Ling

I ate coconut rice pudding for lunch. It was made with basmati rice, sugar, eggs, 2 cans of coconut milk, some leftover evaporated milk (didn't have any cream at home), and vanilla. So simple and so good.

I made lemon meringue pie.

Yes, Vivacity is in the complex on No. 3 and Cambie. It's kind of hidden in the corner, next to Pho. No. 1. The preserved egg and dried oyster congee is indeed delicious! I also like their clams in black bean sauce.

I know they are closed Wednesdays, so perhaps that's it.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooOOOOooo!!!!!!! There's still a location out in Coquitlum, I think.

Our family goes to Deer Garden all the time. They have great food, especially the stir-fried long spicy beans! I also recommend the braised lamb hot pot that comes with the fermented tofu dipping sauce. I like the fried porkchops that are covered in this mayo sauce (the porkchops have a sweet glaze, just in case you're not into that.) Honestly there isn't much on their menu that we don't like. Prices are reasonable, but they do have some pricier options like live lobster, crab, and other seafood. I haven't been there for lunch so I don't know if the menu is different. The restaurant is always packed whenever we go. Deer Garden is located in this complex on No. 3 Rd., that also has a Hon's, a Chinese supermarket, and Shiang Garden Restaurant. (Sorry, I don't know the name of the complex). As jpyvr suggested, The Rainbow is also quite good. But their fried gluten platters are a rip-off since you can get a huge platter at T&T for a fraction of the price they charge at The Rainbow. Liu's Taiwanese Restaurant next to Richmond Sushi is also dee-lish, but pretty much only for their fried chicken. That's what everyone in the restaurant seems to be ordering whenever we go. I haven't really tried anything other than their fried chicken...but it's super juicy, and the coating is very crisp. It comes covered with this sweet teriyaki-like sauce. So yummy! If you're into Chinese bbq, the place for the BEST roast pork is underneath the Superstore on No. 3 Road. It's called BBQ 2000. There's usually a line-up but it's totally worth it. I can eat over a pound of it at one sitting. It's that good.

OOps I was unclear... I meant I made eight or nine different apple pies in the past couple weeks. (Each pie contained 4 or 5 large apples).

I actually don't like their gyoza very much, but I guess I'm in the minority. I prefer the Chinese-style gyoza (pork and chive dumplings). At Gyoza King, I like the kimchi fried rice the best. I also love the beef sashimi with the raw quail egg.

I've made a good 8 or 9 appie pies in the last few weeks, experimenting each time. The best results I got were from 3 large Fuji apples and 1 large Granny Smith for a 9" pie. I cut each apple into 16 wedges (about 1/2 inch thickness) then toss with flour, brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon. Finally, I saute the wedges in 3 tbsp. butter on medium heat for 7 minutes. There is just the right about of "juice" at the end, and the pie holds up beautifully on the plate--no leakage.

"T": Maybe it also has to do with the fact that people usually think my bf and I look like we're still in high school even though we're in our early 20s. Coop: Thanks so much for recommending Parkside. My boyfriend thanks you too! This was by far the best dinner out of the Dine Out places we went to. My boyfriend said he wishes he made reservations for "3" so he could have had double portions of the beef and dessert. I started with the lobster bisque. It was good, but not spectacular. I thought the soup was a tad bitter too. However, I liked how it wasn't too creamy. My boyfriend had the chicken and ham terrine with the brioche. I had a few bites and thought it was pretty good. This is probably the appetizer I would have enjoyed the most on the menu. We both had the beef shank (with shiitake, oyster, and morel mushrooms) and the sticky toffee pudding. The beef shank was outstanding! We're definitely coming back for this sometime soon. I also cancelled my parents' reservation at C and made a reservation at Parkside for them after tasting this dish. The little zuchinni pieces that were cut to the size of peas were so cute! There isn't much to add about the sticky toffee pudding since everyone has already raved about it. It was absolutely delicious. I especially loved the vanilla ice-cream--it is so rich and thick! I asked the server if it is made in-house and indeed it is. She said that the chef is working on a spiced rum ice-cream to serve with the sticky toffee pudding on the Valentine's Day menu. Cocktails were very nice and intensely flavored. I had the Lillet cocktail and my bf had some frozen blood orange thing. I liked mine better. I also asked the server abotu the coffee since I really liked it. She gave me the name of the company (Cacade Caffe? Casade Caffe? I can't really tell what the third letter is) and their phone number, but said she thinks they only sell to restaurants. Hope she's wrong! The room was nice and the server was friendly. It was a great evening.

I just had a wonderful meal at Bacchus. We both had the crab spring roll and the lamb sirloin. He had the chocolate cheesecake with cassis ice-cream, and I had the banana pecan cake. My lamb had the most delicious bit of crispy fat. It was cooked medium rare and though I usually like my meat rare, it was still good. The room was beautiful, the pianist was charming, and the service was impeccable. I would have paid $25 just for the lamb. Even though we didn't order wine at either dinner, we were dressed appropriately. I wore dress pants and a black lace tank at Hermitage, and a black cocktail dress tonight. I don't think we should feel obligated to order wine just to get better service if we rarely drink alcohol anyway.

My friends went to C Restaurant and Gotham so far. Apparently, the steaks were overcooked at Gotham and the portions were really small at C. My friend paid the $12 supplement for the lobster (with the steak entree) at C restaurant, and the entree came with 3 small slices of steak and 2 bites of lobster. They weren't impressed with either places.

I agree--I don't know why restaurants participate in Dine-Out if they don't want to give you a great deal on their food. They're just pushing away potential business. I remembered your post about the ceiling at Hermitage so that's the first place I looked when I sat down! It was indeed quite disgusting...all brown and splotchy. I don't know much about china, but I can tell you that our meagre appetizer (perhaps 2 level tablespoons?) looked even more paltry on the 12" plate. I took digi pics of our food and when I was showing my mom what we ate, she thought the orange painted fish on the plate was our appetizer since she couldn't see the little mound of food on the camera screen. The main course and desserts were plated on plain white dishes. I'm going to Bacchus in four hours. Hope the food is better tonight! :)

If I'm at home, I'll eat leftovers or something that I can make nice and fast--like scrambled eggs. Then I'll bake something in the afternoon and have a slice of that (usually pie or cake...sometimes cookies.) If I'm at school, I'll usually have a meal replacement bar and a treat from the cafeteria--like a date square or a nanaimo bar. Just anything I can eat with one hand while taking notes. Today I forgot to bring a lunch so I had a microwaved samosa and a nanaimo bar from the cafeteria.

Coffee Crisp was my very first chocolate bar. It's still one of my favorites. Haven't tried (or seen) any of the new flavors though.

My boyfriend and I went to Hermitage tonight. We both ordered the veal cheeks and lentils (in red wine shallot vinegrette) for the appetizer, and then he had the duck confit and potato galette for the main course. I had the red snapper stuffed with shrimp mousse and a sour cream dill sauce. He had the red wine poached pear, raspberry sorbet, and lace cookie for dessert. I had the Opera cake. All the portions were pretty stingy. The veal cheeks were diced and mixed into the lentils. It was definitely over salted. I had a bite of my bf's duck confit (portion size: 1 small drumstick), and it was just OK. My main course was good--the fish was very fresh, and the shrimp mousse and sauce was delicious. The little mound of rice (a whole 2 spoonfuls!) and the 1 spoon of steamed buttered veg on my plate were both pretty boring. My bf's dessert was the big hit of the evening--absolutely delicious! I'm sorry I didn't order this. The pear was so soft and not too sweet. I loved the raspberry sorbet--cool and refreshing. Hermitage billed my dessert as an Opera cake with lots of chocolate. Bottom layer was espresso-soaked sponge cake, then chocolate ganache on top of that, then plain sponge, then coffee buttercream. The sliver was topped with a white and dark chocolate cigar, and the plate was mapped with white and dark chocolate sauce. It was OK, but not an outstanding dessert. It's something that can be easily created at home, so I wasn't overly impressed but I'm not complaining either. Overall, the meal was worth the price, but the portions were pretty small. I ate a lot of bread and then I ate something from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory before I was full. Oh yeah, and then I had a donut at home. Well, you get the point--if I wasn't full, I can't see a grown man being satisfied with the portion size either. The service was really, really bad. The only words the server spoke to us all evening were: "Coffee or tea?" He didn't greet us, didn't talk to us, didn't even acknowledge us with a nod each time we thanked him for replacing our utensils or filling our glasses. I don't know why. He just pluncked our dishes down and removed them without a word. Did the same thing with the bill. edit: spelling

I think I'm going to cancel my reservation at Quattro and go to Parkside instead, after reading that review. I haven't tried sticky toffee pudding yet, so I'll order that for sure.

I had crispy roast pork, BBQ pork, steamed fish with scallions, soy and ginger, free-range chicken, braised mushrooms, Buddha's feast, soup with pig tongue in it (to bring prosperity?) prawns, scallops, pan-fried oysters, various veggies, and rice. My mom cooked everything. I also had a Chinese banquet-style dinner out with my family and relatives on the weekend. :) We had fried pigeon, lobster in cream sauce with noodles, sweet and sour pork, braised lamb with fermented tofu sauce, various seafood dishes (scallops, squid, etc.) free-range chicken, various mushroom dishes, and red-bean soup at the end (yuck).

cheesecake

I had a very soft, gooey, Rocky Road brownie. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be like that. It was yummy though.

What beautiful creations! Congrats on graduating at the top of your class!

Glad everyone had a good time even though the burgers weren't the best. I'm guessing the burgers at Moderne were better (at least, on this particular night?) Looking forward to those results!

I had hot, homemade caramel apple pie.

My mom used to make cream horns from scratch. I remember eating them as a kid and marvelling that anything on earth could taste that delicious.

One Godiva truffle? Such restraint! I could go through a box of those. Which flavor do you like best?