Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot (Burnaby)

"How do you find time in the day to do everything you do???", I'm often asked.  Generally, I don't even think about it because as the great Bertuzzi once said, "it is what it is...".  But there are times when I really wonder.  For instance, this particular day started at 9:00am at the PNE media tasting and then after that I headed into work.  Then leaving straight from work to hockey at 8 Rinks, where I got hit in the throat.  Quickly changing, showering and then stuffing my gear into my bag, I picked up Grace for our ChineseBites dinner at Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot.  Yes, poor me...  #firstworldproblems  And believe it or not, my biggest concern was whether I could swallow or not (hey, get your mind outta the gutter) or not.  It hurt, but I persevered and ate good food.  Again, poor me...

Joining Grace and myself, the usual crew of Diana, Rick, Alvin, Kevin, Sean and Amy were there to help us with the AYCE hot pot.  We were started off with some Salty Donuts and Sesame Crusted Bread.  These were to dip into the hot pot, but we ate them because we were hungry.  The salty donut was a touch dense and doughy, yet crisp on the outside while the sesame bread was light and fluffy. Following that up, we were presented with one plate each of Lamb and Beef Skewers.  I liked the lamb as it was flavourful with the usual accompaniment of cumin with a touch of spice.  I wasn't too fond of the beef as it was somewhat chewy with a few inedible pieces.

Alright, moving onto the Hot Pot, we got the soup base consisting of half spicy with peppers and the other half herbal with dates and wolfberries.  Loved the ying yang pot.  The herbal soup was actually quite mild while the spicy was not as hot as its appearance.  2 plates of Meatballs hit the table first including cuttlefish, shrimp, lamb and beef.  Naturally, the freshly made (ingredients may have been previously frozen though) meatballs were psychologically-pleasing (really!) and were texturally on point when cooked (good bounce and meat texture while tender).  Next up was a bevy of Seafood consisting of mussels, scallops, cuttlefish, sea cucumber innards, basa and shrimp.  Nothing was amiss with this selection.

Paying homage to the restaurant's namesake, we got thin slices of Lamb next. Despite the modest amount of fat, the meat was still super tender after a quick dunk into the boiling broth.  The same could be said with the Beef.  On a side note, as a public service announcement of sorts, please do not leave thinly sliced meats in boiling soup unattended.  That is a surefire way of overcooking it and rendering the wonderful meat into jerky.  Put it in and keep an eye on it.  Once it changes colour, take it out!  Sorry, personal pet peeve...  We were also presented with a variety of Mushrooms (oyster and enoki), Tofu (fresh and frozen) and Leafy Greens (tong ho, watercress, spinach and romaine).  Again, nothing to say other than they were fresh.  With hot pot, it really is about fresh ingredients and it's not rocket science, so kudos to Little Sheep for that.

Seeing how they forgot to bring us the best items on the menu (in my opinion), we decided to order some Offal including beef tendon, bible tripe, honeycomb tripe, pork liver and pork blood. Again, we found well-prepared items including tender tendon (oooo... alliteration!) and properly washed tripe.  We also tried the Garlic Beef which was tenderized.  Hence, it was flavourful and had a nice bounce texture.  We gave the Dumplings a shot too, but they were really salty.  Possibly a heavy hand with the seasoning?  Yet, that was the only item (and the beef skewers) we didn't like. Essentially, this was a pretty textbook hot pot where nearly everything was decent.  Located in the spacious old location of Sammy J Peppers, Little Sheep offers up some good competition for Top Gun Hot Pot at Crystal Mall.

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

The Good:
- Items were well-prepared
- Fairly large menu
- Spacious

The Bad:
- The DIY sauce station was getting a bit disheveled
- Food came out curiously slow 

Capstone Tea & Fondue (Robson)

A random cleaning of the living room yielded scrap paper, opened mail, flyers, an old Rick Astley CD (uh...) and a bunch of receipts. Into the shredder they go!  Wait, what's this?  Another forgotten Groupon?  Drat, actually a few forgotten Groupons...  I picked out the Capstone Tea & Fondue to discover it was expiring in a week. Seeing how I "never want to give it up", I quickly made an online reservation so that I wouldn't lose another Groupon to the dreaded expiry date.

One of the reasons why I bought it in the first place was because of the kiddies.  I thought they would enjoy dipping various fruits, veggies and other items into cheese and chocolate.  Well at least my daughter would because my son doesn't do veggies and fruits...  We started with a few drinks as it allowed us to get some extras with our fondue (more food essentially including a bigger helping of Ice Cream).  We got a Matcha Fruit Tea, Strawberry Real Fruit Frappe and Lychee Black Tea.  All did the job, but were rather pricey. As part of our spread, we got 2 each of the Traditional Swiss Cheese Fondue and Semi-Sweet Dark Chocolate Fondue.

If you can see it in the background, there were sprinkles, coconut slivers, graham cracker crumbs, roasted peanuts, slivered almonds and caramel crumbs for our dipping pleasure. I found the cheese to be rather thick, decently flavourful and good for adhering to the ingredients.  It was not very hot though and the serving arrangements made it easy to tip over.  The chocolate wasn't bad as it was also a decent consistency but it was overly sweet.  As the pictures illustrates, there was a selection of baby carrots, grape tomatoes, grapes, granny smith apples, bread cubes, pretzels, puffs, banana bread, cookies, banana, pineapple and strawberries.

Lastly, we got a good helping of Ice Cream Truffle Centers consisting of Green Tea, Strawberry and Cookies & Cream.  These were frozen solid which worked well with the fondue.  We couldn't finish them all because it was a bit heavy as a final item.  Even though we had 2 kids with us, there was enough food here for a big snack or light meal (but I wouldn't actually substitute an actual meal with it).  If I had to pay regular price, the type of food we got could be considered expensive.  But the whole point is to have some fun and that we did.

The Good:
- A fun activity whilst eating
- It's a social thing

The Bad:
- Not cheap
- The fondue set was cute, but easy to knock over

New Mitzie's

I have fond memories of Chinatown from my youth.  Bustling with activity, it was the hub of shopping and exotic eats.  I would remember heading to the Hong Kong Cafe for their prime rib and wonderful pound cake.  The lineup at Ming's and eclectic menu at Mitzie's, a restaurant ahead of its time (being a quasi-HK-style cafe).  Man, I haven't been back there in over 20 years.  In fact, the last time I visited Mitzie's was in Elementary school.  I can't even believe the place still exists, albeit with several ownership changes and now known as the "New Mitzie's".  With nostalgia on my mind, I rounded up Milhouse, JuJu and Kaiser Soze for eats after Sunday hockey.

I ended up with 2 dishes starting with the Salted Fish & Chicken Fried Rice.  There was a good amount of wok heat where I could taste the caramelization and a slight nuttiness.  There was ample amount of tender shreds of chicken, but I found the salted fish lacking.  Hence, the rice was not as salty as it should've been.  Unless I got a nugget of fish in each spoonful, there was little flavour.  My second dish was the Vermicelli with Ground Pork.  I found the texture of the noodles to be nearly perfect where it was chewy, stringy and soft at the same time.  It was seasoned well where it had a balanced flavour.  The crunchy bean sprouts added texture while the stir-fried ground beef and mushrooms on top added body.

Not to be outdone, JuJu had 2 dishes as well beginning with the Wonton Noodle Soup.  The soup base was not a traditional version by any stretch of the imagination. It was light and tasted like watered down soy. We weren't expecting authenticity either since Mitzie's is not a wonton noodle house. As for the noodles, they were too soft while the wontons were the all pork variety.  For his second course, he had Combo B which included Fried Rice, Almond Chicken and Chop Suey.  The plate of food was pretty mediocre with bland, yet crunchy broccoli and equally bland fried rice.  The almond chicken was crunchy, but quite greasy.

Milhouse decided on Combo A and it included Fried Rice, Sweet & Sour Pork and Chow Mein.  The rice was the same while the chow mein was dry and lacking in flavour as well.  The sweet & sour pork was okay with meaty chunks which were crispy.  The sauce was very vinegary which I liked, but Milhouse had a difficult time eating it.  Kaiser Soze opted for the Fishball Noodle Soup and he thought the noodles were far too soft.  Furthermore, the soup base was lacking in pop being too mild. Despite the average eats, it was nice to reminisce the ol' times in a place that looks pretty much the same from the inside.

The Good:
- Pretty comfortable digs
- Diverse menu
- Okay service

The Bad:
- Average food
- Not as cheap as one would think

Lin Chinese Cuisine

Having the title "best of" can be somewhat misleading.  What really quantifies this assertion?  Sometimes it is self-promotion and other times, it's based on a small sample size.  Case-in-point, Lin's "best in Vancouver Xiao Long Bao" was based mostly on Bob Blumer's show on the Food Network.  There was a XLB competition that only a few restaurants participated in (with the big boys being absent).  Thereafter, they were known for being the "best" as they won handily.  Personally, I like the XLBs there, but they are hardly the "best".  With that in mind, it was about time I went back to see how things were going.

Much like the last visit (over 3 years ago), we met up with Costanza and Elaine. We decided to order a wide variety of dishes starting with the Hot & Sour Soup.  Although there was a tonne of ingredients, the soup itself was lacking in depth and flavour.  Sure, there was spice to it, however, there was an absence of tang and body. The only thing that saved this from being terrible was the silky thickness of the soup and the aforementioned crunchy ingredients. Next up was the Hand-Pulled Roti with Curry Sauce.  We thought the roti was quite good with a crispy browned appearance which gave way to chewy bread.  I wasn't a huge fan of the curry dip though as it was rather lifeless and weird in texture since it was starch-thickened.

For the main event, we got 2 orders of their Xiao Long Bao.  As with all my previous visits, these were pretty good, but hardly the best in town.  I would like to think that Dinesty, Shanghai River, Chen's and Shanghai Wonderful would give them a run for their money.  I found the dumpling skin to be somewhat thin, but a touch doughy in places, especially at the top (which is quite common).  There was a decent amount of soup inside which had a nice gingery hit.  The meat was pretty soft and moist with no grittiness.  We also tried the Ginger Beef and it was pretty terrible.  Nothing particularly wrong with the beef itself since it was tender while having a nice crisp exterior. However, the sauce was just not right.  There was no ginger flavour or tang to speak of.  Rather, it was mostly sweet with a touch of spice.  It was as if they only used sweet chili sauce.

Much like last time, we had the Honey Prawns and they were more or less the same. The prawns were of a decent size and were fried up really crunchy while retaining a sweet snap.  So much so, they held up to the ample amount of sauce.  The sauce itself was pretty sweet and had thick fatty consistency due to the use of mayo.  This would've been a bit better if there was just a tad less sauce.  The smell of smoke from the kitchen persuaded us to get half of a Tea Smoked Duck.  Indeed it was smoky with super moist and tender meat which was quite flavourful.  However, the duck skin was quite fatty and not crispy at all.  Hence, it was not that appealing to eat.

Onto some more dumplings, we had the Potstickers next.  Glistening from the good amount of oil, it exhibited a nicely browned bottom.  However, it wasn't as crunchy as it should've been.  The dumpling skin was a tad doughy, but was okay nonetheless.  As for the filling, it was predominantly comprised of greens with only a little bit of pork.  I found the meat to be tender, but it was lacking in flavour.  For the kiddies, we got the Shanghai Fried Thick Noodles.  With a rich colour from the dark soy, the noodles were chewy and predictably greasy (probably a little too greasy).  I found the dish to be quite mild and lacking a bit in caramelization (despite the dark colour).


To get some veggies into our meal, we grudgingly ordered the Stir-Fried Pea Shoots with Garlic.  For $13.99, it was a pretty meager portion.  It was prepared mostly right though with vibrant leaves which were cooked-all-the-way-through while maintaining a bite.  There was a mild garlic hit, yet the dish was again, greasy.  And that was a common problem with the food here.  It was not only greasy, there was some seasoning issues as well.  Definitely not as good as the last few times and in some ways, disappointing.  Sure, the XLBs are still respectable, but if their food is that average, I'm not sure if another revisit lies in our future.

The Good:
- Decent XLBs (especially for Vancouver proper)
- Okay pricing except for the larger dishes

The Bad:
- Greasy with seasoning issues
- Robotic uninspired service 

New Town Bakery (Chinatown)

Next up on the list of revisits-to-restaurants-I-haven't-been-in-awhile is New Town Bakery in Chinatown.  Hey, it's not like I haven't picked up some of their apple tarts or dai bao in the last 4 years, but I haven't actually sat down for a meal. Sure, they are more famous for their bakery products, but Viv and decided that we should try the Dim Sum menu.  Why?  Well, we haven't found good Dim Sum in Chinatown and this was the last place we hadn't tried (and please don't say Floata is good!).

We started with the Sui Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumplings) which was mostly comprised of chewy pork.  There were a few bits and pieces of shrimp, but the predominance of the dense pork filling made the dumplings heavy and lacking in a variety of flavours.  Next up was the Haw Gow (Shrimp Dumplings) and they were below average.  The dumpling skin was doughy with no elasticity while the shrimp filling was mousse-like with some decent pieces mixed in.  In terms of flavour, there was really none to speak of as there was no natural sweetness nor the usual additions (such as sesame oil and white pepper).

Moving along, we had the Preserved Egg and Salted Pork Congee.  The base was a home-style version where it was both light in seasoning and thickness.  The ground pork was not really all that appealing as it didn't do a good job substituting for actual salted pork.  Fortunately, the addition of dried oysters added the necessary saltiness to the congee.  We also got the Beef Rice Noodle Roll which didn't look all that appealing at first.  However it was soft despite being far too thick.  The beef filling was pale, yet had a nice bounce texture.  Too bad there wasn't enough of it in relation to the amount of rice noodle.

Looking like a home-made version, the Black Bean Spareribs also lacked colour.  Apparently, proper tenderization was absent too as the meat was chewy (in a non-bouncy textural manner).  The predominant seasoning seemed to be salt (and not from the black beans either since there was not many).  At the very least, most of the meat was not fatty.  Lastly, we had the Phoenix Talons (Chicken Feet).  Being slightly undercooked, they were still plump with most of the fried skin still intact.  The tendon and cartilage underneath were slightly crunchy as a result. There was a good amount of garlic and seasoning as well.

On a separate visit, I had tried their Soy-Fried Flat Rice Noodles with Beef.  This was greasy as per usual (otherwise the noodles would stick to the wok), with tender slices of beef.  It was seasoned properly as well. One thing that could've been better was the noodles, they were pretty hacked up. While we were about to leave, we couldn't jet without getting some of their famous Apple Tarts!  Now be aware that the apple tarts are only good at the Chinatown location.  The crunchy sugary tops combined with the flaky pastry yielded to a sweet and slightly tart apple filling.  I like these, but I don't love them (maybe I'm not a dessert guy?). 

We got some Dai Bao (big bun filled with pork, ham and salted duck egg yolk) as well, but didn't take a picture of it though. On the other hand, I did take a picture of the Steamed BBQ Pork Bun and it was big and filled with lots of meat in a sweet savoury glaze. Okay, one more item because our son would whine and complain if we didn't pick up some Pineapple Buns as well. These were also fairly large where the sugary topping covered the entire bun (unlike some other places like Maxim's).  We thought the bun itself was soft and airy.  A little pricey, but the size and quality made up for it. This small sample of their baked and steamed bakery products clearly shows what they are good at.  Stick with it and you'll come away satisfied.  Just don't have the Dim Sum.

The Good:
- Good bakery products
- Large portion size

The Bad:
- Pass on the Dim Sum
- Bakery items a bit pricier than other places (but bigger too)

H-Mart (North Road)

Despite being full-blown Chinese (unless there is something I am unaware of), I often get mistaken for Korean.  Hey, no problems with that since I love Korean food, but tell that to the restaurant employees.  I can only give a blank stare when they speak to me.  I look either really dumb or someone who has lost the ability to speak the language. And yes, that is what happened when I recently went to pick up some take out at H-Mart - I looked like a really confused Korean.

Anyways, I ended up picking up a few items including a Lunch Box which included Kim Bap, Tteokbokki and Soondae.  Although a bit haphazardly-prepared, the kim bap was alright with decent ingredients.  The rice was a bit dry though.  As for the rice cake, it was also okay with a chewy soft texture.  The sauce was a bit weird though being more creamy than spicy.  The soondae was a bit too dry for my tastes but the blood had a decent texture. As a side, I added a side of Dak Kang Jung made with chicken wings.  Since they were sitting in a chaffing tray, the wings were not particularly crispy anymore, but the sauce was okay, being mostly sweet.

Lastly, I picked up some Japchae which was a healthy portion for the price.  I found the noodles still chewy and mildly flavoured (not being too sweet).  The ingredients were modest, yet adequate.  If I had to compare, H-Mart does a better job with their food in relation to T&T with their Chinese food.  Hence, for the price, I'd grab some takeout from H-Mart again.

The Good:
- Well-priced
- Decent eats

The Bad:
- A bit limited in selection
- Depending on your luck, you may need to communicate by pointing