Dae Bak Bon Ga

Dae Bak Bon Ga has been around for ten years, a whole decade. The restaurant is huge and occupies the second floor of Robson Plaza, serving traditional Korean food, offering all you can eat barbecue, and providing karaoke rooms. Dae Bak's AYCE Korean barbecue is different than other restaurants too because they serve meat in unique marinades such as curry or matcha.

After having lunch at Damso and being disappointed that the restaurant no longer serves bossam, I had major cravings for Korean style steamed pork belly and had to try Dae Bak on the following day! Every time I pass Dae Bak, I find the prices fairly high for their all you can eat menu. I personally only enjoy galbi (not LA cut ribs) and pork belly when having Korean barbecue, but Dae Bak only offers galbi on their priciest AYCE menu which is $45.00/person (actually, it may even only include LA cut ribs).

$45.00 is pricey in my opinion because a whole strip and a half of galbi is good enough for me and usually it costs $30.00 for an order at most Korean restaurants, which includes a couple of strips. Other than Dae Bak's all you can eat menu, their lunch specials catch my attention too. $13.00 for a plate of bossam? Yes please! The bossam looks really well seasoned, tender and fatty in the photo too.

During the lunch rush on a weekday, the restaurant was not very busy so there was only one server at the front. She was really friendly, but it was hard to find her because for some reason we were seated in a hidden corner. The seating arrangements at the restaurant are pretty private depending on where you sit because there are plenty of divider walls. But towards the middle end of the restaurant, it is all open space.

Goodbye, Tak Heng Hot Pot Restaurant 德興火鍋酒家

This is a rant.

The nicer looking photos are from previous posts.

My parents wanted me to have dinner with them at Kirin and I agreed, with a different choice of restaurant in mind. I suggested Richmond Sushi because the restaurant is constantly busy, so the sashimi is always fresh. Of course my parents hesitated at first and insisted on going to Octopus Garden if I wanted sushi, but I pretty much forced them to go to Richmond Sushi. On the way there however, I had a bad feeling in my stomach like perhaps Richmond Sushi is closed on Tuesdays. And evidently when we arrived, the restaurant was indeed closed.

So since I had a long day, my second choice was something fast, like Tak Heng, a reliable AYCE hot pot restaurant. My parents only like Landmark, but I insisted that Tak Heng's chicken wings and goji jello are really good. Tak Heng is also a regular restaurant of mine and I have been visiting almost biweekly ever since my last visit. Although I have noticed as more visits progressed, the owners are less friendly and have become inattentive, but I could care less about the service as long as the food tastes good. Or so I thought…

We arrived around 6:00pm and like my usual visits, the restaurant was not busy. Throughout the duration of our stay, there were only six seated tables. Starting with the positives, for the first time out of more than fifteen visits, the owner mentioned their "special sauce" comes at a $5.00 charge. There was always a charge for the sauce, but it was never mentioned until now and this is appreciated.

Richmond Sushi (Revisit)

How can someone who is very picky about Japanese cuisine have Richmond Sushi as one of their favourite restaurants? Well, as surprising as it may sound… I get better sashimi from Richmond Sushi which is an All You Can Eat restaurant than at some Japanese run businesses! The reason is because since Richmond Sushi is constantly busy, there is never sashimi laying around and sitting there.

Richmond Sushi is a part of the Top Gun Group and there is another Japanese restaurant in Vancouver, Kingsway Sushi. Despite that both restaurants are affiliated, I find the quality regarding the sashimi a touch better at Richmond Sushi. The presentation usually looks nicer and the cooked items are more consistent too.

The restaurant is very large and spacious, with plenty of booth seating arrangements at the back of the restaurant and a couple of rooms suitable for large parties. I am pretty much here on a weekly basis and ironically the time I decide to blog about a revisit, we were seated near the front of the restaurant lol but meh. As for the service, the staff uses a PDA so the food comes out fast. This is great for those who are really hungry and the food is always served hot. If anything is ever luke warm, blame it on the front of the house staff!

ADULT $25.95 || CHILD (5-9) $12.95
DELUXE $34.95 || CHILD (5-9) $15.95
LATE NIGHT $14.95 || CHILD (5-9) $9.95

Chubby Lamb Hot Pot 河豚火鍋 (Under new ownership)

"What do you want to eat? Hot pot? Is it worth the drive and $80.00?", lmfao this is how the conversation started when deciding on a place for dinner. A big reason for visiting Chubby Lamb Hotpot in Richmond is because the restaurant serves the best Chinese chicken and herbal soup base! The broth is consistent, tastes rich, and the owner always encourages us to have a couple of bowls each before starting on the hot pot!

However, the restaurant is now under a new ownership and management. Chubby Lamb has been closed for a couple of months and I assumed the restaurant was being renovated, but the biggest sign of a new ownership was the staff. The staff is different from the last few previous years and there are polaroid photos of the new team by the counter. The fish bowl sitting on the counter is another sign as well!

Walking in, the restaurant was empty but the room filled up fast. Both the waiter and waitress at the front of the house were friendly and inviting, especially the waitress. The waitress appears to be related to the owner and is a very hard worker. She is also extremely polite and even says "Hello, welcome" as well as "Please, right this way" in Chinese, which is actually a first for me out of 150+ Chinese restaurants I have blogged about. Furthermore, she followed up with every table and made sure to say goodbye to everyone.

As for the interior, Chubby Lamb is one of the smaller hot pot restaurants so reservations are recommended. There are only a couple of seating arrangements for parties of more than six and less than twelve tables. After ordering, every table is provided with soy, peanut and satay sauce, and extra condiments are $0.75.

ADULT $22.50 || CHILD (5-11) $14.90 || AGE (3-4) $5.00

BROTH $7.00 - $12.00 || UNLIMITED POP $1.50.

MaThai Hotpot Restaurant 泰麻鮮火鍋

MaThai is the newest Chinese hot pot restaurant to open along Alexandra Road in Richmond, and replaces the former AYCE restaurant Cattle Hot Pot. Being a big fan of hot pot restaurants and continuing to find regular ones for myself to frequently visit, MaThai has been on my list for a while. In addition, the director of MaThai invited me to try their restaurant. I received a coupon via e-mail, which was to be presented after my meal so I could blog about a true dining experience as a regular guest.

The interior looks similar to the former hot pot restaurant but the staff is noticeably different, as in they are friendly! The waitress was also attentive and continuously added additional broth to the pot without us having to request. This is worth mentioning because at many hot pot restaurants it is hard to wave someone down and I usually wait until there is almost no more soup base before making an effort to find the staff. Asides from the service, the restaurant is also fairly clean. Usually I wipe down the table setting with tea but did not need to this time.

ADULT $19.95 || CHILD (4-11) $14.99

BROTH $7.50 - $11.00 || POP $1.50

Little Sheep Mongolian Hotpot : West broadway location (2nd visit)

FIRST POST ON LITTLE SHEEP MONGOLIAN [HERE]

POST ON LITTLE SHEEP MONGOLIAN IN BURNABY [HERE]

When there is a restaurant you really like, the answer to "where do you want to eat?" is very simple. There is no need to be indecisive and choosing a restaurant is as simple as answering "okay". This was the case for Little Sheep Mongolian.

The main attraction about hot pot are the soup bases, but majority of the all you can eat restaurants in B.C have mediocre ones and Little Sheep Mongolian is one of them. Soup bases aside, the quality of the ingredients as well as the selection would be the second important component. Are the vegetables rinsed? How is the quality of the meat? Are there a variety of meat, tofu, vegetables and seafood? These are the questions that come to my mind because many AYCE hot pot restaurants are similar and I will select those that suit me.

ADULT $19.98 CHILD $14.98 BROTH $9.99 POP $2.00

Little Sheep Mongolian Hotpot 小肥羊 : West broadway location

POST ON LITTLE SHEEP MONGOLIAN IN BURNABY [HERE]

REVISIT POST ON LITTLE SHEEP MONGOLIAN IN VANCOUVER [HERE]

Stumped on where to go for the first meal of the day at 5:00pm, my friend and I settled on Little Sheep Mongolian. Little Sheep Mongolian is a Chinese hot pot restaurant and there are three locations, with the newest addition located on West Broadway. I used to frequently visit the location in Richmond because the restaurant is very spacious and there are comfortable seating arrangements. However, I stopped visiting because the soup bases are not that great and there are plenty of hot pot restaurants in Richmond! So there is no need to settle. As for the location in Burnaby, well… the experience was not that great.

So, at first I was a bit hesitant to try out Little Sheep on West Broadway and kind of remembered the menu as being a bit limited. But, I was craving for tong ho and we decided to make the visit. Similar to the other Little Sheep restaurants, the interior looks very modern and the seating arrangements are comfortable.

ADULT $19.98 CHILD (5-12) $14.98

BROTH $9.99 POP $2.00

Austin Fish & Chips : Coquitlam location

Deciding to forgo on C-Lover's fish n' chips (which was quite risky because we like the restaurant), we decided to try another restaurant in Coquitlam. Austin Fish & Chips is a small franchise and there are two other locations, in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadow.

Walking in, there is an easy to read and well organized take out menu, along with a few tables at the front. As for the dining area, there is a nice underwater mural painted on the wall of deep sea creatures. In addition, the seating arrangements are not cramped and there is a good amount of tables.

Austin Fish & Chips offers all you can eat pollock on Tuesdays to Thursdays, as well as Sundays. However, unlike similar competitors (C-Lovers and Cockney Kings), bottomless pop is not included. Furthermore, asides from seafood, the restaurant offers fresh fried chicken and burgers.

AYCE ADULT $12.99 CHILDREN $8.99

Kyo Korean BBQ & Sushi House 月見

Kyo Korean BBQ & Sushi House is located at the former location of Shabusen, which was also a Korean and Japanese all you can eat joint. A friend of mine has been wanting to try Kyo for quite some time, which is shocking since she never has any interest in AYCE joints. As for myself, I am a fan (of good ones) because they provide the opportunity to try a bit of everything on the menu. Plus, if the food tastes good, you get to order more. Although in general, I never think AYCE is ever worth it because I tend to eat and order less than when having a la carte. Not sure why... 

The interior of Kyo is actually really nice. The restaurant has window wrapped walls, plenty of seats, and can accommodate larger parties in a few sectioned off areas as well as rooms. Furthermore, the seating arrangements are comfortable and the restaurant has a large open space. In addition, there is an electric fireplace by the waiting area.

ADULT $23.99 || CHILD (4-10) $13.99 || AYCD POP $2.50

Mezbaan Indian Fusion Restaurant

Four consistent days of bad luck: Day Two.

Recently I have been looking for vouchers online and came across an amazing deal, $15.00 for two at an all you can eat dinner buffet which includes two soft drinks, chai tea or mango lassi. In addition, I read some posts on Mezbaan Indian Fusion Restaurant and the buffet did not look bad! What lured me in asides from the great deal is that the restaurant serves naan straight to the table, rather than sitting in the warming trays.

As stated on the voucher, reservations are required and when I called a few times, the restaurant was always booked. So, coming for dinner on Victoria Day, the restaurant was not busy but quickly filled up. Mezbaan Indian is fairly small with only ten tables and when we arrived, the waitress did not ask if we had reservations so we disregarded them. After waiting ten minutes, she came back and asked if we had a voucher, provided us with menus, and mentioned we can help ourselves at the buffet.

Tak Heng Hot Pot Restaurant 德興火鍋酒家 (2nd visit)

FIRST POST ON TAK HENG HOT POT [HERE]

As a self proclaimed "daily diner trying to find my regulars", I am glad to announce that Tak Heng is officially my favourite all you can eat hot pot restaurant (unless the third as well as fourth visits are not good)! When looking for a new hot pot restaurant to try in Richmond, I felt a bit hopeless since I have tried pretty much almost of all of them. So, remembering that I liked Tak Heng and labeled the restaurant as a possible "Richmond's version of Landmark", I decided to make the revisit. Before revisiting, I read my previous post on the restaurant (lesson learned to always check when revisiting) and was surprised that I thought the menu was limited. The menu has pretty much everything that I like and need!

Walking in for a late lunch, err... or early dinner at 5:30pm, the staff was still setting up. Tak Heng is newly renovated, has comfortable seating arrangements, and is one of the most cleanest hot pot restaurants. The restaurant offers a la carte as well as all you can eat, and we tried the AYCE again.

The restaurant offers complimentary drinks as well as sauces (chilli, bean spiral, vinegar, satay, soy and peanut). I am not sure what kind of drink it is but it tastes like the sweet basil seed drinks, minus the seeds. Also like the last visit, no cilantro, green onion or red chilli was available, but may be if asked?

ADULT $18.98 || CHILDREN (5-12) $13.95 

BROTH $8.00 || POP $2.00

C-Lovers Fish & Chips : Coquitlam location

Post on C-Lovers in Burquitlam [HERE]

Wow, look how heavy the rain is! After finishing dinner with my parents, I was craving for some fish n' chips and met up with a friend at C-Lovers Fish & Chips. C-Lovers is a fast food chain restaurant that serves made to order fish n' chips and features an all you can eat menu as well! The restaurant was fairly empty when we walked in but quite a few people came for take out. The all you can eat menu comes with unlimited fish n' chips and bottomless pop, just like Cockney Kings.

TODDLER (3 & UNDER) $2.99, CHILD (4-9) $5.99, ADULT ($11.99).

Uncle Willy's Buffet

Uncle Willy's? Really? HEY! What is wrong with Uncle Willy's? I remember begging my parents to take me here since no one in my family ever liked the restaurant and I never knew why. I mean for kids, it is all about the luke warm fries, mashed potato, fried chicken and of course, the self serve soft ice cream! At least for me it was. As for my family, my parents never really liked anything. My father would go for the fried chicken as well as roast beef and my mother went for the veggies and dip since we never buy those, as well as the ham since like any fob wife, does not make it at home. As for my older sister, she always literally sat there with a miserable face, never ate anything and my mother would get annoyed. Me on the other hand of course being five to seven, was easily sold on the ice cream… and still am LOL. Asides from my family's lack of enthusiasm regarding the food, they have always considered the restaurant dirty. Honestly to date, I still do not see it, the restaurant does not look that dirty to me!

Anyways, fast forward to a bit less than fifteen years later, I asked BF to take me here because we had no restaurant in mind and I wanted some ice cream! Walking in, diners pay at the front and can grab any seat. When I started snapping some photos, a couple of the staff members mentioned that no photos are allowed. Usually when no photos are allowed, there have been previous problems regarding the food and the restaurant does not want to accidentally make a mistake which is captured on camera. So, not being allowed to take photos, I literally tried a tiny bit of everything despite not wanting to LOL… the motivation I have just to take photos. By the way, is it sad that out of every non-Asian buffet that I have been to, Uncle Willy's is the only one where I have tried everything? I guess I never realize how picky I am… but hey, lesson learned, I will try everything at Sunday buffets from now on! I mean, I should, they are not that cheap and I never get the money's worth.

ADULT REGULAR DINNER $13.99

K. K. Dollar Hot Pot 開開豆撈坊

Having tried most of the known all you can eat hot pot restaurants in Richmond such as Cattle Hot Pot, Chubby Lamb, Claypot, Little Sheep Mongolian and Tak Heng Hot Pot, the next one on the list is K.K Dollar Hot Pot. The restaurant is located in the same plaza along with Oriental Dumpling King and is across the street from Tak Heng. When we arrived, we walked through the open door which lead to a… kind of odd stairwell and a shopping cart (my Instagram video here!) However after entering the restaurant, the atmosphere was a lot better. 

The interior is clean, spacious and well ventilated. K.K Dollar offers a deluxe as well as a regular AYCE menu and for an extra $3.00/person, one can order tong ho, mashed prawn paste and abalone mushroom. If it was not for the tong ho, we would have passed on the deluxe menu.

After ordering, our friendly waitress told us to help ourselves at the sauce section. Wow, sauce section this was. This is no ordinary sauce station like Little Sheep Mongolian's. This is the works. The station includes minced garlic, jalapeño, red chilli, cilantro and green onion. In addition, there are more than ten sauces!

Sesame oil, spicy oil, chilli preserved bean curd, special satay, fish, peanut, beef, sha ha, K.K special, and hot & spicy. I stuck with satay since I rarely use sauce and if I have to, I love my satay. Asides from the unlimited garnishes and sauces, the restaurant also offers a few snacks such as bean curd, marinaded bean curd, roasted peanuts and edamame. The marinaded bean curd is quite tasty and has a flavourful star anise taste, while also tasting slightly sweet and juicy.

DELUXE $24.95 || ADULT $21.95 || CHILD (4-10) $14.95 

BROTHS $3.75 - $7.50 || POP $1.95

Cockney Kings Fish & Chips : New Westminster location

Surprisingly, I have only been to Cockney Kings Fish & Chips three times! I would have expected at least ten visits. Cockney Kings = All you can eat fish n' chips. Yup, that is one of the two things that I remember of the restaurant. The other is, their tartar sauce tastes weak. 

Coming for a late lunch around 5:30pm (or to most, an early dinner), Cockney's was pretty busy on a Tuesday. Walking in, the restaurant has two lines; one for take out and the other to be seated. Both line ups were quite long but fortunately, we only waited fifteen minutes. Every Monday to Wednesday, Cockney's offers all you can eat fish n' chips for $9.50 which includes unlimited foundation pop! Good value much? Yup.

Fatty Cow Seafood Hot Pot 小肥牛火鍋專門店

REVISIT POST ON FATTY COW SEAFOOD [HERE]

So… imagine this, a hungry starving girl around Victoria Drive, Main Street and Fraser Street at 9:00pm with no delicious places to eat. Might as well mention I am a picky eater too. Of course Yu Xiang Yuan is obviously my first and only choice (well, Golden House Seafood is pretty good too!) but both restaurants were closed.

So, avoiding the usual circling around for thirty minutes to an hour (no exaggeration), we went straight to Fatty Cow. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate Fatty Cow? I rather eat McDonalds than come here or just have ice cream for dinner. I remember Fatty Cow when the restaurant first opened and the food sucked. Anyways… this visit was on a Sunday and the restaurant was 70% full when we walked in. The manager kind of neglected us, which I did not take personal because I expected my experience to "meh" or pretty crappy. After waiting ten minutes unspoken to, we were seated as he cleared a table for us.

ADULT $19.95 CHILDREN (5-10) $13.95 [+$1.00 on weekends/holidays]

DOUBLE SOUP $8.50 SINGLE $7.00, POP $1.50

Toyotomi 豐臣家 (2nd visit)

FIRST POST ON TOYOTOMI [HERE]

A revisit to Toyotomi - an all you can eat sushi and hot pot restaurant, what is there not to like? The restaurant is located in Richmond on Anderson road and provides free underground parking, but we did not know and paid at the meter (12 minutes/$0.50). There are plenty of booth seating arrangements and the restaurant can accommodate larger parties, but the only issue that most people seem to mention is regarding the service.

On my first visit, service was not needed because we arrived ten minutes before closing and had to order everything at once. So when all the dishes arrived, the waitress asked if we had enough food on the table (although some items were missing) and the staff disappeared. We were able to stay until after closing and the owner's son never rushed us. On top of that, he was very friendly.

On the revisit however, the service was not so great since all the staff members were working and we came during the regular dinner hours. This means that dishes get slammed as well as tossed on the table and the staff rush off to talk amongst each other, which I do not mind because how much service does a table need at an AYCE? Not much, so it is not an issue. Expect the worst and there really is nothing to complain about, right? However, if the food sucks and the staff provides rude service… then there may be a problem.

DELUXE $21.59 || CHILD (5-12) $15.99

ADULT $15.39 || CHILD (5-12) $9.99

BROTH $8.88 || YIN YANG $9.88

Ebi Sushi Japanese Restaurant

All you can eat Japanese restaurants, I am a fan (of certain ones). First, expectations are not that high and if the food tastes above average, it is considered a bonus. Second, AYCE restaurants provides an opportunity to try a variety of items and only order a couple of pieces. Third, it is one of those restaurants for hungry customers who want food asap (me).

I have been to Ebi Sushi (previously E Bei Sushi) many years ago and never liked it (rolls and cooked foods were not that great). Why the sudden interest to visit? Because I like mirugai, amaebi and hamachi which I never did in high school. Coming on a weeknight around 10:00pm, we asked for a booth seat (considering the close to empty looking restaurant) and the manager was a bit hesitant until we persuaded her by saying we would be ordering off the deluxe menu rather than the late night. The restaurant has a variety of seating arrangements to satisfy almost every customer - seats by the sushi bar, tables at the front facing the TV, plenty of booth seating and lots of private rooms for larger parties. By the way, I never had a chance to post my first visit because the revisit was so soon after! That is a good thing right? I think the revisit was actually a couple of days after if not the day after, Sushi by Yuji. On the revisit, it was a weekend evening and I was surprised that we got a booth seat with no hesitations.

DELUXE $31.95 CHILDREN (4-9) $23.95, ADULT $24.95 CHILDREN (4-9) $16.95

LATE NIGHT $12.95, WEEKENDS/HOLIDAYS + $1.00, POP $1.95