Suika

Suika is known for their Japanese tapas, but my friends and I came for their lunch menu and it definitely did not disappoint us. Be prepared to be greeted by the entire staff as you walk in.

Suika means watermelon in Japanese. My friends pointed out that these are the Chinese characters for watermelon too (pronouced sai gwaa in Cantonese).

Between the three of us, we decided to get three of their lunch sets and two lunch side dishes (or tapas on their dinner menu), but we soon realized it was way too much food.

Complimentary Salad

The chef actually asked us if we wanted more salad, which was nice. The service was a tad slow in the beginning. We sat down for ten minutes looking at the menu without anyone coming by, until the chef came out to take our order and get us tea. I should have asked for water (or ordered their fresh ginger ale), because I'm not a huge tea person, and we ended up getting charged $0.60 each and I barely drank mine; a little heads up for new diners. The tea's good though, but I guess I'm too used to free tea at Asian restaurants.

Lightly Smoked Tuna Tataki $6

This was probably the best dish that we ordered. The Tuna Tataki was served with Suika's homemade chili oil, sliced onions, and scallions. It was cooked perfectly and the slices were beautiful. It was a piece of edible art. We would order this again, and again, and again...

Tuna-Avocado $6

Canita loves avocados, so we had to order this. It was just plain tuna and avocado, but they are accompanied by a plum-seaweed paste. It was okay, but I probably won't order this again. The tuna tataki was more flavorful and when put into comparison with this dish, the tataki is a clear winner.

Seafood Bowl $14.80

This is the first of our three lunch sets. The Seafood Bowl has fresh sashimi , ikura (salmon roe), tobiko (flying fish roe), grated okura (okra), and mountain potato on sushi rice. As it set, it comes with miso soup, and some accompaniments (soy, wasabi, mustard greens, and cabbage (I can't remember what it was, but it wasn't ginger)).

The sashimi included shrimp (the heads included!), scallops, salmon, and other fishes that I couldn't remember. You can't see the rice, but there was a lot of it underneath all the seafood. The grated okura and mountain potato gave this dish a mucilaginous texture that I didn't really enjoy (although I think it's intended).

I probably won't get this again as I'm not a big fan of sashimi dons (I prefer sushi).

Beef Short Rib Set $16

The Beef Short Rib Set was my choice, and I was pretty happy with it. The short rib was so tender that it fell apart easily with my chopsticks. The sweet balsamic reduction was very good; sweet and very aromatic. The mashed potatoes were served cold (like a potato salad), but I would have preferred it to be hot.

We thought the portions would be small; I thought the short rib and mashed potatoes would be all I was getting for the $16. Turns out, it also includes a bowl of steamed rice, miso soup, and mustard greens. 

I like that they add veggies to their miso soup. There were carrots and lotus roots in mine.

Double Tonkatsu Set $12.80

Our last lunch set. This one featured tonkatsu, a tender deep fried pork loin cutlet that's coated with homemade panko bread crumbs served with two kinds of sauce. The first is grated daikon (upper right in the photo), which is mixed with a bit of soy or ponzu. The other is pretty fun as you have to work for it. They give you a mortar with toasted sesame seeds and a pestle to grind the seeds in which you will mix with the tonkatsu sauce, which is kind of like teriyaki sauce, but it's actually a variant of Worcestershire sauce. It's sweet and tangy, and nutty after you add in the sesame seeds. Shredded cabbage and mustard is also included; be aware that it's almost like wasabi (it's not spicy, but you'll get that burning sensation in your nose). Again, this set comes with miso soup and rice. I saw other tables in the restaurant order this, and I can see why. It's executed well and I feel that it's enough for two (get a lunch side like the tuna tataki, and with the salad and maybe dessert, you'll be satisfied for sure).

Matcha Creme Brulee $4.80

We were about to pay when I remembered to order dessert. I know we ordered a lot, but I had to order this, and I'm glad I did. The Matcha Creme Brulee is a piece of frozen ice cream with a caramelized sugar crust and matcha powder on top, served with a strawberry, whipped cream, and red bean sauce. I love green tea ice cream, so this was perfect. The portion isn't very large, but it's definitely worth trying.

This is the first time that I've been to an izakaya restaurant, and I'm definitely going to try more in the future. Everything was great, and even though I won't get everything I got today again, I will definitely will be back to Suika to try out their dinner menu. As we left, one of the waitresses actually held the door for us and it completely made up for the service in the beginning. 

Szechuan Chongqing Restaurant 重慶大飯店

I've never been to this restaurant before even though it's so close to my house. I'll probably never go back after today. Szechuan Chongqing Restaurant is pretty easy to get to, just a few blocks away from Commercial SkyTrain Station and there's parking for customers in the back behind the alley. We got here pretty early but the restaurant soon filled with diners, probably because they have a $8.45 lunch special until 3:30pm. 

We initially wanted to eat Shanghai food, but the restaurant we wanted to go to was closed on Wednesdays, but my mom said they served Shanghai food here.

Hot and Sour Soup with Chicken and Shrimp (Small) $6.95

  

The first thing we ordered was the Hot and Sour Soup. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. My mom said the balance of heat and sourness was off and I agreed. They added mushrooms and peas, which doesn't usually go in this soup, but that didn't bother me. What really did was that I could barely find any meat. My parents thought they gave us a vegetarian version by mistake, but I ended up finding a shrimp ("a" meaning just one!), and it was baby sized.    

Shanghai Chow Mein with Shredded Pork $10.95

This is another dish that we usually get. Stir-fried Shanghai noodles with meat and pea tips. It was way too oily for my liking and overall, it just didn't taste good. I actually ended up biting on a piece of egg shell when I ate this. My mom told me that they probably used eggs to make their noodles but that's no excuse for having the shells in the dish!

Pan Fried Pork Dumplings (10 pcs) $7.95

My sister was at school at the time, so my mom promised her that she would bring her some fried dumplings home. This was probably the best thing we ate today. The dumplings were hot and juicy on the inside with the meat filling and crispy on the outside with the pan-fried dumpling skin. 

Shanghai Style Dumpling (10 pcs) $7.95

These steamed dumplings, also known as Xaio Long Bao, are also on our list of usual orders and this restaurant really let me down. Xaio Long Bao are soup dumplings and the filling is a combination of ground meat and solid meat aspic (gelatin made from meat stock) and the steam from cooking is supposed to melt the aspic to create a soup in the dumpling. The dumplings should be plump with wonderful meat juices, but at first glance when I saw them on the table, my family could tell the juices were long gone from these poor dumplings. It's... it's devastating. Seeing these dumplings have nothing left to live for... Just kidding, we still ate them, but we were really disappointed that the main highlight of the dish wasn't well, highlighted.

Steamed Meatballs $3.25

Mom ordered this off of their dim sum menu and she was disappointed because most restaurants give you bean curd underneath the meatballs. 

This is probably the first time I've eaten a fortune cookie in an actual Chinese restaurant. Overall, the food wasn't great. I know we were ordering Shanghai food and not Szechuan food, which may have been a factor as it was not their specialty, but if it's on the menu, it should be good and executed properly. The pan-fried dumplings were good, but I wouldn't go back just for them. I can't really forgive them for the egg shell in my noodles though.

Burgoo (Main Street Location)

Burgoo is a great place to get a nice cup of hot soup which is perfect on a cold afternoon. My friend, Carmen, and I came here to eat lunch and we've been to Burgoo before. The last time we went, it was really busy, but we came right when they opened so we got a table right away. After about 20 minutes later, the restaurant was packed with diners.

There are three locations, with a fourth opening soon. There's some parking in the alley in the back but you'll probably have to park in the residential areas (we managed to find a spot without any restrictions by the park nearby).

There's seating outside, which is perfect for the summer! 

This was back in October before Halloween.

Burgoo is all about comfort food, and you feel welcomed right when you enter the doors. I feel like I'm in a modern cabin and there's dishes from different countries so everyone can be happy ordering what kind of food they want. We usually go for their soup and sandwich combos, but we also wanted to try one of their bistro classics, so we ended up sharing one of each.

Beef Bourguignon $18

The Beef Bourguignon was really good. There were lots of braised beef and the vegetables accompanying it were cooked to perfection. The mushrooms and carrots were tender but and mushy, and the garlic mashed potatoes were great with the stew. Other bistro classics include macaroni and cheese, lamb tagine, chicken vindaloo, paella, and jambalaya.

Soup & Sandwich $15

Sunset Corn and Chicken Soup

If there's one soup you need to try at Burgoo, it's the Sunset Corn and Chicken Soup. It came piping hot and it looked like art. It's packed with sweet corn, chicken, and spices (Chipotle and cumin) and finished with crema fresca and fresh cilantro. I think something crunchy in this soup (like tortilla chips) would put it over the top, but I got the grilled cheese, which was perfect for dunking into this soup.

Gooey Cheese Grillers

The Gooey Cheese Grillers are really good as well. They use Mozzarella, Gruyere, Emmenthal, and white Cheddar and the result is a super gooey sandwich (as stated in the name) with a super crispy exterior. This sandwich is perfect with their Straight Up Tomato Soup, but I felt that getting this with the Sunset Corn and Chicken Soup was just as good. You can't beat getting the best soup and best sandwich together, can you?

The bill was given to us with some candy in a bamboo steamer, which was pretty cool. Overall, the prices are good for what you get. I'm definitely coming back for more grilled cheese and that soup... I'm always dreaming of that soup...

Hon's Wun-Tun House 漢記 (Chinatown Location)

In the heart of Chinatown stands a restaurant where I've been to loads of times throughout my childhood, and that's Hon's Wun-Tun House on Keefer Street. One of the very reasons is that my grandmother has been working here ever since she's been living in Vancouver (before I was even born). When I was younger, I would go with my mom, aunt, or grandpa to pick her up sometimes, but now that she's retired, it seems like ages since we've eaten here. Hon's used to be very popular, but it doesn't seem as busy as it used to be anymore (they actually shut down the Richmond location a while back). 

My mom and I were just grabbing a quick bite for lunch today, because we were in a rush running errands and lost time getting my new iPhone 4S. It's been pretty awesome so far and I've stopped using my digital camera. The photos today are actually taken with the iPhone!

Pork Potstickers (6 pcs) $3.50

We started off with the Pork Potstickers which were very hot and crispy. They are served with vinegar as a dipping sauce. You can choose to have them pan-fried (the best way), steamed, or in soup. The fillings that you can choose include pork, chicken, beef, and vegetarian. I remember when I was little, I would bite a hole into the potsticker, take out and eat the filling first, and then pour in some vinegar before I ate the dumpling skin. 

Stir-Fried Rice Noodles with Beef Slices $8.75

This is a pretty common dish that you can get at any Chinese restaurant. Nothing too special about this. What I try to look for in stir-fried noodles is that they should be cooked in a really hot wok to get a caramelized (almost burnt, as my dad would say) fragrance from the noodles. I also like it when some of the noodles are stacked in a clump of layers. The noodles were perfect today, and there was so much, that I had to take the rest for dinner at work. 

Overall, the prices are pretty cheap for good Chinese diner food. You can get congee (rice porridge) or a noodle soup for under $10 and be very satisfied. I love Chinese comfort food once in a while, but there's nothing too special about the food (you can get these dishes at other restaurants), so I probably won't come back for a long while.