Hot Pot @ Victoria Chinese Restaurant

*No longer available*

Boy, I used to frequent Victoria Chinese Restaurant quite often before my food blogging. It happens to be my parents' favourite Dim Sum spot. I guess it's difficult to be a regular customer when I'm busy running around trying new places. Generally, Victoria is known for it's Dim Sum and wedding banquets. But little do people know, they also have all-you-can-eat hot pot. I've had it a few times and I find it a fabulous value since it's only $19.99. Tonight, we were invited (including my mom and dad) to a hot pot meal courtesy of the manager. I guess being a faithful customer all these years has it's benefits. Of course, we made it clear that I could say whatever I wanted in my post about the hot pot. Viv didn't join us for the hot pot as she was eating out with some friends at Red Fort (formerly Rubina). As a side note, she and her friends were bitterly disappointed when they refused to accept more than one Entertainment coupon even though they had a party of 4. I find this act despicable since that is essentially a bait and switch. I mention this to warn others of their unethical business practices. I digress.

Anyways, back to the hot pot. Similar to any other hot pot, you have to pay for the soup base. I know this sounds like an added cost on top of what you are already paying; but it just seems like an accepted practice. Personally, I'd prefer all hot pot places to just factor in the cost of the broth into the final price. We ended up getting the clear soup base and the spicy soup base. Unlike proper hot pot restaurants, there is no ventilation devices installed. Luckily, they have a very high ceiling (at least half of the restaurant) and the evaporated water has somewhere to go. Otherwise, the place might get quite hot. In terms of selection, there is an impressive checklist.

We started with a plate of Fish Tofu, Fish Meatballs, Beef Tripe, Pig Stomach and Fatty Beef. Don't be fooled by the name, the fish tofu is made of fish and starch containing no real tofu. Despite this, I really like it since it's quite soft and butteryish (not a real word, I know...). Both the tripe and stomach were in a shade of gray which didn't look at all appetizing. They were precooked since you can't soften tripe up in that short of a time. I think they should have eased up on the precooking a tad, there was no texture left in them. The star of the plate was the fatty beef. With a quick dip into the hot broth (once it changes colour, it's done, don't leave it in too long!), it yielded buttery soft meat. The fish balls were fish balls, nothing more to say about them.

The next dish consisted of Greenshell Mussels, Bible Tripe and Fish Slices (Basa?). Nothing much to say about the mussels since they come precooked. The tripe was good. It was properly washed (lots of cold water rinsing), so that there was no gamy taste. The fish slices were not fishy and stayed in one piece when cooked. Continuing with the precooked theme, the shrimp were not raw. They had already been blanched. Again, we can only guess that the reasoning behind this is to prevent spoilage or there was no fresh shrimp available. The final product was still sweet and had a chewy texture, so not a big deal I guess. The plate of pork cheeks confused me at first because it was pale and not pink like it's supposed to look. Again, the colour was probably the result of a baking soda marinade. No matter, I actually enjoyed the slightly crunchy texture once cooked.

With Enoki and Shiitake Mushrooms with a side of Fried Wheat Gluten, we finally got a meatless dish. Mushrooms were fresh and devoid of dirt (hey, some places have really dirty mushrooms!). I love gluten, there is something about that chewy texture. Thus, I practically ate all of it. Not the healthiest thing; but I seemingly can't get enough of it. I used to buy the assorted gluten from Bodai and ate it all by myself! Alright, the last dish consisted of various items such as Pork Blood, Silk Tofu, Winter Melon and regular tofu. I know, the pork blood thing scares some people. Well, I happen to like it and I suppose if you never grew up on the stuff, it can gross you out just by looking at it. Nothing much to say about this plate really other than it did the job.

We also had the Wakame Seaweed, Udon, Vermicelli, Chrysanthemum Greens and Watercress. The greens were fresh; but I wasn't a big fan of the seaweed. Personal choice really, didn't seem to go well with the hot pot thing. What we ordered was only a small sampling of the items available. For $19.99 and AYCE, it's a great value, especially considering the venue and location. Realistically, there are better hot pot restaurants around. Considering that Victoria is not an actual hot pot restaurant, they do a pretty good job in offering a good selection of items for a reasonable price.

*Note: This was an invited dinner where all food was comped*

The Good:
- Reasonably priced, taking account of the location, level of service and food quality
- Free dessert
- Validated parking

The Bad:
- It's not a true hot pot restaurant, thus some condiments and items are not available
- Without built-in burners, the temperature goes down as the gas canister empties

Tangthai

*Restaurant is now closed*

"Free Food". That usually gets the attention of most people, especially foodies. Of course, not everyone is game for a comped meal. It may lead to biases or a lack of objectivity since we really did not pay for our food. Obviously, that can be true in some cases. Personally, I've been a bit selective when deciding whether to accept an invite or not. It gets me a bit nervous when a marginally-rated restaurant wants me to try their food and then blog about it. Not that it should matter; but we're only human and one would fell a bit uneasy about blasting a place that just paid for your meal. Ben (Chowtimes) was gracious enough to extend an invitation from Tangthai for a tasting. Joining us were Jenny (My Secret Eden), Kevin (604 Foodtography) and Mijune (Follow Me Foodie).

In all honesty, when I spotted the ratings of Tangthai's Broadway location on Urbanspoon, I was not feeling all that confident about the impending meal. Yet, we were assured that there was no obligation to say nice things. With that in mind, I was just about to leave work from North Delta when Toolman emailed me the bad news... The Alex Fraser Bridge was closed due to an accident. Great. I needed to make it to Downtown in 1 hour and my only hope was either the Massey Tunnel or the Patullo. In a split second decision, I opted for the Patullo even though it would mean backtracking quite a distance. Turns out I was very lucky since the tunnel was backed up quite badly. Good for me, bad for Mijune. She was stuck in the lineup entering the tunnel for a good 30 minutes. This ultimately led to Ben being late as well. We were supposed to start at 5:30; but it was more like 6:30 before we started eating.

We began with the Prawn Skirt which is essentially a spring roll with a whole prawn stuffed inside with pork, crab meat and water chestnut. Not sure if the crab was necessary since it was completely lost, especially since the whole thing was quite peppery. Despite the absence of crab flavour, I did like the spring roll since it was very crispy, not oily and flavourful on its own. Up next were Satay Chicken and Beef. The beef was predictably tougher than the chicken. If you look at the picture, there is an obvious tinge of turmeric on the chicken satay. I know it is an integral part of the satay marinade in addition to ginger, garlic, cumin and coriander; but somehow there was too much of a "curry" taste. However, that wasn't the main issue. The peanut dipping sauce was quite strange. Rather than the usual chunky sweet peanut sauce we were used to, it was more like peanut butter.

We were then served Tom Kha Kai which is a spicy chicken coconut soup. It was indeed a bit spicy with a refreshingly light coconut aroma. Taking a few more sips, there was a discernible flavours such as lemongrass, fish sauce and ginger (which turns out to be galangal). I thought the soup had good balance. Presented beautifully with a hand-carved daikon bird, the Pla Rad Prik (fried whole tilapia) looked impressive; yet I thought the fish was overcooked with the meat being completely dry. Now, I realize this is the way it's supposed to be since some of the bony parts were crispy enough to eat. I guess it is something personally I didn't like. However, I didn't mind the sauce, it was sweet, sour, tart and peppery all at the same time. It went well with the rice.

The next dish, Pla Muk Pad Prik, was a quite interesting. It's essentially a green curry with vermicelli and chicken stuffed squid. Complementing the squid were Kadota figs (we originally couldn't figure out what these were), galangal (thought it was ginger at first) and tiny bitter figs which we thought were peas at first. I'm still not sure if those are figs to tell you the truth. Figs aside, the squid was tender and the green curry was quite spicy with fresh Thai basil and kaffir lime leaves. The next dish was described to me as lemongrass beef or Nua Pad Takhai. Honestly, I didn't taste much in the way of lemongrass here since my mouth was too busy with the flavours from the other dishes. The beef was decently tender and the sauce exhibited a spicy, sweet quality. It was pretty good, I probably wouldn't have ordered it myself though.

Next up was a dish that didn't exist on the menu. I guess it's probably a daily featured dish. Consisting of fried Basa on top of a bed of breaded eggplant, it appeared to be topped with a Massaman curry. I thought the eggplant stole the show. It was perfectly fried being wonderfully crispy while maintaining its integrity. The curry was slightly spicy and sweet. If we didn't have enough food already, the Roast Chicken arrived. On its own, the chicken was nothing really much to look at. In fact, I thought it was a quite dry and overcooked. However, the main event for this dish were the 2 sides of dipping sauce. We tasted the sauce over and over again to get a read on it. After much tasting, we figured it consisted mainly of lime juice, cilantro, chilies, fish sauce, and sugar.

Hey, what's Thai food without Pad Thai? Therefore, it was a given that it would show up eventually. Ben remarked that his Thai friend tried it and hated it. Well, I'm not Thai; but I didn't care for it very much either. I personally thought it lacked enough tamarind for that zing we all look for in Pad Thai. Furthermore, I would've also liked more spice. The lime seemed to help a bit; but there was no saving this bland version. On a positive note, I did like the texture of the noodles, they were slightly chewy. The last hot dish of the meal was something I also wouldn't personally order. The Cashew Chicken was mostly sweet with little in the way of spice. There was nothing inherently wrong with this dish. After all, the veggies were still crisp and there was indeed flavour, albeit mild. But for me, it's something you'd find at a food fair, not a dish that stands out.

As for dessert, we got Tea Pudding and Sweet Tapioca Soup. The pudding was not very sweet; rather being quite aromatic. I found that the flavours developed in stages. At first, it was slightly sweet, then as it melted in my mouth, the tea flavour kicked in. I realize that there should be some salt in the tapioca dessert; but for some reason, it was noticeably salty. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be the case. If it is, someone please correct me. Due to the high salt content, it masked the coconut milk and negated the sweetness; rather than heightening it. Honestly, I thought the food at Tangthai was better than I expected it to be. It was indeed authentic; but I found some of the flavours quite mild. I do realize not everything has to be spicy and they are trying to appeal to a wide range of diners. I would say it is authentic and decent enough for you to check it out since it's certainly better than some other "Thai" restaurants out there.

The Good:
- It's authentic (owner and staff are all Thai)
- Reasonable prices for what you get
- It's clean

The Bad:
- Flavours could've been even bolder (I guess you could easily ask for this)
- Desserts are a bit weak

Triple Coconut Tree

Boxing day - the ultimate homage to consumerism at its very best and worst. Regular, calm, polite human beings morphing into hungry, ravenous shoppers early in the morning just to score a deal. They fight for parking spots. Fight for their space in a lineup. Fight to be the first to get into the store. Fight to get to the sale items first. They even fight to lineup again to pay. Hey, it's a normal day in Richmond; but on boxing day, it's everywhere. For me, the only fighting I was planning to do was to click with my mouse for the online sales. I succeeded in purchasing everything I wanted at NCIX, Futureshop and Bestbuy. For once the websites for FS/BB did not crash and the ordeal was little more than 15 minutes. NCIX was another story... I stuck with it and eventually got what I wanted. However, there was one thing I could not get online and needed to get on boxing day itself. The item? A Canon Speedlite 430EX II with diffuser. A what??? It's an external flash for my DSLR so that my nighttime pics will finally look half-decent, such as Kim and Wilson. Well, at least closer... They're still better!

There was one problem, I had to take my daughter with me since Viv was heading out to shop as well with our son. Off I went to Broadway Camera fairly early in the morning. Getting the flash was one thing, lining up to pay was another. It took 45 minutes to checkout! I was originally going to eat at Sha Lin since it was nearby; but it wasn't open so early. Thus, we headed back and met up with Viv. Remembering Kim's post on Triple Coconut Tree, I decided to give it a try. Well, that and my son usually eats Pho too... I've been to this location before; but back then it was a Chinese restaurant.

We started with the Spring Rolls, which incidentally are the real deal. However, I thought they were a bit too greasy for my liking. They were crispy though. We also got a House Banh Mi and it was a bit disappointing. If you look at the picture, you'd find more meat on Kate Moss than this sandwich. The bread itself was a bit crispy and a tad chewy. I did like the carrots though, they were crunchy and tart. Trying to sample something different, I gave the Spicy Pho a go. Honestly, it really wasn't all that spicy; but I do like my food on the spicier side. To me, it was a regular bowl of pho with some a spicy oil slick on top. On a positive note, there was plenty of meat and I did like the noodles as they were al dente.

Viv had a regular bowl of pho and curiously, the soup wasn't all that hot. Furthermore, we didn't find the broth particularly flavourful. There was not much meat taste or spices you'd normally pick out such as onion, star anise or ginger. For those who like a light broth, this one would suit you fine. The food wasn't bad; yet it was missing something. With so many pho places around, the food has to be above average to stand out. For us, this one didn't.

The Good:
- Very friendly staff
- Good amount of meat and noodles

The Bad:
- Soup wasn't exactly hot
- Regular broth was a bit too light

Steveston Pizza

You'd think with all the pizza joints that the GVRD has to offer, it'd be easy to find a great thin crust. Well, Kim, Anita and I had to travel all the way out to Ah Beetz in Abbotsford for some NY-style pizza. Of course that is an extreme case. There is Nat's, Brick Oven and Lombardo's to name a few. But one of the very best lies way out in Steveston. Of course for people who live in Richmond, that isn't really all that far away. But for me, it ain't close. Furthermore, they only open from 4:00pm. I can't stop by on the way home to grab one. Thus, this would be one of the places I'd make an effort to try, much like Ah Beetz. I originally promised Kim that I'd go with him to try it. But, Pomegranate and I just finished up an extremely late lunch at Kisamos which happens to be 2 stores down from Steveston Pizza.

Like I needed any more guilt, Kim coincidentally calls me just as I was going to leave Kisamos. I promised some pizza as a gesture for my greedy-eating. To make things worse, he was bringing back some goodies from his little trip to Seattle. Talk about guilt... I'll need to buy him a whole pizza from Steveston next time to make it up to him! So I basically waddled my way over to Steveston Pizza because I was so full from eating an entire roast lamb dinner. I'm glad my hockey game did not start until 5 hours later! With so many choices, it was quite difficult to choose one pizza. I decided that I needed to try something different from the usual meat pizzas, even though the staff told me it was their biggest seller. Ultimately, I chose the French pizza since it's not something you'd find at most pizza joints.

It consisted of chicken breast, mushroom, white onions, asparagus and single cream brie drizzled with a light pesto. Not wanting to wait until I got home, I immediately opened up the box and took a bite. Steaming hot with a remarkably light crust, the pizza was flavourfully mild (if that can exist). What I meant was that every flavour component did not overwhelm each other. It was creamy, subtle and exhibited various tastes much like French food! Personally, I would've preferred if they had added the basil after baking. Other than that, it was a fantastic pizza which you will never find from a chain pizza operation.

The Good:
- Plenty of interesting pizzas
- Nice thin crust which is still a bit soft, not crunchy
- Fresh ingredients

The Bad:
- Isolated location for most people
- Limited operating hours

Kisamos

Sometimes I really wonder if top 10 lists are of any use. After all, it is only a general statement of what we perceive as good. I've been struggling with trying to put together a top 10 list of my favourite restaurants to no avail. I'm still not sure if I will do one. For now, I am sometimes in utter confusion why some restaurants make it on the top 100 list on Urbanspoon. I'm sure there is a method to the madness and everyone has personal favourites; but I leave scratching my head after visiting some of the restaurants on that list. Today, Pomegranate and I were in Ladner for a meeting. With it's relative close proximity to Steveston, I decided to satisfy a long-standing goal of mine to try Kisamos Greek Taverna. I was curious to see why this small little restaurant could hold down such a good rating.

We made it out to Steveston rather late in the afternoon and I wasn't even sure if it would be considered lunch anymore. I wonder what we would call a late lunch/early dinner? Dunch? Linner? Lupper? Sunch? Dunno... Unlike other reviews I've read, I did not find the service rude or poor. We were greeted warmly by the server and she was quite pleasant throughout our meal. Being that Pomegranate loves Calamari, we got an order to start along with the Humus with pita bread. Arriving as a pretty large portion, the calamari was a bit odd. Some pieces were tender while others were quite chewy. Naturally, the bigger pieces were not as crispy as the smaller ones. This variation within the same dish made it strange to eat. This I realize is a personal preference; but we both agreed that it was a bit too chewy for our liking. We also felt the Tzatziki could've been more aggressively seasoned with more lemon and garlic. The humus was pretty good; however, it had a bit more tahini than we are used to. Thus, it was heavier on the sesame taste. I took the lemon from the calamari and squeezed it into the humus and that made it much better.

Being quite ambitious, I went for my personal favourite - the Roast Lamb. For some reason or another, the large portion of lamb was smothered in a fairly salty and greasy sauce. I don't remember the last time that my roast lamb came swimming in sauce. The lamb itself was fork tender and quite gamy (just how I like it). I suspect the sauce is actually the leftover liquid from the roasting; hence the greasiness and heightened lamb flavour. I really liked the rice as it was firm and modestly seasoned. The lemon potato was only passable. Texturally, it was excellent; but it could've stood for more flavour. Curiously, our very fresh Greek salad was completely flavourless. It also seemed like there was no dressing on it. Pomegranate had the Lamb Souvlaki and I thought it was cooked up nicely. A tad chewy, it was flavourful with strong hits of garlic and lemon. He felt it could've been a bit more tender. Again, this is probably just a matter of personal taste. On that note, we both agreed that the meal was alright; but quite uneven. To me at least, the food seemed more "home-style" with a little less refinement than other Greek restaurants I've been to. That could be the draw for some people since it would be quite authentic. Again, I didn't dislike the meal, I guess it just didn't live up to the hype or expectations due to its lofty ranking.

The Good:
- Good portions
- Quaint location
- Friendly service (my experience at least)

The Bad:
- Food wasn't bad per se; but wasn't great either

Wah Lun

Usually, there is not much choice for eats when it comes to Christmas day. There are the occasional fast food joints and possibly a supermarket open. Leave it up to the Chinese restaurants, which are open practically every holiday, to save the day. This morning, the whole family including the folks made it over to the old Harbour Pacific, now remodeled and renamed Wah Lun. It's under new ownership and they did what the previous owners couldn't do - remove all the remnants of the old Dragon Inn. With a fresh new interior, staff, menu and washrooms, I was anxious to see if we finally have a decent Chinese restaurant in the
neighbourhood. Of course the place was the usual "lineup at a Chinese restaurant for Dim Sum". I hate these lineups with a passion. But we had a "reservation" for 11:30am and that only resulted us in waiting for a table when we got there. Reservations at a Chinese restaurant are not really reservations. The table we ended up with was very cramped and against a wall. Oh well, better than no table right?

We got down to ordering on the little checklist and had to hunt someone down to enter it into the computer. We waited... and witnessed everyone around us get their food. Feeling a bit suspicious we hunted down a manager and asked if our order was entered in or not. Guess what? They didn't. It was just sitting there. Lovely. So we waited for 30 minutes for nothing. I know they're busy, but WTH? We did get an apology; but in Chinese restaurant tradition, nothing else. To add insult to injury, they charged the kiddies for tea, even though they don't drink it. At the very least, they took it off the bill when we complained about it. Starving and a bit peeved, we finally got our first dish - Pea Shoots with bean curd stick and ginko nuts. Completely cooked while still being a bit crisp, this dish was a winner. More often than not, this dish is overcooked; but not in this case. The pea shoots still exhibited a nice "bite" while being completely cooked. The dish was very light tasting to the point of bland; yet, no worries here. This is the exact flavour profile we are looking for due to the broth.

Next up were the Beef Meatballs, which were quite large. Okay, let the jokes begin... There was a proper amount of minced water-chestnut and green onion to provide flavour and texture without overwhelming the beef. A little heavy on the baking soda, these meatballs were very soft with little-to-no meat texture left. I guess it's personal taste; but I like them with a little chewiness. On that note, the spareribs in the Sparerib and Chicken Feet Rice were a bit too soft as well, bordering on mushy. Probably suffering from too much baking soda as well. A bit bland, I would've liked a bit more salt and garlic flavour. Otherwise, the rice was pretty good by being firm holding up to the moisture from the ribs and chicken feet. The most important dish when it comes to Dim Sum is the Steamed Shrimp Dumplings. These were stuffed with plenty of cold-water shrimp which were sweet with a slight hint of sesame oil. It's really a pity that the dumpling wrapper was mushy and stuck to the bamboo steamer. These were probably over-steamed, also causing the dumpling skin to expand becoming a bit thick.

The other go-to dish for Dim Sum is the Sui Mai or Pork & Shrimp Dumplings. Consisting of mostly pork, these were not visually appealing. However, they were better than they looked. The pork was slightly chewy (not over-processed) while seasoned moderately being a bit sweet rather than salty. As you can see in the picture, they were quite large too. Predictably, we got one each of the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll and Beef Rice Noodle Roll. Dim Sum doesn't seem like Dim Sum without it. Besides, this is one of the few things that my son will eat. They were soft while not being mushy. However, both noodle rolls could've stood for a tad more filling.

Deviating for the usual, we got the Shredded Chicken and Jellyfish. Despite what looks like a flavourful dish, it was incredibly bland. If it weren't for the pickled greens, there would be
little else than the aroma of sesame oil. This was crying out for salt or soy sauce. Texturally, it was pretty good with crunchy jellyfish, crisp pickled veggies and slightly chewy chicken. For the kiddies, we got the Seafood Congee. Well, at least for my daughter, she eats the seafood. The congee broth itself was a tad thin, you wouldn't confuse it with Congee Noodle King or Congee Noodle House. But it was a decent effort (considering this is not their specialty) and it was not salty while still exhibiting flavour. There was plenty of big pieces of shrimp, scallops and fish hidden in the broth. All were cooked correctly and did not taste fishy.

We ended up with 3 more dishes: Shrimp Spring Rolls, BBQ Pork Bun and Egg Tarts. Packed with plenty of garlicky shrimp, the spring rolls would've been a winner if it wasn't soaked with oil. If you look in the picture, you can see it just below the crispy first layer. The BBQ pork bun was good with a nice fluffy exterior while having a sweet and savory filling that was not too fatty. The egg tarts did not look that good, especially with the really large shell and smallish looking custard centre. I would say they were only passable since the filling was a bit on the stiffer side. It should be soft and melt-in-your-mouth and the thick shell was not appealing either. Overall, we thought the food was decent for the price. We liked the renovations, the place is no longer a dump. However, they really need to work on the service. Hurried, indifferent and lacking any emotion, this is one way to alienate customers fast. An ominous sign was that I recognized one of the former managers at Yan's Garden. I'm not sure if he has changed places of employment or this is run by the same people. Whatever the case, I hope the service doesn't go down the same road.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Food is generally decent
- The place is no longer a dump

The Bad:
- They tried to maximize the small space with tables everywhere
- Service needs a bit of work