Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodles, Aberdeen Centre

I have a backlog of food posts and so will be gradually write about them over the next few weeks.I have been to Chef Hung's twice and have a generally happy and positive experience.

One of the main highlights of this restaurant is their display of a moving bowl of noodles accompanied by chopsticks. It never fails to amuse Gator. I was told that when their restaurant first opened, there will be massive lineup outside their premise. But I had no difficulties at all during both occasions to get a table.

Chef Hung has won several beef noodle competitions in Taiwan.

The picture of presumably Chef Hung was displayed in all their paper place mats.

And this is their accolade - award wining beef noodles.

This time, ordered their Champion braised beef with noodle in tomato soup. Chef Hung claimed not to have MSG in their food and I believe that its true. I was not dehydrated hours after enjoying my bowl of noodles. Requested beef shank for one of the bowl of noodles. I was happy with the portions - I love the beef tendons in my noodles.

This pix is a bit blurry because of the steam from the noodles: beef shank

This one had no beef shank - spot the juicy tomatoes

Finally, I cannot resist ordering their chicken nuggets - I have to admit that their chicken nuggets were not as good as corner 23. It was fried but there was not much taste to their seasoning.

Crispy chicken nuggets - need more spice and taste to this dish

Overall Experience:
Deco: 4/5 - comfortable and private seating. I love their display of moving noodles - a centrepiece attraction. I also like sitting at the corner near the window.
Quality of food: 4/5 - I really like their noodles but felt that they should improve on their side  dishes are alright.
Value for $$: $$/5 - Its definitely more expensive than Cattle Cafe.
Overall Experience:  4/5 - I know a lot of people felt that their noodles are overrated but I had 2 positive experiences so far and I really enjoyed it. Service was polite, prompt and efficient.

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.

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