Return to Heritage - Teochew (Chiu Chow Food)

Vancouver has a great selection and offering of Chinese cuisine. However, I feel that most of the Chinese cuisine is geared towards Cantonese, Szechuan and Northern Chinese cuisine.  This reflects the current demographics of the Chinese population in Vancouver. Gator was pleasantly surprised to find Teochew (Chiu Chow) cuisine in Richmond. Gator did conduct a bit of research online as  I was hankering for some typical Teochew fare and read about Top Chiu Chow Cuisine in Richmond.

Gator was a little disappointed that the restaurant did not serve traditional Teochew congee with dishes. But there were other dishes that made my evening so memorable - BTW, this dinner was for a little celebration about 2 months ago and it was a special treat.

One of the characteristics of Teochew dishes is that it generally focuses on braised and steam dishes. Among the major Chinese dialect groups in Southeast Asia, Teochew food is deemed to be less oily in nature and the taste is more subtle and light. So, we ordered braised duck. I really enjoyed it - it was really done very well - the duck was tender and succulent. 

Braised duck in its glory - the dark sauce served with the duck went well with rice.

The next dish was equally good - oyster omelet. It was fried in a crispy style. I missed dipping the omelet with a tangy chilli sauce but they had other sauces on hand. The omelet was fried to the point that it became more of a pancake - surprisingly, it was not as oily as I anticipated.  Gator thinks that they probably add some flour to the mixture.

I am not a fan of oyster but I never say no when it comes in an omelet form.

A close up shot of my more than weekly intake of calories

Finally, we round off with a bowl of yam desert with gingko nuts - known as orh ni in Teochew. I think that that they made an admirable version. However, its kinda dry and was missing something - which is lard or oil. Gator knows that it sounds scary to have oil in desert but seriously, it adds a bit of oomph to this dish.

Traditional Teochew dessert - a tad too dry

Overall Experience:

Deco: 3/5 - its pretty small but the place can literally pack quite a lot of people
Quality of food: 4/5 - its pretty authentic
Price: $$$/5
Overall Experience: 4/5 -  worth a second visit. I am literally drooling typing this post.

Cattle Cafe - Richmond

I have been to Cattle Cafe on two separate occasions and on both occasions, I forgot to bring my trusted camera. So this time, its all photos from my mobile phone. I still prefer to use my camera because I love taking macro shots of food.

I went to Cattle during one of those occasions when I was too busy writing and reading and lost track of time to have an early dinner. I must say that I did not enjoy my first visit to Cattle. I ordered a fish soup noodle combo and did not really like it. Guess I did not choose my soup combination well enough. What Cattle Cafe offers is a variety of soup base - and you choose the ingredients that go with the broth. It was a mini disaster and I did not finish my food.

Ths time, we had fish noodles and beef. This is not from their combination set but I would say that this dish is quite something. The noodles are made from actual fish and there are generous slices of beef. What I really like was the broth - it was thick and flavorful. I wonder how Cattle made their fish noodles. I came across this blog in Taiwan about how the fish noodles are literally made from hand with just fish flour, dough and a wine bottle. Amazing. http://taiwanxifu.com/2011/03/30/tainan-fish-noodles/http://taiwanxifu.com/2011/03/30/tainan-fish-noodles/

I love the broth of my fish noodles - forgot to take a pix of just the noodles

I find this soup so comforting on a cold and rainy day.

The next dish was Cajun Boneless Chicken with steamed rice in honey and tomato sauce. I love this dish - the chicken was seasoned so well. But the sauce was extremely rich. You literally can get full just by drizzling the sauce with the steamed rice. I much prefer it if they serve it by the side though. This dish comes with a hot drink - you can pay a bit more for a cold drink or one of their speciality drinks.

The portions are enormous - the table beside me was asking me what dish I ordered because this looks so good.

I chose Horlicks as my hot drink - was a reminder of my childhood.

Finally, I can never say no to my mango slush. It is my litmus test to any bubble tea place.It was alright I would say - pretty average. Nothing to rave about. Can't beat the bubble tea at my favourite bubble tea joint.

I can't resist mango slush, even though its cold outside :)

Overall Experience:

Deco: this is just one of the typical cafes where you eat and basically hang out. Its not actually the best place if you want to have a private conversation.
Quality of food: 3.5/5. I had a bad experience in my first visit so I am a little cautious about choosing my noodle combination.
Value for $$: $$$/5. I think its pretty reasonable if you stay away from ordering their speciality drinks and side dishes. Some of the side dishes cost almost the same price as their meal.
Overall Experience: 3/5. I am pretty netural with this place. I know some people really love the noodle combos. But I much prefer the rice dishes. I also tend to refrain from ordering laska or tom sum soup base because I tend to make them at home and want something different when I venture out to eat.

Bubble Queen - Pacific Plaza

One of my list of favourite things is bubble tea. I thought this was a most fantastic invention - whoever thought of blending milk tea with fruits, chocolate etc and then add it with sago/tapioca balls? Apparently, bubble tea originated in Taiwan. I came across this article at CNN International which was quite informative. http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/drink/inventor-bubble-tea-885732 
Chun Shui Tang Teahouse in Taichung makes their bubble tea shaken and not blended. Sounds very Janes Bond - Shaken not stirred :) I suppose this requires a lot of hand power.

In any case, I heard a lot of positive reviews about Bubble Queen and decided to check out the place. I must say that the shop has an excellent selection of drinks - all kinds of flavours. They even store boxes of chocolates in their store - Hershey's, Kit-Kat, Oreo etc. Decided to get Hershey's Chocolate and their infamous mango slush with no pearls.

I was actually disappointed - the drinks were really too sweet for my taste. I much prefer my bubble tea at my favourite hangout which is a post for another day. Ascetically, its really nice that they add real mango pieces and even a small piece of  Hershey's chocolate onto their drinks. But I found it really hard to eat them (especially the mango pieces) with a straw. It bothered me a little. I rather drink the bubble tea and be done with it. On hindsight, I should have ask for less sugar and/or syrup in my drink.

It was an adventure just going down to Richmond Centre but I don't think I will make a trip specially there just for the bubble tea.

Mango slush with mango pieces -it really fills you up. 

Whipped cream with a piece of Hershey's chocolate - this is way sweeter than the mango slush!

I was so thirsty, I started drinking my mango slush before taking another pix.

Overall Experience:

Deco: not many seats for you to hang around and chat. Its quite a sight to see their display of mangoes and the variety of chocolates.
Quality: 3/5 (for the drinks). Was too full to order their waffles.
Value for $$: $$$/5
Overall Experience: 3/5. This place is just too out of the way and I still prefer my favourite bubble tea joint.

Late Night Feasting at No. 9 Restaurant, Richmond

This 24 hour joint is a life savior when hungry pangs hit you in the middle of the night. One of my favorite dishes from No. 9 is  Szechuan chicken and fried spinach. I find this dish less oily compared to other fried spinach dishes I tried elsewhere. The combination of spice and the crispy spinach is simply divine. And I always amazed that the spinach always looks so green. Another of my favorite dishes  is their noodles and soup dish - I usually order shui gow. I love the taste of shrimps and pork in a dumpling. Good wholesome goodness. Their fried rice is pretty awesome too - chicken and salty fish.

They also serve combo meals (which offers a range of options including BBQ meat dishes and other cooked food). 99 also offers your typical Hong Kong fare such as  Hong Kong style French toast glazed with honey or peanut butter.

The chicken looks oily - but trust me, this is still a less oilier version compared to other similar dishes. The texture of the chicken was succulent and there was a definite kick to this dish.

The bed of crispy spinach provides a nice contrast to the chicken.

The "more chicken than spinach look" - Yummy!

This bowl of noodles is comfort food to me.

I always prefer the thicker and flat version of noodles.

Fried rice paradise.

Pretty generous serving of ingredients. 99's version of fried rice is not too wet and dry. I like it more than the noodles actually.

Deco: 1/5 - this is a no-fuss food joint . I tend to get paranoid about dropping my scarf on the floor because it looks so grimy
Quality of food: 4/5. I am quite happy with the general quality of the food.
Value for $$: $$$/5. I love the wide range of food offered and the prompt service. Sometimes when the servers are not harassed, they will even joke with you.
Price of food: 3/5 - the food is not exactly cheap for a no-fuss place. For example, the Szechuan chicken costs about CAN$13 and the fried rice CAN$12. But the portions are pretty generous.
Overall Experience: 3.5/5. I generally enjoy the food here. The servers are also prompt in filling up your tea cup. It satiates my late night hunger pangs.

Well Tea: A Miss This Time

So, I decided to go to Well Tea at Richmond to satisfy my craving for bubble tea. It was such a HUGE disappointment. For an entire day, I felt totally dehydrated probably because the food was laced with way too much MSG. Also the quality of the food seemed a little more greasy than usual.

Ordered the fried fermented pork with fried rice again because I was so enamored by it the first time. It felt good in the beginning but somehow, I felt quite sick mid way eating this. Have no idea why :(

I usually like sauce on my food. But maybe, this time round, the sauce had no much MSG. It really wasn't as good as the first time.

 

 

Also ordered chicken nuggets - Taiwanese style. This was so-so and was nothing to rave about. Me sad. I feel that the Corner 23 Taiwanese place was so much better.

Apart from being crispy, this dish is pretty average. It lacked the WOW factor.

The Milo bubble tea was served in this transparent tea pot. The sprout of the teapot was broken. I acknowledge that the glass of this tea pot is thin but still serving in a broken teapot is a BIG no-no for me. Particularly since I am an avid tea drinker.

Milo always bring me wonderful memories of my childhood years. But this Milo was pretty sweet and thick.

Quality of food: 2.5/5 - I don't know whether it was the chicken or the pork but for an entire day, I felt so so thirsty. Too much MSG.
Price of food: 4/5
Overall experience: 2.5/5 - Sorry Well Tea: Its really a thumbs down for me. The heavy dose of MSG left me with a lingering migraine. I am afraid that it will be a LONG time before I am back for a visit again.

Food at Well Tea, Richmond, Vancouver

The food at Well Tea in Richmond is pretty presentable. Loved the deco. Love the yummy chicken with three spices set and the pork with fermented sauce and fried rice. The pork looks a bit terrifying at first because the meat looks red - it has to do with the seasoning. Its really delicious though - its well seasoned and goes very well with the fried rice. And I loved my drink too - matcha coffee bubble milk tea. I wanna try the deep fried chicken nuggets next. I am a big fan of fried chicken :)



This chicken dish is so flavorful - I loved drizzling my steamed rice with the sauce from the chicken dish.


How it looks like in a set - vegetables, Chinese beans, tofu and steamed rice

The portions are pretty generous

See what I mean - the seasoned red pork sitting on a bed of rice. Lovely!!



This egg dish is a bit of a disappointment. Can do without it. Nothing spectacular.



The macha coffee bubble tea was pretty light - I personally liked it - it complimented the well flavored and seasoned food.

Overall Experience:

Deco: 3.5-4/5
Quality of food: 5/5
Price: 4/5 (its pretty decent, about CAN8 for a set meal before tax. I am not giving it a perfect score because the drinks are kinda pricey).
Overall Experience: 4/5