2012-01-30 Late Night @ Estea Beverage Club 生活小品

6401 Kingsway, Burnaby, BC

604-438-0186

I picked up WW from work and went for a late night meal to update each other with the latest happenings.  With limited choices of late-night bubble tea joints along Kingsway in Burnaby, we settled with Estea, simply because we didn't wanna wait at Bubble World.

I ordered the Taiwanese Sausage with Rice 台式香腸飯 and it was simply sad.  The sausage was bland, dry and lean.  The microwaved rice was dry and crusty, but the limited amount of pork sauce on top was quite tasty.  The accompanied cold vegetables weren't too worthy.  This was a "Chef's Special for $7.99?  I wouldn't even pay half of that amount for this crap.

WW ordered the Deep-Fried Sole Filet with Rice 香酥魚排飯.  From the texture, we suspected the fish was more basa than sole.  Next, the fish was deep-fried in bad and old oil...gross.  Just like my order, the set had microwaved crusty rice with cold vegetables.  Hey, at least the tartar sauce was quite nice, most likely store-bought.

While WW went with just water, I had a Red Apple Black Tea 紅蘋果紅茶.  The tea was very sweet with a very strong artificial apple flavor.  I was not pleased.

Will I visit again?  Most likely yes.  What other choices do I have?  508 Bistro?  Or The One?  Other than my priority (Bubble World), let just say I'm actually willing to bare with Estea's sub-par quality than to suffer with those two foolish establishments.

2011-01-29 Tonkatsu @ Saboten

#3182 - 4151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond, BC

604-295-9351

We were honored to be invited by Melody of Fairchild Restaurant Group to the launch of Saboten on January 22nd.  But because we're not fans of media events, we kindly decline the invitation but paid a visit to this express outlet seven days after its grand opening.

We arrived late in the afternoon and this stall was still packed with people.  With only three people ordering ahead of me, it was difficult to tell exactly how many people were waiting for their food.

After waiting for approximately fifteen minutes, the cashier decided to put out a sign to inform new customers that there would be a ten-minute wait.  Considering that I've already waited for fifteen minutes, I started tweeting about this, sarcastically.  The longer I waited, the more I tweeted.  Finally,  after approximately forty minutes, I finally got my food.  From a customer's standpoint, they really should have put out a sign a lot sooner, and earlier.  There really shouldn't be any excuses of the long wait, after all, it's just deep-frying.

I ordered a Saboten Set, which consisted of pork loin, shrimp and pork tenderloin.  For $10, it doesn't look too bad, but doesn't look much either.

Just a note, if you want more sauce, you'll have to pay for it.  Also, not sure if they're supposed to freshly grind the sesame seeds to every order, but mine lost the aromatic sesame fragrance.  Considering how busy it was, they probably made a whole bunch beforehand.

If you watch them prepare the bread crumbs, it's quite impressive, and that's what made Saboten different.  Unfortunately, I found the meats quite boring and bland, you really needed the sauces.  The shrimp was basic, nothing extraordinary.  The loin had part white and part dark, with some fat giving it a juicy tenderness.  The tenderloin was, as expected, tender, however, it was quite dry...yup, they overcooked the tenderloin.

For a big guy like me, I had to get more food after.  For better quality and price, I'd rather got to Guu on Thurlow or 29th Ave Cafe on Boundary.  For strictly quality, it's got to be Kingyo Izakaya.  In the end, the food did not impress me, especially for the wait.  While we won't be returning, we do recommend everyone to give it a try, for the breading, not for the meat.

2012-01-28 Dinner @ U-Enjoy 陶醉吧

#1680 - 8260 Westminster Hwy, Richmond, BC

778-297-1155

After a satisfying visit to this restaurant (see post 2012-01-12 Lunch @ U-Enjoy 陶醉吧), I picked up a voucher for the deal featured on The Red Pocket.  This $8 "Exclusive Dinner Set" (regular $18) includes two choices of skewers (two skewers per choice, a total of four skewers), one entree and one drink.

Buddha Boy and I arrived pretty much right at opening.  Being the first customers, we were quickly greeted and seated.  What bothered us was the owners being a bit too friendly, to the point of being intrusive.  Now, don't get us wrong, they were very nice people, but they kept on coming by to talk to us...grrr...it would be nice if they gave us some space to enjoy our dinner, peacefully.

As part of the deal, we had two choices of skewers from the "Exclusive Dinner Set" menu.  Buddha Boy opted for Japanese Style Chicken Skewers 日式串燒雞 (left) and Korean Style Spicy Pork Skewers 韓式五花肉 (right).  Both were good, but nothing extraordinary.

Also part of the deal, we had a choice of the entrees listed in the set menu, I opted for Singapore Style Fried Vermicelli 星洲炒米.  The plate had ample ingredients with just the right amount of curry flavoring.  However, it did lack wok-hei 鑊氣 (or 火候 in Mandarin).  A drink was also included and Buddha Boy opted for Passion Fruit Calpis Soda 百香果可爾比斯梳打...nothing special.

Knowing my husband, the four skewers included in the set menu would not easily satisfy him.  At $1.50 each, Buddha Boy ordered four more skewers: a Mochi with Bacon Skewer 串燒煙肉麻糬 (left), a Quail Egg with Bacon Skewer 串燒煙肉鵪鶉蛋 (left) and two Korean Style Chicken Skewer 韓式串燒雞 (right).  Just like the ones previously, these were done nicely, but boring.  Buddha Boy thought the skewers were a bit small for the price.

Buddha Boy's favorite dish was the Honey Garlic Chicken 蒜子蜜汁雞球.  No, the chicken pieces were not crispy, but were freshly and nicely deep-fried in clean oil.  And unlike many Chinese restaurants where the "honey" is actually sugar water/syrup, we could actually taste the honey fragrance along with the garlic.  Buddha Boy enjoyed this so much that we ordered a second plate!!!  Hahaha!

Of course, Buddha Boy could not leave this place without trying their Chicken in Three Special Sauce 三杯雞, or simply Three-Cup Chicken.  Commonly speaking, this dish is usually oily and salty, but not the case here.  Each piece of chicken absorbed in the necessary flavors while maintained its tenderness.  We enjoyed it, but thought they could have "fried" the ginger (at the beginning) and the basil (at the end) a bit longer to extract more of the flavors.

The Pan Fried Chicken 生炒走地雞 was suggested by the owners.  This popular dish (as claimed by the owners) was a simple stir-fry of free-ranged chicken, Chinese sausage and Chinese celery.  At $18.95 for a large or $9.95 for a small, this was a lot pricier than most of the dishes on their menu.  Flavor wise, this tasted like the Hakka Stir-Fry 客家小炒.  I enjoyed it, but not so much for Buddha Boy, mainly because it's free-ranged chicken.  Will I order this again?  Most likely not...unless it's chicken meat with no bones...hahahahaha!

Overall, we enjoyed our visit.  The restaurant is small but spacious.  Service was courteous, except with that little intrusive glitch.  Buddha Boy and I plan to visit again to try their clay pot rice.

2012-01-26 Dim Sum @ Good Eat Seafood Restaurant 惠食佳海鮮酒家

8111 Leslie Road, Richmond, BC

604-249-0084

It was a cold and stormy morning, my dearest god-sister, Daisy, woke me up and dragged me all the way Richmond just for dim sum!  Grrr...why can't you just let me cuddle in that warm blanket?  Hahaha!  Daisy wanted to take me to this restaurant on Leslie Road that has, perhaps, one of the lousiest parking setup ever in Richmond...and knowing how much I hate driving and parking in China, I ended up donating some money to the city and parked on the street.

Instead of going for something as simple and standard as har-gow 蝦餃, I ordered the Steamed Shrimp & Corn Dumpling 翡翠黃金餃.  With such a fancy Chinese name, the dumpling tasted just like its English translation.  Thin skins with not-so-crunchy shrimps, these dumplings was actually not too bad for the price.  The corn added a nice sweetness and crunch to the overall package.  For $2.50, no complaints.

Daisy and I didn't quite enjoy the Steamed Dumpling Stuffed with Diced Pork & Peanut 潮汕蒸粉粿.  Extremely doughy skin with limited and over-salted filling.  Even at $2.50, I wouldn't order this again.

At $2.50, I really shouldn't be complaining about the Deep-Fried Lotus Roots Cake 家鄉蓮藕餅...grrr...okay, just one question, where were the lotus roots?

The Baked Seafood with Portuguese Sauce 葡汁海鮮盞 had creamy Portuguese sauce with ample filling of chopped seafood and vegetables.  The crust was baked nicely and was not overly sweet.  This was our favorite dish.

The Rice with Mince Pork and Oyster in Soup 蠔仔肉碎泡飯 was pretty standard.  Tasty, but nothing special.  The pork broth was very flavorful, most likely enhanced with MSG...hahahaha!

The Chinese name of Deep Fried Spareribs with Honey Sauce 菊花蜜汁排骨 caught our attention...Chrysanthemum?  Well, it's just simply finished with sprinkles of dried Chrysanthemum.  The spareribs were tender and moist with crispy coatings, however, nothing extraordinary.

Daisy enjoyed Chicken & Pork Liver in Chinese Herbal Cuisine Soup 藥膳豬潤浸走地雞, but not so much for me.  I like pork liver, but these were way too gamy, which made the soup gamy.  I guess the Chinese herbs didn't help covering up the sub-par quality.

The owner suggested to try their signature, Chicken with Soy Sauce 惠食佳撈隔夜雞.  It's simply free-ranged chicken soaked in a house-blend soy sauce and tossed with cilantro and green onions.  Nothing special about the chicken, but the soy blend was very flavorful, salty, but tasty.  Daisy and I detected fish sauce in the soy blend...interesting.

Overall, with tax and tips, our meal was just a little over $40.  The price points were very reasonable.  The quality, while not the greatest, but for the price, was enjoyable.  A definite return for me, with Buddha Boy, of course.

2012-01-25 Dinner @ Black + Blue

1032 Alberni Street, Vancouver, BC

604-637-0777

After lunch at Street Food City, I waited patiently for dinner to arrive.  We had a reservation for four (Seto-san, MomJ, Buddha Girl and myself) at Black + Blue for DOV2012.  Okay, originally, we had our minds set on the DOV menu, but we soon gave it up and went a-la-carte, with the exception of myself, who ordered an appetizer item off the DOV menu.

Buddha Girl had a girly drink...very unlike her.  Suggested by our server, Chris, this Entering the Dragon was quite refreshing, not too sweet or strong.  Buddha Girl can't recall what was in it, does anyone know?

MomJ's appetizer was a good bang for the buck. This large portion of Crispy Calamari was nicely seasoned and perfectly deep-fried.  The batter was light and had just the right amount of coating on each piece of squid.

 

Buddha Girl ordered Shrimp Cocktail.  The crunchy shrimps were the sizes of prawns.  Can't recall what the white sauce was or tasted like, but the seafood cocktail sauce was not the typical off-the-shelf variety.  The cocktail sauce was refreshing and tangy, yet not overwhelming, very tasty.

From the DOV menu, I had the "Bacon 'n' Eggs" (thick cut of double smoked bacon, fried duck egg, spicy maple syrup, wild arugula).  The pork was well smoked and perfectly tender with a ham like flavor.  The scrambled duck egg was light and fluffy, but it was a bit bland to counter the sweetness of the sauce and the the flavors of the bacon.  The half slice of bread really didn't do much to the dish other than just rounding out the plate and to soak up the maple sauce.  If I would have change anything, I would have preferred a poached egg instead.

Since Seto-san, the small eater, did not order an appetizer, I took the liberty and ordered him one, to share, of course.   I ordered a side of Mac & Cheese as an appetizer.  This was done very nicely and can pass as finger food.  Each breaded brick was deep-fried to a nice crisp coat with creamy and cheesy filling inside.  Something Buddha Girl insisted on ordering again on our next visit.

We were given four sauces to accompany our entrees...sorry, can't recall any of them.  We ended saving all the sauces from our appetizers too.

MomJ (10oz) and Seto-san (16oz) each had a Prime Rib, accompanied with Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables, red wine jus and caramelized pearl onions.  The prime rib was done very nicely, tender as expected.  There wasn't much herb nor garlic crusting on the edges, simple and good.

I had the PEI Blue Ribbon Porterhouse (24oz).  I ordered this rare and it came out pretty much what I asked for.  The tenderloin piece was nice and tender but the strip loin wasn't as good.  Overall, I wasn't too impressed.  For steak, I've only had two great experiences.  One was at home, a simple Porterhouse that was tender throughout.  And the other was at the Chicago Chop House, a 24oz NY Strip Loin done Chicago-style, blue as possible...and yes, I finished it all, including all the sides.

Usually, Buddha Girl's not really into Coq au Vin, simply because she doesn't like anything cooked with red wine, but because I've been raving about the white wine version and Buddha Girl always wondered why, she decided to give it a try.  The chicken was very moist and tender, even for the white meat.  While the white wine jus was rich yet not overpowering, it didn't penetrate the chicken as much as Buddha Girl would have liked.  Nonetheless, my wife still enjoyed this dish, thank goodness.

I enjoyed being seated close to the action as we watched Chef Wolfe assist Chef Labahn in expediting.  I noticed that their Urbanspoon rating is actually ranked pretty low, with a mix of food and service issues.  Our experience was good.  Our reservation was at 5:30pm, which was before the rush, and our food arrived with good timing.  Our server, Chris, was top notch.  He was attentive and informative, without being intrusive.  Chris gave us enough space to enjoy our meal without making us felt we're being ignored or forgotten.  With the amount of dining we do, we usually only experience this type of service once every year or two.

As funny as it seems, we enjoyed everything at Black + Blue except for the steak.  We thought the prices are quite reasonable, though it may be higher for some.  Next time we visit, we plan pick up a few of those discounted Glowbal gift certificates at Costco, and hopefully, food and service will be as good as this visit.