Dim Sum @ Red Star

We're very lucky to live in Vancouver. There are a lot of really good places to go for Dim Sum in the GVRD. Some of them include: Kirin, Victoria, Spicy Court, Fisherman's Terrace, Fortune House, Sea Harbour, Imperial, Sun Sui Wah and Red Star. I believe all of them are pretty good, you really can't go wrong with any of them. Although I have been to dinner at Red Star, I haven't had a chance to go for dim sum.

Goose wanted to meet up with my family (including kids and grandparents) for Dim Sum and I took the opportunity to suggest Red Star. We decided to make an early reservation (11am) because I've heard that it gets quite busy at around noon. Also, much like Fortune House, a reservation only puts you in a queue for a table with other people who made a reservation. The early reservation worked like a charm, we got a table immediately. However, the tables are crammed together and there is very little room to get by. We decided to order a few dishes first, then put in a second order later.

The first order consisted of: Haw Cheun Fun (Shrimp Rice Roll), Char Sui Bao (BBQ Pork Buns), Ngow Yiuk (Beef Meatballs), Fong Jow (Chicken Feet), Pai Gwut (Black Bean Spareribs) and of course Haw Gow (Shrimp Dumplings). The shrimp rice roll was probably one of the best I've had, it was soft and packed with a lot of big, crunchy shrimp. The sweet soy sauce was served hot on the side which helped maintain the temperature of the warm rice roll. The pork bun was soft and full of sweet BBQ pork. The beef meatballs weren't over saturated with baking soda and had the right amount of green onion, so that it didn't overwhelm the beef flavour.

The chicken feet were some of the best I've had. You're probably wondering: a) Why are you eating chicken feet, don't chickens run in their own poop? b) What's the difference between "good" chicken feet and "bad" chicken feet? Well, for question A, luckily, the first layer of skin has been removed, it's all clean! For B, bad chicken feet are over steamed to the point where the skin is broken. Moreover, bad chicken feet is over fried, where the tendons underneath the skin are melted away. Lastly, bad chicken feet are merely salty, with no distinguishing taste. I'm happy to report that the chicken feet at Red Star are none of those, it was both fluffy and flavourful in a sweet, salty and garlicky way. I bet for some of you, that was too much analysis of chicken feet!

The spareribs were... as you guessed it, good! They were very meaty, flavourful and had limited amount of fat. Most of the pieces were attached to a rib bone; thus, being very tender. Too many places put in crap pieces that are all fat or cartilage. Dim Sum wouldn't be Dim Sum without Haw Gow, so we ordered 2 steamers. Okay, I might sound like a broken record, but these are the best shrimp dumplings I've had in a while. First, the skin on them were super thin, to the point it was translucent. Second, the filling was completely filled with lots of whole, crunchy, cold-water shrimp.

Okay, after that, we were ready for more food! This is where it gets interesting. We asked the manager for another order sheet; but he tells us to use the old one and just circle what we want. Fine, we did that and handed it over to the server and we wait. We wait some more, and finally after 30 minutes, we figure out that he didn't put in our order! I guess we should have paid more attention since we didn't get a receipt that the order was put through; but they really should have better communication among staff. How can one person tell us one thing and the other not know we had filled in the order sheet? Anyways, to their credit, they put a rush on our order and it came out pretty fast.

So, for the second round, we had: Ja Leun (Rice Roll w/ Fried Donut), Haw Chuen Guen (Shrimp Spring Roll), Ngow Yiuk Cheun Fun (Beef Rice Roll), Hai Yiuk Choy Mui Gow (Crab, Shrimp and Vegetable Dumpling), Fish Maw with Shrimp Puree (the Chinese description did not translate well to English...) and Daan Tat (Egg Tart). Curiously, the fried donut in the Ja Leun was quite soft and dense; yet, it was still very pleasant to eat. The spring roll was crunchy and not oily on the outside; but was a bit greasy on the inside. The beef rice roll was excellent, packed with lots of beef. The crab topped shrimp dumpling was good; but wasn't all that memorable. The fish maw (fried fish air sac) was a bit over steamed and it became mostly melted mush. However, the shrimp puree on top was both plentiful and sweet tasting. Lastly, the egg tart wasn't very good, the tart shell was soggy.

Service at Red Star is quite attentive and efficient; yet, it's impersonal and robotic. Much like what I said at Spicy Court, you can replace all the staff with cyborgs and no one would notice the difference. In general, I think the Dim Sum at Red Star is very good. There are much more highlights than low lights. Moreover, dinner is pretty good too. For the time being, I would say it's one of the best in town (if money was no object). However, I need to revisit Imperial, Sea Harbour and Fisherman's Terrace to compare.

The Good:
- Excellent Dim Sum
- Good portions
- It wasn't too salty

The Bad:
- Expressionless staff
- A bit pricey
- Cramped seating arrangements

Red Star
8298 Granville Street
Vancouver, B.C.
604-261-8389

Business Hours:
10:30am - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 10:00pm (Mon - Fri)
10:00am - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 10:00pm (Sat & Sun)

Toyotomi

*Restaurant is now closed*

So you think that after eating a big lunch at No. 1 Shanghai with tonnes of carbs would stop me from eating again? Wrong! How about going to eat Japanese and more carbs! That's exactly what Viv and I did tonight as we decided to try Toyotomi. People keep raving about this place and I really wanted to see for myself what all the fuss was about. For the longest time, I didn't even know that Toyotomi was located near the corner of Hastings and Gilmore in Burnaby. It's not a really big restaurant and the front is quite unassuming. Inside, the place is downright small. You can barely get into the place since the entrance is narrow and there are people either waiting to pay or for a table. Also, you'd better like the people who sit near you, it's almost like they are sitting with you. However, the whole point of Toyotomi is not the comfort of your seat; rather, the quality of the food.

Looking around, there are 2 things that are apparent, the portions are good and the appearance of the food is inviting. Toyotomi has many of the deluxe rolls that are popular these days. These rolls are usually a fusion of flavours and are visually appealing. Moreover, they are larger with more than the standard 6 pieces. We started with the 2 daily specials: the Salmon Tartar and the Tuna Tempura. The tartar was very pleasant to eat, it was lightly flavoured with mayonnaise, lemon and chives. The salmon itself appeared to be the leftover or reject pieces of sashimi. But, that didn't matter, it was very fresh and tasted great. The only thing I would've added was a slice of lemon or lime for more acidity.

The Tuna Tempura was very delicately flavoured with just a splash of tempura sauce. Although the tuna was moist, it would've been better if it was not cooked completely through. We also ordered the Maple Roll, which consisted of spicy tuna on the inside and salmon, sesame, mayo, tobiko, tempura bits, and maple sauce on the outside. The roll on its own without soy/wasabi was a good combination of sweet and spicy. However, if you dipped it in soy sauce, the saltiness brought out more of the sweet maple flavour. In addition, we had the Combo 601, which consists of a BC Roll (4 pcs) and a Spicy Salmon Roll (6 pcs). This combo was huge, with the biggest BC Roll I've ever seen. It was served with warm and crunchy pieces of salmon skin, it was an excellent contrast in texture with the rice. The salmon roll was full of very spicy salmon; however, there was a bit too much rice for my liking.

Lastly, we had the Seafood (large filet of salmon, 2 prawns and 3 slices of fish cake) Ramen. The broth was very light and the ramen was al dente. Viv thought it was a bit too chewy, but I liked it. The salmon was moist and not overcooked; but, the prawns were overcooked. Service is as efficient as it can be with the limited amount of serves for such a busy restaurant. As busy as they are, the servers are pleasant and friendly. As I mentioned in my review of Akira Sushi, I categorized it as a "plan B" type of restaurant. Well, I can positively say that Toyotomi is a "plan A" restaurant. The prices are reasonable, the portions are large and the food quality is generally really good. I heard the table beside me exclaim that they hated Sushi Town. Now that I've tried Toyotomi, I am less enthusiastic about Sushi Town as well.

The Good:
- Good prices
- Generous portions
- Food tastes good

The Bad:
- Cramped quarters
- Friendly, but hurried service

Toyotomi Japanese
4121 Hastings Street
Burnaby, B.C.
604-676-1506

Business Hours:
11:30am - 10:00pm (Mon - Sun)

No. 1 Shanghai

We met up with Ben and Suanne from Chow Times today at No. 1 Shanghai restaurant in Richmond. It was the first time meeting up with them and I really have to say I enjoyed the company. It's nice to have another blogger with a family that we can meet up with! Despite the fact I have been eating non-stop for the last little while, I was quite hungry. I woke up pretty late today and had not eaten since I slept at 3:00am after Congee Noodle House. With the pleasantries out of the way, we got down to ordering.

I guess we kind of ordered randomly and ended up with a whole lot of food. Well, no problem, just more to take pictures of and more to blog about! Although... I did have camera envy, Ben has a very nice Canon DSLR. I really must go out and get one soon! We ordered so much, I actually had to take notes. I was getting confused as to what we ordered and what some of the items were! So here is the list of what we ordered: Xiao Long Bao (2), Szchewan Beef Noodle, Tan Tan Noodles, Shanghai Thick Noodles in Soup, Fried Pork Chop with Rice Cake (Neen Goh), 8 Treasures Spicy Noodle Soup, Pickled Vegetable and Pork with Rice, and Sticky Rice with Flavours (the flavour was most sweet red bean).

The Xiao Long Bao were quite juicy and had lots of meat flavour. However, the skin was ever-so-slightly thicker than the ones from Shanghai River and Shanghai Wonderful. The Szchewan noodles were okay, but the soup was curiously sweet and a bit thin. The broth was not as rich and full of meat flavour such as the one at #1 Beef Noodle House. However, the beef and the tendon were quite soft and flavourful. The Tan Tan noodles were quite good. It was a good balance of chili oil, peanut sauce, vinegar, sweet and salty. The noodles themselves were not overcooked and had some elasticity to them. The Shanghai noodles in soup were very good. The soup base had depth and the noodles were not mushy. The cabbage was still firm and the meat was not too fatty.

However, the pork chop with neen goh (rice cake) was not so good. It sure looked impressive, with big slices of neen goh buried beneath large pieces of fried pork chop. But, since the neen goh was in such large pieces, it was very chewy and hard to eat. In addition, it was difficult for the flavours to penetrate the large pieces of neen goh. The pork chop itself had way too much batter. There was more batter than pork chop. The 8 treasures noodle soup was a curious one. It arrived with the 8 treasures on a separate plate from the noodles. We spent some time figuring out what that dish was until we noticed that one of the bowl of noodles was quite lonely without any toppings whatsoever. I thought the 8 treasures were very good and supplied plenty of flavour to the plain noodles.

The pickled vegetables and pork with rice didn't do much for me. I guess it was a bit bland for my tastes. It wasn't bad, but it really lacked flavour. The sticky rice was an interesting dish. It arrived with a sweet glaze on top and was filled with sweet red bean, lotus root and gay jee (it's a red seed). The rice was very soft and slightly sweet. It was a pleasant dish to eat, but it was really a bundle of mush, so there was not much in the way of texture.

The meal as a whole was enjoyable. Nothing was really terrible, but nothing was all that memorable either. However, the prices were very reasonable. Moreover, the dining room itself is nicely decorated and modern. Even the washrooms were very clean and modern (think a la Cactus Club). The service was pretty good and efficient (despite what I read from other reviews). No. 1 Shanghai is not my first choice for Shanghainese Dim Sum, but it is a decent place to eat nonetheless.












The Good:
- Decent food at reasonable prices
- Comfortable dining room
- Good service

The Bad:
- Lack of parking
- Some other places have better food

No. 1 Shanghai
#120 - 4200 No. 3 Road
Richmond, B.C.
604-279-1728

Business Hours:
11:00am - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 10:00pm (7 days a week)

Hi Genki

Vandelay has been bugging me to try this place called Hi Genki for awhile now. I've been pretty skeptical - a Japanese restaurant in an old folks home?!?!? Just the image of that conjures up thoughts of hospital food. Bleck! But I finally relented and decided to give it a go. Hi Genki is located in the Nekkei Home on Southoaks Crescent in Burnaby. When I say it's in the home, it is right smack-dab at the front entrance. I wasn't even sure if I was in the right place; but alas, Vandelay and Donna Chang were there waiting for a table.

The restaurant was bustling with activity, it appears that a lot of people like to eat here. Right at the front near the cash register was a small table with all the specials of the day. That's right, the actual dishes (not some plastic interpretation) were displayed. This is one of the few times you get to see the food before ordering it. My initial impressions were that the portions of each dish were very generous. Furthermore, after looking over the menu, I was impressed that those portions were at reasonable prices. However, this shouldn't have been a revelation since Hi Genki is run by Fujiya, which is synonymous with value.

I continued to look at the menu and the Gindara Misoyaki caught my eye. For $8.95, you get miso-flavoured grilled black cod. I thought that was a fabulous deal since black cod is really expensive. When the dish arrived, I figured out why it was only $8.95. The pieces of black cod were actually the collar and fin bones. But, that was actually no problem to me because the most succulent part of the fish is near the bones in my opinion. However, for some others, this may be a total turn off. Rice, spring salad, konnyaku jelly, and a taro ball (that's what it tasted like, please correct me if I'm wrong) acommpanied the fish. Curiously, the salad dressing on top of the spring mix was Italian. First time I've ever had both spring mix and Italian dressing in a Japanese restaurant.

Vandelay ordered the Nabeyaki Udon, which came with a side of fried rice. I tried the udon and it was well... udon. It was no better or no worse than any other udons I've had everywhere else. Donna Chang (not her real name) ordered up some Japanese curry, specifically the Chicken Katsu Curry. Essentially, it's a breaded chicken cutlet over rice smothered with curry. Japanese curry is nothing like traditional Indian Curry, it's much sweeter and it's thickened with a roux. I tried some of it and it was indeed very mild and sweet. If you like that kind of curry, then it was pretty good.

We also got an order of Agedeshi Tofu and Korokke Teishoku (potato croquettes). The tofu were 2 big pieces topped with the usual grated daikon, green onion and bonito flakes. I liked the tofu, it was soft and not over-fried. The croquettes were coated with panko and it was fried perfectly. Nice colour and crispy on the outside, fluffy potato on the inside. We were also provided with a squeeze bottle of tonkatsu sauce for the croquettes. So what did I think of Hi Genki? Well, much like Fujiya, the food is not bad, but not great. Although I do think it is a very good value, since it has a good combination of decent food, good prices and generous portions.

The Good:
- Low prices
- Generous portions
- Free underground parking

The Bad:
- All the positive reviews create unrealistic expectations for the food

Hi Genki
6680 Southoaks Crescent
Burnaby, B.C.
604-777-0533
www.fujiya.ca

Business Hours:
11:30am - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 8:30pm (Mon - Sun)

The Cannery

*The Cannery is now permanently closed*

The restaurant scene in Vancouver has come a long way since the 70's when there were very few fine dining establishments to choose from. Some that come to mind are: The Salmon House, Cloud 9, The Fish House (formerly the Beach House), and The Cannery. How times have changed. Since Expo 86, Vancouver has truly become an international city with a diverse culinary heartbeat. Newer fine dining restaurants such as West, Chambar and Blue Water have breathed new life into what was a stagnant culinary scene. However, places like The Cannery still have their appeal, even though much of the restaurant has not changed in the last 20 years.

I wasn't even born when it first opened in 1971, but I have frequented The Cannery on many occasions from my youth until now. Sadly, The Cannery is moving from its current location in late 2010. The lease is up with the Port Authority and due to security concerns, the location will not exist as a restaurant anymore. Making sure I don't miss out on the quaint location that the Cannery currently occupies, I paid a visit tonight with Viv. Again, I was lucky to have a prime seat upstairs right by the window. In addition to very nice views of Burrard Inlet, I had good lighting for my pictures. We were greeted iimmediately by the assistant waiter who filled our glasses. Our server arrived shortly after and took our drink order. I had an Apple Martini and it was so yummy (not too sweet, and not too sour)!

She came back and explained the featured dishes of the day. She gave us plenty of time to decide on what to order. Although I was tempted to order their very popular Salmon Wellington, I choose not to. I've had that dish too many times and after Moderne Burger for lunch, I wasn't in the mood for anything heavy. We decided to have the Seafood Platter appetizer for 2 to start. Viv chose to have the special, which was a Wild Atlantic Salmon Fillet with Prawns in a Roasted Tomato and Cumin sauce. I decided on the Red Snapper from the fresh sheet. After we placed our order, the famous lobster oil with balsamic vinegar and basket of bread arrived. The lobster oil at The Cannery is very aromatic and is a nice complement to the balsamic vinegar. My only complaint is that the bread always comes out stone-cold and hard. I really wish they would serve warm, softer bread with the lobster oil. That would be perfect!

As we were munching on our bread, the seafood platter arrived. The platter was full of plump mussels (10), crab claws (6), oysters (2), shrimp (10), tiger prawns (4), scallops (2) and candied salmon (2). There were 2 dipping sauces, one was a sherry vinaigrette and the other was sun dried tomato. The sherry vinaigrette was quite tart and it didn't seem to go with any of the delicate seafood. However, the sun dried tomato was light and we used that primarily as our dipping sauce. The seafood was cooked perfectly. We could taste the natural sweetness of each and every piece. After we finished our appetizer, there was very little wait time before our entrees arrived. The salmon had really good natural flavour; however, the roasted tomato and cumin sauce didn't have any bite. A request for some lemon wedges did the trick, suddenly the flavours came alive with the acidity. It cut through the creaminess of the sauce. The red snapper was cooked perfectly, it was flaky and very fresh. I chose the lemon butter sauce and it was good; but again, it lacked lemon flavour. I guess it's a personal preference, but we like a bit of acidity with our fish. A quick squeeze of a lemon wedge did the trick, affording the butter sauce a kick.

After finishing our entrees, the server asked if she needed to twist our arms in terms of dessert. I replied. "no arm twisting needed". Come on, it's me, I ate a large burger and a mountain of fries only 5 hours ago, I can eat dessert! Viv chose something light and had the Sorbet Selection and I had the Classic Pavlova. The sorbet was excellent, the natural flavours of the fruit (lemon, raspberry and mango) were prominent. The flavours were not overwhelmed by an excessive use of sugar. In the case of the mango and raspberry sorbets, they were so smooth, you'd think it was gelato. My Pavlova (essentially a baked meringue) was crunchy, light and sweet. It was complimented by the fresh cream and fruit. However, the presentation was a bit odd, when I first looked at it, it resembled a strange looking animal. Luckily it didn't taste like one. Once again, Viv and I had a good meal at The Cannery. This is pretty much what we get each time we visit and that's what makes it a solid choice for a nice dinner. The menu hasn't changed much in the last 20 years and it really shouldn't. The Cannery has been around for a long time and it has been successful - why fix something that isn't broken?

The Good:
- Consistent food and service
- Nice view (for now, before they move)
- Cozy, quaint dining room

The Bad:
- Not much in the way of innovation with their menu
- It's nit-picking, but the bread needs to improve

The Cannery
2205 Commissioner Street
Vancouver, B.C.
604-254-9606
www.canneryseafood.com

Uncle Fatih`s Pizza

I have to give credit to Kevin, who writes 604Foodtography, for my visit to Uncle Fatih's. I never even knew the place existed, despite the fact I drive by it quite often. I guess I'm either really focused as to where I am going or I don't really pay attention to small pizza slice shops. Well, from the outside, Uncle Fatih's does seem quite unassuming. Anyways, I was off to play late night ice hockey tonight at Britannia and I thought that it wouldn't be too much of a detour to visit Uncle Fatih's. So after the game, I quickly got out of my gear and showered. I arrived at Uncle Fatih's at around 1:20am.

Luckily for me, they were just bringing out a pizza hot out of the oven. That particular pizza was the Ground Beef and Blue Cheese Pizza and it was awesome! The crust was crisp on the bottom and not oily. Yet, it was soft and fluffy underneath the cheese. I would say it's similar to the crust at Me n Ed's; but the crust is not crunchy throughout. There was only an adequate amount of cheese on the pizza. However, it really didn't need anymore since there was lots of ground beef on top. The blue cheese was applied to the pizza after it has been taken out of the oven. I would've actually liked even more blue cheese dressing on my pizza, I love blue cheese! The second slice was Mushroom and Bacon Pizza and I didn't like this one as much. It was not as flavourful and the crust was not as crispy. I think the reason for the discrepancy between the pizza slices was that the 2nd slice had been sitting around for awhile. I guess if you want a really good slice of pizza, you have to wait for a fresh one.

The 2 slices with a can of pop came out to $4 including tax, not bad for the quality of pizza. I chatted up the older gentleman behind the counter and asked him exactly how "Fatih" is pronounced. He said that it's difficult for English speakers to pronounce it because the sound comes from deep in the throat. So it's not "Fatty's", "Fatea's", or "Fateef's"; rather, it's "Faa- te" (with the "te" being real short, almost halting). Not only did I not know how to pronounce it, at first glance, I thought it was Uncle Faith's. Well, I guess I had "faith" in Uncle Fatih's pizza, because I went at 1:20am on a Thursday morning to try the pizza!

The Good:
- Crust is very light and not oily
- Decent amount of toppings
- Good value

The Bad:
- Pizzas could use a bit more cheese
- Very small shop - you pay, get pizza, leave

Uncle Fatih's Pizza
1685 East Broadway
Vancouver, B.C.
604-707-0744
www.unclefatihspizza.com

Business Hours:
10:30am - 2:30am (Mon - Thur)
10:30am - 3:00am (Fri & Sat)
10:30am - 1:00am (Sun)