Full House Dumpling

Originally, we were going to hit up some eats in Berkeley once we made it to the Bay Area.  However, with an SUV full of our precious belongings, we weren't too confident in leaving it parked for a few hours on the street.  Hence, we decided to head straight to my aunt's house in Fremont.  That way, we could drop off our valuables and then go for some eats.  As always, we ended up going for Chinese in the form of Full House Dumpling (at least we weren't going to eat here 3x straight like Pearl Bay).

The thing to get here is, of course, the dumplings.  Specifically, we are talking about their Xiao Long Bao (Juicy Pork Dumplings).  We got both the regular ones and the Crab Xiao Long Bao.  I thought these were excellent featuring fairly thin dumpling skin that had some elasticity.  There was plenty of soup to be found inside which was clean and sweet.  I thought the essence of crab was apparent.  The pork filling for both was tender and moist while not crumbly.

Sticking with dumplings, we also ordered the Shrimp Pork Siu Mai.  Somehow I was thinking Din Tai Fung when I saw this on the menu.  However, it really was just Cantonese-style shrimp siu mai.  So no, these were not XLBs with a shrimp plugging up an open top (maybe it was something else on this menu).  These were okay with a fairly loose, yet tender pork filling.  There was a bit too much green onion in it, which didn't make much sense.  The shrimp had a nice sweet snap though.

Moving away from dumplings, we tried their Water-Boiled Fish served in a clay pot.  Typically, this is a Szechuan dish, but it appears the Full House serves a variety of Chinese cuisines (including their main focus - Taiwanese).  Although not particularly Szechuan-like, their version was quite delicious regardless.  It had good spice while not being burning hot.  There was no shortage of tender fish fillets (probably basa) that were flaky.  

One of the more under-the-radar items was the Salted Egg Yolk Silken Tofu.  Each cube of tofu was fried just enough to retain its shape while still being silky in texture.  It was carefully wok-tossed (so nothing broke apart) in salted egg yolk, garlic, green onions and peppers.  Although not really all that salty, the aroma and essence of salted egg yolk did come through.  The nuttiness and also the rest of the ingredients were evident.

I wasn't really sure why I was ordering Spicy Stir-Fried Cabbage but it was a pretty solid dish.  Despite some moisture at the bottom of the plate, there was still decent caramelization due to ample "wok hei".  Hence, the spice from the chilis did announce itself throughout the dish.  However, there was still the natural sweetness of the cabbage coming through.  Also, the cabbage was still crunchy despite being cooked through.

One of the more average items was the Braised Beef Noodles.  Now by looks alone, this was quite good with lots of braised beef and wide thick noodles.  Indeed the noodles were al dente and well-portioned.  However, the beef was a bit chewy and lacking impact.  The soup itself was a bit too mild for my liking as it lacked depth and was rather one note.  Possibly if this was the spicy version, it would've been better.

Now on the other hand, the Garlic Pork was very impactful.  That garlic sauce on top was potent and I wouldn't go near anyone with that garlic breath after eating it.  I personally thought it was fantastic despite some thinking it was too garlicky.  There was enough salt and sweetness to make the sauce complete.  As for the sliced pork belly, it was a touch chewy given that there was a decent amount of fat.  However, it was still easy to eat.

I'm not particularly fond of the Green Onion Pancake, but Viv loves it, so yes we had that too.  Turns out that she should've not ordered it because it was also rather average.  On the positive side, it as nicely browned with a crispy exterior.  There was also a balanced amount of green onion.  However, the pancake itself was rather dense and chewy.  Furthermore, it was pretty much soaked with oil, so every bite was far too greasy.  

For no other reason than we didn't have any rice dishes, we ordered the Shrimp Fried Rice.  I would say this was an okay plate of fried rice.  There was decent caramelization, but the rice itself was more fluffy than nutty and chewy.  It was also rather bland needing salt.  At the very least, the shrimp were done right with a sweet snap.  Overall, the food at Full House was decent with some highlights, in particular, the soup dumplings.  Stick with those and you can't go wrong.

The Good:

- Soup dumplings are legit

- Reasonable-pricing

- Spacious seating

The Bad:

- Other dishes are hit and miss

- Service is hit and miss

Dinesty Dumpling House (Gilbert Road)

Sometimes ol' favourites are forgotten when we are distracted by all of the newer and shiner restaurants that are available.  However, it is always good to remember the standbys.  You know, the places where it is a given that you'll find good familiar food that you've always enjoyed.  One of these places is Dinesty, with its XLBs and mix of Taiwanese and Shanghainese dishes.  I've been to every location except for the one near the Olympic Oval in Richmond.  With an invite in hand, it was as good as any time to revisit an ol' friend dressed in new digs on Gilbert Road.

I've actually seen this location before when I was picking up some drinks from the adjacent Yifang Taiwan Fruit Tea (more on that later).  I consider this the most appealingly appointed one as the decor is modern and the tables are spaced well-apart.  Of course, the thing to get here is the Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao).  These featured a medium-thick dumpling skin that was delicate with some elasticity.  Inside, the tender and slightly loose pork filling was blessed with a good amount of sweet meaty soup.  Solid XLBs.

One thing I never order, but I got to try this time was the Steamed Green Vegetable & Egg Dumplings.  Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed these more than the XLBs!  No joke!  The dumpling wrapper in this one was similar (naturally) to the XLBs but stretched a bit thinner.  Nice elasticity to the dough which meat the dumplings ate well.  Inside, the tender vegetable filling still had a vibrant texture.  Loved the fluffiness of the filling.

One of my favourite dishes at Dinesty is the Camphor & Tea-Smoked Duck (Chinese Restaurant Award Winner).  This one did not disappoint.  As you can see, this was not a small scrawny duck.  Plenty of smoky tender and moist meat encased in smoky relatively rendered duck skin.  Beyond the breast meat, the skin on the dark meat was crispy.  We deboned the meat and slipped it into the soft mantau buns.

One dish that flew under the radar in terms of appearance was the Crispy Fried Squid.  Instead of the classic Taiwanese chicken nuggets, we got squid nuggets instead.  Good call because these were freakin' good!  The exterior was supremely crunchy (and not greasy) with plenty of seasoning.  The big chunks of squid within were tender with an appealing chewiness.  Very addictive.

To get our one veggie item into our meal, we had the Spicy String Green Beans with Minced Pork.  This dish featured the usual flash fried green beans wok-tossed with chilis, garlic, ginger, pine nuts and minced pork.  I found the beans tender with a slight crunch while the pork to be plentiful (hidden within) and tender.  There was plenty of seasoning as well as a slight kick.

Another dish I probably wouldn't have ordered myself was the Basa Fillet topped with egg whites and soy bean powder.  Turns out it was good and I would probably order it next time.  The ample fillets of fish were delicate and moist.  Loved the egg whites and the soy bean powder as they provided layers of texture.  Completing the dish was some crunchy veggies that added brightness and contrasting texture to the fish.

A classic dish was the Simmer Chicken with basil in triple sauce (aka 3 Cup Chicken).  Loved the flavours in this dish as they were pronounced and impactful.  Generally, this is called 3 cup chicken for its 3 main ingredients - rice wine, soy and sesame oil.  The balance of sweetness with tang and aromatics was perfect.  Furthermore, the pieces of chicken were juicy and tender.  Loved the viscosity of the sauce too as it clung onto each piece of chicken beautifully.

To go with this, we added the XO Sauce & Diced Beef Fried Rice.  Of course white rice would've been more optimal, but why go for boring?  The fried rice was far from boring featuring discernible grains of nutty and chewy rice.  Seasoning was aggressive in a good way where the rice was full of caramelization and umaminess (from the XO).  Beef was not overly tenderized, hence exhibiting a natural meaty texture.  Good caramelization on that too.  To go with the food, we were able to order drinks from Yifang and they were delivered by robot to our table.  A bit novel yes, but convenient and better than drinking just tea.  So once again, Dinesty came through with predictable food at a reasonable price.  It is still a solid choice for this type of cuisine.

*All food and beverages were complimentary*

The Good:
- Predictable food that is good
- Reasonably-priced
- Nice dining space for this location

The Bad:
- Wish the parking was not only limited to 1.5 hours (should be at least 2)

Uncle's Snack Shop

Situated in the old location of Green Lemongrass on Westminster Highway in Richmond, newly opened Uncle's Snack Shop is offering up an eclectic menu that restaurant veteran, Kevin Lin, has developed fusing traditional Asian flavours while presented in non-traditional ways.  Of course I had to see what was cooking, literally and figuratively at Uncle's.  I decided to let the huge lines of the weekend dissipate so I could be first on a weekday and order "one of everything".

Ah yes, doing my best impersonation of Mijune Pak (not that I can be Mijune Pak..), I really did get one of everything including all the sammies.  From top and clockwise, we had the OG Chick Sandy, Hot Chick Sandy, Salty Chick Sandy and Cheesy Shroom Sandy.  They were all solid with the salted egg sandwich standing out for me.  The chicken thigh was juicy and aggressively crunchy on the outside (in a good way).  I could get the richness of the salted egg without it being overdone and heavy.  Nice crunch from the napa slaw that also balanced the richness.  I was pleasantly surprised with the appealing spice from the hot chick sandy where it was definitely impactful without taking over the other flavours including the fragrant Thai basil aoili and the fresh cabbage & daikon slaw.  I thought the OG chick sandy definitely captured the traditional Chinese flavours with the ginger & scallion condiment.  There was a crapload of it where the brightness and zing was apparent.  I would've liked to see more tang from the cucumber salad though.  Of course there was also a vegetarian offering in the cheesy shroom sandy with a cheese-filled panko fried portobello.  Lots of textures here and no lack of cheese.  The tamarind jam added tang, sweetness and spice to liven things up.

There was one more sandy that was definitely different from the rest in the Egg Tofu Katsu Sandy.  Enjoyed this one as the milk bread was ever-so-soft and fluffy.  The thin piece of katsu was tender and not dry while crispy on the surface.  That egg tofu was naturally silky soft while complimented by tangy tartar with bits of pickles and onion.  Katsu sauce provided some salty sweetness as well.

One of the most stealth items was the Pomelo Salad with jicama, pickled watermelon rind, cucumber, mint, caramelized onion, tofu puffs and spicy tamarind dressing.  This salad was a lot of things but most of all, it was about textures.  Lots of fresh crunchy things to go with the chewiness of the tofu puffs.  The tang and sweetness of the dressing went well with the ingredients and the mint added a extra flavour component.

The biggest item we had was Auntie's Staff Meal which was Fried Spicy Ribs on rice with mushroom tofu stew.  For the price ($12.00!!!), this was a lot of food.  If I were to tackle this alone, I probably wouldn't have finished it.  All 3 ribs were large, meaty and fall-off-the-bone tender.  Loved the crisp exterior glazed with a spicy sweet chili sauce.  The rice was texturally sound while the stew was hearty and comforting.

One of their most interesting items was the Taiwanese Sausage Corn Dog with brown sugar chili garlic sauce.  If you are not familiar, a Taiwanese sausage is firmer (oh, cue the jokes...) and sweeter than a regular sausage.  There is also chunks of fat and the casing is a bit chewier.  So this corn dog was considerably different than ones you would find at the PNE.  However, the one thing that put this over the top was the dip.  Sweet, tangy and slightly spicy, it was flavour bomb to go with the corn dog.  I was very pleased that they dared to put Honey Garlic Chickenese on the menu.  These were actually deep fried chicken knees coated with honey garlic butter.  Think of them as small chicken nuggets with the crunch of cartilage.  I thought these were good with the classic sweet aromatics.  I personally would've asked for sauce on the side as I like my chicken knees not covered in sauce.  At the bottom of the picture, we had Uncle Scott's Shake-Shake Tots were dressed in truffle parm (extra $2.00).  These were crunchy and there was definitely enough truffle oil and parm to make them flavourful.

We actually had 2 more items including the Chicken Skin Chickarron and the After School Mac Salad.  However, I'll only discuss the chickarron because the mac salad will be coming off the menu.  Properly rendered and crunchy, the chicken skin was tossed in a sticky fish sauce.  Pretty addictive and if I didn't care about my cholesterol, I would've eaten all of it.  LOL...  Ultimately, we didn't eat all of the food.  We ordered too much!  However, it did give us a good sense of the menu and what Uncle's Snack Shop is all about - interesting food with bold flavours.  Definitely worth a try for a quick bite or a meal.

The Good:
- Bold flavours
- Interesting food
- There's parking!

The Bad:
- Sandwiches are on the pricier side, but this is not a fast food restaurant

Sweet Honey Dessert (Burnaby)

Sometimes, I really wonder if we can trust internet ratings when it comes to restaurants.  Sure, it can be a framework of some kind so we can get a sense if the place is at least worth visiting.  Yet, I've been to many spots that have 3/5 ratings (or even lower) and came away questioning the low score.  To be specific, in my experience this usually happens with Asian spots.  Maybe it really depends on who is rating the place and more importantly, what is it being rated on?  Many times, the low score is due to bad service and/or lack of cleanliness.  Not too long ago, I had a pretty good experience at Sweet Honey Dessert in Richmond and it was not reflective of their low rating.  So when a new location opened up in Burnaby, I gladly hit them up twice in a short period of time.

Now one of the reasons they might score low is that their Puppy Ice Cream plain sucks.  Yes, it is one of the cutest things out there, but the ice cream doesn't melt.  There is truly too much in the way of stabilizers and non-dairy ingredients for it to be good.  To top it all off, it didn't even taste like anything but sweet.  I think it is supposed to be mango???  Whatever the case, we didn't order this at the Burnaby location and I'm only including this as reference for those who are considering shelling out $12.00 for it.  What they are actually good at is their Souffle Pancakes.  Yes, there are other spots that specialize in it, but I find the ones here very good.  Light and fluffy while only semi-sweet, these were consistent both times I've tried it.  This time around mango and yes it wasn't really the season for it, but the imported ones they did serve were decent.

The 2 times I've been at this location, I've ordered the Coconut Milk Sago with Grass Jelly.  Simple, but satisfying the broth was semi-sweet and aromatic from the coconut milk.  Little bits of texture were thanks to the tapioca pearls.  A hit of appealing bitterness emanated from the cubes of grass jelly.  Some people wonder what makes one version better than another (since there are many places that serve these types of dessert)?  With so little variation in ingredients, there are no huge swings in quality. I digress.  One of my favourite Chinese desserts at these type of establishments is the Mango Sago.  This one was respectable with a mildly-sweet "soup" with the usual tapioca pearls, chunks of mango and pomelo.  Refreshing and light where the mango was decently tangy and sweet like the ones served with the souffle.

Lastly, another classic dessert was the Taro Ball Red Bean Soup.  Completely the opposite of the refreshing fruity desserts, this one was heavier and surprisingly not very sweet.  That was a good thing as sometimes red bean soup can be too sugary.  The balls ensured that this ate like a meal.  Personally, not my favourite choice of dessert.  But that had nothing to do with them and I still don't understand the bad reviews.  Sure, it isn't the best in town, but it is more than respectable.  Just stay away from the puppy ice cream.

The Good:
- Lots of choice
- Souffle pancakes surprisingly decent
- Open late

The Bad:
- A bit pricey
- Service is okay, but a little sparse

Northern Dumpling House

Normally, when we return from a trip, the first thing we look for is comfort food.  This usually includes some form of noodles, congee and/or dim sum.  Therefore, our first meal after disembarking the NCL Bliss in Seattle was at Northern Dumpling House in Kirkland.  This happened to be the one new place I haven't tried before and it was fairly close to Goose's house (where I ditched my car prior to the cruise and also I had to pick up my usual US purchases).  So on our way over to out hotel in Everett, we stopped by for some dumplings and noodles.

Since their signature item is in their restaurant name, we decided to get the Boiled Pork & Cabbage Dumplings as well as the Pork & Shrimp Potstickers.  Naturally, boiled dumplings are as sexy as flannel pajamas, but believe me, these were good.  We found the outside wrapper to be fairly thin and not doughy at all.  Rather, there was a nice soft elasticity that was delicate.  Inside, the pork and cabbage filling was juicy and well-seasoned.  Sporting a seared skirt, the Potstickers were a bit chunky due to their size, but the bottom was still crispy.  Somehow, the skin on these seemed thicker despite essentially being the same dumpling.  I thought the pork and cabbage was a better filling as it was juicier, possibly due to the cabbage.  With that being said, the shrimp were buttery with a snap.

Continuing on the same theme, we tried the Wonton Soup with seaweed and green onion.  Light and definitely influenced by the seaweed, there was an umaminess to the soup to accent the natural sweetness.  As for the wontons, they were delicate even though the dumpling skin was not as thin as the Cantonese-style of wonton.  Inside, the pork filling was just as moist as the boiled dumplings.  Moving away from dumplings, we got the Dan Dan Noodle which was not as spicy as the red color of the sauce would suggest.  Rather, it was more nutty and and creamy than anything else.  Also, the noodles were a bit too soft for our liking.  Despite this, I still enjoyed eating it, but it might of been the fact I was missing this type of food rather than it being good.

Totally carbing-up, we also ordered the Braised Pork Rice with tea egg and milk tea.  As you can see in the picture, there was a considerable amount of pork belly.  It was buttery soft and full of flavor from the braise.  The sauce was a bit salty, however, that was fine as there was plenty of rice on the plate as well.  We actually got a side of Tea Eggs, so this one was a bonus.  It was pretty typical with the marinade seeping into the cracked shell.  Our last dish was the Jian Beng or Pan-Fried Chinese Pancake.  We really didn't like this as it was gummy and thick.  Furthermore, it was not seared enough for a crispy texture nor aroma.  There was quite a bit of filling inside though, yet that didn't make up for the lack of execution.  With that being said about this dish, the rest of the food was pretty solid and it definitely hit the spot for a reasonable price.

The Good:
- Large portions
- Good dumplings
- Reasonably-priced

The Bad:
- Pass on the Jian Beng
- Seating isn't the best with the high-tops

Sweet Honey Dessert

Since we didn't have dessert at the Jade Seafood Restaurant, Mijune and I made the short hop over to Sweet Honey Dessert.  Even though it was literally a few blocks away, classic Richmond traffic made it an adventure.  Once we got into the parking lot, part 2 of the adventure involved fighting for a parking spot.  Ah yes, the joys of dining in Richmond!  The reason we decided on Sweet Honey Dessert was their puppy ice cream that has been all over IG in the past half-year.  Yep, we finally bought into the hype...

So yes, we got the Puppy Ice Cream that only had one choice of flavour - Mango.  I got to say that the puppy was cute and even the fur was emulated perfectly.  Looks aside, Mijune quickly cut the puppy in half and started digging in.  #savage  Anyways, I felt the flavour was not that apparent as it tasted more like imitation mango that you would've find at some Dim Sum spots.  Furthermore, the texture was off-putting with a gelatin-like start and a sticky ending mouth-feel.  There was far too many stabilizers in there where they thing didn't even melt after an hour.  

That was not good, but the Mango Sago with premium tofu was refreshing and tasty. Normally, I find tofu desserts suffer from an overwhelming "soy milk-like" flavour that cannot be masked by anything (even copious amounts of sugar).  I know some people love the taste, but for me, it isn't appealing.  This was not the case here as the tofu was silky and smooth without much of an aftertaste.  Furthermore, the subtle mango hits were enough for impact while the sweetness was restrained.  Considering that fact, it was impressive that the tofu did not dominate the flavour profile.

Lastly, and probably the best dessert we had was the Cheese Souffle Pancakes accompanied by an array of fresh fruit.  Okay, my experience with these types of pancakes have been limited, but this has been the best so far.  They were fully cooked while fluffy and airy.  We got a good taste of the cheese and the sweetness was muted.  I would come back for this rather than the puppy ice cream.  That pretty much sums it up as the 2 non-puppy desserts were on point.  I guess the ol' adage is true - things that look great on IG may and generally are not as good as they appear.

The Good:
- Souffle pancakes are texturally on point
- Spacious and clean
- Fairly friendly servers

The Bad:
- Desserts could be bland for some (I didn't mind personally)
- Parking really sucks
- The puppy ice cream sucks even more

Black Ball Tawianese Dessert

With all the Asian desserts shops in the Lower Mainland, it starts to get a bit confusing unless you are a diehard dessert fan.  When I'm browsing all the pics on IG, I literally have to click on the geotag to see where all these places are located.  Despite this, most of them thrive and in fact, have lineups out the door.  Okay, I'm not a really a dessert person, so I might not completely get it, but at the same time, I do have the occasional cravings.  That was the case after a gluttonous hot pot feast at Liushiyou with Mijune.  After that, we needed something sweet and what better place than one of the newest Taiwanese dessert shops nearby - Black Ball.

Getting right down to business, we tried their most grandiose dessert in the Black Ball Supreme.  This featured grass jelly, taroQ, yamQ, taro balls, yam balls, red beans, pearls, konjac jelly, crystal balls and 2 scoops of brown sugar.  Now if you think that the amount of sugar looked excessive, it was actually necessary.  The rest of the ingredients were mild and in need of the deep smoky sweetness.  Lots of chewy textures here and enough for 3 people minimum in my opinion.  Something more manageable for one person was the Almond Soup with mini taro and sweet potato balls, rice balls and peanuts.  This was mildly sweet and aromatic.  Once again, this was all about the chewy textures of the balls.  Good mouth feel and pleasing.

The next dessert, Forest Matcha Ice, was a 2-parter.  Along with the mountain of ice, we were served on the side a bowl consisting of matcha pudding, rice balls, red beans, barley and matcha jelly.  When eaten by itself, the ice was very sweet due to the condensed milk.  The matcha was still there though adding a touch of bitterness at the end.  The ice itself was pretty standard Taiwanese-style having a bit of crunch still.  The sweetness of the ice was tempered  when combined with the mild-tasting ingredients on the side.  The dessert started to make more sense much like the Black Ball Supreme where all of the ingredients needed to be mixed together for optimal balance.

We also tried Aiyu Jelly with crystal balls, konjac and konjac jelly.  The jiggly jelly was appealing in texture and very light to eat.  It was slightly sweet and a bit floral.  By itself, it wasn't overly flavourful, but the addition of konjac helped things out with added sweetness.  The contrast in chewy textures between the konjac and crystall balls was pleasant.  For our drinks, we sampled Cheese Top Fresh Tea, Classic Milk Tea with grass jelly and Fresh Milk Tea.  Apparently, they made the drinks at full strength in terms of sugar which made them too sweet for our tastes.  I'm sure if you ask for 50% it would be a different story.  Despite this, the milk tea was good with apparent tea flavour combined with the creaminess of the milk.  I enjoyed the fresh milk tea as it was light and almost refreshing.  Aromatic and unmistakably cheesy from the foam on top, the cheese top fresh tea was the most impactful of the 3.  To be frank, I'm usually not into Taiwanese desserts since I find them too filling after a meal.  However, the ones found at Black Ball were good.  Generally not too sweet and big enough to share.

*All desserts and beverages were complimentary*

The Good:
- Large portions, best to be shared
- Desserts themselves are not too sweet in general (the ice was, but you needed to mix it with the side dish)
- Solid drinks

The Bad:
- This type of dessert is rather filling if you try to eat one by yourself
- Drinks by default are very sweet, best to ask for less sugar