Taste of Aberdeen - Media Tasting Event at Aberdeen Food Court

I'm so happy to be writing this post because I was recently invited to a ChineseBites media event at one of my favourite places to eat! The Aberdeen food court! It may seem strange to most people but in my opinion, Aberdeen food court serves up some of the most delicious and authentic Asian fusion cuisine you can get in the lower mainland.

The event was great and brought together roughly 60 foodies and tons of delicious noms (and I mean.. TONS) and great conversation. I brought Meta Knight with me as my +1 and he had a great time meeting other bloggers and eating ALL DA FOOD.

Out of the 22 food items and 6 drinks between the six of us (I KNOW!! Crazy!), I've compiled my Top 5 favourite items so it's easier to read and decipher between the good, the meh, and the excellent. :)

1) The Drunken Chicken Hot Pot from the Tofu Hotpot stall was honestly my favorite dish of the night. If you know the 'drunken chicken' appetizer from Shanghainese restaurants, it's kind of like that, except in hot pot form with lots of wood ear mushroom, napa cabbage, crystal Korean noodles, and scrumptious broth. I've never tasted something like this before so it was truly a feast for the palate!

2) Before Pepper Lunch, there was Teppan Kitchen with it's sizzling hot plates! This is the 'A' Grade Ribeye Teppan with Corn and Egg and it has always been one of my favourite items to get at this food court. :) Feel free to check out my previous post here.

 Once everything is all mixed and the sizzling pan crisps up the bottom of the rice, it's time to DIG IN!

3) Bubble Waffle and Curry Fish Balls from the Bubble Waffle Stall make a really great snack. The fish balls give a slight spicy kick without making you reach for the milk. Here is my previous post on this place.

A good sign of a perfectly done bubble waffle is a crisp exterior and a light buoyant eggy interior. This one checks all the boxes and is my favourite bubble waffle in Richmond. :)

4)  Wu Fung Dessert's Deep Fried Chicken Wings are also a must get item when you visit the Aberdeen food court! This was a 50/50 dish between the chicken wings and fried squid tentacles and both were super solid. Here is my previous post on Wu Fung!

5) Saboten is one of the largest tonkatsu (Japanese style deep fried pork) chains in Japan. The first one in North America is right here in Aberdeen and this place is legit. This Saboten Set consists of deep fried shrimp tempura, tenderloin, and loin. My favourite part of their tonkatsu is the ground up black sesame powder. To see my previous post on Saboten, click here.

Honorable Mentions:

Sakura Roll from Aji Hana

(left to right): House Special from 8 Juice (really delicious and fruity btw), Iced Lemon Ribena from Bubble Waffle, Iced Honey Matcha Tea from Teppan Kitchen

(left to right): Iced Genmaicha from Saboten, Matcha Soy Bean Milk from Strike, Milk Tea from Estea Express

Pan Fried Chinese Chives with Pork Dumplings from Chef of Dumplings. This was actually very delicious as well. Didn't make it in the top 5 but was super close.

For those that like the authentic Szechuan taste, you have to try the Hot Sour Noodles from Szechuan House. This was Sherman's favourite and even though it numbed my tongue, it didn't for him and he loved it.

I love my wontons so these Prawn Wontons from Lung Kee were great. Also just barely missed top 5.

Skip the Clubhouse Sandwich from Strike.

Soy Sauce Chicken and Long Gong Chicken from Leung Kee. Both types were actually super flavorful.

Chicken Bulgogi and Pork Belly from Kitchen Korea.

Baked Pork Chop on Rice from Mambo Cafe.

Taiwanese style Popcorn Chicken from Yougo Chicken.

Sticky Rice from Leung Kee.

Tuna and Corn Egg Roll from Strike.

For some odd reason, I actually ended up really enjoying this dish. It is clearly maid with canned ingredients like the corn and tuna. However, mixed with mayo, egg, and LOTS of black pepper, this actually ended up being addicting!

Hainanese Chicken from Cafe D'Lite Express.

Banana Chocolate Crepe (sample size) from Cafe Mazazu

Mini Cream Puffs and Chesecake Sticks from Beard Papa's. Always solid no matter which location.

A Dream in Eden Shaved Ice from Frappe Bliss.

Matcha Delight from Frappe Bliss.

Happy Eating!


                the food kept on coming so we ate like...

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Sugarholic Cafe - Surprisingly Delicious!

Sugarholic Cafe is located inside Aberdeen Mall on the ground floor. It's been open for quite some time now and is a restaurant you can't ignore. Why? It shines of fluorescent white with long sheer drapes, chandeliers, and plump couches. On numerous times, I've seen people peer in, curious as to what the heck this restaurant/cafe is all about.

Going in, my expectations were very low. I mean, it's pretty hard not to when every single business before this lasted only a year or two at most.

I've got to say, I love their visual bright menus. Pictures speak louder than words so I naturally gravitate towards menus with big large pictures. :P

They actually have a pretty good "Lunch Special" menu for weekdays only between 12:30-2:30 (something like that). For $12.50, you get a choice of an entree and a drink. Of course, there are limitations to what you can choose for both entree and drink.

Their honey toast tower looks freakin' amazing... and sinful...and ridiculous.

They also offer various levels of high tea.

My mom got the Creamy Masago Pasta with Crab Meat ($9.95). It comes spicy but you can order it without any spiciness. The flavours were prominent and definitely on the heavy side. My mom found it almost too salty, but she likes her flavours on the bland side. I thought it was a good version of the classic Japanese fusion masago spaghetti.

Cheese Omelette Beef Fried Rice with Black Pepper Sauce ($10.95) was my choice and it was hella peppery!! Just the way I like it!

I liked the rice and frozen veggies throughout. The omelette was thin and acted as a good barrier between the rice and black pepper sauce.

In the end, Sugarholic Cafe surpassed my expectations and I found their items quite delicious and affordable. The atmosphere is much nicer than a typical Hong Kong style cafe so I will definitely be back to try their lunch menu on a weekday.

Service Rating: 4/5
Food Rating: 4/5
Price: $$

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!


                                         I am SAO fancy

 

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Boba Guys (San Francisco) - Horchata Boba and Thai Milk Tea

One of the districts Rae and I wanted to visit while in San Fran was the Mission District. It's an area decorated with murals and street art, delicious authentic Mexican taquerias, and hipster apothecary and taxidermy shops.

On our way I noticed a lot of people passing us were drinking bubble tea. They all seemed to have bought it from the same place, so I searched up the bubble tea place closest to where we were walking. Turns out, the ridiculously famous bubble tea shop called Boba Guys was right around the corner!

Unlike a lot of bubble tea places where you can choose from 50 different flavours and customize everything and anything, they have a set menu in place with only a few topping/milk/sweetness options. The Horchata Boba and Thai Tea TOTALLY caught my eye. 

The Horchata Boba (left) was a tad sweet for Rae's liking. I'd suggest getting it with 50% sweetness if you want the drink to be more refreshing than rich. On the other hand, I absolutely loved the Thai Tea (right). It was my first time trying authentic Thai Milk Tea and I am now a fan.

I hear it's really hard to make Thai tea because it includes ingredients like Ceylon tea, star anise, condensed milk, tamarind seed, and orange blossom water. It's something I'll never attempt to try at home so I wish Boba Guys would make its way to Vancouver because I promise I'll keep coming back for more!

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 4/5
Price:$

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!


                  Thai Tea made me like...

 

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Icepik Shavery - So Refreshing During the Summer

Icepik Shavery is another shaved ice restaurant on Kingsway, similar to Icy Bar. I came here on two occasions to try out their frozen treats since the weather has been getting really nice here. 

On my first visit, I came with Diana, Amy, and Curtis. We all tried to get different combos so we could try a bit of everything. On my second visit, I came with Meta Knight after a run and OH MY GOD it was amazing.

Meta Knight and I shared a Large Emperor's Pik ($6.85) which consists of matcha shaved ice, diced mango, grass jelly, rice cakes, and coconut jelly. This combination is fantastic and tastes even better with condensed milk (you can grab the bottle from the counter).

This is also the Emperor's Pik but in regular size.

The Fresh Pik'd Fruit ($5.85) is the fruitiest combination of all with mangoes, strawberries, housemade rice cakes, and mango jelly, all on top of mango shaved ice.

This one is called Penguin Pik ($5.85), probably because it's completely black and white. This one has black sesame shaved ice, rice cakes, oreo crumble, grass jelly, and pearls. It looks delicious but Curtis thought the sesame shaved ice was really bland.

I think the toppings on this ice pik combo is really good, but next time I might try this with a different flavour of shaved ice. Perhaps green tea or 'original' yogurt flavour.

The matcha shaved ice flavour is my favourite so I definitely would recommend that!

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

Overall Rating: 3/5


             the weather is too hot to handle... :D

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