Liuyishou Hot Pot & BBQ (Robson)

Okay, you might be wondering why there is yet another Liuyishou post on my blog.  Also, why is it at the Robson location as I've visited it not that long ago.  Well, there are a few reasons for this.  First of all, I've never had the AYCE dinner menu at this spot before and more importantly, they now have the option to add AYCE BBQ in addition to the hot pot for only for $32.99 (+$2.00 on weekends and holidays).  I don't know about you, but just having the AYCE hot pot alone for that price (in Downtown by-the-way) is a steal.  Add in BBQ, then you really have an affordable meal that isn't just a burger and fries (if you haven't seen lately, that will cost you $25.00+ at most places).

In addition to their AYCE menu that you check off and hand over to the staff, there is also a Self-Serve section that consists of noodles, fish balls, tofu products and the sort.  This is a great way in cutting down the time waiting for items and being able to get cooking right away.  Next to it is the Sauce Bar, where you can make your custom dip for all the food you cook.  It isn't the most comprehensive selection, but you can create a pretty tasty concoction.  Over to the left of this section, you will find some braised pork bones as well as a jelly dessert.

Right beside the Sauce Bar, we found a few items including Boiled Peanuts, Grape Tomatoes, Pickled Daikon & Carrots, Orange Wedges, Spicy Chicken and Shrimp Chips.  Next to it, we found a selection of hot food too with fried chicken wings, salted crispy chicken and spring rolls.  There was also an adjacent chaffing tray with fried rice and 2 stir-fries.  However, that particular tray was never refilled for the 2 hours we were there.  The highlight had to be the juicy chicken wings.

So the BBQ plate sat atop the exhaust of the hot pot.  This was a space-saving way of having both types of cooking vessels.  For our hot pot broths, we chose Pork Tripe with black pepper and the Golden Chicken Broth.  Loved both as they were flavourful and naturally sweet.  Great for those who don't want spicy.  They put a piece of parchment on the BBQ plate and it was necessary as the meat got stuck on pretty hard on parts without it.  As you can see, we had the Liu's Beef & Lamb Platter that looked impressive around the hot pot.  Meats were sliced thin and cooked up tender.

In the pictures above, this was just a sample of the items that can be ordered from the AYCE menu.  These included cooked items such as Deep Fried Pork and Fried Chinese Donut.  There was also an assortment of tripe and beef aorta.  In addition, we found freshly made meatballs and also crispy sausages.  There was also a BBQ meat section that featured Signature Marinated Beef (also spicy version) and Black Pepper Chicken.  Overall, the combination of Hot Pot and BBQ with broth included as well as the wide selection of ingredients and cooked food makes this an absolute steal.  With the unaffordability of eating out these days, it is nice to see something so fulfilling for under $35.00.  Would totally do this meal again.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- You get both AYCE Hot Pot and BBQ

- Reasonable price

- Lots of choices

The Bad:

- Food does get stuck onto the grill where there isn't parchment

- Self-serve area is a bottleneck and some cooked food doesn't get refilled enough  

Cantonese BBQ

There are some pretty good choices for Chinese BBQ within Greater Vancouver.  Naturally, the first thought that comes to mind is HK BBQ Master or the one across from it at Parker Place.  However, there is a another in Vancouver that could be spoken in the same breath.  It is Cantonese BBQ on Kingsway near Joyce.  I've been here countless times and finally got to eat in (rather than merely taking out, things are fresher when eating in of course).  We ended up with one of their lobster dinners that included some other dishes.

Naturally, we started with some of their famed BBQ including the Roast Pork and BBQ Duck.  As you can see in the picture, both looked pretty legit.  I've had these before but first time dine-in and yes there was a difference.  The duck skin was low in fat (must be the breed of duck) and whatever fat there was, it was rendered.  Hence it was crispy and delicious.  The duck meat was moist and well-brined as well.  As for the roast pork, it featured crispy and light crackling with juicy pork.  Very good.

So they have a couple of Lobster specials and we picked the one that included 2 Lobsters on Sticky Rice.  These were pretty small lobsters, but there was enough meat to go around.  Lobster was cooked right and it was coated in a flavourful starch-thickened sauce.  Might've needed a bit more of it since the sticky rice underneath was a bit bland and dry.  Overall, it was decent, but the one at Ho Yuen Kee is superior.

For our 3 dishes, the best of the bunch was the Peking Pork Chops.  Just on appearance alone, the sauce looked on point, especially with just enough of it to coat each piece.  Despite the sauce, each pork chop still had some crispiness on the outside while the meat itself was juicy and tender with a rebound texture.  As for the sauce, it was nicely balanced with sweetness and tanginess.  I feel this is one of the better versions I've had lately.

Since my son loves beef brisket, we decided to go for the Beef Brisket and Daikon Hot Pot.  This ended up to be pretty brothy, but we didn't mind.  Some places tend to thicken the sauce a bit more.  The pieces of brisket, which was more like beef rib finger meat, was tender and full-flavoured from the stewing.  Since the daikon was cooked separately and then added to the hot pot, it didn't take on as much flavour, but better than being too salty.

Being a bit boring, we got some veggies into our meal with the Yau Choy in consommé. This was merely whole stalks of yau choy cooked in broth with some ginger and fried whole garlic cloves.  As you can imagine, this was quite light in flavour and unless we actually ate one of the garlic cloves, it was almost undetectable.  The point of the dish is to be more "ching" or clean.  The yau choy was cooked properly maintaining a light crunch.  I won't add the pictures of my takeout orders in the past, but I can say that the BBQ Pork is just "okay" here.  The marinade doesn't penetrate the meat enough, hence it relies heavily on the dextrose glaze for impact.  I went for half-fat, half-lean and it was still not completely juicy.  Stick with the BBQ Duck here, it is one of the best in town.  In terms of dining in, the food is above average and of course you get to eat the BBQ at its optimal state.  Be aware that they are very busy and the seating is very tight.  Also, the BBQ Duck usually sells out before dinner time, so either come earlier or reserve one.

The Good:

- Excellent BBQ Duck

- Roast pork is good too

- Other dishes are above average

The Bad:

- Very busy, things sell out and seating is tight

- Horrible parking lot

The One BBQ Kitchen

For a city with so many Chinese restaurants, it is quite interesting that there aren't many more superb Chinese BBQs.  We all know the usual suspects, but the really good ones don't even number 10 in the GVRD.  So it is always nice to see new spots popping up, especially in the not-so-obvious-locations.  This would be the case of The One BBQ Kitchen out on Victoria Drive at 57th in Vancouver.  If you weren't paying attention, you might even drive right past it.  Alas, we didn't do that as we were invited to try out their wares.

To get a sense of their BBQ, we went ahead and ordered all 3 versions of their BBQ Pork including Devil's Char Siu, First Cut Char Siu and the regular BBQ Pork.  Gotta say that all 3 were on point.  With that being said, the Devi's Char Siu was our favourite.  I guess it had a lot to do with it being pork belly as well as being prepared expertly.  There was balanced charring on the outside that ensured we'd get smokiness, caramelization and crispy bits.  That gave way to tender, yet not overly fatty, pieces of pork.  Loved the honey glaze as it was sticky and addictively delicious.  As for the First Cut Char Siu, it was much leaner, yet at the same time, was still moist and tender with a tasty bark.  It was firm on the outside with plenty of sweetness as well as balancing meaty savouriness.  Surprisingly, the plain ol' regular BBQ Pork was almost as good as the Devil's Char Siu.  It was fatty enough to provide a luxurious and soft texture, while not being flabby.  It was also charred nicely and coated with the honey glaze.

We went big and ordered the Whole BBQ Duck which was quite impressively plated.  It was large and well worth the $50.00 as the breast meat was substantial and meaty.  However, the thing that wowed us the most was the uniformly rendered skin.  It was not fatty underneath, even where it is usually quite fatty (ie. the breast).  Hence, they must've used the right breed of duck (with less fat) and also roasted it perfectly.  With crispy skin, it was a delight to eat in itself, but it also revealed tender and moist meat underneath as well.  The duck itself was also brined properly where the flavours penetrated into the meat.

Moving away from the BBQ items, we dove into some classic casual Cantonese dishes including the Sweet & Sour Pork.  Yes, it seems rather defaultish, especially all of us at this tasting were well-versed in traditional Chinese eats, but hey, we love Sweet & Sour Pork and do not pass off any judgements!  Well, it was a good move anyways as this plate of S&S Pork was very good.  The large chunks of pork were tender and moist without being super fatty.  The batter was medium-thick but was not doughy.  In fact, it still had a bit of crunch left despite being coated with sauce.  About that sauce, it was balanced with plenty of acidity and sweetness.

One of the most majestically-looking dishes was the Prawn in Soybean Paste with Vermicelli Hot Pot.  Butterflied and deep-fried, the prawns were meaty with a sweet snap.  Since it was fried in-the-shell, it was possible to eat it whole with a nice crunch on the outside.  There was a good amount of al dente and not clumpy mung bean vermicelli underneath that had soaked up all of the flavours including the fermented saltiness of the soybean paste.  Naturally, there was some background brininess as well.

We went for another hot pot dish in the Sizzling Chicken Hot Pot.  This was chock full of dark meat chicken that was just barely cooked-through.  Hence, the chicken was juicy with a meaty bounce texture.  It was also well-seasoned with equal parts of sweet and salty with some pepperiness and slight gingeriness.  This was almost prepared similarly like a Taiwanese 3-cup chicken without the same seasonings.

Of course we wanted to get some veggies into our diet, so we went for the Vegetable & Buddah's Feast featuring bak choy, lotus root, mushrooms, baby corn, carrot, wood ear, white cloud fungus and water chestnuts.  All of these ingredients were cooked properly where they retained their crunch and vibrancy.  Seasoning was mild, but that was welcomed as many of our dishes had plenty of bold flavours already.  Only thing I would've liked was the starch-thickened sauce (residual cooking moisture) wasn't so gooey.

Even though we didn't order any congee, we just had to get the Salt & Pepper Deep Fried Noodle Fish.  Sometimes this is identified on menus as "Silverfish" but I'm sure that doesn't sound as appetizing as noodle fish...  Anyways, these little fishies were actually quite large and battered up nicely where they were crunchy and light.  There was enough chilis, garlic, onion, salt and pepper to give these fish plenty of impact.  Would like to dunk these into plain congee next time!

Another classic Cantonese dish we had was the Stir-Fried Clams in Black Bean Sauce.  There was a good amount of manageable-sized clams that were all open.  Coated with just enough sauce, these clams were buttery and tender being cooked just right.  I think they might've water-blanched them first, hence, I didn't get any sand in my clams.  As for the sauce, it was properly thickened and had a balanced saltiness to go with the garlic.  Dish wasn't overly greasy either.

One of the most surprising dishes was the Kung Pao Chicken as it was actually spicy!  I can't tell you how many times I've had this dish and all I taste is sweet and maybe a bit of tanginess.  This had heat that lingered!  On first glance, the dish looked like some peppers with a tonne of roasted peanuts on top.  However, upon digging deeper, we found little nuggets of chicken that were super tender.  The veggies were still vibrant and crunchy too.

For some carbs, we ordered the Seafood Fried Rice which was pretty jacked with shrimp and bay scallops.  These were cooked beautifully maintaining some bounce and butteriness.  The rice itself was seasoned enough, yet still allowed for complimenting the bold flavours of some of the dishes.  I wished that the rice was a bit more dry though as it was on the softer side.

Seemingly a side order that was destined to not be talked about, the bowl of Lai Fun was the talk of the table!  Usually, when we get Lai Fun anywhere, it is soft and breaks on contact.  Not here though as each strand was al dente with a bouncy chewiness.  Such wonderful mouth feel and it stayed that way despite sitting in broth.  The broth itself appeared to be the BBQ duck bone broth.  I would eat this plain!  But we ended up dunking some BBQ duck into it and we had our small bowls of BBQ Duck Lai Fun!  Overall, the food at The One BBQ Kitchen was quite impressive, especially the BBQ.  Prices are fair and the portions are medium-sized.  Definitely a good place for a casual meal with the fam.

*This post features complimentary food

The Good:
- Excellent BBQ
- Solid eats
- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:
- Portion sizes are fine, but on the smaller side

Marble House Eatery

Okay, I'm a little late to the party here with my post on Marble House Eatery...  All the hype and social media posts were on full display many months ago, but I was too busy to make it out there.  So for those who do not know, Marble House Eatery took over Top Gun Hot Pot in Crystal Mall.  They still have a reasonably-priced AYCE hot pot while also retaining Dim Sum service during the daytime.  Furthermore, they have been advertising their BBQ duck, in particular, one to takeout for a discounted price of $20.00.

So we gathered up the family, including the grandparents, to check the place out.  As such we ordered plenty of food including the Steamed Chicken Feet in sweet bean sauce.  These were fairly large in size and plump.  They were fried and then braised properly where the skin was tender while the fat/cartilage underneath was soft.  The flavour was indeed sweet, but also balanced off with enough savouriness as well as ample diced garlic.

As always, we also got the Steamed Garlic Spare Ribs with black beans.  As evidenced clearly in the picture, most pieces were the desirable bone portions.  Hence, there was very little fat and cartilage.  The meat was the right texture having a rebound with natural meatiness.  Seasoning was on point with enough saltiness for impact while the black beans and garlic came through.

So we ended up selecting 2 different Steamed Rice Noodle Rolls including shrimp and Chinese donut.  Although the rice noodle was torn with the shrimp, it was delicate, thin and soft.  It could've used a bit more elasticity, but it was fine.  The shrimp was medium-sized and were cold-water crunchy.  As for the donut, it was not really all that crispy anymore, but it was not dense.  Decent amount of dried pork floss on top.

Now onto the most important dish in any Dim Sum service, we had the Ha Gau (Steamed Shrimp Dumplings).  These were on the smaller side and featured a medium-thick dumpling skin.  It was full of elasticity and ate much better than it appeared.  Inside, the shrimp filling was quite good being sweet with enough seasoning (including background sesame oil).  Texturally, the shrimp had a moist snap.

The other dish that is a standard in Dim Sum is the Truffle Pork & Shrimp Siu Mai.  Well, maybe not the truffle, as it is more of recent trend, but the dumpling itself is a classic.  These were quite good where there was an equal amount of shrimp and pork.  The pork itself had a nice rebound texture while the shrimp had a buttery snap.  There was minimal amount of pork fat, yet the dumpling was still tender and juicy.  Seasoning was mild, but the ample truffle was impactful.

Normally, I would order some form of tripe, but I noticed on the menu there was a Beef Offal Hot Pot.  Yes, of course I had to get that!  This consisted of honeycomb tripe, spleen, lung, tendon and brisket with daikon.  I found this to be a bit bland, but I guess dipping the offal into hot sauce or hot oil was expected anyways.  Things were tender where the tripe still had a bite.  Brisket was a bit chewy, even though it was cooked enough.

There was no doubt we'd get the Shrimp Spring Rolls since the kids love them.  These were pretty good with a crunchy exterior that wasn't overly greasy.  Inside, the shrimp filling was in large chunks that were buttery with a snap texture.  They were seasoned well where the saltiness balanced the sweetness.  I liked how the shrimp weren't packed too tight while still not falling apart either.

One of the things here is that they cook certain dishes table side.  One of which is the Beef & Fish Congee.  So the ingredients were raw, so it did actually cook in the congee itself.  It was a little unnerving watching it because the staff were pretty busy.  I really wanted to stir it myself as it looked to be cooking quite rapidly.  In the end, they finished it off and it was not bad.  I thought the thickness was there and the seasoning was a bit light.  Fish and beef were tender.

Another item heated up table side was the Beef Brisket Noodles.  Since the items in this dish were already cooked, this was all about heating it up.  I thought this way, the noodles were a little overdone.  Soup was piping hot, but needed a bit more seasoning in my opinion.  There was ample brisket hidden underneath the noodles, but similar to the offal hot pot, I found it to be on the chewier side.

So the Salted Fish & Chicken Hot Pot Rice was also prepared on the dining room floor as well, just not at our table.  It was also on a butane burner and came out hot.  There was somewhat of a socarrat stuck to the bottom of the pot that was nutty and crunchy.  The rest of the rice was dry enough to have some nuttiness of its own.  I thought there could've been more chicken on top though.  It was tender and the salted fish added all the flavour that was needed.

One of my favourite Dim Sum dishes is the Bean Curd Skin Roll.  The one here was everything that I like about it.  First of all, the fried bean curd skin was chewy, yet tender at the same time.  Second, the filling was full of succulent and bouncy pork.  Lastly, the sauce was thick enough to adhere to the rolls (didn't get watered down by the steaming).  The flavour was just salty enough for impact.  Didn't matter though, I dipped it into Worcestershire.

Interestingly, the Beef Meatballs were in a certain shade of bright brown rather than the usual dull grey colour.  Maybe they used more dark soy?  Anyways, that didn't change the flavour much as it was still mild with a touch of sweetness.  Texturally, the meatballs were buttery soft with some firmness.  I liked how they didn't add too much green onion, so it wasn't overwhelming.

Onto dessert, we had the Egg Tarts as well as the Steamed Sponge Cake.  I found the egg tarts to be "okay".  The filling was good being silky, yet a bit too sweet.  However, the shell was a bit pale looking.  It was still flaky, but could've done with more colour.  Sponge cake was soft and fluffy while being only semi-sweet.  This was the better of the 2 desserts.  In the end, the Dim Sum was quite good with a few things that could've been better.  Service was friendly even though they were running around (probably hard to get a enough staff).  I would come back.

The Good:
- Decent Dim Sum
- Spacious seating
- Novelty of things cooked at your table

The Bad:
- Some refinement needed in particular dishes

Daisy Garden

Oh isn't this a blast from the past!  The original Daisy Garden burned to the ground 7 years ago and honestly, I didn't expect it to be resurrected.   This place is part of my childhood as I remembered my parents taking me regularly for wonton noodles, congee and BBQ meats.   So it is definitely with nostalgia that I suggested that we check the completely new space out with, you guessed it, my parents!  To complete the circle of life, it was my turn to bring my kids out to Daisy Garden.  Wonder if my kids will bring their kids?  Oh I am thinking too far into the future...

So dealing with the present, we were pleasantly surprised with the modern and inviting decor of the new Daisy Garden.  Their menu still had all the favourites including the Sui Kau Noodles and Wonton Noodles. We got them both and the broth was a bit disappointing.  It definitely had all of the aroma but had little depth and needed much more salt and shrimp shell flavour.  Noodles were good though being cooked properly with an appealing chewiness.  Although the wontons were on the smaller side, they were good consisting of mostly shrimp.  The texture was on point with a buttery snap.  As for the siu gau, the addition of wood ear mushroom provided more crunch and there was a bit more pork which made it meatier.

Of course, I had to get a bowl of Congee and decided on the pork liver and meat ball (although this also contained pork stomach and pork kidney as well).  I found the congee itself to be properly thick with a nice viscosity.  It was enough to coat a spoon but not too thick where it was pasty either.  There was a decent amount of meat where the liver was tender.  In terms of seasoning, I thought the congee was much more home-style where it was rather mild.  I really didn't mind that as we can always add more salt and white pepper.  We got a side of Salty Donut to go with the congee and it as money.  Light, airy and crunchy, it was none too greasy either.

To complete the trifecta of required eats at a restaurant like Daisy Garden, we got the Three BBQ Meat Combo Plate.  Our choices included BBQ Duck, BBQ Pork and Roast Pork (we asked for no wing for the BBQ duck where they honoured the request without extra charge).  I would say the BBQ duck was the best of the bunch with rendered crispy skin.  The meat was tender and well-seasoned as well.  The BBQ pork was a rather fatty piece, but that also meant the meat was tender and gelatinous.  It was also well-charred and nicely sauced with the classic sweet glaze.  We weren't that impressed with the roast pork as it was dry and rather bland.  On the other hand, the crackling was crunchy though.

Another fan favourite we ordered was the Pan Fried Rice Noodle with Sliced Beef.  Some people consider this dish as much of a measuring stick as any other in a Chinese restaurant.  So this version lacked a bit of colour, but that was mostly due to the conservative use of dark soy.  Otherwise, there was a enough wok heat to create caramelization and keeping the noodles in one piece without using an obscene amount of oil.  I would've liked to see more seasoning though as the dish ate a bit bland.  There was a good amount of tender sliced beef though and that helped add a bit more flavour.

Our one rice dish was the Curry Brisket and Tendon with white rice.  We rather enjoyed this one as the curry had a balanced amount of coconut milk that made it creamy without being overly heavy.  The actual curry flavour was a bit watered down, but not unusual for a Cantonese version.  Each piece of brisket was fairly tender and some where a bit fattier.  I found the tendon to be a bit too soft and some were almost melting into the curry.  So in the end, this was definitely a walk down memory lane and it was worth a visit just for the nostalgia.  I thought that the food was fine, if not a bit on the pricier end given the portion size.  Not my first choice for this type of food in town, yet also not a bad choice either if you were in the area.

The Good:
- It has got that nostalgic factor for many people
- Nice welcoming decor
- Decent eats

The Bad:
- Just a smidge on the more pricier side compare to competitors
- Food is decent, but there is better