sushi mania: awesome sushi lunch deals!

in one of the last days before summer was over, me and my friends went to sushi maina for a japanese lunch before heading down to the aritzia warehouse sale. 

found on main street more towards the west, this little shop looks a bit like a warehouse from the outside. the small dining area was only about half full when we went in and the food came quickly.

we saw that there were some lunch specials but stupidly said, "oh it just comes with miso soup, we dont want miso soup" so we ordered but then realized that we could save almost 3 dollars if we ordered from the combo so we got asked the server if she could basically change our entire order and she did. they did it so politely and pleasantly that it made my whole experience so much better. 

even though service is not always that important to me, really good service makes a lasting impression and makes me want to return. ANYWAYS, back to the food.

lots of special rolls and we tried one which was AMAZING. the other rolls are good, not huge but not skimpy on the filling either. 

agadashi tofu ($3.95) - this was pretty good but a small portion. nothing amazing.

3.5/5

BIGBANG roll ($7.95) : crab meat, avocado, cucumber topped with seared tuna - this was a bit pricy but so delicious. essentially a cali roll topped with a bit of torched tuna. i could eat this all day 

4.5/5

yam tempura roll, spicy salmon roll and california roll ($8.95) - this was a great deal as each roll was 3-4 dollars and you get a miso soup with it too! they dont pack on too much rice which is my biggest pet peeve with sushi and the filling is enough to call it sushi and not rice bomb. 

yam tempura roll: 3.5/5

spicy salmon roll: 3.75/5

california roll: 3.25/5 (a tad dry)

salmon avocado roll ($3.50) - a staple when we eat sushi. this was very good with lots of ripe avocado

3.95/5 

alaska roll ($3.95) - much like the ones from sushi town or sushi garden, it was packed with avocado then topped with salmon and a citrus-y sauce. i personally like this one more than sushi garden because that one gives WAY less salmon but the sauce here has less garlic flavour 

4/5

chicken kaarage ($3.95) - boneless and not over battered just the way i like it but a bit expensive for the portion size.

3.85/5

overall: good sushi with a reasonable price (and great lunch deal!) but not too impressed with the sizes for cooked food. 

yeti yogurt: hazelnut crunch

i love froyo, yes i do but the best in vancouver (well north vancouver and sfu) is YETI YOGURT. their flavours are always good and their topping bar is AMAZING with hazelnut crunch (which is a premium topping at pinkberry)

nutella, chocolate chip cookie, cheesecake, white chocolate flavoured yogurts - so good.. seriously their flavours are amazing and do NOT melt quickly like qoolas but are not too sweet like menchies

5/5

cheesecake bites, chocolate pearls, mochi, clodhoppers, and hazelnut crunch - the hazelnut crunch isnt really visible but its like a thick hazelnut flavoured paste (not that pretty) with hazelnut bits. its like nutella but thicker and ohmygosh so good. 

5/5

(prices are similar to others)

i go all the way to lonsdale just to get this yogurt 

shanghai house: no-wait shanghai food

before my recent desire to try every shanghainese restaurant in richmond, shanghai house was my staple for xlbs. the place is pretty spacious and we never had to wait for a table plus its super close to richmond centre so my mom and i would go here all the time. 

xiao long bao ($4.95) - the classic shanghainese dumpling filled with hot soup and pork. the skin is a bit thicker but i dont really mind since i love carbs. the filling is a bit chunkier than i prefer but solid xlbs. 

3.75/5

deep fried spareribs with peppery salt ($13.98) - a nice deep fry to them without dripping oil but there are quite a few chunks of just fat. also this dish is inconsistent as we've ordered it multiple times but sometimes it is spicy, sometimes it is hard, sometimes there's a lot of fat, sometimes the dish is smaller. this makes us not want to order it again.  

due to inconsistency: 3.5/5

i have now found better in richmond but prices are not high (dinner dishes are a bit more expensive) and the food is good.  

crepe escape: lonsdale quay adventures

never would have tried crepe escape if it wasnt for the entertainment book coupon and even with that we only saved $5...

expensive and nothing special, we visited out of convenience and probably would not return without another coupon..and maybe not even then...

three toppings savoury crepe ($8.95) - cheese, proscuitto and ham: crepe was a bit chewy, at least it was made fresh but 9 dollars is a lot

2.5/5

dark chocolate, banana and whipped cream with added ice cream (~$9.95): again, crepe was fresh but ice cream was very supermarket and whipped cream was the nasty stuff ontop of dairy queen cakes. i like chocolate and bananas though!

3/5

overall: its not HORRIBLE but for the price, you can get MUCH BETTER CREPES elsewhere

red pagoda: good pork, not so good beef brisket

more entertainment book coupon usage! it was buy one get one free entree at red pagoda, a vietnamese restaurant on commercial street. 

i really wanted something warm that day so we went with pho and we also wanted to try a combo dish and i'm sure glad we did. 

pagoda special beef noodle - beef slices, beef brisket, beef balls, tendon and tripe ($7.95) - filled with different cuts of beef this was not bad. the soup was quite flavourful although a tad oily. the only complaint is the brisket was extremely chewy. it was fatty but not tender kind of defeating the purpose of brisket. also, regular price the amount of noodle is not the best deal considering other pho places. 

3/5

lemongrass pork, spring roll and prawn on sugarcane combination plate with rice - ($11.50): this was delicious. every component was good including the fresh veggies and especially the pork. it was tender and perfectly lemonly-grass seasoned. i would come back for a huge bowl of this any day. the spring roll on the other had was not memorable and i'm not a huge fan of sugarcane shrimp. (this was also the moment i realized i love vietnamese style rice..short grain i believe) 

4.5/5

worth a try if you're in the area, happy eating! 

let's roll custom sushi (richmond): special rolls your way!

as you've probably noticed, i love sushi. ABSOLUTE LOVE and a shame to japanese culture, i love americanized rolls with deep fried and thick heavy sauces. and imitation crab meat. let's roll custom sushi bar is a shop on robson that i have been dying to try and was super excited when they opened one at lansdowne mall in richmond just because i go to richmond so much more often. 

the concept is simple, you pay $7.99 and you choose your toppings, rice and filling just like subway! it was delicious and actually very fresh fish as well. this is more than enough to fill one person and my mom and i actually shared this one! 

custom roll ($7.99): mixed grain rice, avocado, mango, spicy salmon and prawn tempura topped with crab meat, garlic chips and spicy mayo sauce - this place is perfect because you can fill it with your favourite fillings and top it with the perfect toppings. no creative rolls in sushi restaurants are PERFECT and here, you can jam it with everything that you love. not only that but their sauces/rice are very delicious and they also skimp on what they give you. 

4.75/5

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.