Boiling Point

Boiling Point is located right on No3 Road, in a strip mall just across from the Superstore.  No 3 Road is usually busy on the weekends but this strip mall was relatively quiet for a Sunday late morning.

We got here at about 11:30pm and the restaurant was almost full.  There were still some empty tables so we were seated right away.

The majority of the menu items were set hot pot meals.  You basically choose the the one with your favorite type of meat, spiciness.  The meals come with a choice of iced green tea or black tea.

We chose iced black tea.  It was quite good and was not overly sweet.  This will come in hand with the hot pots coming up.

We ordered the beef hot pot first. 

It was quite big with lots of meat and veggies to fill the pot.  They light up the fire at your table for the food to cook more before you can start eating.

You can choose the type of noodle to use for your hot pot.  We chose rice vermicelli for both.  For the beef hot pot, we asked for full spiciness.

This one is the seafood hotpot.  It is hard to see the seafood from all the veggies on top.

It also had a raw egg cracked into the soup.  It did have lots of seafood like fish, shrimp, fish balls etc.  We asked for medium spiciness but it was still very spicy for my taste.  Next time I would probably get mild spiciness.

The service was quite fast and efficient.  They also take credit card, which is rare for small Asian restaurants in Richmond.  The parking lot is not overly crowded so that made the experience pleasant to.

SFDD gives 4 out of 5 Delights.

Congee Noodle House - Vancouver

It's been a few years since  we visited CNH on Main and Broadway for congee.  We came on a Saturday morning before 11am. 

It was strange because the restaurant looked very empty.  From our previous visits, we always had to wait for a table so we were quite surprised. 

We ordered some Chinese donuts. They were done quite well crispy on the outside and doughy and soft in the inside. 100x better than the crap we got from Neptune Wonton out at the YVR outlets.

We then got the glutinous rice wrap.  The soy sauce was nicely separated on the same dish.  It was about the size of my fist. The rice, beans and meat in side the rice was very fresh and not overly salty, except for the salted egg yolk inside which some say is the best part.

This is the minced beef congee.  It was only so so because it only had a couple of small pieces of beef.  Normally, it should have quite a bit of meat.

Lastly we got the sliced fish congee.  This on the other hand had quite a few pieces of fish.  The congees were not overly salted or MSG’d and came to the table boiling hot like it should be.

To go with the congees, we got the salty Chinese donut. This was fried really good this time as it was crispy on the outside and soft in the inside.

Service was not bad as it was not busy at all so we did not have to wait too long for the food.  Parking may be a challenge as their parking lot is small and the spots are small.  We would suggest you park a couple of blocks away on the street and walk instead.

SFDD gives 3 out of 5 Delights.  If it weren’t for the lack of beef in the minced beef congee, we would have given more Delights.

Shang Noodle House - New Westminster

Shang Noodle House is located in New Westminster’s Starlight Casino.  We found a Groupon deal for this place so we decided to try it out.  There is also a location in Richmond too but we thought New West would have less people.  They serve a variety of Asian noodles.

We got here at around 6pm Saturday and the place was rather quiet but more people trekked in to fill up the place after 6:30pm or so.

The restaurant is large with a lot of seating.  It’s a rather casual dining area. When we first walked in it felt like a cafeteria because it was so big.  The service was quite good as the servers were quite attentive and friendly to bring us to our tables, take our orders and bring us tea.

For the Groupon deal for 2, you get a selection of appetizers, a choice of noodles from their menu, 2 pops and dessert.

The spicy wonton came first:

There were 5 pieces of the wonton in a spicy soy sauce.  It was a plump average wonton.

Then came the fried chicken wings:

It came topped with some fried garlic.  The wings had a good zing to it and was not too oily nor overly fried.  It would have been better if the wings were consistently sized.  As you can see there were a couple of mini wings.

For the main noodle dish, we both chose the featured ramen in lobster bisque soup with grilled pork chop.

The noodle was a rather large portion.  In terms of taste, the soup was not overly seasoned/MSG.  The noodles may have been a tad too soggy for our liking.  We would prefer the noodles to be more chewy (al dante).

The pork chops came on a side dish like this.

They were already sliced but as you can see, the pork chop was rather thin.

The dessert was mango pudding:

The mango pudding was quite good, it had pieces of real mango inside and was not too sweet.  We were quite full from this Groupon deal.  Overall the food was good and they did not skimp because we were using a Groupon.

This location’s parking was quite convenient as you can use the large casino parking lot.  You also don’t have to walk through the casino to get to the restaurant as it’s located outside of the actual casino.  The servers all seemed very friendly.

We’d certainly like to come back to try their other noodles too. Even without a Groupon, their regular prices are very reasonable for the portion they serve.

SFDD gives 3.5 out of 4 Delights.

Sanbo - Richmond

On Sunday night we went to Sanbo Restaurant on No.3 Road in Richmond for dinner with some family members.  Sanbo is located in the old Staples Strip mall, where Bob’s Sub is located. We made a reservation for a party of 5 for 6:30PM.

After we placed our order, the waitress gave us complimentary soup, which was big enough for five people.

The soup was made with chicken feet and pork. The soup was hot and did not have a strong MSG flavour.

The first dish arrived was soy sauce chicken. As this dish had to be reserved in advance, we were hoping it to be special.

However, it was over-cooked and it tasted just like one where you can buy from a regular Chinese BBQ place.  This Famous Chicken was $14 and note that it is only half a chicken.  It did not even taste like it was free range chicken as it was quite fatty. It was definitely regular chicken.

The second and third dishes were the deep-fried egg tofu with imitation crab meats ($15) with bak choy” and the peach sauce pork chop ($16).

Both dishes were freshly made and hot. The sauce of the pork chop was sweet with a hint of sourness and was delicious to be served with rice. They used boneless pork chop which deep-fried with a light batter and cut into slices before mixing with the sauce. It was topped with some fried walnuts which made it extra fragrant.

It took a long while before our last dish was served. We ordered the dried scallop on pea leaves ($16).  It looked delicious when we sat down at the beginning and saw the next table had it.

We specifically asked to have the same dish as the next table. However, when our dish came, it looked totally different. Instead of using sauce made with the long, thin white enoki mushroom, our order came with fresh Chinese mushroom.

In addition, there were only very very little yiu chu. Nevertheless, the “dau miu” vegetable was cooked with the right timing, so it wasn’t too stiff.

Overall, the size of the dishes were decent. However, they used too much corn starch in their sauce. Therefore, the sauce turned into a thick glue-like paste shortly after when it cooled down.

The restaurant also gave us complimentary dessert at the end, which was green bean paste.

Parking is convenient here as it is a large parking lot.  The restaurant itself is not too pretty.  It is packed tight with tables.  Service is average.  We had asked one of the waitresses to follow up with our last dish when it did not arrive.  She was absolutely sure it was on the way, and did not even bother checking in the kitchen for us.  After 10 minutes, the dish still had not arrived but this time we asked another server.  This person was kind enough to actually go in to check for us and made sure it was coming and gave us an update. 

Prices here are not cheap because they don’t have a set dinner menu so it’s pretty much a la carte.  It was rather busy though as people continued to wait for tables during our visit. The best dish tonight was the fried pork chop.

SFDD Gives 2.75 out of 5 Delights.

Kongee Dinesty - Richmond

After hearing some good things about Kongee Dinesty (not a typo), we decided to try it out Sunday morning.  It is located at Garden City just across from the park and ride lot.  We got there at about 10:50 am and we kind of knew about a special set menu which we were hoping to order from.

There were plenty of free tables yet a few parties were waiting at the door when we got there.  We thought, OK maybe they don’t have enough servers to serve those tables so that is why they are making us wait, fine, no problem right?  See final thoughts at the bottom.

So the manager looks at his watch and then starts to seat the waiting parties, including us.  This was at about 10:59 am according to my Casio.

This is the menu we got, it looked pretty straight forward where you tick off what you want in your congee. Seems fine, it is $9 though.  So we are thinking, it must come with a side dish like rice rolls or mini fried noodles or doughnut right? Not. 

You choose between 3 flavours of congee, 2 toppings and a garnish + a soy drink.

You do get a choice of soy milk though.  You can choose hot/cold, unsweetened, sweetened, or black sesame.  We went with regular sweetened, hot.

The soy milk was alright as it was not overly sweet.  It does not taste home made though, they probably just buy the same jugs you can find at T&T.

We ordered 2 congees and shared one order of Chinese doughnut which is a must have if you are eating congee.  The doughnuts were really good though.  It has been a long time since we had doughnuts this good.  It was crispy on the outside and very very fluffy on the inside.  It was big enough for both of us to share.

The first congee was regular broth with minced beef, lettuce and peanuts.  The congee was boiling hot when it arrived and tasted fair and had an adequate amount of beef.

This one is preserved duck egg with salted pork and peanuts.  It was quite smooth and not too salty nor too much MSG.  I realized it had lots of salted pork at the end as they were all in the bottom of the bowl.

Ok, food it was good but a little pricey though for $9, even if you are getting a soy milk.

We noticed the table next to us who were there way before us had a different menu.  It was a breakfast special menu which I recall seeing on Zomato.  According to the menu, the breakfast special was supposed to end at 11:30am so we wondered why we did not get that menu seeing that it was just a few minutes past 11am.  We asked the server and she said it ends at 11:00am.  OK so perhaps they have special rules for the weekend and holidays so I thought nothing of it.

But then I thought back to the beginning something clicked as to why we had to wait for a table despite so many empty tables.  The cheap manager did not want people ordering from the breakfast menu, so that is why we, along with other parties were made to wait until up to 10 minutes, until 11am!  Why else would he look at his watch before letting the hungry patrons be seated??  This is bad business practice which I am happy to share with you.

The restaurant is not very crammed and it is in a quieter part of Richmond without the traffic nightmares.  The lot is big but you can find free street parking as well.

Food is good but certainly overpriced for the non breakfast menu.  If we were to come back it will be for the breakfast special menu which looks to be better or at least, more fair value.  The manager’s timing of seating customers is unforgettable.

SFDD gives 2.5 out of 5 Delights.

Phoenix Garden - East Vancouver

Phoenix Garden is a Chinese restaurant located at Broadway and Nanaimo serving dim sum during the day and seafood dinner in the evenings.  We came here after seeing the line up at our usual Van Dragon on Hastings.  We were surprised Phoenix Garden didn’t have too many people when we arrived so we did not have to wait even for a Sunday mid morning.

It seemed to be a more cozy and quiet restaurant compared to Van Dragon.  The prices are slightly higher but nothing to be jumping up and down about.  They do charge for the tea here.

Their dim order menu is nice as it includes colourful pictures.

We didn’t order a whole lot since it was only the 3 of us.  This is the spare ribs with phoenix claw rice.  It was rather small but the price made up for it.  The rice was nice and chewy while the spare ribs were not too fat.

The shrimp dumplings were large and plump.  However the skin was not done very well.   The skin was too soft and had a strange bland taste to it.  Usually the skin should have a more chewy, elastic like feel to it when you bite into it.

This is the steamed ginger chicken bun.  The meat inside was rather small.  The bun portion was fluffy though.

They also had a special menu for fried noodles or congee.  We got this fried mixed seafood rice noodle dish with curry.  It was only $7 and was a large portion.

The rice noodles were quite fresh.  It could have used a bit more of the curry flavour though.  It did have lots of small shrimp.  I’ve never had this type of fried noodle dish but flavorwise, it is comparable to what a Singapore fried vermicelli would taste like.

When it came time to paying, the waitress was quite impatient and just grabbed the  credit card machine out of my hands after I pressed in my PIN. I thought that was rather rude as I was not expecting that.

There is plenty of street parking in the neighbourhood.  They may have a parking lot in the back but it is one of those really tiny ones where you can get door dings.  If you go during the weekday, we saw some posters advertising 30% off dim sum if you order before a certain time.  There is no discount during holidays or weekends though.  They don’t show it in the outside window poster, but have it as small print in the inside poster!

We certainly like to return next time to try their other fried noodle dishes as well as their congee specials.

SFDD Gives 3.75 out of 5 Delights

Copa Cafe - Richmond

It seems like Hong Kong style restaurants are getting harder to find even in Richmond as they are being replaced with mainland Chinese style restaurants.  At least that's what it seems like in Richmond.  Copa has a few restaurants around the lower mainland. 

This branch is located with the new T&T supermarket along River road, just across from the Oval.  There is underground parking but can be awkward driving up and down the lot.  You really have to use the mirrors set on the walls or you can collide with oncoming traffic navigating the lot.

We got there at 6pm and it was packed already.  It turns out people were here for the happy hour mini dishes that end at 6pm.

You can sign up for a points card.  This is our first time seeing a program like this from an Asian restaurant.

Copa has a couple of different menus to choose from  This one has the featured specials for $16.95.

This menu is the set menu for Chinese food that comes with a Chinese soup and drink.

We had a party of 4 and ordered a few items to share.  We first ordered the baked seafood on rice with lobster sauce.  It was kind of bland.  It was a tomato based sauce baked onto the rice.  Has fish, shrimp, mussels and imitation meat.  Although it was bland, size wise it is a rather large portion.

This is vermicelli with preserved vegetables and sliced pork.  It is fried with sauce so it was not a dry chowmein.  It was also a big portion with a generous amount of meat.  Taste is OK.

Next is a baked chicken breast on linguine with  garlic cream and cheese sauce.  This one really wreaked of cheese.  The pasta was not overcooked and just about al dente.  It was quite garlicky but could use some more seasoning for the sauce.

These were almost $13-$15 and because it was not happy hour it was a full sized portion.  No drinks or soup come with these meals.

The service was average as it was busy and typical with Chinese restaurants, nothing to write home about.  The food came out rather quick so that is a thumbs up we can give.

Location is good if you don’t want to drive out to No3 or Alderbridge where it is typically more busy.  Food can use some more seasoning.

SFDD gives 3 out of 4 Delights.

Fortune City Seafood Restaurant

Fortune  City is on the shopping complex at Renfrew and 1st Avenue.  We haven’t been here since it changed from No 1 few years back.  We still recognized some of the wait staff as they seem to shift from one restaurant to another if it closes down.

We were here with a party of 4 on a Friday morning.  It was quite packed at 11am, must have been the first round of dim sum patrons.  After we got our table, it slowly quieted down with no body waiting for tables after we sat for 15 minutes.

We didn’t order a lot since there were only 4 of us. 

This is the dried shrimp with green onion rice roll.  The rice roll was very fresh like it just came off the rice roll maker.  It had a generous amount of green onion on it and came with the usual peanut/sesame and sweet bean sauce.

This is the thousand layer cake.  It is kind of like a Malay cake with some layers of creamy sweet paste in between.  It was quite fluffy as it came straight out from the steamer.

The stuff eggplant came with 3 big pieces.  The stuffing was a fried shrimp stuffing.  The eggplant was cooked soft and melts in your mouth which was good.  A bit too much sauce for our liking though.

Spareribs on rice came in a larger clay pot.  This seemed larger than other places.  The spareribs were not too fat and were quite tender.  It had some cubes of squash mixed in to give it a tad of sweetness.

This is the BBQ pork rice roll.  Again, the rice wrap was very fresh and soft, just like the green onion rice roll from before.  It was certainly made to order and the BBQ pork inside had the right mix of fat and lean meat.

This time we went for the baked BBQ pork bun instead of the steamed.  This one usually tastes a bit sweeter as has a shiny layer of sugar glazed at the top.  These tasted good and the BBQ pork was not too fatty.

Finally we had the shrimp dumplings.  They were large and plump.  The skin was not too thick and did not stick awkwardly to the bottom of the basket.

Prices are reasonable here and like other places in Vancouver, if you come before a certain time you will get a small discount like 10% off, or free tea.  Try to find street parking because the parking stalls inside this mall are very narrow and inconvenient to manoeuvre around.

SFDD gives 3 out of 4 Delights.