Sunday, December 30, 2012

Munchie Adventure: K-Town Korean BBQ

Almost the new year! =) So we planned to go to Toyotomi... but didn't reserve a spot, so no table for us =( Oh well, we moved onto Ninkazu, same there, no luck ><" Finally, stumbled here since we had a $5 off coupon (which we forgot to use in the end haha). And there were spots with no wait (should've suspected something though haha). Oh well, we were famished and just wanted food, how bad could it be? (It wasn't that bad actually, but pricey)

K-Town BBQ on UrbanspoonRestaurant: K-Town BBQ
Location: 4151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond
Cuisine: Korean, BBQ
Price range: ~$30 per person (for AYCE)




Date of visit: December 30, 2012
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 2/5
Food variety: 2/5
Food quality: 3.5/5
Buck worthy? 2/5


Couldn't quite decide b/w AYCE and set menu, cuz two peeps weren't hungry, and about four were famished. Doesn't matter what I feel, since it's about the same amount I eat regardless xD So. AYCE won. It looked pretty good, only limited item were the LA ribs, 5 per person.

First things first, we get 4 cards to write 5 different items on it, and they will give us the "right" proportions. We had already made a list of things we wanted (basically it was almost everything on their menu), so now we had to split our orders =( Anyhow, got their side dishes to start off. This was quite simple, potatoes were the only thing I tried, they were pretty good. However, not enough for the amount of people we had.

Then came a TINY salad (like a one person portion). The server noticed the mistake and brought us two large ones right after. Glad she did that. I liked the salad, pieces were a bit big, but flavor was good.

Next came deep fried dumplings. The picture made them look so good, but the actual thing? Fresh, but SO HARD. Taste was good, but I didn't like the hard skin.

Then bulgogi with veggie soy bean(miso) soup came. They gave us two big bowls of it, but we had to ask for bowls to share this... VERY SALTY. Didn't like it.

I didn't really enjoy their Seafood pancake. Mainly because it's not very crispy, too much flour, and not a lot of ingredients. They also only gave us one large one for 10 people... cut into 8 pieces =.= Although I think some people really liked it.

Here was the meat-- for us to stare at, or try pork sashimi =P No place to cook this! I would've liked it more if they could've thought of this beforehand and had the pans first, then the meat! Pork belly looked very fatty, but after cooking, it looked very good! (I only saw, cuz I'm refraining from proteins for the sake of not getting a scar)

Now this is their fatty beef, thin slices that were bulgogi style without the sauce.

Heres the pan, pretty cool =) Except for the fact that it slides around >.>

They did end up giving us "sauce" which was salt + oil and a soybean-based sauce.

I was excited about the stone bowl bibimbap, because these are usually quite pricey at other stores, and this was pretty good! It was very hot, flavors were a bit lacking, but might just be the mix of it I got =P

Surprise surprise! These were the limited LA ribs! They cooked it for us! Maybe they were worried we would burn it and waste good expensive food haha! First sizzling plate it came in, we were skeptical, since the server told us only one more was coming... and this one only had 10 pieces. Were we getting scammed?? Nope, the other one was JAM PACKED with 40 pieces =P They were very delicious and a nice cut. Not fat at all and cooked to perfection! Made the meal all worthwhile!

Guys were starting to get full, so we ordered the few last items we wanted to try. One was their deep fried chicken in sweet and spicy sauce. I liked it, crispy and flavorful. Perfect balance between spicy and sweet/sour.

The deep fried chicken was very fresh too! Very nicely seasoned, everyone seemed to enjoy these.

We also got to order their pumpkin soup. I thought this was too sweet, after a few spoonfuls, it got sickening. Most of the people who tried it, thought the similarly.

To finish off the night, we just had to try their hot pot as well. We ordered the bubgogi with veggies hot pot. It was uncooked, so that took a while to finally boil :P

Under was vermicelli, and I really liked the soup base, rich and went really well with the veggies and vermicelli. A little on the sweet side.

The food did take a while to arrive, and we did get a "warning" from the server of the penalty of unfinished food (he didn't seem too nice about it, more like, he was trying to scare us). Service wasn't that good, but the food was good. I probably won't come back for the AYCE again, but maybe their set menu. Didn't feel like a lot of MSG, cuz I wasn't thirsty afterwards =) We all paid $31 in the end, JC treated me though =D Thanks again~~ Awesome night!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Munchie Adventure: Kingsway Sushi 東壽司, Vancouver

After spending $300 on books at BCIT, I was so ready for food! I suggested Kawawa for ramen, but KW heard negative things about it, so we decided upon Kingsway Sushi. I usually come here for late night, so not sure if lunch is the same quality! =) And partly cuz KW has their Gold Card (10% off =D)

Kingsway Sushi 東壽司 on UrbanspoonRestaurant: Kingsway Sushi 東壽司 (visit their website here)
Location: 3665 Kingsway (intersection of Boundary and Kingsway)
Cuisine: Japanese, AYCE, Sushi
Price range: $12-15 per person (basic)




Date of visit: December 27, 2012
Atmosphere: 3/5
Staff/service: 3.5/5
Food variety: 4/5
Food quality: 3.5/5
Buck worthy? 4/5

We were seated very quickly, the store was about 75% full, not bad for a Thursday. Looked at the two menus, and realized for an extra dollar we could get mango pudding (and a few other things too), so we decided to pay an extra $1 for that mango pudding! =P And it was good!

The fried foods were very nicely done, crispy and not over-done. I was very satisfied. (picture of ika)

Especially liked the sole, very juicy inside.

Weird how they gave us tempura sauce before we ordered tempura though =P

Chicken wings were awesome too, gobbled them before I could get a pic! There were also fried scallops (imitation) and they were pretty good too! Too bad they "ran out" of the popcorn oysters,  really wanted to try that >n<

Sushi looked a bit ugly, but size was decent (not too big). I couldn't figure out the cheesy California roll, but I assumed it was the one with fried imitation crab xD Not bad, prefer normal California roll better =P

To make verify our assumptions, we also ordered a dynamite roll (which was very good btw), and figured that the previous fried roll was indeed a "cheesy" California roll. =P

Gyozas were VERY hot, almost burned myself on it!

I ended up paying $15, and walked out very full and happy. Service wasn't bad for an AYCE and very quick. I like their system for ordering, but their credit card machine took a bit long to complete the transaction (or maybe it's just me xD)

Monday, December 17, 2012

Munchie Adventure: Point Zero Four Fusion 零點串吧, Richmond

Ok. I saw the ad in the newspaper, and was lured in by the cheap lunch price. $7.99/ person for AYCE hot pot lunch? Nothing should sound like such a good deal-- unless it's not. Which I found out AFTER I sat down =( We were SO SCAMMED. I really don't think tricking people into your store is a good idea. Usually keeps them from coming back.

Point Zero Four Fusion 零點串吧 on UrbanspoonRestaurant: Point Zero Four Fusion 零點串吧
Location: 8500 Alexandra Road, Richmond
Cuisine: Chinese, Hot Pot, AYCE
Price range: <$10 per person




Date of visit: December 17, 2012
Atmosphere: 3/5
Staff/service: 2/5
Food variety: 2/5
Food quality: 2/5
Buck worthy? 1/5

Ok, the server who brought us to our table was nice and all, but he wasn't very helpful. He disappeared after leading us to our table, then suddenly appeared, started talking before he had our attention, and so I had to ask him to repeat himself. He asked about soup bases, I got the free (clear soup). Glad I did. Didn't want to pay for any more than I should have.
I had no clue that it was a buffet style (you grab your food from a table, then go back to cook it), so when I asked him if there were order sheets, he just pointed to the table of food. They're good. SO GOOD. (Do you sense my sarcasm?) They put the fullest tray nearest the tables, so I thought there was lots of food. Besides the only full one (beef slices), the rest were at around 20-50% fullness. Mainly the squid (if not for my surgery, I would've liked it) and stuff people don't prefer were fuller. The drinks were free! LOL

Anyways, the pork was really good, but even though we grabbed the last bits of it, there were only 7 pieces to split between 3 people =( SPAM was no good either, so mushy! I liked the imitation crab though, one of the better things available. Then there was chicken. Chicken was uh... chicken, nothing special about it. I could make it at home.

The veggies were fresh looking though, not amazing, but edible. I boiled everything for extra long, to kill the potential bacteria that might kill me xD

There were also other foods, but nothing else worth mentioning... Oh! The sauces were good. They had the typical hot pot sauces and you get to mix your own. That was good.

I don't know why I put myself through that, but I did. I survived. But I just wish the owner could've warned us that they wouldn't restock and let us decide whether or not we want to stay. My mom went to interrogate him before we found out "Oh, yesterday was unexpectedly busy, so we ran out of food, and stock hasn't arrived yet". Yeah riiiight. Never coming back. Don't lie to someone and expect them to trust you again. The washroom was pretty scary too. It was half lit and dark. SKETCHY. I'm pretty amazed we made it out alive.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Recipe: Sugar Cookies (Korilakkuma shapes!)

To match with the Rilakkuma cookies, I also made a batch of sugar cookies to look like Korilakkuma. With many many thanks to my daddy dearest, since I didn't have a mould for it, he just crafted me one like MAGIC. So lucky of me =D

Ingredients:
60 mL     margarine
125 mL    sugar
1             egg
2mL        vanilla
---------------------------
300 mL flour
2mL      baking soda
1 mL     cream of tartar
1mL      salt

Some Useful Utensils:
Measuring spoons
Measuring cups (dry and wet)
Big bowl
Wooden spoon or mixer
Cookie sheet
Parchment paper
Cookie cutter
2 pairs of chopsticks
Rolling pin
Oven mitts



Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375oF.
2. Cream margarine and sugar. 

3. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. 
4. Measure dry ingredients in a separate bowl. 
5. Add dry ingredients SLOWLY to creamed mixture.
6. Chill overnight in a container (I tried some unchilled, it was just more sticky)

7. Line two sides with chopsticks (each are reversed, so its more even)
This helps with rolling out a more even dough!

8. Cover with parchment paper and rolllll =)
9. Cut out shapes. 
10. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, or parchment-lined sheet. 
11. Bake 6-8 minutes, then place on cooling rack (I've decorated these as well ^^)
Also made elephants~