Victory Seafood is located in Burnaby at Crystal Mall, and I remember passing by the restaurant months ago, always thinking it newly opened. Well, turns out the restaurant has been open for a couple of years (I read some reviews on Urbanspoon after dinner)! In general, any restaurant located that is in a mall has never been a preference for me to visit since the lease is pricier. 
Meaning, the food may not be cheap and usually the quality is not there. Example, my parents used to like Fortune House located in Metrotown but I always thought the food was pricey and not worth it, especially the long waits for dim sum! Walking in Victory Seafood restaurant, I was surprised at some of the tables that are located so close to the front door.
Those tables are also across from the waiting chairs which I found even more weird. How uncomfortable is that? Having a meal seated right across from people waiting for a table (must be a spotlight effect I have)? Continuing further into the restaurant, I was amazed. The restaurant's interior is pretty nice (I forgot to take a photo!). Victory Seafood is a very large restaurant with three seating sections and on a Saturday evening, only the middle section was open with six seated tables. 
The restaurant has a gold and red theme going and a relaxing atmosphere. I do not know if it is the whole trying a new restaurant experience or because I really liked the interior, but I had high hopes and was pretty excited for my meal - which I rarely feel. I mean, I get hungry and cannot wait for the food to arrive, but it is very rare for me to feel excited when trying a new restaurant (probably since I have tried most of the steakhouses I already wanted to).
DEEP FRIED PIGEON, SAUTEED ASSORTED SEAFOOD, PRAWN SCALLOP AND GEODUCK, LOBSTER IN SUPREME BROTH, MUSTARD GREEN WITH PORK, TOFU AND SALTED EGG, DEEP FRIED CRAB CLAW WITH SHRIMP PASTE, MANGO PUDDING, STEAMED ROCK COD, COCONUT TARO SOUP AND CHINESE COOKIES..
3LB LOBSTER IN SUPREME BROTH ($13.98/LB).
First up, the lobster. Although we would have preferred the soup first… My favourite sauce for seafood is the cream and butter. However, the Chinese side of me always thinks to play it safe and go for the supreme broth since most of the time, nothing can go wrong. Furthermore, to prevent disappointments such as a bland tasting sauce which is the worst for cream and butter, it is even more worse when yee mein noodles are added underneath! Then you got yourself a bland tasting seafood dish along with no taste noodles! 
Unfortunately, the gamble was not in my favour and despite playing it safe with the supreme broth, the sauce tastes weak. The supreme broth tastes extremely light, not flavourful and has too much corn starch. Therefore, the sauce dried up fast. Despite the bland tasting sauce, the lobster was not overcooked and the meat has a slight bounciness. As for the price, the lobster is the cheapest out of every restaurant because there is currently a promotion. I do recommend choosing a different sauce for those who decide to visit though. Asides from the taste, when the lobster arrived, the staff disappeared for a while and we waited eight to ten minutes just to ask for lobster picks. At this "level" of restaurant? Not happy.
DEEP FRIED CRAB CLAW WITH SHRIMP PASTE, MINIMUM TWO ORDERS ($5.00).
The crab claw tastes bouncy as well as springy, but has too much fatty pork which takes away the taste of the shrimp paste. In addition, the exterior has a flaky crisp hard coating and a lighter batter would have tasted better.
The soup tastes clear and has a slight house broth taste, but could have used a bit more salt. As for the ingredients, the old outer portion of the mustard green vegetables are used rather than the inner portion of the leaves, which would have tasted more appealing and flavourful. Furthermore, there is a good amount of tofu, a few pieces of salted egg and slices of tender tasting pork. Asides from the mustard green complaint, the soup could have tasted more flavourful. We only had a bowl each and decided to pack the rest home to make it better. However, unfortunately the staff disregarded that and tossed out the soup, which may be understandable because the soup is cheap to make… I guess.1 1/2LB STEAMED ROCK COD ($28.55/LB).
Steamed fish is a simple dish to cook and is a favourite of mine (only rock cod). The fish is steamed, excess water is drained, soy sauce is added then hot oil for that nice smooth taste, and finished off with sprinkles of green onion along with cilantro. However, the rock cod tastes bland and just steamed, hot oil was forgotten. In addition, the soy sauce was a bit too light and the fish tastes flavourless, despite not being overcooked.
SAUTEED ASSORTED SEAFOOD, PRAWN SCALLOP AND GEODUCK ($22.80).
The sautéed assorted seafood comes with celery as well as snow peas which are topped with medium scallops, prawns and six slices of geoduck. Unfortunately the slices of geoduck taste overcooked and chewy. However, the scallops and prawns taste alright, not overcooked. As for the vegetables, the celery and snow peas taste crisp but the overall dish, lacks flavourful and is too oily. The dish tastes more sautéed in oil than with a house broth, unlike many restaurants.
DEEP FRIED PIGEON ($15.80).
I have been craving for squab for a while now and when I took a bite of the breast, I felt like ?!?!?!?. The breast meat tastes 100% like pork liver and I am not a fan. I remember nibbling on a slice of pork liver when I was really young in elementary from being bored, and it tasted dry with a heavy weird taste. As for the squab, there is no marinade taste, the meat tastes chewy as well as dry, and the skin does not even have the slightest crispy. I recommend passing on the swab. Also, since I am OCD, I hated how the plate of soy sauce and salt n' pepper was touching the squab.
COMPLIMENTARY COCONUT TARO TAPIOCA SOUP AND CHINESE COOKIES.
The tapioca dessert soup tastes slightly too sweet but the pieces of taro taste soft. Furthermore, the soup could have been served hot than barely luke warm. As for the Chinese cookies, they taste light as well as crisp, and the smallest things such as heating them up before serving is always appreciated (which were not).
MANGO PUDDING ($3.95).
When asked if I wanted mango pudding for dessert, I said yes and was quite shocked at the portion. The dessert was a full individual size portion of pudding rather than the usual smaller square cuts. The pudding has a tasty mango flavour, is not watered down and tastes slightly sweet. When I got to the middle, mango syrup oozed out which was a nice surprise. The filling tastes sweet although not overly, and light. 
The only slight "issue" is that for this level of restaurant, I did not expect a full portion size or to be charged for mango pudding, since the question was not "would you like dessert soup or mango pudding?", and was just "would you like mango pudding?". Of course this is a slight misunderstanding since every similar restaurant offers complimentary dessert soup and/or pudding. Am I glad to pay for it? Yes, it was quite good. If I was here for dim sum, I would be more than glad to order it.- Nicely decorated interior
- Large restaurant and seating arrangements are not cramped
- Disposable toilet seat covers (when have you seen that at a Chinese restaurant eh?)
- Tasty mango pudding
NEGATIVES
- Crystal Mall parking lot
- Pricier dishes
- Service does not measure up to the class of restaurant (finished dishes not removed, no plate changes and not one word spoken to us)
- All the dishes came at once and not in the preferred order
- Food makes barely average
LITTLE THINGS
- For a bit under $200.00, I could have had a really good dinner at Sun Sui Wah
- There is no problem comparing the restaurant to Red Star or Sun Sui Wah because of the similar atmosphere and prices. However, there is a problem when I feel like Kwan Luck, Congee Noodle King and Rose Garden on Kingsway Street serve a lot better tasting food
- While we waited for the dishes, I was planning on making a revisit to try the peking duck. However, after the service and mediocre food, I do not see it happening. I was probably only thinking about revisiting because of the restaurant's interior and what I assumed was going to be above average service
Food: 2.5/5
Service: 1.5/5
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