One of the things that Suanne and I like to do is to go for walks. Actually, I like to go for a run but Suanne, she refuses to run. She is a walker not a runner, she said.
She would always ask me to just run ahead but it’s no shiok (defined here) running alone. I am just too chatty to enjoy running alone. So I am forced to walk.
But when she walks, she is very atas (defined here) with me. She is always “si beh actsy” because she walks fast-fast. And I hate walking fast. Either I run or I stroll.
Our favourite walk is around the Steveston area. We would usually drive to the Britannia Heritage Shipyard, park there and then walk west ward to the Garry Point Park. And if we want to we would turn north and walk along the Richmond Dykes.
That route is just perfect. It is not monotonous. We even walk past Steveston Village just in case we want to grab a bite. Or even to buy fresh fish from the docks. Or just people watching. Actually more of tourist watching than people watching.
Oh as you can see from the pictures above, they were taken two months ago. Just goes to show how far back my blogging had been these days.
After the walk, we decided to go get some food for our lunchner (lunchner is just another name for dinch). The boys were not at home that weekend. It was one of those lazy slow weekends when we decided to take it easy and eat simply. No sit down dinner. Just buy something simple and eat at home in front of the TV.
We don’t go to the Richmond Centre a lot these days. During pre-chowtimes days, we hang out a lot here. We would have lunch quite a bit at the food court.
This time we are back because we wanted to blog about two things … pancit and siu yook from the Butcher’s Best restaurant. Butcher’s Best is located at the section of the Richmond Centre where Pearl Castle and McDonalds is.
Because of the location, Butcher’s Best is the prettiest looking Siu Yook shop around. They are perhaps the prettiest and cleanest looking Siu Yook shop in the whole of Lower Mainland.
Gosh … it had been a while since I used the word Lower Mainland. No one seems to use those words to describe Metro Vancouver these days.
I was actually quite surprised to see that they have quite a lot of customers. Well, HK BBQ Master and Parker Place would still be a lot busier but there are often customers here too.
The owner is Chinese and spoke Cantonese to us. His helper is sometimes a Filipino lady who is quite pushy, if you ask me.
If you notice … the Siu Yook on the right. They roast the Siu Yook by the slab.
The first thing we wanted to buy here is their pancit which is a Filipino Chinese fried noodles. Here is the odd thing. I had been here four times since someone commented on chowtimes (I can’t remember who now) that they have the best pancit in town. Out of the four times, I had only managed to get it ONCE. At other times, they either did not make it for that day or they had run out of it.
The pancit is made by the Filipino helper. It was indeed very good. When we went back this time with the camera, they did not make it. I asked the Filipino helper if she had run out again. Know how she answered me? “Tomorrow, tomorrow”. The way she said it I was not sure if she meant it or not.
Oh I did some quick research about pancit. It seems like there are 29 types of pancits described in Wikipedia. Look at this!
- Pancit Alanganin
- Pancit Alahoy
- Pancit Batchoy
- Pancit Bato is indigenuous to the Bicol Region; especially the town of Bato in Camarines Sur.
- Pancit Bihon Guisado
- Pancit Bihongundoy
- Pancit Cabagan
- Pancit Canton
- Pancit Canton Ilonggo
- Pancit Chami(Lucena City,Quezon)
- Pancit Estacion (Tanza, Cavite)
- Pancit Habhab (Lucban, Quezon)
- Pancit Kilawin (a variety pancit originated from Rosario, Cavite. In lieu of pancit noodles, shredded unripe papaya fruit is used cooked with vinegar and fish. Usually partnered with Dinuguan dish)
- Pancit Lomi
- Pancit Lucban
- Pancit Luglug
- Pancit Malabon
- Pancit Mami (round egg noodles)
- Pancit Miki (round egg noodles)
- Pancit Míki-Bíhon Guisado (round egg noodles + bihon)
- Pancit Olongapo (Pancit Miki with ‘Sarsa’ sauce. Miki cooked in tradition added with sarsa a thickened chicken and pork broth, darkened a little witn soy sauce of choice)
- Pancit Molo (a bit of a misnomer, it is Filipino wanton soup without noodles contrary to what the name might suggest)
- Pancit Moròng
- Pancit Palabok
- Pancit Pula (variation of Pancit Miki from Batangas City)
- Pancit Sotanghon
- Pansit Sabaw (Pansit Miki with soup)
- Pansit Tuguegarao or Batil Patong
- Pansit Sinanta (also from Tuguegarao, consists of flat egg noodles, bihon, clams and chicken, with broth colored with annatto)
So without the pancit, we just got the poor substitute above.
As a matter of fact, the fourth trip there was just today after work. I wanted to go get it so that I could have a picture of their pancit to show you. Nope, no luck today. Maybe “tomorrow, tomorrow”?
We had always asked for “Mm Oi Guat” (no bones) and “Sau Dit” (leaner meat) when we buy siu yook. When we asked for “Mm Oi Guat” and “Sau Dit”, the owner asked us why we did not want bones. He insisted that the best part of his Siu Yook is the part with bones while pointing with his cleaver to the section on the slab.
“OK” we said. For once, we will just let him cut the section he recommended. Actually, I think he saw me taking pictures of his shop while I was outside and perhaps that is why he was so helpful in recommending the choice section.
Look at this, baby!
This was a delightful piece of meat. I just love the layers of fat and lean meat. It was juicy and moist. The lowest layer is dry and chewy but the rest of it is just pure perfection.
The skin is slightly candied. Crispy but a bit chewier in parts.
Yeah, I think this is worth buying next time.
But between this one and HK BBQ Master, I still think HK BBQ Master has the edge, a slight edge. Parker Place’s Siu Yook is different as they roast the entire pig.
BUSINESS HOURMon-Tue: 9:30 AM- 7:00 PMWed-Fri: 9:30 AM- 9:00 PM
Sat: 9:30 AM- 7:00 PM
Sun and Holiday: 11:00 AM- 6:00 PM
I’ve only had their cha siu before, but it was quite nice too
Wow that some good-lookin’ roast pork !
And the store is ….. elegant-looking too. Do they have tables/chairs inside for you to eat on, or do you have to bring the take-out to the food court to eat ?
Hi LotusRapper: Butcher’s Best is a full restaurant and has a dining area. Ben
Do they coat the skin with some kind of sugar solution or fruit juices to get it to become candied? I have to admit, I’ve never had it that way before. Sounds like kind of a Hawaiian thing, although I’m not sure. Maybe it’s the Filipino influence?
Hi Jason: Maybe I should not have used the word “candied” at all. It is not candied as in taste but rather as in texture. Ben
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/candied
Hmmm I had a HORRIBLE experience there…I guess maybe I should try again…
Hi Elaine: Oh … please share with us your experience. Like I mentioned in the post, the owner appeared to give us a choice cut. He pointed to a cut near the middle of the Siu Yook slab and cut it for us. The slab was not big and so cutting it in the middle is not something I think they would normally do. Ben
http://www.omysweettooth.com/2010/09/butchers-best-meat-market-richmond.html
Well I didn’t order the Siu Yook…but the stuffs I ordered were really bad…to be fair maybe it’s because I went there when they first opened…hopefully it improved!
Oh … now I see what you mean, Elaine.
Ben,Too bad you missed the pancit,There are dozens of variations in the Philippines.Even in the condiments they vary,Some regions use Filipino limes Kalamansi,Some regions put vinegar in pancit,others use ketchup.
I tried their beef tendon. They are really good, just the right texture and lots of favour.
oh i know what you mean about the filipino lady too…..I went there last year and as I was looking at meats and the menu ( for lunch) trying to decide she kept telling me to buy this and that, than I told her I am looking for just a bite for lunch…so she mentioned to me about the lunch combos, so i said ok i will get the “half and half with rice on the side”,meaning half and half of any two barbeques ( i pointed to the picture of the combo on the wall). when the owner/butcher finished cutting i got 2 cartons full of meat….”entire half of a duck” and another carton half cha siu. I was confused and told the lady that I wanted teh lunch combo with 2 types of bbq NOT 2 different kinds of bbq. You can tell she was not even apologetic and she said well you can buy both of them and eat it for a week or find someone to share it with! I was shocked! I told her this is too much food for one person. I was a bit taken back on how she was so insistent and than the owner said that it’s ok if i don’t want the bbq duck, he will save it for the next customer…but i felt guilt too because people usually won’t buy bbq duck that is already chopped up so he might have to throw it away at the end of the day so I just told him it’s ok I will take it….but that really left a bad impression for me. And I don’t have any intention to go back. Too bad I didn’t try their siu yook, the cha siu was not bad but the bbq i noticed was soooooo dry, i never finished it.
Yes the BBQ duck is super dry! Don’t try it!
Hi Elaine: I wonder if Butcher’s Best roast his own meat at all or if he got it supplied from somewhere. I did not see any ovens in store. Maybe that is the reason why the meat are dry? Ben
They have their own oven inside and do bbq on site. I saw another ‘Seefu’ told some bbq ducks out. BBQ ducks are awesome now. They improved a lot over time.
Oh … slightly out of topic but I thought I clarify the use of the term “Filipino lady” in this post. I did not mean any disrespect to anyone of Filipino heritage, just in case any one would think so. You see, every time I was there (4 times) there were two ladies who worked there. One of them is Chinese and seems like the wife of the owner/butcher. The other was the “Filipino lady”. And I associate the Filipino dishes in this BBQ Shop to her. I think the pancit was made by her. That is why I asked her for the pancit and not the butcher/owner. Actually when I asked the butcher/owner if he has pancit, he gave me a “I don’t know what you mean” look. The “Filipino lady” was really pushy but I hope that no one is thinking I am associating all Filipino ladies as pushy at all. Just thought I pre-clarify this because sometimes words that I use may convey a different meaning and I really understand it could be interpreted out of context. Ben
I’ve tried this place before. They have cheap lunch boxes but that’s about it…their food was mediocre compare to other chinese bbq place!!
Hi Ben
Finally bought a pack of pancit to go the other week. Sorry to say this but I don’t find it any good. It was so salty that we just ate a mouthful and threw it all away. It was that salty.
Hi Lissa: I think I know what you mean. I was there a couple of months ago. That Filipino lady was no longer there. I asked the Chinese owner about her but he just shrugged his shoulders. Anyway, I had a look at the pancit and they were sad looking and dried up. So we decided not to buy any. Ben
I have been there a few times and I find their bbq meats pricier than anywhere in Richmond. Twice I’ve tried their “cold meats” where it went “off”. I opened the package of pig ears and it smelled like it went bad a long time ago. I told them and they said, it is impossible because we made it fresh. I told them to smell it, and when they did they looked like they were going to throw up, then back peddled and said they made it recently. Another time, it was the squid. Same thing. Be careful eating there.
Thanks Eagle Eyes for the warning. That kind of dishonesty is very regrettable. I’ve never bought anything from BB, only walked by and saw their higher-than-average prices. For my $, HK BBQ Master under the Superstore is still the best thing going in Richmond, followed by Parker Place (if you’re in the area and can withstand the line-up), Sun Cheong Loong (Westminster Hwy) and Master Hung (Garden City & Blundell) for take-out (or eat-in) Chinese BBQ 😀