Fatty Cow Hot Pot (ChineseBites Dinner)

Fresh from our first ChineseBites dinner at Golden Swan, we headed to our 2nd destination which coincidentally is located only a block away. Generally, hot pot and Summer go together like a no-way stop and Richmond. However, with A/C and a group of fellow bloggers (Kevin, Rick, Alvin, Romina and Janice), we were committed to having a good time. The fact that it was comped would be another reason to not complain. As per usual, I won't comment on the service because it would naturally good (duh...). Now one thing I do know is, from my previous visit to Fatty Cow (which was on my own dime), the service was above average for a Chinese restaurant.

For a hot pot joint, Fatty Cow is clean, modern and fully equipped. That means the restaurant is designed for hot pot with induction burners built into the tables with exhaust fans above. In addition to hot pot, they have a regular menu as well as late night until 1:00am. For our dinner tonight, it was strictly AYCE hot pot with a few "extras". We decided to go with 2 different broths consisting of Peanut and Spicy Szechuan. For me personally, it was the spicy broth all the way where I really didn't even need to use any of the dipping sauces including the sweet & spicy soy which was laced with a pile of cilantro. The stuff came fast and furious starting with the meats consisting of Fatty Beef, Pork Belly, Pork Cheek and Rib-Eye. All were sliced thin and were not frozen. They were fresh in both colour, texture and taste. I particularly liked the pork cheek as it has a touch of chewiness.

Being a "premium" hot pot joint, all their Meatballs are made in house. As a result, the meatballs are never frozen and obviously had a fresher taste and texture. However, overcooking them would essentially negate the freshness - better keep an eye on those balls! The Wontons and Sui Gau were also made in-house, but they were served frozen. This way, they did not stick together or become a complete mush while sitting on the plate waiting to be cooked. These were pretty good with a flavourful and meaty filling which was not-gritty. Something that was not really our favourite was the Frozen Cubed Beef. It was super chewy, even when barely cooked. Now hot pot would not be complete without some offal right? At least for me! I gleefully checked off Omasan (bible tripe), Pig's Blood, Pig Intestine, Pig Stomach and Chicken Hearts. All were pretty much as I expected. I think I ended up eating most of it... On the same plate as the chicken hearts was Marinated Sliced Beef and Basa Slices. The beef was tender while the fish was flaky.

We also got a variety of seafood including previously frozen White Shrimp. These are pretty common at AYCE hot pot restaurants. They were fine for what they were. If cooked properly (just barely done), the meat would have a good snap while being sweet. Cook too long and the meat gets all chewy. Much like my last visit, the fresh Oysters were absolutely humungous. Even after cooking, they were still a chore to eat. The Salmon Trimmings were also fresh. Although these were boney and required some effort to eat, these are the best parts of a fish. The meat is generally fattier and remain moist even through overcooking. The Kiwi Mussels were the standard pre-cooked frozen variety.

As a bonus, since we were invited to this meal, we were presented with some pretty large Steamed Live Scallops on the half-shell. These were a real treat because they are expensive and more importantly, they are naturally sweet with a wonderful texture - a bit chewy, yet not hard to eat. Lastly, as another treat, we got 2 live Lobsters! Yes, they were trying to impress, but could you blame them? And of course, it was a pleasure to eat since they were fresh. Of course this meal was above and beyond the regular AYCE menu, which made it extra special. However, based on my previous visit, the AYCE portion had not changed. The quality is still there and so are the other features that make Fatty Cow one of the better Hot Pot joints in town.

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

Prince Chinese Seafood Restaurant

Ever since I started blogging, it has become quite easy to remember the last time I had visited a specific restaurant. Whenever in doubt, just pull up the blog on my iPhone and voila, not only do we find out roughly when we ate somewhere, we also can see what we ate. In fact, with the online record of everything we've eaten in the past 3+ years, there have been fewer disagreements. Just pull up the blog. No need to try to remember anything! Now, pulling old posts often make me cringe because some of the pictures were crappy (ironically, the new pictures turned out crappy as well due to poor lighting). This was such the case with Prince Chinese Restaurant. We haven't been back her for 3 years and if my memory serves me correctly, the service was not exactly a strong point. Since it has been such a long time, it was a good time to do a re-visit. Well, the real reason was because of convenience. Viv invited her parents out for Dim Sum and wanted something close by to them.

After we submitted the order sheet, as per usual, the Egg Tarts arrived first. Yah, I know they are probably sitting there in a warmer ready to go, however, must we be served dessert first? This happens at many Chinese restaurants, so I'm not pinning this on Prince. One bite into the tart and I wished they had stuck it back into the oven because I got a bit hit of raw flour flavour. I asked Viv to try it and she concurred. Underdone puff pastry. Yuck. That was too bad since the top part of the pastry was quite flaky and the filling was good as well. The BBQ Pork Pineapple Buns didn't have any issues concerning the dough and as such was above-average for a restaurant. The buns themselves were light and soft while the sweet topping was the right crumbly texture. I only wished they didn't put onions in the BBQ pork mixture. For me, it is too sharp and detracts from the flavour.

Finally, we got a dish where it belonged in the meal being the Shrimp Spring Rolls. These came out hot and crispy stuffed with crunchy shrimp. A little heavy on the seasoning, yet good nonetheless. We liked how they weren't greasy despite the obvious frying time required to get such a golden colour (or was it old oil? LOL). Then the standard dish we order whenever my son is present - the Soy Fried Rice Noodle Rolls. These were not very good. They were stiff, mostly under-fried and bland. Furthermore, it looked as if the person who prepared it was pretty lackadaisical in their approach and plating. It showed in the overall execution. Oh and as you can tell, they were greasy too. Seems like they might've put it into a wok that wasn't hot enough at first.

The stiff rice noodle was evident in the Beef Rice Noodle Roll as well. It wasn't as bad as the pan-fried version due to the steaming process, yet we've had better. The beef filling was good though, there was a nice hint of dried orange peel which added something different than the usual green onion flavour. They probably used the same meat mixture for the beef meatballs (which is common) for the rice noodle roll since the meatballs had the exact same flavour (not pictured), particularly the strong orange peel presence. Onto the Dim Sum must-have was the Haw Gow (shrimp dumpling). These were pretty good. Other than the dumpling skin being a touch thick, the filling was full of whole shrimp. It was not aggressively seasoned which allowed the natural sweetness of the shrimp to be heard. As for the other must-have (well, at least for me, Viv is indifferent) was the Sui Mai. Sort of the Ying and the Yang of the meal. These were also quite good. There was a good balance of shrimp, pork and shiitake mushroom. Textures were bang-on as well with the pork having a good bounce texture and the shrimp exhibiting a nice snap when bitten into. Flavours were good, especially from the mushrooms. Loved the tobiko on top, I can't understand places that don't use it (or at least some salted duck egg yolk) because it makes it much more appealing.

For me, the Steamed Black Bean Spareribs are another must-order as well. Although the pieces were fatty, there was plenty of tender meat attached to the bone. In fact, those are the most desired pieces when it comes to this dish. Not much in the way of cartilage either, which are not as good to eat. We would've liked to see more in the way of flavour, especially from the black bean, but it was far from bland. One of the more interesting items we had was the Steamed Eel. It came laced with a garlicky sauce which was just flavourful enough without overwhelming the fatty flesh. I really liked this dish despite the indifference shown by everyone else. I think they thought it was bland. For me, I thought it was fine. The eel was cooked perfectly having the qualities of black cod/sea bass. Therefore, the meat was moist and quite pleasant to eat. I particularly loved the skin.

Now cue the drum roll... The requisite offal dish! This time, it was the Steamed Bible Tripe. Not trying to sound monotonous, but the tripe was solid. It had the right combination of being tender enough to chew while still retaining some texture. This is not as easily accomplished as it sounds. Sometimes the tripe is too chewy and one could lose a tooth trying to bite it, while it can also be too soft where it becomes mush. Again, it could've used a touch more in the way of seasoning, yet there was enough green onion and ginger to offset that. Lastly, we didn't have dessert. Remember, we were served dessert first! Rather than sweets, we had the Phoenix Talons aka Chicken Feet. These were a touch over-steamed with the skin detaching. Not a big deal though since there was still plenty of gelatin/cartilage to be found underneath the fried skin. I'm sure this is grossing some people out! Trust me, it's good! It was quite flavourful with lots of garlic with a touch of black bean. I think they used copious amounts of sugar too.

Well, just like 3 years ago, the Dim Sum is quite acceptable at Prince, especially with their price points. There is a good selection on the order sheet and the food comes out fairly expeditiously. In terms of the service, I would say it was better than the couple of times we went before, but I wouldn't classify it as warm and fuzzy (what Chinese restaurant would have that anyways? LOL). I have seen a lot of comments made about their service and maybe they are trying to improve? Or did I come on a lucky day? Whatever the case, the place is busy and their parking lot is usually full, spilling out into the street. So they must be doing something right.

The Good:
- Above-average Dim Sum
- Lots of choice

The Bad:
- Service is indifferent
- Nice that they have a parking lot, too bad it's always full

Power Lunch @ Market

While watching Trevor Bird on Top Chef Canada, it renewed my interest in Market located in the Shangri-La Hotel. Why? Well, Trevor used to be the Chef de Partie at Market prior to opening Fable with fellow contestant Curtis Luk. Okay, it is ironic that I would be interested in Market since Trevor basically lamented the restrictive arrangements of working in a corporate environment. For those who are unaware, Market is only one of many restaurants around the world opened by Executive Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Hence, any chef that works in the kitchen at one of these restaurants are restricted in terms of input and creativity. Now that doesn't mean the isn't any good. On the contrary, the menus are often designed carefully and executed by well-trained staff.

Viv and I had tried their tasting menu awhile back and were happy with the food, especially considering the relatively reasonable prices. The theme of reasonable pricing is further exemplified by their Market Power Lunch which offers a 3-course meal for $29.00. There is a choice of 2 plates from the appetizer and main sections and 1 plate from the dessert portion. Well, I finally got to check it out with Mrs. Spray Bottle, Hot Mama and Pops. Hot Mama decided to start with the Seared Scallops with caramelized cauliflower and caper-raisin emulsion. As clearly shown in the picture, the scallops were beautifully seared with good caramelization while remaining plump and sweet. The smooth emulsion provided a nice balance to the dish. The "crispy" cauliflower added a bit of textural contrast.

For myself, I had the Beef Tartare with crispy onion rings. This was a good version since the meat was super tender and aesthetically pleasing to look at (unlike the one at Onyx). That is very important when dealing with raw meat. In terms of taste, there was a slight kick and crunch from the pickles. Surprisingly, the star of the show were the onion rings. They were super crunchy and not greasy. They were great on their own, but combined with the tartare, it added that textural contrast. Mrs. Spray Bottle went for the Frisee and Crispy Lardon Salad with mustard vinaigrette. The basic elements were there for a classic frisee salad, however, it was not as good as the other 2 appetizers. First of all, we personally would've preferred a poached egg since it would have more runny yolk. And secondly, the dressing was not very impactful. The duck fat (?) croutons added a nice crunch though.

For their main, Hot Mama and Mrs. Spray Bottle both had the Angel Hair Pasta with asparagus and shiitake mushrooms. This was a well-executed dish consisting of al dente angel hair pasta (which is very difficult to do), pesto and Earthy mushrooms. There was an underlying heat that did not disrupt the other flavours. Pops went for the most filling dish being the Market Burger with black truffle dressing, brie and French fries. To everyone's surprise, the burger arrived with 2, count' em 2 large patties. These patties were nicely grilled and were moist. The truffle dressing was not too overbearing while the melted brie made the burger quite buttery. Combined with the crisp veggies within a soft brioche bun, this was a good burger. As for the side of fresh-cut fries, they were of the double-fried variety which yielded crispy spuds which would've been good dipped in mayo. I guess we should've asked for some eh?

For myself, I had the Crispy Snapper Sandwich with black olive tartare sauce. This was an absolute monster of a sandwich with 2 large pieces of fried snapper within a ciabatta bun. The snapper was super moist and perfectly fried. However, the batter was somewhat oil-soaked and greasy on the bottom side of the fish. Now that didn't diminish my enjoyment of the sandwich though because the black olive tartar sauce was like a creamy tapenade which added a different flavour to a pretty "normal" sandwich. I found the bun to be rather hard, which essentially destroyed the fish every time I bit into it.

Moving onto dessert, I went for the Peanut Butter Bar with salted caramel ice cream. The bar was super smooth which started off chocolaty and had a peanutty finish. It wasn't super sweet, which suited me just fine. The salted caramel ice cream was definitely sweet. I liked the crunchy pieces underneath. Everyone else had the Market Cheesecake with crispy strawberries and rhubarb sorbet. The cheesecake was smooth and cheesy while the sorbet was sweet with bits of rhubarb. Nothing particularly exciting about this dessert, yet it was solid nonetheless. Bottom line, it was an enjoyable meal. Considering its location, the decor, service and generally well-executed food, $29.00 is a very reasonable price to pay.

The Good:
- Reasonable-pricing for lunch
- Generally good execution
- Attentive service

The Bad:
- As with last time, food takes a bit of time to arrive (I guess they want to make it right)
- I do realize it is lunch and the price point is relatively low, but not sure if a sandwich should be on that menu

Thien Kim

I had a dilemma. There was this standing invite from the Poor Italian rolling out their new menu on a Sunday afternoon. What's the big deal you ask? Well, it would be a few hours after morning hockey! So really, what's the issue here? I would starve for 2 hours before the tasting! Therefore, I had no choice. I had to go eat lunch despite needing to eat immediately after. Hey, if Mijune can do it, why can't I? Oh right, I'd become the second coming of the Michelin Man. Apparently, my metabolism doesn't even come close to hers. Well, I didn't really want to think of the consequences, rather, I just needed nourishment. Therefore, not only did I need something light, it needed to be fast (since I didn't want to be late for the tasting). Again, a Pho joint came to the rescue. In fact, the place is mostly known for its "got Pho?" moniker (real name is Thien Kim).

Joining me were Milhouse and JuJu, who are always in search for nourishment, which benefits me greatly! As such, we got 3 appies to share starting with the Fried Chicken Wings. These could've passed for ones from Church's as they were completely covered with batter. Nothing particularly wrong with them since they were crisp and juicy. It just didn't look like wings I've seen at most other Vietnamese joints. It was served with a sweet chili fish sauce. On the other hand, the Spring Rolls looked familiar and legit (with the use of rice flour wrappers). In fact, these were very good with a moist and flavourful filling (and more fish sauce). The outside was very crispy and not that greasy. These were good, yet the Grilled Pork Salad Rolls were even better. Despite being rolled haphazardly and really loose, the rolls were delicious. The grilled pork had a nice char while still being moist. It had really good flavour which was accented by the soft rice noodles and crunchy veggies. The rice flour wrapper was perfect with a nice elasticity.

Onto the mains, JuJu had the Beef Stew with Egg Noodles. I gave it a try and the soup was rich and fragrant. We suspected a good amount of MSG was used. The beef was both plentiful and tender while the egg noodles were al dente. JuJu seemed to enjoy his bowl of noodles while sweating up a storm. For myself, I went for the standard being the Pho Dac Biet or everything but the kitchen sink Pho. Again, the broth seemed to be flavourful in an MSG type-of-way. Hey, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing as the broth was tasty. It was more on the sweet side though. I found the portion size to be quite good with plenty of meats. The meats were tender and the noodles were al dente. Nothing much to complain about, in fact, I enjoyed every bite.

Mihouse decided against getting any soup noodles to my utter joy. Why? More variety! He opted for Minced Pork and Spring Roll Vermicelli Bowl. Much like our order of spring rolls, his was just as good. Admittedly, there was an ordering snafu since we doubled-up on the spring roll! As for the rest of the stuff, it was pretty standard with the "ham" being a bit salty.

Originally, I wanted to have a "less-filling" meal so I'd have room for the sampling at the Poor Italian. But in the end, the food was pretty good at Thien Kim and I couldn't help myself. Not only did I finish my entire large bowl of Pho, I had my fair share of the spring rolls, salad rolls and chicken wings. Yes, I really did channel my inner-Mijune. Well, the fact that the food was above-average didn't hurt either.

The Good:
- Food is above-average
- Portions are good
- Service is friendly

The Bad:
- Service can be overextended at times

The Slocan

I'm sure it is not lost upon everyone that the ol' skool diner/family restaurant is a dying breed. And no, I'm not referring to those hipster diners and/or "pretend" diners either. I'm talking about those that have been around for a long time and continue to serve up the same ol' skool items as they did before. Oh, and let's not even have any of the post-modern decor that adorns some new "diners" popping up all-over-the-place. Hey, I like those places too, but they don't have a history. One joint that has been around for as long as I can remember (since 1974) is The Slocan (formerly Slocan Family Restaurant) located at, well, Slocan and Hastings. Milhouse, Kaiser Soze and I ended up here on a Sunday afternoon after hockey. It wasn't planned though. Consider it a backup plan of sorts.

You see, we tried to visit Sushiholic (for the 3rd time, it closes too early and it's not open on Sundays!) and since it was closed, Slocan was a close enough option. We were seated among families, young people and seniors, which really spoke to the broad appeal of the place. Milhouse wanted to make up for all the calories he burned at hockey by starting off with a Chocolate Shake. It is pretty obvious from the picture that the shake was not that thick. In fact, it was quite milky and weak in flavour. There was a definite lack of hard ice cream. This was a pretty average shake. He followed up the shake with a healthy Chili Burger with onion rings (and he wonders why he is not losing any weight...). The burger patty was moist while the chili was a little bland. He liked the brioche bun (everyone is doing brioche these days!) and overall, it was a decent burger. The onion rings were very crispy, but due to personal tastes, we would've liked to see the breaded type instead.

For myself, I went for the Rueben which came with a soup to start. The soup of the day happened to be Chicken Rice. It was chock full of stuff including tender pieces of meat. The soup was hot (unlike many found at other places) and just plain tasted good. The flavours were balanced and had a home-made quality to it. Generally, a sandwich is a sandwich, unless there are interesting ingredients or it is prepared with care. My Rueben was neatly constructed and evenly grilled on both sides. The result was crispy, buttery toast with sauerkraut, mustard, Swiss and corned beef in between. The steak fries were a blast from the past too. They were naturally starchy and only slightly crisp.

Kaiser Soze opted for breakfast and went for Hotcake Platter with 2 hot cakes, eggs and bacon. I was able to sample the hot cake while Kaiser Soze wasn't looking (actually he let me try it to my surprise!). It was super fluffy and tasted great on its own. The eggs were perfectly sunny side up while the bacon was thick-cut, meaty and crispy. I've haven't seen a plate of breakfast items so carefully prepared and plated in quite some time. And that is probably why Slocan continues to survive all these years. Their commitment to serving well-prepared food at reasonable prices (not to mention good portions), keep people coming back. Hey, we'll probably be back!

The Good:
- Carefully prepared food
- Reasonable prices
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Pretty standard stuff, don't expect duck confit hash here (but maybe in the future?)
- Food took awhile (but then again, that's why it was so well-prepared)

Deer Garden Signatures

When I was first asked to join a Summer hockey league playing out of the Richmond Oval, I hesitated. Man, that is quite the distance from my house! Also, Richmond? Really? And during rush hour? Wow, that is a sacrifice for sure. Well, after being blown out in our game and not to mention being extremely hungry from all the shots I faced, I called upon the one person who I can count on - Mijune. Not exactly though. She wasn't very hungry. Therefore, she'd only be good company while I gorged. I guess that in itself made my trek out to Richmond worthwhile. We decided to visit Deer Garden Signatures since I wanted something soupy while she only wanted a drink. I know, the horror... Mijune NOT wanting to eat.

When I said I was hungry, I meant it! I decided to order 2 noodle soup combos all to myself, including 2 sides! Mijune had one of the drinks though, so I did hold back a bit... I ended up with a Lychee Green Tea while she had a Vanilla Milk Tea. Pretty standard stuff although it would've been nice if they didn't use takeout cups for eating in. Okay, for those who aren't familiar with Deer Garden, their signature item is the Orginal Fish Soup. I went for lai fun as my noodle choice with fish puffs and fish as my toppings. They claim to not use any MSG in the soup and that could partly explain its mildness. Yes, it was pleasant enough, but it was pretty bland. On the other hand, it was a pretty large bowl of food for the price.

For my second bowl, I had the Peanut Sauce and Chili Soup with rice vermicelli. I much preferred this one since it was bursting with flavour. The broth was noticeably peanutty, yet not like a Dan Dan Noodle for instance. The chili sauce with dried shrimp further amped the aromatics. For the 2 toppings, I got beef brisket and ox tongue. I kept offering my tongue to Mijune, but she refused. To bad really since it was moist and tender. Ahem. The brisket was very fatty which made it melt-in-my-mouth tender. This is where our chit-chat got kinda weird. Mijune was discussing the fact that in order to get the full taste of a dish, one needs to get right in there and eat many bites. She equated it to foreplay without the sex. Er... Um... What??? Not wanting to eat and then being lewd... What happened to Mijune???

Anyways, as for the 2 sides, the Pork Chop with Maggi Sauce was surprisingly moist. It had just enough Maggi sauce where it didn't overwhelm the meat. The Desert Wings with Ginger (yes, Desert) were fried beautifully where they were moist on the inside and crisp on the outside. I didn't get a whole lot of ginger, but they were seasoned enough. Believe it or not, I actually dusted off most of the food except for the a bit of noodle and fish soup. The server wondered if I wanted to pack it. My response was, "It's all soft anyways, it's over". To that, Mijune started giggling. Honestly... What's up with that? Did she wake up in the gutter on this day? LOL... Whatever the case, the food was cheap and it did the job.

The Good:
- Good value
- Lots of choice
- Food comes out quick

The Bad:
- It's okay, but not sure if the fish soup is that good
- Naturally, service is rushed and sparse