2012-01-04 Lunch @ Ramen Jinya 陣家

270 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC

604-568-9711

Honestly, ramen and I never really clicked.  Growing up as a northern-Chinese descendent with two live-in chefs that specialized in northern-Chinese and Shanghai cuisines, my noodle preference would be thick, handmade and extremely Q (usually require kneading for approximately an hour).  With that bias, it's quite inappropriate for me to talk about ramen...I simply don't know what's consider good or bad.  Simply speaking, my post, my experience, my thoughts.

Butter chicken or ramen?  With such a chilly weather, I opted to warm up with a bowl of noodles.  So driving just around the corner from Grounds For Appeal (my favorite place for butter chicken) was this ramen shop that seemed to get a lot of attention lately.

Other than the noodles (al-dente for me), the Spicy Tonkatsu Ramen was disappointing.  The meat was braised to a "melt-in-your-mouth" tenderness, but the "rumbled-in-your-stomach" fat was unbearable.  The broth was porky, but it was extremely greasy and oily.  To add more to the damage, the saltiness had me chucking down two glasses of water.  In the end, I only managed to finish half of the bowl and left the rest...so not me.

My ramen was served in a large and deep bowl, which was okay, but the spoon provided was a soup spoon that's commonly used in Chinese households as a serving spoon, not an individual spoon.  I don't know about others, but I wasn't too comfortable eating with an over-sized spoon that's the same length as my chopsticks.

So far, other than the time I visited Benkei Ramen on Robson (see post 2011-02-16 Lunch @ Benkei Ramen) with Gloria from I'm Busy Eating (formerly Fork or Chopstick?), I have not yet found another compatible bowl of ramen...it's really not the ramen...it's me, all me...LOL!!!

2012-01-03 Lunch @ Hapa Umi 海

909 West Cordova Street, Vancouver, BC

604-420-4272

THANK YOU MR. & MRS. CRISPY LECHON!!!

Mr. & Mrs. Crispy showered us with a Living Social voucher for Hapa Umi.  Initially, Buddha Girl and I planned to order just a bit over $60, then head over to VCC Cafeteria or Feastro the Rolling Bistro to top up the tank.  But our plan didn't go very well, we were packed...overstuffed.  Oh, btw, this was a lunch meal.

We arrived a bit after opening and was seated right away.  Our server quickly greeted us with tea.  The interior design was not very Japanese, instead, it's simple, chic and trendy, we liked it.

For some reason, I wanted a Negitoro.  There was a nice balance of rice and tuna.  The tuna was smooth, and was mixed nicely with the green onions.  Dipped in a bit of soy and this was simple and good, well recommended.

Buddha Girl wanted Spicy Scallop Cone, usually she's never in for sushi cones.  Surprisingly, as much as it looked like it's drenched in a lot of sauce, it wasn't.  The scallops were probably frozen, but were freshly frozen.  Honestly, this was quite nice, we both enjoyed this.

 

Kakuni and Scallop caught our attention, it's basically soy-braised pork belly and seared scallop.  The pork belly braised perfectly to fork tender, and, surprisingly, not salty at all.  The major flaw was the overcooked scallops.

Each order of Daily Fish Tacos came in two.  Our server was very attentive and separated the order to two plates and provided each with a small soup.  Not sure what fish was used but it was nicely cooked and seasoned.  The smooth guacamole and creamy serrano tartar sauce added a nice freshness to the overall package.  The tortilla was soft, tender and warm.  Fresh cilantro, lettuce and tomatoes all balanced well together.  The seaweed didn't really stand out, I would have preferred furikake instead. 

Getting close to the end, we had the Kani Pasta.  Al dente pasta with rich and creamy sauce, almost too rich.  The richness was too apparent that the crab was forgotten.  Honestly, the first few bites were good, but the richness gradually hit us.

Yup, I just had to have something deep fried, so Chicken Karaage it was.  The chicken was lightly seasoned and was very moist, but was nothing special.

We ended up ordering quite a bit for the two of us, well, when do we not?  After the voucher, we paid just a little under $30 (balance plus tips).  Overall, we enjoyed our visit and was satisfied with the food and service.  Thank you Mr. & Mrs. Crispy Lechon for spoiling us with this wonderful gift.

Yes, my wife's crazy, she even took pictures of the bathroom...thank goodness no residues in the toilet...

2012-01-02 Snacks @ Shanghai Ting 上海亭美食

#1130 - 4540 No.3 Road, Richmond

604-278-8335

We were hungry...and since we were running errands in Richmond...plus we had some time to kill before meeting up with Seto-san and Yipster at Phnom Penh, we dragged CW to have something to snack on.  Our previous visits to this Shanghai stall in Empire Centre were satisfying (see post 2010-07-18 Quick Lunch @ Food Courts and 2010-08-08 Quick Lunch @ Shanghai Ting), but after reading Janice's disappointing visit (see post Sad XLB: Shanghai Ting 上海亭美食), consistency was nowhere to be seen...so Buddha Boy and I wanted to check it out again.

Since it was chilly, on top of the XLB, I ordered a Vegetable Pork Wonton in Soup 薺菜豬肉餛飩.  The wontons had very limited amount of shepherd's purse 薺菜.  The wontons were overcooked.  The soup was bland.

Between this visit, our last two visits (photo & photo) and Janice's visit (photo), inconsistency was clearly to blame...all the Shanghai Steamed Pork Buns 上海小籠包 looked different...WTF?

The skin was thin but loose.  The soup was oily and salty.  The meat had this freezer-burn taste.  I had this place as my #4 place for XLB in 604, but now...need I say more?  I'll just stick with Long's Noodle House 小龍記麵家.

2012-01-01 Dinner @ Dasarang Chicken

4501 North Road, Burnaby, BC

604-568-7711

Originally, we wanted to try Hee Rae Dung 喜來燈 (it's been on Buddha Boy's radar ever since he read the post on Foodology), but the chubby couple forgot to check Urbanspoon...grrr...it's closed on Sundays!!!  We ended up turning into this plaza because we saw two restaurants with their "OPEN" signs on.

After looking at the menus posted on both restaurants' windows, we settled with Dasarang Chicken...mainly because...it's deep-fried chicken!!!  LOL!

After we ordered we were served with a Cabbage Salad and a small dish of Pickled Daikon.  Not sure why a small dish of salt & pepper was also served...please educate us.

While Buddha Boy paid his focus on all the deep fried items, I had my eyes set on Pan Fried Chicken Gizzard with Veggie, or Moraejip.  At $12.95, I thought the price was a bit on the higher side.  Very good ratio of gizzards to fresh, crisp vegetables (mainly cabbage).  The gizzards were tender while maintained the crunch...done perfectly!  Lightly seasoned with salt, the two accompanied sauces (not exactly sure what type of sauces) weren't really needed.

From the deep-fried, Buddha Boy ordered a Half & Half.  Yangnyeom Chicken (left) was simply deep-fried chicken smothered in a sweet & spicy sauce.  The spicy was not hot (well, not for us) but it did had a kick.  The sweetness tasted a bit like plum or hawthorn...very interesting.  The right was just regular deep-fried chicken.  Both halves were deep-fried nicely with crispy outer skin and tender moist meat.

We couldn't recall the name of this dish, but it's basically deep-fried boneless chicken with chili and garlic then sprinkled with sesame.  This may not look spicy, but it really hit the spots.  This kinda reminded me of Taiwanese salty & peppery chicken 鹽酥雞...hahahaha!

The servers were friendly but inexperienced and inattentive.  The restaurant looked clean, but the rotten smell of spilled drinks (most likely beer) trapped in the bench upholstery stuck to our cloth...yes, our clothes smelled like yeast.  While the food was enjoyable (and we do plan to visit again), after all, it's just deep-fried chicken.

2012-01-01 Snacks @ Al Basha

3143 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC

604-568-8841

After a disappointing and an extremely unsatisfying NYE dinner at Shanghai River 滬江海派料理 (expensive with mediocre food...so overrated), Buddha Boy and I needed more food.  We originally had Donair Dude in mind, but avoiding Downtown on new year's eve was also a top priority.  In the end, we visited Al Basha and grabbed a couple of plates to go.  Because we did not consume the food until half past midnight...this meal was, technically, our first for 2012...wahahahaha!

Funny thing was, we all had party/outing invitations, but somehow...we all chose to stay in for night...yup, we're lazy.  The four of us (including Buddha Dog) all met up in the living room three minutes before twelve waiting to toast with our glasses (a bowl for Buddha Dog).  MomJ had a Glenfiddich, I had an orange juice, Buddha Boy had a Diet Coke (with a couple of lime wedges) and Buddha Dog had water...yup, we're one weird family.

At any donair shops, with common offerings of lamb, beef or chicken, the latter has always been my one and only choice.  The Chicken Plate had very generous amount of meat topped with drizzles of yogurt-like white sauce and hot sauce...(as you can tell, I'm not too knowledge in such food).  Unlike our last visit where the chicken was a bit dry, this time, it was tender and moist.  I like the rice, but not sure what was used for the flavors.  The hummus was creamy with a strong garlic taste, the drizzles of olive oil was not needed.  Nothing special about the salad.

Buddha Boy ordered the Beef Plate...we knew right away that it was a mistake when we saw the owner started heating thinly pre-sliced meats on a small electric griddle.  Watching the preparation was painful...and yup, the result was dry and disappointing.