Liuyishou (Burnaby)

Here I am again at Liuyishou in Burnaby.  This time around, I am trying out their AYCE menu for $39.99 per person.  That also includes one soup base for the table.  Currently, they are running a Halloween special where if you are a party of 4 and dressed in a costumes, you get one AYCE meal for free!  That effectively is 25% off.  So make sure you can round up 3 friends or family members!  This is only available on Oct 31st.  Remember though, since this is a Halloween special, you must dress up!  Also, if you say "trick or treat",  they will send out a free special dessert (available Oct 28th - Oct 31st).

Since I've been here so many times, it was nice to see some subtle changes.  Over at the Sauce Bar, they now have a refrigerated serving tray that features 5 different small dishes.  These include Mouth-Watering Chicken, Marinated Pig's Ear, Sliced Pig's Feet, Tofu Skin and Seaweed Salad.  All are very good and kept cold by the cooling trays.  The sauce portion of the station remains quite the same but there are now sliding sneeze guards.  Nice to keep things sanitary!

There is also a small selection of Hot Food that included Fried Mantou, Fried Chicken and Fried Egg Rice.  These are not merely throw-ins or for show, they are actually good.  The chicken is super juicy and the batter is crispy and light.  Fried rice is a bit greasy, yet is chewy and flavourful.  Adjacent, there are some DIY Grass Jelly dessert as well as some cantaloupe and orange slices.  The fruit is actually quite good being sweet and juicy.

Another welcome change is the serve-yourself Hot Pot Bar.  It consists of various noodles, vegetables, bean curd things, fish balls and tofu.  Obviously, this is added due to the introduction of AYCE.  This makes things easier for the staff as these items are easy enough for people to get themselves.  I personally like it since these are some of the items I like most and I could help myself to as many quail's eggs, bean curd sticks, corn and noodles to my heart's content!

For our visit, we ordered a good selection of what is available on the AYCE menu including the popular Beef & Lamb Ring.  Very cool to look at, but beware, you need to cook that meat fairly quickly or it will cook on the board.  Love that their Meatballs are freshly made including the beef and shrimp.  Another must is the Sliced Snakehead Fish.  Super buttery and moist.  One of the extra charge dishes is the Peppercorn Beef Tongue.  It is so tender and buttery.  Worth the $9.95.  Also worth the extra $4.95 is the Brown Sugar Sticky Rice Cakes.  Crispy on the outside with a soft chewiness inside.  The brown sugar is so sweet and rich.

On the topic of sweet, the free dessert that is part of the Trick or Treat promotion is the Deep Fried Yam Balls.  These are also delicious where the outside is lightly crunchy while the inside is soft with a chew.  These are sweet but not too much.  A nice little bite to end the meal.  So you might already know that I love Liuyishou and now that they have AYCE, it is even a better deal.  But try to take advantage of their Halloween special.  Remember to dress up!

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

The Good:

- Affordable pricing for the AYCE

- Food quality for AYCE is the same as their regular menu

- Service is great (based on previous visits as well)

The Bad:

- Location is somewhat small, so less space and less selection of cooked items

Shaburina

Okay, this is the third time I'm blogging about Shaburina...  I guess I really love the place right?  Well yes, but my kids love it even more so, therefore, I really have no choice but to pay them a visit every time I'm in the Seattle area.  Other people have the same thoughts because the place is usually quite busy and they have many accolades from local media.  This time around, I was with Jackie and she'd never been to Shaburina before.  Also, we were here to try their Wagyu & Kurobuta Course, which I've never had before!

So Shaburina is an AYCE Japanese Shabu Shabu.  There are elements that are "extras" to the meal that are more akin to other versions of hot pot, but for variety's sake, it is very welcomed.  You have the choice between a House Course and a Waygu Course that cost $39.00 and $55.00 (for dinner) per person respectively.  In addition, you have a choice of one from 5 different soup bases (one of which is a daily feature).  We had the 3 standard options including the Sukiyaki, Spicy Miso and Kombu as well as the featured broth being Tomato..  For me, I love the spicy miso and tomato.  They have more impact in my opinion with the tomato having concentrated sweetness and tanginess.  The spicy miso has that fermented depth and an appealing saltiness.  It isn't as if the sukiyaki and kombu aren't good either.  The sukiyaki has that salty sweet thing going on while the kombu is more subtle with definite umaminess.

So before we get to the meats, we have to talk about the Sauce Bar, where you have many options to create your perfect dip.  You have the usual soy, fish sauce, chili oil, vinegar, sesame oil, sriracha etc.. on the side in bottles while the main section has things like fresh garlic, cilantro, green onion, red chilis, peanuts, sesame seeds, fried shallots and onions.  In the large tubs, we found a sesame sauce, ponzu and a chef's sauce.

Adjacent to the sauce bar are 2 other sections of items you can grab for your shabu shabu.  The first one is mostly focused on Veggies with things like Shanghainese bak choy, crown daisy, Napa cabbage, spinach, tomato, onion, quail eggs, tofu, mochi, squash, corn on the cob, tofu skins, potato, mushrooms, wood ear, wonton and konjac noodles.  Things were vibrant and fresh as well as always replenished consistently.

The other section consisted mainly of Seafood and Noodles.  We found beef meatballs, Spam, fish tofu, fish meatballs, chikuwa, imitation crab stick, sliced wieners, fish cake, shrimp, baby octopus, bay scallops and clams.  As for the noodles, we had instant ramen, wide vermicelli, udon and fresh egg noodles.  Next to it, there was also house pickled vegetables and kimchi.  These were all good in appearance and also great in the hot pot.  The clams were buttery while the egg noodles were great a soaking up all of the delicious broth.

Now we get to the meat of the meal, literally.  For the House Course, you have Beef Shortplate, Beef Chuck, Pork Belly and Pork Shoulder.  As you can see, these were sliced razor thin, so cooking them took literally seconds.  That also meant that they were super tender and easy to eat.  So easy that you can down quite a few of these.  Fortunately it is AYCE!  For the Premium Course, we found Wagyu Shortplate, Wagyu Brisket, Kurobuta Pork Belly and Kurobuta Pork Butt.  Now with both courses at the table, it was not hard to figure out which one was better.  The meats were just that much more buttery and that much more flavorful.  However, I've been super satisfied with the house course in the past.  Therefore, it really depends what you want.  I would say if you want the full experience though, go for the Premium!

Always, to end the meal at Shaburina, you get Soft-Serve Ice Cream to finish. Creamy and almost melty, the soft-serve is purposefully sweet, aromatic and cold.  The last point is important as it helps soothe the tongue and mouth after a hot pot experience.  Oh and what an experience it is!  I've never been disappointed with Shaburina and this time was no different.  In fact, getting the chance to finally try the Premium Course, I came away even more happy!  I can guarantee that I will be right back here in the near future!

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

The Good:
- Quality food
- Love their soup bases, especially the spicy miso and tomato
- Meats are tender, whether it be House or Premium

The Bad:
- Tables are a bit tight on space with 4 or more burners going 

Xiaolongkan Hot Pot

Man, I've been doing so many AYCE hot pots lately...  As I mentioned, AYCE (All-You-Can-Eat) has made a triumphant comeback during these inflationary times.  Another recent option is Xiaolongkan on Alexandra Road (or Restaurant Row or Food Street).  This recently announced AYCE costs anywhere from $35.99 to $39.99 per person depending on the day and time.  Seeing how they are merely serving what was on the menu before, the food quality is high.

Of course with any hot pot experience, we need to talk about the Sauce Bar.  Much like many in the city, the one here at Xiaolongkan has all the basics and a little bit more.  They have all of the base sauces in large dispensers so you can fill your bowl to your heart's content.  All of the other condiments such as cilantro, green onion, garlic, chilis and the rest were in the actual bar itself.  We also found some light snacks and fruit.  You could also help yourself to some guava candy as well.

Before we get to the "meat" of the meal, we have to talk about the Amaebi as well as the soup bases.  Presented sashimi-style, the sweet shrimp were exactly that.  Buttery soft with just the slightest snap, these were a nice start to the meal.  We ended up with 3 different broths to cook our food in including Tomato, Mixed Mushroom and Traditional House Special Chili (in medium spice).  My favourite was the tomato as it truly had all the tang and sweetness we were looking for.  It was slightly thick too so the broth adhered to all the items we cooked in it.  The mixed mushroom was the mildest and definitely had a salty umami thing going on.  For the house special broth, it was spicy and had plenty of depth thanks to the chili lard.

Onto some cooked items first, we had the Deep Fried Chicken Wings, Glutinous Rice Siu Mai, Crispy Deep Fried Pork, Chinese Donut, Pig's Ears with Chili Oil and Brown Sugar Rice Cake.  I thought these were all pretty decent where the pig's ear was my favourite.  They were tender with a crunch while appealingly spicy.  The brown sugar rice cake was also delicious being soft and sticky with a rich sweetness.  Fried pork was tender and came with a side of spiced salt.

Of course we have to talk about the beef right?  Presented on a "dragon boat" and also served to us by a robot, the Selected Beef Slices were thin and tender.  I especially liked it cooked in the spicy broth as it took on the silky heat well.  However, we really were here for the Superior SRF Wagyu Beef Slices (one order per 3 people).  Oh yeah, these were money with just enough marbling to ensure that each piece would be buttery soft.

We had many more items from the menu, but I want to highlight the ones presented in a box because it was nice to look at and I appreciate the effort they put into making things appealing.  We found Seaweed, Enoki, Shredded Daikon, Quail Eggs, Shrimp Paste, Spicy Beef, Shrimp Balls, Fish Slices and Marinated Beef Tongue.  The highlights included the sweet and bouncy shrimp paste.  Our server spooned little quenelles into the hot broth.  The beef tongue was tender with a bit of a chew.  Perfect texture.  The beef was also good being buttery since it was tenderized.  It still kept some of the marinade even after boiling.  There were a few more items that we had randomly and I know it is an easy thing to say they were good, but in fact, they were!  The food quality was really high for an AYCE menu and to top it off, the price is reasonable.  Would come back in a heat beat.

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

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced AYCE
- High ingredient quality
- Nice space, nice presentation

The Bad:
- Sauce bar is smaller than other places
- Large parking lot, but very weird parking arrangements  

Meet Oyster Wagyu AYCE

Jackie and I have been to Meet Oyster recently and we had their steal-of-a-deal Late Night Sukiyaki Set.  Despite being thoroughly satisfied, we were still very curious about their Wagyu AYCE menu.   On weekdays, it is $86.99 for adults while costing $88.99 on weekends.  Late night is $82.99.  There are 2 tiers below the Wagyu AYCE for $56.99/$58.99 and $30.99/$32.99 respectively for weeknights/weekends for adults.  So yes, you can still have most of the menu items at the mid-tier minus the Wagyu.  But for us, it was all about the Wagyu!

Before we got to that, we had to choose our broth.  Each person has their own personal mini-hot pot atop a butane burner.  For myself, I went for their most popular being the Sukiyaki Soup and Jackie had the Tomato Soup.  I would say that this was great so we didn't have to share valuable hot pot space with each other, but since they were small, the soup evaporated very quickly.  With that being said, they refilled very quickly.  I enjoyed the sweetness of the sukiyaki, but the tomato broth was so delicious, I would probably choose that next time.  It was naturally sweet, tomatoey and with a background tang.

In addition to the raw Sukiyaki items on the AYCE menu, there is also Sashimi & Sushi available.  Despite not looking it, the place dishes up good quality Japanese eats.  The options for sashimi include tuna, hamachi, hokkigai, amaebi and salmon.  As you can see in the picture, the quality is definitely there.  We enjoyed the bright and clean flavours of the sashimi, ordering it twice.  Also included are a few different rolls and aburi sushi.  Those were also solid with chewy sushi rice and fresh ingredients.

Included as well with the sashimi and sushi options, they also have a selection of dishes as well.  We had the Chirashi Don, Tako Wasabi, Unagi Don, Deep-Fried Squid and Baked Oysters.  These were also quite good with the chirashi don having the same good sashimi.  The tako wasabi was good with octopus that had a nice bite while the pickles added more crunch.  Good wasabi hit but not too strong either.  Unagi don featured buttery eel that was adequately sauced.  I found the fried squid to be excellent with a crunchy seasoned batter with tender squid that had an appealing chewiness.  As for the baked oysters, I've had this before and the durian one is the way to go (as long as you enjoy durian that is).  The cheese was plenty cheesy, but I much prefer the garlic as it was loaded and flavourful.

You might've already seen some of the sukiyaki options in the first picture including Squid, Whole Scallops, Shrimp Meatballs, Tripe, Abalone, Snakefish and Shrimp.  These were good quality where the scallops included the mantle (which I love due to the chewy texture).  The snakefish was excellent where it cooked up to be sweet and flaky.  Naturally, the abalone was a treat with its rebound texture and unmistakable aroma.  Shrimp meatballs had a nice bounce and sweetness.  You could also order eggs and use that to dip the meats into after cooking them.

On the topic of meat, the real draw of the Wagyu AYCE is of course the Wagyu Beef!  We got many orders of this (the item on the right) and yes, it was buttery and tender while flavourful.  It goes down so easily, one could do 3 orders of this each for sure.  That didn't stop us from ordering the other beef options too including the Premium Beef Brisket and Premium Beef Chuck.  Naturally, the fatty brisket was more flavourful and slightly more buttery (although still meaty in texture), while the chuck was leaner and beefier.

Among other options on the menu, we also Beef Aorta, Vermicelli, Wide Mung Bean Noodles, Fried Tofu, Bean Curd Sticks, Dried Bean Curd Rolls, Fish Tofu and Dace Meatballs.  I would say these were pretty standard since there was not much to prepare.  Good options though for hot pot.  Overall, the Wagyu AYCE was an inclusive meal that had many cooked and raw choices.  Quality was good and we were definitely satisfied.  However, if you do not want to be that spendy, the mid-tier AYCE option is basically the same minus the Wagyu.  That is probably the best value of the bunch.  Normally, they have premium ice cream bars for dessert, but for this visit, they ran out.  Be sure to get some when you go!

 

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

 

The Good:

- Good food quality

- Sashimi and Sushi are above-average

- Lots of choice

 

The Bad:

- Dining space is pretty small, so limited space for food on the table 

Yory Korean Cuisine

There seems to be a new Korean restaurant opening up every month now.  Way back when I was a kid (yah, that was awhile ago...), we had a limited selection of Korean restaurants.  Now, it wouldn't be a surprise to find a decent one in any location across the Lower Mainland.  I've been noticing that more and more Korean restaurants are opening up in Surrey and Langley that can rival some of the best along North Road in Burquitlam.  The latest one on my radar is Yory Korean Cuisine out in Fleetwood in Surrey.  Jackie and I were invited to check it out.

We had a wide selection of dishes including their Assorted Seafood Pancake.  This was quite the robust version with a thicker-than-usual pancake loaded with seafood and green onion.  Despite being on the thicker side, the pancake did not eat heavy.  Sure, it was not exactly light, but it was not doughy nor dense.  It was almost fluffy with a nicely seared exterior being crispy.  Inside, the seafood was not overdone while the amount of green onion was limited.  Hence it wasn't one note in flavour.

One item that really caught our eye was the Deep Fried Flounder.  For only $21.95 this was one massive flounder.  It was heavily battered and deep fried to perfection.  Beyond the crunchy exterior, the fish itself was flaky and moist.  The fish was naturally sweet and was not fishy at all.  It was served with a spicy dip that really brought the dish to life.  This was the a la carte version where one could also have it in a dinner set.  It costs a bit less and I assume the flounder would be smaller.  For this one, I found it a good value and perfect for sharing.

Next, we had the Wang Jokbal or pork hock cooked in sweet soy and served with ssam jang, shrimp sauce, lettuce, garlic and jalapeno.  Somewhat similar concept to bossam, the sliced pork hock is wrapped in lettuce (rather than Napa cabbage) with all of the condiments.  I found the pork hock to be excellent being tender with nicely gelatinized fat and skin.  It was flavourful from the sweet soy braise while balanced out by the spicy ssam jang and fermented flavour of the shrimp sauce.

We also spotted KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) on the menu and of course we ordered some!  We got half & half of Sweet Soy and Spicy & Sweet Boneless Chicken.  This was a pretty large portion where we found large nuggets of dark meat.  The batter on the outside was crunchy despite being completely sauced.  Inside, the meat was juicy and tender.  Personally, I love the sweet soy flavour the most and this one didn't disappoint.  It was plenty tasty with with more sweetness than saltiness.  The spicy was no slouch either with a good balance between spice and sweetness.

The biggest item we had was the Jeon Gol Hansang (Korean Hot Pot).  We chose the Bulgogi Mushroom Jeon Gol with thinly sliced beef ribeye, glass noodles, mushrooms, Napa cabbage, rice cake, wood ear, green onion and crown daisy.  For $46.95, this was a fair portion where it would be best to share with 4 people (along with other dishes).  I found the broth to be sweet and clean while taking on the meatiness of the raw beef and umaminess from the assorted mushrooms.  Loved the glass noodles where it soaked up all of the deliciousness of the ingredients.

Their best value, in my opinion are their Hansang (limited to 15 per day).  We had the SoonDuBu Bakban Hansang for $19.95 and it included choice of pork cutlet or fried chicken, choice of seafood, meat or mushroom tofu soup, rice and assorted side dishes.   The side dishes included japchae, banchan, octopus and pancake.  I found the pork cutlet to be crispy from the panko coating, yet a touch dry on the inside due to the leanness of the meat.  The soup was full of ingredients and naturally sweet.

Just for kicks, we added the Spicy Kimchi Cheese Fried Rice served on a cast iron plate.  Although it wasn't really sizzling that much by the time it arrived at our table, there was a cheese crust on the bottom that was both nutty and texturally appealing.  When mixed with the rice and runny sunny side egg, there were layers of texture including the stringy cheese and silky yolk with the flavourful rice.  I liked the fact that the rice was a bit spicy, sweet and savoury without being sour from the kimchi.

We also had the Corn Cheese also served on a sizzling cast iron plate.  The cheese crust for this dish was much more aggressive being crispy and nutty.  Beyond the aroma, it added a nice crunch to the corn niblets and stringy cheese.  About the corn, it was grilled enough so that there was caramelization with intense sweetness.  Overall, the food at Yory was good and well-portioned.  Loved some of the unique items on the menu too including the great value Hansang.

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

The Good:

- Generally tasty

- Good portions

- Great value with the Hansang

The Bad:

- Staff can be kept very busy when the restaurant is full

Liuyishou Richmond (AYCE Menu)

My love for Liuyishou hot pot has been pretty obvious from all of my previous blog posts.  For those who feel it is because of the sponsored posts, please remember, I've held this opinion even before those media invites.  Yes, I've paid to go there and I feel it is a good value compared to some of the more expensive spots in town.  Furthermore, I do not believe that the quality nor selection suffers because of that.  Lastly, their sauce bar is just as extensive as Haidilao and Dolar Shop.  This time around, Jackie and I were invited to try their Premium AYCE at their Richmond location.  

The first thing that needs to be talked about is their Sauce Bar.  It is pretty comprehensive with everything you need to make a custom dipping sauce.  In addition to all of the condiments, there also small dishes in the form of bean curd skin, bean sprouts & vermicelli, pig's ear, spicy shrimp & mussels, mouth-watering chicken, grapes, oranges, cherry tomatoes, chicken giblets, honeydew and spicy peanuts.  Adjacent to the sauce bar, we found some more dishes in the tomato egg, fried rice, spring rolls, fries, fried mantou, spicy green beans and spicy tofu.  I found the cold dishes at the sauce bar to be quite good, but the food in the chaffing trays were so-so.  Better save your appetite for the AYCE hot pot stuff instead!

About that hot pot stuff, if you have 4 or more people participating in the Premium AYCE, you get a live Dungeness Crab.  That is already in addition to all of the seafood options that also include Snow Crab Legs, Oysters, Clams, Mussels, Scallops and Snakefish.  We cooked up the crab and it was truly fresh with bouncy and sweet meat.  The snow crab legs were previously frozen of course, but they still turned out well.  The rest of the seafood was on point being the right texture (assuming one cooks it properly) where the scallops were buttery, fish was flaky and the oysters were buttery.

The meat choices were plentiful and included Aged Beef, Beef Tongue, Brisket Deckle, Sliced Marble Beef and Wagyu Beef.  Not to mention, we had the classic Liu's Beef & Lamb Platter as a wood ring round the hot pot.  As expected, the meat quality was good where the colour and appearance was appealing.  My favourite of the bunch was of course the Wagyu beef as it was fatty and when cooked, was buttery and melted-in-my-mouth.  I love lamb, so the sliced fatty lamb was also great with the usual lamb gaminess.  If you have seen it, they slice the meat to order here, so it is always a bit frozen and perfect for dunking into the hot broth without sticking together as a clump.

So there are some a la carte menu items that you can add to your AYCE meal.  We chose the Braised Meat Platter with quail's egg, chicken feet, intestines, wings and pressed tofu.  This was an homage to Chiu Chow cuisine and it was pretty solid with rich old soy flavours.  As part of the AYCE, you can also order Sashimi in the form of salmon, tun and hokkigai.  This was serviceable and complimented the hot pot with something much lighter and not needing to be cooked.  Overall, the premium AYCE for $55.95 features enough options to justify the price.  If you want to be less spendy, you can do the regular AYCE for $39.95.

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

The Good:

- High-quality options including Dungeness Crab

- Extensive sauce bar

- Love their fatty spicy broth

The Bad:

- This is common for all AYCE spots, but 1.5 hour time limit means you have to be efficient with your ordering and eating

- This particular location features limited parking spots during busy times

Roadside Spicy Pot

Saying things are expensive right now would be an understatement.  From consumer goods to food, inflation has hit prices hard.  Sure, some things are coming back down, but as a whole, our dollar doesn't stretch very far.  I've highlighted some of the best values in town recently, yet here is another in Roadside Spicy Pot.  Normally, hot pot can be an expensive night out since you have to pay for the broth and then to be completely full, you will have to order lots of dishes.  Well, at Roadside, they have some reasonable pricing but also some killer deals as well.

One of best values are their 59 Cent Skewer specials.  Like really, you could just get full on these skewers alone, but I would urge you to try their other selections too.  Now there are a few skewers that cost a bit more like shrimp and chicken wings which are $1.00 yet the majority of them are really only 59 cents!!!  They are kept in a refrigerated display where you can choose yourself.  As you can see, we got quite a few and my favourites were beef tripe, beef tendon, duck tongue, fried gluten and spicy beef.

Another one of their crazy specials is the $2.99 Half-Lobster Tails.  Sure, they aren't very big, however, they are freakin' lobster tails!  Some of the regular priced Seafood Dishes we had was the fish slices, scallops (complete with the mantle) and squid tentacles.  As you can see in the picture, things were well-portioned and appealing.  As for the broth, we had one that was the Classic Spicy and the other was Tomato.  Although I love spicy, the tomato was really good too as it had plenty of natural flavour that helped elevate each ingredient.

Now looking at the picture of our spread, we also had quite a few meat items including their 4th Anniversary Promotion $1.99 American Wagyu Beef.  Just like the skewers and the lobster tails, this is a fantastic deal.  It is a full plate of the Wagyu Beef, not per piece!  We also got some sliced lamb, fatty beef and also some pork jowl.  Also you can see we really loaded up on the skewers.  Anyone could do that affordably.

Sure, these are the same skewers in the previous picture, but I want to highlight the spicy dishes (cooked) that we also tried.  They included Sweet Potato Noodle, Spicy Tender Beef, Spicy Clams and Spicy Beef Tripe.  Naturally, these all had a similar flavour profile being spicy, a touch smoky and earthy.  My favourite was the tripe as I just enjoy the chewiness.  Clams were also good as they were buttery and briny.  Beef was tender and soaked up the spice really well.  The noodles were slippery with a chew and also took on the flavours.  We were also served some spicy oil dip and also the spice rub.  Both really helped elevate the already tasty boiled items from the hot pot.

For dessert, we were served the Brown Sugar Rice Cakes and oh boy, were they super delicious!  Beyond the crispy exterior, we got a soft and sticky inside that had a great mouth-feel.  As much as there was a brown sugar drizzle on the outside, it was balanced in terms of sweetness.  Really enjoyed this dessert and in fact, the entire meal was excellent.  Add in the fact that they offer up some pretty good specials, it isn't expensive eating here.

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

The Good:

- Reasonable pricing

- Ingredient quality is solid

- Love the decor

The Bad:

- They are going for the street food decor, but the seats are not great to use for an extended period of time