chocomoo

I thought it was called Cabin 5555? Anyway, I heard that they are owned by the same people who owned the Taiwanese restaurant in East Van a long time ago - famous for their stinky tofu. They also serve bubbletea (didn't look too appealing to me though - while I was driving by I noticed people drinking the regular powdered bubbleteas). Looks like they will be giving Cute Pearl House (I love their Taiwanese fried chicken!) a run for their money.

The day before yesterday: dried cuttlefish strips - I haven't had them in such a long time, I forgot they were so good! Yesterday: garlic & chive verdelait cheese (according to the Natural Pastures website, a combo of cheddar, gouda & raclette) while watching Criminal Minds.

^ Nonono, Red Star's around 67th & Granville, but this place is within the same block as Starbucks. The food is entirely different - this new place specializes in Northern Chinese & Shanghainese types of food. Much more rustic than Red Star's dim sum We don't even bother going to Red Star on the weekends

I've been meaning to post this, but there's a newish Chinese place that's a couple of storefronts away from Shanghai Palace on Granville @ 64th. The focus is on both Shanghainese & Northern Chinese food (there are 2 separate sections for the different styles). Yes, they make xiao long baos! Juicy filling (lots of soup, juicy pork), although the skin is not as delicate as the Shanghai River ones. Other standouts include: - the "fun pei" (noodle skins? I have absolutely no idea what they're made from). Nice chew to the noodle, lots of sesame flavour, really garlicky (it tastes like they use raw garlic, although I didn't seen any garlic bits in it), and also spicy! - lamb skewers (not always available) - it's more like lamb + tendon bits on 2 skewers, but the complex flavour is distinctly Northern Chinese, grilled with spices I don't recognize (my only complaint is that it wasn't served hot) - the "golden sand pumpkins" - basically pumpkin mochis (as in mochi made with, not filled with, pumpkin) rolled in panko & deep-fried - not greasy at all! Unfortunately, the menu is all in Chinese. I'm lucky I was with my family the times I've eaten there! They also do takeout.

I'm sooooo glad I never had to drink Chinese herbal tea made from bugs that my mom & her siblings had to drink! Honestly, how did anyone ever get the idea that drinking boiled bug juice would make you feel better? I find that Chinese medicine goes down better if it's been refridgerated (although I'm told that that kind of defeats the purpose). I always really looked forward to my reward of haw flakes after that bottomless bowl of black liquid (how's that for alliteration?).

For the curious, "pak chan" or "ba zhen" means 8 Treasure (it contains 8 different herbs). Some treasure! I'm not sure if I've had pak chan soup before, but I hate all Chinese herbal "soups". The worst part is when you get to the bottom of the bowl & there are bits of twigs & leaves

Wow, I've never had bo jai fan with chicken soup poured back in after the rice is done! Jade in Richmond has an octopus & ground pork rice ("jeung yue yook sui fan"), but it doesn't have crispy rice bits in it Then again, it's merely served in a bo jai, & it's not called bo jai fan on the menu. Although I think the first few times we had it, it did have the crispies. I still like it though! Ling, I don't like wo ba either

^ Isn't there supposed to be a good source of lap cheung at Parker Place? I think it's close to the food court? I always hold my breath when I walk by because there's a seafood place next door & you get this huge whiff of raw meat+fishy seafood. I haven't had lap ap since the last time I ate some and a mushroom cloud of rancidness filled my mouth... I had some really good yuen cheung (cured liver sausage) a while ago but I don't know where or who we got it from. I like it even better than lap cheung

I guess we can't convince you to do dim sum in Richmond, eh? In that case, I'd go for Kirin on Cambie or Red Star on Granville and W. 67th Ave. Red Star doesn't get much mention on our forum, but I think the quality and variety of dim sum are quite good. Make sure you get the roast duck and/or soya-sauce chicken.

I bought some special "au lait" Poiful gummy jellybeans on the weekend - the flavours are peach (white), strawberry (pink), orange (light orange), and banana (light yellow). All the flavours are good, except for the banana - it tastes like banana & cheddar cheese!!! BLECH!!

Which translates to "silver thread roll" There's also a steamed version, but really, why pick steamed when you can pick fried? Also, the steamed version doesn't come with condensed milk.

^ I really like the bamboo-shaped ones, as I like the chocolate with the cookie bottom better than the mushroom biscuit. I tried this weird truffle ice cream-flavoured kind a while ago, but it didn't taste like truffles. It was...interesting... Are the yogourt candies called Hi-Chew? I love Hi-Chew!! I just got the blueberry flavour. It actually tastes of grape, but the aftertaste is blueberry.

^ I love matcha candy too! Those Morinaga sticks look especially good! i tried the chilled hot chocolate (?) Morinaga sticks & they were pretty good.

FYI, Mega Bakery at Continental Centre also sells the "iced" mooncakes. I don't think I've ever had iced mooncakes with actual ice cream in them though. The ones from Mega are kept in the display case, and are filled with flavoured mung bean paste. I don't really think iced mooncakes are worth the money though - the ones from Mega are like $1 each! My parents don't like them because they hardly resemble the traditional mooncakes. By the way, do iced mooncakes come in normal sizes? I've only ever seen them mini-sized. The flavours available at Mega right now are mango, black sesame, taro, red bean, and green tea (or was it mung bean? I forget). We got the mango and black sesame ones - I haven't tried them yet, but I've liked the black sesame one in the past. edited to add: Judging from looks alone, I'd say the Maxim iced mooncakes look like they are of better quality than Mega's. Maxim's look like they have actual mango and strawberry in them, while Mega's are flavoured (except for the black sesame one, which has actual sesame seeds in it).

^Ohhh, that's what it's supposed to taste like? The gummies didn't taste anything like umeshu...

I saw the yuzu gummies yesterday at the candy store and almost got them, but opted for the "green plum" (green prune) flavour instead. I just opened the package and it doesn't smell promising - smells like cherry cough medicine or those really cheap red lollipops Ok I just tried one, and it just tastes like sour cherry However, I've never tried green ume before, so I don't have anything to compare it to. They're not bad, but only if I think of them as cherry-flavoured.

Adding to the Maxim's discussion, I agree with Adelaide - I don't think Maxim's Vancouver & Maxim's HK are owned by the same people. I do know that Mr. Lai's (or "Lai bak bak", as I used to call him) son has taken over the business, and his son-in-law has taken over the Boss bakery. Like Ling's family, we always get our mooncakes from Keefer Bakery. Apparently, the crappy egg yolk in some mooncakes is basically a ball of salted egg-yolk-flavoured flour. Gross. I love real salted duck egg yolk though

Here's the True Confections website. According to the website, the largest size is 11", which serves 30 people. Note that True Confections' cheesecakes are much heavier than Cheesecake Etc.'s (thank God - I echo canucklehead's sentiments about Cheesecake Etc.). I like the tiramisu cheesecake.

You can get them all the time here! They have the regular flavour & the chocolate ones as well. Only at the Chinese grocery stores though. I'll gladly send you some!

Thanks Mooshmouse! Unfortunately, my sister REFUSED to go for Portugese food I have absolutely no idea why I'm always up for trying anything at least once, and she's such a picky eater. It's not like my parents fed us any differently... Or DID they?... Anyway, we ended up at Raincity Grill. It was good, but not spectacular (although the sardine appetizer & cassata dessert were pretty good). I would've taken my cousin to Parkside but I'd already taken her a couple weeks ago (she loved it).

Ewww....

^ That's disappointing. Normally I find Kasugai's gummies really good & close to the real thing! My favourites are the apple and muscat flavours. I used to like milk gummy before they discontinued it... edited to add: I just noticed it even contains yuzu peel! Doubly disappointing... it looked so promising!

^ I'm guessing the Pepsi was orange-flavoured? How was it? I wish we had Fanta & all its weird flavours here... The lemon tea looks really good!

Anybody know whether they have moved to the new location yet? I'm contemplating bringing my cousin on Sunday... Are they keeping the same telephone number?

If you feel like dim sum, don't forget about the Kirin at the City Square mall! It's not cheap, but it's quality stuff.