Wednesday, October 31, 2012

CLOSED - Dinner @ Golden Bauhinia Restaurant 金紫荊小館

APR 2013 UPDATE - Reopened as Hing Fung Restaurant 慶豐餐廳

came when it first opened for lunch and it was not that great. family has been here a few times for dinner and said its not bad. when relatives came to visit, we went together


steamed garlic baby lobster with peral rice
best dish of the night
also comes with scallops and shrimps
strong garlic taste and scent seeped into the rice
as good as the ho yuen kee one
chicken simmered in lo-sui sauce 
tung choi with fermented bean curd

fried garlic chives
love the crunchy stuff
sweet and sour pork


Golden Bauhinia Restaurant 金紫荊小館 
1226-8338 Capstan Way 
Richmond, BC V6X 2H6 
(604) 278-8898 


-there's a limited amount of quail, good to order when booking, we missed it
-dinner food is much better than lunch
-they have glass bottle coke and sprite if interested, rare to see in chinese restaurants
-average pricing, better than being stuck to set menus or a limited of choices


Style: chinese (中式) 
Visited on: August 24, 2012
 Golden Bauhinia Restaurant 金紫荊小館 on Urbanspoon

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Top Shanghai Cuisine 上海一只鼎







Top Shanghai Cuisine 上海一只鼎
5880 No 3 Rd
Richmond, BC
(604) 278-8790

-one of the more authentic shanghai cuisine in richmond, so most food are saltier and stronger flavour
-always packed, reservation recommended
-food served quickly, table filled with food fast
-lunch and dinner menu the same

Style: shanghai (上海菜)
Visited on: Aug 20, 2012

Top Shanghai Cuisine 上海一只鼎 on Urbanspoon

Friday, October 26, 2012

Afternoon Tea @ Truffles Fine Foods Cafe @ Van Dusen Garden

from word of mouth, heard there was a new cafe in Van Dusen Garden that faces the garden without needing to pay entry fee. was satisfied with the first visit so went again for the second time. to my surprise, it was quite busy.

from 2nd visit, pretty much the same
croissant and scones both quite soft
tea flavour is fixed, has about 6-8 tea cups
own choice of pannini
italian one was too salty
$28 for 2, $50 for 4
inside seating


Truffles Fine Foods Cafe 
5151 Oak St (Van Dusen Garden) 
Vancouver, BC V6H 2L8 
(604) 505-4961


-free parking and does not require entry fee
-self seating, outside seating quite popular, depends on your luck
-pricing fair, big portions, better deal than hotel afternoon teas
-no tips required since you order yourself but would be nice if you leave some
-they carry the tray to you and identify you with the number sign
-an excellent place for relaxing and to enjoy afternoon tea


Style: tea, sandwiches 
Visited on: Aug 19 + Oct 8, 2012 
 Truffles Fine Foods Cafe on Urbanspoon

Monday, October 22, 2012

Congee @ Double Double Restaurant 老油條大牌檔

this place has been packed since opening. old location was on kingsway but it seems like all the staff is new since they did posting for all positions before opening.

Lai Wan Style Congee 艇仔粥
came steaming hot but too watery
flavours too light
chinese doughnut 油炸鬼
not as good as expected
still crispy outside although it came cold
deep-fried wonton
big fresh shrimp inside
outside nice and crispy
8 pieces in total
sweet chinese doughnut 牛脷酥
very small portion
centre not soft enough
soy sauce fried noodles



Double Double Restaurant 老油條大牌檔 
128-4600 No. 3 Road Empire Centre 
Richmond, BC V6X 4E8 
(604) 370-3345


-2nd time visiting, and service and seating took a long time.1st time going was at night and everything was much faster, but some food may sell out
-don't like the congee but certain fried stuff are good
-yet to try rice rolls, take way too long
-orders get mess up, you get the fried chinese doughnut from the person you order from but they tend to forget, things are not computerized, ordered before the person beside but they got "our" food instead
-pricing is fair
-a huge variety of food, more than before
-a good place to eat but took too long for the food to come considering they're easy to make, lacking staff
-not open on tuesdays

Style: congee (粥), street food (大牌檔) 
Visited on: Sept 29, 2012 
 Double Double Restaurant 老油條大牌檔 on Urbanspoon

Saturday, October 20, 2012

tic tac - strawberry fushion

there's the new flavour in town, strawberry fushion. i'm assuming it's only sold in canada as it says breast society of canada. 100 mints in a large pack. worth a try and it's for a good cause



lighter one tastes like strawberry mentos
darker one tastes like strawberry pez

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Lunch @ Bubble Waffle Cafe (Aberdeen Centre)

its been a while since the old restaurant location closed. location was good but there was no parking and they did not have enough air conditioning for the summer. a while ago i already saw the ads in the newspaper that they reopened at aberdeen and the red pocket coupon for buy one get one free. my friend told me the food was indeed cheap for food court but quality was soso. she told me she had to wait for an hour and it was not worth it considering it was just food court and was just noodles. but since i love bubble waffles, i gave it a go


noodles
had satay soup but was very light
moderate amounts of MSG in soup
2-3 pieces of each item
waffle
with condensed milk and peanut butter
fresh and quite chewy
condiments



Bubble Waffle Cafe (Aberdeen Centre)
Unit 3000, 4151 Hazelbridge Way 
Richmond, BC V6X 0A4 
(604) 370-2211


-went at 11:30am then the line started to get huge at noon with around 20+ people in line
-$1 extra with noddles for bubble waffle/waffle, depends what they offer on the day
-$1.50 extra with noddles for hot/cold drink
-max of 3 additional sides
-yet to try to bubble waffle at they only had waffles for the additional $1, but mostly likely the same as before
-most better location than before
-quality of the noodles seemed to have dropped
-ordered cold lemon tea and had 4 thick slices of lemons, much better than other places
-don't like where the condiments are location, no space to put your tray to get the things
-would only go back for the snacks and not noodles


Style: noodles (百搭麵), street food (街邊小食) 
Visited on: Oct 6, 2012

 Bubble Waffle Cafe (Aberdeen Centre) on Urbanspoon

Monday, October 8, 2012

Lunch @ Kirin Seafood Restaurant 麒麟海鮮酒家


durian mochi
my favourite dessert
strong durian taste and scent
limited amounts
pan-fried carrot cake


not very clean considering a up-scaled place


Kirin Seafood Restaurant 麒麟海鮮酒家
350 Gifford St (Starlight Casino) 
New Westminster, BC V3M 7A3 
(604) 528-8833 

-much easier to find tables and parking than other locations
-some servers were quite friendly
-hate how there no receipt to track what you have already eaten

Style: chinese (中式), dim sum (點心), seafood (海鮮)
Visited on: August 20, 2012

 Kirin Seafood Restaurant 麒麟海鮮酒家 on Urbanspoon

Friday, October 5, 2012

Snack @ Beaver Tails

at Whistler we saw Beaver Tails but was unfortunately closed. my friend told me its as good as the elephant ears at PNE. its been over 10 years since going to Grouse mountain and my 2nd attempt at Grouse Grind (did not make it through last time 6 yrs ago due to time constraints).  i'm a fan of cinnamon sugar and love churros, cinnamon balls + pretzels. when i saw it off in a distance, i knew i had to grab some especially after a big workout



cinnamon & sugar
-much better than all those other cinnamon sugar food than i've eaten
-nice and soft and chewy
-like how thin it is and freshly made


Beaver Tails (Grouse Mountain) 
6400 Nancy Greene Way 
North Vancouver District, BC V7R 4K9 
(778) 847-4799 

-unfortunately this is also the closet one to vancouver, i was happy when i saw it in Lonsdale Quay but it seems to have closed down recently

Style: snack 
Visited on: September 8, 2012
 Beaver Tails (Grouse Mountain) on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Cake/dessert @ Thierry Chocolaterie Patisserie Cafe

i'm not a downtown person since it's hard to find parking and it's busy everywhere. but met up with friends who had school and work in downtown and they suggested the place






tiramisu
lemon tart
sourness just right
tart was nice and crunchy
hot chocolate and tea
chocolate was too sweet especially to match with dessert
iced mocha
quite bitter, don't know if there is syrup to add as it was brought it to me
i usually don't drink coffee but mocha has always been fine, but this upset my stomach


Thierry Chocolaterie Patisserie Cafe 
1059 Alberni St 
Vancouver, BC V6Z 2V6 
(604) 608-6870 


-quite busy in the afternoon
-lots of outdoor seating
-pricey as its located in heart of downtown


Style: cake, dessert, cafe 
Visited on: September 5, 2012
 Thierry Chocolaterie Patisserie Cafe on Urbanspoon