delicious cuisine: a disappointing miss

delicious cuisine is not very delicious and heres why...

wontons in chili sauce ($4.95): not exactly expensive but small portion, tiny wontons with mostly skin. not memorable but satisfied the craving

2.5/5

five spice beef roll ($4.95): again an okay price and tasted generic but not something i would come here for. at least they had a decent sized meat chunk in there.

2.75/5

spicy beef noodle soup ($8.25): my favourite of the meal. beef was really soft and tender. noodles were not handmade (i don't think…) but were al dente and soup was not oily either

3/5

assorted seafood and tofu hotpot ($17.95): TINY TINY TINY portion for such a high price…and the seafood is like the frozen bagged ones from t and t…i do NOT RECOMMEND YOU GETTING THIS…

0/5

house special smoked duck ($19.95): this was not horrible but the price was super high and I've had better…skin was soggy and a bit salty overall

2.5/5

overall: i'm really disappointed with the food here… seems that nothing is made in house but the prices are so high! and with all the great taiwanese joints in richmond, i will not be coming back here.

man ri sung: hand pulled noodles before and after the move to aberdeen...

its ironic how i'm writing about man ri sung at the old location RIGHT after eating at the new location, but at least i'm finally writing about it (and combining two visits!) i will now try harder to catch up on my 100s of posts still needed to be written. anyways, the food! the noodles were unexpectedly the star of the lunch. knife shaved and toothsome, they were al dente and not all equal sizes but absolutely delicious. 

visit 1: 

 spicy pork with rice - lunch special ($8.99): pretty self explanatory with the delicious banchan as well. good price for the amount of meat give (price is now $9.99 at aberdeen). quite oily 

3.75/5 

spicy seafood noodle soup (~$10): this was so good…the soup was not too spicy and was delicious with lots of al dente noodles sitting on the bottom. the seafood wasn't TOO plentiful but it didn't matter, the noodles were THAT GOOD

5/5

visit 2:

going through my pictures i ordered almost the exact same thing…oops (sorry not sorry) but my pictures are so much better ;D 

the location is A LOT nicer inside aberdeen mall but the service was not good at all..we saw the server once and that was it. still they have a sign that says no refills on side dishes but thats okay...

seafood chow main ($10.99): i had to get their knife shaved noodles again and of course i got seafood…but this was just as good as before. the noodles were addicting and flavourful but this was a little lacking in seafood and the squid was a bit chewy. still gets a 5 in my books because it ate so much...

5/5

spicy pork with rice lunch special ($9.99): so this went up in price a little bit but the portion was still quite large. again quite oily but the slices of pork were very meaty and not too fat. 

4/5

overall: the price has gone up but the noodles remain delicious. the banchan no longer has the garlic sprouts but their kimchi was so good. not too sour or spicy i loved it! 

mazazu crepes: greeeeen teaaaaa iceeeee creeeeam

I LOVE GREEN TEA ICE CREAM and the one place i go to most often is mazazu crepe (well 2x is plenty). these two visits were only 1 month apart but the price, texture and flavour were all different! 

visit 1

'

green tea ice cream cone ($3.13): this was deliciously creamy and smooth ice cream but melted really really fast. doesn't matter it tasted so good...

5/5

green tea ice cream cone ($3.20): price increased by about 5 cents…and this time it was much stronger in match flavour but was also quite icy and not as creamy smooth but again IT WAS DELICIOUS…

i honestly don't know which one i prefer cause they were both so good…

5/5

overall: consistency is an issue but my craving for SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM IN GREEN TEA MATCHA GOODNESS BEATS OUT EVERYTHING 

chen's shanghai kitchen: xiao long baos at their best

shanghainese food in richmond is on every street corner and honestly, theyre all pretty dang good. trying to try every single one, my mom and i went to chen's shanghai kitchen near richmond center.

the parking here is horrendous BUT the food is awesome. good prices and delicious food without being too oily and tastes homemade in the best way...

xiao long bao ($4.50): juicy steamed pork buns  - these were AMAZING. the skin: not so thin that it would pop but also not thick in a way that it gets in the way of enjoying the little dumpling. the juice: PERFECT. steaming hot and tasty without being too salty and its filled to the brim with it. the meat: VERY GOOD, good flavour, not too fat. everything i look for in a xlb is right here.

5/5

black vinegar spare ribs ($~13): deep fried and then tossed in a very very tasty sauce, this dish was quite good! there were a long of bone parts but thats what spare ribs are so i cant complain. it was very tasty and did not feel too heavy since there was no real batter like in sweet and sour pork. 

this is now my go to dish when eating at chinese restaurants. delicious! :D 

4.45/5

sichuan style beef noodles ($~7): beef in spicy soup with noodles: this dish was really spicy but very good too! there was plenty of beef and the noodles were a good texture. the only thing i wish they had was a piece or two of vegetable but for the price, this was beyond my expectations! 

4.75/5

overall: chen's is a small little place that serves delicious shanghainese food. their menu is pretty big and their flavours are all on point. the xlb was very soupy and delicious and i would come back anytime! 

sushi one: there's better in steveston

in my hand, another social shopper this time for sushi one which was $25 worth of food for only $12. obviously with 3 people, we spent a lot more than that.

we ended up ordering 2 lunch specials which were 2 different special rolls that come with a side dish each, miso soup and salad for $11.95. 

spicy tuna sashimi (with combo): not all that spicy but tasted fine

3/5

flamed salmon sushi (with combo): more like burnt salmon sushi...but i like salmon so it was okay

2.75/5

scallop magma roll (spicy tuna topped with chopped scallop drizzled in black sesame sauce): i liked this roll the most out of everything we ate because of that sesame sauce. it was delicious and complemented the flavours really well. the only thing is that their rice is really dry and hard 

4.25/5

spider roll: deep fried soft shell crab: this roll was pretty rice heavy and the crab was over fried/over battered. do not recommend it 

2/5

we also got a bento box that came with gyoza and yakitori pictured here, and also some sushi/sashimi pieces. ($17.95)

gyoza & yakitori: yakitori was pretty good with moist chicken and gyoza was pan fried nicely 

3.5/5

toro sashimi: we got to choose the sashimi with this combo and decided to go for the most expensive but the slices were pretty small but still good. 

nigri: tasted okay, good assortment i guess? 

tobiko and egg ($6.95): flying fish roe topped with quail egg: this was VERY overpriced and did not taste special at all...not worth it

2.5/5

overall: sushi one is really over priced for the food you get but their lunch specials are OKAY. overall, i would not return without a groupon (and i dont think you can...i believe it is closed) but they have an original location called shota sushi in vancouver. 

zephyr: hot pot and milk tea

a chinese group buy website brought me and my mother to zephyr for taiwanese style hot pot, appetizer, drinks and dessert. for only $24.99, we got to choose 2 full sized hot pots and 2 milk teas as well as a grass jelly and a salty peppery chicken. 

chicken with sesame oil and wine hot pot (originally $12.95): a pot on a burner came to our table...turned off.. and our server took a long while getting it to start up again but she was very kind! 

this pot was filled with napa cabbage, quite a bit of chicken (chopped up leg) and vermicelli on the bottom. it also came with a bowl of rice and some vegetables to put into the soup and cook. taste wise, this was my favourite because of the sesame flavour not being too strong. also, you get lots of chicken meat but because it was so full, it took forever to cook the meat leaving some veggies soft and raw chicken. the bowl is a bit small for the amount of vegetables but overall, good.

3.95/5

taiwanese style popcorn chicken (originally $5.25) : very well done here! lightly breaded and fried nice and crispy! 

4.35/5

japanese sukiyaki hotpot (originally $11.95): similar to the other hot pot, it came with some veggies, rice and a pot of soup. the soup base was really sweet though and strangely goopy. the meat was majorly fat chunks and not as enjoyable as the other hot pot.

2.75/5 

hot grass jelly (originally $3.00): this was really good! i love grass jelly obviously and being warm and slippery soft, it was super yummy! 

4/5

cold green milk tea with grass jelly (originally $4.25 + 50c): good milk tea and but didnt love the floating jelly and nothing special

3.75/5

hot green milk tea (originally $4.00): mom really enjoyed the display and said it kept the tea nice and warm. it was also a huge pot and sweetened well! 

4/5

overall: with a group coupon, this was a great deal but for the quality of meat, especially in the beef hot pot, i would probably try another dish if i were to return

capstone tea and fondue: not quite high tea - mid height?

another social shopper deal led me to capstone tea and fondue in richmond for their high tea set which included savoury and sweet treats with 2 drinks as well.

matcha latte: not the prettiest latte art but was tasty and smooth 

3.5/5

matcha smoothie (half sweet): a bit too icy for my liking and the matcha flavour was lacking

2.5/5

the entire tea set; details below except for macarons and ice cream: store bought, nothing special

2/5 

mini sandwiches: filled with greens and ham were nothing special..just bread with some boring/cheap and generic fillings

1.5/5

creme filled bun, chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie: all extremely sweet and store bought

1.5/5

mini strudels: tasted like they came straight from a box and even a bit stale

1.5/5

overall: for only $20 this was a nice relaxing afternoon and was fun for the dainty ness that is high tea but i would never pay the full price ($40) for the quality and amount of food we got. it all came from a box and could easily be replicated elsewhere. i would only return if another group buy enticed me to.