21 Nautical Miles – ChineseBites Media Event

September 4, 2016September 4, 2016Leave a comment

NOTE: All food and beverages were complimentary, but all opinions are based on my own personal experience.

Seafood boils have been exploding in Vancouver and appears to be the new trend. I guess that means we don’t need to go down to Seattle for Crab Pot! A few weeks ago, I was invited by ChineseBites to attend a tasting at 21 Nautical Miles in Yaletown.

The restaurant took over the previous tenant, Society, so the decor is still somewhat similar with high ceilings. High tables and chairs with a bar feel is what I would describe the restaurant. I do find that the decor is slightly odd for the type of food we’re eating, but we are in Yaletown.

At the entrance though, you get the Asian decor with modernized paintings and cute chairs. As you can tell, the restaurant features seafood boils with Asian flavours.

We started off with a 3 litre tower of beer. Definitely reminded me of the times when we had this in Spain, but I haven’t seen this anywhere in Vancouver yet. Great to share across the table! They also have wine and pretty much any other drink you want since they have a large bar.

Seafood Party: Garlic Butter

And then the Seafood Party started! The seafood boils come in a metal bowl and are dumped onto your table which has been covered with parchment paper. Each diner will have a mallet and wooden board so you can smash open your crab. You’ll also get plastic gloves and a bib so you can get as messy as you want! There is a two person minimum order and it’ll cost you $38.95 per person. This will get you BC Dungeness crab, selva tiger prawns, blue mussels, clams, corn and potato. If you want to get fancy like we did, you can also add on Alaskan king crab, lobster tail, and snow crab. There are also four flavours to choose from, and pictured here is the Garlic Butter. This is perfect for those who can’t eat spicy and is really the only option since the other three are all spicy. This was a crowd pleaser since you really can’t go wrong with garlic butter flavoured anything!

Seafood Party: Black Pepper

Moving on to something a little spicy was the Black Pepper flavour. This flavour reminded me of the late night clams you get at Cantonese restaurants. The Alaskan king crab was delicious by the way. Normally, I don’t really care for king crab because I find that our BC Dungeness crabs are quite meaty already, but man, these were juicy! I highly recommend splurging a little to get the king crab here! One leg is plenty to share with your guests.

Seafood Party: Xi’an Spicy

Another level up in terms of spice gets you the Xi’an Spicy. With red chili peppers giving that extra kick, I actually really enjoyed this as it had a depth of flavour and wasn’t just plain spicy and numbing. Oh and the tiny lobster tails were juicy and delicious.

Seafood Party: House Special Spicy (5/5 Spice Level)

Then onto the spiciest you can get is the House Special Spicy. We had ours at 5/5 spice level, but you can choose how spicy you want when you order. Many of our group couldn’t take spice so this was a struggle, but I actually didn’t find it as spicy as I had though. I didn’t mind a few pieces in between the other flavours, but I thought that this was more of just plain numbing and spicy rather than having any additional flavour. If you like spicy, I would suggest the Xi’an Spicy instead since it has more flavour. And to be honest, I found the snow crab to be just average as they have long legs but the abundance of meat is very little. I like my crabs with lots of meat!

Overall, the seafood boils are great with the seafood being quite fresh although many of the spicier flavours will cover any freshness. If you really want to taste the seafood flavours, I’d recommend getting the Garlic Butter. I also wish there was some bread to soak up all the flavours. The seafood boils are OceanWise by the way, so always a plus!

Seafood Party: Wok Fried Spicy

Next up was the Wok Fried Spicy, a dry seafood dish which featured crab and spot prawns. These had a nice kick but the flavours really came from the outside crumbs covering the shell as the inside is not seasoned.

Kung Fu Soup

To clean our palettes, we tried the Kung Fu Soup which is an abalone flavoured soup with goji berries. Served in a beautiful tea pot and cup, the soup was light but full-bodied. I loved this and highly recommend ending your meal with this to calm your palette!

Stone Cooked Scrambled Eggs

Other than seafood boils, they have some other dishes on the menu including this very interesting Stone Cooked Scrambled Eggs. The staff brings over a very hot pot with hot stones inside. They then pour a blend of eggs, shrimp, and green onions in the pot and cover the pot. Because of the hot pot and stones, the eggs get cooked. It’s fun to watch but the stones are not very practical because you have to scoop them out before eating the egg.

Grilled Oysters

They also have Grilled Oysters which are filled with lots of garlic. I found these to be slightly too salty and you could barely taste the oysters.

Chicken Wings

The Chicken Wings are flavoured with preserved plum but tasted like peanut butter to me. Very crispy on the outside but the salty and sweet flavour threw me off a bit.

Beef and Lamb Skewers

The Beef and Lamb Skewers are flavoured with cumin spices and brings an Asian flavour. I found the beef (top) to be quite dry, so I did prefer the lamb (bottom) much more.

Sichuan Style Boiled Fish

A new dish that the chef let us try was the Sichuan Style Boiled Fish. This is served with flat glass noodles and tofu. The tofu really soaked up the spicy sauce, while the glass noodles did the opposite. I think a different type of noodles would have worked better and the noodles were also too hard for my liking. This was made with a 5/5 spice level, but it can be customized for milder tastes. This was mostly numbing so I wish there was another dimension of flavour to it.

Crawfish Tower

Then came the Crawfish Tower which was a crowd pleaser with everyone trying to get the perfect shot with the liquid nitrogen smoke. However, I’m not a huge fan of crawfish just because I find that it’s a lot of work to get so little meat!

The flavours were the same as the seafood boils, including garlic butter, black pepper, Xi’an spicy, house special spicy (spice level 5/5).

Blue Crab in Chef’s Special Sauce

As if we did not have enough seafood, the chef brought us the Blue Crab in Chef’s Special Sauce. This turned out to be a favourite with the dish featuring blue crab, chicken wings, chicken feet, and potatoes in a special chef’s secret recipe from his Xi’an hometown. I find that there isn’t much meat in blue crab, but this sauce was tasty!

Mango Thousand Layer Mille Crepe

To finish off our large meal, we had the Mango Thousand Layer Mille Crepe. These are super popular these days, and even my sisters has been obsessed at making them. This was quite good with a nice layer of mango jelly in the centre. They told us it was directly imported from Taiwan but my sister actually found this at Price Smart when she was looking for crepe cakes to taste test. She’s pretty sure it’s the same one because of the special layer of mango jely in the centre. As well, when I ate it, it was slightly frozen so it seemed like it was frozen and then defrosted. So I guess you could still say it’s imported from Taiwan… It was still good but not even close to the ones at Lady M!

Overall, 21 Nautical Miles definitely is a great place to visit if you want to try seafood boils with Asian flavours. The prices are not cheap, but you also get a fancier ambiance.

Liu Yi Shou Hot Pot

August 23, 2016August 23, 2016Leave a comment

NOTE: All food and beverages were complimentary but all opinions are based on my personal experience.

As part of a preview for Chopstick Fest, Jacqueline, Dennis, Stephen, Kym, and I were invited to try Liu Yi Shou Hot Pot Restaurant on Robson St., which will be a participiating restaurant for the festival. The festival will run from October 15th – 30th, 2016 and will have a similar concept to Dine Out Vancouver, but feature all Chinese restaurants.

Liu Yi Shou is a Chong Qing style hot pot chain famous in China. It first brought their chain to Richmond under the name Thumbs Up Hot Pot, which I have yet to try. I think the two restaurant’s menus are pretty much the same though. The interior consists of booth seats with air ventilation from the prior barbecue restaurant.

I love sauce bars so this is always an added differentiation. Here, I think you pay $2.50 to mix your own sauce with a large variety of ingredients. To be honest though, I usually stick with the simple soy sauce and satay!

Chong Qing Spicy Broth and Wild Mushrooms Broth

We chose to split the pot in half and have two soup bases. One was non-spicy and was filled with mushrooms and goji berries. The other was their famous Chong Qing Spicy Broth at a medium spice level. They told us that their spicy is quite spicy, so we settled with medium. The medium was a spicy numbing flavour, as expected with Chong Qing style cuisine. However, I think this was tolerable, especially when we had the other soup base to eat in between. I’d definitely say I’ve had spicier at my Szechuan friend’s house.

Fish Tofu

They have all your typical hot pot ingredients, including fish tofu, fish ball, enoki, bean curd, tofu, lotus root, potato and taro.

Corn

We also sampled corn, luncheon meat, shrimp paste, fish filet, shrimp, and deep fried pork. All were very standard with everything you could find at your typical Cantonese style hot pot.

Supreme Lamb

Meat is everything for me at hot pot, so I usually choose a hot pot restaurant based on the quality of meat. We were able to sample Supreme Beef, Supreme Lamb, and Sliced Beef. I loved the Supreme Lamb as it was buttery and tender. It also wasn’t gamey at all so many of the bloggers who don’t normally eat lamb didn’t even realize it was lamb! The Supreme Beef could be slightly more tender if it has more fat, but it wasn’t bad for sure. The Sliced Beef was the most chewy as expected because of the thick cut, but still very fresh.

Overall, we were all pleasantly surprised by the quality of food at Liu Yi Shou. They are famous for their spicy hot pot, so definitely give that a try if you love spice. If you’re looking to fill up though, your bill might add up since it’s a la carte, rather than AYCE. However, the quality of food is therefore better than AYCE. Oh and for all you hot pot newbies, they have a list showing the time needed to cook different menu items! That’s something I haven’t seen before for sure. And did I mention, this is the only Chinese style hot pot you will find along the Robson/downtown area?

Peaceful Restaurant (Seymour)

July 19, 2016July 18, 2016Leave a comment

S and I enjoy dining at the Broadway and Cambie location of Peaceful Restaurant so when we heard they opened a new one close to where S works, I suggested to go for dinner after work. Peaceful has expanded so quickly, they have just opened their 5th location on Robson.

Peaceful Beef Rolls

We ended up getting similar items to compare. Our favourite at the Broadway location is the Peaceful Beef Rolls.

We found these to be less crispy and the dough to be slightly thicker. However, these were still not too oily which I liked. Still, the Broadway ones are much better.

Xiao Long Bao

The Xiao Long Bao comes with 8 dumplings.

As you can see, the skin is rather thick and upon biting in, there is not enough broth. Not the best XLBs so I would skip these next time.

Mu-Shu Stir-fried Noodles

We tried the Mu-Shu Stir-fried Noodles again but this time chose them hand pulled instead of knife cut. Again, these are not overly oily and the noodles are chewy with a nice bite. However, I think I do prefer the knife cut noodles since they are more chewy and a bit more special.

Overall, it seems like the Seymour location’s execution of the dishes can’t compare to the original location. Not sure if they are still relatively new, but I feel like there are other restaurants in the area I would rather eat at. I do like that this location has very spacious seating and it isn’t very busy.

Pros:
– Spacious seating
– Noodles are pretty good

Cons:
– Execution is not as good as Broadway location

Price Range: $15-25

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

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

Yuan’s Shanghai Serendipity Cuisine

July 7, 2016July 7, 2016Leave a comment

Yuan’s Shanghai Serendipity Cuisine is one of the newer additions to Richmond’s Shanghai/ dim sum options. It took over the spot of a Korean restaurant and has renovated.

The decor is probably one of the fanciest in Richmond for Chinese food. There are blue velvet chairs, vases, and statues. Somehow we ended up in a private room too which was pretty cool as you got a lot of privacy.

Even their chinaware is nicer than most Chinese restaurants. With such nice ambiance, you would expect the prices to be rather high, but they were actually quite reasonable and in line with other restaurants.

Soy Braised Kaofu with Assorted Mushrooms

We started off with the Soy Braised Kaofu with Assorted Mushrooms. I really enjoyed the flavours of this dish and it was not overly salty. Loved the abundance of peanuts mixed in to give it some crunch.

Smoked Duck (half)

The half order of Smoked Duck was glazed in a plum sauce with the skin being crispy while the meat remaining moist.

Xiao Long Bao

The Xiao Long Bao may make it on the list of one of the best in Richmond for me. The skin was extremely thin while the pork still remaining very moist and filled with lots of broth! A must order!

Pan Fried Juicy Pork Buns

Another favourite was the Pan Fried Juicy Pork Buns. These were decorated with white sesame seeds on the bottom and the inside was piping hot and filled with a lot of broth once again. I find that these can easily be dry in the center, but not these!

Shredded Chicken and Mung Bean Pasta Salad

Another cold appetizer we ordered was the Shredded Chicken and Mung Bean Pasta Salad. Not really a pasta salad, but Shanghai cuisine likes to use mung bean to make these clear jelly which are delicious when mixed with chicken, cucumber and a delicious peanut sauce. these had just the right amount of sauce and the texture was spot on.

Wok Fried Shanghai Round Noodle

Lastly, we tried the Wok Fried Shanghai Round Noodle which is a staple in Shanghainese cuisine. These were surprisingly not very oily like they usually tend to be. However, it lacked the wok flavour.

Overall, we not only impressed by the decor but also the quality of the food. Service, on the other hand, was slightly rude. We had a hostess come into the room initially accusing us of going in when another host had asked us to. The waiters also just drop off food without saying anything which is unfortunate as you would expect more at a restaurant that looks upscale.

Pros:
– Great dim sum items
– Beautiful decor

Cons:
– Service is lacking
– Some dishes are on the pricier side

Price Range: $15-25/person

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

Food:4 Service: 1.5 Ambiance: 4.5 Parking: 3 Overall: 3.5

Sai Woo

July 3, 2016July 3, 2016Leave a comment

Super late post again but back in early May, us accountants finally celebrated the end of tax season! Our firm treated us to dinner and drinks at Sai Woo in the heart of Chinatown. Sai Woo doesn’t server your typical authentic Chinese food, it’s more of a westernized style of Chinese food.

We basically booked the whole restaurant and the inside decor is beautiful! I loved the fairy lights and the ambiance gave a nice chic and elegant feel.

Their cocktails are what I would come here for and they have a long bar on one side where you can come in if you want to just enjoy some drinks.

Sai Woo Sour

E and I decided to go all out that night (since we were’ paying!) and tried to go down the list of the cocktail list. Yes, huge headache the next day, but it was fun! We started off with the Sai Woo Sour which featured Bombay Sapphire East, Benedictine, ginger syrup, lemon juice, and egg white.

Elderflower 75

The Elderflower 75 was my favourite and consisted of Finlandia Vodka, St. Germain, lemon juice, and sparkling cava. This was the fruitiest drink and extremely easy to drink. Plus, it’s always classy to have some cava in hand.

Smoking Gun

The Smoking Gun is the men’s drink and the process in making the drink is super cool to watch. They light up the drink and some smoke comes out then they throw in this huge ice cube. The drink consisted of El Dorado 12 year old rum, bitters, brown sugar, oak, and tea smoke. A very bitter drink and great for those who like to drink straight rum. The guys said it was too sweet from the brown sugar though…but us girls found it bitter!

Carioca

Another favourite was the Carioca with Cacha 51, guava juice, orange juice, lime juice, and sloe Gin float. Another one of those lighter and fruitier drinks which I enjoyed.

Tuna Tartare

As we booked the place up for a private event, our menu was already pre-ordered and it included some canapés to start. I didn’t get pictures of all of them but a memorable one was the Tuna Tartare which came with nori on top. Quite yummy! They also seem to enjoy using raw ingredients at Sai Woo.

Wagyu Beef Carpaccio

We were able to choose two appetizers each. For myself, I chose the Wagyu Beef Carpaccio which came with broccoli puree, crudite, rye crumble, sorrel, and candied lime. To be honest, I found this to be just average. The beef lacked flavour and the plate itself was also extremely small for the price.

Beet Salad

E got the Beet Salad which came with buckwheat cracker, yoghurt, blackberry sauce, fermented grapes, and herbs. A colourful dish but E also said it was just average.

Sai Woo Salad

My second appetizer was the Sai Woo Salad which comes with smoked sockeye salmon, gem lettuce, frisee, pickled tomato, blue cheese cream, and fennel. Again, something was off about this dish. It was way too acidic with the pickled tomatoes overbearing the whole dish. The smoked salmon was also more like cooked salmon as it was fully cooked. Everyone agreed this dish was too pickled.

Pressed Lamb

For my entree, I got the Pressed Lamb which was my favourite of the dishes. The lamb was packed into a rectangle and was crispy on the outside while staying very moist in the inside. It came with seasonal vegetables of what appeared to be brocolini, braised shallots, kale, sherry jus and a side of long grain rice.

Ling Cod

Some of the other diners got the Ling Cod which came with oyster mushrooms, green onion puree, greens, and jasmine rice. Apparently this was extremely salty for some while being perfect for others. Seems like they have inconsistencies in seasoning.

Lemongrass Chicken

The other entree option was the Lemongrass Chicken which came with vermicelli noodles, bitter greens, and a sunny side up fried egg.

Baklava

Dessert was just as disappointing. the Baklava was unappealing to look at and consisted of pistachio nuts, toasted nuts, honey rose pearls, and phyllo chips. This was sort of an deconstructed baklava but something about it just didn’t seem right.

Chocolate Cake

The Chocolate Cake came with candied fennel and orange marmalade and it appeared that most diners did not enjoy this. Perhaps it was gluten free and therefore the cake itself was very hard and dry.

Overall, we found the food at Sai Woo to be underwhelming but we think it might be because they aren’t experienced with catering to a large group. Most diners who have gone to Sai Woo on a regular day have had good experiences, so I would probably give them a try during their regular service. I have to say that their drinks are great so I wouldn’t mind coming here to grab a drink. Plus the decor is beautiful inside!

Victory Seafood Restaurant – ChineseBites Media Event

June 5, 2016Leave a comment

Note: All food and beverages were complimentary, but all opinions were based on my own personal experience.

I think the last time I visited Crystal Mall has got to be over 10 years ago. Driving in the parkade is the worst experience ever so I avoid this mall at all cost. But when ChineseBites invited me to do a dim sum tour at Victory Seafood Restaurant, I ventured my way out and luckily around 2pm on a Saturday, the parking lot wasn’t as busy (the parking was still pretty bad though!).

We were seated in more of a private room, but outside, the decor is similar with gold being the focus. I could see this as a decent restaurant to host Chinese banquets.

As this was a ChineseBites dim sum tour, we ordered literally almost everything off the dim sum menu – a total of 37 dishes! Dishes range from $4.49-$7.49 depend on size and specialty.

Baked BBQ Pork Buns with Crust Topping looked just like a pineapple bun but was filled with savoury BBQ pork filling. The top was sweet and the bun itself was fluffy.

One of my favourite fried items was the Deep Fried Shrimp Spring Rolls with Garlic. The wrapper was light and crispy and the inside was packed with shrimp and garlic filling.

The Deep Fried Dumplings with Pork & Dried Shrimp were also quite delicious with the outside crispy and interior like a mochi chewy texture. The inside was filled with a savoury pork and dried shrimp filling.

We tried a variety of rice rolls, with my favourite being the Steamed Rice Rolls with Crispy Deep Fried Fish Paste. The rice rolls here are quite silky smooth. The rice rolls with the chinese donuts were also popular.

I like how they give you both the Pan Fried Radish & Shredded Taro Cakes when you order this dish, so you can sample both. The taro cakes are harder as expected, so I do enjoy the softer radish cake personally.

A dish I did not try, but was told by others to skip was the Smoked Salmon with Fruit Salad Sauce Tarts. I guess it’s more a westernized dish, so you can’t expect much at a Chinese restaurant. Apparently, the ingredients just didn’t mesh well.

A new item on their menu was the Steamed Red Rice Rolls with Shrimp. We were all curious about the red colour, but turns out there is no flavour to it. More of a gimmick so I would just stick with the regular rice rolls.

Onto the steamers! Suddenly, everything came out all at once. The Steamed Meat Balls were packed full of flavour and remained moist.

Dim sum isn’t the same without an order of the Steamed Pork Dumplings (Siu Mai). These were topped with flying fish roe and packed full of minced pork.

One of my favourite dim sum items to order is the Steamed Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf. Packed tightly in the lotus leaf, the filling to rice proportion was pretty good.

Other than your steamers and fried food, the dim sum menu also features some clay pot rice, including the Steamed Rice with Chicken & Black Fungus. These were decent, but lacked the crispy rice at the bottom.

Overall, some hits and misses, but overall, a decent spot to have dim sum with a large variety and reasonable prices.

Bubble Waffle Cafe – ChineseBites Media Event

May 1, 2016May 1, 2016Leave a comment

NOTE: All food and beverages were complimentary, but all opinions are my own.

Bubble Waffle opened a sit-in location in Kerrisdale and ChineseBites invited us to a media tasting.

The interior is rustic and the owner said he wanted to give a HK style feel to it. The prices here are a little higher than the food court stalls, but they are still affordable.

They even have a mural painted on the wall showcasing Hong Kong.

I sat with Instagrammers, Tina, Sharon, and Elaine. First up, we got to sample all the different soup bases. This was great since there are a few soups that I wouldn’t normally order, like the really spicy ones.

We then got to sample a selection of their Bubble Waffles.

They have a variety of flavours here, including original, chocolate, Oreo, cheesecake, matcha and cinnamon. These were okay, but not crispy enough.

My favourite was still the original although I found the cheesecake flavour surprisingly quite good. The cinnamon flavour was probably my least favourite.

Next up were some Taiwanese snacks. The Taiwanese Sausages were quite a hit at our table. They are a mix of sweet and savoury and have a firm texture.

My favourite snack was the Deep Fried Stinky Tofu. The outside was very crispy and the inside was piping hot. Along with the sweet and spicy sauce, this was delicious. A miss for some because of the fermented smell.

The Fish Siu Mai was quite typical and I found that it was soaked in too much soy sauce. I kind of wished it had a chili sauce on the side.

I enjoyed the Takoyaki quite a lot as these were filled with a generous amount of octopus bits and the inside wasn’t doughy like some I’ve tried.

The Taiwanese Chicken Nuggets were a hit as they were crispy with the chicken itself very moist. I loved the salt and pepper flavouring.

The Fried Shrimp Balls were a beautiful orange colour but I found them to be slightly bland. It needed a sauce to go with it.

Overall, Bubble Waffle Cafe has a great variety of snacks which you can order on its own or pay extra to add on as a side with your noodles.

The drinks came along and I got the HK Style Iced Milk Tea. Their milk teas are actually made with a blend of 5 different Sri Lankan teas. The tea also goes through a filter and is pulled, a common way of making milk teas in Hong Kong. Very silky smooth as a result.

Finally our noodles which we got to customize arrived! E got the Laksa soup base which is one of my usual orders. The soup is flavourful without being too spicy.

T got the Satay soup base which again is very flavourful. It almost tastes like you’re having hot pot!

For myself, I chose the Chiu Chow Style Minced Pork Fish Soup along with rice noodle, sliced beef, sliced beef brisket, fried shrimp ball and fish ball with shrimp. All noodles come with cabbage and bean curd. For some reason, my soup also came with corn.

Overall, Bubble Waffle is great when you’re craving hot noodles in soup on a rainy day. I also love the ability to customize everything from the soup to the toppings. You’ll be very full by the end of your meal for sure with the large portion sizes and affordable prices. A nice option to be able to eat at a location with a nicer ambiance compared to the food court now.

Ken’s Chinese Restaurant – ChineseBites Media Event

April 20, 2016Leave a comment

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

Last month, I was invited by ChineseBites to do a tasting at Ken’s Chinese Restaurant. The restaurant has been around for many years and serves traditional Chinese dishes as well as some HK style cafe dishes.

Fish Soup with Winter Melon & Dried Scallop 瑤柱冬瓜粒魚湯

Chinese dinners always start with soup, and we got to sample the Fish Soup with Winter Melon & Dried Scallop. Flavourful with lots of ingredients and great for a cold rainy night.

Ken’s Specialty Chicken 南軒走地雞

Ken’s Specialty Chicken was tender with a nice layer of jelly under the skin.

Lobster with Konnyaku in Hot Pot 芋絲龍蝦煲

One of their signature dishes is the Lobster with Konnyaku in Hot Pot. This was very flavourful with the lobster cooked just right and the konnyaku noodles soaking up the delicious broth. A must order!

Crab with Garlic & Spicy XO Sauce XO 金蒜炒蟹

We got to sample two of their signature crab dishes. The first was the Crab with Garlic & Spicy XO Sauce. The sauce is more of a dry sauce and great if you love spicy flavours. I could eat the whole dish if I didn’t have to share!

Golden Dungeness Crab 金沙蟹

The Golden Dungeness Crab was one of my favourites as I love crab or lobster that is coated with a salty egg yolk batter. Very flavourful but some found it to be too filling because of the egg yolk. I loved it though!

Braised Fatty Layer Pork 杭州東玻肉

The Braised Fatty Layer Pork seems like a must order at ChineseBites events, and this one didn’t disappoint. A good layer of fat to meat ratio but I did find that this one felt more oily than others I’ve had.

Pan Fried Chicken Fillet with Spicy Thai Sauce 泰汁煎雞扒

The Pan Fried Chicken Fillet with Spicy Thai Sauce was quite average for me as I didn’t find it too special. The chicken was quite tenderized, but nothing too special with the sauce as it tasted like store bought Thai sweet chili sauce.

Malaysian Style Fried Rice 馬拉臘味炒飯

I actually quite enjoyed the Malaysian Style Fried Rice as it had a bit of a kick to it. Good amount of ingredients in the rice.

Black Pepper Diced Beef Tenderloin 七彩黑椒牛柳粒

I was pleasantly surprised with the Black Pepper Diced Beef Tenderloin as I find that this dish can be easily overdone. This was however delicious with the beef extremely tender and cooked to a nice medium to medium rare. The colourful peppers also made the dish visually appetizing and tasted great.

Baked Seafood on Rice 焗海鮮飯

Lastly, we had the Baked Seafood on Rice. This was quite average with a nice layer of white cream sauce and melted cheese. Nothing too special compared to your typical HK style cafes.

Overall, there were some hits and misses, but I would highly recommend trying their crab and lobster dishes. A great casual Chinese restaurant for families but ambiance is rather dated. Reasonable prices and some great dishes though.