umi japanese eatery: decent japanese food court noms

after having a pre-lunch snack at let's roll, my mom and i stopped by richmond center after her hair appointment for a bigger meal. the new dining terrace has a lot of choices but umi looked pretty good! this is the same japanese stand at most food courts except this one has more hot food like udon and appetizers and also separate section for desserts. 

chicken udon (~$8) - this was unexpectedly good! the udon noodles were a good firm texture and they give a pretty big portion of chicken as well. it was quite salty though and the soup didnt have much taste other than salt...but it wasnt bad!

3.5/5

takoyaki ($~5) - this was very normal and a bit room temperature but at least it had lots of bonito flakes! 

3/5

overall: if i was coming back to richmond centre for lunch, i wouldnt mind coming back but i hear good things about bourbon st. grill so i would try that first! 

froshberg gelato: its gelicious (I'm lame)

there's a super nice guy that works at this froshberg gelato/crepe delicious that remembered me when i walked by about 2 hours ago so when i passed by with my mom after eating lunch, we couldnt help but stop and get some dessert! 

single scoop ($3.95) - UNFORTUNATELY i dont remember the flavour...either tiramisu, cheesecake or salted caramel (we sampled all 3) BUT it was delicious. smooth and creamy but not too sweet either. amazing quality for food court and the price is not bad either!

4.5/5 

aberdeen food court: asian food mecca

aberdeen, although this place does not provide a good shopping experience, it holds one of the best food courts in the lower mainland. they have a huge selection of asian foods from noodles, cha chan teng, malaysian, pho, and even crepes and cream puffs. this place is perfect for people who cannot decide what cuisine they want to sample because they can have a little bit of each.

this time, i went to estea for bubble tea, shanghai shanghai for pan fried pork buns and cafe d'lite for their famous hainanese chicken with oily rice. 

estea express: honey green milk tea half sweet with grass jelly(regular - $4.50): this was actually very delicious with the right amount of sweetness. i also discovered i LOVE grass jelly. its not as sweet as coconut jelly and its like eating jello through the straw! 

3.75/5

(i had ANOTHER big city perks deal where i could get 5 bubble teas for $13. this was such a great deal but AGAIN i didnt use it until the last 2 weeks before it expired forcing me and my mom to consume 5 bubble teas in 14 days. anyways, they had quite a few restrictions so i went very basic) 

cafe d'lite: hainanese chicken with rice ($7.75) - everybody talks about how good the chicken and rice are here including my mom so we decided to share a plate of it and it was very good! maybe not as amazing as some people say but the rice was fragrant without being too oily and i love when the chicken is covered with a soy sauce. pretty good portion for the price too. i would definitely come back to aberdeen just for this.

4/5

shanghai shanghai: pan fried pork buns ($4.95) -  very good and juicy. they were very fresh since i had to wait a good 15-20 minutes for them (so if you plan on getting anything from shanghai shanghai, go there FIRST) although the juice inside was a bit oily, it was steaming hot. the bun was delicious as well but again, quite oily but you cant really complain since most pan fried buns are like that.

3.85/5

all in all, a very delicious and diverse lunch at aberdeen that will satisfy more than one of your cravings.