Lorna invited me for a day trip organized by the SUCCESS Women’s Club to Lonsdale Quay tour follow by lunch in Chinatown.

We dined at Garden Villa Seafood Restaurant on Pender Street.

Here’s the menu for the lunch. It’s a nine course lunch; the last item which was added at the last minute was missing from the menu.

Chinese tea is always served in Chinese restaurant.

The first course was Snake Soup. We had two servings of the it. Snake Soup is a limited time dish offer and I guessed it’s seasonal. Snake Soup is usually served in colder weather as it is believed that the soup warms our body.

Some crispy fried dough is served with the Snake Soup.

The Snake Soup has shiitake mushrooms. bamboo shoots, some shredded meat; I believed not all is snake. It is slightly spicy by itself. The first serving was not hot enough and it did not taste that good. However the second serving was hot enough. I like my soup hot.

The second dish is Deep Fried Prawn Dumpling. These were very good. The prawns were fresh and springy and there were chives in it too. Since each one got two of it, some took the leftover home as not all at the table ate both pieces.

The third dish was a Seafood Stir Fry dish which include prawns, fish, carrots, celery and sweet peas. Lorna enjoyed the celery.

The next dish was Chinese Style Crispy Fried Chicken.

The skin was crispy and the meat was juicy. The chicken was a regular fryer as it was very meaty.

The fifth dish was a Lamb Hotpot. It came with bean curd sticks and some lettuce at the bottom of the pot. This Lamb Hotpot is made with fermented bean curd sauce. Some may use vegetarian oyster sauce for this.

The lamb was tender and it is best eaten with more fermented bean curd dipping sauce (the yellowish sauce).

The above Vegetarian Dish had lots of ingredients in it. To name some of them; lotus root; gluten; Chinese cabbage, lily flower bud, wood ear, button mushroom, green beans, etc. Some of the people at the table said a true vegetarian dish should have 18 ingredients.

A Chinese meal always ends with a carbo dish. For this meal, we had Sticky Rice with Chinese meat and sausage.

The meal ended with a Sesame Dessert Soup. Looks like this restaurant is famous for this dessert soup as some participants ordered extras to bring home.

The last item was Deep Fried Sesame Balls. These are filled with sesame paste.

Lorna, thank you for the day trip. I had a great time window shopping at Lonsdale Quay and Chinatown.