chinese Archives - Curiously Carmen

MILA

November 8, 2020 Leave a Comment

MILA is the newest addition to Vancouver’s vegan food scene that opened a couple months ago in early September. After hearing about it, Avocado and I knew that we had to check it out! I predict that this place will be very popular for vegans and non-vegans alike. Or should I say plant-based because that is the new trendy term for vegan these days? 🙃

MILA is located in Chinatown. The restaurant was easy to miss because there weren’t any signs except for a small one on their door. I recommend making a reservation because they are quite busy and have limited seating due to the pandemic. Despite it being busy inside, the tables were spaced out and we felt clean and safe in there.

While writing this review, I also found out that they are the sister restaurant to Virtuous Pie, a vegan pizza joint a few blocks away. Avocado and I also tried Virtuous Pie almost 3 years ago and we enjoyed it.

Walking in, we were greeted with loud music (not in an obnoxious way, they had some good lo-fi beats going on) and it was bumpin’ in there for a Sunday evening. It was not what we were both expecting with the dark lighting, music and all. We both thought it’d be a quiet, low-key place. To quote Avocado, it felt like a vegan Cactus Club!

The atmosphere could have easily been seen as hipster, pretentious and snobby (like our experience at Heirloom a few years ago).

If I sense that a place is pretentious, I likely won’t go back. However, that wasn’t the case with MILA. The staff were very friendly and there were no pretentious, hipster vibes detected which was a relief.

Aburi lox: This was one of the most popular items online, so we decided to give it a try. It ended up being our favourite of the evening! I wasn’t sure how I’d feel with carrot being a replacement of salmon, but this roll was delicious for a non-vegan like myself.

Admittedly, the carrot did not replace the texture of real salmon because it lacked the fleshiness of salmon meat (why does that sound morbid?). However, what it didn’t lack was taste. The aburi lox was an explosion of delicious flavour. The sauce on top was incredibly creamy and rich with a nice grilled flavour to it.

There was also more sauce in the middle with shiso leaf, which elevated the flavour even more. I didn’t even mind that this was carrot, that was easily forgotten because of how delicious everything else was.

Bao buns: The bao buns came with hoisin tempeh, pickled onion + cucumber, sambal aioli, cilantro, and crispy shallots. The buns themselves were warm, thick and puffy. I found that some of the bun stuck to the wooden bowl though, so I’d recommend removing the lid and letting it cool down before eating.

The bao buns were not bad either and we both enjoyed it. The sambal aioli and fresh veggies gave the bao buns a lot of flavour, but not enough for me to forget that it was vegan (unlike the aburi lox).

Mushroom and sausage tagliatelle: This dish was also highly recommended online, and I was super excited to try it! Avocado and I appreciated how they split the dish for us already when we told them that we’d be sharing everything.

The tagliatelle was cooked perfectly. The vegan sauce was made up of pistachio pesto cream. The flavours were great, and I also asked for some freshly cracked black pepper which elevated the dish more. My only complaint would be that they could have added more sauce because I didn’t find it creamy or saucy enough for a pasta.

All in all, we left really satisfied with Mila. The ingredients were high quality, and we enjoyed all of the dishes. Service was also friendly and attentive too.

I would definitely recommend this place for vegans! If you’re like Avocado and I who enjoy eating vegan food every so often, you’d probably enjoy it too.

If you’re a die-hard meat lover who refuses to eat vegan food, I would not recommend it because you could still tell that some dishes are vegan.

Deer Garden – Richmond (Venezia Plaza)

October 5, 2020 Leave a Comment

I’ve written about all the Deer Garden locations (Fraser Street, Burnaby, other Richmond location) so far, except for the second location in Richmond on the second floor of Venezia Plaza!

Usually, our go-to location is the Fraser Street location but since we were going to Richmond, we decided to go here instead.

I’ve been to this location a couple times over the years. From what I remember, parking is usually horrible, cramped and busy in this plaza (as with most Richmond plazas…) but things have quieted down due to the pandemic, I am assuming. There was no issue finding parking this time.

DIY noodle soup: I went with my usual DIY combo, which hasn’t changed for many years now. For those who haven’t been to Deer Garden, you pick your soup base – most have no MSG, two toppings, noodle choice, and drink.

I went with the century egg and parsley soup base, pork sausage, extra fresh beancurd, and Korean crystal potato noodle. You can also add on a small appetizer as well.

As usual, everything was delicious and super filling. My only complaint was that the century egg could have been tastier. There was a bit of an old, cupboard taste to it.

For my drink, I went with a lemon ribena. It was recommended to me by Latte and was refreshing and delicious.

DIY noodle soup: The fiance went with the peanut chili soup, luncheon meat, beef brisket and egg noodles. Over the years, we’ve gone to many soup noodle places but Deer Garden consistently has the best peanut chili soup. The milk tea was fragrant and strong as well.

Deer Garden is consistently delicious and reliable, no matter which location you go to!

Duotian Fish Soup Noodles – Revisit

September 22, 2020 Leave a Comment

When Duotian Fish Soup Noodles Restaurant first opened up five years ago, I wrote a disappointing review and did not go back. The food was lacklustre and I remember them being really stingy with ingredients (paper thin lemon in the lemon tea, barely any custard filling in French toast, etc).

There are so many better restaurants in Vancouver and I forgot about this place… Until a few weeks ago, that is. I was craving Deer Garden DIY type noodles but was wanting to stay close to home. I pondered for a bit, thinking of any restaurants close by that had DIY soup noodles… And remembered Duotian.

I wrestled with the thought of going/not going for a couple hours because I remembered it being bad. But I decided to give it another shot – five years had passed so perhaps they have gotten better?

The fiance was so against this idea of going here because he remembered it was awful there too, that I went myself. LOL! Not that I minded though, I do enjoy going out to eat alone from time to time.

As with all restaurants during the pandemic, tables were spaced out and some were closed. Since it was only half capacity, the restaurant was full during dinner when I went.

DIY soup noodle: To avoid any major disappointment, I came prepared knowing that the food here was probably going to be below average and meh. Why did I even decide to come then? Because I was craving soup noodles and wanted to see the extent of how disappointed I’d be… Just joking… Maybe.

I ordered my usual diy soup noodle. If you haven’t been to a Chinese DIY soup noodle place before, you select a soup base, two toppings, noodle type and a drink. I went with the century egg and parsley soup with sausage and extra beancurd, and clear crystal noodles.

As expected, the bowl of noodles was meh and I’ve had better at Deer Garden. The main complaint was that the soup wasn’t as flavourful and tasted watered down. It was still edible but could have tasted better with some more salt or white pepper.

There were a few things I enjoyed about my noodles though. First, the portion was big and very filling. Secondly, the preserved century egg was really good – better than Deer Garden’s preserved eggs! The yolk was creamy and more flavourful, while the egg white did not have a wooden cupboard taste like Deer Garden. The only thing they do better here.

Thirdly, there was an abundance of fresh and sweet siu choy inside. So not all was bad and I left with my DIY soup noodle craving satisfied.

Duotian would not be a place I would go to unless it’s a 5 minute drive away. There are way better Chinese cafes out there and I’m honestly shocked they have lasted 5+ years. But it’s not entirely awful if you’re in a pinch and wanting to fill yourself up. Just come with low expectations like me.

Happy Day Cafe

August 26, 2020 2 Comments

After crossing off more wedding planning tasks in Richmond, the fiance and I were looking for a place to have dinner. We were feeling like HK cafe comfort food, so I suggested Silver Tower but we also saw Happy Day Cafe on Google. Since neither of us have been here, we figured we’d give it a try and see if it could be added to one of our go-to Richmond restaurants.

I remember when Happy Day Cafe first opened, people were going crazy for it, with long line ups. I didn’t really understand why because there are so many HK style cafes in Metro Vancouver and didn’t think it was anything special? Anyways, it has since quieted and there wasn’t a line up during the weekday evening we went.

Happy Day Cafe is located inside Garden City Plaza, where we go quite often when in Richmond. So far in that plaza, I have written about Tsujiri, Canadian Brewhouse, Thai Son, Nando’s, Qoola, and now Happy Day Cafe!

Walking inside, Happy Day Cafe was definitely more upscale than your typical HK cafe. I’m used to a no frills, semi-hole-in-the-wall type restaurant but Happy Day went all out with their design and spared no dollar.

Tables were distanced, with big plexiglass barriers between the tables. They also had a tablet that you walk up to, which reads your temperature before you’re allowed to enter.

Spaghetti bolognese: My go-to at HK style cafes! I rarely order anything else. If I do, you should probably check up on me because I may not be okay, hahahaha.

The spaghetti bolognese here was delicious and comforting! There was a generous portion of meat sauce and the pasta was al dente. The portion was quite big too. A classic dish baked perfectly!

Baked Portuguese seafood on rice: After debating between the baked tomato pork chop and this, the fiance decided on the latter. It was a great decision because he enjoyed his dish as well.

There was a lot of seafood inside, and he noted that the sauce was delicious and fragrant.

Overall, our first visit to Happy Day Cafe was delicious and certainly won’t be the last time. A solid place to get your HK style cafe cravings satisfied!

Silver Tower Cafe Restaurant

July 10, 2020 Leave a Comment

Silver Tower is a longstanding Hong Kong style restaurant in Richmond. The fiance used to frequent this place with his coworkers when he used to work in Richmond, and often talked about how delicious it was. After meeting a wedding vendor nearby in Richmond, we didn’t know where to have dinner so he suggested this place.

Normally, this parking lot and area is really hard to find parking! We were really surprised to see a few spots open in this parking lot, which Silver Tower also shares with Matsuyama next door. The street parking was also empty which is unheard of for a weekend!

Half of the restaurant tables were closed off, marked with red X tapes on the tables. I think it’s quite cool to capture photos like this to look back on, we are living in such strange times right now.

We also had to sanitize our hands and write down our name and phone numbers for contact tracing. I personally don’t mind as it’s more responsible if we were around new COVID cases!

Spaghetti bolognese: My go-to meal at HK style restaurants. Silver Tower’s version did not disappoint either! It was delicious and the portion size was decent as well.

Baked pork chop: The fiance’s baked pork chop was delicious too. There was a generous portion of baked pork chop on top of the rice, which was crispy and flavourful. The rice underneath could have used more flavor and more egg.

Overall, Silver Tower is a decent choice for quick, filling, and cheap HK style food if you’re in Richmond. It has been around for a long time as evident by the exterior, but they seem to have renovated inside at some point. They are also open until 2am (not sure if this is the case during the pandemic) which may entice some people!