GOODBOWL

My gym membership is located in Richmond and I dread looking for a post work out meal (especially when dining alone!) because the city offers a vast selection of Chinese, Shanghainese, Szechuan and Korean restaurants, AKA delicious food but not the best option health conscious/sodium wise. Most of the time after an early work out I feel like eating on the healthier side too and how much food can one order at an Asian restaurant? Although at the same time, I don't want something as healthy as Japanese food since I usually crave for beef and chicken rather than seafood after a work out. The life of a high maintenance diner is complicated isn't it?

So when Goodbowl reached out to me, I was excited to give them a try once I found out their eatery is all about fresh and high quality produce. We are talking about AAA Angus beef, free run and hormone free chicken, and Sukura pork!

Goodbowl is located in Richmond on Alderbridge Way and Garden City Road, in the same plaza with Walmart Supercentre. Their concept is you build your own bowl (Kid's $6.95, Regular $9.95 and Large $12.95) with your choice of rice (jasmine, harvest or wild rice) or noodles, select your vegetables, pick your protein, choose your sauce, and watch your food cook in front of you. It's very similar to Mongolian style cooking, but a ton healthier considering the quality, amount of vegetables, and their specialty sauces (which are actually healthy).

What I love about Goodbowl is that you get an UNLIMITED amount of vegetables, whatever fits in the bowl is yours. I love my vegetables and when I hear the word unlimited, I go crazy.

Their selection of protein includes AAA Certified Angus beef, free run/grain fed/ hormone free chicken, Sakura pork, and tofu. Adding a free run egg will cost $1.95, prawns $3.95, or extra meat $2.95 (regular bowl) and $3.95 (large bowl). The prices here are very reasonable.

Asides from fresh and high quality produce, Goodbowl stands out because their sauces are created by Chuck Currie. He is known for his work with Cactus Club, Earl's, Joeys and Whitespot.

BiBo Pizzeria : Richmond Location

BiBo Pizzeria is an Italian restaurant specializing in Neapolitan style pizza and focuses on using fresh and natural ingredients along with straight from Italy products. The first BiBo restaurant to open is on West 4th in Kitsilano and their second location is at McArthur Glen in Richmond, where Sherman and I were invited to visit along with Nick and Joyce. There are not many restaurants at McArthur Glen too, only BiBo and Neptune Noodle Restaurant. In addition, there are not many Italian restaurants in Richmond!

Walking in, the interior is bright, spacious and the high ceiling helps with the ventilation. There are a couple of long communal tables, a large bar, tables on the other side of the restaurant and of course a wood burning oven.

Mango Yummy

After having dinner at Shanghai House, we headed to Mango Yummy to try their Mango Sago for the Chinese Restaurant Awards. Like many dessert restaurants, Mango Yummy is fairly small restaurant and the seating arrangements are cramped. There are a couple of tables and a few chairs outside for when the weather permits however.

Shanghai House Restaurant 上海人家

This year I was invited by Rae Kung from Chinese Restaurant Awards to be a judge on the Social Media Choice Awards panel and to join Jesse Tsao, Cathy Zhou and Sherman Chan. The five dishes we are seeking to find the best of in Vancouver consist of Sichuan Water Boiled Fish, Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice, Hong Kong Style Roast Duck, Shanghai Style Drunken Chicken and Mango Sago with Grapefruit/Pomelo. So for our first meet up, the choice of restaurant was Shanghai House. 

Shanghai House attempts to offer a nicer atmosphere compared to many Chinese restaurants where the staff wears black and white, the seating arrangements are not entirely too crowded and there are chair covers.

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.

Redbud Restaurant 紫荊閣餐廳

For three consecutive days, we headed to Richmond for an errand only to end up forgetting because we focused on eating! This was irritating because the both of us reminded ourselves to "not forget" before eating. Fortunately after three trips to Richmond though, we finally got the errand done before dinner. So as we circled around Richmond looking for a place to eat, we agreed to pass on live seafood along with bubble tea restaurants and settled for a Hong Kong Style Cafe.

Only since the beginning of the year, it was impossible for me to set foot in a HK style cafe, but now I no longer mind because some of the restaurants offer steak. There are also only two HK style cafes in Richmond that serve above average food to us which are La Amigo along with Kingspark Steak House. However when circling around, BF noticed Redbud twice and kept yapping about the restaurant so I decided to give it a go. Plus, some of the photos that were uploaded from someone related to the restaurant did not look bad.

Redbud appears to be a new HK style cafe and a higher end one, offering dishes such as rack of lamb, steak and lobster. The restaurant is fairly spacious and there are booth seating arrangements along the walls and tables in the centre. On our visit, there was an older waitress along with a younger one and both were friendly. The younger waitress was very attentive and polite too.

Fisherman's Terrace Seafood Restaurant 釣魚台海鮮酒家

On a rainy afternoon, our original lunch date was supposed to be at Bacchus but the valet man was nowhere to be seen. You see, I really hate the rain. I love snow more than the rain and am surprised that many people are the opposite. I mean, I may be fine with the rain if I am wearing wellington boots along with a trench coat and carrying a huge umbrella. But if it is the last minute kind of rain and I am already dressed, I hate the idea of changing just because of the rain! So after waiting a few minutes, we decided to head to Aberdeen Centre because of their underground parking lot and also to try Fisherman's Terrace. Going to Floata would have been more practical, but I figured Fisherman's Terrace may be better.

Fisherman's Terrace is considered a "fine dining" Chinese restaurant because of the higher prices, cleanliness, supposedly above average service and atmosphere. The restaurant is somewhat long and narrow and the seating arrangements look fairly tight. We did not arrive on a full house too.

SMALL $3.85 || MEDIUM $4.95 || LARGE $5.55 || SPECIAL $5.95 || TEA $1.00

Top Gun J&C Restaurant 名堂公館 : Dinner

When I used to hear the words "Top Gun restaurant" which refers to a chain of restaurants in Vancouver, I always cringed. The reason is because back in my elementary years, there was a Top Gun Sushi restaurant in New Westminster. It was an All You Can Eat Japanese restaurant and the quality was not good, as in on par with Sui Sha Ya. Then there is Top Gun in Crystal Mall which is a Chinese AYCE hot pot restaurant, but serves dim sum during the day. I remember going to Top Gun Hot Pot throughout high school but the restaurant did not compare to any of the ones in Richmond and the prices were higher. Also, my parents never took me to try the dim sum there before so I always assumed the restaurant was nothing special.

But years later, I discovered Kingsway Sushi and Richmond Sushi which are also affiliated with the Top Gun Group. It was not until last year when I discovered both restaurants too, thanks to BF for knowing the food is not bad. We actually argued about trying those restaurants before because I was ignorant and believed all AYCE Japanese restaurants were like Fish On Rice, Kawawa and Sui Sha Ya! But turns out Kingsway Sushi and Richmond Sushi serves very fresh sashimi, as fresh as it can get. So with that being said, we purchased a membership card last year for $20.00 (which is only $10.00 now, lame!) and decided to make use of it at other Top Gun restaurants.

My expectations regarding Top Gun J&C were similar to the other restaurants in the group, negative at first and not very high. However, Top Gun J&C is actually considered a fine dining restaurant and I had no clue. The interior surprised me and looks fairly "fancy". There are white linens, chopstick covers, gold seat covers, cloth napkins, and spacious seating arrangements. In addition, the staff were attentive, courteous, friendly and professional. There were only three seated tables on a weekend visit throughout our duration however, but the service was consistent and did not disappear (which happens a lot at other "fine dining" restaurants for us).

Also when ordering, our waiter was very informative when we inquired about the menu. BF asked a lot of questions because some of the prices seemed off (as in too cheap) and the waiter treated us like it was our first visit at Chinese restaurant. He was really courteous and genuinely wanted to help us.

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

Maji Restaurant 麻吉台式熱炒

After waiting an hour and a half for Maji to open and suffering the consequences of grabbing a snack at R&H House in Lansdowne, we finally arrived! The Taiwanese tapas restaurant is located on Alexandra Road in Richmond and their hours run from 5:30pm-12:00am (open later on weekends). Maji has been on my list for a while because I have been wanting to try something different such as a restaurant that does not offer live seafood. Moreover, a restaurant that offers reasonable prices which is hard to find in Richmond when HK Style Cafes and Bubble Tea restaurants are excluded.

However, I was hesitant on trying Maji because being Taiwanese, I am more selective towards the cuisine. Okay, fine, I am very selective towards any cuisine… I really do not know why. When looking from the outside of the building, the restaurant does not even look that big so we were surprised upon entering. Furthermore, the interior looks fairly nice. The seating arrangements are not tight either and even the washroom was very clean.

R&H Chinese Food 正点

Being in Richmond around 4:00pm and hungry is the worst situation for me to be in. The reason is because my only dining destinations would be either the food courts, HK style cafes or Bubble Tea restaurants. And if I decide to have a snack at any of those places, it is hard for me to just have a "snack" because I want to eat everything in sight ASAP and therefore ruin my appetite for dinner.

So after sitting in the car with a friend for thirty minutes and pondering over if we should wait another hour for a restaurant to open, we decided to walk around Lansdowne. The both of us agreed that if we decided to go to the food court (which we knew was going to happen), we would limit ourselves to only smoothies and two dishes.

The only food stall that caught our attention was R&H Chinese Food. The food stall appears to be a family run business with the father handling the cash, mother making the goodies, and the sons running the kitchen. When we approached the counter, my friend wanted to leave and just go to Earl's for an early dinner. She is really big on service like myself, and the owner was very miserable and indifferent. I never understand when business owners are not friendly because it is their own business.

Zhao's Soup House 趙記湯館 (2nd visit)

FIRST POST ON ZHAO'S SOUP HOUSE [HERE]

I was given the option to have dinner at three restaurants in Richmond which included Nu Shanghainese Bistro, Top Gun J&C or Zhao's Soup House. My first choice was Top Gun J&C but the restaurant is closed on Mondays! Following my first choice was Nu Shanghainese Bistro. However, I am saving the restaurant for an "emergency" early dinner between 4:00-5:00pm because most restaurants do not open until 5:30pm. So, I guess Zhao's Soup House it was. I was hesitant on revisiting Zhao's Soup House because from what I remember, only the peking duck tasted great. But considering the nice atmosphere along with a very friendly owner and an ongoing 15% promotion, I did not mind trying the restaurant again.

As we browsed through the menu, I forgot how pricey the dishes are. Even the live seafood is expensive, where lobster costs $28.80/lb and crab $19.00/lb which are fine dining prices. Moreover, the atmosphere is different. There are no more cloth napkins or hot towels provided upon seating and the restaurant does not offer candles with orders of tea/hot water anymore. I still like enjoy the cosmetics though.

Rainflower Restaurant 粵之醉海鮮酒家

Rainflower Restaurant is located right next to Yao Han in Richmond. We have considered coming here a few times before but because I never knew of anyone who has been to the restaurant or heard much about it, I always assumed it was nothing special. I even thought perhaps the restaurant was a typical "ghetto" Chinese restaurant, like South Ocean Seafood. But since we were in the area after a trip to Osaka Supermarket, we decided to make a visit. Okay, fine, after shopping I did not want to go to Rainflower because of the aforementioned reasons. However, BF called to inquire about the seafood prices and when I heard the lobster was only $1.00… obviously I agreed LOL.

After we walked in, I was amazed! The interior looks amazing and I really like the Victorian style design. The seating arrangements are also comfortable as well as spacious, and I am a sucker for double plates and cloth napkins at a Chinese restaurant. In addition, there is a huge chandelier hanging in the middle of the restaurant.

The soft and bouncy cushioned chairs are very comfortable and Rainflower offers a few private rooms. Every table is also set with a white mini vase of faux flowers. I pretty much like everything about the interior including the empty restaurant. And classical as well as piano music was playing the background.

After seating, the service was very professional too. A waiter came by to remove the chopstick covers and a captain recommended a set menu for two. Personally, I do not like set menus because sometimes only $10.00-$15.00 dollars are being saved and I do not like the selection of dishes or usually the live seafood (if included) is smaller.

Suhang Restaurant 蘇杭人家 : Eight Treasure Duck 八寶鴨

For a whole week, I had huge cravings for Eight Treasure Duck (ba bao ya)! But my parents did not want to make it. Personally, I have never tried making an Eight Treasure Duck before, mainly because I do not want to do waste ingredients if I am not 100% ready since it is a tricky dish to properly execute. So, this brings me to Suhang in Richmond.

Suhang is located in Richmond and may be considered a "higher end" Shanghainese restaurant, due to their higher prices compared to majority of other the restaurants. Furthermore, there is a modern atmosphere and the restaurant is fairly clean. The seating arrangements are a bit cramped however. As for the service, the staff was only friendly towards larger parties of more than six. This was a bit weird because when we ordered the Eight Treasure Duck over the phone three hours prior to our visit, the gentleman was friendly but in person… not so much.

Another odd thing is... when we inquired about the price of lobster over the phone, we were quoted $48.80 for a 2 1/2lb which equals to a reasonable $19.20/lb. However, despite ordering the lobster at the restaurant, the waiter came back from the kitchen and mentioned the prices have changed and is now $60.00 for a 2lb lobster. $30.00/lb? In three hours? Wow, that is very expensive. For the same price, I can easily try Chef Tony's (which I have been wanting to!)! 

Red Star 鴻星海鮮酒家 : Richmond Location

Being too fussy about where to have lunch, we crossed the Lions Gate Bridge to look for a restaurant Downtown. After circling around, I decided it was best to grab a snack at Mancakes to ease our stomachs while deliberating. I was leaning towards a non-Asian restaurant but it seemed like BF wanted dim sum. Turning down his suggestions and saying, "let's have pasta or steak instead for dinner" to every restaurant he suggested did not help either, whoops.

His original choice was Red Star in Marpole, but I honestly find their dim sum only average and suggested trying the location in Richmond! Ever since I had dim sum at Chef Tony, honest to truth I thought to myself, perhaps I actually like dim sum… but good dim sum. How is it possible that I could care less about the typical Kirin, Sun Sui Wah and Red Star?

We arrived on a weekday and shockingly, the restaurant was not busy! Going to any restaurant for dim sum regardless of the day of the week, will always be busy (with the exception of weekends when it is chaotic). Red Star in Richmond is located on the second floor of the Presidential Plaza, where I have torturous memories of. I remember having to frequently come her for hours as a child because my mother would always be looking at SOMETHING in this darn plaza, and my sister and I were always so bored. The mini arcade never helped either.

Walking in, the cashier/hostess was friendly and there were plenty of staff on the floor, perhaps around seven? The restaurant was very cold and we were not sure why the AC was cranked so high considering there was a miserable storm outside. We also waited around ten minutes for tea which is a bit odd because usually the staff are fairly prompt about that, plus it is a "fine dining" Chinese restaurant that was not busy.

As for the atmosphere, there are a few chandeliers, a high ceiling and comfortable padded chairs. The seating arrangements are not cramped too, but Red Star in Marpole looks more modern.

SMALL $3.95 || MEDIUM $4.75 || LARGE $5.75 || SPECIALS $6.95

TEA/WATER $1.00

South Ocean Seafood 南海漁村海鮮酒家

The last time I had live seafood was a bit over a week ago and my cravings were really bad, so a trip to Richmond was called for. My original destination was Chef Tony, but $32.00/lb for lobster is very steep considering there would only be the two of us. This is where South Ocean comes in, we called a few restaurants while circling Richmond and the restaurant offered the cheapest price. A mere $11.95/lb for crab and lobster!

Walking in, the restaurant looks outdated and old. There are chipped plates, partially ripped tablecloths, one of the chairs at our table is taped with masking tape, and the table setting is dirty. Furthermore, there were seven waitstaff at the front of the restaurant and it was impossible to order? There were only three large tables at time of our visit too! 

In addition, the old looking and stained yellow as well as browning pages from the menu did not help either. In essence, I had no expectations and expected the worst. But hey, $11.95/lb for live seafood? It is worth trying. As for the photo of the interior, I snapped it as we were leaving and the restaurant looks way better than it is! The interior resembles Pelican Seafood Restaurant because of the lighting.

Chef Tony 頤東大酒樓

There are a couple of things that I am not embarrassed of to admit such as having an appetite of a man, and occasionally being cheap. You see, I used to go for dim sum frequently but am not really a "huge" fan. So when the bill comes to $80.00 for two people because BF always decides to order too much food, it eventually got me. Why are we spending so much on dim sum when neither of us find it special? And as a result, we agreed to only go for dim sum with our families or spend no more than $60.00 together.

The plan kind of backfired however because our schedules never matched with our families' and neither of us have had dim sum for literally a whole year! So eventually we started craving for dim sum which is rare, because usually one of us wants only a specific dish rather than an actual whole dim sum meal. Anyhow, Chef Tony was my choice of restaurant for dim sum.

From what I have heard, Chef Tony offers a fusion twist on dim sum and the prices are not cheap. I honestly did not have any expectations and expected average food. As for the interior, it can be considered a modern Chinese style. There are lighted pillars, plenty of chandeliers and a large screen which showcases the menu. Furthermore, there is a row of VIP rooms which looks very Asian. In Asia, most of the VIP rooms are laid out in a row but in Canada the layout might resemble a karaoke joint.

Also judging by the prices, Chef Tony may be considered one of the higher end Chinese restaurants. However, the atmosphere is not quite there. The seating arrangements are cramped and the dining room is very crowded, not fancy at all. Diners should feel comfortable. In addition, the decor does not look "high end".

SMALL $4.00 || MEDIUM $4.80 || LARGE $5.75 || SPECIAL $6.95.

TEA $2.00

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.

Globe @ YVR, Afternoon Tea at Fairmont (2nd visit)

The marketing coordinator from YVR Fairmont contacted me through Instagram to inquire about my previous afternoon tea experience. Furthermore, my response to a fellow IGer was very vague as I only mentioned Hotel Vancouver provides better service and would only revisit YVR Fairmont if I had a voucher. After responding to the marketing coordinator, she forwarded my e-mail to the Outlets Captain who invited me and a guest to another afternoon tea experience because the restaurant was planning to launch a new menu.

The invitation from the upper management is very appreciated because keep in mind my first experience was a voucher based visit, and my comments were quite vague on IG. In addition, the comments on my previous blog post were taken into consideration; i.e I mentioned the place mats are not very sanitary because the staff does not sanitize them and merely brushes off the crumbs. And on my revisit, I noticed the place mats were gone! The shiny glass table tops that are now properly wiped down not only look nicer, but is more sanitary.

TEA MENU $42.00 || JUNIOR TEA $18.00

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