2012-09-11 Dinner @ Dinesty 聚

8111 Ackroyd Road, Richmond, BC

604-303-7772

Our last visit to Dinesty 聚 was...holy...more than a year and a half ago!  That's right...I remember now...it was a few days after our visit to Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐 in Bellevue, WA.  Wow...time sure flies!

Limited to vegetarian dishes, I browsed through the menu and started with Kao-Fu with Stewed Mushrooms 香菇烤麩.  This was a dish with marinated gluten, bamboo, mushrooms and black fungus.  Other than it being a bit too sweet, overall, the dish was acceptable.

Next was Steamed Green Vegetable & Egg Dumplings 花素蒸餃.  Don't let the name fool you...the filling had very limited amount of "green vegetables" but very unlimited amount of tofu.  Every bite was tofu, tofu, tofu...with strong scents of sesame oil.  Honestly, it's not bad, but it's overwhelmed with tofu, tofu, tofu...

The Fried Home-Made Noodles With Mix Vegetables 素什錦炒麵 was a disappointment.  The noodles lacked texture, crunch and springy Q-ness.  Not recommended.

The Chinese Spinach with Bean Curd 香干馬蘭頭 (left), simply a cold mix of tofu and Indian Aster, was consistent.  The Steamed Pork Dumplings 小籠湯包 (right), aka. xiaolongbao or XLB, were disappointing.  According to MomJ and Buddha Boy, the thick skin was too soft and the pork tasted off.  Juicy?  Where?

MomJ thought the sauce in Stewed Pork in Brown Sauce with Tofu & Eggs 私房紅燒肉 (left) was way to sweet, which made everything in the dish overly sweet.  Buddha Boy's Shredded Pork with Hoi Sin Sauce + Pancakes 京醬肉絲+薄餅 (right) was pretty standard.

Back then, while Top Gun J&C Restaurant 尖東新派食館 was our canteen, Dinesty 聚 was our cafe.  After being MIA for almost two years, the staff at Dinesty 聚 (well, the more seniority ones) still recognized me and remembered the nickname I used for reservations...*sniff*...I'm so touched...*sniff*...wahahahahaha!

2012-09-08 Snacks @ Summer Night Market 夏日夜市

12631 Vulcan Way, Richmond, BC

604-278-8000

I once read from an online article that the Summer Night Market is one of the top night markets in the world.  Stupid comments like that makes me cringe.  Our local night markets here are modeled after Asia.  After visiting markets in both Hong Kong and Taiwan, even their mediocre markets are miles better than what we have here.  If the article made the comment that our market here is perhaps the best in North America, then I'd be more open, but to put it in the same category as any markets in Hong Kong and/or Taiwan?  That's a joke.

The Sweet Potato Crunchy Dog (from Crunchy Dogs) was a corn dog that was battered then rolled in diced sweet potato fries.  The wiener was fried the topped with choices of sauces or toppings.  The batter was thick and salty, which ruined the textures of hot dog and sweet potato.  After a few bites, I began tearing off the coating and ate only the meat.  Avoid this by all costs.

One stall where we spent quite a bit of time and money was Little Thai Kitchen.  What caught my attention was their Thai Lemongrass Sausages 泰國香茅香腸.  The gritty sausages were not very juicy, but the flavors were deep, especially with the strong fragrance of lemongrass.  While waiting for our orders, we were offered a sample each (and later purchased one before leaving) of the Thai Iced Tea 泰國奶茶.  Buddha Girl said this reminded her of the old-style Taiwanese black tea 古早味台式紅茶 except it's a lot sweeter and with milk added.  The drink was way too sweet for me, and, unfortunately, as the base was pre-mixed, they couldn't give me a version with less sugar without compromising the flavor.

Being Buddhist/Taoist vegetarian, Buddha Girl had limited eating choices around the market.  From the Thai booth, Buddha Girl picked up a black rice "Kao Lam" 泰國竹椰子糯米飯, or Coconut Sticky Rice in Bamboo.  Like it's name, this was simply glutinous rice with coconut milk stuffed in a bamboo stalk.  Every order/stalk was opened with a small "show" by gently hammering down the bamboo against an apple corer.  The sticky rice was soft with a mild coconut flavor.  Buddha Girl enjoyed it so much that we ended up ordering two more to go.

Overall, we enjoyed our visit.  For a local market, this was acceptable.  Best in the world?  Again, what a joke.

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...

2012-09-07 Gardein @ PriceSmart Foods

Buddha Boy took me grocery shopping for some western-style vegetarian goods.  Originally, I had Yves products in mind, not that I enjoy it very much, but it's the only meat-less brand that I know of.  As I strolled down the frozen aisle, I spotted something else...Gardein products.

I quickly put back Yves Meatless Ground Round Original to the produce area and picked up a frozen pack of Ultimate Beefless Ground by Gardein.  I added the meatless beef to a pack of ready-to-eat spaghetti sauce (previously bought from Reshine Vegetarian Foods 瑞香素食) and packed some for Buddha Boy as lunch.  He was surprised that the meatless beef had a texture that was similar to real meat.  This was a healthy substitute.

Since Buddha Boy was planning to make burgers and wings for dinner, I didn't want to feel left out.  I picked up Gardein's frozen pack of Sweet and Tangy Barbecue Wings.  No, they didn't resemble anything close to the real deal, but honestly, these weren't bad at all.  The texture was similar to BK's Chicken Tenders, except these were pan-fried instead of deep-fried.  And, as stated on the packaging...yes, the sauce was "sweet", but where's "tangy"?

While MomJ and Buddha Boy had the beef patties from Trader Joe's (American Style Kobe Beef Burgers), I had Garden's patties of Ultimate Beefless Burger.  The sweetness of onions was quite noticeable with a light hint of smoke flavor.  Honestly, I wouldn't mind eating this again on my non-veggie days.

2012-09-01 Dinner @ Golden Bauhinia Restaurant 金紫荊小館

#1226 - 8338 Capstan Way, Richmond, BC

604-278-8898

I couldn't believe USA McDonald's doesn't have vegetarian-friendly options!!!  Okay, the story was, we were down south shopping with MomJ and were super hungry by 2pm.  With empty stomachs, we really didn't want to "wait for food", so MomJ suggested McDonald's.  We figured that there must be something vegetarian for me right?  Wrong.  No vegetarian burger, no grilled cheese sandwich (like the ones in Canada for kids), not even a simple no-meat salad was available...WTF???  I asked if the kitchen can quickly make me a meat-less salad, but the manager responded, "It's not possible. But we could make you any burger on the menu less the meat."  Again...WTF???  So, with frustrations, I ended up breaking my diet and had a grilled chicken burger.  Hahaha!  Good excuse huh?

For dinner, since MomJ had an enjoyable experience previously, she suggested to try this restaurant located in Union Square 新城市廣場 in Richmond.  This unit was formerly occupied by Ho Yuen 芝穎豪園港式餐廳, owned by "Dr. Jaime Chan", who's famous for his annoying slogan..."芝穎, 芝韻婷, 係你唯一可以信賴的美容中心"...LOL!

The first thing that MomJ ordered was Free Range Chicken 一品走地雞.  The chicken was tender and moist, even with the white meats.  The flavors were soaked nicely into all parts of the bird.  At $11.99/order (1/2 chicken), this was not cheap, but considering it's free-ranged and was done well, we'd recommend this.

MomJ wanted fish.  Since ling cod was on special, we had it two ways.  First was the Lingcod w/Ginger and Onions in Clay Pot 薑蔥龍躉煲.  The fish was deep-fried then tossed with ginger, scallions, onions and garlic.  The strong ginger overpowered the fish and the dish was a bit too salty.

The second fish course was Lingcod & Chinese Kale Stir-Fry 油泡龍躉芥蘭.  With tender fish slices on a bed of very fresh and crisp Chinese broccoli, this was a simple dish done well.

Our server suggested the Pan Fried Pork Rib w/Salad Sauce in Beijing Style 京都沙拉骨.  While not meaty, each piece had an acceptable meat-to-bone ratio.  The sweet and sour sauce was simply another variation of its own category.  The salad dressing tasted similar to Taiwanese-style mayo. 

The Wonton Soup 淨鮮蝦雲吞湯 had shrimp-only wontons.  Of course, the soup had MSG, but the broth was light and not salty.

The Braised Pork with Preserved Vegetable 梅菜扣肉, or mui-choy pork belly, was a miss.  The preserved vegetable was not salty, but very sweet.  The pork was not braised long enough to the ideal texture.  Not much meat in the dish for the price.  Not recommended.

The complimentary dessert at the end was Mung Bean Sweet Soup 綠豆沙.  While acceptable, the missing flavor of orange peel 陳皮 really showed its importance.

Three people, six dishes, no leftovers...yup we're pigs!  We plan to return and try their roasted squabs and lotus-leaf crab rice.