2013-04-15 King Crab 皇帝蟹 @ Top Gun J&C Restaurant 尖東新派食館

#2020 - 8766 McKim Way, Richmond, BC (Excel Centre)

604-231-8006

Photos not loading? Please

visit our Facebook album.

Usually, during the king crab season, we would hit the nearest Asian fish monger and steam the beast at home.  With Buddha Girl and I having to juggle new work responsibilities, we've been extremely lazy of late...especially with our blog.  Interestingly, and oddly enough, Seto-san had a craving for this seasonal delicacy.  With Seto-san living the bachelor lifestyle, we were the perfect companions for such feast (simply because we're big eaters).  We recruited MomJ and Octopus to join us for dinner and made Seto-san treat the meal...sounds fair, doesn't it?  Of course not.

We went to our former canteen, Top Gun J&C Restaurant 尖東新派食館 in Richmond.  "Former" because we've noticed the inadequate quality (and, in some cases, quantity) over the past two years.  While it's no longer our regular canteen, we're pretty certain that they wouldn't rip us off too badly with the weight and quantity.

For a table of five, we had a crab that weighed approximately fifteen pounds.  The crab was done in two ways: (1) steamed with garlic and (2) Bei-Fong-Tong style.  The juices from steaming plates were used later with noodles, onions and ginger.

Honestly, we were pleased with how well the crab was cooked.  The crab was fresh (well, it better be) with succulent meat.  However, the quality of garlic was undoubtedly poor.  While MomJ and Buddha Girl thought the garlic might have just been old or soaked too long in water (since Chinese restaurants do chop and soak a large load in water), I suspected that they used jarred garlic (commonly found in Costco).  Either way, for a delicate dish that one would pay top dollars for, using crappy garlic was, and is, simply pathetic.  Think of it this way, (for example) it's like going to Italian Kitchen and ordering spaghetti with Kobe meatballs only to find that the chef uses ketchup in the sauce.  Unforgivable.

Seto-san, MomJ, Octopus, Buddha Girl and I all enjoyed the noodles.  Of course, no crappy garlic here.

On top of the crab-fest and complimentary appetizers from Kenji-san (Japanese chef at the restaurant), we also ordered five other dishes and two desserts.  My spoiled wife would only eat the uni sashimi from here...and yes, no crappy garlic used.

For a limited time, there was a 40%-off special menu.  Knowing us, we took advantage of the discount.  Well, with discounted price, you get discounted size.

Top Gun J&C Restaurant 尖東新派食館 has lost our "canteen" status.  The portions have gotten smaller while the prices haven't.  Quality has dropped significantly over the past two years, for dim sum and for dinner.  Ruining fresh seafood with crappy garlic is just inexcusable.  Unless our attendance is required, we have better choices.  It's time for a new canteen... 

2012-08-17 Dinner @ Top Gun J&C Restaurant 尖東新派食館

#2020 - 8766 McKim Way, Richmond, BC (Excel Centre)

604-231-8006

We haven't been to our former canteen since our last unsatisfactory visit (see post 2012-05-01 Dinner @ Top Gun J&C Restaurant 尖東新派食館).  We decided to give it another chance after picking up our friend, HoCloud (Octopus' "potential" then, boyfriend now), from the airport.  TG staff wondered why we haven't been there for so long.  After a quick chat with Raymond (owner's brother, who, apparently, was temporarily looking after Top Gun J&C Restaurant 尖東新派食館), I voiced our concerned about the garlic.  He insisted that they use no jar-garlic, especially when it's more expensive.  I acknowledged the response and stated that if not from the jar, then the kitchen must've chopped a load and soaked in water/oil for ease, Raymond nodded.  Then, Raymond actually challenged us by counter-attacking and insisted that there shouldn't be any difference between freshly-chopped and pre-chopped.  On come on Raymond, you really think we're fat because we eat a lot and don't give a shit about what we eat?  If so, you're simply an idiot.

HoCloud has been looking forward to his visit to Vancouver for two reasons: (1) for Octopus (awww...how sweet) and (2) for "Canada crab".  You see, HoCloud is a prentice of my mom and he has heard MomM mentioned her love for "Canada crab" numerous times.  So, to make the his oversea short-stay worthwhile, we made sure he had a taste of our local crab.  We ended up ordering MomM's favorite Dungeness Crab in Ginger & Green Onion Sauce with Noodles  薑蔥黃金蟹加生麵.   According to Chinese Wikipedia, Dungeness Crab is known as 鄧傑內斯蟹, 鄧金斯螃蟹, 鄧津蟹, or more commonly, 黃金蟹.  When the dish arrived, MomJ and I were not too pleased...where were the noodles?  They ended up serving the noodles on the side, but it's just not the same...if you know what I mean...

2012-05-01 Dinner @ Top Gun J&C Restaurant 尖東新派食館

#2020 - 8766 McKim Way, Richmond, BC (Excel Centre)

604-231-8006

For the past year or so, we've slowed down from being frequent visitors of Top Gun J&C Restaurant 尖東新派食館 for one simple reason...the menu is boring.  Now, unless our attendance is required (as invited guests), we will refrain from dining at our former canteen.  Simply speaking, we're not willing to spend money at a restaurant with good service but sub-par food.

On this night, we came here specifically for Spot Prawn Sashimi 班點蝦刺身.  Unfortunately, the last pound of spot prawns were sold just a few minutes before our arrival.  We ended up driving out to the nearest supermarket and picked up fifteen of these yummy and sweet little buggers.

While we "sashimi-ed" (I know, that's not even a word...) the bodies, we requested to have the prawn heads deep-fried then tossed with garlic.  Noticed something odd about the garlic?  It's NOT fresh chopped garlic, it's from store-bought jars.  This lazy shortcut has reached our bottom-line.  Buddha Boy and myself have not return since this visit.

One of their featured new dishes was the Twice-Cooked Pork 回鍋肉.  The picture speaks a thousand words.  Apparently, from what I was told, this was the "authentic" northern-Chinese way of making this dish...FUCK SHIT!  When did Szechuan equal "northern-Chinese"?  Moreover, I AM NORTHERN-CHINESE. 

A family-run group of restaurants has its disadvantages.  From the restaurants to the head office, from marketing to operations, every family member wants a piece of the pie.  The massive salary budget needed to come from somewhere.  In the end, not only the dim-sum and dinner dishes have reduced in quantity, the quality of food has also dropped significantly.  Top Gun J&C Restaurant 尖東新派食館 has turned itself from a quality-keenster to a place that fools.  (A side note, whomever manages TG's Facebook account and promotions has absolutely no marketing background, no service sense, and most importantly, no knowledge of privacy regulations...simply put, whomever it is...is an idiot.)

2011-11-01 Dinner @ Top Gun J&C Restaurant 尖東新派食館

#2020 - 8766 McKim Way, Richmond, BC (Excel Centre)

604-231-8006

A few weeks ago, at a dinner with MomJ, AuntieJ, TG owners and Buddha Boy, I brought two packs of basil and asked the head chef to make a Basil Crab 九層塔炒蟹.  First, props to the head chef, the crab was done well  Now the bad...the basil was not "fried" long enough to extract its flavor before tossing in all the other ingredients.  MomJ, Buddha Boy and I all thought there weren't enough basil taste, however, AuntieJ and TG owners went on and on saying it's way too strong...until I shut them up when TG owners mentioned, "oh, we like three-cup chicken, it's really good!"  Um...hello?  Three-Cup Chicken 三杯雞 uses twice the basil I put in this crab!  Nonsense.

This time, we decided to give the head chef another chance to play with basil.  Again, I brought two packs to the restaurant.  The head chef made a remark, "these smell like toothpaste"...um...okay...are you really a chef?  Nonetheless, we still wanted the dish and told him exactly what needed to be done to improve the basil taste.  Unfortunately, the dish was worse than before.  This time, while the noodles had limited hints of basil fragrance, the over-cooked crab had absolutely no basil taste.  Because of MomJ's relationship with TG owners, we really didn't want to be too blunt with our thoughts, but this visit really ticked me off!!!  Don't get me wrong, overall, J&C has some good food, but not everything is good.  The honest truth is, unless you have one of those Top Gun Gold Card, J&C's overall image does not match their price points...old/ripped table cloths, unattractive tableware/settings, subpar food presentation (except for Japanese food), filthy/smelly washrooms, etc.  Moreover, J&C's head chef lacks creativity and passion, and most importantly, an open mind (and this applies to TG owners too).

2011-10-04 Happy Birthday Dinner @ Top Gun J&C Restaurant 尖東新派食館

#2020 - 8766 McKim Way, Richmond, BC (Excel Centre)

604-231-8006

Another birthday dinner!  This time, it's an early celebration for MomM's birthday!!!  Honestly, this meal was much more satisfying and "full"-filling than MomJ's birthday dinner (see posy 2011-09-30 Happy Birthday Dinner @ Top Gun J&C Restaurant 尖東新派食館), where eleven people shared nine dishes, not including dessert, birthday bun and birthday cake...yup, we're still complaining...hahahaha!

Sorry MomM...I know you wanted fresh mango cake but it's the season for it...so you get the fresh fruit cake instead...just like the one MomJ had for her birthday.  Of course, the cake was from Michele Cake Shop.

2011-09-30 Happy Birthday Dinner @ Top Gun J&C Restaurant 尖東新派食館

#2020 - 8766 McKim Way, Richmond, BC (Excel Centre)

604-231-8006

It was MomJ's birthday!!!  And where else would we be?  TG, of course.  Since we're at TG so much, there's really no point of us going into details of all the dishes...we've pretty much done so in our previous posts.  Other than the steamed fish...I've pretty much captured all the food.  Unfortunately, both Buddha Boy and I were not full at the end of the night...and we're pretty sure some others on our table had the same problem.  Well, eleven people (with five big eaters) sharing eight dishes (not including the almond milk dessert, the birthday buns and the cake)...not wise.  MomJ, next year, please consult the fat couple for menu selections...wahahahahaha!!!  Anyhow, here are the pictures...enjoy!!!

We've requested to set up the largest round tables they had.  The dimension usually seats fourteen to sixteen people, but we only had eleven people per table...LOL!  Well, the fat couple needed more room to eat...wahahahahaha!!!

Last year, a group of MomJ's friends pitched in and got her a big cake that tasted horrible (from La Patisserie 金磨坊西點).  So, this year, we specifically told MomJ to tell all her friends NOT to get her a birthday cake...instead, we've ordered our own from our favorite bakery, Michele Cake Shop 君悅餅廊.