Little Sheep Mongolian Hotpot: Inaccurate orders and salty but fresh meats!

With so many new restaurants popping up around Coquitlam, it's hard to keep track of which one is opened yet! I drove by Henderson Place and saw a lineup and open sign on Little Sheep, so I excitedly made plans to visit! We came around 5pm, hoping to avoid the crowds, and luckily we did!

Restaurant: Little Sheep Mongolian Hotpot (visit their website here)

Location: 1001-1163 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam
Cuisine: Hot Pot, Chinese
Price range: $21.98 per adult; $15.98 for 8-11 year old child; $10.98 for 4-7 year old child + $9.99 soup base


Date of visit: April 8, 2017
Atmosphere: 2/5
Staff/service: 2/5
Food variety: 4/5
Food quality: 3/5
Buck worthy? 1/5

So for starters, we had two choices for soup bases ($9.99): House Special Original and House Special Spicy (or a half x half of the two), we opted for the original. It was a milky broth that comes with many herbs and loads of garlic.

Sadly they got in the way of food and never got a chance to be fully cooked to get their flavors into the soup =( The broth is kind of like the soul of hot pot to me, and it was intensely salty. I asked for water to dilute the broth after a little bit of boiling (and further condensing the salt).

Their order sheet allows for two rounds, clearly laid out with categories for food. The meats are maximum 2 orders per round (not sure if it's per person) with each plate being 10pcs. Also, there is a section for extra add-on items, such as meat skewers, oysters, extra condiment items, and drinks/desserts. [Note the numbers I had on the order sheet because the items DO NOT come in the amount listed, it's quite sporadic]

There is a sauce station with: Satay (super watery and just oil), chili oil (not very spicy), peanut sauce, and soy sauce. To its left are the appetizer dishes you can find on the order menu but self-serve. Looked kinda sketchy, so we decided to skip those.

I've been to many hot pot AYCE establishments with a much larger selection of sauces and condiments which are included in the price at better quality-- even the Burnaby location of Little Sheep does a better job.

First to arrive was luncheon meat (2 pieces ordered) and garlic beef (5 slices ordered). Clearly there was far more than 2 pieces on the plate. They were average and salty. I couldn't eat more than two pieces so I left the rest on the plate. When they cleared the table I saw them bring that dish back to the kitchen while the rest of the other dishes were placed into a dirty dishes trolley... suspicious.

The garlic beef was fresh and tender, however there was a giant piece plus two small ones... almost as if they missed cutting it.

Veggies came next, we got watercress (1 order), enoki mushroom (1 order), and tong ho (1 order). These looked fresh and clean.

Then it was an assorted dish of items we ordered: crab meat stick (4 pieces ordered, 6 came), cuttlefish (4 pieces ordered, 8 came), fresh aorta (6 pieces ordered, 10+ arrived), beef tendon (4 ordered, 4 came), beef omasum (4 pieces ordered, a huge clump came), beef tripe (4 pieces ordered, frozen clump came), quail eggs (4 ordered, 4 came), cod fillet (4 pieces ordered, 7 came), dried pork rind (4 pieces ordered, 8 came), mutton dumpling (4 pieces ordered, 4 came). They ended up missing our order for mussels, but we were too full and didn't feel like asking for them. The mutton dumplings were highlights for sure, they were tasty and flavorful but very filling. Everything else was fresh. The cod fillets were super salty, and after cooking in the salty broth-- inedible, so we had to leave them.

Look at the beak still in my cuttlefish!

Another plate arrived with tofu puff (4 pieces ordered, 6 came), fresh bean curd stick (4 pieces ordered, 4 came), winter melon slices (2 pieces ordered, 4 came), fish tofu (2 pieces ordered, 2 came), kelp knot (1 order), gluten (4 pieces ordered, 6 came), potato slices (2 pieces ordered, 4 came), pork blood curd (4 pieces ordered, 5 came), and pork liver (4 pieces ordered, 6 came). I liked the tofu puffs and gluten, these could be cooked nice and soft with some bite to them, indicating good quality. HungryPanda was pretty choked about having to eat 4 instead of 2 potato slices at the end since she was so full already. Elephant had to take many for the team and was definitely overfilled. The pork liver was nice and fresh, marinated well and had good bite to them.

Oh did I mention we got our soup at this time after all that food had arrived to taunt us?

I didn't even realize the meatballs dish was inaccurate, but they're hand-made and decent. Good bite and flavors. We ordered 6 of each but only got 4 of each. There was cuttlefish ball, mutton ball, and beef ball.

Yay! Our first order of supposedly 30 pieces of lamb shoulder slices finally arrives! Their meats are super thinly sliced, about 1 mm thick. So they cook very quick and barely feel like eating anything almost! Not fatty and fresh, this was good quality meat.

Next were "5 slices" of loin of beef, clearly way more pieces-- like 20. They were fattier but melted in my mouth and so full of beef flavor. A nice shade of red too.

Then were our fatty beef slices (30 pieces ordered, 20 came), these were fresh and yummy too! No complaints here besides it disappearing too fast!

To be safe we only ordered 5 pieces of their kurobuta pork belly and... at least 30 slices arrived. These were nicely marbled and not too fatty. You could see the beautiful layers of meat and fat, super fresh and tasty!

Needless to say, the portion amounts were totally random and inaccurate, so it was very hard to gauge how much to order. I mean, if it's off by 1 or 2 it's within reason, but double or more of the order? That's a bit much.

On my second round I just wanted a little bit more lamb and beef, so I ordered 1 order of each (should be 10 pieces) but at least 30 slices of lamb and over 10 slices of the beef showed up.

Two orders of watercress looked exactly like the one order. I was pretty annoyed by this time and didn't want to waste time reasoning with them.

HungryPanda and Elephant both ordered plum juice ($2 with free refills) and they said it was good, not a diluted version.

Might give them another chance in six months when they've settled in more and get running more smoothly. The lineups because of the hype is definitely overrated and not worth the wait. Food was very fresh though!

YEW: Last dineout-- datenight!

To end our Dine Out adventures this year, we decided on YEW, located at the Fairmont beside Pacific Center. They offered a $40 3-course menu with optional wine pairings for each course (various prices). The inside decor is classy but felt comforting. Our server was very friendly and started us with some hot water. Adorables said that he looked familiar, almost like a person he had met during a volunteering mission many years ago!

We were provided with bread to start, Adorables and I gorged on their bread with herb butter.

I ended up dipping my bread in their Yew Lobster Bisque with crispy leek and croutons. I enjoyed this dish the first time I came, but it had been so long I didn't really remember the taste, only "it was good". This was a very creamy but thin bisque. Rich lobster shell flavor. Although it was a small bowl, it soon proved to be a little much all for myself (of course I shared the rest with Adorables).

I talked Adorables into getting the Albacore Tuna with green lentil salad and winter vegetables. Plated as a tower of fish on top of a green lentil salad and garnished with winter vegetables, it was a beautifully colorful arrangement.

Tuna was nice and fresh, lentil added texture to the mushy tuna. Gotta say their plating was simple yet elegant.

I knew it was a silly idea but we both chose more fish for our meal, with Adorables getting the Roasted Salmon with Greek style vegetables and coriander. The fish was cooked perfectly, flakey and not overdone. A golden sheen on the outside on a bed of veggies and soup. Adorables enjoyed the pairing of soup to his fish. I was impartial to this.

I had the Pan Fried Sablefish with vegetables spaghetti, coconut and bouillabaisse. This was a magnificent dish. The sablefish was flakey, moist, and melted in my mouth. Paired with the delicious bouillabaisse-- the dish was well enhanced. I liked this "soup" base more than the one Adorables had since it was more fragrant and full-bodied. The vegetable spaghetti was fine and nicely twirled on my fork.

Onto the dessert round! Their Green Mountain was made with green tea, chestnut, and vanilla yuzu creme. It was a smooth, creamy explosion of green tea flavor in my mouth. The chestnut was very sweet but in small amounts was fine with the rest of the dessert. I loved the shape of it, so cute!

Couldn't decide on the other dessert, our server recommended the Jitters Gateau made with coffee and brown butter Pain de Gênes, coffee cream, and coffee hazelnut streusel. It was amazing! I don't know what made the crunchy bits, but along with the cream and cake-- this was a wonderful dessert experience with a variety of sweet and bitter and textures too!

By the end of the night, we had fully enjoyed our meal and spent some time looking through old photos trying to remember the name of the guide who led the volunteer mission in Morocco-- it turns out our server was indeed the same person! He was still building the school, and it had expanded to become a community center with healthcare included. What an amazing end to our evening, and what a small world it is to reunite with old faces halfway across the world!

AnnaLenna: Fourth Dineout is fancy!

I'd wanted to try Anna Lenna for a while and Adorables managed to book us a table for 9pm. This year for Dine Out, they offered a $40 3-course menu with optional starter add-ons and wine pairings for each course (various prices). We were seated promptly and the interior decor is so cute!

For my starter, I ordered the Fried Humboldt Squid with dill aioli, malt powder, and pickled cabbage. The plating was simple, cubed pieces of squid topped with blobs of dill aioli. The squid was tender, but rather bland. Not outstanding to me.

Adorables ordered the Ham Hock Terrine with horseradish, apple, celeriac, and thyme oil. This reminded me of spam. It was nice and satisfying though.

My main was Pan Seared Trout on a bed of roasted turnips, clams, caper butter sauce and pickled shallot. What a beautiful dish this was! The trout had crispy skin and perfectly cooked interior. The fish was flakey, moist, and delicious in the sauce. I counted four clams in my dish!

Most of my friends ordered Glazed Boneless Short Rib with mirepoix and buttermilk mash. The short rib was tender with a little bit of bite. I quite enjoyed the buttermilk mash as it was creamy and smooth.

Onto the desserts (which were presented to us on a separate menu by the way)!

I ordered the Chocolate Caramel Mousse with almond croquant and thyme anglais and was pleasantly surprised with the gold flakes on top! The "almond croquant" was more like a crunchy caramel piece which enhanced the overall texture of the dish. Thyme didn't do much for me, just decorated the dish atop the cream.

I kept eating the light, fluffy, and smooth mousse while wondering where the caramel was, then I found it! In the middle! What a beautifully crafted dessert!

Others ordered the Yogurt Vanilla Panna Cotta with granola, beet sorbet, and apple gel. Before I remembered it was a beet sorbet, my tastebuds were thoroughly confused by the earthy and sweet flavors of the sorbet. The panna cotta was smooth and jello-like, apple gel provided some tartness to the plate.

Some people ordered the Affogatto with house Irish ice cream and fernwood expresso ($8), they said the ice cream was very nice with the coffee-- quite strong! Almost overwhelming with the alcohol and caffeine combination for one person! All in all, it was an enjoyable evening with slow but friendly and patient service. They ended our night with some fudge when they brought the bill!

Edible Canada: Third dineout sealed!

Onto our third Dine Out this year, Adorables wasn't able to join us unfortunately, but I had the wonderful company of HungryPanda and friends! Edible Canada offered a $30 3-course menu with optional $8 amuse bouche and $18 BC wine pairing. Since we couldn't be seated right away at the time I had booked, we took a seat outside with warmers and blankets to look at the menu and possibly order some drinks.

After we were seated, I was delighted to hear that their controversial Seal Amuse Bouche ($8 extra, $2 donated to research on marine ecosystem health) was available for ordering this evening (it was out of stock when my friend visited two days earlier). It was a rare seared seal loin (2oz) with white bean puree and pickled sea asparagus. This gives you a chance to truly taste the flavors of the lean seal meat. All I could taste was salt. It was a super salty meat, very tender and melted in my mouth. The waitress asked us how it was and she had quite a good laugh when I told her it was salty, "It comes from the sea, of course it's salty" was her reply.

HungryPanda ordered the Pacific Cod & Pemberton Potato Pakoras with jalapeno apple chutney and fresh mint on a bed of arugula. This smelled so good and came on a pan. The pakoras were crispy and fluffy inside. This paired well with the fresh jalapeno apple chutney and fresh mint.

I ordered the Rangeland Bison Tartare with Japanese mustard, fir tip aioli paired with root vegetable chips (extra $5).

The root vegetable was taro, and it added a nice contrasting texture to the soft chewy bison meat. Lightly seasoned and mixing with the spicy mustard, it was a great start to the meal!

HungryPanda and I shared our dishes, we got the Newfoundland Seal Pappardelle with guanciale, tomato and oregano (extra $3). Most of everyone at the table ordered this plate as well, and the portion sizes of each dish varied (portions looked bigger at other tables too :c). I couldn't taste much of the seal in this plate, was like ground pork. I enjoyed the flavors and the pasta was al dente. A perfect amount of sauce for the pasta so that it was all nicely coated with flavor.

We also got Quebec Rabbit Orecchiette (ear-shaped pasta) with mushrooms, confit onions, shaved Brussels sprouts and parmesan (extra $4). The rabbit was a little gamey, tender, and was a generous amount in the dish. This was delicious, definitely a highlight of the meal for me! The pasta was al dente and each little piece was packed with umami! It was a light cream base but definitely well-rounded for flavors.

Onto dessert! We ordered Chocolate Pot Du Creme with cassis and crystalized ginger. This was a bit too sweet but very chocolately and contrasted well with the tart cassis and ginger. Smooth rich chocolate was enjoyed.

My friends highly recommended their Pumpkin Sticky Toffee Pudding with maple bourbon custard and candied walnuts. This was moist and sweet-- reminded me of autumn and pumpkin spice lattes. The candied walnuts added extra texture to the dish but it felt disconnected with the dish.

Overall it was a great experience to try seal and the company I had with me tonight. Servers were friendly but service was definitely very slow (took almost half an hour to get the bill).