Top Gun Hot Pot 尖東火鍋 : Dim sum

TOP GUN HOT POT 尖東火鍋 POST [HERE]

Top Gun Hot Pot is one of the five restaurants that belong to the Top Gun group. The restaurant is located in Crystal Mall and serves as a dim sum restaurant during the day, but turns into a hot pot buffet in the evening. I have never been here for dim sum before but my parents have many years ago and according to them, the only edible item was the salty rice pudding, which is no longer available. This probably explains why ever since I was a child, the only dim sum restaurant in Burnaby we would go to is Fortune House at Metrotown. Although I do not know why they even like Fortune House because the food is overpriced for the quality and the line up is always ridiculous.

Anyhow, fast forward to years later, I finally get control of where we go for dim sum! After begging my parents to come here with me for two weeks… My sudden interest in having dim sum here is because ever since I had dinner at Top Gun J&C in Richmond, I thought Top Gun may be a fine dining restaurant and serve good dim sum. I actually looked through some of the dim sum photos from Top Gun J&C and the food looked good, so I assumed Top Gun in Burnaby would serve the same dishes… But I was wrong. Oh well, I had nothing to lose because I received an e-mail that dim sum would be 40% off for members.

The restaurant has plenty of booth seating arrangements along with well spaced out tables. The seating arrangements are not cramped either and are fairly comfortable. But when considering that dim sum starts at $4.95, the atmosphere does not match the higher prices. With regards to the service, there were no plate changes as well so the service does not match the higher prices either. However, the staff were fairly polite. There is only a Chinese check list menu and when I asked if there was an English version, the manager mentioned I could tell him what I wanted to order in English and he could check the items off for me! Also despite that the order sheet is in Chinese, the actual menu has English.

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.

S&W Pepper House 西南風

Unintentionally spending an unproductive day from grabbing a breakfast snack at Mancakes (which was good), then going for mediocre dim sum in Richmond at Red Star but having to rush back to Vancouver, followed by a scare of Xu's Wonton House permanently closing which resulted in us trying North Meixi for a couple of unpleasant dim sum dishes, to walking around Crystal Mall afterwards because we needed to kill time before eating dinner. After all this, I just wanted to go home! I hate unproductive days and it was pretty much having to come back to Vancouver that caused the hiccup in our plans, sigh.

The good news is, killing time by walking around Crystal Mall was not so bad because it was worth it in the end to have dinner at S&W Pepper House. We did not even have to circle around for parking this time too! S&W Pepper House offers authentic Szechuan cuisine and the restaurant uses dried chilli peppers as well as Szechuan peppercorns, therefore no BS chilli oil and soy sauce only!

Walking in, the restaurant looks very simple and there is no decor, however the place is fairly clean. There is a nice chilli oil and dried chilli pepper aroma, but in a good way and not "greasy" whatsoever. As for the seating arrangements, there is one table suitable for large parties and booth seating arrangements along the wall. The owner and staff were also friendly and inviting!

Northern Meixi 山東拉麵

An Instagram friend mentioned that Xu's Wonton House was "gone" and confirmed with "Yeah it's gone now!", but I did not believe her. How could Xu's be out of business? So after finishing an errand in Vancouver and still hungry because we did not eat much of the unappealing dim sum at Red Star, we rushed to Crystal Mall. When we arrived, turns out the food stall was only closed for the day! Geezus, was she trying to give me a heart attack?

Since we still needed a small snack to prevent spoiling our appetite for dinner, we decided to try a food stall that sells dim sum along with freshly made noodles. Well, actually BF wanted to try this place and I was more like… the food will not be good. I swear, some people really have a sixth sense regarding food. As he was ordering, he asked the owner if the xiao long bao tastes juicy and I thought that was a stupid question. Not because XLBs should always taste juicy and he was asking an obvious question, but more on the grounds that I find it rude to ask in case the buns are not juicy. However, the owner responded, "Yes! Of course! Juicy!" and he saw my eyes light up. I even accentually blurted out, "Wow! Good!" because I was shocked and believed him.

Victory Seafood Restaurant 凱旋大酒樓

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..

Top Gun Hot Pot 尖東火鍋

Top Gun Hot Pot is a part of the Top Gun chain which includes Kingsway Sushi, Richmond Sushi (my favourite AYCE Japanese restaurant), Top Gun J&C and Garden City Hot Pot. The restaurant is located in Crystal Mall and I believe this is the priciest AYCE hot pot joint. I used to come here a lot in high school based on convenience and despite the average food, it is the unlimited sauce cart that is the highlight! However, there is no more sauce cart. As for the menu, there is a regular along with a deluxe option now. The biggest differences would be the deluxe menu offers salmon sashimi, hokkigai, angus beef, top grade beef and quail eggs.

As for the interior, the restaurant is fairly large, spacious, and has comfortable seating arrangements. Moreover, there is a large amount of booth seats available and quite a few tables for larger parties of eight to ten. I definitely recommend reservations if you are picky and prefer a booth seat (like me). 

DELUXE $27.97 || CHILD (5-9) $16.95 || ADULT $21.95 || CHILD (5-9) $12.95

BROTH $9.95 || POP $2.25

Reflect Social Dining + Lounge at the Hilton

Brunch at the Hilton. No carving station? No roast beef? No prime rib?

I guess because of the long weekend, there was only three other tables including us.

$32.95/person

Free parking (Crystal Mall)

THE FRESH ORANGE JUICE. Why did our server not offer us champaign? It is a given as well as a must ask for Hilton. The only time I felt like I ever had too much champaign at the Hilton was on Mother's Day where the ratio was 8:2 champaign and I usually like 6:4.

The SALAD BAR is perfect for health nuts.

The COLD FOODS BAR consisting of mussels, smoked salmon, deli meat, smoked fish and shrimp cocktail.

MY FIRST PLATE consisting of clams, smoked salmon, smoked fish and shrimp cocktail. The mussels taste a lot better at their Mother's Day brunch. They did not have a clean or fresh taste and they were stiff with some sort of limeon dressing, I did not like them much. Surprisingly the smoked salmon is really mushy and not enjoyable (I thought smoke salmon should always taste the same). The shrimp cocktail is what it is, other places have larger prawns. The smoked fish is okay, kind of dry, but I think it is supposed to be like that.

HIS FIRST PLATE

MUFFINS AND BOXED CEREAL

PASTRY, TOAST AND CEREAL SECTION

SCONES, DANISHES, CROISSANT, TOAST

NOODLE SALAD?

SUSHI (CALIFORNIA ROLL, YAM TEMPURA ROLL AND DYNAMITE ROLL)

FRENCH TOAST

HASH BROWNS 

SCRAMBLED EGGS

SAUSAGES

BACON

PANCAKES

BLUEBERRY SAUCE

POACHED EGG STATION

DIM SUM (DUMPLINGS, SHAO MAI AND HA GAO)

DEEP FRIED CHICKEN

SALMON AND VEGETABLES (YELLOW AND RED PEPPERS, BROCCOLI, MUSHROOMS, CAULIFLOWER)

GREEN CURRY

RED CURRY

RICE

SAMOSA BALLS?

MY SECOND PLATE consisting of hash browns, bacon, salmon, watermelon and honeydew. The bacon is panfried and looks a lot better than Pan Pacifics' because they are not all clumped up, but they are really salty (not the good salty too). The hash browns are what it is, nothing special. The salmon is overcooked and stiff but that is a given for brunch.

HIS SECOND PLATE, he liked the pancake.

MY SMOKE SALMON EGG BENEDICT

When I tried to cut it, water bursted open and got everywhere. Not the yolk, but water. I guess they did not drain it properly.

Yeah.. my egg looked like this. It was not really good. The hollandaise is light (which I like), the english muffin is too hard (freshly toasted) and the egg is pretty much failed.

MY THIRD PLATE consisting of salad, smoked salmon, samosa ball, deep fried chicken and watermelon. The salad is what it is, the smoked salmon is mushy, the samosa ball as I call it tastes like a samosa inside and the deep fried chicken is moist (the seasoning on the skin could taste better).

HIS THIRD PLATE, which he thought everything was average. Surprisingly he liked the sushi the most.

THE DESSERT BAR

I love their fruit selection! One of the best.

FOR DESSERT, THE ECLAIR AND LEMON CAKE. The eclair is pretty bad, the cream tastes horrible like packaged ones from a supermarket and the eclair itself tastes stale. The cake is okay.

AS WELL AS THE CHEESECAKE. The cheesecake tastes warm and does not have the usual tradition, simple, typical cheesecake taste.

To be honest I did not enjoy brunch here at all and I was hungry after. Why is there no carving station?  Not going to lie, I think it is stupid that there is no carving station. I mean, I ate nothing and what I ate did not even taste fresh. Our server was nice though, he refilled our drinks and cleared our plates. If anything, he disappeared for quite a long time and other servers could not find him. If you decide to come since the price is cheaper than most brunches, I recommend calling ahead to see if the have prime rib or roast beef. 

I have to admit their Mother's Day brunch is PRETTTTTTTTY good.

Everything tasted fresh, there were two kinds of mussels and the crab claws were my favourite.

Food: 2/5

Service: 4/5