Aqua Riva

Aqua River, 200 Granville st

Located beside Canada Place, this long time restaurant has been part of the waterfront mainstay for over 10 years. Despite some dated decor and seating, the restaurant was spacious and welcoming on a Friday afternoon.

The lunch menu offered a lot of variety:


Steamed clams and mussels with greens. I substituted the salad for fries. The clams and mussels is steamed in a mildly spicy chili lemongrass broth. The broth is flavorful as a soup by itself or with bread.


Seafood Paella with scallops, clams, prawns and wood grilled seafood sausage. The saffon rice was seasoned perfectly. In addition the plentiful seafood made this a very satisfying dish.

Wood Grilled Wild Salmon with fennel potato gnocchi and asparagus. The gnocchi was outstanding. Most gnocchi I have tasted is plain and flavored with sauce. This gnocchi had the fennel flavor combined in the flour and was slightly charred to bring out its flavor.

Strawberry shortcake with white chocolate ice cream and chocolate whip cream. The ice cream and the whip was delicious. the shortcake was a bit on the dry side.

What we liked:

• The large seating area and quite ambiance
• Attentive and fast service
• Large portion sizes and properly seasoned food at reasonable prices. Mains vary from $13 to $20
  
• Harbor view. On a sunny day this would be a beautiful spot to lounge around and catch up with friends
  

What we did not like:

• Dated decor. Definitely needs and update to compete with newer restaurants such as Market by Jean-Georges, which also caters to the same office crowd.
• Paper lined tables. This practice always annoys me and it make we feel like I am having picnic in the park, instead of dinner at a good restaurant. Please just wash your table cloths.
  

In general, this was a good experience and I wouldn't mind coming back here. The waitress did say they were going to close soon, so take advantage of the dine out this year as this restaurant will probably not be here in a few months.

Pasta Zanmai

Pasta Zanmai, Sunway Pyramid, KL

A recent import into the Malaysian mainstream, this restaurant sells Japanese fusion western food. The lunch combos with 2 mains is a bargain!


Chicken pizza with tomato sauce and mayo. The crust is a little chewy. The japanese mayo adds a creaminess to the grilled chicken and tomato sauce.


Grilled chicken pasta. The pasta is El dente. The teriyaki sauce and soft poached egg is mixed in with the noodle for a flavorful sauce.


Dessert is by far my favorite. Left: chocolate ice cream with wafer. Middle: Green tea ice cream with azuka beans. Right: frozen sesame ice cream with whip cream.

What we like:

• The pasta is always El dente. The lunch specials are popular for sharing as there is pasta, rice or pizzas to choose from
• dessert was delicious. The sesame ice cream was outstanding. You can taste both the white and black sesame.

What we didn't like:

• Food was more salty that I am use to.

Din Tai Fung, Sentosa, Singapore

Din Tai Fung, Sentosa, Singapore

We came to this restaurant during rush hour, dispite of a line out the door, we were seated in half an hour, and was able to order and eat in less than 45 minutes. This is what I call impressive fast food!


The dumplings were served piping hot. Uniform, juicy and properly cooked, although the skin is a little chewy, the flavor made up for it.


Hainanese chicken rice. A local specialty. The chicken is steamed just to perfection. The skin has a nice sheen and the 3 dipping sauces (chili sauce, ginger sauce, soy sauce) are a perfect compliment.



Beef Noodle with vegetable. Good flavor and tender beef

What we like:

• The super fast service. We sat down, ordered and ate in under 45 minutes.
• Service was excellent. Servers were experienced to move people through the restaurant as fast as possible
• All the food was good, not just the Din Tai Fung, favorites, but also some local dishes.

What we didn't like:

• Unfortunately the style of the dumplings is still not the type we like. Although the filling is juicy, the skin is just not smooth enough to our liking.
  
• Of the 3 restaurants, the Singapore location is by far the best. High quality food and lightning speed service. It is located on the tourist island of Sentosa. Being the only Chinese choice in a predominately western restaurants area, this restaurant is definitely a winner.

Din Tai Fung KL - Pavillion

Din Tai Fung, Pavillion KL. This restaurant is located in an upscale mall with high end eateries.



The menu has most of the standard items, and one or two items specific to the restaurant, such as the lunch combos and the pork dumpling with black truffle.


Pork dumplings fresh off the steamer.


The skin is firm and a little undercooked. Inside the pork is juicy, but flavor wise is a little under seasoned compared to the one I tried in Seattle.


The afternoon special includes 3 small side dishes of marinated cucumber, bean curd, and noodle with bean curd and mushrooms. The noodle was properly seasoned and had a good assortment of vegetables.


Dry noodle with chicken and sesame sauce. Portion size is standard size by local standards.


Dessert : Taro paste dumplings. Quite misshapen compared to the pork dumplings normally served. Size is slightly smaller than regular port dumplings. The taro is lightly sweetened, and the texture is smooth. Unfortunately the undercooked skin ruined the experience.

What we liked:

• Good location, quiet and comfortable seating
• food served in a reasonable time.
  
• lunch menu to target the office workers.

What we didn't like:

• food was underwhelming.
  
• the skin was undercooked for both the pork dumplings and the taro dumplings
• Although side dishes and the noodle was good, the main draw (the dumplings) were a disappointment.
• Pricing was expensive in comparison to nearby restaurants. Many food choices in the area at lower price points means that Din Tai Fung will have to offer better value to draw in customers.