Lee Garden Seafood Restaurant 利苑海鮮酒家 : Dim sum

DINNER POST ON LEE GARDEN SEAFOOD RESTAURANT 利苑海鮮酒家 [HERE]

I wanted to have dim sum with my mother and I was given two options, Kirin or Fortune House. Pfft… how about none? My mother was not pleased with my attitude and brought up the time when I took her and my father to Top Gun in Burnaby for dim sum. Great, I suffered from a burned thumb which took weeks to heal, mediocre food, and now a former restaurant choice that will be used against me from now on. Well, after some persuading, I asked my mother if she wanted to try Lee Garden. I further showed her photos of the restaurant from my previous visit for dinner, insisted that Lee Garden is a newly renovated establishment and hey, it sold her!

We arrived on a weekday and the restaurant was not busy, which made parking very easy compared to finding a spot in a residential area like last time for dinner. After we walked up to the hostess' podium and stood by the sign which says "wait to be seated", we were greeted by a manager who yelled across from the dining room. This is when my mother said, "why let us stand here if you are going to yell across the room?" LOL...

SMALL ($3.88) || MEDIUM ($4.68) || LARGE ($5.18) || SPECIAL ($6.28)

Nine Dishes 九道

All You Can Eat? Nine Dishes? What kind of restaurant or buffet is this? These are some of the thoughts that run through my mind whenever I pass by the restaurant. When we entered, we were pointed towards a seat and a sheet of paper along with a pen were plopped on the table. We assumed the obvious and wrote down our order before proceeding to the counter, where we handed the sheet in. After the first dish arrived, we waited a while and noticed other tables with drinks, so we assumed we were supposed to order drinks at the counter and brought them back to our table.

Nine Dishes is one restaurant where service is truly non-existent, but at least the gentleman did not look miserable. He was not friendly either, just indifferent. As for the interior, the restaurant is really cold! I wanted to keep my jacket on but because it is a runway piece, I did not want it touching the table so placed it on a chair while hesitating at the same time because the furniture is not the cleanest. The cold temperature made sense throughout dinner however because every table ordered a Szechuan hot pot.

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.

Happy Family

I did not really plan on posting about an experience of Happy Family Restaurant because it was a small take out order, but decided to do so to make my man happy. Plus, we recently stopped at a red light literally in front of the restaurant and it seemed like it was meant to be - to take a photo of the restaurant's exterior!

Bubble Waffle Cafe 雞蛋仔餐廳

There is always someone I know that wants to try Bubble Waffle Cafe, but I rarely crave for bubble tea. However, since C'est la vie a Maggi and I were in the area, we decided to make a visit. Our first choice was actually Icy Bar but the restaurant was randomly closed for the day. Also, I thought Milk & Sugar Cafe (which is located across the street) was Bubble Waffle Cafe! Maggi wanted to go to Milk & Sugar Cafe too but it was my fault because I got the restaurants mixed up.

Bubble Waffle Cafe is located near Kingsway and Joyce, and is in the same plaza along with Honolulu, London Drugs, Papa John's and Gold Train Express. The restaurant appears to be a franchise and there are three locations in Richmond as well as one in UBC.

As for the interior, the restaurant is fairly clean and there is a good amount of seats. Every table has three types of menu which includes noodle combos, Japanese paper hot pot, teppanyaki, snacks, rice rolls and drinks. Since we spent the whole day eating already, we decided to try only the bubble tea and bubble waffles. As for the service, the owner is quite friendly. I put my purse on a chair next to the table beside us and she pushed the chair towards me. Although her English was not the best, she was friendly.

Kingsway Deli

Kingsway Deli is a Vietnamese shop that offers banh mi, dessert, hot deli and cold drinks such as shakes, milk tea and fresh fruit smoothies. As for the banh mi, I am loyal to Ba Le and have never been to Kingsway Deli before.

There is a large variety of subs which include cold cut meat, meat balls, shredded pork, pork belly, tofu, chicken, grilled pork, Vietnamese ham as well as shredded and deep fried, banana leaf ham and minced pork. In addition, Kingsway Deli offers spring rolls, salad rolls and beef balls. As for the hot deli, the selection included marinated eggs, bitter melon and preserved vegetables.

Park Here Seafood Restaurant 百喜海鮮酒家

Park Here Seafood is a Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant that offers a few Vietnamese influenced Chinese dishes. Also, the restaurant replaced the former Kam Wah Loong but most of the items on the menu along with the interior are the same. However, the owners are a lot friendlier and more welcoming!

The restaurant does not look too cramped and there are comfortable seating arrangements, although I am a bit surprised that they chose not to touch up the interior. After ordering, the owner asked if we wanted to move to a larger table because the amount of food we ordered was too much for a table for two. This is very appreciated because honestly, I hate juggling dishes around and eating uncomfortably at a restaurant. Or even worse, the awkwardness of a dish hanging half off the table! If it falls, who is at fault?

Curry King Cafe 咖哩皇餐廳

After finishing up with some groceries at T&T and needing dinner ASAP in the area, we settled on Curry King. Curry King seems to be one of those places where many people drive by and think the restaurant is probably "meh", or at least for me it was. The restaurant is located on Kingsway Street in Burnaby and is in the same strip along with Bubble World, Waves as well as Hot Luck.

When we walked in, the interior surprised me. The restaurant is bigger as well as cleaner than I thought, and does not look run down. In addition, there was a nice fried rice aroma and the restaurant has AC. Another thing that surprised me was the waitress. She looked miserable, pointed towards which seat we should take, and tossed the menus.

Curry King has a large menu which includes a variety of congee, soup, laksa, ramen, udon, build your own noodles, curry, and the typical HK style cafe selections such as baked dishes and hot plates.

Pearl House Restaurant 珍珠小館 : Burnaby location

After a disappointing meal at No.1 Beef Noodle House, I was craving for some good Taiwanese snacks and headed to Pearl Castle a couple of days later. From what I remember, I thought Pearl Castle sucked and offered nothing but cheap quality bubble tea food. However, after trying Pearl Castle in Richmond, their Taiwanese popcorn chicken along with the beef noodles were good! So, of course I had to try Pearl Castle in Burnaby.

Walking in, my friend and I were hesitant on grabbing dinner here because we peaked into the kitchen and noticed most of the cooks appear to be young students. However, after taking a look at the menu, we noticed  the dishes are a lot simpler compared to Pearl Castle in Richmond. The menu is very simple and assuming because the cooks are young, there is less room for mistakes. There are a lot of simple items such as fried goodies, stewed dishes, noodles and snacks, like pancakes as well as egg rolls. 

Oh yeah... by the way, I thought this restaurant was Pearl Castle for the whole time until I started writing my post LOL.

Kamamarui Ramen & Don

Going for ramen can be good or bad. To some, a hot bowl of ramen fills the tummy and does the job. However, there are others who do not bother trying certain ramen joints because they hate settling for mediocre. Without stating which category I belong in, it is safe to say that homemade ramen is obviously the best. Well, isn't homemade food always the best? Furthermore, since the profit margin for ramen is very high, why shouldn't people be selective? 

Kamamarui is a small ramen joint that is located in Burnaby. The restaurant has less than eight tables available and the interior is fairly clean (more than the utensils). The interior looks simple and is not cluttered. There are dog tail hooks along the wall as well as the menu, and chalkboards by the counter. As for the menu on the wall, I kind of struggled because I have bad eyesight and my contacts were dry that day lol.

Congee Noodle King 粥麵軒 (3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th visit)

FIRST POST ON CONGEE NOODLE KING [HERE]

REVISIT POST ON CONGEE NOODLE KING [HERE]

Do negative dining experiences prevent clientele from revisiting? Of course! My first blog post on Congee Noodle King was mediocre because every spicy salt n' chilli dish was missing that peppery seasoning flavour, along with the chilli and salt. In addition, everyone knows that a Chinese restaurant is a dime a dozen, so why revisit? For the atmosphere? Haha… no.

Well, my blog is a food diary for myself as I discover restaurants to be my go-to. So, despite my first post on Congee Noodle King and feeling like the restaurant was only average, it is now one of my regulars. Why? The prices for live seafood are unbeatable and the sauces are on point. Honestly, I have been here twice in one week and finally realize when I want live seafood at a cheap price which is also properly prepared, I have to come here. Furthermore, the restaurant is also pretty honest regarding the weight with their live seafood.

Lee Garden Seafood Restaurant 利苑海鮮酒家 : Dinner

DIM SUM POST ON LEE GARDEN SEAFOOD 利苑海鮮酒家 [HERE]

Lee Garden is the new replacement of the old run down Grand Buffet Restaurant. Furthermore, Lee Garden is also the newest Chinese restaurant to join Kingsway Street in South Burnaby. Coming for dinner on a Monday evening around 7:30pm, the restaurant was packed! The parking lot was full and we ended up parking in a residential area. Perhaps the restaurant was busy because we visited a day after Father's Day? 

Walking in, I was amazed. Wow, the restaurant totally renovated. The atmosphere at Lee Garden is definitely similar to Kirin and is the nicest looking restaurant in South Burnaby, including New Startlet. After waiting fifteen minutes at the front along with a large crowd of people, the hostess showed up, seated everyone and mentioned we had a thirty minute wait. Honestly, it is really rare for me to wait at any restaurant, but because of the nice interior along with no other restaurants to visit in the area, I did not mind. Plus, Lee Garden had a full house and it would be great to gauge how the food and service is.

The waiting area has marble tiles, a nice chandelier and even a brass plated umbrella rack. Furthermore, there is a nice hallway from the entrance, cashier and seafood tank, to the dining room. In addition, the restaurant has a high ceiling and is definitely going for the higher end prestigious look. 

As for the dining room, there are grey drapes with golden tassels, a golden phoenix cut out, more chandeliers, and spacious seating arrangements. Furthermore, the restaurant is huge. As for the table setting, there are double plates along with a brown napkin which is a typical set up for pricier restaurants. 

However, in our case seating at 8:15pm, we only had a single plate with a white napkin. Usually most restaurants change their table setting to a simpler one on slow nights, or an hour before closing for next morning's dim sum. But, for a new restaurant during a busy period, I expected more. If everyone around us has double plates and a brown napkin, I except the same..

Come Along Seafood Restaurant 金龍船海鮮酒家 : Dinner (2nd visit)

FIRST POST ON DINNER AT COME ALONG [HERE]

Having experienced more negative than positive experiences for dim sum at Come Along and only one undocumented horrible dinner, I decided to give the restaurant another try, half a year ago. On my last visit for dinner at Come Along, the food was surprisingly not bad! The two memorable items were the cream and butter sauce crab as well as the taro fried rice. Furthermore, Come Along frequently offers promotional prices on their live seafood and peking duck.

The peking duck special seems to be always available and is priced at $28.99. So, with two pretty good dishes from the last visit and a great peking duck value, we decided to head to Come along. Throughout the dinner, the service was great. The staff was friendly and attentive! Was it my birthday? Furthermore, the staff provided plenty of plate changes (not too excessively) without having to ask, which is a first for us here.

Cho Sun B.B.Q. Korean Restaurant

BF has been interested in trying out Cho Sun BBQ for months. Months. As for myself, I heard through Instagram that the food is average at best and typical me, hesitant towards wasting money on mediocre food (hey! Korean food is pricey…), never wanted to visit. However, since I was responsible for four below average to mediocre restaurants in a row, I caved and we finally came here for dinner (which actually ended our streak of bad luck restaurants!).

Cho Sun is a Korean barbecue restaurant located on Kingsway Street in Vancouver, and offers Japanese food as well. In addition, the restaurant is open late until 2:00am. As for the seating arrangements, there are divider walls everywhere and unlike some Korean restaurants, there is no push bell service! I never thought much of push buttons before, asides from worrying about annoying the staff… but, Cho Sun desperately needs one. The restaurant was only half full but because of the layout, it is impossible to get a waiting staffs' attention unless they happened to be walking by.

Mezbaan Indian Fusion Restaurant

Four consistent days of bad luck: Day Two.

Recently I have been looking for vouchers online and came across an amazing deal, $15.00 for two at an all you can eat dinner buffet which includes two soft drinks, chai tea or mango lassi. In addition, I read some posts on Mezbaan Indian Fusion Restaurant and the buffet did not look bad! What lured me in asides from the great deal is that the restaurant serves naan straight to the table, rather than sitting in the warming trays.

As stated on the voucher, reservations are required and when I called a few times, the restaurant was always booked. So, coming for dinner on Victoria Day, the restaurant was not busy but quickly filled up. Mezbaan Indian is fairly small with only ten tables and when we arrived, the waitress did not ask if we had reservations so we disregarded them. After waiting ten minutes, she came back and asked if we had a voucher, provided us with menus, and mentioned we can help ourselves at the buffet.

Lucky Noodle Chinese Restaurant 湘味濃

Lucky Noodle has been around for a couple of years and having drove by at least a hundred times, I have never noticed the restaurant. However, since a few new restaurants have been popping up along Kingsway Street, I assumed Lucky Noodle was one of them. Was it a craving for noodles that lured me in? Nope, it was the alluring photos of Hunan cuisine posted outside the restaurant! In addition, the restaurant also offers Cantonese as well as Taiwanese food, and a dry style hot pot like Shun Xin's (which we unfortunately did not get to try since crab was not available at the time).

The restaurant is a small family run operation and the staff is extremely friendly (ten times friendlier than another Hunan cuisine restaurant, Alvin Garden!). As for the interior, I like it. There are paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling, and vines running across the top that wraps around faux tree pillars. Furthermore at the back of the counter, there are hanging pinata-like food such as ginger, potato, red chilli, eggplant and cucumber. 

Golden Eats Seafood Restaurant 佳坊海鮮食館

I often get asked if my favourite cuisine is Chinese… and the answer is no. A reason why I go for Chinese so often other than based on convenience is because my standards are very high for Westcoast cuisine, and I hate going Downtown. I have no idea why, I just hate it. Hate as in if I am shopping downtown, I will deliberately leave to eat elsewhere (unless there is a restaurant I want to try). Having said that, I am running out of Chinese restaurants to visit! Fortunately though, I noticed a new restaurant on Kingsway Street, Golden Eats Seafood.

Walking in on a weekday, the restaurant was packed and we were greeted by a friendly waiter. The restaurant has booth seating along the wall and a good six to seven tables for larger parties of five to ten.  The interior is simple, well lit and has a nice chandelier as well as two televisions. As for the staff, everyone was friendly which is expected for a newly opened restaurant (uh… except for IPOH Asian House). I am not sure whether or not the restaurant offers dim sum during the day, but Golden Eats does have a late night menu.

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.

Bubble Town

Bubble Town eh? Out of my at least fifty times coming to this plaza to grab a sub at Ba Le, Bubble Town has never crossed my mind. Why the sudden interest? Well, it was that awkward 5:00pm first meal of the day and not wanting to spoil my appetite kinda thing. I mean, of course I really wanted to go to Sal Y Limon… but if I did, I would probably order at least a couple of tacos and a burrito, which would have spoiled my appetite for dinner. When we walked in, there were a few mothers' with their newborns and the bubble tea joint seemed like a neighbourhood hang out. The second thing I noticed was the owner cutting up some fresh mangos on a sheet of newspaper, and my immediate thoughts were "fresh mango juice!".

Sal Y Limon

I have mentioned before that I occasionally circle around streets or spend over an hour looking for a restaurant (to be honest, usually it is an hour and a half to two hours LOL). Why? Because I want to have a good meal! And am indecisive. So after driving up to Park Royal and going through the Capilano and Lonsdale area, my friend and I came back to Vancouver and agreed on a Mexican joint that is supposed to be popular… she claims there is always a line up! Plus, she is reliable and never falls for hyped restaurants. Moreover, Sal Y Limon hangs a banner declaring to be the winner for best tacos in Vancouver on Taco Wars!

Yeah… I do not even know what that is and honest to truth, it does not matter to me since many of my friends have already told me that this place is pretty good, way before they put up the banner! The Mexican joint is fairly small and customers order as well as pay at the counter, then grab their food. One of the most eye catching things would be their self serve bar, consisting of eight sauces(!), lime wedges, plastic cutlery and containers. Unfortuantely we did not try any of the sauces though since the food was flavourful enough. I will probably try some on my next visit though!