Dragon I - One Utama

Dragon I is a chain store in Kuala Lumpur specializing in fresh noodles and dumplings. We came to the restaurant at one utama on a Friday afternoon and found it to be pretty full. There are two chefs making dumplings in the front window.

We ordered the braised fish la mien (fresh hand pulled noodles), the seafood sweet and sour la mien, mapo tofu rice, pork rice, the dumplings, fried tofu, and onion pancake.

braised fish la mien

seafood sweet and sour la mien

Pan fried onion pancake.

Fried tofu

Seafood crispy noodle

For lunch, the noodles ranged from rm14-28 which is mid pricing for lunch here.

The dumpling skin is thin, but the dipping had too much msg. The noodle dishes had fresh noodle, but the noodle was a little too thin, so it did not have much bite to it. I liked the deep fried tofu as the skin was thin and crispy and not oily.

In general food came quickly and was consistent. Service was not as efficient as we had to flag down people to refill our drinks. This is however, a general trend at most local restaurants.

Gyo-o restaurant

This is another restaurant from the gyoza king chain. located at continental centre in Richmond, this cozy restaurant was surprizngly full for a weekday night. Unlike a few of the other restaurants from the same chain, they have a much longer menu encompassing all japaneese food styles, from oden, to ramen, sushi, gyoza, don, udon and sushi. The wall decor and paintings gave the restaurant a vibrant yet welcoming feel.

We ordered a clam ramen, gyoza and a squid and fish egg rice. The plum sauce on the gyoza gave it more depth although the gyoza skin was a little thicker than the one at gyoza king. The ramen uses small clams to give the broth a light and fresh flavor. Their rice bowls are very large. The mayo sweetness and the saltiness of the fish eggs complements each other. Good value given its price.

Gyoza

Clam Ramen

Fish Egg rice.

What I liked : good location, nice decor, nice selection of rice dishes.

What I did not like: the menu was a little too big, sacrificing quality for quantity. The gyoza was not up to the gyoza king standard.

Mistral restaurant

Mistral on broadway

As a special treat we decided to come here around Christmas time for some nice and heavy French fare.

Our sitting was at 7:45 on a Friday and the restaurant was packed when we arrived. We were printout seated and given the menu to peruse. we decided on 3 appetizers and 2 mains.
Escargot , chantrelle mushroom salad, large charcuterie plate.

large charcuterie plate

Chantrelle mushroom salad

Escargot

We like that the appetizers were served swiftly. Although they were very busy, the server was attentive enough to refill.our water and bread for the first round quickly. I loved that there was a diverse selection on the charcuterie plate. My favorite being the duck pate and the bison prosciutto.

Braised rabbit

Seafood stew.

Of the 2 mains, the rabbit was the winner. There was more depth to the dish whereas the seafood stew was just overpowered by the heaviness of the cream.

The winner for the night was the pear tart. Fresh crispy pastry with thinly sliced pears and caramel sauce and a side of vanilla ice cream.

I loved the attentive service and intimate setting, but IMO some of the dishes were not that unique. Given the price point there are other french restaurants in the area that offer better quality and value. I do like this restaurant but there are other options that win over it.

Homemade Moussaka

Moussaka, a combination of the recipe from Michael Smith, plus the bechamel sauce from Ricardo.

I can't take any credit for this as it was made by my bf. Although a little heavy on the cinnamon, the dish was full of depth and had a little spicy kick to it. The bechamel sauce, (which I made) used sharp goat Gorgonzola as well as some fresh mozzarella. The goat Gorgonzola had enough sharpness to replace the Parmesan that the recipe asked for.

The addition of mushrooms to the top layer of the dish also helped to make this a very substantial main.

We paired it with a quinoa, squash and zucchini salad and some spagettini. Both sides were great with this dish.

Portland food carts

Portland is a city full of food carts. We were hungry and decided to try as many as we can. At Mississippi marketplace (4233 N Mississippi Avenue ) where a group of food carts make up an outdoor food court, it seems many locals come to enjoy the outdoors and the good food that is offered.


Garden State: Offering burgers and other fried foods we tried the fried baby squid and fish balls. The fish balls seems burnt, but the squid was just tender, although on the oily side.




Native Bowl : This is a vegan cart


Alberta Bowl : Grilled tofu, house-made fire breathing dragon sauce (with sesame and sriracha!),
jasmine rice, shredded cabbage, carrots and scallions.

I found the vegan food cart to be the best in the batch. Having a new twist on healthy food, it was both flavorful and refreshing.




Big top waffles offers breakfast choices.




The amazing fun guy waffle. The waffle was made from a cornmeal mixture. The heaping serving of mushrooms eggs and sausage was just what we needed to complete our meal.

I love the idea of an area for food carts to gather, although given the wet weather here in Vancouver, it would be hard to find a permanent place for these venders to setup through the winter.

Hana by hana sushi

2236 NE Alberta st, Portland, OR 97211. We came here today thanks to a good group coupon deal. We arrive here on a Friday night at 9:30 and the restaurant was about 1/4 full. The restaurant closes at 10.

We selected a seafood ramen, sashimi A combo and J special 1 and 2.

This is a Japanese restaurant opened by Koreans. Located on a street with an assortment of different restaurants, it seemwas not noticeable from the street.

Selection was clean, a large rolls selection and a short selection of sushi, sashimi and other small plates.

The ramen was a failure as it looked, and tasted like instant noodle. The small scallops and the 1 shrimp and mussel makes this an expensive an unappealing dish.

The sashimi set had a good presentation, but we realized the sushi rice was a little undercook and the sashimi was fresh, but lacking in flavor. It seemed the fish flavor was masked by a lemon scent.

The last item we ordered was the J special 1 and 2, which is grilled cod, and salmon with some spicy sauce and topped with a spicy fish paste. This was the most original of all the dishes and the combination of spicy and savory was balanced.

What I liked:

• Large restaurant, short menu.
• Beautiful presentation for the sashimi
• Nice decor, with a bar area and flat screen TV.
  

What I did not like:

• Instant noodle served as ramen.
• Sushi rice undercooked
• Sashimi was treated so there was no freshness to the fish.

As I am used to the high quality sushi of Vancouver, IMO I find that this restaurant, although may be well positioned to cater to a more westernized palette, is not up to our standards when comparing freshness and price, I would not want to come back to this restaurant given the many choices along the same street.

Trader Joe's Cresents

I've never tried crescents from a can before. Bought this on a whim the last time I was at Trader Joes.

Instructions were simple


One can of pastry makes 8 rolls. Instructions say to roll each triangle pastry sheet into a crescent shape.


Bake at 350 C until golden brown and voila.


What I liked:

• easy and fool proof
• has strong buttery flavor
  

What I didn't like:

• crescents did not rise as much as I expected
• bit too salty for my tastes

I would love to try some other brands in order to compare this product with the ones from other brands

Trader Joes margharita pizza

At under $4. This fresh made pizza from trader joes offer more value than most frozen off the shelf choices.

Heat at 475F for 8 minutes, this thin crust uses fresh mozzerella, cherry tomatoes and basil. I love the fresh ingredients.

The thin crust was slightly crispy and holds up well against the flavor of the pizza. The tomato paste adds depth and the slight tartness from the fresh tomatoes complements the fresh cheese.

This is another winner from Trader Joes

Cattle Cafe 牛仔餐廳

Cattle cafe located at 4885 Kingsway in Burnaby.

This restaurant was formerly a death by chocolate. First impression is that it is very small. I came here early for lunch on a Sunday morning.

The menu is that of a Hong Kong style cafe and gives the atmosphere of a bubble tea place.

Apart from the make your own noodle combo, all the other menu items are very standard for a Hong Kong style cafe

My noodle and hot drink combo was 7.50. I like the large portions. The noodle was cooked just right, slightly chewy, a sign that this was not sitting in a pot somewhere for a long time. The fish stock soup base was light but had good flavor and most importantly no MSG. I like that they have the non MSG option, although there were only 3 choices, compared to the other 8.

What I liked:

• Small and cozy location
  
• Clean and welcoming design
• Fast service

What I did not like:

• Parking area is small and the entrance is difficult to find
• Tight sitting not suited for large parties or small children
• Menu is plain

This place warrants another visit to try its other menu items.

An Nam Vietnamese restaurant.

Although we had planned to go to pho lan, we ended up here as pho as pho lan was closed. The restaurant was clean and spacious

We ordered the special mixed beef noodle and the spice beef and pork with thick vermicelli. We also added a skewer of the shrimp paste on bamboo. For dessert it was the three color ice.

We ordered the large for the beef noodle. For starters, the large was smaller than the one at pho lan. The soup was also very heavy on msg. Imo the soup is the highlight of the noodle, so use of MSG only means they are skimping on the soup stock.

The spicy beef with thick vermicelli was a better experience. Firstly, You can taste less msg in the soup. The piece of pork knuckle in the soup is also perfectly tender. I like that they give you a lot of the ham and thick slices of brisket. The thick vermicelli also holds up well in the soup. The only thing is that despite its name, it is not spicy at all.

The shrimp paste on sugar cane was fairly disappointing. It was drenched in oil, meaning it had been reheated in oil that was not boiling. All I could taste was the oil. The 3 color ice is a better experience.

What I liked:

• clean and open restaurant
• reasonable prices and lots of parking spots
  

What I did not like:

• The food was no comparable to Pho Lan across the street
• Portions smaller than Pho Lan
  
• Too much MSG in the soup base for the pho
  

Gyoza King - Part 2

As I mentioned in my previous post, I love going to gyoza king, which is why there is a part 2. A little later in the night I went back to gyoza king for round 2. Although I went mostly for the drinks, I did still taste all the food ordered.


Shoyu ramen : At 7.50 this is a mid price ramen, with lots of sprouts and a nice and chewy noodle. Good flavor for a mid price ramen, and not overly salty.


Pork and shrimp chive gyoza. Need I say more? They are famous for their gyoza and this is by far my favorite. The addition of the shrimp makes this a lighter gyoza. Perfect to gobble down along with the g-beer sold here.


Small Oden. In the oden, the daikon (radish) is the centerpiece. When made well it soaks up all the flavors in the soup. The mustard is mixed into the soup to enhance the flavor. The assortment of fishcakes and tofu cakes gives this dish a variety of textures that is always delightful to eat.


Ebi Mayo. Fried shrimp drenched in their Japanese mayo. A combination that can never be wrong. The shrimp is crispy, and absorbs all the mayo... Yum.

I love Gyoya King, and always like to come back for a late night fix. With all the new additions to the menu, it will take me a while to go through all the dishes.

Gyoza King - Part 1

Gyoza King on Robson street.


Gyoza king has long been one of my favorite Izakayas downtown. The food selection is similar to Guu Garlic, but at a lower price point. Having not been here for over 6 months I was looking forward to another wonderful experience.

I noticed there was a lot more variety on the menu, 5 or 6 udons and rice bowls and raw sushi.


Grilled beef tongue. Their staple dish, and is always grilled to perfection. I always love ordering this here.


Clam udon. The menu says this should be stir fried, but this looks more soupy to me. Not what I expected. I was looking for their normal style of stir fried udon in a hot pan with lots of sake. This one was luke warm and not very flavorful. A miss for me.


Seared raw scallops. The scallops were fresh. A simple and clean dish.



Salmon Chazuke. Basically rice in a light broth with salmon flakes. They are very generous with the rice portions. I always enjoy the flavors better when the wasabi is added to the soup. A filling dish perfect for a hungry diner or a cold day.


Tuna Yukke : Chopped tuna with sauce and a quail egg on top. I remember this use to be more spicy. Maybe I ordered the non spicy version by mistake. You are suppose to mix the egg into the chopped tuna, and then wrap it in seaweed. I prefer the spicy version of this, as the tuna was almost too mild to eat as is. The quail egg is used as a binding agent so that the chop tuna holds together better. Fresh ingredients and a clean presentation.

What I liked:

• The still carry their staples.
• Good food and a reasonable price point

What I did not like:

• Addition of too many items.
  
• Quality has been sacrificed for variety