3 Star

Weekend Tea, a bubble tea shop in Burnaby

September 10, 2019

Weekend Tea definitely used quality ingredients, but I think the cup is a little too small for the price they are charging. I have mixed feeling about this place and not sure if I should recommend it. Zang is a direct translation of “Dirty”. It is to resemble the beautiful exterior marbling of the brown sugar pearl milk in the clear cup. The cup size is comparable to Xing Fu Tang, both are quite small. This one at Weekend Tea cost $6.50, one size only. The milk came shaken. There’s no precipitation of brown sugar syrup at the bottom. I also couldn’t experience the warm and soft pearls. The drink doesn’t taste too sweet compared to many other brown sugar drink from other tea shop. The taste is a little boring at the beginning. Towards the end, the saltiness starts to shine through to give this drink a layered flavour. For some reason, the rim of my cup have some brown sugar syrup. Maybe this is what they meant by “Dirty”? My finger kept getting dirty from touching the rim. I had to go get napkin twice.

Vij’s Indian Fine Dining Restaurant in Vancouver

September 8, 2019

Vij’s has been around for a couple of years. In the beginning, there was always line up outside the door. They allowed reservation a year after. I just show up at the door on my visit. It was 6:00 pm and there was no line-up. The food still tastes pretty good, but I do question some of the business decisions they have made. Overall, the curry at Vij’s has a lot more complex flavour profiles compared to your normal Indian buffet places. It does cost about $45 per person, and the tips on the credit card machine are set to 18% as a minimum. This pretty much triples any other Indian restaurants. It’s a good place for special occasion, but not recommended for daily visits.

Fortune Lamb Dining, Chinese Restaurant on Kingsway Vancouver

September 4, 2019

Fortune Lamb Dining serves authentic Northern Chinese cuisine for $30 per person. Their food taste good but the food is expensive. This restaurant used to taste even better, but the quality of their food decreased as they got busy over the years. I would still recommend this restaurant, however I would be careful on what to order.

Good Food Lekoufu Steak with black pepper on Rice

Good Food Lekoufu (樂口福) at Parker place Richmond

September 3, 2019

I admit it doesn’t look very appealing, but they actually taste pretty good. The only complain I have about the taste is the flavour only comes from the sauce. I ordered the steak with black pepper on rice. The chef covered the plate of rice with two large thin pieces of steak on top. Then the front staff opens a pre-mixed black pepper sauce and gave me 3 scoops. Good Food Lekoufu is a Cantonese Cafe style restaurant. These restaurants are known for their massive portion of carbohydrates and minimal protein. For $12, I got a small cold drink and the meat I got are a lot more than what I get from a $15 Cantonese Cafe. They have pretty bad presentation, and I don’t know how long the sauce have been in the big pot, but the food taste okay with it. It’s pretty much you get what you paid for. It’s not the best food here, but I have seen a lot worse. So, I can comfortably recommend this food stand for people who are looking for cheap eat.

Kamamarui Ramen and Don Miso Chashu Ramen

Kamamarui Ramen and Don, Burnaby Ramen

September 1, 2019

I don’t understand why people are lining up for Kamamarui Ramen and Don. The only reason I can think of is perhaps there aren’t authentic ramen places nearby. I think these are all going to change as soon as the Marutama Ramen opens on Kingsway. Unfortunately, Kamamarui Ramen and Don is not worth the $15 per person price point for me. For the same price, I can get a better crafted authentic Japanese ramen from somewhere else.

Pokérrito Poke Bowl

August 30, 2019

Pokérrito is an acceptable poke restaurant. Think of it as an Asian fast food restaurant. The counter has the staff side and the customer side. Trading money for a bowl of poke is your only interaction. After the trade, you can either take your food to go or enjoy it at the space provided. The dining area seating is limited and modernly uninviting, so don’t stay here for too long. For $12.50, I got a bowl of poke that is high-average but not above average. I’d say it’s equivalent to A&W, so $9.50 – $12 for a combo should be fair. Not recommended if you enjoy no-stress ordering experience. I did not enjoy the ordering ritual at Pokérrito. I noticed most of the Poké places operated by Korean will limit the number of sides you can ask for with your bowl. Pokérrito limits the number of side dish to 2. They also institute extra cost for certain popular sides such as avocado. This was my first time at Pokérrito so I only noticed the extra cost item when I picked them. When the server asked me “this cost 50 cents extra, is that okay?” What was I supposed to say? It is understandable to charge extra for wild salmon, but these petty charges on the sides just feel a cheap shot. I agreed on the extra charge and left paid with a bad aftertaste in my mouth. It would be appreciated if I can have a more relaxing ordering experience.

Rogue Kitchen & Wetbar

August 29, 2019

The meat was ground sirloin meat that is cooked to be slight pink on the inside and it is quite juicy. There were literally meat juice flowing down the side of the burger as I eat. The smoked bacon was sturdy, but could be a bit more crispy. I’m not a big fan of lettuce, tomato and pickles in my burger, but they do make the burger more interesting to eat.

Chase Tea, John 4:14

August 28, 2019

On the outside of the original milk tea, I see a failed attempt to mimic the trendy brown sugar pearl milk tea. The exterior streaks are crude for marbling. The milk tea tastes quite watery. There is not much taste for either tea or milk. The pearls have acceptable chewiness. Some pearls are stuck together but separate with a light shake. I was disappointed that they used taro powder instead of the fresh stuff. In my defense, the taro milk tea’s location on the menu was a little misleading. It was below Earl Grey Milk Tea, and above Fresh Milk Tea. I didn’t think they would use “Earl Grey” powder or “Fresh” powder, so I assumed “Taro” is also not powder. To be honest, it’s probably my own fault for the assumption.

The Viet Noodle Guy

August 26, 2019

I was wrong about The Viet Noodle Guy. They are not a trendy Vietnamese restaurant. It’s just your typical pho restaurant in a new building that charge you higher price. The poor service is definitely a downside that hit this restaurant hard. After all, why would I pay to be treated like I did if the food did not even attract me that much? For $20 per person, The Viet Noodle Guy is way too costly for what they have to offer. Not recommended.

3 Star

Weekend Tea, a bubble tea shop in Burnaby

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Vij’s Indian Fine Dining Restaurant in Vancouver

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Fortune Lamb Dining, Chinese Restaurant on Kingsway Vancouver

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Good Food Lekoufu (樂口福) at Parker place Richmond

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Kamamarui Ramen and Don, Burnaby Ramen

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Pokérrito Poke Bowl

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Rogue Kitchen & Wetbar

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Chase Tea, John 4:14

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The Viet Noodle Guy

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