$15 – $25

Hanoi Old Quarter Restaurant

July 28, 2019

This is a cold dish that is very refreshing to eat during Summer. The presentation is awesome. The use of straw plate and banana leaf transformed this dish to something more exotic. When the waitress brought this dish to us, I could still see the vermicelli bouncing left and right. The key to this dish is the freshness of its ingredients. Aside from the Grilled pork belly and the pork patties. All the herbs are very crispy. The different flavours of the herbs are very subtle. We have cucumber, mint, lettuce, celery, basil, and bean sprout on the side. Perhaps 1 to 2 more herbs I cannot name. They will come out and surprise you with their unique fragrance when you are not paying too much attention to them. The grilled pork belly and pork patties are soaked in fish sauce with fermented veggie. The soup is sweet and sour with a little kick of spicy. They taste really good. However, I find the thinly sliced bacon-style pork belly a little tough to the bite. Similarly to the pork patties a little tough on the outside. The pork pattie's interior is quite tender.

Kirin Restaurant Steamed Prawn and Sakura Farm Premium Pork Dumpling (Shu Mai)

Kirin Seafood Restaurant, Dim Sum on Cambie

July 26, 2019

Kirin Seafood Restaurant is one of the oldest high-quality Cantonese Seafood Restaurant in Vancouver. They have been around for a least 20 years. During this time, Kirin continued to adopt new recipe and never downgrades their food quality for a higher profit margin. That is respectable. This Kirin Seafood Restaurant is located on Cambie and West 12th Avenue in Vancouver, on the 3rd floor of City Square.

The Gray Olive Cafeteria Brunch Pulled Pork Benny

The Gray Olive Cafeteria, Best Brunch Burnaby

July 23, 2019

This plate of beautifully presented pulled pork benny is plate-licking good. Everything on this dish is delightful. The hash brown is the best I have ever had. It's fresh out of the fryer. The crunchy exterior that is not too hard to cut my mouth. The interior is so soft that it almost melts in your mouth. It is also perfectly seasoned. I already said the hashbrowns are the best I've had, but this pulled pork benny is also the best I've had. Seriously, I took a bite and can not stop myself from eating it. The pulled pork, coleslaw, and hollandaise sauce are in perfect harmony. Using cornbread as the base is genius. The cornbread crumbles to the touch, not lingering like English muffins. This takes away the frustrating part of eating benny away for me. The bottom is brown with a slight crisp. The texture variation makes this more enjoyable. The two eggs on top are perfectly poached.

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.

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.

Wang Ga Ma (왕가 마), King of Korean Stew

July 9, 2019

It's very thick and cooked to just the right tenderness. I can feel my teeth breaking each muscle strand. It was very satisfying. We can verify the meat was cooked perfectly by biting the tissue around the bone. It only take one bite to break the link, and enjoy this entire meat. It's effortless. Very nicely done.

Formosa Nursery Organic blueberry u-pick

Formosa Nursery, The Only Organic U-Pick In The Lower Mainland.

July 7, 2019

Blueberries are healthy, pesticides are not. Organic blueberries are expensive. If you are willing to pay a bit more for truly healthy blueberries, it is a lot more affordable when you go straight to the suppliers. Formosa Nursery blueberries are not overly sweet. These organic blueberries are a little sour, just how I think blueberries to be. Because it is fresh and never frozen, I could even taste a hint floral, kind of like roses. Please stay away from this location if you are selfish or have a tendency to break things. I'd like to continue enjoying this peace haven in the many years to come.

Gokudo Shabu Shabu (極道刷刷鍋) Personal Hot Pot

July 4, 2019

Gokudo Shabu Shabu is one of the oldest Taiwanese personal hot pot restaurants in the lower mainland. They have been around for about 15 years, and their second location just recently opened...