Dragon Ball Tea House

Heading home from Bo Kong, I decided to take the scenic route home and drop by Dragon Ball. It's on King Edward near Oak, you won't miss the dragon sipping on bubble tea. I seem to be in the mood for bubble tea lately; mind you I've been in the mood for lots of things (gelato, Chinese pastries, izakaya's...). From my many previous visits, I do agree with most people that Dragon Ball is one of the better bubble tea joints in the GVRD. Dragon Ball has the usual choices of powdered bubble teas and fresh fruit as well. Green Leaf used to one of the few that served fresh fruit; but it seems that most places have fresh fruit now.

Although Dragon Ball is good, I'm not convinced that it is incredibly better than a lot of other bubble tea places. I think what sets Dragon Ball apart is its consistency. I've never had a bad experience with Dragon Ball. With that being said, I still think Bubble World (some people may disagree with this) is a good choice for bubble tea as well. When I get bubble tea, I usually go for my favourites: lychee slush, green apple slush (powdered), pineapple slush and strawberry slush. Today, I decided to have something a bit different. I wanted to try the fresh Bartlett pear slush. Of course, with my luck, it was unavailable. So I decided to go for fresh green apple slush. Well, I have to say it was fresh, I actually felt like I was eating an apple. It wasn't sweet, which made the slush quite refreshing. Viv thought it was bland, but I thought it was just right. Some complain that bubble teas are too sweet; however, I find that Dragon Ball is not crazy sweet. I think Dragon Ball is a solid choice when you want bubble tea. It's definitely one of the better ones in the GVRD.

The Good:
- Consistent
- Sweet, but not too sweet
- Fairly clean compared to some other joints

The Bad:
- Cramped store, you may want to just order, pay and then leave
- There is no parking in front, you'll have to park a block away sometimes (not that a block is really that far)

Dragon Ball Tea House
1007 West King Edward Avenue
Vancouver, B.C.
604-738-3198

Business Hours:
2:00pm - 12:00am (7 days a week)

Bo Kong Vegetarian

*Restaurant is now closed*

How I love the Easter long weekend. It gives me some time to relax a bit from my hectic schedule. Moreover, I get a bit more time to go find some tasty treats! It was M & M's (both of their names start with M) son's 1st birthday today and we made the trip out to Tsawwassen in the pouring rain. Why does it seem to rain every Easter long weekend? Luckily, there was a covered promenade outside of the heritage house where the party was held. The kiddies seem to have lots of fun looking for Easter eggs. We took advantage of our location to have dinner in Richmond on our way back home. Vandelay, Donna Chang, Costanza, and Elaine all joined us at Bo Kong Vegetarian Restaurant. Vegetarian?!?!? Has Sherman lost his mind again? Well, we decided to eat something a bit different this time, especially since all of us eat a lot of meat to begin with.

We arrived at Bo Kong in Richmond and got a really choice spot right in front of the restaurant without incident. You're wondering why I am mentioning this... Well, finding a parking spot anywhere in Richmond without an adventure is extremely rare. Either someone will:

a) try to steal it;
b) back up into it even if they passed it;
c) reserved it for someone with either their body or double-park their car;
d) park their car in such a crooked fashion, you can't park in the spot next to it
e) or play chicken with you for that last spot

Costanza and Elaine got a choice spot right next to me and Vandelay parked nearby without any troubles as well. Hell must be freezing over...

Anyways, we were looking over the menu and noticed a dinner for 6 which costs $89.95. We were very interested in this meal; however, none of us other than Viv knew how to read Chinese. Unfortunately, Viv couldn't decipher some of the dishes, so we actually had to get the server to explain it to us. She was very nice and took time to go over every dish and even offered to change the Chinese vegetables to broccoli. Uh... sure we're bananas (yellow on the outside and white on the inside); but we're still somewhat Chinese... We had a good laugh about that. So we actually ended up ordering the set meal and it consisted of: a Cold Appetizer Platter, "Fish" Maw Soup, Fresh Bean Curd Skin with Lemon Sauce, Fried Tofu with "Meat" Sauce, Deep Fried Tofu Rolls and Crispy Seaweed & Soft Curd Roll, Spicy Stir-Fried Green Beans, Yau Choy with Enoki Mushrooms and Assorted Vegetable and Tofu Fried Rice.

The appetizer platter consisted of mock ham, beef and goose. The ham was very close to the real thing, mind you it's more close to canned ham than anything else. The beef was not close at all, but it was still good, being a bit chewy and flavourful. The mock goose, which is essentially bean curd sheets wrapped around shiitake mushrooms, was just as good as larger Chinese restaurants. The soup was very good, it had good depth of flavour without being salty. It had lots of enoki mushrooms, mock ham and bamboo pith. The bean curd sheet in lemon sauce was a vegetarian attempt at Lemon Chicken, and it wasn't bad. The lemon sauce was a bit weak, it probably needed a bit more lemon. However, the fried bean curd had a good contrast of crispy, chewy and soft. The fried tofu with mock meat sauce was very tasty. The bits of "meat" could've passed for ground pork and the tofu was fried perfectly. It was ever-so-soft in the middle while being crispy on the outside.

The fried taro rolls were fabulous. Lightly crispy on the outside, but fluffy soft on the inside. However, the taro was a bit flavourless; mind you there was sweet and sour sauce on the table. It went quite well with the taro rolls. The seaweed curd roll was good; but I think we were suffering from bean curd fatigue by then and no one really said anything about it. I thought the sauce was quite good, it gave the bland bean curd some needed flavour. The spicy green beans were awesome, they were bursting with flavour (spicy, salty & a bit sweet) and they were not overcooked. The yau choy was not overcooked either, they were still a bit crunchy. I also really liked the generous amount of enoki on top. Lastly, the fried rice was excellent. The rice was seasoned correctly and it was dry like it's supposed to be. The addition of roasted pine nuts on top really added to the dish. It provided both aromatic flavour and texture.

Honestly, I really didn't miss the fact there was no meat in any of the dishes. When food is executed this well, you will forget that you are essentially eating a lot of vegetables and bean curd. Mind you, some of the mock meat may not be everyone's cup of tea; yet, if you take it for what it is, the food is good. I will never give up my meat; however, I don't mind the occasional vegetarian meal. The experience was enhanced by the great service we received. It was efficient, attentive and extremely friendly.

The Good:
- Creative dishes that made you forget about meat
- Good use of textures and flavour
- Really good service

The Bad:
- You really can get bean curd/tofu overload here
- Some people may not get the mock meat concept

Bo Kong Vegetarian
#80 - 8100 Ackroyd Road
Richmond, B.C.
604-278-1992

Business Hours:
11:00am - 9:00pm (Mon - Thu)
11:00am - 9:30pm (Fri - Sun)

Amato Gelato

After a very salty (msg!) and unsatisfying Dim Sum at Floata, I really needed something refreshing. The closest thing other than bubble tea was Amato Gelato (aka Mario's Gelato). I guess other than my quest for the best Chinese bakery in town, I'm also on the sub-quest for the best Gelato in town as well. Mario's is quite popular in the GVRD as it supplies many restaurants with their specialty desserts and gelato. However, does popularity and name recognition translate into good gelato and sorbetto? Well, I've had Mario's many times in the past and it's always been pretty consistent. I visit Amato Gelato today to compare with my past visits to Vivo and La Casa. Of course there are many more to visit (or revisit) before I can make a fair judgment.

I'm actually pretty glad I went early in the afternoon to Amato Gelato. There was nobody around (partly because it was cold too) and I could take my sweet time looking over the flavours. I finally decided on one scoop of sorbetto and one scoop of gelato. Just in case you don't know, sorbetto contains no milk products and gelato is made from milk, not cream. I choose the Blood Orange sorbetto and the Aloha gelato (pineapple and coconut). Two scoops cost me $6. In comparison, it's only $4.50 for a large cup at Vivo. I really liked the blood orange sobetto, the flavour was perfectly balanced. It was a bit tart; but it was tempered by the right amount of sugar. It was really refreshing and I really could eat much more of it. Although the pineapple coconut gelato had good flavour, the texture was ruined by too many large bits of coconut. I know this might be a personal taste thing; however, I really don't like really large chunks of anything in my ice cream or gelato. To me, it is hard to enjoy the smoothness of the gelato that way.

Now, talking about smoothness, the gelato and sorbetto were both not very smooth, in comparison to Vivo, La Casa or Mondo. In fact, I found the sorbetto and gelato quite icy. Yet, the flavours at Amato are better than La Casa. I think Mondo and Vivo have a good balance between flavour and texture. I think Amato is actually an okay place to get gelato; however, with the prices they charge, there are better choices.

The Good:
- Flavours are well balanced
- A good selection of products

The Bad:
- Texture is not as good as some others
- A bit pricey

Amato Gelato
78 East 1st Avenue
Vancouver, B.C.
604-879-9011

Maxim`s Bakery

With pure randomness, I think I'm now on a mission to find the best Chinese bakery in the GVRD. It all started with an impromptu stop at Pine House two weeks ago. Unsatisfied with the buns and pastries from Pine House, I decided to visit New Town Bakery last week. So far, New Town has been the best. Up this week is Maxim's Bakery. Maxim's has been around for quite a long time and they have subsequently expanded into several locations in the GVRD. In fact, you can add The Boss Bakery as one of their locations too since it is owned by the same company.

For many years now, I've mainly gotten my Chinese buns and pastries from Maxim's (the Metrotown location). Not because they are necessarily the best; rather, they are the closest to where I live. I think Maxim's is pretty decent in terms of appearance and taste; however, everything seems to be shrinking in size. I'm either imagining things or they are indeed getting smaller.

Since I was in Chinatown, I decided to pick up some bakery items from the original Maxim's location on Keefer. It was quite busy and I really couldn't stand that there was no ticket system there. Essentially, it's whoever is more pushy will be the next up in the queue. The other Maxim locations have a number system; however, the Chinatown location still hasn't caught up with the times. I guess they want to retain the Chinatown feel to it, where everything is about yelling, pushing, spitting (well, not in the store at least) and fighting for things. Well, I put on my Chinatown game face and was able to barge by a few people.

I got my usual 16 pieces of buns and pastries which included: Pineapple BBQ Pork Bun, Curry Beef Bun, Curry Puff Pastry, Egg Tart and Chicken Pie. I have to say that I totally agree with Kim Ho, who writes I'm Only Here for the Food. There seems to be less and less filling in Maxim buns. Compared to New Town, it's less than half the filling for an equivalent-sized bun. Appearance and taste-wise, the stuff at Maxim's is acceptable. However, if you don't have enough filling, it's like a burger with a tiny patty. Moreover, the filling is a bit weak in flavour. The filling at New Town is much more flavourful and savory. Other than being skimpy on the filling, the Pineapple BBQ Pork bun is quite good. There is a nice crumbly top and the bun itself is not too dense. The egg tart tastes pretty good, but the crust is far from flaky. At least there is more egg than crust.

For me, Maxim's will never be proclaimed as the best Chinese bakery in town. However, it is more than respectable if you want to get some buns and pastries. Moreover, their fresh cream cakes are pretty good value. They are not as good as Amy's or Anna's, but they are less expensive. I would put Maxim's in the middle somewhere; along with Pine House, but definitely better than T & T.

The Good:
- Looks the part, mostly tastes the part
- Reasonable prices
- Consistent

The Bad:
- Filling is skimpy and is a bit bland
- Buns are a bit small

Maxim's
257 Keefer Street
Vancouver, B.C.
604-687-0949

Business Hours:
8:00am - 7:00pm (7 days a week)

Dim Sum @ Floata

Why oh why do I punish myself over and over again??? I always say to myself I'll never eat at Floata again. I guess it was convenient for us today. We had just visited the Aquarium early in the morning and it was raining. In addition to the validated covered parking, Dim Sum was only $2.75 per dish if you order before 11:00am. Some of you might wonder why I never mention Floata in the same breath as Sun Sui Wah, Red Star, Victoria, Kirin, Spicy Court, Fortune House, Fisherman's Terrace, Sea Harbour and Imperial. There is a simple reason for this... Floata is a wannabe upscale Chinese restaurant. It looks the part, with its massive 100 table dining room and well dressed staff. However, the food and the service are absolutely sub-par for an upscale Chinese restaurant.

Time and time again, I'm always frustrated at the service, or lack of, at Floata. I can remember one time we had ordered a rice and we had waited 45 minutes for it. We complained to a manager and he mouths off to another manager that we were complaining about our rice. Uh... we're right here! We can HEAR you! What the #$(#(#$&??? Every time I keep thinking that it's an isolated incident. But, it's much of the same every time.

Anyways, today we met up with my father-in-law for Dim Sum and I feverishly ordered everything to take advantage of the $2.75 price (I arrived at 10:30am). We ordered the following: Beef Rice Roll, Beef Tripe, Black Bean Spareribs, Chicken Feet, Preserved Egg & Salted Pork Congee, Shrimp Dumpling, Sui Mai, Shrimp Spring Rolls and Chicken Rice. The rice roll was not that great. The noodle was a bit stiff and the filling was just as hard. Not the fluffy soft rice roll that other places serve. The tripe was downright terrible. My father-in-law hated it and he used to run a large Chinese restaurant in town before. So his opinion is backed by knowledge and experience. The tripe was terribly overcooked, it was mushy and practically had no texture left. The sauce was both too salty and too sweet at the same time. Mercifully, the spareribs were pretty good. They were meaty and had lots of flavour.

Unfortunately, the chicken feet were not good. They were overcooked, with the skin separating from the bone. It was also too salty. The congee was alright, but there was nothing in it! Yes, we did order the preserved egg and salted pork congee, but it looked more like plain congee with some fried donut on top. Okay, here's the litmus test, the Haw Gow or shrimp dumpling. If a restaurant messes up this dish, they'd better just give up altogether. Well, the haw gow wasn't bad; yet it wasn't good either. The skin was too thick and the shrimp was in too many small pieces. I know our Dim Sum was at a discounted rate; however, when you only give us 3 instead of 4, doesn't that defeat the purpose of a discount? It's like saying you get 25% off these set of tires. But you will only get 3 for that price. Thank goodness the Sui Mai was good. It was full of whole shrimp mixed with tender pork. But again, it was salty. The shrimp spring rolls were okay as well. They were crunchy, but there was not a whole lot of shrimp in them. Moreover, it was quite oily inside, despite not being oily on the outside. What I said about the haw gow applies to the chicken rice as well. We actually ordered ours after the 11:00am cutoff, so we got the "bigger" size. Again, what's the point of a discount when you get less? I can't seem to figure that out. Well, the "bigger" rice was definitely not better! The rice was very mushy, something in between how rice should be and congee. It was perfect for a baby; but I'm not a baby (well, Viv thinks otherwise...). At least there were big pieces of tender chicken.

So the food is mediocre, you would think the service would make up for it. Wrong, as I mentioned before, the service is not even close to being where it should be. Today, it was actually quite pleasant, we didn't get ridiculed, yelled at or given dirty looks. However, it is very hard to flag someone down. Everyone seems to be busy doing something other than helping you. Our empty Dim Sum steamers were stacked on the table and they remained there even as we left. I've had dinner here many times in the past and it's nothing special. Service is actually a bit better during dinner because you'll probably be one of the few tables that are there. One thing that lingered after we left wasn't the disappointment; rather it was the fact we were very thirsty. The Dim Sum was just too salty (MSG anyone?). At least that provided me with an excuse to get a refreshment (you can read about it later).

The Good:
- Validated covered parking
- Lots of tables (100), good for big parties or banquets
- Good selection of Dim Sum

The Bad:
- Food is mediocre
- Service is lacking
- Restaurant needs a cleaning

Floata Seafood Restaurant
#400 - 180 Keefer Street
Vancouver, B.C.
604-602-0368
www.floata.com

Business Hours:
7:30am - 10:00pm (7 days a week)

Cafe Gloucester

Having driven by Kintaro Ramen and witnessing the really long lineup, we tried to decide on an alternate place to eat. One place that came to mind was Cafe Gloucester, which is a Hong Kong-style cafe on Cambie near 18th. This place has been here for quite awhile and had closed briefly in 2007 because of the dreaded Canada-Line construction of the Skytrain. It's now apparently under new management and I wanted to check it out (I actually visited it last year, but I wasn't blogging yet). For those who are not familiar with Hong Kong-style cafes, it's basically a restaurant (western-like decor), that serves up Hong Kong versions of other ethnic foods. However, they do still serve up stir-fried Chinese noodles and rice dishes. I've been to Cafe Gloucester many times in the past and I do consider it one of the better Hong Kong-style cafes. It's in a nice location (lack of parking withstanding), the food is consistent, service is decent and it's clean/modern.

Upon our arrival, there was only a short wait for our table. However, I must give credit to the hostess, because some waitress was going to give our table up to a group that had arrived after us. The hostess immediately stopped the waitress and pointed out that we were first. That is refreshing, a Chinese restaurant that not only keeps to the list; but also is not afraid to correct a mistake.

The menu at Cafe Gloucester is a bit classier than other Hong Kong-style cafes in the GVRD. They even have a prime rib carving station at the front of the restaurant. However... the person carving the prime rib was butchering the poor thing. Looking over the menu, I chose the set meal, as I always do. Even though the set meals at these places are usually well over $10 (except for Alleluia), you do get good value. Similar to most other places, the set meals at Cafe Gloucester include soup (Russian borscht, cream soup, fish chowder or clam chowder), bread, 2 or 3 meats, one carb (rice, spaghetti, mashed potatoes, fries or baked potato), vegetables, sauce (black peppercorn, garlic, demi-glace, onion, mushroom or curry), coffee/tea and dessert. There is no one set price here at Cafe Gloucester; rather, it depends on which combination of meats you choose. I chose S7, which included Ox Tongue (yes, my favourite, you can never get enough tongue!), Rib Eye Steak and Fried Pork Chop. This particular combination cost $15.88. Viv wasn't that hungry so she was going to eat whatever else we ordered. Since my son likes noodles, we got the BBQ Duck Lai Fun. I got one more dish for good measure and decided on the Salted Fish and Chicken Fried Rice.

I chose the "Russian Borscht" for my soup and it was balanced; being tart but not too tart. I put Russian Borscht in quotations because an authentic borscht would be more red because of the beet content. This one had beets, but just like other Hong Kong-style borschts, it's closer to vegetable soup. My meal came on a sizzling hot plate and it kept everything hot, including the lemon wedge that I picked up without thinking... HOT! The tongue was tender and seared perfectly. The pork chop was very crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. I still laugh at the mayo that's served with any fried items in a Hong Kong-style cafe. But I guess Viv ended up doing the laughing... I used it for my pork chop. The rib eye steak was quite large; but was cooked all the way through. I did find it odd that the waitress never asked me how I wanted my steak done. However, the steak still retained its meatiness since they did not marinate it in baking soda. I liked the peppercorn sauce that came with my meal, it was loaded with peppercorns and was very flavourful.

The BBQ Duck Lai Fun was actually pretty good, considering the fact we were not at a noodle joint. The soup was light, the noodles were not overcooked (still had elasticity) and they gave us the duck leg (it was tender and not too salty). The fried rice was not bad, the rice was dry (which is good) and there was plenty of salted fish flavour. However, I wish they would put some lettuce in it, the rice was very plain without it. I prefer the one from The Boss. Lastly, my dessert was a piece of coffee pudding. Don't judge it by how it looks because it was quite good. Velvety texture and lots of real coffee taste. Although the service was hurried, it was always polite and attentive. So there it is, Cafe Gloucester is still a good place to get your Hong Kong Cafe fix, even after the whole Canada-Line mess.

The Good:
- Clean, modern dining room
- Food is consistent
- Service is good

The Bad:
- A bit pricier than other Hong Kong-style cafes
- Parking is hard to find
- Seating can be a bit tight

Cafe Gloucester
3338 Cambie Street
Vancouver, B.C.
604-873-3338