1 Star

Old Xian’s Food (老西安厨娘子) in Crystal Mall

I have not tried other Old Xian’s Food location, but Old Xian’s Food’s Crystal Mall branch really should not be operating. Their food quality received a 1-star review because we don’t have the option to give 0 star. The noodle has poor texture, mediocre taste, and they skimp out on the meat. On the other hand, the rougamo is just so bad that it should not even exist. You can really see the minimal care they put into their food. We have nothing against this restaurant chain, but the poor quality of the food served at their Crystal mall location is simply unbelievable. We do not recommend Old Xian’s Food.

Grand Chinese Restaurant Ambitious Name but Disappointing Food

The menu here is like a patchwork with no focus. This tells me they can make everything, but does not excel in anything. It’s kind of like an upgraded version of a Cantonese Cafe. They serve Southern Chinese cuisine like Szechuan food that is not spicy and Shanghai food that is not delicate. They also serve Northern Chinese cuisine like pancakes and noodles that I did not dare to try. The price of $26 per person is simply too high for the poor quality of food.

OneZo Tapioca, The worst bubble tea franchise in Vancouver

If the saying of “There is a reason for everything” holds true, then the purpose for having OneZo Tapioca is probably to demonstrate the absolute rock-bottom quality of a bubble tea. The $6.20 cost for a cup of bubble tea is way too high when the customer is getting powdered milk tea. You can get a cup of bubble tea with fresh milk and specialty tea leaves from other locations. I would definitely not recommend OneZo Tapioca. You can come here to check out how bad a cup of bubble tea can be.

Hokkaido Butter

Hokkaido Butter is really not in the leagues of other famous pre-packaged frozen desserts. The $9.99 package contain 4 ice cream cones inside, so they are $2.50 each. That is pretty expensive. I believe the careless temperature control during transportation ruined my first bite and the waffle texture. I cannot recommend something that is expensive and has low quality.

Din Tai Fung Xiao Long Bao

It is Din Tai Fung culture to serve pot stickers upside down to showcase the crispy bottom crust. The extravagant thin crisp crust hide the pot stickers underneath. When you eat them, you estimate where pot stickers are and break the crust accordingly. It provides excitement to eating an ordinary dish. Unfortunately for the Din Tai Fung in Seattle, I broke the bottom crust and knew this is not the right stuff. The crust should have been light, fluffy and crispy. This crust was soggy. I could not break it off easily because the top layer of the bottom crust was still wet. This is not cooked properly. The Shrimp and Kurotuba Pork Pot Stickers pot stickers should be soft and juicy to the bite. The real Din Tai Fung’s potstickers should have a bounce and give me a satisfying feeling when biting into them. However, the texture of the pot stickers can only be best described as “wimpy”. I don’t care if it’s Kurotuba Pork or whatever the pork they use. I cannot taste the difference. If you want to use prestige ingredients, customers should be able to differentiate it in the taste. Also something of note, shrimp does not have much texture.

Happy Tree House BBQ Skewers

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.

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