curiouslycarmen, Author at Curiously Carmen

Happy Day Cafe

August 26, 2020

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!

Yah Yah Yah Ramen

August 22, 2020

Yah Yah Yah Ramen is a ramen joint I’ve heard good things about, but haven’t tried because fatty ramen broth wreaks havoc on my chronic digestive problems. The fiance and I used to love going for ramen, so I’ve been trying to find places that I am able to enjoy that offer a vegan based broth too!

I didn’t know that Yah Yah Yah Ramen was an authentic Japanese chain, with a few locations in Japan. We came for an early dinner on a weekend because I knew this place was popular, and we didn’t want to wait.

Pandemic wise, it felt clean here with half their tables closed. We noticed a clipboard for contact tracing but they weren’t actually using it…

They also do not use any MSG in their broth, and list out the exact measurements of the ingredients here.

Shio ramen: The fiance decided on a shio ramen, which is always the best choice in my opinion. The shio is the most simple so you can really determine if the broth is good or not.

The fiance absolutely loved his shio ramen and wouldn’t stop raving about it for the next few days. I think we’ve found our new to go ramen place! The ramen was delicious – rich, creamy, and very flavourful. It was the perfect bowl of comforting ramen that nurtured your soul.

Vegan ramen: (Sept 2021: See update to vegan ramen below) My vegan ramen was not bad as well! It came with corn, edamame beans, tofu, and wood ear mushrooms. Compared to other vegan ramen I have had, the toppings here were the most generous. I also added a ramen egg which was delicious and had a slightly gooey yolk.

The vegan ramen had a good richness to it and was flavourful. Spinach noodles are the normal accompaniment but I asked for the regular ramen noodles with a firm thickness. The noodles were cooked well and firm.

Chicken karage: We also got a small side order of the chicken karage. This was delicious! The chicken karage was served piping hot and very crunchy.

Our first visit to Yah Yah Yah Ramen was wonderful and I have no doubt we will be back when we are in Richmond. The food and service was great, I can see why it is so popular here.

Update (June 2021): Unfortunately, they changed the vegan ramen bowl! I was really disappointed because the new vegan bowl looks quite sad and measly. I wish they kept the tofu, corn, and edamame because they are filling. The broth and noodles are the same.

With that said, I’ll continue to come here because it’s the husband’s favourite spot, but lower my expectations for the vegan noodles.

Update (Sept 2021): Due to the disappointing vegan ramen, I thought it’d be a good time to try the salmon don. This is the combo add on, which is smaller than the usual size. The usual size comes with two pieces of salmon. The salmon don was simple, but not bad. The salmon was pan fried and had a slight crisp to it.

Pho Mr Do

August 19, 2020

This location has seen its’ fair share of Vietnamese restaurants open and shutter in the past six years or so. For the OGs who remember, Taste of Asia was the first and also longest lasting. I was quite disappointed when they closed down and then Tasty Pho replaced it for a couple of years.

Just as we were beginning to get used to Tasty Pho, it changed again to Pho Tan! And now most recently for the past 1.5 years, it has been replaced by Pho Mr Do.

I’ve been meaning to go here for the past year but just end up going to Saigon Bistro or Basil Garden. However, I suggested that we come here for lunch with my mom so I could finally write about it.

Pho Mr Do has been renovated since Tasty Pho and Taste of Asia days. We all found it to be quite stuffy in here because it was a hot summer day with no AC and one ceiling fan blowing. We asked to sit near the door which was the coolest table.

Small DIY pho: I went with a DIY pho that included rare beef, tripe and beef balls. The broth was comforting, had depth to it, and was delicious!

I was surprised at how HUGE the portion was. Seriously, they gave me so much noodles that I had a hard time finishing it, but no complaints. I was very impressed.

Large house pho: My mom ordered a large pho but regretted it because of how big the portion was. Even I had trouble finishing the small and I was already hungry that afternoon!

My mom noted that the tendon here was better quality than usual. She also enjoyed the beef broth and added some chili sauce to it, which we found out was made in the restaurant.

Vermicelli bowl: The fiance ordered the vermicelli bowl with beef and a spring roll. He found the bowl to be delicious! There was a generous portion of beef which was very flavourful. The spring roll was crispy and fresh too.

Chicken sub: I didn’t think our main dishes would be so filling, so I suggested that we also split a chicken sub. It was a mistake cause we were all too full, but we happily took it home for later.

The chicken sub was great and had a generous amount of flavourful chicken inside. I found it a tad bit on the salty side though, but I’d still order it again.

Overall, Pho Mr Do was better than I thought it’d be, and wished that I tried it sooner! The portions were huge, food was delicious, and the server was really nice.

Given all the failed past Vietnamese restaurants in this location, I hope Pho Mr Do survives longer because I am adding this place to my list of go-to Vietnamese eats.

Rib & Chicken

August 14, 2020

Korean fried chicken is insanely popular right now! There have been a few places serving Korean fried chicken before, but seems like the popularity exploded after people watched Crash Landing On You and saw the same chain restaurant, k.bbq, in Burquitlam in the show. It was a bit ridiculous how many posts I saw on this place everyday! Product placement works y’all, as evidence by these people flocking to get their KFC.

Strangely enough, I have never been a huge fried chicken lover (except for chicken strips) but I had to see what the hype with Korean fried chicken was about.

The new Rib and Chicken Vancouver location opened up recently nearby so the fiance and I came here for dinner to check it out.

The original Rib and Chicken location is in Langley but they have since expanded to a few locations around the Lower Mainland. This Vancouver location replaced an old Italian restaurant who had seen better days. I remember always seeing it on Groupon so I’m not surprised they shuttered.

The layout is a bit strange, with a couple of closed off areas. There was a whole section in the back that we couldn’t see as well. Since this place is fairly new, it was pretty quiet on the weekday evening that we came but I did notice a few delivery people.

There was only 1 server that evening but she was really nice and attentive. Pandemic-wise (Lol @ the fact that I am including this in a review now), it felt safe as tables were distanced, server was wearing a mask, and there was only one other table.

Banchan: The banchan here was pretty decent, no complaint about it.

Mixed fried chicken: We ordered the small, which was more than enough for two people. There were a few different flavours to pick from, we chose the original, and sweet and spicy.

The chicken came out piping hot and fresh! It was delicious. The fried chicken was not oily at all which is evident of their skillful frying technique.

Both flavours were enjoyable but we both liked the original more. The sweet and spicy was a bit too saucy for our liking but it was still good nonetheless.

Tofu soup: I was actually really craving tofu soup that day which is why we came here. I ended up eating only a couple pieces of fried chicken and had the tofu soup instead!

The tofu soup packed a lot of spice in it that built. There was a generous portion of tofu and seafood inside.

My one complaint was that it was extremely salty! Coming from a savoury food and salty fish lover, I found it way too salty. I ended up asking for a cup of hot water to dilute the soup, which was more manageable.

All in all, Rib and Chicken was satisfying and a great new Korean addition to this area. We normally go to Kook which is less than 2 minutes away from here, so they will have some competition (even though Kook is BBQ but they do serve some other same Korean dishes).

There is also Yook which is 5 minutes away. It’s nice that we don’t have to go far for good Korean fried chicken!

Kilala Sushi – Revisit

August 11, 2020

I wrote about Kilala Sushi about four years ago when I first tried it! I should make a point to come here more though because the quality is great here.

Cola, the monkeys, and I went biking and were looking for a convenient place to pick up dinner near Confed Park for a picnic. I suggested Kilala since it was pretty decent before.

Kilala Sushi is run by a Japanese husband and wife duo with no other staff. The entrance to this place is a bit hidden and inconspicuous because it is covered behind a bush. The dine in area is quite small, but they do have a really big kitchen in the back.

Rumour is that they make tamago for many restaurants around town in the kitchen, and it’s pretty damn good tamago!

House roll: I remember the house roll being delicious. The house roll (top left corner) came with imitation crab meat, salmon, tuna, tamago and smoked salmon. The roll was quite huge and messy to eat though, as it fell apart.

Everything was fresh and delicious inside the roll. My only complaint would be that the imitation crab meat was really dry and could have used more sauce.

Salmon roll: I honestly can’t go to a restaurant without ordering salmon roll. Kilala’s salmon roll was good too. Just like the sashimi and house roll, the salmon in here was very fresh and delicious.

California roll: The California roll was delicious too. The avocado was ripe, fresh, and creamy. I don’t remember if the imitation crab meat was dry like the house roll though.

Salmon sashimi: The salmon sashimi was amazingly fresh and so delicious! No complaints about it.

Negitoro roll: The toro was also very fresh and melted in my mouth. The quality was great and the onions were fresh!

Saba: I was curious about this but I was not a fan of it. The saba was fresh but I found it too fishy for my liking, although Cola enjoyed it.

Beef teriyaki roll: We ordered so much food that evening that I didn’t get a chance to try this roll out. I wish I did though. There were no complaints about it from everyone else.

Kappa roll: Kappa roll isn’t something I usually order at restaurants, but this was a request from one of the monkeys. Compared to other restaurants, I found that the cucumber slices were quite generous and big here. I didn’t try this and no one had any complaints about it.

Overall, we had a satisfying and delicious dinner at Kilala and the quality was just as good as I remembered. The only complaint we had is that a lot of the rolls fell apart quite easily and we’re not packed tightly enough.

Despite that, I would love to come back again and support an authentic Japanese restaurant run by a friendly husband and wife team!