Empire Chinese Cuisine- Everybody Loves Dim Sum

Empire Chinese Cuisine is located on the eating district in Richmond aka Alexandra road. My family and I rarely come here but we decided to give this place a shot.

The interior is spacious but noisy. But I guess you can't really expect anything less than noisy when dining at a dim sum restaurant.

When I first saw these Baked BBQ Pork Buns I knew they weren't going to be spectacular. It looked a little pale.

These actually tasted better than they looked but I did find the sweet crust on top of the bread to be overly sugary. Regardless, I still always enjoy foods with a sweet and savoury component  Salt and caramel, bacon and maple syrup, you name it, I love all of them!

I rarely get to order this because I'm the only person who truly enjoys this dish in my family. It's called Swirl Egg with Shrimp on Rice Noodles. In my opinion, these are the bomb! Empire Chinese Cuisine did a really great job on this dish as the prawns were plump juicy, and there were ample swirly egg sauce. :D Yumm...

I actually still don't know how to make this swirly egg sauce that I love so much. Does anyone have a recipe or something? If so, please let me know!! :D

Steamed Mixed Mushroom Dumplings.

These were pretty abundant in mushrooms and the natural woody flavours of the mushrooms shined through. Thumbs up for me!

I love shrimp dumplings (aka har gow) so I chose the fancier version of it, Shrimp and Egg White Dumpling. It is pretty much the same thing but with egg whites and some herbs like cilantro in it. I thought it was pretty good and I liked the bouncy texture of the skin.

These Panfried Minced meat with Chesnut and Taro. 

These deliciously wrapped meat parcels are called Siu Mai or Pork Dumplings. They are always a fan favourite.

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 3/5
Price: $-$$

Overall Rating: 3/5

Happy Eating!


courtesy of http://iamyourgurupntay.blogspot.ca/2010/12/dim-sum-yum-cha-at-swatow-seafood.html

Sha Lin Noodle House- Did Not Live Up To My Expectations :/

Sha Lin (or Shaolin?) Noodle House is located near the Broadway City Hall station and they offer something that I was extremely excited to try out, knife cut noodles. 

I came here with Misu and ClimbingGirl after our failed attempt at snowshoeing. It was cold so we wanted a gigantic bowl of hot soup and noodles to warm us up.

The interior is alright. Nothing fancy.

Misu ordered the Lamb and Vegetable Cut Noodle ($7.95) and thought it was overall pretty good but on the bland side. I tasted a bit of hers and I actually loved it way more than mine. 

Climbing Girl ordered the Fried Cut Noodle with Seafood $9.95). 

She really enjoyed the thickness and texture of the noodles. 

I totally read on a blog somewhere on what not to get when in Sha Lin and I had to accidentally pick that exact one! I instantly knew I chose the wrong one when I saw it. Celery in soup? Oh god.

The one that you should not get is the Cut Noodle with Pork and Vegetable ($6.95). In my opinion (don't hate me if you love this dish!), crunchy carrots and celery did work well together with soupy noodles. As for the pork, it was tough and uninteresting. The chewy cut noodles were the only good part of the dish but that still didn't make up for everything else. I was so disappointed!!

To share, we ordered the Half Pork Half Veggie Fried Dumpling ($10.95).  

I've heard so much about these dumplings but after having them I really don't know where the hype comes from. We all found the skin way to be way too thick. The filling was actually not wrapped in dumpling skin, but dough...so it made for a sandwich rather than a 'dumpling'. Not recommended.

Overall, I was surprised by the lack of quality in the ingredients and the thick doughy dumplings. I love knife cut noodles but I don't see myself purposely coming back here again to try their other dishes.

Service Rating: 2.5/5

Food Rating: 2/5

Price: $$ ($10-20)

Overall Rating: 2/5

Happy Eating!

courtesy of http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45753160/ns/today-food/t/yum-build-your-own-tasty-gingerbread-house/#.UN67feQqY1I

Thai Thai (Hong Kong)- Thai Food in Hong Kong is The Bomb.

When I was in Hong Kong during the summer, my aunt and uncle decided to bring me to one of their favorite Thai restaurants, Thai Thai. FYI- the pronunciation of "Thai Thai" is what you usually call a married woman or housewife. Thus, they made a play on sound to infer that their food is equivalent to a home cooked meal. Thai Thai is located in "Dai May Dook" which is quite far from the central Hong Kong island. Nevertheless, it is worth a trip because the scenery around the area is just stunning.

We sat outside on the patio (in the blistering sun) because we brought along their family dog and that is the only area that dogs are allowed.

When my aunt first handed this to me, I was confused. I thought she was telling me to read the news but lo and behold, it's the menu! Ridiculously cool.

Honestly, I love the use of images and all of the photos were vivid, beautiful, and wonderfully captured the seduction of food. I wanted to eat everything I saw. =.=

We started off with the Roti but it was called Naan ($22.00 HKD/ $3.00 CAD) on the menu. It tasted pretty good but lacked the buttery, flaky texture.

Yellow Curry w/ Chicken ($108.00 HKD/ ~$15).

This curry dish provided the roti with delicious spicy sauce without burning off my tongue. Overall though I think the sauce lacked depth and if it was combined with some creamy coconut milk, the dish would have been completely irresistible. 

Pineapple Seafood Fried Rice with Pork Floss.

I sadly order pineapple fried rice every time I go to a Thai restaurant because it is just a staple Thai dish to me. Now I wonder.. do Thai people actually eat pineapple fried rice? Or is it just a stereotypical, unauthentic Thai dish?

 These Deep Fried Shrimp Spring Rolls ($88.00 HKD/ ~$10 CAD) were the bomb!!! The entire spring roll was filled with shrimp and it tasted wonderful with the red chili sweet and sour sauce. I love fried shrimp tails so I totally gobbled them up along with the spring roll. :D

I forgot what veggie this is but it was alright. They tasted and looked a bit like brussel sprouts but with more leaves. 

I had an awesome day eating Thai food, taking pictures of their ever so fluffy Poodle, and taking in the scenic view. 

  

What a sight eh? Just beautiful.

Happy Eating!

Soho Tea Room- Crispy and Surprisingly Juicy Potstickers

Misu told me about this new bubble tea place that opened up on Cambie Street so we decided to come here after work a few nights ago. Upon first glance, I quickly realized that Soho is a sister restaurant of Flo Tea Room. Even the font of the logo is the same!

We shared the Salt and Chili Chicken Knee ($6.00) and it was pretty good. The chili gave the chicken knee a good kick without making us breathe fire. I think the dish would have been perfect if they fried it a little bit longer to get a better crisp on the batter.

Soho Tea Room has been advertising their 6 pcs Pork Potstickers ($5.00) and they have also been quite well received by diners according to their reviews. Even when ordering these, I was a little skeptical since I expected them to be store bought and pan fried from frozen.

I was pleasantly surprised by the juiciness of the potstickers and the crispy skin. The quality of these potstickers were comparable to ones you'd get at a Shanghai restaurant. Thumbs up!

Both Misu and I ordered the Coconut Taro Smoothie ($4.50). It took FOREVER for it to come out but it was rather creamy, smooth, and delicious. Okay, long story short. It took over 35 minutes for any of our food or drinks to arrive and we had to rush them twice. We were frustrated with the slow service and I personally was ready to cross them off my return list, but then, something miraculous happened. To apologize for their lack of service, they didn't charge us for one of our drinks!! This NEVER happens to me at an Asian restaurant as it is pretty much an unwritten rule that you will never get compensated for poor service. 

Sure their service was slow. But overall, the food was decent, the smoothie was delicious, and they acknowledge and apologize for not-up-to-par service which is extremely rare at bubble tea restaurants.

Service Rating: 2.5/5
Food Rating: 3.5/5
Price: $-$$

Overall Rating: 3/5

Happy Eating!


courtesy of http://rasamalaysia.com/gyoza/

La Casita- $5 Burritos on Mondays

La Casita is located in Gastown, a few blocks away from the Waterfront skytrain station. Diana (foodology) told me about their '$5 Monday Burrito Specials' so we all decided to go after our meeting.

They gave us complimentary chips and salsa before our burritos came. The green salsa was mild and had a really tasty herby flavour to it. The red salsa was spicier so I didn't like that one as much.

Diana ordered Combo #2 ($11.00) which consisted of tortilla soup and two flautas (they looked like taquitos). She enjoyed the soup and when I saw how fresh and delicious it looked, I regret not getting it as well!

I ordered the Chicken Burrito ($5.00) and when it came, it looked a bit sad on its own with only a little pile of what I assume is slaw on the side.

But when I started eating it, it was actually really delicious! I didn't think I would enjoy a burrito with mostly chicken because it seemed too heavy but that wasn't the case here. The tender chicken was sauteed with bell peppers, onions, and then combined with melted cheese.

I so far have not tried anything other than their burrito so I wouldn't mind coming back again to try their other offerings.

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 3.5/5
Price: $-$$

Overall Rating: 3/5

Happy Eating!


courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacho_Libre