Neptune Seafood: Lobster for lunch? SURE

Bringing some relatives around to visit Richmond, they wanted to try some "Vancouver dim sum". Haven't been here before, but dinner was pretty good when I came here once, so why not?

Restaurant: Neptune Seafood Restaurant (visit their website here)

Location: 8171 Ackroyd Road, Richmond
Cuisine: Chinese, Dim Sum, Seafood
Price range: $15+



Date of visit: June 14, 2014
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 4/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 4.5/5
Buck worthy? 4/5

So as I walked in I smelled delicious durian and wanted to order the item containing it-- sadly... I saw them plate out a few but none ever reached our table until they told us when I asked again, "They're sold out." WHAT. WHY YOU NO TELL ME EARLIER. I'M SURE I ORDERED IT FIRST. Anyways. aside from that, first was a nicely sized Pork Shao Mai ($5.68). The pork was chopped and not pureed, which everyone enjoyed. Tasted legit and fresh.

Next Pig Liver Rice Rolls ($5.68) were very mediocre. Sure the liver was a nice crunchy consistency and flavored well, but the rice roll around it was a bit hard, rough, and not chewy enough.

Steamed Beef Tripe ($4.68) was nicely portioned and flavored well. The tripe was crunchy and good. Meets the standards.

Then the Shrimp Dumplings ($5.68) were disappointing. The filling was crunchy, springy, and fresh but the wrapping fell apart and was too soft.

I was surprised at how many BBQ Pork Buns ($4.68) were in one order! For the price, there were four big buns which were decent! Soft bread and the pork inside had a good consistency. Flavors were up to par.

I find their Lotus Leaf Sticky Rice ($5.68) quite ingenious because they wrap it on the outside with an extra layer of paper, keeping in all the lotus flavors-- creating rice that was infused with lotus. Delicious. The ingredients inside were not bad either, pork, egg, and a piece of Chinese sausage. Quite traditional.

I didn't try their Stuffed Eggplant ($5.68) as I'm allergic, but they looked big and fresh. Everyone seemed to enjoy them.

The Deep Fried Stuffed Dumplings ($5.68) had barely any filling. Freshly made but nothing special.

Now comes the lobster. I find it quite a good deal for a lobster with noodles at lunch. Their Fried Lobster Rice Noodles ($19.98) had a full lobster on top of a bed of clear rice noodles. Flavors were soy sauce based with some ginger and green onion. Lobster was fresh. Highlight of the meal for sure. Definitely impressed our visitors from Hong Kong ^u^

Onto dessert, we had Deep Fried Glutinous Balls ($4.68).

The filling is a sweet custard that everyone enjoyed because it flowed nicely out and was freshly made.

I think it was in season or something, and I was against it in the beginning, but we ordered a Red Bean Rice Cake ($4.68) aka red bean sticky rice. It was TINY. Texture was ok, it was chewy and not too soft nor was it hard. I found it mediocre compared to the ones we used to get from this nice old lady xD Anyhow, not worth ordering again. (didn't get a pic cuz it was THAT disappointing)

As you might notice, tea ($1.20/person) was rather expensive =( It was like having one and a half dim sum dishes :c Oh well. Service was not bad, very variable.