Golden Swan Restaurant 金天鵝海鮮酒家 : Alaskan King Crab

DIM SUM POST AT GOLDEN SWAN [HERE]

ALASKAN KING CRAB POST AT TOP CANTONESE [HERE]

ALASKAN KING CRAB POST AT EMPIRE CUISINE [HERE]

A friend of mine has been wanting to try dinner at Golden Swan for quite a while and as for me, do not have much interest. I used to come here for dim sum a few years ago but stopped due to inconvenience and that there are better restaurants. As for dinner, I have never tried. Golden Swan is located on Victoria Drive and I forgot how big the restaurant is! The restaurant has plenty of seats and comfortable seating arrangements, although there is one crappy table for two near the washroom which was BF and I's seat for our last dim sum visit. Asides from the seating arrangements, the restaurant is fairly clean and is considered one of the "nicer" Chinese restaurants due to the high ceiling, chandeliers, and managers wearing a suit which generally means better than usual typical Chinese service. 

9LB ALASKAN KING CRAB ($21.99/LB) + GLASS BOTTLE OF COCA COLA ($2.75).

Fortunately for my friend, I was craving for Alaskan King Crab and since Golden Swan is currently offering a great price at $21.99/lb, she finally got her wish to dine here. When only dining for two, I like to find a better deal for AKC since, well, it will be cheaper LOL. Anyways, something I have always liked about Golden Swan is that the restaurant serves glass bottles of Coca Cola! Also, the price is pretty fair considering some restaurants charge the same for a glass of fountain pop. 

Top Cantonese Cuisine Restaurant 食為先酒家 : Alaskan King Crab

DIM SUM POST AT TOP CANTONESE [HERE]

ALASKAN KING CRAB POST AT EMPIRE CHINESE [HERE]

ALASKAN KING CRAB POST AT GOLDEN SWAN [HERE]

After seeing every table order Alaskan king crab at Western Lake, I wanted one as well and took BF out for dinner a couple of days later. Of course since it was only the two of us, thrifty me, called a few restaurants asking for the price. Most of the prices ranged from $28.80/lb to $36.00/lb. I thought AKC season already started?! Last year the prices were a lot cheaper and surprisingly the most expensive restaurants for king crab are currently Fortune House in Metrotown and Grand Place at Henderson Plaza in Coquitlam. Also surprisingly two not very good restaurants LOL… Anyway, Top Cantonese is only charging $20.99/lb and despite the frustrating table experience during dim sum a few months ago, we still made the visit.

9LB ALASKAN KING CRAB ($20.99/LB). 

Since my last post on AKC at Empire Chinese, something about myself has changed… I was no longer embarrassed to ask if I can snap a photo of the crab this time! Of course when it came down to taking the actual photo… I quickly took it while feeling awkward and embarrassed to mention that my photo looked blurry. Plus, it did not help when the waiter said the king crab was too heavy... Anyways, we made a reservation around 5:00pm on a weekend for 6:00pm, and when we walked in, the restaurant was already turning away tables! Top Cantonese was literally empty when we walked in and within five minutes, the restaurant was packed and every table was ordering AKC. The restaurant's interior is not too cramped and has comfortable seating arrangements as well as more than enough staff on the floor. Of course since literally every table ordered AKC, not one staff member was grumpy at all considering how much tips they would get at the end of the night!

GINSENG CHICKEN SOUP, EGG TOFU WITH DRIED SCALLOP SAUCE AND ENOKI MUSHROOM, MANGO PUDDING, ALASKAN KING CRAB, BAKED ALASKAN KING CRAB FRIED RICE WITH PORTUGUESE CURRY SAUCE, SPICY DEEP FRIED ALASKAN KING CRAB KNUCKLES, GREEN BEAN SOUP AND STEAMED ALASKAN KING CRAB LEGS WITH MINCED GARLIC AND GREEN ONION.

Empire Chinese Cuisine 金粵軒海鮮酒家 : Alaskan King Crab

ALASKAN KING CRAB POST AT TOP CANTONESE [HERE]

ALASKAN KING CRAB POST AT GOLDEN SWAN [HERE]

Empire Chinese Cuisine used to be one restaurant serving two types of cuisine, Cantonese Chinese and Hong Kong western style. The restaurant closed for a year or two due to lack of business and is now categorized as a middle class Chinese restaurant (pretty sure with same the owners). My family and family friends claim that the dishes at Empire Chinese are slightly cheaper than Kirin by $1.00 or so, and the quality is better. "So… why not king crab?", that is how the dinner started. 

Hearing from quite a few people (mainly parents and family friends), apparently Chinese restaurants advertise in the Chinese newspaper! We already arrived at Sun Sui Wah but thought why not save some money and take a look? Leaving to a gas station and spending $0.85 on the newspaper, we looked through the deals offered by a few restaurants. Most of the prices for king crab ranged from $14.99/lb to $23.95/lb and we chose the Empire ($19.80/lb) because it is a middle class restaurant. Plus, the price is cheaper than the $23.95/lb and it is more of a thrill when you get a better deal LOL. Also, most of the cheaper priced king crabs were at dive restaurants and I rather pay an extra $3.00/lb for a "nicer" restaurant. When I saw the Empire in the newspaper, I assumed it was the Empire Seafood on No. 3 and was quite excited to try their dinner since the dim sum is not so great there. However, the ad was for Empire Chinese on Alexandra and this would be my first visit.

Since Empire Chinese previously served two different styles of Chinese cuisine, the restaurant has two sides which look quite different. One side has wooden chairs with cushions, gold coloured drapes and nice chandeliers… while the other side has very cheap looking banquet chairs (resembles Sing Kee's LOL), no chandeliers (there is a dome roof though) and long plain red drapes. We got stuck on the uglier side.

SPICY ALASKAN KING CRAB KNUCKLES, STEAMED ALASKAN KING CRAB LEGS WITH GARLIC, BAKED ALASKAN KING CRAB FRIED RICE WITH PORTUGUESE CURRY SAUCE, DRIED SEAFOOD AND SHREDDED DUCK SOUP, SAUTEED CHINESE SAUSAGE WITH GAI LAN, RED BEAN SOUP, CHINESE ALMOND COOKIES AND CHINESE SESAME BALL COOKIES.