5 Star

The Gray Olive Cafeteria, Best Brunch Burnaby

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.

Daily Delicious, Sea Salt Bread and Salted Egg Yolk Croissant

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.

Ba Le Deli and Bakery, Bahn Mi

Ba Le’s #5 special sandwich is my favorite sandwich. I guess the memory goes back to the first time I’ve had it. When it took me by surprise of what a sandwich can be. I’ll tell you, “Subway” is nothing compared to this. #5 Special Sandwich is pretty much the same as the #3 Cold Cut Sandwich. Except #5 Special have a lot more meat. You can find Vietnamese sausage, Ham, Pate, Home made mayonnaise, Pickled daikon radish and carrots, Cilantro and Cucumber. The sandwich is cut in the middle for easier consumption. It is not completely cut. Which gave me a satisfying feeling when taking them apart. The exterior of the bread is hard, feels solid. I could hear the bread crumble when pulling on them.

ColorSeeSee Shanghainese Cuisine, Authentic Xiao Long Bao

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.

The First Dessert, New Authentic Cantonese Dessert

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.

Yi Fang Taiwanese Fruit Tea

Yi Fang’s Brown Sugar Pearl Milk Tea use traditional slow cooking method to cook the brown sugar’s sweetness into the pearls. The pearls are added to the cup before the milk to create interesting patterns inside the transparent cup. If you start drinking right when you get the drink, you’ll find it too sweet. You will also find the pearls warmer, and very soft to chew on. It is highly recommended to shake well before…

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

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.

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