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mvpbonds

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Everything posted by mvpbonds

  1. Dim sum at Phoenix is about as good as you can get in Chicago. I've enjoyed my lunches here but the staff seems very snobby.
  2. How about Farm House in Causeway Bay? Their deep fried stuffed chicken wings are amazing! Make sure to reserve them in advance. Farm House 1-2/F AIA Plaza 18 Hysan Avenue Causeway Bay
  3. mvpbonds, Is it the same as the plant being discussed in this thread? It's well known among gardeners that harvesting just about any vegetable when it is younger is more pleasing to the palatte in terms of flavor and texture. ← Yes, I am talking about "Yin Choy." Just had some this weekend.
  4. How is it not the same? Is it a different variety? Or is it simply older? ← The kind in the markets is older, larger and doesn't taste quite as tender, IMO.
  5. My mother's friend grows red spinach and we pick it when it is still young. The kind in the markets isn't the same.
  6. I like Makino Chaya on King more than Todai's. Makino Chaya is AYCE but you can order items off a menus (3 at at time) as well as go to the regular buffet line. Ironically, Makino Chaya is owned by the former owner of Todai.
  7. My ears are burning. If any readers have stories about the old Columbia Inn (Kapiolani), I'd love to hear them. I'm Tosh Kaneshiro's granddaughter, but a katonk who was still pretty young when the place turned over to Kyotaru. Of course my family tells me some stories, but I am always on the lookout for more! ← No stories here but I really liked the oxtail ramen at Columbia Inn.
  8. Sorry to resurrect this old thread. I miss Sis Kitchen. This was a really great restaurant. Does anyone know if any of the cooks (sisters) here have resurfaced at other restaurants?
  9. Does anyone know how the oxtail at Nazo's compares to Kam Bowl? Is it worth the drive from 4 Seasons Wailea?
  10. Order off the menu at Floata. I'd go early, 30% off sounds like a good deal to me.
  11. I just got back from my cruise & trip to Vancouver. Thanks again to all for the suggestions! One thing I learned is to always make reservations even for dim sum. On Sunday I tried to make reservations for dinner at Kirin (Richmond), Kirin (Cambie) and Sun Sui Wah (Richmond) and got shut out! Making reservations for Chinese food in LA is almost unheard of. At major restaurants like Ocean Star and NBC in Monterey Park they will not accept reservations. I was able to get dim sum for 3 of my 4 lunches in Vancouver. First was at Sun Sui Wah (Main Street). I got here at 100PM on Saturday and waited about 20 minutes for a table. There didn’t seem to be much of a selection of food at the time so when we did see carts we pretty much grabbed everything we could. The bill here ended up being the most expensive but probably because we ordered a lot. On Sunday I got to Kirin (Richmond) at 1130AM and was happy to find a great parking space and the waiting room practically empty. Unfortunately I didn’t have a reservation and was turned away (along with several other parties). I tried driving down No. 3 Road to find another restaurant and saw the sign for Shiang Garden. I pulled into the parking lot and saw the lot was jammed so I made a u-turn and kept driving until I saw Floata. I found a good spot and was able to get a table here immediately. My Dad liked the food here. I liked the Shark’s fin dumpling in soup for $2.50. I think they had a special for “jung” there since I saw many tables ordering this. When we left there were about 15 people waiting for tables. I noticed when I left that Floata has a special for 30% off between the hours of 830AM-1100AM. I also got some good beef jerky from the Singapore jerky place in the mall. Anyone know what happened to “Jimmy’s” beef jerky? I looked for this at the markets but couldn’t find any. FYI for USA visitors…you are not allowed to bring beef jerky from Canada back to the USA due to Mad Cow. Pork and Salmon jerky are OK. My last dim sum meal in Vancouver was at Kirin (Cambie). This turned out to be the best dim sum of the trip. My favorites were the Siu Mai, Duck Cheung Fun and the deep fried prawns. The jook with pork and preserved eggs was also very good. I was disappointed that they only steam their Loh Bak Goh. I have to have mine pan fried. Kirin was the only restaurant that didn’t charge for tea so we tried two kinds. The family consensus for dim sum was 1) Kirin 2) Floata 3) Sun Sui Wah I was able to find a whole goose at Sam Well BBQ (next to T&T market in Richmond). You have to order 1 day in advance and it was worth the $48. The goose had great taste and was not fatty like duck. The owner of Sam Well also gave us a large serving of rice and some soup for an extra $2. Now to dinner….my first dinner was at Landmark Hot Pot House and I really enjoyed this meal. We ordered the fatty beef, lamb, assorted meat balls (pork, shrimp, squid, fish), tung ho, live shrimp ($19/lb), bean thread noodles and chicken/mushroom rice in a clay pot. The rice is a great deal at $5.50. I thought the service was very good here. Next dinner was at Koon Bo (Fraser). We had the West Lake soup, crispy chicken, seafood combo. In Taro nest and the honey garlic beef with walnuts. I tried to order a squab but they were all sold out. Service was so-so here but the restaurant was very crowded. I tried to look at what other tables were ordering and the Peking duck and the hand shredded chicken seemed to be popular. My last dinner in Vancouver was Monday evening at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. Mondays is when they offer the 2 for 1 3 course dinner. This turned out to be the worst of my (3) dinners in Vancouver. The roast pork was overcooked and when I asked my server for more salad dressing, the server gave me the stink eye before replying. I understand the servers are not paid here but these future chefs need to understand how important service is. I know Tim Horton’s is not that popular on e-gullet but I was addicted to the chocolate Timbits. I also enjoyed the Canadian Maple with custard filling. It didn’t help that there was a Tim’s right next to my hotel. I also got some good egg rolls and meat filled cookies from Tim’s dessert’s in the Aberdeen Centre food court. They had good prices too. It was only $4.50 for a dozen of the meat filled cookies. I’m looking forward to my next visit to Vancouver!
  12. Hi Dumpling Girl, I don't think I'll be sick of it. I was in Guangzhou last year and had it 5 days in a row.
  13. I don't mind driving for good food. The traffic can't be any worse than it is in LA. I probably won't try Sea Harbour. I've been to the branch located in Rosemead. I had a very good dinner there. I appreciate all the suggestions...can't wait to try these restaurants and get my fix of Tim Horton's donuts.
  14. Anyway - has your friend been to Double Double on Kingsway? I will try the congee at Tsim Tsai Gai to test this out. I simply don't want it to be the case that the best examples of all Chinese food items are all in Richmond. ← Oh man, I tried Double Double for the first time on Saturday (I skipped my workout to go!! ). We got lots of food. First, we got 2 kinds of congee ("kup dai" & "tang jai", as in pork internal organs (minus intestines, I think? *shudder*) and seafood). The liver in the "kup dai" congee was really fresh, & not overcooked AT ALL (the liver in congee I've had in the past has been grey & hard). There were also some small pieces of pork in the congee, kidney, & some other kind of organ (of which I had a good piece & a bad piece). The "tang jai" congee was also quite good. I think this congee differs from the higher-priced seafood congee (which sometimes contain scallops & prawns) in that it typically uses less expensive ingredients like cod & squid. There were also some roasted peanuts sprinkled on top. The congee itself was quite good - a little too thick for me though, although the flavour was quite nice - the "tang jai" seafood had a nice seafood taste without being too fishy. Of course we got the obligatory Chinese donuts - both the long "you ja gwai" & the "ngau lei so" (beef tongue, so called because of the shape, I guess?). Normally I don't like "ngau lei so" because of the heavy baking soda flavour. The dough that it's comprised of is generally denser than the regular long Chinese donut, & the outside is also sweet. The ngo lei so at Double Double was so good! It's the only place I've ever had ngau lei so that I actually liked - no baking soda taste! My grandma says that the ones in Hong Kong usually also have a bit of "nam yue" (red fermented tofu) flavour added in as well, but these ones didn't. We also had fried wontons ("gum lo wonton") which came with the usual sweet & sour sauce (we could've used a bigger plate of it though), which were nice, light & crisp. The wonton had 3 crisp shrimp inside - probably the best fried wonton I've ever had. Different from the ones at Jade (on Alexandra), where the focus is on the sweet & sour sauce (with scallops, fish, & prawns). I think that the traditional fried wontons have very little filling though - just a tiny little ball of pork filling, & a giant piece of "skin" - although apparently the sauce has stuff in it, like bbq pork & other stuff. Also got the "foong sa" (wind sand?? I think the "sa" in the name comes from "sa geung", as in that ginger spice mix) deep-fried chicken wings. WOW, were the wings plump! Quality wings, with less ginger flavour than I expected - I think I like the ones at Aberdeen Centre better - the original foong sa wings! Double Double's wings are cheaper than the Aberdeen ones though, & are better quality. We also got Chinese radish pan-fried cake ("law bak go") which was not that great (but at least not too greasy) & stir-fried soya sauce egg noodles (not bad, again not too greasy). ← Gum Lo Wonton? That's the magic word! I'm going here to try it. It surprises me that this simple dish is difficult to find here in LA.
  15. I think after a weeklong cruise with no Chinese food I will have a big craving for it. I've also heard so much about the great Chinese food in Vancouver. I want to compare it with the food I eat in Monterey Park/Alhambra/San Gabriel. Thanks to everyone (especially canucklehead) who has responded with suggestions. Keep em coming!
  16. I can get by OK speaking Cantonese. I prefer dim sum places with trolleys. As long as I'm asking for tips, any rec's within reasonable walking distance from the Hyatt?
  17. I'm staying in downtown but I will have a rental car. Richmond is on my list of places to visit. I will check out that thread too.
  18. I will have (3) days in Vancouver later this month and I want to eat dim sum every day. I'm going to try Kirin and Sun Sui Wah. Please tell me where to go for the 3rd day. I'm also going to try Landmark for Hot Pot. I also want some Roast Goose. Should I assume that most Chinese BBQ joints will have goose? I'd also request a rec for a good homestyle Cantonese meal. Thank you.
  19. Sea Star is a good hot pot place. It did not use to be Coriya though. Go there on your birthday and they will give you a $10 GC to use on your next visit. I like going to NBC for dinner Mon-Fri when they have special menus. When they have wintermelon soup, it's the best deal in town at $8.95. Ocean Star dim sum is also good Mon-Fri. That's when most of the basic dim sum dishes are only $1.70. For hot pot (all you can eat), I think it's this one: 海星自助海鮮火鍋 Sea Star Hot Pot 740 E. Valley Blvd. Alhambra 91801 626-282-1883 that I tried a while back. They might have changed hand. I think they used to be "Coriya Hot Pot".
  20. A new Roy's restaurant just opened recently...it's a few blocks away from Staples. I can't wait to try their Chocolate souffle.
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