604 Food Critic

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.

Passion8 Dessert Cafe Chocolate Bingsoo Mr Choco Brown

Passion8 Dessert Cafe, Cute Bingsoo

July 16, 2019

Passion8 Dessert Cafe makes really well presented bingsoo. This is Mr. Choco Brown, basically chocolate bingsoo. There is a scoop of chocolate ice cream with a small piece of pastry as its hat. Also, there's two small oreo cookie act as the ears, and a small M&M as the nose. The bingsoo is served in tin can, which is an interesting choice. Unfortunately the outside the bowl is covered with chocolate syrup. It's not very pleasant to touch. Their most famous dish is their Real Tiramisu bingsoo.

Icy Bar, Razor Sharp Icy

July 15, 2019

There is a type of Cantonese restaurants where they serve all kinds of cuisine. First, you see congee, noodle, and BBQ duck meal, the typical Cantonese food, nothing out of the ordinary. Then you start to see the New Zealand rack of lamb and New York sirloin steak with lobster tail. Next page you see Japanese sushi, ramen and curry rice. If you got curious and ordered the sushi, you'll find out what Chinese infused sushi taste like. Or a bowl of Chiense noodle soup with miso added that is being called "ramen". Icy Bar dessert shop is like that kind of patchwork restaurants in the dessert world

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.

Yi Fang Taiwanese Fruit Tea

July 11, 2019

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...

Brown Sugar Milk Tea Boba Ice Cream Bar

July 10, 2019

The actual brown sugar boba ice cream bar cannot retain its own shape. It needs to be stored in a much colder temperature than consumer grade freezer. Most of the ice cream bars I open are too soft. The brown sugar on the outside increase friction to the packaging. Merely the force....

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.

604 Food Critic

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