Munchie Adventure: Sun Sushi, Vancouver

So SW and I were thinking of dinner, but since neither of us had cash on us, we needed to find somewhere that accepted credit. This was the result.

Restaurant: Sun Sushi (visit their website here)
Location: 4512 W. 10th Avenue, Vancouver
Cuisine: Japanese
Price range: <$10




Date of visit: May 27, 2013
Atmosphere: 2/5
Staff/service: 1/5
Food variety: 4/5
Food quality: 1/5
Buck worthy? 2/5

Gotta say, the waitress didn't give very good service, I felt like I was unwanted there. Not good. Anyways.

Well known for their cheap sushi, I didn't set my hopes too high. SW ordered the Maki Special ($5.95)-- I forgot what it really is called, something along the lines of that xD It was a good deal, three giant rolls for that price. But here, quantity >>> quality. The yam tempura roll was hot. Although the yam was yummy. The overall roll was . . . lacking. 

Moooving on. I ordered a Nigiri Chicken Teriyaki Box ($8.95). Very disappointed. Sushi rice was warm, chicken teriyaki was too salty (not to mention the chicken was too thin and cooked so dryly-- like chicken jerky), and I don't like my California rolls made with a whole stick of imitation crab, just one of my pet peeves =/ Tempura was also super oily. Overall bad impression.

SW and I also shared a Spider Roll ($8.95) which was the best thing of the meal (not that it was amazing, but in comparison to the rest of the stuff). There was a lot of crab in it, but the warm rice just didn't work for me.

Nope. Not going back. Time to move on to better things xD

Munchie Adventure: Pearl Castle 圓香茶坊, Richmond

It was a hard decision, but my god brother and I ended up here! Looked sketchy outside in the parking lot though, so many people who looked drunk xD Anyways! It was very full inside, good sign? =)

Restaurant: Pearl Castle 圓香茶坊(visit their website here)
Location: 3799 Sexsmith Road, Richmond (Continental Square)
Cuisine: Taiwanese, dessert
Price range: $10-$15




Date of visit: May 10, 2013
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 3/5
Food variety: 4.75/5
Food quality: 4/5
Buck worthy? 3/5

Finally seated, we discussed what to order! A lot of things looked good, especially dessert!

So... decided upon the Seafood Hot Pot ($9.50) which was pretty big!

Didn't know what the soup base was, but it was delish. Ingredients were sparse though, they had these fishball things I loved-- nothing really special about it, it just looks cool =P

Look what I found in my mussel . . . ><"

And there was one (oh yes, ONE), oyster chopped in half in the whole pot. A little disappointed =(

Also ordered Veggie Dumplings ($6.25), that were a bit bland without sauce. Wrapping was chewy and well-cooked.

LASTLY, the star of the meal!! Red Bean with Milk on Shaved Ice ($4.95) =D It was quite large and full of red bean! I really liked it, but honestly, this was more a novelty feeling than anything, could definitely have been made and had at home, different feeling though :P

Not bad, same as the one that used to be in PoCo. Not sure if I'll still revisit though, it IS Richmond after all, so much more to try! ^-^

Munchie Adventure: No. 1 Shanghai Cuisine 滬上酒店, Richmond

Haven't been back in a while, but since we had coupons... might as well! :D

Restaurant: No. 1 Shanghai Cuisine 滬上酒店 (visit their website here)
Location: #120- 4200 No. 3 Road, Richmond
Cuisine: Shanghai, Chinese
Price range: $10-15 per person




Date of visit: May 9, 2013
Atmosphere: 3/5
Staff/service: 3.5/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 4.5/5
Buck worthy? 4/5

A random dandelion picture :D

Since I haven't been a good blogger, I didn't upload this as soon as I went, and don't recall the celebration/reason for eating here besides the coupon xD Annyways! Good food regardless!

Actually made a mistake on my part while ordering this, wanted the twisty buns but ended up ordering the normal buns instead, but these deep fried mantau (buns) ($5.50) were very fresh. The buns were soft and moist. A bit on the oily side though!

Our coupon was for free Shanghai style juicy pork buns (xiao long bao), and they are delicious here. The wrapping was chewy and held in the juicy contents. Flavoring was just right, not too salty-- just as we love them.

The Dan dan noodles ($5.50) were decent. I like more soup, but I guess their style is the thicker saucy kind. A bit salty for my liking.

Although a bit spicy for me, the Pork slices with garlic ($6.50) were ok. The pork was pretty thick and the garlic wasn't fine either. I recall having thinner slices and nicer garlic in Hong Kong ><" It was still tasty however.

My favorite dish, Scrambled egg whites with seafood ($14.50) felt a bit like overkill for lunch, but oh well! They do a good job here, and keep the (slightly dangerous) tradition of having the egg yolk in the middle. I love having it because it's so creamy and delicious.

This came so late in the meal I thought they might have forgotten them! Here are the pan fried pork buns ($5.50). These were amazing. So fresh the bun was soft on top and crispy where it was pan fried. The fillings were so juicy and the bun wasn't soggy at all! Delish!

The main reason my brother visits here is for their dessert: Deep fried egg white puffs with red bean paste ($8.50). It's a bit much after such a big meal, but worth it. It was so fluffy and chewy, the red bean paste wasn't too sweet either, so my parents liked it too. I like how they only have 6 per order (unlike some other places that serve 12)

Full tummies and happy chums (not so much for the wallets), we set off! Laters :D

Munchie Adventure: Ruby Chinese Restaurant 紅寶石大酒家, Port Coquitlam

New dinner menu! Ruby now offers a set dinner menu option, which is not bad, but honestly doesn't compare to Deer Garden. Good for the area and price though!

Restaurant: Ruby Chinese Restaurant 紅寶石大酒家
Location: 2228 McAllister Ave, Port Coquitlam
Cuisine: Chinese, Western Chinese
Price range: $10-20 per person for dinner




Date of visit: May 8, 2013
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4.5/5
Food variety: 3/5
Food quality: 3/5
Buck worthy? 4/5

Besides their new deal for a New York Steak meal for $8.95, their new set dinners range from 4 person to 10 person meals. We ordered their 6 person meal tonight which cost us around $106 in total (with tips and tax). This wasn't bad at all since we had lots left over for another meal xD

Here is the soup, which was a kabocha with pork soup, the kabocha was boiled to the point that it melted into the soup (not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but I liked it)

The chicken is a highlight of the meal because it was very nicely done, it's a cold plate, but the chicken was seasoned very well, all the flavors were infused into the meat and the meat was cooked nicely. However, I still prefer the chicken from Deer Garden.

This is the beef slices in a gravy-like sauce. Tasted a bit like the New York steak we got for lunch last time. Tender beef slices smothered in sauce. Pretty good, but nothing to go crazy over.

Perhaps this was because we know the owner, but it seems like this buttery pork chops was not oily at all. I really liked it because it was so fresh and juicy. The shrimp crackers on the side were very fresh too, so crispy!!

Another highlight of the meal, their prawn in special sauce. The prawns were very large and fresh, the shells were lightly fried, so I could just ingest the whole shrimp without de-shelling (except for the tail part of course) I like how it's not too salty either.

The steamed rice wrapped in lotus leaf could use some work. It's a bit too solid and broken, flavors are good though. It's also GINORMOUS.

There's a snippet of the veggies that also came with the meal, on the top right corner =P It's veggies in soup with bean curd, literally oil-less and quite healthy.

Finally, the steamed fish that was something I've never had before. Looks like a tropical fish! But man, that fish has some solid "teeth" (more like a beak!). Nicely steamed, just right so it was flaky and smooth. So good!

Lastly, dessert. Purple yam sweet soup was way too sweet and the yam was all dissolved =( Also very purple to the point it felt a bit...abnormal. Although I believe her that she just bought it and cooked it (no added color-- by her anyways)

The red bean pancake was the usual that you can order during dim sum, amazing and fresh as usual.

Overall I was satisfied with my meal, they definitely have room for improvement, but that potential for greatness is there!

Munchie Adventure: Sushi S Japanese Restaurant, Burnaby

Last exam, couldn't resist so I came back for more after exams as a treat for myself :D

Restaurant: Sushi S Japanese Restaurant (visit their website here)
Location: 4739 Willingdon Ave, Burnaby
Cuisine: Japanese, Sushi, Tapas
Price range: $10+




Date of visit: May 8, 2013
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Staff/service: 2.5/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 4.5/5
Buck worthy? 3/5

I've gotta say, their service was worse this time. Don't get me wrong, it's not the way staff treat us, it's the TIMELINESS of their service. Lunch took us around 2 hrs when the actual eating was less than half of that. Anyways.

KS ordered their Tako Sunomono ($4.00) and it looked quite pretty. She said it was decent.

Also got some very orderly Sake (salmon) maki ($2.50). Very fresh and not too much rice, just as we like it :) This is one of the few places I've been to that have actual salmon pieces (not the chopped up salmon!!)-- so that's a plus for me!

AL got an Asparagus roll ($2.00) which she said was to die for. Definitely worth trying next time! On the same plate is a Spicy Salmon roll ($4.00). Lots of fresh salmon but the sauce wasn't very spicy.

As for myself, I tried their S combo ($9.50) which included salmon, ebi, and tuna nigiri with 1/2 order of S roll. I swapped the ebi nigiri into chopped scallop nigiri =P

The display was beautiful as usual, and the ingredients were very fresh. I'm not much of a fan of tempura shrimp in rolls, but this was done nicely, the tempura batter wasn't too thick so the roll was alright. The light crispy tempura bits on top weren't oily at all and complimented the roll nicely.

Being the pig I am, I also ordered an Oji roll ($7.00), which I regretted afterwards. I thought I could stand the ikura (salmon roe), but nope. Did not like the fishy taste at all =( The roll itself was nicely done, fresh and very palatable (perfect mouth size), but I felt the ikura ruined my experience. Perhaps for those who enjoy ikura, this would be a good choice for them!

No regrets coming here though! My wallet usually takes a good beating from this place, but it shall recover =) Until next time!

Munchine Adventure: Sushi S Japanese Restaurant, Burnaby

Exam crunch time! Couldn't resist coming out for lunch with a few classmates, I heard "sushi" and was in already =D Glad I tagged along!

Restaurant: Sushi S Japanese Restaurant (visit their website here)
Location: 4739 Willingdon Ave, Burnaby
Cuisine: Japanese, Sushi, Tapas
Price range: $10+




Date of visit: May 3, 2013
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 4.5/5
Buck worthy? 3/5

The first thing I remember reading is something along the lines of the authenticity of their sushi, and how one can opt to have a bigger rice portion size like the other sushi restaurants at no added cost (just need to ask the waiter) =P

Ordered a Takoyaki ($5.00) of course, but it wasn't very fresh =( The display was quite beautiful but the food itself was unsatisfactory. Too much mayo, not enough nori and bonito.

I also got an Assorted Sushi Combo ($13.00) and they allow changes with no extra charge, which made my day =D Instead of the ebi and amaebi, I got another salmon and chopped scallop <3 Notable was the salmon nigiri because it melted in my mouth and was delicious. I don't know how to describe it, but it was flavorful and fresh. And their makis aren't made of chopped up fish, it was a nice strip of fish =D Finally found a place that still does that! *happy*

RL ordered this Gomae ($3.50) and it looked very saucy! TOO SAUCY!

The Rainbow Roll ($10.00) was stunning, and RL noted it was very good!

This is SK's California Roll ($3.00) and Chopped Scallop Roll ($4.00). Notice how little rice is on there, which I liked, but for most people it'd probably not be a good deal since it makes the portion size much smaller for the same price elsewhere =P Again, beautiful display but the lack of rice made the rolls look a bit... weak and distorted ><"

CK ordered a Croquette ($3.50) and Dynamite Roll ($4.00), both looked pretty good! Maybe I'll venture a try some day ^-^

Oranges and candies for dessert~

All in all I enjoyed my meal, but ended up paying $20 to just fill me up, which isn't good on my student budget xD Maybe I'll ask for the big rice sushi next time!