Christmas Dinner at Penang Bistro on Fraser St., Vancouver

My company had our Christmas dinner at Penang Bistro this year. We booked a table for 8 people more than a week prior to the event. It was a busy time of the year plus it was on a Friday evening. We only managed to get a small round table meant for 6 and seating was tight.

The bistro is decorated from wall to wall with paintings, old photos, food photos and batik.

Their cutlery has the retro cock painting which was very popular long time ago.

Prawn crackers is served as appetizer.

While waiting for our food to arrive, some of us has some white wine brought by our boss. I did not try but those who had it claimed it was a good white wine.

Here are the dishes that we had. The above is Sambal Clam as a starter.

Penang Shrimp Roll.

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Master Jia Braised Food at Crystal Mall Foodcourt, Burnaby

Crystal Mall foodcourt is our favourite place to have an early lunch after church service. We attended the early service which ends around 10:30am. We usually have coffee after the church service in the church before we head out to Crystal Mall.

We arrive at the food court just after 11:00 am. It is just perfect timing before the rush lunch hour. Getting a seat is a problem at all at this time.

We decided to try the Master Jia Braised Food instead of our favourite spicy noodle from Chao Shou Wang.

Ben got the Spicy Pork Feet to share. I think it is $12. There is generous portion of pork which has a hint of spiciness. The item beside the pork is tofu puff. (more…)

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Farewell Dinner at Trattoria Italian Kitchen, Burnaby

My boss bought a farewell dinner for one of our team member who resigned. It is sad to loose a colleague but we want to share a memorable farewell.

We had the farewell dinner at Trattoria Italian Kitchen, across Metrotown in Burnaby. It was recommended by one of our colleague who recently dined there with some of her friends visiting Vancouver.

Trattoria Italian Kitchen is known for it’s house pasta and pizza. In the photo above, you can see the pizza oven which is located near the entrance.

Complementary sourdough bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip.

Some of us ordered some virgin cocktails for our drink. The above was some green tea with mint ordered by colleague. (more…)

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Pinpin Restaurant on Fraser St., Vancouver

Happy Canada Day to all chowtimes reader. Due to work, it’s getting harder for me to blog. Thank you for all your support all this long thirteen plus years. I will try my best to keep this blog afloat.

My boss bought me and my colleague dinner after work on a week day. Thank you, boss.

We had dinner at Pinpin Restaurant on Fraser St. It serve Filipino Chinese cuisine. The place was busy at dinner time. Reservation is advised.

We had the Bihon Pancit. My boss asked for less salt and less oil as she is very health conscious. Despite less oil and salt, it was still pretty good. (more…)

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Shine Valley Lamb Soup on Garden City Road, Richmond

This is a meal to celebrate mother’s day plus birthday and something else for Nanzaro.

Ben suggested a couple of places for Nanzaro to choose and he picked Shine Valley Lamb Soup.

The decoration is very traditional with wooden tables and benches. The benches were a bit hard on the bum.

Chinese tea is served.

We had some grilled lamb as appetizer. Six skewers for CAD9. (more…)

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Cafe Xu Hue on Kingsway, Vancouver

Ben picked me up from work on one of the Friday in March. He wanted to check out the new T&T on Kingsway.

So, we had dinner at a nearby restaurant, Cafe Xu Hue.

It was past 6:30pm and the place was quiet as it is close to their closing time.

Ben ordered their famous Bun Bo Hue Dac Biet whch is spicy Vietnamese Vermicelli with sliced pork and beef, pork congealed blood in soup. (more…)

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Xian Noodle Restaurant on No. 3 Road, Richmond

My family went out for dinner on a weekend. It is getting rarer for the whole family to eat out together.

Xian Noodle Restaurant has a location on No. 3 Road now, on the row of shops north of Real Canadian Superstore.

The decor is simple and pleasant. We were there early and the restaurant was not busy.

We were handed a Chinese menu and we had to ask for an English one.

I guessed most patrons of the restaurant read Chinese.

Arkensen ordered a Lamb Noodle Soup. (more…)

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Dolar Shop Hot Pot in Lansdowne Mall, Richmond

Emily, Marian and me met up at Dolar Shop Hot Pot for dinner on a week day. Emily had just returned from China.

Emily made reservation and she was there early to ensure we had a table. Marian picked me up from work and when we arrived, there were people waiting in the waiting area.

Do not be misled by the name of this place, it sounds like dollar store but it is a high end hot pot restaurant.

There is a sauce bar with appetizers and various sauces for you to mix and match.

Here are some of the items on the sauce bar.

The appetizers include kimchi, seaweed and roasted peanuts. (more…)

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Healthy Soyfoods in Crystal Mall

Ben and I often go to Crystal Mall for lunch after church service as we love the ethnic food in the foodcourt.

We love this Healthy Soyfoods stall on the ground floor at the market place. There is a line most of the time.

The soy pudding came in a huge pot.

The above is the savoury version i.e. gravy with egg and mushroom. This tub is $2. We enjoy every drop of it. The soy pudding was silky smooth. (more…)

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Happy Day Cafe re-opened on Mcclelland Road, Richmond

One of our favourite Hong Kong style cafe reopened near the Richmond Walmart at Mcclelland Road. It used to be on Park Road and the whole strip mall was closed for redevelopment.

Happy Day Cafe grand opening was on 20th February, 2019. It was still very busy after almost a month of opening when we visited. We waited about 20 minutes before we got a table, that was before noon.

There is a grand opening promo for a free upgrade of your drink and this offer is until 31st March, 2019.

Nanzaro ordered a Fish Soup Noodle for $12.95. He opted for the curry laksa broth which was quite disappointing because it was very mild tasting.

There is a new option for the noodle which is “yee mien”. There were plenty of suey choy in his noodle soup and he kindly offered me to have them. (more…)

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