Chef Hung (West Vancouver)

It is rare for there to be a Chinese or Taiwanese restaurant to open in North or West Vancouver simply because there just isn't the Asian population to support these restaurants. Only way to be successful is to also attract the customers who are not Asian. 

Chef Hung Taiwanese Noodle can be found worldwide. Their first store in Metro Vancouver was in Aberdeen Centre in Richmond. I have not been to that particular store because I've read horrible reviews. 

When I heard in the radio that Chef Hung is opening in West Vancouver. I was positively surprised and excited to try it. Coming in to the restaurant, I immediately noticed how nice the interior was.

It was clean and bright and gives a overall modern feeling. Since this was my first time here. We decided to get some appetizers as well.

Taiwanese Chicken Nuggets

Jellyfish and the Sea Plant thing... forgot the name

Deep Fried Tofu with fish meat

All the appetizers were delicious. The sea plant thing tastes different than the Korean and Japanese ones, I like this one better. However, I felt I had better chicken nuggets at other restaurants, the ones here did not have a very strong taste.

I decided to get their Award-Winning Beef Shank, Tendon & Tripe with Noodle in Soup and Champion Beef Brisket, Tendon, & Tripe with Noodle in Soup. There was an option to choose between thick noodles or thin noodles. I chose to go with thick for the first one and thin for the second one. Let's see which noodles tasted better to me...

Award-Winning Beef Shank, Tendon, & Tripe with Noodle in Soup

Champion Beef Brisket, Tendon & Tripe with Noodle in Soup

 I absolutely loved both the noodles. But I definitely preferred the Award-Winning Beef Shank, Tendon, & Tripe because the slightly spicy soup for that bowl of noodle was so good that I am drooling as I am typing this... The beef quality was great for both bowls, there isn't any hard to chew beef brisket or anything like that here... I prefer the thick noodles because I think it offers more to chew on and it's quite chewy, but quantity wise, I think there are more noodles were it's thinner...


Overall: I'll definitely be back for the food, but only once in a while because it isn't cheap.

Corner 23

Located near the King Edward Canada Line Station, Corner 23 is at a convenient location for public transit users such as myself. I have always wanted to try it since it opened because I always notice that it is very busy with people throughout the day. Furthermore, I've always had an interest in Taiwanese food. Today, I came with two friends who were new to Asian cuisines, especially something like Taiwanese food, so I hoped the food would be good because I was the one that recommended we go here.

Entering the restaurant, we were promptly greeted by the waitress and sat at a spacious table. It was around 5pm, but the restaurant was already busy. The interior was quite nicely decorated and the restaurant environment was comfortable overall. I was just recovering from a bad cough so I didn't go for any drinks, just stayed with the complementary tea. The menu was quite vast and there were many options; there is bound to be something that you like.

Since we had a party of 3, we each got a meal and I was feeling a bit ambitious, so I also opted for an appetizer to share with the others. I ordered the Taiwanese Style Pork Sausage with Rice $7.75 4/5 because I could not get any of the deep-fried or spicy dishes, I decided to go with something I've had before at other Taiwanese restaurants.

I was not disappointed. The set also came with three side dishes: cucumbers, some vegetable that I don't know what it is called, and corn. These side dishes were served warm, and not cold, as I first expected. They went well with the huge bowl of rice. The Taiwanese sausages were also excellent, they were not too salty or too hard. The portion was also, in my opinion, great for the price.

The appetizer we got was the Marinated Ground Pork Sauce on Rice $4.75 4/5, I wanted to try something that was new for me. I really didn't know what to expect. I only thought that it'd be a very small bowl of rice because it is an appetizer. Boy was I surprised!

This to me was more like a meal than a appetizer. The bowl was huge and there was lots of pork. My friends who have never had a marinated egg before remarked that it was quite delicious. The sauce that accompanied the rice made the rice a joy, the sauce was very delicious. The pork itself also tasted fresh. Excellent dish.


My friends opted for the Curry Chicken on rice $7.75 and the Egg Plant & Shredded Pork in Hot Garlic Sauce with Rice $7.50. Friend who had the Curry Chicken has never had Curry Chicken other than Traditional Indian Curry Chicken before, he said that the Taiwanese Curry Chicken was different, but still very good. Although he could not handle the spicy even though it wasn't very spicy, just his taste buds were weak.

My other friend who had the Egg Plant dish remarked that "the food I had was good. I liked the flavours but I thought that the eggplant sauce was a little on the oily side." 

Overall: I'll be back since it is so close to UBC and also convenient with the Canada Line. The food is good.

Favor Eat World - Taiwanese Specialty

Find myself visiting the wonderful Crystal Mall quite often these days, found myself here in the lunch hour and wanted to grab a quick lunch as I was hurrying to an appointment. With so many choices, again I had a hard decision in choosing what to eat. I was actually at the stall next to this one yesterday when I saw a lady grab the Taiwanese Beef Noodle from this place; I was drooling yesterday, so I had to try it today when I had the chance. From the big display they had, it seems that this would be safe option.


Beef Noodles (Soup) $6.03     4/5

+

• They had the option of choosing a spicy soup, but since I can not eat spicy, I chose to stick with the non spicy soup, this soup had a very strong taste, it was a little spicy, and the taste is hard to describe, but it reminded me of the soup base of kimchi bowl noodles
• The beef was a very good texture, not too hard; I hate it when beef is too hard that it annoys your teeth to bite into, but this texture was perfect
• The noodles themselves were similar to udon and it was great to "suck" them into the mouth
• Complementary hot cup of tea
• Served boiling hot, a very refreshing lunch and I really enjoyed it

-

• Soup was a little too salty, but otherwise still good

   


Overall: Another success inside the Crystal Mall food court, I imagine this Beef Noodle would be even better in the cold winter of Vancouver because it'd warm you in seconds and the feeling will be so good. I will be back at the food court for more food :).

Well Tea

I had just finished an exam in the morning and was looking for some food with my buddies from class to "chillax" after the exam. Being at UBC, there were not many choices because my buddies did not want to leave the campus. We ended up at Well Tea at the UBC Village. This is my second time at Well Tea, as I do not come often because I think it is quite expensive. 

I looked at the menu on the wall and spent a long time deciding what to get because there so many choices, I guess this is like how people find their dating partners. 

Here is what I ended up getting:


Taiwanese Sausauges with Rice with three side dishes $7.45     4.5/5

+

• yum yum, this was much better than the Sweet and Sour Pork I ordered here last time
• Good quantity of food, I thought that the food would not be enough for me because I was so hungry after the exam, but it was more than enough!
• Taiwanese sausauges were great, they were salty, but not too salty
• The side dishes I think were potato strips, cabbage, and lettuce, I especially liked the potato strips because they were soft and chewy
• I think I like Taiwanese rice in general, all the Taiwanese restaurants I go to always have this type of rice, it's a very sticky type of rice and it is absolutely delicious to go along with the sauce and the food

-

• If the food was a little hotter, it'd be better

Strawberry Bubble Milk Tea $4.00     5/5

+

• This was a really refreshing drink 
• Strong strawberry flavor (I opened the lid after and saw big chunks of real strawberries at the bottom, very good)
• Very cold, perfect for the summer weather

-

• No bubbles? (but the actual price was slightly less than $4.00, so maybe to account for no bubbles, but I think they should tell me at least)

Overall: This time was a lot better than the last time I came, so I'll be back, it's a great place to "chillax" with some friends. Only thing that might stop me is the prices though, it's a bit too expensive for the average student.