Jade Garden

As much as I have tried all the available Dim Sum in Bellevue, I have yet to try any in Seattle itself. It's even more curious that I haven't visited Chinatown, where the "best" Dim Sum could be found at Jade Garden.  Now, anytime something is declared the best, it is always debatable.  So I could only do one thing - go for a food adventure!  This time, Goose (fine resident of Bellevue) and his family joined us. Luckily for us, he directed us to free parking which is always a bonus - hey, it could pay for some haw gow!

On that note, we did get some Haw Gow (Shrimp Dumplings) and they were so so.  The dumpling skin was soft and gummy where it stuck to each other.  As for the filling, it was mushy with some bits of shrimp that had a mild snap.  In terms of flavor, I found them almost bland, but with a touch of sesame oil.  The Sui Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumplings) were okay with an array of textures.  Mixed within the fatty and mushy parts, there was some chewy pieces of pork.  The dumpling tasted quite sweet with a definite pork flavor.

Next up, the Black Bean Spareribs featured mostly rib and meat pieces with very little in the way of cartilage.  The meat was chewy while tender at the same time.  Although the visuals do not suggest a whole lot of flavor, there was plenty with just enough balanced seasoning. As for the Phoenix Talons (Chicken Feet), there was good and bad elements.  On the positive side, there was a good amount of flavor which was sweet and savory.  However, the chicken feet were too hard and had not been cooked long enough.  Hence, they were firm with crunchy cartilage underneath.

We ended up ordering both the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll and the Mushroom Rice Noodle Roll (not pictured).  I found the rice noodle itself to be relatively thick and dense, yet it wasn't too cumbersome to eat.  The shrimp filling could've had more snap, but at the very least, it wasn't mushy.  I liked the mushroom one more as there was plenty of filling which meant it was naturally flavorful.  With the same mild snap, the Shrimp Spring Rolls were crunchy, sweet and airy (due to the modest amount of shrimp filling).  Despite the visuals, they were not very greasy.

Alas, we couldn't get away without ordering the Lo Mei Gai (Sticky Rice) with four kiddies at the table.  We found it to be a bit dry, however, with the plethora of ground pork, it provided the necessary moisture.  Much like the sui mai, we could taste the pork since the seasoning was mild.  Although Xiao Long Bao are native to Shanghainese cuisine, we got an order anyways (this meal was Cantonese Dim Sum).  It was not bad with all things considered.  They were big with a chewy skin.  The filling was gingery with barely any soup.  Texturally, it was underprocessed, which made it chewy.

We then moved onto 2 fried items including the Fried Taro Dumplings. These were fried up crispy and not overly greasy.  I found the taro to be smooth and well-seasoned while the filling to be slightly dry.  It did taste okay though.  With a similarly dry pork filling, the Fried Dumplings were crunchy and somewhat greasy (but they always are greasy due to the glutinous rice flour).  On that note, the layer of glutinous rice was far too thick which may have contributed to that.  Moreover, with a thick exterior, it was a bit cumbersome to eat.

Also for the kiddies, we got a steamer of the BBQ Pork Buns.  These weren't bad as the buns were fluffy and not overly dense.  The pork filling was on the sweeter side though as it tasted more like candied meat.  Yet, what kid wouldn't like candied meat?  Hmm...  As it is abundantly clear from the picture, the Stuffed Eggplant was yearning for some real black bean sauce.  As such, the dish was lacking flavor despite the inclusion of shrimp mousse.  As for the mousse, it was firm (with little bounce texture) and added only a touch of sweetness.  The eggplant was fried nicely though as it wasn't overly mushy.

At the end, I had to get an order of the Bible Tripe because Dim Sum is not Dim Sum without offal (in my opinion).  This was decent as the tripe was tender while still retaining a chew.  Flavourwise, there could've been more ginger and green onion, but it wasn't bland at least.  For dessert, we got a couple orders of the Egg Tarts.  Within the flaky, buttery shells, the egg custard was semi-sweet and somewhat firm.  These were pretty good.  In the end, we thought the meal was pretty good for Seattle.  I'm not sure if it is necessarily the best as Top Gun in Bellevue does a good Dim Sum service as well.

The Good:
- Ol' skool push carts if you like them
- Decent service
- Decent eats for Seattle

The Bad:
- Busy and cramped
- For those who want to compare to Vancouver, of course it is not as good

Shanghai Cafe

Having only visited Seattle only a month ago, we made an impromptu return due to the fire hazard we were creating at Goose's house.  You see, we use his place as a mailbox of sorts for our US online purchases.  So we made the trek down and stayed our 48 hours to bring back goodies, including my brand new Canon 6D camera.  Pressed into action without even a single adjustment, the pictures in this post plain suck.  Anyways, with a decent Shanghainese meal the night before in Vancouver, we thought it would be good idea to try it at Shanghai Cafe in Bellevue (what were we thinking?).

Beginning with the Hot & Sour Soup, we instantly knew this was not going to be a typical Shanghainese food experience.  It was pale and not what we expected at all.  The prominent ingredients were enoki mushroom, button mushrooms, egg and tofu, which meant there was little-to-no texture.  Furthermore, the "hot" portion of the soup was mainly from white pepper which created an unusual flavor.  If this was called something else, it wasn't that bad, but it wasn't hot & soup soup as we know it.  Next, we had the Mongolian Beef, which was actually not bad.  The oil-blanched beef was somewhat chewy, yet not overly so.  It was bathed in a sweet, mildly spicy and savory glaze which was appetizing and screaming out for rice.

For my daughter, we had to get the Stir-Fried Pea Shoots and really, we need more veggies in our diet.  Yet, this was the farthest from healthy one could get as the whole thing was doused in grease.  One mouthful and our lips were protected from the cold more than a whole stick of Blistex.  On the positive side, the shoots were tender with some crunch as well as being nicely seasoned.  Onto the Shanghai Rice Cake, we were once again confused at the visuals.  Rather than the rich hue we are used to (with the use of dark soy), the whole dish looked like it hadn't been out in the sun in years.  Furthermore, the slices of rice cake were woefully overcooked being mushy and sticky.  Lastly, and we really didn't mind it, there was lots of seafood (typically, this dish has spinach, Napa cabbage and julienned pork only).

And for the most important dish of all, the Xiao Long Bao, it was crammed into a steamer far too small.  Hence, when we tried to pick up one, all of them came out and soup splattered everywhere.  However, there was very little of it and was predominantly sweet with not a whole lot of other distinguishing flavors.  To be fair, the dumpling skin was decently thin (albeit chewy) and the filling was moist. Okay, now I get it.  If this is the competition in Bellevue, Din Tai Fung has nothing to worry about.

The Good:
- Friendly people
- They tried

The Bad:
- Was that really Shanghainese food?
- A bit pricey for the portion size

Jin Jiang Shanghai Restaurant

As much as there are great places to get Shanghainese food in the GVRD, Burnaby doesn't seem to be one of them.  Sure, there is Crystal Palace and Shanghai Elan, but neither elicit tasty thoughts with the former being far below average.  With the departure of Wang's in Crystal Mall, there has been a XLB black hole of sorts.  Enter Jin Jiang located in the former New Age Chinese strangely nestled in the Best Western motel on Kingsway.

We started with the Wine Chicken which was a decent portion for the price.  With a properly gelatinized skin and only a hint of gelatin underneath, the chicken itself was somewhat firm.  It wasn't dry though and there was a mild xiaoshing wine hit.  Not a bad start.  Next up was the Seafood Hot & Sour Soup.  We liked how there was a good representation of scallops and shrimp.  On the other hand, they were a touch rubbery.  As for the soup base, it was decently flavourful with some depth.  I liked how there was a balance of tartness and spice where there was little reliance on chili oil.  Rather, there was heat built into the broth with chili sauce.

We also got the Shredded Pork with Hoisin Sauce to go along with a couple of fried buns.  The pork was not exactly chewy, yet was not overly tender either.  It was pretty obvious that it was not marinated in baking soda.  Depending on your preference, the texture of the pork would either be natural or not tender enough.  In terms of flavour, it was mildly spicy with lots of savoury elements.  There was was a considerable oil slick on the bottom of the plate though.  With the same grease issue, the Shanghai Pan-Fried Rice Cake was decent.  Each slice was toothsome and seasoned just enough with dark soy.  There was plenty of Napa cabbage but somewhat of an absence of spinach and shredded pork.

As for the most important dish of all, the Xiao Long Bao was also decent.  With a medium thick dumpling skin (which was not doughy), it was not hard to eat them.  The pork filling was tender and moist while the soup had a pronounced sweetness accented by only mild hints of xiaoshing wine.  Good for Burnaby I suppose.  Moving along, we had the Peking Duck, much to the delight of my son.  The duck skin was mostly crispy (with some soggy pieces) and it was good that they scrapped off the layer of fat.  Interestingly, they stacked the crepes one on top of each other in a bamboo steamer.  Totally impractical to remove as they stuck together.

The second course of the Peking Duck was the Duck Lettuce Wrap.  With a noticeable dark hue, the dish was impacted by the overuse of dark soy.  Hence, it was neither attractive to look at nor balanced in taste.  Also, there was an uneven ratio of duck meat to crunchy veggies.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they were generous with the duck meat, but then the texture was meaty rather than crunchy.  As we were dining, the whole restaurant was packed and it was a Thursday.  I guess there are not too many good Shanghainese options in Burnaby considering Crystal Palace is terrible and Elan is average.

The Good:
- Spacious restaurant
- Decent eats
- Decent service, but was overextended when busy

The Bad:
- Greasy
- Staff were overextended 

Cho Sun BBQ

Out of the blue, my son asked if we could eat Korean BBQ for dinner.  What???  For a kid who lives off KD and hot dogs, this came as a complete shock.  So after a visit to the Burnaby Museum with Guy Smiley and Girl Smiley, we headed off to Cho Sun. We were told it would be a 15-20 minute wait.  In my own mind, it didn't seem possible as the place was packed and with only a few big tables too.  Well, shiver me timbers, not only did a table open up around 15 minutes later, it was fit our party exactly.  

After we put in our order, we would never see any server until the food came and at the very end when the dishes needed to be cleaned off the table.  In fact, we went up to the counter to pay. The Japchae arrived first and it was a large serving with a good ratio of veggies to noodles.  Not a whole lot of meat in it though.  A touch greasy and clumpy at the same time (not sure how they managed that), it did taste good.  It was on the sweeter side with a hit of sesame oil.  The noodles were still chewy and the veggies were still somewhat crunchy.  Next was the Dolset Bibimbap which was not sizzling when it hit the table.  In fact, there was barely enough heat from the stone bowl to create any rice crust at all.  Forget about the crust, the darn thing was actually lukewarm which defeats the purpose of a hot stone bowl.  Despite this, the rice was not wet and the ingredients were good.

As a table, we got 2 C-1 Combos which included rice, soup, short ribs, beef, chicken and spicy pork.  Everything was textured as it should be from the tender (with a slight chew) short ribs, to the tender chicken.  One thing that was very apparent was the amount of sugar used in the marinade.  Dipping into the ultra sweet soy sauce made the food taste like candy.  The Banchan arrived last, which wasn't a huge deal as it is usually eaten with everything else during the meal.  It included green salad, kimchi, stewed potatoes, pickled daikon, sprouts and zucchini.  Nothing was out-of-the ordinary, but we found the potatoes extremely sweet.  Overall, we enjoyed our meal in spite of the shortcomings.  However, it is worth mentioning that there are better Korean BBQs out there.

The Good:
- Decent value
- Food is okay
- Food comes out quick

The Bad:
- Korean food can be sweet, but this was very sweet
- Service is but a rumour

The Boss (Metrotown)

Sometimes, convenience trumps everything (especially with kids).  As much as there are many dining options at Metrotown (in the mall itself), most are downright terrible.  Therefore, while we were there getting our Santa photos down (yes, this was in December), we went to an ol' standby being The Boss Restaurant.  Ah yes, I remember eating 2 dishes myself there when I was a kid.  No chance my son would do that, he can barely finish one small bowl.

Even with that in mind, I proceeded to order more than enough starting with the regular - Breakfast A + B. Huh?  No, this was not a skill-testing question or some sick algebra joke, rather, it was the combination of 2 breakfast items for one price (can be ordered separately as well).  The first dish was the Sunny Side Egg with Fried Basa.  What?  Fried fish for breaky???  Well, it was a whole lot better than the "wiener".  That's right folks, you get a wiener for breakfast at a HK-style cafe.  Hey, the fish was good being crunchy on the outside and super moist on the inside.  Eggs done nicely too.  The second item was the Ham & Macaroni in Soup.  Okay, breakfast is different here alright?  WYSIWYG really with this, but the chicken soup was decently flavourful.

For myself, I wanted some tongue.  Yes, I really did, in the form of the Ox Tongue with Spaghetti.  Now if the sauce looks a lot like watered down and sweetened ketchup, you are completely right.  Yah, it'll make Italians roll over in their sleep, but for a HK-style cafe, it's normal.  With that in mind, the sauce was a good consistency where it also had a balance of sweetness and tartness.  The pasta was somewhat al dente while the ox tongue was tender and fatty.  I offered Viv some, but she hates tongue (uh...). On the other hand, she loves the Baked Pork Chop on Rice instead.  With a very similar sauce albeit a touch more tart and thick (from the baking), it was pretty good.  The fried rice underneath was chewy while the pork chop was still somewhat crispy and moist.

For our last dish, we had the Pork & Preserved Vegetable Fried Vermicelli.  In years past, this would be made with BBQ duck, but they got rid of it (probably due to the high cost).  This was still pretty much the same except for the change in meat.  It exhibited plenty of wok heat where the dish had moisture, yet not dry.  In terms of flavour, I thought it was seasoned enough where it let the preserved vegetable do most of the work.  Once again, The Boss was a pretty predictable experience.  However, the portions have gotten significantly smaller over the years.  Also, it doesn't seem like the service has changed much either.

The Good:
- Predictable decent eats
- Food comes out quick

The Bad:
- Portions are kinda small
- Service can be iffy sometimes

Townhall (Coquitlam)

Normally, the regular routine would see JuJu and I go out for eats after Summer Sunday hockey.  However, in the dead of Winter, it seemed like a good idea to change things up and make an impromptu food adventure to Townhall in Coquitlam.  After all, he just had a kid, so getting out of the house for some beer and eats was the natural thing to do.  Wait, that doesn't sound right... He must have an understanding wife.  Wait...  I have an understanding wife!

We started with the 1lb of the Free Range Chicken Wings dressed in simple sea salt and cracked pepper.  These were of a decent size and fried up crispy.  There was just enough seasoning without being overly salty.  Although the meat was far from being juicy, it wasn't overly dry either.  Next, we shared the Townhall Perogies stuffed with cheddar and potato.  These were fried and served with onion gravy, applewood bacon, fried chorizo, green onions and sour cream.  Interestingly, I loved all the components except for the perogies.  The gravy was rich and flavourful while the meats were aromatic and flavourful.  The perogies themselves were dense and not really that crispy.

For our mains, JuJu had the Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich. There was nothing inherently terrible about the sandwich, but it was lacking in some ways.  The amount of meat was pretty modest and somehow, it was dried out from the reheating process.  I gave it a try and for me, it was okay, but it wouldn't strike fear into a real deli.  Now for myself, I was mesmerized by the Townhall'a Burger on the menu.  This monstrosity consisted of 2 7oz patties of ground Alberta prime rib with braised beef, crispy onions, fried egg, smoked bacon, melted cheese and a grilled prawn skewer on toasted brioche.  This was served with a full pound of crispy fries.  I actually like it as the meat was moist and well-seasoned.  From the runny egg to the crispy bacon, this was a solid, if not gut-busting burger.  Although the brioche was rather soft and didn't really stand up to the ingredients, I personally liked it.  As for the fries, they were indeed very crispy with very little potatoness left.  For the items we tried, it was 50-50.  Nothing was particularly terrible, but nothing was memorable either (except for the size of the burger).  However, I wouldn't be opposed to dropping by after hockey another day.

The Good:
- For what we had, it's decent for a pub
- We got okay service

The Bad:
- Food took awhile (probably because of my burger)
- A touch pricey

Wilbur & Sabastian's Smokehouse & Bistro

I gotta admit it.  Sometimes when I epic fail while visiting a restaurant (like finding out it is closed once I get there), I lose interest.  That was the case with Wilbur & Sabastian's out in PoCo last year.  However, when I found out that Double D (not what you think and a fine resident of PoCo) was going to join JuJu and I for lunch, it was almost too convenient that I gave it another go.  Interestingly enough, Double D didn't even know the place existed and wondered how I found it.  Remember, I have a 6th sense - I see restaurants...

We started with an order of House-made Tortilla Chips which were fantastic.  They were super crunchy, a bit thick and dusted with spice rub. For myself, I went for the full rack of Baby Backs with sweet onion bourbon BBQ sauce. There was an immediate smokiness which was just right where it didn't overwhelm.  The sauce was indeed sweet with a slight tang.  If the ribs weren't smoky and well-seasoned, the sauce would've been overwhelmingly sweet, but it was balanced in this case (probably the intention).  Much like the beef bones (will discuss later), the meat wasn't exactly super tender, but it wasn't hard to eat either.  I was a bit confused with the shoe string fries as they were just like any other fresh-cut fries.  With that being said, they were good though, if not a bit greasy.

If that wasn't enough, I had the Three Little Pig's Chili consisting of lean ground pork, shredded bits of smoked pulled pork, and chunks of smoked farmer sausage with some white beans.  Suffice to say, this was a meaty concoction which made it hearty.  There was a good smokiness to it and only the slightest hint of spice with some sweetness.  I liked the chunkiness of the tomatoes and only a modest amount of beans. Double D decided on the double (ironically) order of the 12 oz Double Smoked Farmer's Sausage.  The portion was not for the faint of heart since there was a whole lot of sausage on the plate.  I was able to sample some sausage (again, not what you think) and it was meaty and glazed with the bold & spicy BBQ sauce.  The only thing that could've been better was the temperature of the meat as it wasn't that hot.

JuJu went for 3 Beef Bones and they were of a decent size.  With a noticeable smokiness, these were sufficiently tender (with quite a bit of chew left) and fatty.  Think prime rib bones but with smoke flavour.  He originally asked for his sauce on the side, but they sauced his ribs anyways.  Of note, they happily redid his order (an indication of good customer service). His side of Butternut Squash Soup was natural tasting and slightly sweet, but a touch thin.  The wedge of cornbread was somewhat dense, but was okay being mostly sweet.  Believe it or not, I finished both of my meals to the shock of the table (they should be used to it by now!).  The food was decent considering that there is really no competition nearby.  Loved the good people there the most though.

The Good:
- Really nice people
- Okay eats (good smoke flavour)
- Really one-of-kind in the neighbourhood

The Bad:
- For those who like wet BBQ, this isn't it