Bushuair Restaurant 聚湘村湘菜酒樓

Four consistent days of bad luck: Day One.

Chairman Mao is one of the eternally recognized leaders in China by the Chinese. Every traditional restaurant throughout China and not just restaurants but businesses as well, have a photo of Mao somewhere in the company. Whether in the office, entrance or lunchroom, there will be a photo (usually by the entrance).

So when I first walk in to Bushuair Restaurant and see the photo of Chairman Mao, it wowed me. I thought the food was going to be like something in China. In addition after looking at the menu, I seemed to have found a Northern Mainland cuisine restaurant in Richmond. Furthermore on the wall, the restaurant has a portrait of his words written in Chinese calligraphy which gives the impression the restaurant serves Northern Chinese cuisine with pride. However when the food arrived, it was a different story.

As for the interior, the restaurant resembles a traditional Chinese restaurant. To be exact, a middle class one in China. Bushuair Restaurant has booth seats along the wall, tables with red as well as gold tablecloths, and a few private rooms. Furthermore, there is a projector at the back of the restaurant which is tuned to a Chinese channel, and the restaurant imports wine from China.

Lucky Noodle Chinese Restaurant 湘味濃

Lucky Noodle has been around for a couple of years and having drove by at least a hundred times, I have never noticed the restaurant. However, since a few new restaurants have been popping up along Kingsway Street, I assumed Lucky Noodle was one of them. Was it a craving for noodles that lured me in? Nope, it was the alluring photos of Hunan cuisine posted outside the restaurant! In addition, the restaurant also offers Cantonese as well as Taiwanese food, and a dry style hot pot like Shun Xin's (which we unfortunately did not get to try since crab was not available at the time).

The restaurant is a small family run operation and the staff is extremely friendly (ten times friendlier than another Hunan cuisine restaurant, Alvin Garden!). As for the interior, I like it. There are paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling, and vines running across the top that wraps around faux tree pillars. Furthermore at the back of the counter, there are hanging pinata-like food such as ginger, potato, red chilli, eggplant and cucumber. 

Alvin Garden 湘緣湖南食府

Pretty much having tried most of the Chinese restaurants on Kingsway Street in Burnaby and Vancouver, I started looking for something new and different. This is where Alvin Garden comes in. If it was not for Urbanspoon, I would not even know of this restaurant.

Located near Metrotown on Imperial Street, Alvin Garden is known to the locals and by word of mouth or simply, known to those who drive pass which I never. The restaurant serves Hunan cuisine which is different from Sichuan, rather than the tongue numbing sensation from sichuan peppercorns, Hunan dishes use chilli oil for spiciness. The only other Hunan cuisine restaurant that I have visited in Vancouver would be Star Anise (according to the restaurant themselves...) which was not very… Hunan or good at all. So, I was quite excited for this visit. 

DAILY SOUP BOILED IN CROCK, PORK WITH DREID TEA MUSHROOM, CAULIFLOWER WITH HUNAN CHILLI AND PORK, HUNAN FRIED RICE, COUNTRY STYLE FRIED PORK WITH GREEN CHILLI, HUNAN STYLE BRAISED PORK, SMOKED BAMBOO SHOOTS WITH SMOKED PORK.

Star Anise Restaurant 聚湘園酒樓 (2nd visit)

DIM SUM POST ON STAR ANISE [HERE] 

Ever since BF noticed Star Anise, he has always wanted to try their dinner because the restaurant specializes in Hunan cuisine. And to be honest, I try my hardest to avoid coming here because I never think the food will be good. Plus, our first visit here for dim sum was not very good. However, since the last two restaurants that we visited (Fraiche and Poor Italian Ristorante) were not very good, I caved and we came here for dinner. 

Actually, we went to a random Chinese restaurant (Hing Fung) in Richmond but they were too busy so Star Anise was our second choice. The restaurants' interior is newly renovated, clean and spacious. One of the things that I always notice when passing Kingsway Street, is that the restaurant is always 85% empty. We even tried coming here a few times but I was too stubborn and chose another restaurant because they did not have fresh scallops or oysters.

FRIED PORK SLICES WITH GREEN PEPPER, CLEAR STEAMED PUMPKIN, BRAISED BLACK BONED CHICKEN WITH AMERICAN GINSENG SOUP, CLEAR STEAMED CABBAGE, DEEP FRIED BUNS, AND MAO'S BRAISED PORK WITH BROWN SAUCE.