Peaceful Restaurant

Reading all the good reviews online of this restaurant, I decided to give it a try for lunch.

I went pretty early to avoid the crowds and I was glad I did, because when I left, there was already many people waiting! I thought the service was good, the waitresses are very attentive.

I decided to try their famous Beef Roll 

I must say, this beef roll probably deserves the hype. They put salty beef inside a wrap similar to those cha siu rolls you get at Chinese bakeries. The rolls are pretty big, and they are bigger than they look in this picture. I actually couldn't finish them because they are oily, so I took one for take out. I got really hungry in the late afternoon, so I had the leftover roll cold, it was even more delicious, maybe because I was starving...

I also wanted to try out their hand ripped noodles because they are famous for their open kitchen, where customers can see the noodles being made. I decided to get the Shanghai Pork-Chop Soup Noodles $7.95 (crispy pork-chop & spinach in a savoury broth). I was disappointed with this one. It just tasted like those types of food where it's quantity over quality. The broth I found unnecessarily too salty. The pork chops were really difficult to bite apart, there was not enough actual meat in the deep fried pork chops, but a lot of the frying batter. The noodles themselves I didn't find anything special.


Overall: It's good if you want to get full, but the noodles I did not really like.

Shanghai River

Went to Shanghai River for a family dinner. I haven't been to here in ages and back then, it was only for lunch dim sum. 

I was excited to try some Shanghainese dinner dishes. 

We started off with an appetizer consisting of drunken chicken and sweet fish. I don't know the actual names of these dishes so I'm just going by description haha

I thought this dish was good. It is a cold dish, you could really taste the slight alcohol taste on the chicken. The texture of the meat was good, it wasn't overly soft or hard. I didn't have much of the fish, but it was okay, it's just a little weird if you haven't had this type of dish before because I actually ate some of the small bones.


We ordered four main dishes.

Cream Shrimp with walnuts

Fried Duck

Egg-white with Crab

Sweet and Sour Pork

I won't comment on the Sweet and Sour Pork because it tasted the same as in any restaurant, but it's still good. The fried duck was definitely the most interesting dish I had. I have never had duck that was prepared this way in my life. I absolutely loved it. It was a little salty but I felt it enhanced the deliciousness. The skin was crispy. It is a nice detour from the usual Chinese Duck that I usually have.

I have tried that dish with the cream shrimp a few times at other restaurants. I love the dish... I love how the shrimp is so bouncy when you bite into it... and the taste that the cream has added to it.

The egg-white with crab is also one of my favourite dishes. It was great for eating with a bowl of rice :)


Overall: I want to eat here again.

Cattle Hot Pot

Decided to have Chinese Hot Pot before heading to the Richmond Night Market, I forgot why we decided on Cattle Hot Pot, but it was my first time there.

The price was pretty good for the dinner all you can eat. They had some items on the list that were pretty cool, like the salted fish rice in pot.

One of our friends is a big spicy eater, but I'm not! So we decided to get two soup bases, one for me and one for her.


And they had luncheon meat for hot pot, first time I've done that but it was good... but then, luncheon meat is always good in my opinion...

 I thought the food was pretty fresh so food quality is good.


I was amazed at the size of the oysters even after being cooked, never seen oysters that big before.

Overall: I feel 2 hours is not enough for hot pot, we were quickly rushed to leave after the time limit, which was a little disappointing because I wasn't finish eating! But the food is good, so maybe go on a weekday where there is less people.

Floata Seafood Restaurant

Was invited to a banquet at Floata Seafood Restaurant in Chinatown. I have not been here in ages. I remember coming here with my grandfather a long time ago for dim sum. It more or less looked the same; but I noticed they refurbished the interior a little. Unfortunately, a visit to the washroom disappointed me severely. The washroom was old and did not look maintained; definitely a drastic difference from top-end Chinese restaurants in Vancouver.

The service was also horrible. First, they force changed plates for me when I did not want to at all. Second, a few dishes and bowls were dirty; they were not washed properly and food bits could be clearly seen. Third, when the plates should have been changed (ie. after eating lobster), they were not changed. Fourth, the beverages, coke and sprite, were refilled once or twice in the entire dinner, and we had to call them to. Fifth, spinner thing on the table was dirty from the previous dishes as we ate our meal, not once was it wiped for us. Sixth, staff kept pushing big carts and big bins through the dining area to the other parts of the restaurant. Seventh, we had just had the fried rice, so we were given bowls; now it is assumed that bowls are used to eat the rice as this is common practice in every other Chinese restaurant I have been to. After we were done the rice, the waitress brought the desert (an almond soup), the waitress then rudely exclaimed in Cantonese "why would you use the bowls for the rice" We were absolutely appalled. One of the managers then took over but did not over any apologies at all, merely stating overcapacity as the reason to their rudeness. This is the most ridiculous service I have experienced in a long time.


Well let's talk about the food now, it doesn't get much better here either

4.5/5 

+

•  Probably the best part of the meal
• My favourite Chinese dish of all time; I rarely have piglet because it is really expensive
• Crispy and thin skin
• Meat was not too fatty
• Taste was perfect, not too salty
• Pieces were cut perfectly small for putting into mouth in one bite

-

• Skin could be a little more crispy

 4/5

+

• Refreshing for the summer heat
• Lots of winter melon
• Ingredients (shrimp, BBQ duck, etc) were good

-

• Not served hot enough

3/5

+

• Didn't taste very special at all
• Everything was very standard (mushrooms, tofu skin, bok choy)

-

• Too salty

2/5

+

• Lobster

-

• Meat did not taste fresh at all

3.5/5

+

• Meat texture was pretty good

 -

• Not enough meat in the chicken

2/5

+

• Sauce that accompanied the fish was very strong and provided good taste

-

• Fish did not taste fresh at all, it was not soft enough

 

3.5/5

+

• nothing special, tasted like the usual fried rice and noodles at the end of every banquet

Overall: Never again unless it was free like this time.

Xu's Wonton House

Wanted to grab a delicious but small snack in Crystal Mall because I was hungry and dinner would be soon anyways, so I just needed something quick and easy to fill my hungry stomach.Wandered around the food court for a few rounds before finally deciding to try the famous Xiao Long Bao at Xu's Wonton House. It was my first time getting this dish at a food court place so I was excited to compare it to the restaurant XLBs. 

Bayulan Steamed Mini Pork Buns (5) $4     4/5

+

• Very meat juicy inside
• Sizzling hot, I even burned my tongue while eating it because I was in a rush
• I saw that they freshly prepared the buns and meat with their hands at the front counter as the orders were taken
• Pork was chewy, not too soft or hard
• Pork was not too salty, but still carried enough taste
• Biting a little hole in the bun, then proceeding to slurp the juice is the best feeling ever

-

• I thought the bun skin could be done a little better, it was a little too hard for my taste, I would have preferred something more soft

Overall: These XLBs were excellent for the price (5 for $4) and they tasted very good. Especially with the juice inside the buns, just be careful of burning your mouth! Make sure when you eat it, you slurp the meat juice directly into your mouth, that feeling can not be beat.

Luda

I was super tired from Canada Day celebrations the previous day, so I really wanted to head out for dinner. I was having a hard time picking between this restaurant and another restaurant (Gingeri in Richmond), but Gingeri was full for dinner so we went to Luda. By the time we got here, I was already really hungry and I looked forward to trying their Oyster Omelette, a Chinese dish of Chiuchow origin. Chiuchow food is rare in Vancouver, so I am excited every time I get to try the Oyster Omelette.

If you have never been here before, you might not expect much in terms of cleanliness and/or food quality from a place on East Hastings. When you walk inside, you'll be surprised by the coziness of the restaurant; and the prices are in line with restaurants that appear higher-end. This definitely is not a hole-in-the-wall place serving Canadian Chinese food.

Here's what we ate:

Salted Fish Fried Meat (Pork) Pie $14.98     5/5

+

• The "bouncy" feel felt by your mouth when you bite into the meat was present here
• Contrary to steam, the method of preparation used at most Chinese restaurants for this dish, Luda takes it up a level and fries the Pie, I believe this gave a better feeling in the mouth and a feeling of more "fire"
• The salted fish was distributed in little pieces, there weren't too many, so the Pie was not excessively salty
• Goes very well with a bowl of rice

Oyster Omelette $16.80     5/5

+

• One of my favourite dishes of all time, Luda does a great job with it
• Traditionally, oyster omelette would be prepared using small oysters, however, small oysters are more abundant in China and not so here on the West Coast, so what most chefs do is cut big oysters into small pieces; personally, I do not have that big a preference regarding this because it still tastes good since the oyster was fresh
• The omelette was not too thick or thin, just the right amount of starch was used to give the egg a thicker consistency
• Not too oily
• The onions sprinkled through out the omelette augmented the taste and texture of the omelette greatly, because the onions added more crunchyness to the omelette
• Fried just to the right level, not over fried, and fried just to the right level in that the egg is still crunchy
• Lots of oysters 

Spicy sauce and another sauce (I did not really like the taste)

椒C Fermented Bean Curd Spinach $14.98     4.5/5

+

• Good texture (crunchy)
• Usually I do not like spinach, however, when it is prepared with this method, I love it because the taste is excellent for going along with a bowl of rice
• Fresh

Overall: All the dishes were served steaming hot. It was quite a nice dinner with comfortable seats. I can tell that the chef has put a lot of effort into preparing the dishes. I'll be back.

Kingspark Good Food

Had to make an early morning trip to Crystal Mall today and did not have time to eat breakfast at home. I prepared a sandwich to bring with me on the bus ride, but stupidly forgot the sandwich at home. I did not want to spend money on breakfast as I was going to eat lunch at Crystal Mall anyways, but my stomach took over, and I bought a little sandwich at Kingspark Good Food inside the food court. Hopefully the food lives up to the name of the restaurant :)

Here's what I ate:

Corned Beef and Egg Sandwich 咸牛肉蛋三明治 $3.25 tax included     3/5

+

• Beef and egg came very hot

-

• The beef was not very salty, I would have preferred a little more salty
• An imbalance in the quantity of the egg vs. the beef, there seemed to be much more beef than egg; I would have preferred more egg
• It would be better to increase the size of the innards of the sandwich, so that the sandwich looks more appealing, because right now, the bread is much bigger than the contents of the sandwich

 



Overall: I have only had one dish out of their many options, so I can not make a conclusive statement of whether they are good, but I think I just made a poor decision in my choice of food; I would come here again because the prices are pretty cheap.

Copa Cafe

I am really glad this restaurant chose to open here a few years ago. It has become my "go-to" place for cheap HK-style Cafe food. My old "go-to" place was Golden Oscar on Rupert @ 22nd. Copa just does everything right in my opinion.


Their service is what you expect from a regular HK-style Cafe, not very good, not very bad. They are generally friendly people and carry a smile. The restaurant itself is pretty clean on the front, the washrooms are also maintained, the utensils are usually clean; this is not something I can say for every HK-style restaurant. The most important part is that I feel comfortable eating here, it feels really "warm"; their ambiance is good.


I would say their closest competitors in this area are I-Cafe and Cafe Gloucester. One advantage that Copa has over these other restaurants is the ease of finding a parking space. There is a ~10 space CCTV-monitored parking lot behind the restaurant, as well as meter parking along Cambie and free parking along King Edward. 

Now on to the food:

Baked Garoupa Florentine on Rice $7.95     4/5

+

• comes with cheese, cream, and spinach on top; I absolutely love the mixture melted on top of the rice after it is baked, it is not too watery or solid, it is just the right fluidity to go along with the rice
• the fish tasted good, the cheese, cream, and spinach covered the taste of the fish, so it was good, the fish had a good texture, it was nice to bite into
• the rice was not over baked, there was no rice sticking to the plate, good
• came bubbling hot

Ginger scallion & Egg Fried Rice $6.95     3.5/5

+

• I'll admit, I'm a little biased, I really don't like the taste of ginger, but I'll rate this as if I have no problems with Ginger
• Very strong ginger taste
• Served hot
• Not too oily

-

• I do not like Ginger taste lol

Dash Fish Misin Soup $7.95     3.5/5

+

• Very strong soup taste
• Fish tasted fresh
• Misin was good texture, not too soft, not too hard
• Good quantity

-

• It smelled a little weird, I do not know how to describe the smell, but I did not really like it, I could not taste it though

Overall: I'll be back definitely, because I believe Copa delivers good food for the price in a comfortable setting. Keep up the good work!