2011-12-24 Lunch @ Pacific Plaza 太古廣場

Grrr...this month, one of my two vegetarian days landed right on Christmas Day!!! Since I had to pick up some veggie food for next day, Buddha Boy and I visited the food court at Pacific Plaza for lunch.

GEE! TASTE GOOD 舔舔利

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With limited vendor selections, Buddha Boy went with this little South Asian stall once again...mainly because of the skewers...hehehehe!

Buddha Boy ordered a dozen mix of Satay 美味沙爹串燒, three chicken and three pork.  The chicken was very tender and was well-marinated.  The pork, on the other hand, was a bit tough to chew.  The satay sauce was very peanuty, I tasted a mix of roasted peanuts, peanut butter and coconut milk.

On top of the skewers, Buddha Boy also had an order of Potato Beef Cake 印尼牛肉薯仔餅.  Not as much beef as Buddha Boy hoped to see, overall...meh.

GRACE FOOD COMPANY LTD 恩惠美食一元店

000-000-0000

Every time I visit this food court, I have always wanted to give this stall a try, mainly because it offers both Shanghai and northern Chinese dishes...something I'm quite exposed to.

Similar to Shanghai Ting 上海亭美食 at Empire Centre or Shanghai Goodies 上海坊 in Parker Place, this place offers both cooked food for dine-in (at the food court, of course) or frozen to-go's.  Unfortunately, their menus are only listed in Chinese, simplified Chinese.

The first thing we ordered was their Xiaolongbao 小籠包.  Not good, but not the worst.  The skin was done properly, tight and Q, however, the closing at the top was too thick that we had to bite off that part first before we could comfortably eat the rest.  The pork filling had too much seasoning, and only had about half a plastic spoon full of juice, MSG juice.

I wanted pot-stickers, but the owner suggested Japanese Gyozas 日式鍋貼...um ok...these were more like pan-fried dumplings 煎餃子 than pot-stickers 鍋貼.  I had a choice of pork/bok-choy (napa cabbage) or pork/chive, I went the the latter.  Honestly, the filling was not bad.  Strong tastes of chive with lightly-salted meat filling, this was not bad for $4.50.

Being a northern-Chinese descendent, I'm always excited whenever (or wherever) I see pork belly with sour napa cabbage, in this case, it was the Sour Napa Cabbage, Pork Belly and Seafood Pot 酸菜白肉海鮮鍋.  Unfortunately, this was a huge mistake.  First, there was absolutely no sour napa cabbage in this bowl (yes, it was a bowl, not a pot), just simple normal napa cabbage.  Secondly, the "sour" part was only by adding white vinegar...WTF?!?!?!?  Next, this bowl was full of green bean threads 粉絲 with only five small pieces of pork belly.  Lastly, those low-quality shrimps practically ruined the rich pork broth (which was the only acceptable part).  F**K...if you cannot make this properly, don't sell it!!!

Not exactly sure why we were showered with a complimentary Green Onion Twist Bun 蔥花卷, but unfortunately, this was sad.  Not only it has very limited amount of green onions, this was microwaved then served to us...so yup, I took a bite then threw the rest

2011-12-09 Dinner @ Pacific Plaza 太古廣場

It was another veggie day for me.  I picked up Buddha Boy from work and drove all the way to Richmond for some vegetarian food.  Why all the way China?  Well, ever since Lulu Veggie in Crystal Mall closed for good, I've been hunting for another vegetarian fast food that's acceptable and tasty...luckily, I found one in this never busy plaza.

GEE! TASTE GOOD 舔舔利

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Since Buddha Boy was not restricted to the diet, he browsed around the limited selections and ended up ordering at the stall that specializes in South Asian food, and apparently, Chouzhou food too.

First was the Rendang Beef Rice (Nasi Rendang Pandang) 巴東牛肉飯.  The beef was well braised and tender but not to the point where it broke apart easily.  It was a bit on the oily side but it had a nice depth of flavors.  The plate was accompanied with small amounts of peanuts, shrimp chips and hot sauce.  Buddha Boy enjoyed this and claimed he'd return for it.

Yup, one thing could/would/should never satisfy my chubby husband.  On top of the beef rice, he also picked up an order of Fried Beef Curry Triangle 咖哩角.  Good amount of minced beef with some diced veggies in a tasty curry sauce.  Buddha Boy claimed that these were just as good as the ones that he made at home before.

WOO YING'S VEGETARIAN 如意吉祥素食

604-284-5066

As for me, I ordered from my new favorite vegetarian go-to place, which was located right across from the stall where Buddha Boy ordered his dinner from.

The owner, Grace, was busy with takeout orders.  I saw two ladies brought in their own containers and asked Grace to prepare some dishes to bring home.  To make things easier, I just asked for a combination plate of whatever she has.  On the left was a ketchup-based stir-fry with zucchini, carrots, cauliflower and potato...not overly sweet but tasty.  On the right was a soy-based veggie stew of daikon, gluten and mushrooms.  The stew was light and had light hints of star anise.  Overall nothing spectacular, just simple and good...and most importantly, not oily,

My two-item combo plate also came with a soup.  The soup of the day was pureed pumpkin with diced carrots.  The soup was light yet flavorful, I enjoyed it.  Of course, I just had to order my favorite Vegetarian Beef Tendon 素牛筋 (right).