A Bao Time

I'm sure you have noticed that many restaurants are pretty pricey these days.  Even going for congee and noodles can cost you a pretty penny.  So really, eating out is a luxury, even if it is fast food.  Well, there is a form of fast food that is still quite affordable and tasty.  The stuff from A Bao Time (love the pun...) is definitely affordable for most people and they don't cheap out on the ingredients and the size of their baos.  They are also conveniently located steps from Brighouse station in Richmond.

So let's get straight to the bao where there are 12 different versions to choose from.  We had them all so it would be too many to post all the pictures, but the 3 in this picture were Bolabola Chicken Deluxe, Spicy Crayfish and Spicy Pork with Long Bean.  As you can see in the picture, they were shy with the filling.  The bao itself was fluffy and light while still holding up to the wet ingredients.  In additon to the good BBQ pork bun, my favourite was the Bolabola with a juicy pork, salted egg yolk and sausage.  It was like the Dai Bao at New Town Bakery.  So full of stuff, it was meal in itself.

Beyond the bao, the other prominent items on display are the Ha Gau (Shrimp Dumpling) and Siu Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumpling).  These are ready to go just like the bao.  We sampled both of them and you know what?  These were pretty solid with all things considered.  The ha gau had a semi-thick dumpling skin, but it wasn't too chewy.  Inside, the shrimp filling was decent with a nice shrimpy bounce.  The sui mai were quite good with tender pork and a whole shrimp on top.

Digging deeper into the menu, there was also a selection of Congee.  We went for the Seafood Congee with shrimp, squid and fish.  As for the congee itself, it was on the thinner side, but was properly seasoned.  The amount of seafood was modest, yet it was cooked just enough.  So the congee itself was average, but the Salty Donut was excellent being soft and a bit chewy with a crispy exterior.  It was well-salted and could've been eaten by itself.

We also noticed they had Xiao Long Bao available and of course we had to try those too!  Turns out they were decent as well.  The dumpling skin was fairly thin (despite being stamped and not pleated) where the amount of soup was significant.  It was sweet and not greasy.  Other things on the menu included Cured Sausage, Chinese Tea Egg and Salted Duck Egg.  These items were worth a shot if you wanted to supplement your congee. So there you have it, all the food you can get at A Bao Time!  I think the bao for $2.25 - $2.99 are a good value considering the size and amount of filling.  Definitely a good snack or a meal if you eat a few of them.  One of the last cheap eats we have these days.

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

The Good:
- Cheap eat
- Bao are big and have lots of filling
- Dim Sum is decent

The Bad:
- Congee is too thin
- Mostly a walk-up spot, parking is not that easy to find  

Dough Zone

After returning from Vegas, I spent all of one day back home before heading down to Portland once again.  Yep, I was just there in November, but was so happy with the eats we had, I was itching to return.  So I took the fam this time and had some eats along the way that I didn't even take pictures of!  I know, the horror!  But once in Portland, I was staying in Downtown near the river.  Since I was pretty tired from driving, we ended up just walking 2 blocks to the nearby Dough Zone.  If this name seems familiar, yes, it is the same chain that started in Bellevue, WA!

One things for sure is that this location is nicest of bunch, being the former high-end location of Lucier.  We did endure a short wait as it was a Friday night.  Since the portions aren't big here, we went ahead and ordered many items including the Five Spice Beef Shank.  Sliced razor-thin, the meat was easy to eat and really tender.  Loved the gelatinous quality of the meat and also the impactful braising liquid that had a nice star anise hit.  The same sliced beef shank appeared in the Beef Pancake Roll, which made it good in that respect.  As for the green onion pancake portion, it was quite flaky and light despite looking thick.  Not sure if I enjoyed all that lettuce in the roll though.

We got the Sweet & Sour Cucumber just so we had some veggies (I know that is a stretch).  They were crunchy and marinated enough so there was a tang without being too acidic.  The spice was actually quite mild. up the ante with the veggies, we got the Kale with Sesame Dressing just for good measure.  This was actually the biggest portion of anything we had ordered.  A bit ironic, but welcomed nonetheless because it not only gave us more leafy greens, it was pretty delicious too.  In addition to the nuttiness of the sesame and the sweetness added to the dressing, we also got hits of garlic and the crunch from the peanuts.  Since the kale was lightly blanched, it was still crisp, but wilted enough so it was tender.

Off to the Xiao Long Bao, we had both the Berkshire-Duroc Pork Soup Dumplings as well as the Pork & Crab Soup Dumplings.  We universally liked the pork dumplings more than the one with crab.  We felt that the crab gave the dumplings too much brininess that obscured the natural sweetness of the fatty pork.  The pork filling was moist and tender while the soup was sweet.  I found the top twirl of the dumpling skin to be fairly firm, but the rest was thin and delicate.

We also got the Pan-Fried Berkshire-Duroc Pork Buns which were really good.  Often, the layer of bun can be overly thick and doughy, but this one had a thin bun that was fluffy and light.  The airiness of the bun allowed for the pork filling to be front and center.  Not unlike the XLBs, the filling was moist and juicy.  In fact, there was soup to be found, just like the XLBs.  To get all of the menu, we got the Pan-Fried Dumplings (Potstickers) for good measure.  These featured a medium-thick skin while the pork filling was pretty much on par with the other dumplings.  The bottom was fried up crispy with a noticeable skirt.

For our noodle selection, we ordered both the Dan Dan Mein and the Spicy Beef Noodle.  These bowls were quite small and not enough to share.  However, I really didn't want to share the dan dan noodles because they were really good.  The noodles were al dente and dressed with a nutty and spicy sauce.  As for the beef noodles, the soup was quite mild.  The noodles were chewy and the beef was tender, albeit in small pieces.

For myself, I wanted to try the Berkshire-Duroc Pork Wontons in Chili Sauce.  Well these were decent with tender wontons that were soaked in a mildly-spicy sauce that was smoky with elements of saltiness and vinegariness.  Overall, the food at Dough Zone was as expected (I've been to various locations many times).  Most dishes were decent and some were quite good.  However, the portions were rather small.  Loved the waterfront location for this one in Portland.

The Good:

- Decent eats

- Swank location

- Good XLBs

The Bad:

- Small portions

North King Noodle House

Finally!  A Northern Chinese restaurant has opened up in Burnaby North.  Yes, we've seen some of those come and go before such as Lucky Star over a decade ago.  So North King Noodle House has taken over the long-standing Paul's Restaurant.  They are related to Yu Xiang Yuan out on Fraser Street, hence we had high hopes since they offer up fantastic hand-pulled noodles and a free wife!  Jess ended up organizing a tasting and we sampled a good array of dishes for our meal.

We kicked things off with the Woodear Mushroom & Cilantro Salad and the Spicy Beef & Tripe.  As simple as these dishes appeared, they were a really great start to the meal.  Sure, the texture of the woodear mushrooms were crunchy as expected (can't really mess that up), but the seasoning was on point.  A little of everything to give it that salty, sweet and a background tang.  The tripe and beef were nicely textured where they were tender but still had a bite.  Nice spice to the dish, but still balanced.

I was pretty happy to have the Hot & Sour Soup next because it is one of my favourite items to order.  This was done right with a thick viscosity that was still soupy, not clumpy.  In addition, there was plenty of components within the broth that were properly textured including the silky tofu (they used a softer tofu than other versions I had) and crunchy veggies.  I thought the soup base itself had depth and was accented properly by equal parts spice and tanginess.

We were served a pair of vegetable dishes including the Spicy Green Beans as well as the Stir-Fried Lettuce Stems.  Both featured good wok hei (hot enough wok) to caramelize without overcooking the veggies.  The green beans were still crunchy (from the quick oil-blanching) while the lettuce stem exhibited a delicate texture (but was not overly soft).  I found the spiciness with the beans to be balanced and the lettuce stems to be glazed with a mild starch-thickened sauce.

One of my favourite items was the Stir Fried Razor Clams for only $28.95!  Granted these were smaller Pacific ones, but I didn't enjoy them any less.  Even though the dish consisted of green peppers, woodear mushrooms, different types of onions and celery, there was still plenty of clams to be found.  The caramelization was there and also the spicy garlickiness.  I found these clams to be a bit more robust in texture compared to the longer and more delicate Atlantic Jack Knife.

Of course we had to try the classic Beef Rolls featuring a green onion pancake with sliced beef shank, green onion and hoisin sauce inside.  At first, I was a bit concerned with the thickness of the pancake, but it turned out to be okay.  The surface was seared well, hence there was both a crispiness and nuttiness.  Overall, the texture of the pancake was chewy with some elasticity.  Inside, the beef was tender while the amount of hoisin was enough to make an impact.

Onto some bigger plates, we had the Pickled Cabbage Fish (sometimes known as Sauerkraut Fish).  This was a huge bowl of food for $22.95.  There was a wealth of flaky fish pieces that were just cooked through.  It sat in a broth that was sweet and slightly tangy from the pickled mustard greens.  I could also taste the natural flavours from the fish as well (in a non-fishy way). This was really appetizing and I went back for seconds and thirds.  

Continuing on with another big bowl of food, we had the Spicy Boiling Beef.  So the fish was a non-spicy and generally subtle dish, but this one was outright in-your-face (yes, the chili oil did get all over the place too).  Beyond the crunchy sprouts and Napa cabbage, we had a boatload of tenderized sliced beef.  It was buttery and soft while taking on the spicy nuttiness of the broth.  Underneath we found some glass noodles that soaked up the spice.

Let's stick with spicy with the next dish being the Deep Fried Chicken with Szechuan peppercorns and dried red chilis.  For those who have had this dish before, you will know that it looks a heck of a lot more spicy than it is.  For this version, the crispy nuggets of chicken (that weren't dry) took on the spice from the peppercorns with a minor numbing effect but overall wasn't really all that spicy.  Nice earthy aroma though and also well-seasoned too.

Another usual dish for this type of cuisine is the Beef Noodle Soup.  This wasn't the spicy version, but that was a good thing as it was a nice break from the previous 2 dishes.  It featured a meaty broth that had depth with a mild amount of seasoning.  Hence, the soup wasn't salty nor was it bland either.  The little nuggets of beef finger meat was super tender and fatty.  It had been cooked down so that some of the fat had been rendered (but there was still a good amount of fat left).  Noodles were al dente and didn't get too soft even while sitting within the hot broth.

From soup noodles, we moved onto sauce noodles with the Soybean & Pork Sauce atop spinach hand-pulled noodles.  This was the classic Ja Jeung Mein that featured a rich meat sauce that had even more umaminess from the both the pork and soybeans.  Again, it was not particularly saucy, rather it was meaty and was able to coat each al dente noodle. The second bowl was the Dan Dan Mein.  Unlike the really saucy versions, this was more meat forward with plenty of savoury umaminess.  There was good spice and nuttiness provided by the peanuts.  There was enough of this meat sauce to coat all the noodles affording the dish plenty of depth and flavour.  As for the hand-pulled noodles, they were extra al dente with lots of chew and elasticity.  We could definitely tell these were fresh.

Just to cover all of our bases, we also got the Xiao Long Bao.  These were pretty large in size and featured a medium-thick dumpling skin.  They were rather delicate and lacked a bit of elasticity.  Hence, the skin broke easily when picked up with our chopsticks.  With that being said, the filling was excellent being tender and moist.  There was a good amount of sweet soup inside that was meaty with a hint of Shaoxing wine.  If they could make the skin just a bit thinner with some chew, it would be perfect.

For dessert, we were served the Sweet Rice Balls in Rice Wine Dessert Soup.  I'm normally not into Chinese sweet soups but this one was pretty darn good.  It was sweet for sure, but not overly so.  The starch-thickened viscosity was just enough to coat a spoon while the texture of the rice balls was delicate with some chewiness.  So in the end, this tasting revealed what I was expecting - solid Northern Chinese eats with hand-pulled noodles and other delicious dishes.  Definitely a welcome addition to North Burnaby, even if you don't receive a free wife...

*All food was complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- Excellent hand-pulled noodles
- Overall delicious and well-portioned food
- Reasonable-pricing

The Bad:
- XLBs could use a thinner more elastic dumpling skin

Suhang

Oh boy, we haven't officially been back to Suhang since 2010.  Now I say "officially" because I have been back in 2016 in my quest to find the best Xiao Long Bao in Richmond.  In reality, Suhang has been one of the best places in the Lower Mainland for XLBs for quite some time.  Hence, with my cousin (Cable Car Guy) was visiting from the Bay Area, I felt this was the place we would go since he was craving XLBs (he went to Shanghai River with us last time he was in town).

Not sure why we ordered the Peking Duck (because we normally want to eat more of the Dim Sum items), but my mom wanted it.  It turned out to be a bit hit and miss though.  We asked for more meat attached to the skin and they did that perfectly.  However, the skin wasn't uniformly crispy and there was quite a bit of fat.  The accompanying crepes were excellent being thin, soft and a bit chewy.

We chose the Lettuce Wrap as our second course for the Peking duck.  There is no way around saying this, but it was terrible.  The pieces of duck were stir-fried far too long, hence became dry and chewy.  Furthermore, the amount of dark soy not only meant the dish was not particularly appealing to look it, the caramelization made the dish rather salty.  At the very least, the veggies were still crunchy and the lettuce was prepared properly.

So here we are with 2 versions of their Xiao Long Bao.  We had the regular version first and noticed right away that the dumpling skin was rather thick and somewhat chewy.  For some reason, half of them were deflated where the soup had leaked out.  The other half did have soup and it was good with a meaty sweetness as well as gingery and shaoxing wine notes.  The pork filling was tender, yet a touch gritty.  As for the Crab Xiao Long Bao, we also found that half were also devoid of soup.   They were pretty much the same as the regular version except for the addition of crab meat.  It did add some sweet brininess, but I would've liked a bit more impact.

Continuing on with pork-stuffed things, we had the Pan-Fried Pork Buns as well.  These were pretty solid with perfectly seared bottom where it was brown (bordering on becoming burnt, but that is a good thing) and crispy.  Due to that, it was nutty and aromatic.  The bun itself was somewhere between fluffy and dense.  Inside, the pork filling was similar to the XLBs being a touch gritty.  The soup inside was sweet and a touch porky.

Cable Car Guy and I noticed the Spareribs with Wuxi-Style Sauce on the menu (the picture was quite delicious-looking).  However, the actual dish did not resemble the menu photo in any way.  With that being said, it still was quite tasty and the meat was fall-off-the-bone tender.  The whole dish ate quite sweet and it could've used a bit more vinegar for balance.

Of course we had to order the kid's favourite dish in the Shanghai Stir-Fried Rice Cakes.  Despite its pale appearance (this needed some more dark soy), the dish did have enough caramelization via sufficient wok hei (with a very hot wok!).  Therefore, the flavours were caramelized.  Texturally, the rice cakes were a bit soft, but still had chew.  We really wished to added more shredded pork and veggies to it though.

Staying on the carb train, I decided to try their Dan Dan Mein (noodles).  As you can see, this was rather brothy.  This resulted in the watered-down flavours.  That was really too bad as the peanut sauce, chili sauce and peanuts were really tasty together.  The peanut flavour still came through and the spice level was muted (due to the amount of broth).  Noodles were nicely al dente though.

Staying with the classics, we ordered the Szechuan Beef Noodle.  This was pretty good with a broth that was on the milder side in terms of seasoning, but it did have enough spiciness.  Again, the noodles were al dente and the spinach was not overcooked.  The best part was the ample amount of sliced beef shank.  These were fall-apart tender and took on all the flavours of the stewing liquid with some spice and liquorice notes.

To get some more veggies into the meal, we opted for a pretty standard choice in the Stir-Fried Pea Shoots with Garlic.  We found the portion size to be quite generous (as pea shoots cook down quite a bit).  In terms of preparation, the dish as wok-fried with enough heat that there was not residual moisture on the place.  It was seasoned well and it was not greasy.

Our last dish was the Salted Salmon Fried Rice and for me at least, I really enjoyed it.  The big chunks of moist salted salmon were plentiful and hence impactful.  Chewy and nutty, the rice was texturally on point with enough seasoning.  Plenty of high wok heat caramelizing the flavours.  So this dish was good, but the whole meal itself was inconsistent.  Maybe our expectations were too high?  I felt our recent Shanghainese meal at Yuan's Garden to be superior all across the board.  Maybe this was an off night?  Hope not, because it lags behind many of their competitors in Richmond.

The Good:
- Surprisingly attentive service
- Decent portion sizes
- Seating is fairly spacious

The Bad:
- Food is hit and miss

Top Shanghai

Boy, I haven't been back to Top Shanghai since I was doing the "best XLB in Richmond" blog post.  Seeing that was 2016, yah, I would say it has been awhile.  Upon entering the restaurant, it was nice to see they got rid of the table for 2 right at the door.  That must've been one of the most awkward tables in any restaurant I've ever seen.  Other than that, the tables still are rather close to each other, but now they sport plexiglass dividers.  Thank you Covid-19...

So the thing to get here is the Sang Jeen Bao or Pan-Fried Pork Buns.  These featured an aggressively fried bottom that was crunchy and nutty.  The actual bun was rather thin, which meant it wasn't heavy nor doughy.  Inside, there was a considerable amount of soup that was fatty and hence porky in flavour.  The meat was tender and sweet.  I enjoyed them, but I think the ones at Dong Tai Xiang to be better as well as the ones at Victoria Seafood Restaurant too (the dinner is meh, but the pan-fried buns are one of the best in town).  Also I do realize that these are all different versions (especially, the Cantonese version at Victoria), but I will still compare them.

Of course we had to order the Xiao Long Bao, but we decided on the crab version for something different.  Due to the amount of pork fat, the filling tasted much like the previous dumplings - porky.  Hey, more fat is necessary to create a tender filling, but that also means that is the dominant flavour.  Hence, the crab was rather lost in this other than the intermittent texture.  Dumpling wrapper was medium-thick in parts but mostly thin which was good.

So to get some veggies into the meal, we got the Dry-Fried Green Beans with pork.  This was pretty good with oil-blanched beans that were cooked-through while still maintaining a crunch.  Despite being flash-fried, the dish wasn't overly greasy.  Wok heat was good as the seasoning was completely caramelized to each green bean.  Often, it is hard to keep green beans flavourful as the seasoning slides off of them.  This wasn't the case here.

My favourite dish was the Braised Tofu with Crab Roe and I really wish there was a bowl of rice to eat it with.  However, with the amount of dishes ordered, rice was the last thing we needed (for 2 people).  The silky smooth cubes of tofu were completely intact while the starch-thickened sauce was so flavourful and full of umami.  It was sweet, briny and had that seafood aroma - yummy.  I was literally just scooping it like soup in my bowl.

Next dish was a mistake on my part (or was it?  I remembered ordering "seun hoy chow neen goh"), as I ordered the Rice Cake in Soup Shanghai Style.  What I wanted was stir-fried rice cake, but whatever, we made do with this one.  It wasn't bad though as the soup was comforting and it was a huge portion of soft rice cake (can't help it, when it is sitting in liquid), shredded pork, Napa cabbage and spinach.  

Another tasty dish was the Sauteed Chicken with spicy garlic sauce.  This was full of flavour with definite saltiness accented by spice.  There was good wok heat where the outside of the chicken was dry and caramelized with some smokiness.  However, the chicken was still quite tender (not juicy though).  Again, this would've went well with rice, but we didn't get any.  I merely had it with my rice cake soup...

Last dish was the Spicy Salt Deep Fried Chicken Wings.  This was not on the regular menu and took forever to arrive.  We were more than halfway though our meal by the time it hit the table.  They were not bad with lightly crispy wings with somewhat rendered skin.  The meat was juicy and nicely brined.  I thought the salt could've been more impactful.  In the end, the meal was fine.  I've never thought Top Shanghai as my first choice for Shanghainese cuisine in the Lower Mainland, yet at the same time, the food is respectable.  For me at least, I'd hit up Shanghai Wonderful or Shanghai River first.

The Good:
- Huge menu (could be a negative too)
- Decent eats
- Well-portioned

The Bad:
- There are better places to go though
- Service wasn't bad, but definitely sparse