Chinese

Happy Tree House BBQ Skewers

July 25, 2019

It is quite ironic to name the restaurant “Happy Tree”. I’d be pretty pissed if I were the trees. Happy Tree House BBQ make very good lamb skewers. Unfortunately, everything else is pure trash. The interior of the space is very noisy, you cannot hear what your friends are saying. The service is not very good, all the staff wants to do is get you to finish so they can serve the next round of customers. Even with these issues, I still see a lot of customers lining up. I cannot justify the $46 per person price point. Not recommended due to high price, bad food, bad atmosphere, and bad service.

Grand Dynasty Seafood Restaurant Steamed Ribs

Grand Dynasty Seafood Restaurant, Dim Sum

July 22, 2019

Grand Dynasty Seafood Restaurant is considered a mid-level Dimsum place. The cost is $20 per person price point used to be really worth it when they spend the time to take care of their food quality. This is no longer the case. Dim Sum is considered Southern Chinese cuisine, and they should be delicate. Yes, there are cheap and large dim sum places in town, but you don’t get to charge a high price and give low quality food. There are even insects flying around my food when I was eating. Not worth it, not recommended.

Moii Cafe, Japanese Crepe

July 21, 2019

Just a sneak peak of what’s inside. Whenever there’s chicken, we can see a lump from the outside. Cheese has been fully melted. Chicken can be a bit dry. Moii Cafe has changed its serving plate from porcelain to composite wood. Although the wooden plate is flat, I think this is a good business decision. The hot crepe naturally sticks to the bottom. Their knife is not super sharp. I guess the porcelain plate and knife created too much squeaking sound. This shows the store manager paid attention to finer details in the store.

Daily Delicious, Sesame Croissant Inside

Daily Delicious, Sea Salt Bread and Salted Egg Yolk Croissant

July 20, 2019

Daily Delicious’ sea salt bread is very buttery. The bread is sturdy to the bite. The exterior of the bread takes a bit of effort to break off. This bread is nothing like those unnatural puffy baked goods you buy from most Cantonese bakery. Internal air pockets indicates the bread is baked with added grease (probably butter) before mixing, then butter is rolled into the bread before baking. There is sea salt to give slight bursts of flavor when you find one. The bottom of the sea salt bread is brown and crisp from butter. These are the highlights of this bread.

Li’s China Grill, BBQ Skewers

July 19, 2019

Li’s China Grill is not as good as before. The decrease in food quality is very apparent. The price is still pretty high though. Our bill comes to $30 per person and we did not order a lot of food. Taste-wise, this is still an okay BBQ skewer place. Having Happy Tree House BBQ and Kuan Zhai Road Restaurant in close proximity, Li’s China Grill has an uphill battle ahead of them. Not recommended, there must be better BBQ skewers place somewhere else.

ColorSeeSee Shanghainese Cuisine, Authentic Xiao Long Bao

July 17, 2019

How do we know these Xiao Long Bao are authentic. Here are some key points:
Xiao Long Bao was brought to you with a lid, to reduce heat loss.
Lid was removed and Xiao Long Bao was presented to Patrons. We see Xiao Long Bao in the foggy steam and go “There’s my food”.
Then you see the Xiao Long Bao stood up strong and tall. Pleasant to look at, with out being floppy at the bottom.
The location and spacing of Xiao Long Bao is also important. They should be uniformly scattered, not touching each other or the steamer.
An authentic Xiao Long Bao should have exactly 18 folds at its crown.

Sip Bowl La Mian, Chinese Ramen

July 14, 2019

Sip Bowl Signature Beef Noodle bowl looks quite flat, almost unappetizing. It has lots of noodles, a large amount of green onion and chives, a few pieces of thinly sliced daikon, and 4 pieces of thinly sliced beef. However, when I started eating it, the triangular shaped noodle was very well done. It’s a little softer than I’d liked, but superb compared to the majority of noodle places in town. I can feel the bounciness on my teeth when I bite into them. The soup was delectable with a slight taste of savory, not very complex though. The beef was a bit too salty but goes well with the rest of the bowl.

New Cantonese Style Dessert The First Dessert Taro Balls

The First Dessert, New Authentic Cantonese Dessert

July 13, 2019

When we ordered the cold “Green Bean Paste”, the staff revealed to us they are unable to serve cold version. To give patrons the freshest dessert, they started cooking at 3pm. The simmering takes 2 hours to get it ready for 5pm opening. When we arrived, the cooking was just finished not long ago. The dessert hasn’t been put into the fridge long enough to cool yet. The First Dessert also didn’t want to put ice in there to dilute the taste or reduce the portion served.

Chinese Skewers at Big Tree Food Palace Skewers

Big Tree Food Palace Chinese Skewers

July 12, 2019

Big Tree Food Palace is not a very good restaurant. Our bill comes to $130 for 4 people with 15% tips. A bill of $150 for 4 equals to $37 per person. I don’t care if their rent is high. Their food quality is not worth $37 per head. The ingredients are sub-par. The majority of the food is slightly overcooked. I’m not sure if it’s bad to a point of “must-try”, but I think customers know when they eat something over-priced. The bad food quality of this restaurant would be acceptable if it’s $18 per person. Not recommended.

Chinese

Happy Tree House BBQ Skewers

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Grand Dynasty Seafood Restaurant, Dim Sum

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Moii Cafe, Japanese Crepe

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Daily Delicious, Sea Salt Bread and Salted Egg Yolk Croissant

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Li’s China Grill, BBQ Skewers

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ColorSeeSee Shanghainese Cuisine, Authentic Xiao Long Bao

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Sip Bowl La Mian, Chinese Ramen

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The First Dessert, New Authentic Cantonese Dessert

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Big Tree Food Palace Chinese Skewers

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