2012-09-08 Dim Sum @ Dynasty Seafood Restaurant 皇朝海鮮酒家

#108 - 777 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC

604-876-8388

In support of Buddha Girl's month of Buddhist/Taoist vegetarian eating, we chose a dim sum restaurant that has a vegetarian menu...I know, I'm quite the considerate husband.  Buddha Girl had The Jade Seafood Restaurant 玉庭軒魚翅海鮮酒家 in mind, but, for some reasons, MomJ is anti-Jade (the restaurant, that is), so we ended up here.

The Steamed Shrimp Dumpling 皇朝水晶蝦餃皇 (left) and Steamed Pork Dumpling 傳統蒸切肉燒賣 (right) were both good, not great, but good.  The shrimp dumplings weren't big, but the skin-to-shrimp ratio was perfect.  The shrimp had a nice crunch and the skin wrap was neither too thick nor too thin.  The well-flavored siu-mai had chunky meat and didn't have much noticeable chunks of fat.

While MomJ enjoyed the Pan Fried Rice Roll w/BBQ Pork in Soya Sauce 美極叉燒煎腸粉 (left), to me, it lacked crispness.  The Deep Fried Taro w/BBQ Duck Meat 雪菜火鴨蜂巢芋角 (right) was a major miss.  Other than the thick layer of taro and limited meat, the strong presence of ammonium bicarbonate 碳酸氫銨 was unbearable.  Not recommended.

The Deep Fried Crispy Shrimp w/Shredded Pasty 酥炸千絲鳳尾蝦 (left) was simply shrimp balls coated with crispy noodle.  I love anything deep-fried, but this texture was awkward.  The Steamed Black Truffle Dumpling 黑松露香菇餃 (right) had a nice translucent wrap showing that the skin wasn't thick.  Unfortunately, the truffle accent was not strong enough to showcase its presence.  I still prefer the ones at The Jade Seafood Restaurant 玉庭軒魚翅海鮮酒家 in Richmond.

Buddha Girl started with an order of Imitate Pork w/Glutens 脆皮素燒肉拼素鵝 (left), or vegetarian pork belly slices with vegetarian goose.  The under-seasoned tofu wrap had a mix of shredded vegetables.  The wrap was too "loose" and ingredients fell apart easily.  The "pork" had layers of steamed bean curds acting as the meat with some type of gelatin texture that played the fat.  And guess what play the role of crispy skin?  Bread...yes, bread.  The "pork" was deep-fried to give it a nice crisp texture.  This vegetarian pork "wow'd" all of us and it's something I'd definitely order again.  The Sauteed Eggplant w/Preserved Cabbage 雪菜毛豆燒茄子 (right) was a fail.  The egg plant was bland, old and hard to chew.

Continuing on Buddha Girl's vegetarian dishes.  Next was the Vegetarian Congee 鮮淮山五彩素粥 (left).  The congee had a mix of corn, gai-lan (Chinese kale), mushrooms, carrots and common yam rhizome 山藥 (also known as Chinese yam).  Buddha Girl, who loves both fresh and dried Chinese yam, thought the fresh root was not ideal for congee because it has a very distinctive taste and smell, which, in this case, was quite nasty when overused.  The Deep-Fried Custard Bun 脆皮奶皇包 had a crispy coat, but the overly sweet filling killed the package.

 

In general, our experience was good enough for us to return.  The food quality was acceptable with a few exceptions.  The service was a hit and miss with some servers seemed quite useless while a few others were on the ball.  Ah...we'll never be 100% satisfied...

2011-01-09 Dinner @ Dynasty Seafood Restaurant

#108 - 777 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC

604-876-8388

Guess what?  This time, we went somewhere for Cantonese cuisine other than TG!  LOL!  Well, while sitting at home not sure where and what to eat, we almost ended up at TG again...hahahahaha!!!  But, thank goodness, at the last second, MomJ recall that her visit to Dynasty for New Town's anniversary banquet was quite impressive, so we thought we would give it a try.

According to MomJ, Dynasty (皇朝) was formerly located where the current Jade (玉庭軒) is...I never been to the old location (other than being Jade or this other chiu-chow restaurant), so I cannot verify this...does anyone know or can confirm this?  3Q3Q3Q!!!

We let MomJ did most of the ordering.  To start she ordered the Soup of the Day (老火列湯).  The special was shark cartilage and pork shank (鯊魚骨煲豬展).  Very smooth and "qing" (清).  The ingredients were served on the side, and those cinnamon yam (山藥, or 淮山 in Cantonese), also known as Chinese yam or common yam, were so yummy...I couldn't stop munching!  Of course. the yams were not top or best quality ones, but both MomJ and I agreed that the quality was above average.

 Next, MomJ ordered the Deep Fried Spareribs w/Preserved Bean Curd (乳香蝴蝶骨).  This was the hit dish of the night!  All three of us loved it!  This was tender, juicy, crunchy and crispy.  Flavor was a bit on the saltier side, but acceptable.  At first, Buddha Boy thought they used pork cheeks because it had the similar "crunch", but we later confirmed that these were pork chops.

MomJ suggested a fish, so, as usual, we ordered a Steamed Black Rock Cod (蒸黑斑).  Again, we asked for no more than 2lbs.  Though the fish was good, but it was a bit over-cooked.  The funny thing was, the GM came by the table and asked us how the fish was, MomJ and Buddha Boy were too nice to tell him about the miss.  But, being me, I straight out and told him that "it's a nice fish but it's over-cooked."  LMAO!!!  I think the feedback kinda shocked him 'cause he didn't know what to say.  Oh well...not my fault!  He asked...so I was honest!!!  LOL!!!

Next came a half bird of Deep Fried Crispy Chicken (生炸脆皮芝麻雞).  You see, the three of us are, usually, not big fans of white meat...yups...very Chinese huh?  When the chicken arrived, it really didn't look anything special...that's until Buddha Boy and I each grabbed a piece of the white meat and bite into it...OH MY!!!  It was so juicy...yes...the white meat was so tender and juicy.  Though the skin was crispy, however, the flavor of the meat was a bit on the bland side.  Those lotus chips were also quite yummy!

I can't recall the Chinese name of this dish...but it basically had fish maw (花膠), duck feet (鴨掌), and some vegetables.  It was nice, but nothing special.  But I must say, the quality of the fish maw (花膠) was quite nice, better than TG's, but of course, not as good as the ones MomJ bought for home (I'm sure there are many better ones than MomJ's, but so far, I have not yet been exposed to them).

The Lychee Sweet & Sour Pork (荔枝咕魯肉) caught my eyes...remember TG's Sweet & Sour Pork Cheeks (金枝玉葉)?  You know, the one where one "can’t go back to the regular sweet and sour pork now!" (Quoted from LemonDroplet at 604 Munchies.)  LOL!!!  Anyhow, Buddha Boy and I decided to give it a try.  Of course, we weren't expecting them to use pork cheeks, but we kinda hoped it would be a bit different than regular sweet & sour pork.  This was not bad...but not a dish we would order again.

Right after the GM repeated our order, I added another dish...a rice dish.  We were quite impressed when the Seafood & Pineapple Fried Rice (鳳梨海皇炒飯) showed up.  Good amount of...everything!  Lot's of eggs, pineapples, shrimps, and scallops.  And the big winning point...good "wok-hei" (Cantonese 鑊氣), or "huo-hou" (Mandarin 火侯).  We really enjoyed this.

As much as Buddha Boy shouldn't be having too much white rice, he had two bowls (bad Buddha Boy...bad...bad).  After MomJ claimed that she was full, she went for another half a bowl...LOL!!!  And I, the chubby one, had two yummy bowls!!!

They ran out of complimentary dessert soups (糖水), so we were given Mung Bean & Sweet Osmanthus Cake (綠豆桂花糕).  Sweet Osmanthus is also known as Tea Olive, Sweet Olive, Fragrant Olive, or Sweet Tea Olive.  The dessert was more a jello than a "cake" and it was quite refreshing...a nice combination.