All Entries in the "Burnaby" Category
Top Gun Hot Pot in Crystal Mall, Burnaby
I had visitors again at work.
This time it was Martin who is a Project Manager from our office in Toronto. He is here to explore the feasibility of joining our project team which is short of PMs. Although our project teams are scattered around in Atlanta, London, Singapore, New Delhi and Vancouver, we had never had a PM sitting remote from all team members. Frankly, I don’t know how one could manage a project that way despite all the communications technology and all. I had always maintained that no video or web conference facilities in the world will replace face to face meetings.
Anyway, it was two solid days of meetings and planning that the three PMs had. At least we managed to arrive at agreements in many key issues. I must say that the meetings were somewhat contentious because there are a lot of interests that each of us PMs need to protect. At the end of the grueling meetings, we decided to put work behind and go out for dinner. I was determined NOT to talk anymore about work.
I wanted to bring Martin and Gage to an Asian restaurant. Both of them are as white and despite being Canadians do not have a lot of experience eating Asian. While I played safe by bringing my boss to a French restaurant, with these colleagues I could be more adventurous and get away with it. LOL!
I brought the PMs to the Top Gun Hot Pot which is located at the top floor of Crystal Mall. It was perfect because just a short walk from the office.
One thing that I had not quite figured out is why non-Asians generally do not enjoy Asian food. I know I am generalizing here but just humor me for a moment. I do find that non-Asians are suspicious about Chinese and Korean food. However, I find that they are more receptive to Thai and Japanese food. Why is it so?
With Gage and Martin, they are the type of people who will not normally walk into a Chinese restaurant, let alone going to a Hot Pot place. So I asked them about it but did not quite get the answer I understand. They did say that it is the texture of some Asian food that puts them off.
It is their first time going to a Hot Pot restaurant so they were really intrigued with things that I had always taken for granted. For instance, they were quite amazed with the heating surface for the hot pot which could bring the hot pot to boil in seconds.
The ordering was all left to me. To be kind to them, I ordered all the “safe” food (see selection above). I stayed away from ordering things like large intestines, kidneys, liver, tendon, pig’s blood and tripe.
Oh yeah, they did ask me what I ordered but I told them to … More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Au Wing Kee Restaurant on Kingsway and Royal Oak, Burnaby
Eons ago, before we started blogging, we used to go for lunch at Au Wing Kee several times a month. Back then our network of friends were mainly in and around Burnaby. It had been a while since we visited this place.
I look at Au Wing Kee as one of the old timer Chinese restaurants. Today, we hear of new restaurants sprouting up every week that often we forgot about the old favourites like Au Wing Kee. As far as Chinese and Asian restaurants goes, gone are the days of the wave of new Cantonese restaurants. What we see a lot of these days are restaurants the likes of Izakayas, Shanghainese, Korean, and Thai. We are spoilt for choices.
For so many years, Au Wing Kee had not only survived but thrived on a quiet stretch of Kingways that is not known for many good restaurant.
The place is exactly the same I remember it. It is not overly clean … but not dirty though, mind you. The place shows the age with some modest renos around lightings.
Service is also exactly the same I remember it. It is very typical old school Chinese style where the waitresses are serious, do not greet you, do not make eye contact, and no smiles. They are there only to clean your tables, take your orders, deliver your food … they are not there to socialize with you. I won’t say they are grumpy. If you want anything, you gotta get their attention and ask.
Despite these shortcomings, Au Wing Kee is a really popular restaurant. After all these years, they still pull in a big crowd.
We decided on getting a few dishes to share between the four of us in the family, instead of individual dishes which the boys wanted. The boys have never said why but they always seem to prefer having individual servings rather than the communal shared dishes that Suanne and I prefer. Anyway, dad is paying and he gets to make the call.
We like hot pot soup. So, we ordered the Chinese Herb and Special Chicken Hot Pot. I know, the name sounded funny and … More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Nando’s Chicken on Marine Way, Burnaby
Nando’s wrote to us out of the blue a couple of weeks ago letting us know that Rochelle Schätzl, the world’s foremost authority on Peri-Peri Chili, will be in Vancouver asking if we would be interested in meeting her. Rochelle is an award-winning author and chef from South Africa, the home of the Peri-Peri Chili. She had written a book about it called “Peri-Peri: The Contrasts and Contradictions of the African Bird’s Eye Chili”.
We said yes, because we knew it will be an opportunity to learn more about the Peri-Peri Chili and its exotic flavours … and boy, was that some learnings we had! Never in my imagination could someone share non-stop about everything Peri-Peri for two straight hours. LOL! We had a great time and this is what we learned.
After a few email exchanges, Mark suggested that we meet at the new Nando’s Restaurant in South Burnaby, in the new big boxes shopping mall by Marine Way. We were greeted by Nick, the owner of this outlet, and Mark and Rochelle. Believe it or not, Suanne and I had never been to Nando’s before because we thought that it was just a spicier version of fried chicken.
We found out how different Nando’s is from KFC and Church’s and that it is not quite the fast food the way we know it. Well, it is like a cross between fast food and slow food is how I would describe it. You place your orders at the fastfood style counter and given a wooden block with a number where there will bring the food to your table when it is ready.
This particular store was busy during lunchtime when we were there during a weekday.
Nando’s originated from South Africa in 1987 and is a restaurant with a Portuguese theme. Nando’s operates in 35 countries today with their biggest market in South African and Britain. There were a lot of other facinating stories about Nando’s history and beginings but am not going to bore you with those.
Anyway, this restaurant we visited carries the South African theme with African decor and artifacts. The restaurant was pleasant, clean and tastefully designed.
Rochelle gave a copy of her beautiful book on Peri-Peri. It took her two years of research to write it. It was a privilege to be given the inside scoop of this brilliant pepper and how it is impacting the global culinary landscape. Specialty Food Magazine recently listed the Peri-Peri Chili as one of the Top 10 Flavour Trends of 2009.
From our time with her, we can clearly see that Rochelle is proud of South Africa, it’s food, people and culture. She told us how the tiny Peri-Peri Chili represents very much a way of life of the South African adding that all restaurants in South Africa will have some form of Peri-Peri.
Peri-Peri is the African version of the Bird’s Eye Chili. It is very much like the South East Asian version of Chili Padi or Thai Pepper. This chili packs a punch despite its size. Peri-Peri is used in a dry form and not fresh. Do you know why?
Let’s see a comparison of Scoville Scale (a measurement of hotness) of Peri-Peri Chili against other common peppers:
- Law enforcement grade pepper spray: 5,000,000 Scoville Rating
- Naga Jolikia (Hottest chili in the world): 1,000,000
- Habanero: 100,000 to 300,000
- Peri-Peri: 50,000 to 175,000
- Thai Pepper: 50,000 to 100,000
- Cayenne Pepper: 30,000 to 50,000
- Tabasco Pepper: 30,000 to 50,000
- Chipotle Pepper: 10,000 to 40,000
- Jalapeno Pepper: 3,000 to 8,000
- Bell Pepper: Zero!
There had been attempts to cultivate Peri-Peri Chilies outside of a small region in southern African but all attempts had failed. Rochelle said that the Peri Peri is a chili with a bad attitude … the harsher conditions and weather, the meaner the chili gets. There had not been much success in cultivating the Peri-Peri commercially.
Suanne and I sampled a lot of food at Nando’s but there is one I love a lot … the Chicken Livers ($7). Oh major yum. I guess it is not for everyone but if can get over the texture and the thought of it, chicken liver is really delicious.
We ignored the bread that came with the Chicken Livers. We can’t help but notice the tempting looking Portuguese Garlic Bread ($2) … More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Meok Ja Gol (MJG) Korean Barbeque Restaurant on Kingsway and Nelson, Burnaby
I bet you will find Meok Ja Gol (MJG) interesting enough to want to check it out — we did.
Even though I work one short block away from MJG, I had never paid any attention to it.
This is because MJG is hidden in a recess from Kingway in Burnaby. The best way to find it is to know that it is located east of Nelson on Kingsway. But then the address is not really Kingsway … kind of weird I know. If you are driving and want to get to MJG, the entrance is on the short road almost parallel to Kingsway called Newton St. Forget what I just said … just drive to the back lane on Kingsway!
I feel for MJG. They are a very unique and interesting restaurant and yet the location sucks. What a shame.
MJG is so authentic Korean that they can hardly speak English at all. They were so authentic that they even have loads of Korean magazines and newspapers neatly stacked for the customer’s use. Even the TV was playing Korean serial drama. They asked if we wanted to switch to another channel but we told them we’re fine … Suanne loves Korean love drama with dashing young handsome Korean actors. LOL!
Suanne and I went before 5PM … the place was empty at that time. Actually, MJG had only a couple of tables taken the whole time we were there. We like the cleanliness of MJG and also the rustic villagey feel to it.
They brought is some hot tea in a plastic container just as we got settled down. I assume that Korean restaurants commonly serves tea this way.
They have a really big menu … 16 pages of glossy pages with lots of pictures. Even their take out menu is printed in high gloss and comes in a 16 page booklet. You can’t beat that, can you? If there is an award for the best take out menu, MJG will win hands down.
Without even bothering with the rest of the menu, Suanne and I already know what we wanted. It is on page #1 … the one thing that MJG is known for … the MJG Dinner BBQ Combo. Read on … this is NOT any kind of Korean BBQ you normally see around. This one is high tech. LOL!
Ordering is simple:
- For 2-3 people: $49.95 with 12 (best) items
- For 4-5 people: $99.95 with 13 (better) items
- For 6-7 people: $149.95 with 17 (bestest) items.
With this combo, you don’t need to order anything else. There are more than enough food for everyone — trust me!
We were warned that it will take at least 30 minutes to prepare. Sure, we could wait said … we had all the time in the world that afternoon. I was actually quite pleased with the wait because it meant that good food cannot be rushed.
Since everything is Korean, it was hard to entertain ourselves during the long wait. If you go, bring along a book or something. Let’s talk a bit about ho hum matters. OK … for one, they have one of those wireless service buttons on each table. I was not sure initially what it is because there is no icon or something to indicate what it is. I guess this also acts as a panic button of sorts in case the BBQ flares up.
I can’t get used to Korean chopsticks. They are so flat and narrow that it’s hard to get a grip. Japanese and Chinese chopsticks are easier to handle. Also, you will notice that Korean spoons have very long handles. I think there is a practical reason for it but am not sure why … anyone knows?
The above is their high tech BBQ computerized device (their brochure said so!). It was pretty interesting. It is a complete eating system designed from the ground up not just for table top charcoal BBQ but also for soup, etc! Read on … you will know what I mean.
This is what the wait was about … the charcoal. They need 30 minutes to heat it up. It was a pretty glow-y sight … and very hot. I can feel the heat radiating from where we were sitting.
They do everything for you. When they left the charcoal by the side of the table I thought I am supposed to handle this myself! They opened up the grill and put in the two baskets of charcoal.
Underneath the charcoal is a tray of water. I guess the water serves a dual purpose of moderating the heat and also to prevent the entire BBQ’ing cavity from getting too dry.
The delicious looking meat is put on skewers specially to rotate at a constant speed in the BBQ machine. Our combo included beef ribs, beef ribeye, chicken and prawns. Mind you, I am not even half way there on this blog entry!
Burgers Etc on Hastings, Burnaby
At work, I report to someone whose base is in Atlanta. I don’t see my boss very often. Maybe once every quarter. Last month, he told me he’s coming over to Vancouver and did not state his agenda for the visit. Some of us were uneasy because I know the company had clamped down on traveling during these uncertain times. Who knows, right? For all we care, he could be here to serve Termination Notices! I mean serving of Termination Notices had to be done by the boss and in person too.
Nothing of that sort happened. LOL!
Do you guys ever get worried about losing your job?
I used to read a lot in the papers of some company laying off 10 people here, 1200 there, and 50 in another place. They were just numbers … and it did not hit home until I began to hear about substantial layoffs in Vancouver companies … EA, McKesson, Best Buy and others. All of the sudden, I began to know names of people who had been laid off … they are no longer numbers, they are real people … and people I know. *shudder*
Enough of these depressing thoughts … back to food.
So, the thing is I brought Frank (my boss) and Stevie who are both from Atlanta out for dinner. As much as I would love to bring them to the best that Vancouver could offer in terms of ethnic food, I know the Americans would not really enjoy it. I played safe and brought them to a burger place.
I brought them to Burgers Etc. I could have brought them to a pricier place but as you know, expenses are harder to claim these days and trying to pass a $50 per head dinner is not going to fly. But then Burgers Etc is not exactly really cheap.
Burgers Etc is well known as the “Best Burger in Metro Vancouver” by viewers of CTV News. Burgers Etc is not a big place with just about 10′ish tables or so. I guess this is a place where people come pick up a burger, eat and go. More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Lao Shan Dong Homemade Noodle House in Burnaby
As strange as it may seem but Lao Shan Dong is one of my fav eating spots but had never ever gotten to blogging about it. This is despite also the fact that it is located within a 3 minutes walk from my office.
Lao Shan Dong is located at the busy intersection of Kingsway and Nelson in Burnaby. The location is less than desired, I reckon. You see, the restaurant is snucked into a recessed area of a principally an office building.
The looks of this place is just like any ordinary Taiwanese noodle house. It is small with tables all packed that makes it sometimes impossible to navigate through. But despite that Lao Shan Dong is steeped in history. Apparently this Lao Shan Dong is a branch of the legendary Taipei restaurant which dates all the way back 60 years. The original Lao Shan Dong was opened in 1949.
I finally brought the whole family to eat here. It is a long drive from Richmond which we do not normally do anymore. OK, I work around here but driving that distance to work and driving to eat is a different thing altogether.
This restaurant is always busy but I had never had to wait for long even at the busiest of times. They turn the tables very fast. Frankly, this place seems very much like a fast food joint. People come in, order, eat and go.
For starters, we had the House Special Cold Meat Combination. They have it in two servings … large for $8.95 and small for $6.95. We had the large one. It consists mainly of Pig Ear and Beef (?) slices. It was good except that we find the sauce a little too thick and salty. If they had diluted it a bit, it would be just perfect. More on following page. Click here to continue reading
Saffron Indian Cuisine on Kingsway, Burnaby
I brought the project team out for a Christmas lunch just before Christmas. The choice of the lunch places is somewhat limited as I have now a few contractors from India who wanted vegetarian dish. Moreover, I was told that they had been going to the Curry Express stall at the Metrotown Food Court for their daily fix of curry. So, I know they will then enjoy Saffron.
Saffron is located on 4300 Kingsway which is just walking distance away from the office. With all the snow still falling, no one was in the mood of driving anyway. Despite the fancy name (Saffron Indian Cuisine), it is just a buffet place.
The place is almost always crowded at lunch time. When I called for a reservation, I was told that they will take the reservation if it is for 11:45 AM. If we do not show up at noon, they’ll give up the table … and … no, they don’t take reservation after noon. More on following page. Click here to continue reading
