Dinner @ Applebee's

after some border shopping, headed to Applebee's for dinner. first time going and overall statisfied. excellent service and good deals. $20 for 1 appetizer and 2 entrees

boneless wings with honey bbq sauce

was like eating chicken nuggets

blackened chicken penne

chicken was dull but the sauce saved it

bread stick was bad

riblet basket

fries were not crispy and a bit salty

meat tender

a bit too many bones, prefer ribs more

ultimate trio - steak quesadilla towers, spinach & artichoke dip, cheeseburger sliders

quesadillas were the best

dip could be lighter

Applebee's 

1069 E Sunset Dr 

 Bellingham, WA 98226

Lunch @ Red Star Seafood 鴻星海鮮酒家

for past year and a half, i refused to come here after experiencing poor service. since sunday afternoon is hard to find spaces everywhere (couldn't book richmond kirin), decided to give this place another chance

BBQ Duck with rice vermicelli 燒鴨瀨

ordered regular instead of special from previous experience

they give you parts with little meat for specials

definitely its signature dish

tender, juicy, and well marinated meat

not too salty and matches well with plum sauce

BBQ Pork (Cha Siu) with rice 叉燒飯

$4.99 lunch special

juicy and well made

sauce simmers well into meat

Chiu Chow Steam Dumpling 潮州粉果

dumpling skin is thin however falls apart when removing

not too many nuts and not too salty

Fried Spring Roll with Seaweed

crispy exterior

shrimps not too salty and matches well with the crispiness

desserts

Sweet crepe - not too much peanut butter used, overall not as sweet as expected

Fried egg dough (dan saan) 蛋散 - also not that sweet, well fried and comes loose once bitten into

Red Star Seafood 鴻星海鮮酒家

2200-8181 Cambie Road

Richmond BC V6X 3X9

(604) 270-3003

-service was still not that good, one of the managers seemed like he was sleeping on the spot, you really need to visit often and be close to the staff in order to get good service in these chinese restaurants

-we had 3 cars and couldn't find parking at all even when the restaurant was only 40% full for sunday lunch hours

-food overall is great but bad service and hard parking really turns customers away
-would only come again for BBQ duck

Style: dim sum (點心)

Visited on: Apr 15, 2012

Luis Cake Shop 君濠餅廊

Michelle Cake Shop sold their richmond store to their relatives and recently reopened as Luis Cake Shop. they're currently still in their trial stage and are offering 20% off. however there's only buns and no cold cakes. most buns are $1, which is relatively cheaper than before but also seem to be smaller size as well. only 10 or so varieties right now

$4.48 for these 6 with discount

Luis Cake Shop 君濠餅廊 

140-6211 Buswell St 

Richmond BC

-chocolate bun, few small soft chocolate pastes inside, not too sweet, bun is soft and chewy

-chicken tail bun, filling not too sweet, bun is also quite soft

Michelle previously had their cake made and delivered from their main store. wonder if Luis's cakes will be store made

Style: bakery (麵包) 

Visited on: Apr 12, 2012

KitKat - オトナの甘さ Adult's sweetness

one of the KitKat series is the オトナの甘さ, Adult's sweetness. as its name suggest, since it's for adults, the chocolate is not as sweet, but not necessarily bitter. the most recent i tried was the white one. i'd say it's pretty similar to hershey's cookies and cream with KitKat's signature crispy bar in the middle.

a light tasting good snack

dark chocolate from last year

Lunch @ Vivacity Restaurant 名都

haven't been here for a while as its hard to find parking. decided to come after seeing the ad of $2.99 deals and 20% off dim sums

$2.99 deals

pig feet with rice noodles

pan-fried taro cake - could be crispier

all the different $2.99 dim sums

salty chicken - well marinated, brown rice was even better

eggplant with shrimp paste

not oily, well made

good deal as most are usually $7-8

Vivacity Restaurant 名都
110-8351 Alexandra Road
 Richmond, BC V6X 1C3
(604) 279-1513

-limit of $2.99 special limited to number of people you have, one order per person at each table

-although says first come first serve for the deals, went at 1pm and still had them

-we had 7 people, only charged for 1 person tea

-20% off almost all dim sum, except the dishes that are usually $7+, the pan-fried food

-service was prompt, one of the managers were really nice and cool, came to change our plates and kept saying no rush, ladies first

-they were poor at entering orders, either missed one out or entered wrong

-one of the hardest places to find parking

-good food, good deal, only bad thing is parking

Style: dim sum (點心) 

Visited on: Apr 12, 2012

 

Chicken McBites

for all those who live in greater vancouver, who doesn't like cross border shopping. one of the places to go is walmart and of course there's McDonalds. the eye-catching word is 'limited time only' followed by Chicken McBites

like the design of being able to place sauce cup right beside

-you can say it's miniature version of McNugget or KFC's popcorn chicken's rivalry
-all are crispy throughout and it's just pretty much fried chicken
-favourable for those who don't like too much meat at one piece cause they're all small
-not sure if other special sauces are available as cashier only offered BBQ. probably the same sauces as McNuggets
-3 sizes available, small comes to $2.16

Dessert @ Capstone Tea & Fondue

been to the downtown location several times and have quite enjoyed the all you can eat chocolate fondue. richmond location has been opened for a while but just haven't been to as they don't offer bubble tea drinks. finally decided to go as we wanted a place that's easy to find spots

japanese matcha latte

always had the hot version but decided to go for a change

option of adding jasmine syrup

mine had no syrup so little bitter but suits the fondue well as the chocolate is sweet

fruits, biscuits and pastries that's probably store made

lemon bread and banana bread were the most filling

personal chocolate fondue

downtown has bigger pot where you have to share

56% semi-sweet chocolate

downtown had pretzels and gummy bears

Capstone Tea & Fondue (Richmond)

160 - 9020 Capstan Way   

Richmond, BC V6X 1R4

(778) 297-5007

-service was quite slow, refills took a while to come

-order 3 same drinks and came separately as they made it individually

-around 8 tables, was quite quiet at 9pm then most table were filled

-$9.95 per person with the purchase of drink which is around $5

-option of $1 for 3 balls of ice-cream

-quite filling for $15 but won't really be a place i would frequency go as i prefer bubble tea style drinks more

Style: dessert

Visited on: Mar 31, 2012