Fluffy

We have a wide variety of tim tams in Hong Kong: vanilla, coffee, mint, dark, caramel... What exactly is a double coat? There's also Gaiety which looks a lot like the tim tam. Amazingly, I haven't tried any yet! There's way too many choices, although I just picked up a box of the milk chocolate Lu Petit Ecolier for HKD10.90! (Divide by about 7 for Cdn dollars) So far, I haven't seen any dark chocolate ones anywhere. I actually still like the Oreo - it comes in a "lightly sweet'' flavor which is the regular cream but the sweetness is just right. I finished a whole box in one sitting.

What about goat milk powder? I have a 1 lb bag... I tried dissolving a teaspoon in hot water (following the instructions) but clumps floated to the surface and wouldn't dissolve, even with vigorous stirring.

^ It's the result of student budgets and large quantities of food. I personally don't like it because the rolls are made massive mostly because of the packed-on rice, but my friends seem to think it's good value for the size. Their salmon sashimi is decent.

I tried calling around at the Capers in December and they all said they didn't carry it anymore. I even went in-person to the one on W.4th with no luck. When and at which location did you get yours from?

Hi everyone, Unfortunately, the marinated egg I saw looked like a sliced mini-omelette with some soy-based sauce. It's not the tea-soaked eggs or the "lo sui" egg (soy-soaked? don't know the exact translation) that you may be thinking about - although I think one of those was also a choice! (hard-boiled in halves) I also just remembered the stall on the right of the Pearl Castle bubble tea stall in Parker Place has a pretty good "ci fan" as well. HTH!

I think what your niece is thinking about is the "Ci Fan" (literally, "sticky rice") typically found in cuisines of the region around Shanghai. Some Taiwanese restaurants have it too. Either savory or sweet -- you have to specify which when ordering -- it is a big part of Shanghainese breakfast, alongside soybean milk and plain yao tieu. The contrast of the crunchy yao tieu and the sticky rice is what makes it so attractive. Add to that the crispiness of the bits of pickle ("Za Cai") and the aromatic dried pork shreds ("Ro Song"), the savory version is my favorite. I believe the sweet ones are made with sugar in the place of meat and pickle. ← I was just talking about this dish the other day during lunch with some Vancouver eGulleters! More specifically, I was lamenting the fact that the only restaurant I knew of in town that sold it has been closed for about 8-12 months now and I haven't been able to find it since. The Shanghainese restaurant I once frequented served the Ci Fan with Ro Song also sprinkled atop the roll. ← In the Yaohan Osaka supermarket, you have your choice of regular OR black sticky rice. You then get to pick FOUR different fillings, some of which include the dried pork, preserved veggies, marinated eggs, beancurd, ham, salmon, eel, seaweed, spicy mushrooms and several others - total = $2.25! (if I remember correctly)

I picked up a green tea mousse Pocky yesterday from T&T supermarket in Richmond. It has a thick coating and not too sweet...yum!

Great blog! I appreciate all the effort and time you put into creating this - hope you will continue to post more every now and then. Those pictures are truly a feast for the eyes. I need to go out and do some more exploring!

I haven't had time to post in awhile, but I will put my work aside just long enough to respond. I am hesitant to mention this Shanghainese restaurant as it is already always packed at night and the place is quite small...but Shanghai Wind is IMO the best for xiaolongbao. Their other dishes are great as well, but many of my Shanghainese friends even agree that the xlb is pretty close to Shanghai standards. It's on no.3 rd in Richmond across from Richmond Centre in a little strip mall type place. As a side, the tantan noodles at Northern Delicacy (dunno if that's the correct name but it's on the 2nd floor of Aberdeen Centre in Richmond) is the best I've had so far - and I've tried quite a few! Dimsum is great at Ocean Harbor (across from Yaohan) and Yuu (Alexandra Rd in Richmond). Yuu has some interesting dimsum dishes, not just the run-of-the-mill shrimp dumplings and shiu mai.

I agree with the above comments. I was not complaining about the food in my post. I had even talked of plans to try some items off the regular menu in the future during that visit. It's too bad that the halo effect came into play as Sean read some of our posts. Anyway, I hope we can let sleeping dogs lie... On a side note, hello everyone. I got off on the wrong foot but I hope I can start again with a (somewhat) clean slate.

I just returned from dinner at the Irish Heather tonight. Since this thread is already started, I thought I would post my review here. I started with the Smoked Tomato Soup, Creme Fraiche, and Basil Oil which my dinner partner liked. My main was the Coq Au Vin And Caramelized Onion, Celery Root Puree, Green Beans, Pan Jus. I have never tried this dish before, but I liked how the chicken was wrapped in the onions. The celery root puree was light and had a melt-in-your-mouth quality; it tasted like celery flavored mash potatoes. For dessert, I had the Jameson Whisky And Dark Chocolate Pot Au Creme, Raspberry Compote, and Sugar Cookie. The mousse was creamy and thick and there were enough raspberries to eat with the mousse. I liked that it wasn't overly sweet, and the chewy sugar cookies were a nice touch to dip into the mousse. I drank a Ginger Lady cocktail made with Paddy Irish Whiskey. My dinner partner had the Salmon Ravioli, Lemon Caper Beurre Blanc which we thought at first was made with tuna. His main was the Dark Beer Braised Beef Shortribs, Blue Cheese Polenta, Spinach and Fennel, Pan Jus . The beef was moist and I ate the polenta because he doesn't like blue cheese. He had the Apple Tart Tatin, Cinnamon Ice Cream, Sour Cream Sauce for dessert. I didn't see any sour cream sauce and the ice cream was 75% melted when it came to the table, but he liked the tatin. He drank a Snakebite, made with Harp Lager and cider. The food overall was not bad and a good deal. However, it was almost 20 minutes before we had our water poured and we had to search for a waitress to take our order. When she came into the area to give some utensils to another table, I smiled at her as a signal that we were ready to order, but she only smiled back and walked away. Perhaps I should've waved her over instead. Two other tables came later and she had their water poured before they sat down, asked them what they wanted to drink and checked up on their meal every so often, while we were relatively ignored. I had expected somewhat better service as Sean had sounded very courteous and accomodating in arranging reservations on the phone. I would return for the food, but I hope the service will be a little more attentive than it was tonight.