2011-01-03 Lunch @ Fraser Park

ADDRESS :  4663 Byrne Road, Burnaby, BC

PHONE      :  604-433-7605

Yup, you got it, another lunch at the Fraser Park Restaurant.  After all, we did say that we're going through the menu.  This time, we recruited DK, aka MukMuk-D, so we could order more food.

Since I'm working through the menu, I ordered the Ribs special to share and Buddha Girl wanted the Chicken in ginger/tamarind.   We were hungry.

 Anton looked surprised to see us, afterall, we had been there only a week earlier.  He dropped off a small sample of the headcheese for us.  We enjoyed this again.

 Anton also dropped off a sample of the beets, sorry, I didn't like it, nor did Budhha Girl.  But mind you, we actually don't really know how this is supposed to taste in flavour or texture.  It just wasn't for us.

 1st up, the side ribs, this came with mashed potatoes and veggies.  I thought this had too much sauce and was too much like a stew.  The flavour was good, kind of ketchupy.  Buddha Girl and MukMuk-D liked this, much more than I did.

 Next came an order of pork dip.  I've had this before, and it's just as good.  For $8, it's a good deal.  The roll was quite light, and not chewy.  It's the perfect bun for the meat.  The fries were crisp, you have to order a side of mayo for this, it's the only way (and the best way) to eat the fries.

 There's a good amount of pork here.  Add extra mayo to it to bring it up a level.

 Next came the chicken with ginger and tamarind on rice.  This dish was really good, lots of flavour.  The tamarind really came out.  A nice strong sauce that went well with the rice.  We all loved this.  Like always, there's a good amount of everything.

 MukMuk-D ordered the Clubhouse, I got him the lamb soup since we already had fries with the pork dip.

There's lots of meat in this clubhouse, the only problem was that I found the bread a bit dry, otherwise, it's pretty standard.

 The lamb soup was, to our surprise, extremely tasty, we all agreed that this was good.  There's also no shortage of lamb in this soup.

 Yup, after ordering FOUR entrees, I added a breakfast sandwich.  Didn't I say I was hungry?  Next trip here will be for the quesadilla and schnitzel...and probably another breakfast sandwich...

2011-01-02 Quick Visit @ Donair Dude

ADDRESS :  1172 Davie Street, Vancouver, BC

PHONE      :  604-681-1801

Ah, after our snack earlier, I dragged Buddha Girl downtown for some donair.  I've been craving a donair for a while.

I love the autodoner, I want one for myself one day.

We ordered the special, which had two regular wraps plus a pop for $9.99.  They grill these.  Even with my big hand these things looked big.

This must be Buddha Girl's, she had lettuce in hers.  They gave a good amount of chicken, and you get to pick your own veggies.  We opted not to add cheese because we already had a snack an hour earlier and doing so would just be too filling.  I don't think I could eat two of these, even if I was hungry, maybe I'm getting weak.  We'll be back again since we want to try their shawarma platter.

2011-01-02 Lunch @ The One Spot Soup House (湯.com)

ADDRESS :  5857 Victoria Drive, Vancouver, BC

PHONE     :  604-568-7773

 

Buddha Girl and I both spotted this hole-in-the-wall a few months back.  We both wanted to try it because we saw that they serve mainly claypot rice.  Even though I'm not supposed to eat too much rice, I still wanted to try it.

The signage out front was weird.  I really couldn't gather how they came up with the name.  If I search 湯.com on the Internet, the site does not related to this place.

 The restaurant has the feel of a clean dive.  The weird thing was how the floor appeared unfinished, the tile doesn't span the whole floor.  They offer free wi-fi and computers for diners.

 Buddha Girl and I both ordered a combo each, this came with a house soup and a small portion of seaweed.  The seaweed was the same type you get from T&T.  The soup was quite bland and lacked of depth.  Buddha Girl was getting impatient as we waited.  I had to remind her that if they do it right, then it will take some time.  I think we ended up waiting around 20 minutes.

 My order of Clay Pot Rice With Minced Pork Cake On Top (肉餅煲仔飯), you have a choice of salted fish or preserved veggie or salted duck egg, I went with the Salted Fish (鹹魚).  This was actually pretty good, the pork patty had a decent texture and flavour.  The waitress told us to use the soy sauce that was at our table.  The soy sauce, blended with sugar and other flavours, accompanied the rice nicely.  What surprised me was that I heard a sizzle when I poured on the soy.  I discovered a nice light crust on the bottom of the pot.  This confirmed that they didn't just scoop cooked rice into the pot.

 Buddha Girl ordered the Clay Pot Rice With Tender Chicken On Top (滑雞煲仔飯), with a choice of red dates & dried wolfberry, black pepper & onion, or dried mushroom & sausages, Buddha Girl went with Dried Mushroom & Sausage (冬菇臘腸).  She enjoyed hers as much as I did mine.  I have to admit, the food wasn't awesome, but it was good.  And for the price, this was a really good deal.  

I recall watching a Chinese TV show of how they make claypot rice on Temple Street in Hong Kong.  This place definitely doesn't make it like what I saw, but I'm still willing to come back for more.  As you can see from our bill, it was a pretty good deal.  This would be a meal for most, but this was really only a snack as I had a craving for something else.

Please click on menu above for larger view.

2011-01-01 Dinner @ Yaohan Centre

ADDRESS :  Wah Yuen Noodle House, Richmond, BC

PHONE      :  604-231-9080

So...after a bad movie...DK, Buddha Boy and I wanted cheap and fast food...hehehe...so we ended up at Yaohan again!!!

As always, as soon as we walked in, Buddha Boy went straight to his favorite stall and placed his orders.  This time, other than his usual, he also ordered a BBQ Pork Rice Roll (叉燒腸粉).  This was a fail.  The skin was way too thick and the sauce was way too salty.

Here's Buddha Boy's usual...Wonton Soup (淨雲吞)...nothing special...just simple shrimp wontons.

 

ADDRESS :  Seoul Express, Richmond, BC

PHONE      :  604-821-1775

Many of my Korean friends (former co-workers and school friends) have recommended three restaurants for me to try as "classic" and "authentic" Korean food...Wang Ga Ma in Coquitlam, Cho Sun on Kingsway in Vancouver, and Seoul Express in Yaohan.

The current owners have operated this stall for 7+ years and the previous owners were also Korean.  Prices were quite reasonable here...good place for cheap eats.

I went with a Spicy Pork Ramen...and surprisngly the broth was quite nice.  Good depth, very flavorful, and extremely fragrant.  The noodles, however, were a bit over-cooked.

The ramen order came with two choices of side dishes...this was a great deal for $4.90...tax included!!!

 

ADDRESS :  Thai Square, Richmond, BC

PHONE      :  778-869-9994

We had some good food from the Thai stall before, so this time, we wanted to try something else on their menu.

Buddha Boy went with the Shrimp Cakes...a bit on the pricier side but these were good.  Good chunks of shrimps and very tasty.  We would definitely order these again.

The owner suggested to try their Basil & Chicken Fried Rice...the spring roll was a miss...not much filling.  The rice was...WOW!!!  Both Buddha Boy and I were quite shocked with how fragrant the rice was, both in smell and taste.  This was good.

 

ADDRESS :  Sun Century, Richmond, BC

PHONE      :  604-278-0838

Since DK was with us, Buddha Boy was able to order more food...yups...he loves varieties!

So...Buddha Boy ordered a Shredded Pork & Chive Pickles Fried Noodles (榨菜肉絲炒麵)...nothing special.

ADDRESS :  Datang BBQ Express, Richmond, BC

PHONE     :  604-231-9673

DK...after walking around and around...finally decided to get something from the BBQ stall.

He ordered the Roasted Pork Three Treasure Rice (燒肉三寶飯)...it came with roasted pork (of course), BBQ duck, and BBQ Pork.  According to DK and Buddha Boy, the "meat" of the roasted pork was good, however, the skin was soft and stale (been sitting too long).  The BBQ pork was nothing special, but DK did enjoy the duck...he thought it was quite nice.

2011-01-01 Dim Sum @ Top Gun J&C Restaurant 尖東新派食館

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

PHONE     :  604-231-8006

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Years ago, when I first met Buddha Boy, it's a "tradition" for the family and close friends to go for a New Year's Day Brunch at a local hotel.  However, last year, thanks to the wonderful winter games, the buffet prices at these hotels skyrocketed like there's no tomorrow.  At one local hotel, the price per adult was $97 plus mandatory 18% gratuities, then taxes on top of that...um...HELLO?  Wake up and smell the coffee!!!

Last year, we switched old "tradition" to New Year's Day Dim Sum...and of course, we had it at TG.  So this year...the "tradition" continues.  This was our first set of orders (forgot to take a pic of the second set)...hehehe!!!  Yes, it seemed like a lot of food...but thank goodness we ordered a second round...we all ate a lot!!!

As I mentioned before, because we visit TG a bit too much...I would only snap pictures of those we don't order often.  This was the Deep-Fried Chicken Wings Stuffed with Glutinous Rice (糯米釀雞翼)...skin was crispy but the rice was a bit bland.

Preserved Meat Rice Pot (臘味飯)...not bad...nothing special...not much meat.

BBQ Pork Cheeks (炭燒豬頸肉)...basically it's BBQ pork but instead of using the butt, TG uses pork cheeks.  It's tender...QQ (chewy)...flavorful...mmm...great way to start the new year!!!  Heheheh!

Cantonese Sponge Cake (馬拉糕), or ma-la-go...we ordered this a bit early...so it was cold by the time we got to it.  I did not enjoy this because it was a bit dense...I like mine fluffy and light.