Nong Chinese Restaurant

*Restaurant is now closed*

Whenever Marshmallow is in town for the Summer (she lives in Taiwan), we meet up for eats. Hey, she should come back more often! Having already dined on Neapolitan-style pizza at Cotto, we planned to do lunch on another day. Elaine and Costanza were going to join us as well. Seeing how they were going to be around the Oakridge area during that time, we decided to do Dim Sum on the Westside. Now that is not as simple as it sounds. Most of the best Dim Sum joints in Vancouver are on the Eastside. When I mean best, I mean good food and good value as well. So throwing good value out the door, we made a reservation at Nong Chinese Restaurant on the corner of 41st and Granville. Formerly The One Chinese Restaurant, it is located below street level. When we used to live in Oakridge, we'd frequent this restaurant (different name back then) every weekend. Now that we're nowhere nearby, this was the first time we'd been back to this location in nearly 10 years.

With our reservation, we were seated in a private room which suited us just fine as we had 5 kiddies with us. They could make as much noise as they wanted and they pretty much did... So they left me in charge of ordering food, which is the equivalent of taking all the traffic lights off of #3 Road, because I pulled a Mijune. There was way too much food on the table, to the point where we had to resort to stacking steamers 3 high to fit onto the lazy Susan. The first dish to arrive was the Soy-Fried Noodles. These were predictably greasy. The noodles were still chewy with adequate amount of flavour. I personally am not a huge fan of adding greens or onions to the noodles, but it did add flavour in this case. For the adults, we got a bowl of Szechuan Beef Noodles. The noodles were both plentiful and al dente. They sat in a spicy broth which curiously had no depth - lots of flavour, but it was pretty superficial. The chunks of beef were moist while most of the tendons were soft (except for a few tougher ones). As evidenced by the beef noodle, there were many Szechuan options on the menu. Hence, it was no surprise to find Spicy Wontons were available. This was a healthy portion of meaty wontons which were on the softer side. Although there was a considerable amount of "red" colour and chili oil, the whole dish wasn't only mildly spicy. It was probably due to the overabundance of peanut sauce. Personally, I could done without it.

Moving onto another region of Chinese cuisine, we had the Xiao Long Bao (Shanghainese). We actually got 3 steamers of these (6 dumplings each) because we wanted each person to have at least 2 and the fact Costanza's son could down one order himself. Well, everything was conspiring to make this decision a mistake. First, Costanza's son decided to have and "off" day and only ate one dumpling. Furthermore, everyone else had one as well. That left nearly 2 full steamers of XLBs. It was too bad really because they were actually decent for this type of restaurant. I am not going as far as saying they could compete with the best in town, but you get the idea. As expected, the dumpling skin was slightly thick with a gritty meat filling. There was a good amount of soup inside though which was pretty bland except for a bit of sweetness and a pretty strong hit of Shaoxing wine. Now as for another Shanghainese offering, the Green Onion Pancake, it was the deep fried variety. Although I do like the crispiness of the deep fried version, it can often be an greasy mess. This one was somewhere in the middle - it was neither greasy nor was it not-greasy. It was crispy but a touch salty.

Continuing on with our tour of the different types of Chinese Dim Sum, we found ourselves back with the good ol' Cantonese standard - Haw Gow (steamed shrimp dumpling). The dumpling skin was thick and chewy (despite the good visuals) while the filling was full of large pieces of whole shrimp. The shrimp were crunchy and had a good snap. However, there was a complete lack of seasoning, hence we needed a side of hot sauce to alleviate that problem. As for the Sui Mai (steamed pork and shrimp dumpling), they were pretty substantial in size. There was plenty of crunchy shrimp mixed in with chunks of pork with a nice bounce texture (there was a good amount of fat too, which was good and bad). Unfortunately, there was a complete lack of flavour once again. For some people, I suppose that would be a good thing since it implies less MSG was used. Yet, for me, it really didn't have much impact. Again, the hot sauce saved the day (which was not really a bad thing either I suppose).

Onto some carbs, we had 2 orders of the Loh Mei Gai. That meant we had a whole order leftover... Hey, they told me to do the ordering! They were just not prepared to eat, that's all! Amateurs! Anyways, the sticky rice had a balanced texture where it was glutinous and moist while not mushy either. There was more filling than rice with tender ground pork, shrimp, shiitake mushrooms and the requisite piece of Chinese sausage. Even with the plethora of ingredients, the whole thing was... you guessed it, bland. When the Chicken Rice arrived, there was a collective moan since no one was really interested in a big serving of carbs after the sticky rice. That was too bad since it was pretty good. The rice was nicely done where it was chewy yet not dry. There was ample boneless dark meat on top which was tender while only being somewhat moist. Again, the the chicken was suffering from a lack of seasoning. It would've been nice to get a hit of ginger somewhere. Luckily, this was not a huge problem because the whole thing was doused with sweet soy anyways.

To go with the rice, I thought it would be nice to have some Pork Spareribs as well. As you can see, there was not a whole lot of black bean or anything else as a seasoning agent. The result? It tasted like salt. But wait, that was actually a good thing as this dish was adequately seasoned. Furthermore, the portion size was really good since the spareribs were spilling off of the plate. There was a decent mix of meaty pieces and cartilage where the texture was slightly chewy while still being tender. Onto the offal side of Dim Sum with the Curry Tripe. Yet another properly seasoned dish, there was a decent hit of curry, ginger and garlic with touch of sweetness. But once again, there was a deficiency - the tripe was too soft. It was practically melt-in-my mouth soft. I'm sure some people would like that. For me, I like a touch of chew left in the tripe.

From tripe to Chicken Feet, this was probably one of the better dishes of the meal. The chicken feet were plump and fried to a nice golden reddish brown. The skin was still moist while exhibiting a chewiness. The cartilage underneath was soft and was easy to detach from the bone. Flavourwise, there was a good balance of salty and sweet with a hit of garlic. Onto dessert, we had the obligatory Egg Tarts. Much like all of the other dishes, we got 2 orders which subsequently did not get touched. The kiddies were doing a "reverse day" of sorts and did not want them. Again, their loss because they were not bad. The flaky tart shell was baked nicely with a golden brown exterior. The egg custard filling was only semi-sweet and had a nice consistency where it wasn't too soft nor too stiff. At the end of the meal, it was pretty obvious to us that they were trying to be the Jack-of-all-Trades (a combination of Szechuan, Shanghainese and Cantonese Dim Sum). Therefore, everything was definitely passable, yet nothing was particularly memorable either.

The Good:
- Lots of choice
- Comfortable digs
- Pretty good service

The Bad:
- When you try to be all things to all people...
- Pricey

Gyu Japanese Teppanyaki

Once upon a time, we had as many Japanese restaurants as there were non-rainy days in Vancouver during Spring. All of a sudden, starting in the late 80's, we saw a gradual increase. The same could be said for Izakayas. Guu on Thurlow started the trend over a decade ago. More recently we all know about the Ramen craze... So what about Teppanyaki? If we are gonna go all out Japanese-style in the GVRD, why are there so few Teppanyaki joints? Of course there is the well-known Kobe to go along with Osaka and Yokohama (as well as a handful of smaller places). So what's the deal here? Does it have something to do with the price? Familiarity? Or possibly the joints we have just don't do it justice? All of the above? Well, having just been to Kobe in the past year, I realized that the lack of competition doesn't exactly encourage these restaurants to do more than the minimum. With that in mind, I was hesitant when I laid eyes on a Groupon for Gyu Teppanyaki way back in December 2011. Yet, I figured that it was worth a shot since it seemed like a good deal.

So for $49.00, we got a 10-course Teppanyaki meal for 2. Nothing on the menu completely matches what we got, but the Superior Value Course comes pretty close (take away the sashimi and black cod, add filet of chicken and prawns). Before we barely settled in, we were presented with the first 2 courses being the Green Salad and Lobster Miso Soup. The salad was well... a salad with a typical Japanese sweet ginger dressing with a dollop of sweet mayo on top. Nothing particularly exciting, but it did the job. As for the miso soup, it was essentially lobster brains and shell that made up the flavour of the broth. Therefore, it did have a natural sweetness about it and that lobster essence. It was a bit ugly-looking, but I liked it.

For our first grill item, we had the live half Lobster which was prepared quite nicely. It was a touch past cooked, yet it was well-seasoned and its natural sweetness still stood out. We had a selection of 3 dipping sauces including lemon, ginger dressing and sweet chili. The chef also provided us with a dollop of XO sauce as well. Up next was the Prawns, which were also just ever-so-slightly past done. Ignore the black cod in the picture as it was for a different party. The prawns still had a nice snap to them despite being overdone. For me personally, I like my seafood just done or barely done. That way, the texture is at its optimum as well as the flavours. Then came the Beef Tenderloin which was made to our personal doneness preferences. Viv and I asked for medium-rare and what we ended up with was a little closer to medium. With that in mind, the meat was still super moist and tender. Moving along, we had the Thin Ribeye Roll which had copious amounts of fried garlic chips and chopped green onion. The beef was barely cooked which kept it moist and tender. The large amount of garlic and onions added plenty of flavour.

While we were eating the beef roll, the Chicken was receiving its final touches of sauce. When I bit into the meat, it was once again a bit past just done. Hence, it was not super moist nor juicy. It was not dry either, but again, my preference is for just done. Then the chef brought out a plate of rice with raw beef, onions, carrots and a few eggs. We immediately knew he was gonna make Fried Rice. That he did and it was decent. The rice was a bit butchered from all the pressing with the spatulas, yet it was still chewy. The rice could've stood for less seasoning as it was a touch salty. Lastly, we had some Veggies in the form of cabbage, broccoli and enoki mushrooms. Nothing amiss here. The veggies weren't too overcooked, so there was still some texture.

To finish off the meal, we had a choice of ice cream. We got one scoop of the mango and green tea each. They were a bit icy, but did the job. As a whole, the meal was actually quite pleasant, especially at the price we paid. If we didn't have a Groupon, it would be considered fairly pricey even for the food we received. Now the draw of teppanyaki is not purely about the food. It is for the entertainment factor. This is where Gyu falls flat, literally and figuratively. Despite being very pleasant and attentive, the staff, including the teppanyaki chef could've passed for robots. No emotion, no nothing. There was no "show" to speak of. No onion volcano, no rapid slicing and dicing, no egg tricks and no entertainment value at all. It makes Kobe look like a Broadway musical in comparison. I've seen more action at Koji in shopping mall food courts. Too bad really since the service was quite good and courteous. It just needs an injection of personality. Also, I've seen a lot of complaints about the auto-gratuity on Groupon redemptions. Although I am not a proponent of auto-gratuity (especially when not forewarned), I feel it is fine in this case. Reason being is that many people do actually not tip the correct amount (before discount) on these types of offers. Therefore, the servers suffer by no fault of their own. Considering we got pretty good service, I felt it was fair and warranted. However, it would've been nice to be notified of that beforehand.

The Good:
- Attentive and courteous service
- Food is okay

The Bad:
- No teppanyaki show whatsoever, a real big problem for a teppanyaki restaurant
- Expensive (if you didn't have a coupon)

Grand Palace

Henderson Centre can be considered a contradiction or paradox. Why? Well, considering that Coquitlam has one of the largest Asian populations in the GVRD, it is completely confounding that an Asian mall would not work. The place makes a ghost town look busy. It appears that there is only 20% occupancy and even that, there has been more turnover. On the bright side, the parking lot is a joy to park in since there are so many spaces for so few customers. Maybe it should be their slogan: "Park anywhere you like, even across lines and at a 45 degree angle, we welcome spatially-challenged drivers". Anyways, Kirin, one of the cornerstones decided to close up shop awhile back. Now, with many of the same employees and the same setup, Grand Palace has taken up residence in the empty building posing as a shopping mall. Have the owners ever considered doing some sort of "no rent" promotion to get tenants? I digress...

Naturally, we wanted to check it out to see what has changed. Well nothing really. The staff are the same and so is the decor. The huge lineup for Dim Sum is still there too. Okay, then was it really only a renaming of the place? We'd need to check out the food to make a proper assessment. Much like any other Chinese restaurant, making a reservation doesn't really mean a whole lot since we had to wait for our "reservation". Oh well, at least it was only a 20 minute delay. Acceptable in Chinese Dim Sum reservation terms... So we ordered a bunch of stuff and of course a relatively sweet items shows up first being the Sweet BBQ Pork Bun. It was pillowy soft with a sweet BBQ pork filling which was meaty and saucy. The extra sweet topping on the bun made this taste like a dessert. Onto the savoury items, we had the Haw Gow (shrimp dumplings) and Sui Mai (pork & shrimp dumplings). The rice flour skin on the haw gow was a touch chewy while the shrimp filling was a disaster. It was in little bits and worst of all, there were veins all over the place! Not only was it gross to look at, the grittiness with each bite was unappetizing. It also didn't help that the whole thing was under seasoned either. Fortunately, the sui mai were much better, it had a good texture consisting of bouncy pork and shrimp. These large dumplings had a good mix of ingredients including a good ratio of pork and pork fat. However, it was predominantly sweet and probably could've used more salt.

Moving along, we had the Beef Meatballs which were large, firm and meaty. It could've stood for more tenderizing for that desired bouncy texture. However, the addition of a good amount of water chestnuts provided a nice little crunch in each bite. Flavourwise, they were quite mild. Okay, whenever I talk about Shrimp Rice Noodle Rolls, it goes into a discussion about textures of the shrimp and noodle. However, I need to start it off by saying that they must've dropped the shrimp in a vat of salt because they were unbearably salty. You know that stinging sensation when you put a teaspoon of salt on your tongue? Well, this was it. There must've been some mistake in the prep. Other than that snafu, the shrimp had a nice snap while the rice noodle was thick and dense.

In complete contrast, the shrimp in the Fried Bean Curd Skin Rolls were not salty at all. Yes, I know that they don't use the same shrimp in these dishes, which further reinforces the belief that they messed up the batch of shrimp for the rice noodle rolls. The bean curd skin rolls were crispy, but the crispiness was compromised somewhat by the generous amount of filling. The whole thing was not greasy, but could've benefited from more seasoning (seems like a trend eh? except for the rice noodle roll of course). Onto a favourite of mine, the Pork Spareribs. If you don't notice any black bean in this version, that would be correct - neither did I. Hence, it was more garlicky than salty and there was some flavour from the peppers on top as well. Most of the pieces were meaty and only slightly chewy. These were not bad.

Moving onto the Stuffed Eggplant, the shrimp mousse filling had the right bounce texture, yet it was bland. Compared to the shrimp in the rice noodle roll, this was bland. Hence, the entire dish was lacking flavour including the sauce. Furthermore, the eggplant soaked up quite a bit of grease which was not pleasant, as well as the mushy texture. Okay, the eggplant was pretty mediocre, but the Salty Donut was just plain wrong. For those who are familiar with it, you'll immediately notice that they sliced the donut and fried it in pieces. Hence, it was hard and really, really oily. I realized that for a restaurant to freshly make a donut might be too much trouble, yet it is no excuse to butcher the product in this manner. Just don't offer it then. The texture was so wrong, my son (who loves this) didn't want to eat it.

What he did eat was the Chicken Rice served in the usual hot pot (even though it is not an "actual" hot pot rice). Despite not being prepared over a flame, the rice was chewy while not being too hard. Of course no rice crust would form due to its preparation, but all-in-all, the texture was good. The deboned dark chicken meat was moist while not being all that flavourful. The accompanying sweet soy somewhat alleviated the problem. Finally, Dim Sum is not complete without an order of offal (at least for me...). So we got the Honeycomb Tripe which looked quite appealing in large pieces. The texture was spot on with the tripe being soft while retaining a slight chew. Moreover, the tripe was prepped properly where there was no gaminess. There was a noted level of spice but curiously bland at the same time. Probably a lack of salt?

As you can already ascertain, there was some seasoning issues with the food. Generally, there was a lack of flavour in many of the dishes, yet curiously salt-crazy with one particular dish (although it was probably a one-off). Now with all that being said, the food was acceptable (with a few that were terrible). In fact, considering the lack of competition nearby, I can understand the constant lineup. Besides, nothing can be perfect and there are so many variables when cooking food. At the very least, we didn't go away unhappy as the service was quite good.

The Good:
- Accommodating service (but they need more servers though)
- Nice dining space
- Some decent items

The Bad:
- Inconsistent seasoning
- Some real bad dishes
- It ain't cheap

James on Hastings

Awhile ago, I had visited Luda and had some of their specialties including the crab. I had promised to take my parents there eventually, but then all of a sudden, it changed hands and became James on Hastings. Apparently, the place changed hands, but not the kitchen staff. And before we could make a reservation, there was a kitchen fire. With the place back in business, we finally made it out there as a family. Another more important reason we visited James on Hastings was the fact my son wanted Peking Duck. That's right. The same son who doesn't like anything willingly wanted to eat roasted duck skin??? Yah, go figure. He also likes fried chicken skin, roast pork cracklings and so on... Maybe he's Chinese after all...

So yes, we did start with the 2 courses of Peking Duck (after the daily soup). It arrived glistening with a beautiful colour, crispy texture and nicely rendered fat. There was also a fair amount of moist meat attached to many of the slices. The only thing that brought this dish down was the doughy and thick crepes. The second course was the Duck Lettuce Wrap. There was no absence of duck meat in the stir-fried filling. The root veggies were still crunchy while the entire dish was neither greasy nor salty. The lettuce cups were extremely large which was good and bad. Lots of lettuce to do the wrapping with, but kinda sloppy at the same time.

The drum roll please... for one of their signature dishes - the Live Crab in House Special Sauce (aka curry crab). Normally, it is not a great idea to overwhelm the delicate texture and flavours of crab with too much seasoning and spice. However, in this case, the crab was able to stand up to the various ingredients. As for those ingredients from what I could gather, there was garlic, green onions, dried shrimp, curry, shallots, cilantro, black pepper, chili oil, sugar (most likely palm), soy and black vinegar (I could be wrong on a few). It was a good combination of sweet, salty, tart and spicy. For a set menu, the crab was pretty large and meaty. Another house specialty is their Famous Soy Chicken, which we ordered as an addition to our set menu. The half-chicken was quite meaty where it was sufficiently moist throughout. The soy cooking liquid penetrated the skin into the meat resulting in a flavourful chicken. However, the skin itself was pretty salty since it took the brunt of the flavours.

Moving along to yet another specialty was the Soft Spareribs in Chef's Special BBQ Sauce. Considering that the ribs had plenty of cartilage and were mostly end pieces, they did a good job in braising it. It was moist and tender practically falling apart. The tendon and cartilage portions were pretty much like jelly and were super easy to eat. Flavourwise, it was quite sweet and could've benefited from more balance. The one dish we didn't really care for was the Beef with Fresh Mango & Asparagus. The good parts of the dish were the beef, which was tender with a slight chew, and the nicely cooked asparagus. The mango, on the other hand, was reduced to a mush and unappealing. The whole dish was too saucy and sweet. It was starch-thickened, but then it was merely a sweet goopy mess. We wanted to like it, yet it just lacked balance.

Our last dish was the House Special Fried Rice. There was a lack of colour because we chose to omit the green onions. The rice was pretty dry, which afforded a nuttiness. It was neither greasy nor salty. There was only a modest amount of BBQ pork and shrimp which made the rice pretty plain to eat. It could've benefited from more ingredients and salt. Overall, we were satisfied with our meal, yet we definitely had our favourites and not-so-favourites. The Peking duck was surprisingly good (except for the crepes) and of course their signature crab rocked. However, everything else was pretty standard. It's not like we didn't like the chicken or the ribs, they were good. Just not "wow". And honestly, there are not many "wow" things in general anyways. If you pick the right dishes, James on Hastings is a solid choice for Chinese eats.

The Good:
- Tasty crab
- Good service
- Some interesting dishes

The Bad:
- Some of their signature dishes are a bit pricey

Galaxy Bakery

From as early as I can remember, the standard grab n' go breakfast at my house was Chinese buns and pastries. The Cha Sui Bao and I had some good times together - from school mornings to snacks, I must've consumed thousands of the BBQ Pork Bun. The same would be for the classic Dan Tat or Egg Tart. Oh and let's not forget the Gai Mei Bao or Cocktail Bun with its sweet coconut filling. Ah... the memories. Then I hope I can be forgiven for continuing the tradition with my own kiddies. It is a weekly ritual of buy a box of these buns and pastries (looks more like bags now since many places charge for boxes). However, to make things interesting, I've been seeking out many other bakeries that are not named Maxim, Pine House or St Germain.

The latest place on my Chinese buns adventures (that can be taken the wrong way eh?) led me to Galaxy Bakery (there is another location on Fraser). Of course we got the basics including the aforementioned BBQ Pork Bun. One look inside and it yielded a decent amount of filling which wasn't too wet. A good amount of lean BBQ pork in a well-balanced sauce laid within an airy soft bun. This was a decent BBQ pork bun, if not a bit small. Essentially the same bun without the filling while adding a sweet sugary topping, the Pineapple Bun was also decent. For those unfamiliar, this bun does not contain any pineapples whatsoever. The name is derived from its appearance where the sugary-buttery topping resembles the outside of a pineapple. If you are still a bit confused, I don't blame you. It doesn't look like a pineapple to me either.

The Egg Tart is another one of those classics found at Chinese bakeries and Dim Sum restaurants. This particular tart had a nice flaky shell which was cooked all the way through - possibly a bit too cooked. The slightly browned ring around the custard part of the tart was a bit rubbery which began to somewhat separate from the shell. Other than that, it was not too sweet and the rest of the custard had a nice consistency. One of my daughter's favourite items is the Chicken Pie. This one was stuffed solid (literally) with chicken and starch-thickened sauce. Not much in the way of other ingredients. The consistency of the filling was a bit stiff and there was a good amount of thickened sauce. The pastry was buttery and stood up to the wet ingredients. Galaxy Bakery does the job and is an alternative to Maxim's down the street. However, I'll say it again, I prefer Karmony further down Victoria.

The Good:
- Stuff is not bad
- Prices are pretty standard

The Bad:
- Not better or worse than the immediate competition

Ladner Sushi

If you ever take a look at Urbanspoon's top 100 restaurants in the GVRD, for some reason or another, it includes this little Japanese restaurant out in Ladner. Maguro is its name and being good where it is located is its game. That's right, the fact that there are very few other competing Japanese restaurants make it by default, "the best in Ladner". Now if we had to compare it to a place such as Octopus' Garden or Ajisai, it wouldn't even come close. With that being said, it is above average. So when I heard from a local that there was another Japanese restaurant to rival Maguro, I needed to see for myself.

And really, I did go by myself... Imagine that, no one willing to join me for a meal in Ladner. What? Is it really that far away? I guess so for most people eh? For me - will travel for food. So the best thing to do while eating alone is to get something that is most representative in one tidy package. That happened to be Lunch Bento Box C which included tempura, chicken teriyaki on rice, spring roll, 4 pcs of nigiri (salmon, tuna, tai and ebi), ebi sunomono and miso soup. I found the tempura to be slightly greasy while still crisp and light. The teriyaki chicken was moist and fried nicely. The rice had a bite and the typical sweet sauce was conservatively drizzled on top. I'm not going to comment on the spring roll for obvious reasons. The fish for the nigiri was good and the rice was okay being slightly on the stickier side. It did have some flavour, but was not very impactful. Lastly, the sunomono had an nice balance of sugar and vinegar.

Even after the box, I thought I needed to try one more item and for some odd reason, I went for the Ramen. Yes, not a ramen joint, why order ramen? I took this into account when eating it. The noodles were actually good having a bite. The soup was not full of depth, yet it did have plenty of flavour though. The pork was terrible though since it was chewy and obviously freshly cooked for the ramen. I will cut them some slack though. For the things I did try, the pork in the ramen withstanding, the food was more than acceptable, especially for Ladner.

The Good:
- Friendly staff
- Decent eats

The Bad:
- For those who care, not that authentic (yet Maguro has the same issue)