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Philadelphia: Accommodation in the City Center
Philadelphia. Affectionately known as the City of Brotherly Love. It is the home of the Philly Cheese Steak … and of Rocky Balboa … and home of Benjamin Franklin. Believe it or not, this city was more important than New York during the days of the independence of the United States. Most important of all, Philadelphia is the home of the Independence Hall … the place where the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution was signed. In many ways, Philadelphia is the birth place of the United States of America.
We got into Philadelphia quite late. The sun was almost setting and we were quite lost. There were a lot of one way streets and the GPS did not work too well. The GPS we brought along were giving us wildly wrong locations because the city center were so full of tall buildings that the signals got mixed up.
It was quite stressful really because of the way the lanes gets changed. Once I inadvertently cut a huge SUV off and the driver pulled by my side challenging me to pull aside for a fight! Geez … I am just lost buddy. Good thing I did not maintain eye contact because there were four burly black guys … he he he … was so afraid they would pull a gun out or something!
We managed to get a hotel right in downtown — just a couple of blocks away from the City Hall. The hotel is the Double Tree … which is more than we expected for less than $100 a night. Checking in was a breeze.
For the first time ever, we got free cookies and very good ones at that too. And it felt warm too. Man, that was a good way to make their guest feel at home.
The hotel room was quite spacious and have a angled windows to the main street below. We were quite pleased with the view from the room. We did not expect that because we thought that since we got the room through Hotwire, we would be given the room facing the back alley or something. These kind of rooms are reserved for rack rate paying guests.
The view overlooks Broad St which has quite a number of theatres too. We did not catch any show during our stay.
We had a double queen and used the one furthest away from the frosty air cond. Temperature control were terrible and virtually switches from very cold to very hot.
There is a complimentary coffee making machine which makes decent coffee.
The washroom was spotless and clean. More importantly, it smell fresh. I hate musty smelling washrooms.
The toiletries were better than most others too. Suanne swiped them all to use at home. OK, we admit, we are cheap! But we leave tips for the chambermaids … so the chambermaids were quite OK I guess.
Oh … favourite topic of chowtime readers … tips. How much do you tip … or do you even tip? For us, we normally leave a dollar or two every day. We used to leave the tip on the table but we found that in some hotels, they do not touch it. So, we normally write on the notepad … “For Housekeeping”. In this particular hotel, they actually handwrote a reply that says “Thanks for the tips” and signed with a little flower. Ah … the housekeepers in Double Tree has class. And the room were spotless clean every night.
This is strange here. There are no wifi in the rooms. To get on the internet, they use cable but it is, as expected, rather expensive. There is a saving grace though …
They have FREE wifi at the lobby. There are lots of sofa in the lobby area and at night there are lots of people with their notebooks. Free wifi is good.
Parking was expensive though. It was something like $25 per day or so … and the parking lot doesn’t look quite safe too.
We dropped our bags, freshen up and then hit the streets. I was quite surprised how safe it felt in the downtown core. There are many touristy looking couples all dressed up walking along the streets. After all it is where the theatres are and quite a few nice looking restaurants too.
We knew we would like Philadelphia. Well, this is the start of the “Philadelphia” series but I promise it will not be long and tedious like Washington DC. I just have my reasons to press on with this travel series. :-)
All forward!
Popularity: 45% [?]
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!
Popularity: 64% [?]
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.
Popularity: 70% [?]
Rose Garden Seafood Restaurant on Kingsway, Vancouver
Even though we live in Richmond for many years our weekends revolves around the Metrotown area. We used to attend the church near Metrotown. Also, we forced our boys to attend Chinese language classes during Saturdays. So, for the longest time, we had our weekend lunch outings near the area. Those were the days before chowtimes.
One of the places we frequented was the Rose Garden. We absolutely loved their delicious comfort food, huge servings and especially their low prices. Our boys were very young that we just ordered two dishes for less than $15 and that was enough to feed the whole family. Those were the days.
It must have been 4-5 years since we last stepped into this place. It looked every bit the same — even the waitress was still the same but a bit more plum. They used to know us quite well because we almost always ordered the same stuff. But this time, we were like strangers to them. The place still looked the same.
This time we noticed that the plates and cups were quite faded. It shows their age. I am not sure how long they had been in business but I guess they had been quite a fixture on this part of Kingsway.
I guess many of you know that restaurants come and go. There is a saying that of all newly opened restaurants, 80% of them will close within a year. And within the second year, another 80% of those who survived the first year will fold. It is those that manage to survive the second year who will thrive for one reason or another. The Rose Garden is one of those who I know will thrive.
They have a varied menu. If you want westernised food like chow mein, they have it. If you want something more authentic Chinese, they have it too.
We choose from their Family Combo. Their “3-item” option costs $36 which includes soup, steamed rice and dessert. If you more people, they provide free dishes too. We wanted so much to order the 4 items but with the additional 1 free dish, it would have been way too much for the four of us. Someday, I’ll round up a few foodies and tackle their 8 items.
The free soup was respectable — tasty and have enough meat and most of all, does not have much hint of MSG. We like clear soup like this.
The eggplant was quite fresh and moist with juice. It delivers an enormous amount of flavor despite the simplicity. This is something we like with rice or just by itself.
The seafood and tofu hotpot was filled to the brim. Imagine this is meant for one person but let me tell you there are more than enough for two adults. They have big fresh tasting prawns. I can have this everyday. Does anyone know how to make this? Is it just a simple matter of dumping all the ingredients into a hotpot and cook away?
The Chicken was awesome. The skin were crispy and the lean white meat had a right touch of dryness. You don’t want this too oily as the big deal is to have the white meat soak up a little the sweet soya sauce. Hmm … nice.
The free dessert is red bean soup.
Rose Garden is located on across from Safeway on Kingsway. I don’t have the address but it is on the Vancouver side just a little past west of Boundary. We like Rose Garden and I think you will like it too.
Popularity: 68% [?]
Imperial Court Beijing and Szechuan Cuisine in Richmond
We went to the Imperial Court Restaurant for breakfast more than two months ago. Although we know of Imperial Court, we had never been inside simply because it looked expensive from the outside. To us, it is expensive when they have “captains” (chief waiters) in black vests, have tablecloth and expensive chairs.
It sure does look like an above average Chinese restaurant, don’t you think? Well, it does to us. Because of our limited use of the Chinese language, we are somewhat intimidated and uneasy in these kind of places.
As usual, the boys asked for water (they don’t like Chinese tea). Even then the water came in a nice looking glass. We like little touches like this.
We went to the Imperial Court only because of the ad they put up in the Richmond area papers. They had special discounts then for dim sum between 8AM to 11AM. I don’t think they have the discounts now. So don’t just go there now and say that chowtimes said they are suppose to give 25% discounts for dim sum, OK?
Back then they have a Peking Duck special for just $10.80. Anyone have any idea how much would a whole duck normally cost? The last time we had Peking Duck was … oh … 12 years ago in HK!!
The Imperial Court is located in the strip mall right across from Richmond Center on No 3 Road. Their address is #6-6360 on No 3.
This is not a push cart dim sum place. You place your order on the order form. We prefer push cart types as we can see what it is we are ordering. It is hard for us trying to figure out the English descriptions. Most of the dim sums are below $3 which is inexpensive for a place like this. Their most expensive ones are those with shrimps which even that is below $5.
For this post, I would like to get the reactions from the non-Chinese readers of chowtimes. You see, I had often brought my non-Chinese friends to dim sum but more often than not, I get a lot of reactions to the food — mostly of uncertainty over the content of it. Here goes … my impressions of non-Chinese’s impression of Dim Sum.
Siew Mai ($2.96), I find is the one that is a favourite among non-Chinese. Anything that has lots of meat (especially beef and pork) is a favourite to non-Chinese. But I sometimes got to explain what the orangey stuff is on the top!
Deep Fried Roll ($2.96) is another favourite with non-Chinese. Maybe it is because of the easy to remember name and that it is quite westernised by now. We would not have ordered this if not for Arkensen wanted this.
Steamed Shrimp Dumpling ($2.96) is also a common dim sum choice that I notice non-Chinese gobble down very fast! Normally, the Chinese would just order one serving of this but when I am with my non-Chinese friends, we ended up ordering more.
The looks of the thing above puts off a lot of my non-Chinese friends. I guess they must be thinking … now … why would anyone wrap their food with a rotten piece of leaf?!? Many of these friends, does not touch it … not even with their chopsticks.
The lotus leaf warp aside, they are great. In it is sticky rice ($4.50) … if they served it unwrapped, it looks a lot more appetizing. I also think that to non-Chinese, aside from sushi, rice are not supposed to be sticky … i.e. sticky is yucky.
But frankly, to the Chinese, it is low class sticky rice if it is not wrapped in lotus leaf. The lotus leaf actually imparts some flavour to the rice.
I get mixed reaction from Steam Rice Roll. The one above is with Shrimp ($4.50) which is acceptable to most non-Chinese because, well, they can see the shrimp in it. But I don’t think it is a favourite because it is tasteless besides the shrimp. But that is not the point … you MUST have this with the soya sauce.
I once was asked … then why they not pour the soya sauce in it before it is served. My answer? “Just because …”
The one above is also Steam Rice Roll but with Pork Liver ($2.96). It looks like beef at a glance. If I tell my friends it is beef, they will eat it but would probably have thought that the texture was kind of … different. But when I let them know it is pork liver … eeww.
The Baked B.B.Q Pork Bun ($2.96) from the Imperial Court is quite unique. They are extremely glossy and also really beautiful if you ask me. They apply a thick layer of syrup on the bun and make it very very sticky. This one you must try in Imperial Court. I always describe this as the Chinese version of burgers.
The Spicy Shrimp Dumpling ($4.50) is not the normal dim sum dish, I believe. I think they have this because of their Szechuan background. Dim Sum are from south China (HK mostly) and are somewhat bland in taste. So, having such strong spicy dim sum is a good idea. I don’t think many non-Chinese would appreciate this because of the spiciness.
The Beef Ribs with Garlic ($2.96) was quite OK. This would have been great with steam rice.
The Imperial Court have other choices too other than Dim Sum but they only serve this in late mornings. Looking at the prices, they are quite OK … just a tad more higher than other Chinese restaurants. But then this is not like any other Chinese restaurant.
They have a “Patrons” charge of $3.20 which I think is for the Chinese tea. Total bill with tips came to $40. No bad … not bad at all.
It was one of the better dim sums we had.
Popularity: 77% [?]
Sushi Platter from Matsuyama in Richmond
I don’t know what to say. This summer had just gone past so fast. This morning I was reminded that summer is coming to an end and this weekend is as good as it gets for the rest of it. So, for a change we decided to just go out to the park for lunch.
The boys had been hankering me to get the Matsuyama Party Platter which we did not manage to do all these while because they wanted an hour advance notice to prepare them. We called the moment they are opened (at 11AM) and placed our order. Guess what, they told me over the phone that they only needed 15-20 minutes. I guess it’s because it’s early enough that they did not need the 1 hour advance notice.
We had blogged about Matsuyama before here. This place had turned out to be our favourite sushi place in Richmond. By the time we got there as the appointed time to pick it up, it was all ready.
BTW, a question … you don’t leave a tip do you when you go pick up your food from the restaurant on your own, do you? And another question … if they deliver to your house, how much do you tip the deliverer? A percentage of the tab or a fixed amount.
They came packed nicely in a round plastic platter. For a moment, I thought they might even give it to us in a few separate Styrofoam containers like some sushi places do. I like this better because it looks nicer. The soya sauce was included in separate containers rather than sachets.
We brought it to the South Arm Park. On a nice day like this, this place is always packed with picnickers. We love this park more than anyone else in Richmond because it is well maintained, large and most important it is very shaded.
The boys were quite impatient to dig in but they know the protocol in the family … pictures first before they can touch the food. Sigh … such is the life of a food blogger. :-)
This is a 54 piece platter. Although it works out to a lot of pieces shared between just the four of us, I know the boys will finish it all off. They will eat anything except for (1) anything that has cucumber in it, and (2) it is not contaminated by the wasabi. Anything that is 1/2 inch from the wasabi is pretty much left to Suanne and I to eat.
Suanne and I were not fans of wasabi ourselves. We always leave it untouched. However, we like the ginger, especially Suanne.
This above must be what they call the House Roll. It is quite big and filled with stuff like salmon, tuna, avacado, imitation crab meat, eggs, cucumber and salmon roe. Or at least I think that’s what it contains.
The California Roll is the favourite of the boys. It almost always contains only imitation crab meat, avacado and sometimes cucumber. This is not Japanese having been invented in Los Angeles where avocado is first used as an ingredient.
On the home front, we have the BC Roll. I don’t know the history behind the BC Roll but I reckon it must have been invented here in Vancouver. The unique ingredient here is the grilled salmon skin which gives it an oily taste. Could it have been invented by Vancouver’s Tojo?
The surf clam is quite unique in that we don’t see a lot of this in average sushi outlet.
Popularity: 80% [?]
