Jade Seafood Restaurant

Sometimes, I completely forget about certain restaurants because I get distracted by the newest spots opening up all over town.  One of which happened to be Jade Seafood Restaurant in Richmond.  I mean I would drive by it all the time (when it was located on Restaurant road on Alexandra), but I would never actually stop and eat there.  It took a complete move to a different location on #3 Road near the Richmond Night Market to prompt me for a return visit.  It was for their Dim Sum service and I would have to say it was as good as I remembered.  This also encouraged me to come back for dinner as well, which I will discuss below.

We looked at their set meals but determined it would be too much food for us, so we went a la carte.  Just like at Dim Sum, we once again ordered the Dried Scallop & Vermicelli in clay pot. In addition to the ingredients in the description, it also included egg, sprouts, celery, dried shrimp, shiitake and cured sausage. Unlike the last time we had it, this was much drier, which meant that it was even more aromatic.  However, it was like they forgot an ingredient (possibly the sausage?) as the flavours were less apparent missing that cured saltiness.  On the table, there was a featured dish in the Red Wine Braised Angus Beef Ribs Hot Pot.  We weren't sure about this, but ultimately, it was pretty good.  I would say it had elements of HK-style cafe execution where the meat fell off the bone and was super tender.  Furthermore, the wine was not that apparent as the flavour profile was rather sweet (hence, the HK-style cafe reference).

Looking over their Chef's Recommendation section, we thought the Braised Portobello Mushrooms & Pea Tips with Truffle Sauce sounded good.  In terms of taste, we agreed it was nicely balanced with just enough truffle.  The pea tips were perfectly-prepared where it was tender while retaining a crunch.  The one issue we had was with the portobello mushrooms.  Coated with a thick layer of starch, it soaked up quite a bit of the moisture.  In turn, the resulting texture was gummy and off-putting.  Too bad since the rest of the dish was good.  The flop of the meal went to the Sweet & Sour Sakura Pork served in a half-pineapple.  This was clearly re-fried as the pork was too crunchy with no meat texture left.  What a way to waste Sakura Farms pork!  So disappointing as the sauce was balanced and just barely clinging onto each piece.  Loved the fresh pineapple chunks too.

Arriving a bit later, the Salt-Baked Chicken was fantastic.  Beyond the rendered and slightly crispy skin, we found tender and just salty-enough chicken meat.  In fact, even the breast meat was juicy.  Moreover, there was more than just the taste of salt as we got green onion, ginger and some sweetness to balance out the flavour profile.  This was probably the highlight of the meal.  Our last dish, Braised Halibut with Ginger and Green Onion took forever to arrive because they had left it off the bill.  Would've been nice for them to check if everything had arrived rather than us waiting foolishly for it.  Anyways, it was pretty good with flaky and moist chunks of halibut that had the definite taste of the aforementioned ingredients as well as classic Maggi sauce (goes so well with fried halibut).  The dish was a bit greasy though.

For dessert, we were treated to Almond Cookies and Glutinous Rice Rolls.  Since these were complimentary, we didn't have high expectations, but they turned out to be excellent.  This was especially true with the rolls as they were soft and featured a tender elasticity.  Inside, the custard was purposefully sweet.  Compared to the Dim Sum service we had prior, we felt the dinner lagged behind.  There were definite high points but also complete low ones too including the sweet & sour pork and the mushrooms.  Considering the price point, these mistakes shouldn't happen.  We had a more consistent meal at the more reasonably-priced Sing Yee a few weeks later.  Different class I know, but just food for thought.

The Good:
- Fairly attentive service except for the missing dish
- When they had hits, they were really good
- Spacious and comfortable seating

The Bad:
- For the price point and reputation, no dish should be bad
- Parking wasn't an issue since we ate early, but it can be