dimsumfan

When did Shiang Garden start going downhill? Must have been really amazing before! Will have to check out your food picks - thanks! Would love more of a report on Xianheng (read a bit a few posts back). Please share when you have time!

You guys are killing me! I'd never been to Burnaby, and it was easy to find. Maybe I have a bizarre nose for food? I took 49th Avenue east from Vancouver. Just past Boundary Road you'll hit Patterson Avenue/Willingdon Extension. Make a left. As you head north, this becomes Willington Avenue, and you'll soon hit the intersection with Kingsway. The restaurant is just a few doors down from the northeast corner (where the other Chinese restaurant is) of that intersection, on Kingsway, across from the Crystal Mall, at 4539 Kingsway. You can try calling, but the employees' English is very limited! Good luck, everyone, with your search! I recommend parking your car near that corner and just walk, using the address as a guide...

Kalbi? Oh, translations are fascinating! Crystal Hunan Cuisine is across from the Crystal Mall. You can find it via Mapquest, as the address is 4539 Kingsway Highway in Burnaby. And the phone number is 604-437-0828. I have some work in Burnaby one night next month, so I'm hoping to go back there - though I'm anxious to try Chen's and also get back to The Place Restaurant, too!

I’m finally finding time to report back on my trip to Richmond/Vancouver/Burnaby over the American Thanksgiving weekend. Following our Chinese food frenzy in the summer, we were anxious to revisit old favorites, and discover new ones. This report will be a little less comprehensive than the last, which you can see chinese food frenzy. Thursday, 11/23 Long’s Noodle House: Business card says Loon’s, but whatever the name, we immediately noticed that everyone had a crock of drunken chicken on their table. And were we ever glad to order it. Amazing. The waitress, who was incredibly amiable, said it’s the house specialty. Everything we ate was good, including the xiao long bao (though the xlb are better at other places.) Inexpensive place, with seven dishes totaling $32 inclusive of tax and tip for four people. Drunken chicken that's simply intoxicating Golden Szechuan: We really love this place. It was hard to pass up the dishes we liked last time, but based on the suggestion of our server, we started with the pork tripe/hot & sour noodles soup, which was phenomenal. We love tripe, we love hot, and we love sour – and this soup was all of this and more. Next came the double salted pork (we also love pork bellies), and then pea vines. Delicious! A very hot hot & sour soup Friday, 11/24 Shiang Garden: Our absolute favorite dim sum place. Everything here is great, including the har gow which I raved about endlessly as being the best we’ve had in the world (see a photo at the above-mentioned link). Well… actually… not everything is great. When we saw xiao long bao on the menu, we figured we should give them a try. How bad could they be at our favorite dim sum place? Answer: incredibly bad. Maybe the worst xiao long bao in the world. Terrible wrappers that leaked broth which wasn’t worth saving. The worst xiao long bao... The Place Restaurant: From one extreme to the other… The Place is THE PLACE for the best xiao long bao in the Vancouver area. Alright, I’ve yet to try Chen’s (next trip), but we were shocked at the quality of the xlb at this little eatery. Not a very delicate wrapper, but how can it be when it’s holding in all that delicious broth? And not one was leaking! We were very happy following our bad xlb experience earlier in the morning. I’ve heard other dishes here are also very good, but we only tried the pumpkin dish and were disappointed, as it was boring with an off taste. ... and the best xiao long bao! Crystal Hunan: Sometimes Szechuan food just isn’t spicy enough, so we had to take a trip to Burnaby to find something spicier! Interesting place. Looks like it was once a Greek restaurant; if you look around, you’ll find baskets of fruit with breadsticks, empty wine racks, photos of Greek ruins, grapes hanging in the window, and a disco ball on a chandelier. I called to make a reservation and when I asked what kind of restaurant it was (making sure it was the right place), a woman answered, “Spicy.” And spicy it was. We ate chicken organs with white chili, a pork heart appetizer, an eggplant dish, small hot pot, and some veggies. Good stuff… though in the end, we liked Golden Szechuan a little better, as it seems to offer more variety. Mmm... organs Saturday, 11/25 Gingeri: We didn’t get here the previous trip, so we decided to give it a try this time around. Not bad. The har gow couldn’t touch the quality of the ones at Shiang Garden, but the steamed duck tongues with satay sauce were good, and we especially liked the steamed veal bones with red wine sauce. Succulent veal bones The Place Restaurant: We made a quick stop here to get more of that great xiao long bao before driving downtown to get chocolate sparkle cookies at Senses (YUM!) and then walking to the Rolling Stones concert (WOW!). Sunday, 11/26 Empire Chinese Cuisine: Not to be confused with Empire Seafood Restaurant at Westminster and No. 3 Road, this is a new place at 8251A Alexandra Road. We trudged through the snow to sample the har gow, crab pincers with tarot, rice with pork and salted fish, shrimp and scallop dumplings, and chicken feet in satay sauce. Unfortunately, the food looked better than it tasted. The har gow was bland, we couldn’t find scallops in the dumplings, and like most of the dishes, the chicken feet looked better than they tasted. Oh, we should have gone back to Shiang Garden! Scallopless dumplings And with the snow falling, we cut our trip short. Grabbed some food at Yaohan Centre, and were grateful to have it as it took more than 3 hours to get through the border crossing, and then more than four hours from there to Seattle. But we’ll return!

I watch the steam and have learned how to time things pretty well. Everyone laughs at me, but I really like the full soup sensation! But I definitely don't do that with the pan fried ones. I had them in Taiwan, I think, and know it's a no-no...

Yes, leaving in just a few days to go to the state of Veracruz. I've been doing my research and have lots of great food ideas. But would welcome any last-minute advice you might have!

Yes, it was Chocomoo's find, and what a find it is! But now I'm worried about my xiao long bao eating style. Like sushi, I like to eat it in one bite...

Definitely will - thanks!

Dude - went based upon your recommendation and you know what? I think we have a new XLB Champeen. They were swollen and full of soup like the place on Granville St, but thin skinned and the soup was clear, bright, light and delicous. Very Very GOOD! I mean - I can't think how they could improve. Damn you - just when I thought I found a Vancouver XLB place that could satisfy my needs. ← Canucklehead... at least you're within reach of the place! I'm stuck in Seattle craving the xlb. And to think that the original posting on this place was done the afternoon I left Vancouver! Now I have to wait until the end of February to give the place a try. Anyone have the exact address? I saw a place called Chen's listed at 8111 Leslie Road, but that's apparently old info?

Gordito's will soon close its Queen Anne shop. Not surprising. The place has been empty since day two of its existence. I hope some good hole-in-the-wall place can take root in upper Queen Anne...

So glad you checked it out and enjoyed it! You think the xlb at Shanghai Wind have thinner skins? I thought they were about the same, but that The Place has more broth that's also a bit more flavorful. But it's all personal preference. The Place's vinegar is so much better than Top Shanghai's, which makes a difference. I was going to have to bring my own black vinegar to Top Shanghai! By the way, I still owe a report on the Hunan restaurant. I will try to post something this weekend if time allows; I'm frantically getting ready for an eating adventure in Mexico!

I think we had the same thing: "Golden Sand" pumpkin or similar (that's what we determined from the Chinese characters). I don't think they're made from panko... just seemed to be some egg and flour batter and then fried. A big plate of just that for $8.95. A woman who seemed to be the owner came out to chat, as she's recognized us from the day before. She recommended trying the green onion pancake with sesame next time. Unfortunately, my next time won't likely be until the end of February.

Hmm... I think Samurai might be responding to feedback from the Japanese (and other) community, which would be a good thing. I've spoken with a number of Japanese people who've been to Samurai and like it, but lament that the noodles don't have the exact texture they like. I've noticed this difference myself. Great that they're offering a choice! And if too firm, then yes: the noodles do soften.

It's tonkotsu ramen. I've never seen tonkatsu in a soup, as that would ruin the beauty of the pankoed pork. Well, I take that back... I saw tonkatsu udon at a food court in Burnaby (near Vancouver) this past weekend, and walked by quickly. Find a photo of the ramen and more description here.

Ah, Chocomoo... I owe you thanks. Great find! FYI, they do have an English menu (just ask for it). We tried the pumpkin, but were disappointed with that. Not so special, at least for us. Noodles look good, and maybe we'll try the kidneys or another spicy dish next time. And certainly more of the great xiao long bao.

We've been sampling the xiao long bao all over Richmond/Vancouver. What a surprise to find the BEST of all, per an earlier tip, at The Place Restaurant (great name, isn't it?) at 8028 Granville. It's open 11-11. Not the delicate wrapper of Shanghai River, and still not as good as Joe's Shanghai in New York (or some places I've tried in Taipei and Shanghai), but overall the best in the northwest. The medium-thickness (less than Shanghai Wind's) wrapper holds a LOT of delicious broth. We even went back the next day to make sure it wasn't a fluke - and we were again happy. Our happy memories of those xiao long bao (and a couple of other dishes I'll try to report on later) helped get us through the horrible 7+ hour drive home to Seattle yesterday...

Back in Richmond/Vancouver again, and off to a great start! Thanks to the great tip below for our first delicious meal, at Loon's Noodle House (note the spelling, per their business card). Everything was good in quality, especially the drunken chicken (nearly every table ordered it). Green onion pancake was refreshingly not greasy. Spicy wontons were tasty. Xiao long bao was good, but not as good as at Top Shanghai or Shanghai River. The wrapper was a little thicker than usual, and they were a bit small - but the broth was good. Kind of on par with what Shanghai Wind serves. I was most impressed with our server. She was patient, pleasant, helpful, attentive, and smiled a lot - amazing since she was the only server for the entire place. What a welcome contrast to the erratic service at Top Shanghai and many other places! Four of us, a total of 7 dishes, with a final amount (including taxes and tip) of $32. Up next... a return to Golden Szechuan tonight, and then tomorrow to Crystal Hunan. We'll likely hit Shiang Garden, our favorite dim sum place, a couple of times before we leave Sunday. If anyone wants to join in on our Chinese food frenzy, perhaps for Saturday dinner or Sunday morning dim sum, feel free to PM me.

Yeah, won't make it to the Pacific Coast this time, but everyone's been incredibly helpful with making an alternate plan. Looking forward to good eating, and will report back. Regarding the bus situation, how is traveling on them with suitcases (airline carry-on size with wheels)? Overhead storage, or do they get checked into a storage area? And upon arriving at destinations, are there storage lockers if we're not planning to stay overnight in the town?

Interesting website. Anyone else been to this place, with other thoughts and/or recommendations of things to try?

Hooray... we're heading back up to Richmond next week for another food frenzy for the (American) Thanksgiving weekend. Any new food finds for us to explore in Richmond? I read about Ping's on another board, so maybe we'll give that a try. And will definitely try to get to the Hunan place in Burnaby, since the one closer to Richmond is closed. Thanks for any suggestions!

Glad you got there - and thanks for the report! I agree they are very similar, with Szechuan Chef providing a better atmosphere. Probably not worth the drive from Seattle for ordering the same dishes, but well worth it for the variety they offer - especially if you take advantage of some of their unique dishes!

Inspired by all your helpful replies (many thanks!), I'm close to canceling Oaxaca with the comfort of knowing that we can still have a great food/other activity trip to Veracruz (still assessing Michoacan, but now Veracruz is winning!). Luckily, I HAVE been able to find frequent flyer tickets to Veracruz - and possibly Puebla as well. A few questions: 1. Do you recommend trying to go to Puebla as part of the same trip? We'll have eight full days on the ground (excluding the two travel days), and I'm wondering if that will feel too rushed if we want to explore all that's in Veracruz (inc. Xalapa) in an unrushed way. Maybe I'm already answering my own question?!? 2. I've heard mixed things about Papantla (including one response in this thread), but we'd probably want to check it out - and also go to El Tajin anyway. Do you recommend staying overnight in Papantla? Or should we make it a daytrip from Xalapa? Or from Veracruz? 3. Lastly, any thoughts about doing all of this by public transportation (bus)? If you highly recommend a car for any segments, which would they be? Safe to have a car in this area? Oh - and would still welcome any other great foodie destinations in this whole Puebla/Veracruz region. I appreciate all the help!

This is fabulous information, and I really appreciate it. I did a little research on Veracruz last weekend, and looked into going, but there weren't any frequent flyer seats available to Veracruz for our timeframe. So I'm tentatively holding tickets for Michoacan. I guess I could fly into Mexico City and drive to Veracruz as an option, since I'd want a car anyway, but that's a bit of a distance, right? I'll have to research a bit more.

Not hugely flavorful, but sliced thinly and horrifically spicy in a back of your tongue, slow burning sort of way. It won't punch you right in the mouth, but you'll feel it in a moment. There's a pork belly dish that's fantastic, served with a preserved green. Not your typical chinese mustard, but a darker woodier plant. A little rich, but if you love belly, it's great. There's a lamb stiry fry (for lack of a better term) that's also amazing. Bell peppers and green onions if I recall correctly. I think I recall a strong cumin flavor which I love with lamb. My mom quite likes the fish head dish. It's good, but I'm not one to eat boatloads of them... ← Mmm... these recommendations have my mouth a-watering. Will try to get there at the end of the month. Thanks!

So... my travel plans for next month need to be changed. I'm looking for an interesting place to travel in the world that has inexpensive but delicious seafood eateries. Ideally, I'd love this place to also have great street food and food markets, and to be a central place from which to do day trips. Can't be too expensive, as I'm trying to keep my lodging costs down. The trip will be just under two weeks. Kind of an open-ended question, but looking forward to any and all replies. Thanks!