Search Results for: deer garden

Pearl Castle – Richmond

September 28, 2021

The husband and I find ourselves in Richmond a lot, we really enjoy coming to Richmond! Usually, we have lunch at Happy Day Cafe, Yah Yah Yah Ramen, or Deer Garden. This time, we were having a craving for Taiwanese food and decided to go to Pearl Castle on a whim. We were going to go to Chef Hung’s but the parking at Aberdeen Mall was chaotic so we came to Pearl Castle instead.

It’s been many years since we’ve been to Pearl Castle. I remember we came here for bubble tea many years ago, but don’t remember how the visit was.

Due to COVID, customers order through the mobile app. It was pretty convenient to order this way, more places should have this option!

Taiwanese beef noodle soup: I was craving beef noodles, and this did not disappoint! The broth was flavourful, and the beef brisket was very tender and marinated well.

My only complaint is that it was more pricey than I was used to. As I’m currently writing this, the price was $17ish (maybe my blog will still be around in 10 years and this is considered a reasonable price haha).

Taiwanese chicken nuggets combo: The husband also really enjoyed the chicken nuggets combo. The chicken nuggets were hot, crispy, and fresh. He also enjoyed the deep friend marinated tofu and cucumber sides.

Chrysanthemum tea: We also shared a chrysanthemum tea. The tea was refreshing and light, perfect for a hot summer afternoon. The pearls really stood out to me here. They were so bouncy and fresh. I’d definitely order this drink again.

Overall, we were really satisfied with our lunch at Pearl Castle and would come back. The only complaint is that they are more pricey than the usual Taiwanese places we go to. But, it’s a decent spot for Taiwanese food in Richmond.

The Alley – Richmond Location

October 25, 2020

I remember when The Alley opened their first location in downtown 1.5 years ago. They were the first bubble tea shop to offer soy milk alternative, so I really wanted to try it because I was missing out on the brown sugar milk craze.

There were crazy line ups so I was planning on trying it in a few months, but by then I found other bubble tea shops that started to offer non-dairy brown sugar milk drinks (such as Jenjudan, Chun Yang, Ding Tea, Dive In Dessert Bar if you also can’t drink milk!) and I forgot about The Alley. Since then, they have opened a second location in Richmond which is where I will be reviewing today!

After having lunch with Maki at Deer Garden in Continental Plaza, I was originally going to take her to Blackball Dessert just across the parking lot. However, after such a filling lunch, we both didn’t feel like eating dessert so we decided to get drinks for later from The Alley which was also in the same plaza.

Due to the pandemic, The Alley was not offering any dine-in and all the chairs and tables were gone. The cafe was pretty small but had very high ceilings so it didn’t feel that small. I’m a big fan of deer art, so I appreciated the big deer mural and deer paintings.

Brown sugar deerioca fever with soy milk: I went with the brown sugar drink! This was delicious. The brown sugar gave the drink a nice, smooth, caramel taste to it. Meanwhile, the brown sugar pearls were very fresh, soft and chewy. It was perfect.

Jasmine green milk tea: I ordered this for the fiance. He really enjoyed the drink. There was a strong jasmine flavour.

Trio milk tea: Maki ordered this for Nigiri and he enjoyed it! It is called the “trio” because it came with pearls and two types of jelly inside. The milk tea was rich and flavourful. Also, the quality of the large cups were great. The cup was very thick and sturdy and you could probably reuse it a few times.

Royal no. 9 milk tea: For herself, Maki ordered a different milk tea. She enjoyed hers as well. There was a hint of jasmine in the tea and she found the milk tea to be really smooth and delicious. Even at 70% sweetness, it was still sweet enough for her.

I’m glad that I finally tried The Alley and wish I came sooner! We all enjoyed our drinks and had no complaints about it. Everything was made with quality and the prices were reasonable too. I would definitely come back here to get my bubble tea fix.

Despite only one visit, they have quickly risen to one of my top recommendations for bubble tea.

Duotian Fish Soup Noodles – Revisit

September 22, 2020

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.

Baker and Table Cafe

February 23, 2019

Baker and Table Cafe has been on my radar ever since it opened two years ago. I always make a mental note to try it when we are in the Fraser St. area, but the restaurants we usually go to (Deer Garden or Angel) are sooo filling that I end up forgetting about going.

It’s no secret that the boyfriend and I love Japanese food and culture. Despite going to Tokyo only 3 months ago, we miss Japan a lot and can’t wait to go back! To get our Japanese grocery fix, we go to Fujiya often.

On one of our grocery trips, I noticed Fujiya carried some mochi melonpan from Baker and Table (weekends only)! I took my chance and bought all 4 buns that they offered. My stomach was not happy with me but sometimes I want to try new things.

A melonpan is a type of Japanese bun. There isn’t any melon in it per se, the name originated from how the bun looks like a melon. Pan is the Japanese word for bread.

These are the four melonpans that we bought! The flavours that day were matcha white chocolate, black sesame, London smog chocolate, and matcha red bean.

Matcha white chocolate melonpan: The matcha flavour was pure, strong and earthy. It reminded me of matcha treats in Japan, because they do not sweeten their matcha as heavily as in North America (I’m looking at you, Starbucks).

After a few bites, we were greeted with the chewy mochi! It was delicious. Although there wasn’t much white chocolate taste, it was still a delicious bun.

Black sesame melonpan: Next up was the black sesame! The first few bites didn’t have much sesame flavour, but once we got to the center of the bun, there was a lot of black sesame paste.

As with all of them, the texture was fluffy and soft. So delicious!

Matcha red bean melonpan: Compared to the matcha white chocolate melonpan above, the red bean one was a lot neater to eat. I let him eat all of this because of my digestive issues.

This is one of the boyfriend’s favourite combinations, and he quite enjoyed it.

London smog chocolate melonpan: Last but not least! I also let the boyfriend eat all of this because of my stomach problems. I was surprised that he enjoyed this one the most, I thought surely he would have loved the red bean matcha most!

The reason why he liked this one the most was because it was the sweetest. This is probably the most ‘Western’ one of them all because of how sweet it is!

All in all, we enjoyed all the melonpan that we bought that day. I didn’t eat as much as I would have wanted due to my digestive issues, but I did enjoy the bites I had (and surely suffered after lol).

Time to go check out their actual cafe and try more things! They also offer lunch and dinner things too. Another cool thing about Baker and Table is that they are a peanut free facility, for those with peanut allergies.

Now, they just need to add some non-dairy versions so I can enjoy more of their pastries! They have a vegan waffle which I would love to try!

Yu Xiang Yuan Handcrafted Noodles Restaurant

February 11, 2017

Once the boyfriend and I arrived back in Vancouver from a weekend in Victoria, it was almost dinner time. Seeing how we were in the middle of that Arctic air snap, we both wanted warm, comforting noodles. The first choice was Deer Garden since we had to drive past it to go home, but then we remembered this restaurant was in the area as well.

This is one of the unusual cases where the boyfriend finds new places to try. For the longest time, we wanted to try this place because we both LOVE handcrafted Lanzhou style noodles. BUT, we couldn’t because we kept on forgetting the name or where it was! Even when writing this post, I had to Google ‘Fraser and 41st noodle restaurant’ to find the name. =P
The restaurant is more on the small side, but the seating still felt pretty comfortable. The decor is a bit all over the place with mismatched chairs (note the more royal red seat covers vs. the others) and mismatched tables (note the white table cloth tables, wooden table, and glass pane table) but that’s when you know it’s a legit Chinese restaurant!
Beef noodles w/ vegetables in soup with cutting noodles, $7.50: For $7.50, this was really worth it and so delicious! The broth was clear and not too heavy, but still full of flavour. There was a generous amount of beef slices and vegetables as well.

And of course… the noodles. DELICIOUS. Lanzhou style noodles are one of my favourite foods ever, and this place nailed it perfectly. They were nice and chewy and soaked up the delicious broth. It was a perfect bowl of noodles for my yucky cold and cold weather.
Dan dan noodles w/ dragging noodle, $7.50: What Lanzhou noodle soup to me, is dan dan noodles to the boyfriend. He loves dan dan noodles due to the peanuts and spiciness. I only tried a small bite since I was sick and didn’t want to aggravate my stomach with the chili oil, and it was really good!

The dan dan noodles had a nice spicy kick to it. There was a strong peanut flavour and a good portion of meat as well.

We both loved our noodles here and will definitely come back when we are craving it! If you’re not familiar with the different types of noodle styles, there are pictures at every table showing you what style it is.

As an added bonus, the free wifi sign at the front of the restaurant says “FREE WIFE” instead of wifi. LOL! Now you definitely know it’s a legit Asian place… typos everywhere and too cheap to print it again.