Crystal Mall’s Food Court

Govern a family as you would cook a small fish — very gently.
~ Chinese Proverb

We went to the Food Court in Crystal Mall for lunch on Saturday because the boys wanted Char Koay Teow. The Crystall Mall is a Chinese Mall located along Kingsway with Willingdon in Burnaby. It was always crowded when we go there during the weekend — it was just as crowded today. In Canadian standards, the parking was hard to get.

Arkensen does not normally like spicy food but he says that he only makes an exception for char koay teow. The char koay teow was good — we find that it is one of the best we could find in Vancouver. We ALWAYS order char koay teow when we eat at this food court. The char koay teow from the Curry King stall costs $5.50.

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Nanzaro wanted Shashimi and opted for the tuna shashimi from the Ebi King stall. The dish consists of 5 pieces of average slices and costs $4.95. It did not look particularly fresh but Marc did gobble them all down in quick time. I guess he must have liked them.

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Lee’s Fried Chicken on Kingsway

— Lee’s chicken had been replaced with a Korean/Japanese eatery

A chicken with beautiful plumage does not sit in a corner.
~ African Proverb

Our boys love fried chicken. They normally wants this for lunch after their Chinese classes on Saturdays. Although, the most common fried chicken places in Vancouver is KFC and Church’s Chicken, we don’t really fancy them.

Instead, we like this rather unknown place called Lee’s Fried Chicken. We tried it once out of curiosity some years back and has since been going there quite regularly. It is located along Kingsway between Royal Oak and Nelson. BTW, although this place serves primarily fried chicken, they also serve Korean and Japanese food like sushi, noodles, etc during weekdays.

The husband-wife owners of this outlet are Koreans. Since we were such regulars over the years, we get very good service from the owners — they give us real plates and cutlery instead of styrofoam and plastic ones!

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The boys love the fries the most. It’s always served hot and is crispy on the outside and soft on the insides — made perfectly. It also has the right touch of salt. Arkensen always says that it has good texture and great taste. The serving is large enough for the four of us.

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Horizons on Burnaby Mountain

The horizon will not disappear as you run towards it.
~ Bantu Proverb

Last night Suanne and I had a timeout from the boys and we went to a fine dining restaurant called Horizons on Burnaby Mountain. The restaurant is nestled in the beautiful Burnaby Mountain Park and overlooks the bright city lights of Vancouver below.

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We had a reservation for 5pm. At this time of the year, it’s just in time to see the sunset and the bright and yellow city lights turn on. While waiting for the restaurant to open we had a quick walk around the park in the crisp chilly weather … the city looks so beautiful from here. This place is also referred to as The Playground of the Gods because of the many Japanese wooden sculptures on the park.

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We were seated by the windows and had a panoramic and spectacular view of the city and the Burrard Inlet. Already we knew this would be an enjoyable night. We see people starting to come in for dinner — many dressed in their finest. Suanne too was stunning — with her new leather jacket and all!

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The menu is largely inspire by West Coast cuisine with grilled steaks and seafood over open flame. The setting is elegant with a warm ambiance. It’s really a great and romantic place. We opted for a 3-course selection. I know it’s supposed to be an elegant setting but I brought along my camera … he he he, I must have attracted a lot of attention when my flash fired throughout the night.  (more…)

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S&W Pepper House in Crystal Mall

Life is an onion that you peel crying.
~ French Proverb

Suanne came by my office today during lunch time while on an errand. We decided to go out to lunch together nearby my office in Burnaby and landed up in the Crystal Mall along Kingsway. Crystal Mall is an Asian Mall and is a great place to get really good and cheap food. He he he … Crystal Mall is also known as MSG City! We wanted to try a new place and chance upon this small place called S&W Pepper House. We decided to go in because we saw a few people having noodles eating out from a huge bowl.

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The S&W Pepper House is a mainland Chinese type of joint with almost everyone speaking in Mandarin. It’s not a big place, with seating for about 30-35 people max. You could easily give it a miss. If you are the adventurous type and liked trying new and authentic mainland chinese food, you simply MUST try it out. S&W Pepper House in located on the ground floor.

Suanne ordered the “Guo Qiao” Rice Noodle in Special Soup. “Guo Qiao” meant Crossing Bridges in Mandarin. This $6.75 dish is served in four different portions. The main part is the soup in which we were told we need to put the ingredients in order and eat from the large bowl of soup. The raw quail eggs, sliced meat and prawns goes in first. This is followed by mixed vegetables and finally the noodles.

Suanne told me that there’s a story behind “Guo Qiao” in old China. The story goes that there was once a very poor scholar who need to study for the provincial exam in a place far away from his home. His wife had to bring him lunch everyday over long distance and needing to cross many bridges to get to him. The food got cold by the time she brought the food over. So, she had an idea to keep the food warm by keeping the ingredients separate and keeping the soup piping hot in a separate container. The soup has a layer of oil to conserve the heat. Anyone heard of this story before?

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