a spot!

Bubble Waffle House

January 13, 2012May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Ramen in Hot and Sour Soup with Sliced Beef and Beef Ball

Ramen in Satay Sauce with Vietnamese Ham and Cuttlefish Ball

Bubble Waffe Cafe has been opened for a while now, but I never got a chance to try it since it’s usually very packed by dinner time. This time, I went a little earlier than dinner time, and got a seat very quickly. Their main specialty seemed to be their “Make Your Own Noodles”. Basically, when you are seated, they don’t give you a menu, but instead, you each get a small piece of paper with a pencil. From there, you choose what type of soup base you want, what type of noodles, 2 toppings on top of the cabbage and mushrooms which are included, and a hot drink. This comes to around a little less than $8. You can however add extra toppings, side dishes, drinks and desserts for a very cheap price. I decided to add egg balls to my bowl of noodles, but oddly enough, they gave me two bags of them. The lady said one was for free! I wish she had told me earlier though, since I really just wanted to try a little, and I was way too full at the end to even finish the other bag. I didn’t get a picture of the egg balls, but I have to say they weren’t the best. I found them a little too soggy, even though they were just fresh out of the kitchen. Noodles were also only decent, but it is a huge bowl for the price. I think I’ve had better noodles elsewhere though. Also thought their egg balls would be really good, since the restaurant name seems to be named after them, but they were a disappointment.

Rhino’s Kitchen

January 8, 2012May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Deep Fried Stuffed Chicken Wing

Ham and Cheese French Bun

It came to my realization when I went past Lansdowne Mall that California Cafe had closed down and became Rhino’s Kitchen. Not that I liked California Cafe much, but I guess I was just a little surprised. Curious what Rhino’s Kitchen was like, I ended up going in for a small dinner. I have to say, I couldn’t stop laughing upon entering the restaurant. They literally had pictures of rhinos all over the wall, with trees depicting the wildlife, and even a rhino statue at the entrance. My friend and I agreed they had a creative theme but it was still pretty funny. They even had their washroom doors painted with rhinos! I decided to just get some snacks since I wasn’t too hungry. I saw the stuffed chicken wing on the menu and thought it sounded really cool so gave it a try! I have to say the outer coating was really oily and wasn’t really crispy. But it was really interesting how the sticky rice was filled inside the wing beneath the meat! Not bad I guess, and it was quite large and filling too. Next, I had their ham and cheese french bun. Turned out completely different from what I had imagined. They were more like bruschetta with ham and cheese on them. Tasted pretty good, with something like sun-dried tomatoes in between and topped with olives. Actually, come to think of it, it almost tasted like pizza. They were also having a holiday special which was a set menu with lobster and steak. Sounded tempting and everyone was eating it in the restaurant, but I really didn’t have a big enough appetite to devour all of it! Guess their food is just really similar to what California Cafe had to offer, and I don’t think it was that great. It’s like white food at a HK style cafe so you can’t expect much. I have to say that their service was quite good though, but I felt like they were overstaffed so that might be the reason why.

After Hours at Bubble Queen!

December 26, 2011May 4, 2013Leave a comment

Chocolate Mochi Bubble Waffle

Some white chocolate flavour sauce I put in my drink!

Almost done…

White Chocolate Lindor & White Chocolate Kit Kat Slush with Mochi

Mocha Cookie Slush with Ferrero Rocher and Oreos

Green Tea Slush with Kit Kat, Ferrero Rocher and Mochi

Green Tea Slush with Hershey’s Cookies and Cream, Oreo, and Mochi

Can’t believe it’s already Christmas! Merry Christmas everyone! So I was very lucky to be able to go to Bubble Queen after the shop closed to make my own bubble tea! Really exciting since I haven’t actually made real bubble tea other than homemade slushes with overcooked pearls… First off we made some Chocolate Mochi Bubble Waffles. It was interesting to see how they actually put the mochi in! Seemed like you needed good timing. Next, I made a white Lindor chocolate with white Kit Kat slush topped with some green tea and taro mochi balls, a white Lindor chocolate, and a Bueno chocolate piece. Must say it was very delicious! Did not know they actually put so much chocolate into the slush, but surprisingly it doesn’t taste overly sweet. Probably tons of calories though! Everyone’s creative drinks all tasted really good! Definitely a must try if you haven’t gone to bubble queen before! They have the most creative drinks with a variety of chocolates to choose from, but if you like to stay on the safe side, they also have original drinks!

ABC Cafe

September 29, 2011April 26, 2013Leave a comment

Vermicelli in Fish Soup with Fish Tofu and Beef

Black Pepper Spaghetti

Wandered around Aberdeen to decide what to eat, and ended up ABC Cafe again. This is my second time and it was a lot more empty than during their grand opening. I decided to try their “Make your own noodle soup” menu and was quite surprised that the portion was quite large. Overall, it was pretty good, with quick service and decent food.

Din Tai Fung at Bellevue, Seattle

September 5, 2011May 4, 2013Leave a comment

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

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!