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.

Xu's Wonton House 白玉蘭麵家 (2nd visit)

My favourite place for Shanghainese soup dumplings (xiao long bao) is located in Crystal Mall, at Xu's Wonton House. The food stall is also apparently known for a few other dishes, with one including their rice cake which I have never tried. Actually, the only item I have tried here is the XLB! As for the service, man… the staff ain't friendly. However, I decided to speak in Chinese this time and wow… what a big difference it makes! The owner's wife was super friendly and even asked how many plates I needed. FML even the cashier was friendly when I said "thank you" in Chinese as I returned the steamer.

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.

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!)! 

Long's Noodle House 小龍記麵家

Long's Noodle House is a small family operated restaurant along Main Street, specializing in Shanghainese cuisine. Reservations are recommended regardless of the day of week and because the restaurant is always busy, being turned down should be no surprise. 

We arrived on a Friday evening with no reservations and were fortunate enough to not have to wait. There are a couple of large tables in the restaurant and for those in small groups, may have to share tables. Fortunately in our case though, we were offered a seat at the back of the restaurant which seats four people! This was perfect for us because we tend to order a lot of food.

Private Home Chinese Cuisine 一點心意 (2nd visit)

FIRST POST ON PRIVATE HOME CHINESE [HERE]

Do car sales associates make too much money these days? We had plans to purchase two company cars from Honda and visited a couple of dealerships on the same day (Richmond Honda and Kingsway Honda), but none of the sales associates even acknowledged us! After leaving fairly puzzled, we decided to check out OpenRoad Honda in Burnaby the following day.

The Burnaby location was very convenient for us too because I have been wanting to revisit Private Home for quite some time. And from what I can remember, I declared the xiao long bao and pan fried dumplings as a must order! I also remember the menu being fairly limited and mentioned I would only revisit for lunch rather than dinner.

On a weekday afternoon, the restaurant was empty and the service was non-existent. There are two sides of seating arrangements in the restaurant and all the waitstaff were on the opposite side of us. This made ordering and getting the bill very difficult, despite waving like a crazy person.

Legend House

Legend House is a fairly new Northern China cuisine restaurant in Coquitlam. The restaurant makes their own dumplings along with hand stretched noodles, and offers a variety of Szechuan dishes.

Walking in, there is an open window kitchen concept and the interior is very nice. The restaurant has a rustic modern interior; unfinished wooden floors along the walls, bricks, a high ceiling and nice chandeliers. In addition, the restaurant is fairly big!

There are comfortable booth seating arrangements and plenty of tables. Asides from being one of the larger Chinese restaurants in Coquitlam, Legend House is definitely one of the better looking ones. As for the staff, everyone was friendly. Our waitress double checked our order on her tablet and a few other waitresses came by to see if we needed more drinks.

Dinesty Dumpling House : Robson location

Whenever I have a negative experience at a chain or franchise business, I tend to avoid any of the other restaurants (ABC Country, Banana Leaf, Sushi Bella, Swiss Chalet…). This is somewhat unfair because every chain and franchise business is operated differently so one location may be horrible while another is great. In this case, the franchise is Dinesty Dumpling House. I have visited the location in Richmond before and the food was horrible along with the service. Not only was there no service, but the staff was also rude!

However, BF has been wanting to try Dinesty at the Downtown location for months. He is also the same person who had dinner with me at the Richmond location and vowed never to return! I guess in the end, I did not mind trying the Downtown location just because I was in a good mood. Plus, I was not really hungry since we went to Rodney's earlier. Picking up a pair of stilettos that finally arrived after a couple of weeks of waiting did not hurt either, hehe.

Walking in, the manager immediately stormed past us and closed the front door while yelling in chinese, "who didn't close the door?!". She then made eye contact with us after slamming the door so I asked for a table for two. Although there must have been a miscommunication on her end because she waved us away like we were pan handlers and rolled her eyes… umm? After standing there for a while, a waitress approached us but did not say a word so we asked if the restaurant was still open. With a response of yes, we asked her for a table for two.

At this point, it seemed like deja vu with the Richmond location (rushed atmosphere and unfriendly staff) and I sort of wanted to leave but we already seated. The waitress was neutral though and there were no dirty looks or a negative attitude. Also because we arrived fifteen minutes before the last call, we only ordered a few items to sample and decided to revisit if the food tasted good.

Ningbo Seafood Restaurant 寧波海鮮酒家

Ningbo Seafood is located in Richmond at Parker Place and serves Shanghainese as well as Cantonese Chinese cuisine. I had high expectations for the restaurant because a friend of mine was telling me how his friend in Shanghai has tried the restaurant in Ningbo. Apparently, the owners have a similar restaurant in Ningbo which is a city near Shanghai. In addition, I read Doofnik's blog post on the restaurant and the peking duck looked great; crispy skin with no fat or meat. But nothing was good about our dinner, neither the food nor the service.

We walked in on a Friday at 6:00pm and the restaurant had only one seated table. Similar to Le Crocodile where I had lunch earlier, we were asked if we had reservations and a few of the staff talked amongst each other "no reservations". The two of us were seated beside the counter (table touching) where the staff walks up to frequently and when we requested for a different seat, they were all reserved! Really now? At first I thought wow, perhaps the food is really good and I got excited about what was about to come.

Modern City Chinese Restaurant 新上海酒家

A friend of mine is not a picky eater and loves to follow the hype regarding restaurants. She enjoys the atmosphere more than the food, is always one of the first to follow the newest food trend in Vancouver, and declares a dish as great because it is from a certain restaurant. Furthermore, her expectations are not very high and if something sucks, the food must be bad. Having said all of that, I was a bit hesitant when BF suggested to try Modern City because my friend did not like it one bit. Honestly, she only dislikes a restaurant once in a blue moon. Well,  around every half year is more realistic.

After finally finding an optical retail store that carries Victoria Beckham and the style/color I actually want, I was happy enough to not care where dinner would be and the choice was Modern City. Modern City is located in Kerrisdale and is the only Shanghainese restaurant in the area. However, there are a few Chinese restaurants in the area and our choice was actually between Chongqing or here.

Modern City is a clean restaurant and the interior is a well lit. There are booth seating arrangements along one side of the restaurant, and a good amount of tables which are not cramped. As for the food, there is a mix of Cantonese style cuisine, Szechuan as well as Shanghai, and live seafood is available.

Shanghai Shanghai 上海上海南翔小籠

Continuing with my interest in trying a few food stalls at Aberdeen Centre, Shanghai Shanghai was my next choice after Yougo Chicken. I pretty much went for the usual and obvious, pan fried buns as well as the xiao long bao. When visiting a food stall, I try to sample only a few dishes just in case, well… none tastes good.

Shanghai House Restaurant 上海人家

The last Shanghai cuisine restaurant in Richmond for me to try is Shanghai House, and with an 80% rating on Urbanspoon, I was looking forward to the dinner. 

We had dinner on a weeknight so fortunately parking at the plaza was not an issue. Walking in, I was a bit surprised by how the staff was dressed. The waitstaff wears a white button up, black vest and black pants, which gives the impression that the service will be attentive as well as professional. The next thing I noticed was the interior. The interior looked more appealing in the photos online and in person, the restaurant looks a bit run down with squeaky tables along with ripped tablecloths (which we did not mind).

Shanghai Morning Restaurant 小南國上海小吃

Yay! My second last Shanghai cuisine restaurant to try other than one in White Rock (no rush), Downtown (no rush either), West Vancouver (meh, friend has been there, definitely not in a rush), West Broadway (no rush) and some random food court ones. However, my last Shanghainese restaurant for now will be Shanghai House in Richmond. Anyways, with my excitement of having the opportunity to try many Shanghai cuisine restaurants out of the way… 

Shanghai Morning in Richmond has comfortable seating arrangements and the atmosphere is very cozy as well as relaxing. Also on a Saturday evening, the restaurant was not very busy.

Chen's Shanghai Kitchen 白玉蘭餐館

I am probably one of the very few that does not complain about parking in Richmond, since I have never experienced any problems before. That is... until I decided to visit Chen's Shanghai Kitchen.

This plaza has to have the smallest parking lot in Richmond! Well, it may not be true but I tried coming here a few days ago around 7:00pm and the parking lot was full. I waited fifteen to twenty minutes and chose to leave because my body was too hungry and could no longer function. On the second attempt, two days ago, I tried coming here again and luckily the parking lot was empty at 9:30pm. However, the restaurant closes at 10:00pm and to prevent a rushed dinner, I went to Kyung Bok Palace. On the third and final attempt, I deliberately came here at 8:30pm, hoped that parking would not be an issue and I was right! Chen's Shanghai Kitchen is a medium sized restaurant and could get busy during peak hours, I would not be surprised if there is a line up.

Jin Jiang Shanghai Restaurant 錦江上海菜

Last night a friend of mine asked if I wanted to try a new Shanghai cuisine restaurant and I had no idea that Jin Jiang Shanghai even existed! The restaurant is located on Kingsway Street in Burnaby, next to the Best Western Hotel.

Jin Jiang Shanghai has two sections in the restaurant, one for parties of less than four and the other for larger tables of more than six. The restaurant is fairly clean, has a relaxing atmosphere, comfortable seating arrangements, and I like the bricked wall.

Shanghai Wonderful Restaurant 旺

From all the Chinese restaurants I have been going to lately, my new phase has been Shanghai cuisine. It seems like my interest in Shanghai cuisine started when I thought of it as an "escape" from eating Chinese food, and that I am happy with XLBs and pan fried buns for dinner. 

I visited Shanghai Wonderful before Shanghai River but since I lost sleep over Shanghai River, I posted about that restaurant first. Also, since Shanghai River pretty much killed my mood for Shanghainese, my new phase is now Taiwanese cuisine. It is a bit funny that I am Taiwanese but rarely visit those restaurants since I never get "full", nor am I a fan of noodles. Anyways, continuing with Shanghai Wonderful, the restaurant was a bit busy and luckily there was no wait. The restaurant looks fairly clean, has plenty of seats and the staff is friendly.

Shanghai River 滬江海派料理

Shanghai River is the only upscale and "high end" Shanghai cuisine restaurant in Richmond. To me, their popularity started due to being the first restaurant in Richmond to make xiao long bao and wontons open for the public to see. Furthermore, people (well, larger groups of four to eight) come to Shanghai River to celebrate a birthday or for a nice "atmosphere" dinner, since on a Monday evening there were a few birthday dinners.

Shanghai River is also quite large but the seating arrangements are a bit tight and not very comfortable when the restaurant gets busy.

Shanghai Lu Restaurant

Being in a Shanghai cuisine phase, why not try Shanghai Lu? Driving along West Broadway, I always wondered why I never visited the restaurant before. I can always eat xiao long bao and pan fried buns too! On a weekend evening, the restaurant was not very busy; with only one big party of twelve and three other tables.

The restaurant has quite a nice interior, simple and classic. The foyer was what caught my attention. A glass shelf full of nicknacks and a pair of stone lions on the top. Although the restaurant is decently sized with around twenty tables, I can never imagine a line up or have ever seen one when driving by.

XIAO LONG BAOS ($7.00).

The only reason I came here was to try the xiao long baos! These are not available on the dinner menu but customers can ask for them. The XLBs look puffy and quite pretty, which can be mentioned considering some places have wrinkly as well as flat looking ones. The buns taste juicy but a bit too salty and the pork meat has a gritty texture, while also tasting quite tough. In addition, despite the juiciness and the skin not being too thick nor thin, the meat tastes average and neither flavourful nor tasty.

SHANGHAI STYLE CHICKEN WITH WINE SAUCE ($6.00). 

The chicken has a very faint wine taste and could have tasted more flavourful. Also, the cut of the chicken is basically only wings, hence the pieces of just bone and skin. Can the pieces of bone be justified by the price? Sort of but not really, considering that many restaurants charge the same price and serve a better cut of the chicken.

SHANGHAI STYLE CRISPY SMOKED FISH ($7.00). 

This is my first time trying this kind of dish and I am not sure what to expect. The fish tastes smoked, candied and sweet, but not overly. Furthermore, the smoked fish does not taste crispy or soggy, and I assume it is correctly made? A bit tough, chewy as well as stringy?

PAN FRIED BUNS ($5.00).

These are also not available on the dinner menu like the XLBs, but customers can ask for them.

In general, I love the skin on pan fried buns! Unfortunately though, these taste bland, a bit greasy and have an uneven crisp bottom. As for the filling, the meat tastes mushy and the texture resembles raw meat, very… unappetizing (despite fully cooked). The bun tastes juicy but the juice has a soy sauce colour which is a first for me and does not taste very good. In addition, despite tasting juicy, I rather have dry tasting pan fried buns because something about the juice is not very appetizing or appealing.

DELUXE WONTON SOUP, LARGE ($14.00).

I am not a fan of wontons but after trying Shanghai Elan's, I thought there might be another soup like theirs! The soup has a clear light chicken broth and is not necessarily bland nor salty. However, I was not a fan of the wontons. The wontons are practically all skin with very little meat. Although the skin is not too thick or thin and did not break, there was just too much skin which was the only thing I could taste. If anything, for the very little amount of meat I could taste, the meat did not taste gritty or salty, but was a bit tough.

MULTI-LAYERED BEAN CURD AND PORK HOT POT ($21.00).

The pieces of pork belly taste dry as well as chewy and could have tasted more tender, but the skin does taste fatty and tender (as expected). 

Also, the hot pot tastes overly sweet, more than the usual Shanghainese style dishes. Furthermore, the sweetness was very sudden and was not mildly built up, which may have been prevented if the hot pot was cooked longer. As for the other ingredients, tied bean curds are included and is a favourite of mine. I love tied bean curds because they soaks up sauce. But in this case, the bean curd tastes extremely sweet and not edible, because of the overly sweet sauce (not even the good kind of tasty sweet too!)

STEAMED RICE ($2.00).

POSITIVES 

- No line ups 

NEGATIVES 

- Below average eats 

- No service, hard to get the bill when the restaurant was not even busy

- Pricey hot pot 

- Pan fried buns are very unappetizing

LITTLE THINGS

- Service is considered "typical Asian" meaning after every dish is served, the staff disappears and it is hard to get the bill or empty plates removed

- Restaurant is very non-Asian friendly. Three of the waitresses were constantly attentive for two tables of non-Asians

- Worst Shanghai cuisine restaurant I have been to

- Lobster is $30.00/lb, a bit surprising considering that even the most expensive Chinese restaurants are not even that pricey yet

Food: 1.5/5

Service: 2/5

SHANGHAI LU RESTAURANT
705 West Broadway Vancouver, BC V5Z 1J6
Telephone (604) 873-9147
www.shanghailurestaurant.com

Shanghai Elan Restaurant 上海粗菜館

The original plan was to have hot pot at Top Gun in Crystal Mall; however, the restaurant had a forty minute wait so Shanghai Elan was our second option. We arrived around 7:00pm on a weeknight and the restaurant was pretty busy. After waiting twenty minutes for a small table when medium sized tables were available, we waited around ten minutes for the menu. Personally, I think if a table of two orders the she amount of food as a table of five, at least a table of three should be provided. Not a tiny table that can only fit two bowls of noodle.

Moreover, the table was already cramped enough before ordering too. As for the table setting, everything is very cute! The table setting is a lot more playful than the generic white. After we finished ordering, we were switched to a slightly larger table and it annoyed me thinking back to how we waited twenty minutes for nothing because eventually we got a table which was available since the beginning (which still ended up being too small for the items we ordered!).