All Entries in the "Chinese" Category
Tai Hing Congee and Noodle House in Richmond
It snowed the night before. It was one of those mornings, you know. The air was chilly and we all wanted more than just cereals for breakfast. We wanted something warm, hot and I could see Suanne hinting under her breath that she wanted to not make breakfast that morning. She does it ever so subtly … like commenting there are not enough eggs for everyone and that we are down to only two Costco croissants. LOL!
The boys were too lazy to go out and so was I. The main problem was not so much as the drive and all … it is because we gotta brush our teeth, take a bath and put on going-out clothes. That is Suanne’s rules. It is like a formal event or something. Before we go out, Suanne will insist we all must, at the minimum, take a bath, brush our teeth, comb our hair and put on street cloths. This time she compromised … she allowed us to go out “as is” as long as she does not have to make breakfast. Deal … we said!
So we all gingerly rescued our yesterdays clothing from the laundry basket and pull it over our head (after taking a quick whiff it is humanly acceptable). We quickly combed our hair using our fingers and made sure we zipped our mouth unless absolutely necessary during the short drive. Suanne, being the ever so prim and proper, went through the rituals. She kept very quiet during the drive because I can see that she was beginning to turn blue from holding her breadth. It was not that bad, really … and it’s all in her mind, we told her. We assured mum that once we take our first bite, the smell will theoretically dissipate.
We knew about this place called Tai Hing. It is very well known for being cheap and no frills kind of a breakfast place. This is exactly the type of place where 73% of the people comes in without combing their hair.
Tai Hing was absolutely full that morning, and I assume like every morning too from the looks of it. Some people had to wait for a table outside the restaurant in the frigid weather. They are highly popular because of one thing … their food is simple and their prices cheap. OK, that is two things. Read More
Szechuan Harvest Moon Cuisine in Richmond
We went out again for a weekend dine out with ET and Christina from doesnttaztelikechicken.com. It was our turn to chose a location. We opted for one of the recommendations from a chowtimes reader.
Marc recommended Szechuan Harvest Moon Cuisine located on No 3 Rd at the strip mall where Hon’s is. Actually Harvest Moon is located in one of our favourite restaurants called Evergreen Garden which had recently closed down. What a waste … Evergreen had great dinner combo specials.
From the outside, the decorations looked really garish. With the red lantern and red faux banners in the door, it looked really like a Chinese wedding ceremony is happening here. Frankly, if I were them, I would re-design the entire entrance. If not for the recommendation from Marc, we would have missed giving them a try.
The inside of the restaurant is something else though. The place was clean and neat with real tablecloth. What we noticed mostly was the red seat covers which we felt lent an air of sophistication to the place. Real nice.
According to Marc, the Szechuan Harvest Moon Cuisine is an off-shoot from the Golden Szechuan Restaurant. It is opened by Danny, who used to be the restaurant manager of Golden Szechuan. It was strange, we felt, when Marc mentioned Danny’s name like he knows him. Well, we soon found out why … apparently, Danny knows everyone! When we got there, Danny greeted us like he had known us for years!
Anyway, Danny told us that although he is from Hongkong, he insisted that the chef is from Szechuan. We asked him about Szechuan cuisine and he seems to have an answer to everything.
We were there early and so while waiting for ET and Christina, Danny suggested that we get a bowl of Dan Dan Noodle to share first. We fondly remembered our $1.99 Dan Dan Noodle and thought why not try it here and compare. This one is $5.99 though but at least they have ground pork unlike the $1.99 version we had which is just noodles. Also, this one tastes different in that it is spicy and lightly sour and does not have sesame oil. According to Danny, this is authentic Szechuan Dan Dan Noodles.
A little trivia for non-Chinese. In some higher-end Chinese restaurants, they provide “communal chopsticks”. They are generally darker in color from the rest of the chopsticks. This is what you use to pick the food from the dishes to your bowl. Since we were dining with ET and Christina, we play along and use the communal chopstick … otherwise, when my family were dining on our own, we all just dig in.
Also, better Chinese establishments will provide you two pots … one for the tea and another for hot water to fill the tea pot when it is running low.
Danny came by and gave us a complimentary sample of what he calls the Salty Vegetable. It was good for vetting our appetite but it was so little.
Danny talked us into getting their crab. It was the name — Cold Pot Crab — we would not have gotten it. And no … the above is NOT the way it was served. They came by the table to show us it is a live crab they are serving us, all 2.8 lb of it.
Happy Date Bakery and Restaurant on Park Road, Richmond
Hey … does anyone of you feel the economic hardship coming your way yet? Until now, I have not heard of anyone I know who had lost their job but me think it’s the calm before the storm. So, we thought we should start looking at spending a bit lesser on dining out.
When we think about budget, no frills meal, we often head off to Happy Date. It just dawned on us that despite being there so many times, we had never gotten down to blog on them.
Happy Date is located on Park Road just off where the Richmond City Hall is. It is a very popular Hongkong Style eatery. Like many HK style cafes, they also have a bakery but I don’t really think highly of their bakery. I much prefer the ones found in The Boss, Kam Do and particularly Lido.
We had always visited Happy Date for breakfast which is always packed with people. This was the first time we were there for dinner. We were kind of surprised that the restaurant is half empty. We expected it to be just as packed as breakfast.
They gave us free soup. They looked like they had been in the pot for weeks. I don’t know what to make of it really. It doesn’t taste bad at all but it’s just that such lotus plus pork soup should be a lot more clearer. The boys did not want to touch it.
You-know-who ordered this. Sigh … I don’t want to talk about it except that it costs $9.
Between Suanne and I, we ordered two main dishes to share. The Oyster Omelette costs $10.80 came in a really big plate. We figure they must have used at least 6 eggs for this judging from the size of it. It had salted radish and ginger besides, of course, oysters.
It was OK except that it’s somewhat overcooked. We prefer it to be slightly undercooked with a bit of runny eggs — like this.
The Sea Cucumber Hotpot was quite expensive at $15.80. The reason is it is just a normal hot pot. We counted only about 5-6 pieces of small sea cucumber in it.
We like sea cucumber for the texture of it. There is a belief that it has aphrodisiac properties but let me confirm to you that it has no effect on me — nor do I need the said properties. LOL! Maybe I need a few more pieces.
They gave us Mango Pudding as dessert. We sure did not order this but since it’s free, we gobbled them up.
Our bill came up to $45 including tips and taxes. Frankly, for $45, I could think of a few other places with better food and deal than Happy Date. Still, Happy Date is one of our favourite breakfast place.
Dragon Garden Restaurant in Langley
Geoff and Joy and our family took a drive to Langley to visit Whitney and Ken on a Saturday. We wanted to introduce our new friends who had just landed in Vancouver from NZ recently. It was a long drive but was glad to find that they had finally completed the upgrade to Route 10 which makes the drive much more faster and easier.
For dinner, Whitney recommended that we go to a Chinese restaurant. The way she put it is as if there are hardly any good Chinese restaurant in Langley and Dragon Garden is about the best it could get.
Dragon Garden is more of a Chop Suey, Sweet and Sour Pork and Fortune Cookies type of Chinese restaurant, if you know what I mean. Even the name tells you as much. You see most of these Chinese restaurant are not quite creative in naming the restaurant and uses a combination of words like Golden, Dragon, Inn, Garden, Gate, Imperial, Pheonix, Silver, Fortune, Lucky, etc.
It was a Saturday evening and for the whole time we were about the only customer there. If not for us taking up a table for 11 people, they would probably have almost no business for the day.
Let’s talk about table arrangements. In Chinese restaurants, larger tables are ALWAYS round and NEVER long. Most large tables will fit about 10 people. I find this arrangement more practical as one gets to interact with one another all round this way. Moreover, food are normally shared (i.e. formal dinners are not served individually) and it makes the sharing of dishes easier.
Dishes are not normally passed around but one unique thing is the “lazy susan” (see above). Tell me … are the Chinese the only cuisine that uses “lazy susans” on the dining table? I think they are.
Whitney did all the ordering. Because of so many kids around, she ordered dishes that kids likes.
Do you know what is the heaviest food in the world? It is called the 1-ton-soup.
Anyway, we had the large serving which has 18 pcs of wontons and costs $9.95. This works to be about $1 per 100kg, give or take. :-)
The Assorted Meat with Tofu Hot Pot was pretty good. I felt the hot pot is somewhat small. $12.95.
Everyone love the Mandarin Pork Chops ($10.95). They had a very odd reddish color. We asked the waitress what makes the color like this and she said “it must be coloring”!! Beeep!! Wrong answer! LOL!
She should not have been so honest. Saying “I don’t know” sounds more acceptable than “it must be coloring”. Right?
The Szechuan Chicken is supposed to be hot but it was not. This $9.95 dish was alright but I was not too excited over it.
The above is from the Chop Suey section and described as “Lo-Hon-Chai” and in brackets “(Very Special Chinese Vegetarian Dish)”. $9.95 … and we had some left overs.
The kids’ favourites are undoubtedly the Yeung Chow Fried Rice. I just don’t quite understand why fried rice are so popular with kids.
And the Beef with Rice Noodle was the final dish. Whitney said that the skill of a chef boils down to the chef being able to “wok hei” this dish. Is there an equivalent English word for “wok hei”? Sadly, most of us said that this did not measure up … $8.25.
Overall, the food was quite OK and some of the dishes were delicious. The service was superb, friendly and attentive.
He he he … I feel sad for you, Whitney and Ken. You guys should come back and stay in Richmond where real Chinese food are! Anyway, we do not know how much the whole meal was because Ken sneakily went to pay for the dinner and refused to take our share. You see, this is a very Chinese thing … we often fight to have the honor to pay for the meal. So … thanks a lot for paying Whitney and Ken … it was so generous of you as we had always known you to be. We owe you one … next time you come back to the civilization called Richmond, I’ll bring you to a place where they don’t have Chop Sueys and Fortune Cookies. LOL! You’re such a pal!
Where Did Hai Jun Go?
I might as well just post about this little restaurant we like so much … even though it is now closed!
Every now and then Suanne and I get emails from chowtimes readers recommending a restaurant they like. We love recommendations like that because it takes the brainwork out of having to decide where to eat. Jacqueline recommended Hai Jun to which was located on the Asian mall called Pacific Plaza on McKim Way and Odlin.
We visited Hai Jun in late September but when we went back again two weeks ago, we were surprised to find that in the location is now a Japanese fusion restaurant. It was such a bummer because we love the food in Hai Jun so much. So, I am posting this again in case someone out there knows what happened to Hai Jun. I hope that they had just moved somewhere else.
It is a small eatery and have a very family feel to it. I said a family feel because they had their pre-teen daughter around the restaurant then. It was not awfully busy when we visited them but then we were there at 5PM — hardly a time many people would turn up for dinner.
Their special was the $1.99 Dan Dan Noodle. I bet there are nowhere else that offers a bowl of Dan Dan Noodle at this price. And the bowl is not small too … it was quite large. The Dan Dan Noodle is served in a peanuty sauce. It was not particularly spicy as I expected but the noodles were springy and fresh. For that price, you just get the noodles and a piece of veggie … that’s it … no meat.
Does anyone know why is this type of noodle called Dan Dan Noodle?
The dish above is called the Twice Cooked Beef Slices. It was full of flavor and the bean sauce “jup” (juice) makes it so great with rice. It was quite a large serving and more than enough for two people. It costs only $8.50.
Talking about rice, they were very generous and heap their rice way up high. Don’t you agree that they looked steamed to perfection? It was. And guess what … it was just 80 cents. They could have round it up to a dollar but they did not.
We also ordered the Napa Soup which came served in a boiling hotpot. Despite the size, it was full of stuff in it … not expensive ingredients but has luncheon meat and vermicelli under it. This one is $6.95 … can you believe it?
We all like this kind of soup. All of us ended up drowning our entire bowl of rice with the soup. This is the way I grew up eating at home although I think Chinese frown upon doing it this way. I remember when I first had dinner at Suanne’s house, her family has a tradition of each having a bowl of soup. They are meant to be like a side dish but I unknowingly pour the soup into my bowl of rice as I wanted to eat it that way. They were quite surprised I did that — so uncouth!
The Deep Fried Duck in Half costs $9.80. It was very “chooi” (crispy?) and even the bones are brittle. We find it a bit too dry and also salty. They served this with mantau which we did not understand at all.
We ended up having their Salty Sticky Rice. Despite the name, it was both salty and sweet. We like that it was warm to the touch when served. We can’t really make out everything that is inside — we see that they have pork floss, chinese doughnut (yew tiao) and pickled cabbage (jar choy).
The entire meal was only $42. Their serving is huge and cheap. Maybe the reason they are closed was because of the location.
We really are dying to know where the chef had gone to. Jacqueline … do you know?
New Hong Kong Restaurant in Richmond
I remember this restaurant very well. But then the last time we were here, it was so long ago. It must have been something like 5 years since we were here — most definitely before we started blogging. The reason I remembered this place was that it used to win Best Chinese Restaurant awards from either the Richmond News or Richmond Review.
So, last weekend, I wanted to spend the entire weekend working on chowtimes … you know tweaking the template, planning for the “free advertising” idea, and such. What that means is that I meant to spend the weekend right in front of the computer. So, we went to the one restaurant that is nearest our home.
The New Hong Kong Restaurant is located in the strip mall on Garden City and Blundell. Forget about the address. You’ll see why below.
I can’t remember this place being like this. The entire place looked old. The melamine bowls look faded. And newspapers were somewhat strewn in the front entrance. Not that I really mind but sometimes it does show how little they care about making a good showing. I mean, how much effort does it take to make sure that the papers are arranged neatly.
We ordered the 3-person dinner special which costs $32.95 on the menu. For that we get soup, rice and fortune cookies and a choice of three dishes from a selection of 30 items.
The soup sure had lots of veggies in it. Suanne said that it is called “sai yeong choy” in Cantonese. Also, there are some pieces of pork and honey dates too. But the colour looked way too dark, too green if you ask me. Maybe it is supposed to be like that. It was not bad. It was not great.
The Pan Fried Gai Lan with Garlic Sauce was pretty good. It was a big serving. Suanne and I liked the crunch of the stem. Arkensen refused to try but we eventually got him to take a small bite … he said it was bitter. It is not bitter bitter but we know what he meant.
The Chicken with Ginger and Green Onion Hot Pot was served very hot, like the way it should be. It was saucy and perfect with rice. Nanzaro repeatedly dug right into the bottom of the pot for the sauce for his rice. The chicken was boney … not much meat but otherwise quite OK.
What really broke this meal is the one above. It is the Steamed Cod Fillet and Tofu in Black Bean sauce. It was not a problem having told that we need to wait 15 minutes for this. But this one not only does not look right but it does taste quite offensive. The fish meat was greyish in colour, even in the inside. The fishy smell was “whew” although it was masked by the black bean. I really think that the fish is not only not fresh, it perhaps was bordering on being rotten. All of us took a bite and refused to touch it any further. Our boys love fish but if they don’t touch it, they don’t like it. Even the color of the sauce, look at it, greenish brown. I was somewhat angry about this to tell the truth. I don’t know how on earth this could have happened in the kitchen.
We did not wait for the water melon and decided to get back home pronto to continue to work on the blog. Gosh, this blog is like a full time job now!
Famous Hakka Restaurant in Richmond
We met up with a Christina and Ed for the first time over lunch a few weeks ago. We got to know them because, like us, they are also food bloggers from Richmond. We decided to meet up and picked the new Famous Hakka Restaurant.
It turned out that Christina and Ed are real foodies and very knowledgeable about Chinese cuisine. Christina, in particular, takes food seriously. She told us that meal times were formal events in her home when she was young. The family meal is very important and must have at least a meat, a veggie and a soup. I thought it was quite funny when she told us that she had never had Chinese takeout until she was 12 — and how it was an event for her. Christina and Ed had a knack for properly describing the food … Suanne and I only describe food we eat with words like yummy, good, delicous … LOL!!
You guys should check out Christina and Ed’s food blog. It is called “Doesn’t TaZte Like Chicken“. Remember the word “taste” is spelt as “TaZte” — you ask them why. OK, back to food …
The Famous Hakka Restaurant is located along No 3 Road in the strip mall near the intersection with Cambie. It had just opened for just a couple of months or so. Actually, this is our first trip to a Hakka cuisine restaurant and looked forward to learn more about it.
It still being new, the entire place is neat and clean. With wrap around floor to ceiling windows, it is bright making it perfect for taking pictures.
I really know very little about Hakka cuisine even though I grew up with lots of Hakka friends. My impression is that Hakka food is simple, has little garnishing and emphasises on the main ingredient. If it is chicken, all you see and taste is chicken … they normally don’t add stuff like cucumbers, leafy veggies and such. Is my perception correct?
We left the ordering to Christina and Ed. For tea, they ordered the Gook Far Char (Chrysanthemum Tea). Gosh … for all my life I did not know that Gook Far Char and Gook Bow Char are different. I thought they are the same. I learned something new today. I had been playing around the idea of doing some research on Chinese tea and making a series out of it. He he he … that will certainly make you all cry foul worse than my tedious travel series! But seriously, I think that would be great for the Google Search Engine and will bring even more traffic to this site.
So, since this is supposed to be a formal meal and according to Christina a formal meal MUST have soup, we ordered soup. We had the Pork Stomach with Salted Veggie and Peppercorn Soup. They have a large ($13.95) or regular ($8.95) servings. We ordered the large one. I like pig stomach … and love the chewy texture especially.
We also had the ($11.95) Hakka Style Stuffed Tofu Hotpot. This reminded me so much of the popular Yong Tau Foo in Malaysia. I think they are the same. The stuffing should be made of fish and pork but am not absolutely sure.
The Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables ($11.95) would turn a lot of people off because of the fatty pork meat. But we love it. It is simply delicious especially with steamed rice. This dish must be made only with pork belly … if anyone try to make it with lean meat, it is not Mui Choy Kow Yook anymore. The most important thing here is the texture. Suanne makes this at home … see her recipe here.
We ordered half of a Baked Chicken with Spiced Salt. The half chicken costs $11.95, while the whole chicken is $22.95. See how they serve the chicken? All chicken had heads right? And so, they must also serve the head. I did not notice if anyone ate the chicken head but am pretty sure Suanne would not. So … Christina and Ed, did you guys eat the head?
The chicken is a bit boney but otherwise … well … delicious. Christina and Ed would be able to describe this dish better.
The total bill came to just under $60. For four adults and two growing teenagers, it was not bad. We enjoyed the meal, learned quite a bit but most of all, we enjoyed the company.
