Updated: 27th June 2012; This restaurant has closed according to Urbanspoon.com.

We had been to Han Ju Tofu Hotpot a few times before. As a matter of fact, we had blogged about it sometime last year (see here). Since we had some photos from our last visit and that we like it so much, we thought … sure … let’s just share it one more time.

I was confused. I had always thought that Han Ju is a Korean restaurant. Maybe it is because of the name “Han Ju” which for some reason sounded like a Korean name to me. Han Ju is in fact a Taiwanese restaurant.

I know there are two Han Ju’s … one in Richmond and the other in Crystal Mall in Burnaby. We went to the one in Richmond (8328 Capstan Way).

For those of you not familiar with Chinese food, you would probably not have guessed that the above is actually pig ear. In Taiwanese cuisine, it is common for them to serve appetizers in morsels of marinated food.

The Marinated Pig Ear has an unique combination of gelatinous and crunchy texture.

Most of Taiwanese appetizers are served cold. (more…)

Updated: 27th June 2012; This restaurant has closed according to Urbanspoon.com.

For this weekend’s lunch, we decided to finally go to the Han Ju Tofu Hot Pot. We have been saying that we want to try it for a long time but never gotten down to it.

There are actually two Han Ju Tofu Hot Pot places. The original one was in Crystal Mall in Burnaby. They have opened in another location in Richmond the past few months. Lorna told us about this new location a few weeks back and so we decided to check that place out.

The Han Ju is located at 8328 Capstan Way in Richmond. They are opened seven days a week, 11am to 9pm. It’s a small restaurant, just slightly larger than the cramped one on Burnaby. There are perhaps about 12 tables in all. It is a very popular place and often you need to wait for a table — we had to wait about 5 minutes.

Although this place is made out to be a Korean style restaurant, I think they are Taiwanese owned judging from the fact that they speak Taiwanese brand of chinese.

Their signature dish is, of course, the Tofu Hot Pot. We ordered the Korean Style Kimchi Pot and asked that it be made spicy — you get an option on how spicy you want it. This dish is served with rice although the main staple is the green bean noodles in the soup. Other ingredients are Korean Kimchi, Mussels, Squid, Tofu, Sliced Pork and an egg. It’s quite a big serving, more than what I normally take for a meal. The dish is served in a metal hot pot — gotta be careful handling it because it’s very, very hot. This dish costs $5.95.

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Updated: 3rd Feb 2015; This restaurant is closed.

Someone else’s rice cake looks always bigger
~ Korean Proverb

Helen was telling Suanne about a good Korean restaurant that we absolutely must try. She told us that the restaurant is located behind the Sheraton on Alexandra Road and is called something like Mother-in-law Restaurant. She also told us something interesting about the Korean culture — when the husband visits the in-laws, the husband is normally treated very well … so well that the mother-in-law will prepare a feast for the son-in-law. Hence, the best feast is referred to as the mother-in-law special. (Any Korean able to verify this?)

It was really confusing for us locating this place. It is because the English name of this restaurant we went to is called the Jang Mo Jib Restaurant. We couldn’t read Korean but at least Suanne recognized the small Chinese translation on the signboard.

Walking in, we were impressed because the decor was very nice with large wall-to-wall pictures of Korean lifestyles. Helen told us the price for each dish were on the average $7-$8 and looking at the settings in the restaurant, it sure looked more expensive. Reading the menu, most of the dishes were indeed as Helen said although there were some dishes that were over $20 per person. We stuck to the cheaper dishes and ordered three different dishes.

Sul Lung Thang (Soup)

The Sul Lung Tang is a soup of cow bones and meat, simmered for several hours in a jumbo Korean iron pot until the soup is milky-white. This dish is served with two smaller bowls of coarse salt and chopped green onions. The coarse salt is used to season the soup depending on how you like it. Without the salt, the soup is quite bland.

The soup also has some glass noodle and thinly sliced beef. Serving is large and more than enough for an adult. If you have never tried the Sul Lung Thang, you should. This is the restaurant’s signature dish. Price? $7.95.

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