#9 Restaurant

BBQ Pork (#9 Specialty)

Restaurant: #9 Restaurant

Cuisine: Chinese/Asian
Last visited: Sept. 19, 09
Area: Richmond, BC
#812-5300 Lansdowne Shopping Centre, No.3 Road
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2.5 (but 3.5 on this occasion...we ordered well)
Service: 2
Ambiance: 1

Overall: 2.5
Additional comments:

• Traditional Hong Kong/Cantonese restaurant
• Serves traditional Canton dishes as well as Western dishes
• Comparable to Hon's, but for me it's better
  
• Extensive menu (Includes names and pictures of all noodles)
  
• Big portions
  
• Very casual, quick and cheap eatery
• Busy/crowded/line-ups at peak hours
• Famous for bbq pork, bbq duck, wontons
  
• All day breakfast menu available
• Bubble tea and desserts available
• Popular to locals and Chinese families
• Open 24 hours & holidays
• Cash only

** Recommendation: Chili pork tossed noodles, bbq pork (also known for bbq duck and wontons, which are not discussed on this review)

I have to give my review based on what it is: a 24 hour Hong Kong style diner, you can't come with high expectations. With that being said, you'll leave feeling full as well as satisfied that you got a cheap meal. The food is good, but not the best Chinese food by all means. It's your "I don't want to think, just pick a place...that's cheap" diner. It's McDonald's of Chinese food - and there's nothing wrong with that if you can accept it as just that. For what you're paying and for what it is I think it does the job fine. It's comparable to Hon's, but I prefer #9 to Hon's. This place tastes even better when you come at 3am in the morning, but for me it's more than an AM restaurant. It's busy, crowded and you can guarantee a line-up during dinner hours. It's perfect for an inexpensive quick and filling meal or for take-out.

If you want to eat like a true typical Chinese family - order what we did. Classic everyday type dishes (except for the Chili pork tossed noodle, but this is one of my favourites here).

On the table:

• **2 Kinds of BBQ & Rice (BBQ Pork & Steamed Soy Chicken) 5/6
• This is huge. I think it's the biggest bang for your buck. It's your choice of 2 BBQ meats (not including duck) piled on top of a huge bed of steamed rice. You can have confidence knowing your barbecued meats are fresh because it's the first thing you see walking into the restaurant. I mean they are pre-marinated and pre-cooked, but when they do it here it's a positive thing - the flavours just get more intense. Don't be caught off guard when you see the bbq meats just sitting in a heated display case...this is how the Chinese do it. Anywhere serving Chinese style bbq meats will have this display set up. It's authentic.
• BBQ Pork 4.5/6
  
• You have to choose the bbq pork for at least one of your meats because this is what #9 is known for. Their bbq pork is really good. I like it because it's really lean and the honey glaze is not too sweet, but just perfect. Some places have really fatty bbq pork and while a lot of Chinese people would appreciate this (more flavour) - I don't. I'm almost certain we got around 20 pieces of bbq pork - the portion was so generous!
• Steamed soy chicken 3/6
  
• You get a variety of dark and white meat. It's chicken on the bone and it's very moist. The skin isn't crispy because it's steamed, so it's somewhat healthier. It's marinated in a sweet and savoury soy sauce so it's very flavourful throughout. You can eat it like that or with the ginger and onion oil they give you. I love that condiment.
• $9.50 (#181 on menu)
• **Chili pork tossed noodles (Canton style) 6/6
• This is really good if you like spicy. the pork they use is lean - almost tastes like the bbq pork meat, but it's not. The pork is mixed with slices of shiitake mushrooms too. I love the texture, the meat is somewhat dry (but it's supposed to be), then the mushrooms are plump and juicy. It's coated in this chili satay-type sauce that tastes like Asian style bbq sauce. It's spicy, sweet, and savoury at the same time.

• It's served on a bed of wonton noodles and a bowl of clear wonton soup on the side. Your supposed to mix the noodles and sauce together and then transfer some of it in another bowl and pour some wonton soup over it - I don't though. I eat it on it's own, without the soup - it's spicier and I like the sauce that much. It's the best here, can't even find better in Hong Kong.
  
• $6.95 (#85 on menu)
• Lettuce with Fu Yu 4/6 (For me - the taste is acquired!)
  
• If you're feeling somewhat adventurous, try this. I know it looks boring and it will probably sound unappetizing, but it is a common vegetarian side dish for Cantonese people. I really love it, you need to know what to expect or you probably won't like it.

• "Fu Yu" translated in English is "fermented soy bean cheese" or "fermented bean curd" - yes, it can sound totally gross if you're unfamiliar with the cuisine. The taste is accustomed. Let's get it straight; it's not a cheese, it just looks like it because it comes in cheese like cubes. It's more like pickled or fermented soy beans or bean curd (refers to the same thing in this case) compacted into cubes of "cheese".

• Fu Yu is very salty on its own, it's also spicy because it ferments in a chili liquid. At this restaurant they make these "cheese cubes" into a sauce - it's almost never served in it's original form.

• To eat this dish you dip a leaf of steamed lettuce into the sauce. Be aware that a LITTLE goes a long way. It is very salty so you don't need very much. It lingers a spicy taste. The texture is thick and creamy and a little starchy because it is made of soy beans. It is a salty pickled taste so don' t expect an alfredo or cream sauce (kind of looks like it) or you'll be totally caught off guard and won't like it at all.
• $4.95 (#295 on menu) We got charged $4.95, but the menu says $5.20...I think we had it on their specials menu so it's cheaper
  

  

• Soup of the Day 3/6
  
• Only typical Chinese families will order this. It does not look appetizing, but it is authentic. It's what Chinese mothers would make at home. Soups in general, and especially Chinese soups require the whole day to prepare in order to get that slow cooked flavour and nutritional benefits from all the dried/non-dried ingredients they use.
• The soup of the day is healthy and full of "good for you ingredients", that don't look good, but are quite tasty. The Chinese "soup of the day" at No9 is almost the same thing all the time. My parents really like this so it's always on the table when we come here.
• The soup is basically a pork stock. The flavour is ok, maybe a little more watered down than it should be, but it's not from the box or anything. Obviously it tastes better homemade, but this is a quick fix for the real deal. The picture above looks unappetizing and that's basically the ingredients used to brew the soup. They serve the ingredients on a separate dish. You can eat these ingredients with they soy sauce or other condiments they provide. What you see in the photo are pig parts and the brown logs that look like tree bark are lotus roots.
• I love lotus root. When cooked they are really tender and when you bite into them they have the texture of a potato, but not as starchy. It reminds me of a chestnut - it also has a lot of fibre and that's why it's so stringy.
• The lotus root and pork is what flavours the soup. Give this a try if you want a taste of "authentic" and traditional Chinese soup. I don't find the ingredients that exotic, but I could be biased. Give it a try!
  
• Small $4.75 (#104 on menu)

Raffles Cafe

Restaurant: Raffles Cafe
Cuisine: American
Last visited: August 27, 09

Area: Las Vegas - Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino
3950 Las Vegas Blvd
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Additional comments:

• Open 24 hours
• Menu shows signature items
• Casual dining
• A nice 24 hour restaurant (not fast food 24 hours)
• Offers breakfast/brunch/lunch/dinner/late night
  
• Tropical (borderline tacky) decor
• Huge portions
  

**Recommendation: Banana and Pecan Stuffed French Toast, Raffles Signature Dessert Burger and Exotic Coconut Pancakes which I didn't order, but have heard rave reviews about.

I only tried 2 things on the menu so I don't think it's fair to give it a full review. Therefore I'm only going to focus on the things that I ordered - which were freakin delicious!! I need to give them their own review. I went at 4am and I didn't have my camera on me, which I totally regret because I can't seem to find a picture of these anywhere. The pictures would speak for themselves - you'd definitely want to book your tickets to Sin City if you saw the pics. I hope my description and review does these 2 items justice. For a 24 hour restaurant the chef is wide awake, because the food is fresh, unique, and there was even presentation - which I don't expect from a 24 hour diner.

On the table:

• **Banana and Pecan Stuffed French Toast 6/6
  
• This french toast was soooo soft and fluffy! It was almost like they used brioche bread. It was thick slices of brioche bread dipped in an egg batter and lightly fried. Then sandwiches between the slices of bread was the thick creamy custard! It was soo decadent and indulgent! Really rich and heavy so you can't eat it by yourself - such a treat! The bananas are cut up in slices, so not mashed and they're slightly cooked and warm and then placed on top of the french toast with toasted pecans. The whole thing is sprinkled with icing sugar.
  
• This is definitely a dessert! It's one of their signature items and it rightfully earns a spot because it's so amazing. We ordered it with chocolate and vanilla ice cream - it's good with or without ice cream - it's just amazing. The custard is thick enough to not ooze out on it's own, but it oozes out when you poke your fork into it. I'm drooling...
• **Raffles Signature Dessert Burger 6/6
  
• (I don't think it's the official name, but I can't find the full menu)
  
• This is another signature item! Thank god I remember the description because I can't find it anywhere. This was such a creative dessert and it really deserves attention. Great concept! Kudos to the chef for creating it. Very well executed.
• The dessert came in a mini burger - the size of a slider. It totally looked like a beef slider. The "bun" was made of a homemade sesame pound cake. The "cheese" was a thin slice of apple flavoured jello (at least that's what it tasted like). The "burger patty" was some sort of frozen chocolate mousse. I think there was also a hint of raspberry coulis for ketchup.
  
• Wow! This was really really good. It held together really well and didn't crumbly apart or anything. It was nice and sturdy like an actually burger. It wasn't even messy to eat. The apple cheese thing was soo unique - I've never had anything like this. Teh combination of flavours worked really well and the pound cake was delicious! I'm glad the portion was a bit smaller because it was just enough to satisfy. So impressed with this dessert coming from a 24 hour restaurant.
• It also came with "fries" - which were deep fried pastries that looked exactly like fries. They were dusted with icing sugar and it came with "ketchup" or raspberry coulis for dipping. These "fries" were not good though - they tasted like nothing. They help in the presentation and complete the concept and that's about it.
• Exotic Coconut Pancakes
• I didn't order these but I hear really good things about them. I'm ordering them for sure next time.
  

Grand Lux Cafe

Restaurant: Grand Lux Cafe
Cuisine: American
Last visited: August 24, 09

Area: Las Vegas - Multiple
The Venetian Hotel & Casino 3355 Las Vegas Blvd
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3.5
Service: 5
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Founder of The Cheesecake Factory
• I prefer The Cheesecake Factory
• Big portions, large menu selection
• Very reasonably priced, a bit more expensive than Cheesecake Factory
• European decor, with typical American food
• Nothing gourmet, but just good/big portions of food served in a comfortable & nice atmosphere
• Casual
• Open 24 hours
• Breakfast served all day in Vegas location
• Lunch specials until 5pm

**Recommendation: Short Rib Grilled Cheese, The Max Burger, Chicken Pot Pie

I got this recommendation from the person sitting next to me on my flight down. I was staying at The Venetian and got in quite late so I thought it would be convenient to check it out. I didn't know it was from the same founders of The Cheesecake Factory, but after I found out it was quite obvious. Large portions, all American food, and that luxurious European cafe feel - overall a casual restaurant where you get a bang for your buck. I like the menu and food better at The Cheesecake Factory and they're almost the same menu, but Cheesecake Factory has an even larger menu.

Note: I got some of my photos off the internet, but I only used them if they were close to identical to what I was served. So these are trustworthy photos.

On the table:

• Crabcakes 4/6
• These were really good. They are a bit on the expensive side for I think $13 for 2 relatively normal sized crab cakes. A bit larger and thicker than a hockey puck. You do get a lot of dungeness crab though (just look at the picture) - so it's reasonable for what they charge.
  
• 
• You can actually break away at the crab with your fork and you don't get those cheap additional fillers, so you're actually eating a crab cake and not a shrimp cake. This isn't a high end restaurant or anything so I was quite impressed with the quality of crab cake I got. It wasn't the best I've had or anything, but for this type of chain restaurant I think it was great. It's served very lightly battered and golden brown with a spicy mustard sauce - I would share this if I were to order it again - 2 crab cakes gets a little repetitive and sickening, but one is good.


• **The Max Burger 5/6
• One of their famous selections. Certified Angus beef with cheddar cheese, bacon, sauteed mushrooms, onions and roasted short ribs. Served with fries.

• If you're a fan of a great tasting burger, you have to give this a shot. For me, I would normally pass on a burger at a restaurant like this because there's so many more options I would want to try something different. But my friend ordered it, and I'm glad he did. It's really big though, you have ahard time eating it cause the toppings keep slipping out. The great thing about this burger isn't the size though, it's the quality of the beef patty they used. You can tell that the patty is an Angus beef patty and it's nice and juicy, not dry at all. This isn't a diner or fast food burger and it's not a gourmet burger either (it's still served on a regular burger bun)...but it's just a classic American burger done well.
• Chicken Meatball Sandwich 2/6
• House-made chicken meatballs with melted Fontina cheese and marinara sauce on a buttered roll. Served with fries.

• This was kind of disappointing. Its drenched in marinara sauce so it's kind of hard to eat too. Really messy and soggy. Yes the meatballs are house made and they're quite large, but I think beef/pork meatballs are generally better. They weren't dry, but they come off as a dry because the beef meatballs we're typically used to are just juicier. They kinds of have this aftertaste that wasn't ideal too. I'm not sure what the herb or spice was cause I couldn't really put my finger on it - but it wasn't something you really want to remember. It's edible and ok tasting, but not something I'd care to order again.
• **Short Rib Grilled Cheese Sandwich 5/6
• Slow roasted short ribs, caramelized onions and lots of melted cheese on grilled bread. Served with fries.

• This is a great tasting sandwich. I would actually prefer it to the Max Burger. It tastes as good as it sounds, again well done on the execution. It was a tad greasy, but that's expected when you order something like this. I like that the bread they used, which is a country bread because it gave it this rustic texture and taste to the sandwich. It has a crispy/buttery exterior and it's not too thick so you can bite into it easily without the sandwich being too messy. You get a great amount of short ribs that are really tender, and a good amount of cheese too. I think it's just a cheddar cheese they use, maybe mixed with some Mozzarella too.
• Grilled Ahi Tuna Burger 2/6
• The description on the menu tells you nothing, except that its served on a brioche bun. It's served with grilled onions, lettuce and tomatoes though. It doesn't look great, and it's pretty plain and bland, it kind of was.

• This was good becuase we were hungry. I've had better before for sure! (Still the best at Joey's). This was better tasting than the one from Le Grande Orange Cafe though. The quality of tuna was alright, but it's very basic and something you could put together at home. There's no specialty here, so don't expect to be blown away or anything. I feel like they added it on the menu, just to have it on, but they didn't really put care into making it good - probably cause the clientèle wouldn't really order it. They did a great job on the grilled onions though - and it's nice to a have a brioche bun with this type of sandwich.
• Salisbury Chopped Steak 4/6
• Chopped steak mixed with onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Served with mashed potatoes, pickled shredded red beets, and veggies.

• This thing is HUGE! It's a lot of meat served with mashed potatoes in a rolled layer on top. Its the combination of the steak and the creamy whipped potatoes that made this really good. It's quite saucy and tastes like a traditional Salisbury steak - all American flavours and tastes. The meat was really ground up and it was almost like a meatloaf, but a bit drier - not dry though. Just drier compared to a meatloaf. The veggies were all ground into this steak patty so you weren't biting into chunks of it or anything. This was quite tasty - but I guess you can't really go wrong with beef, gravy, and creamy mashed potatoes. The steak was flavourful and tender on it's own, but when it's covered by gravy and mashed potatoes you can't really tell...whatever it was still good for what it was though; I can't rate this like I would a fine dining place, cause it's not.
• 
  
• The red beets were good, but I wasn't a fan of them being pickled. Thy taste better with this meal not pickled. It was almost like eating red sauerkraut.
• **Chicken Pot Pie
• I did not order this - but I will next time. The man next to me ordered it and it was SO big. The biggest I've seen. It came in a large bowl with a huge crust baked on top...so the bowl holds the filling and not the crust. It looked really impressive and tasty - all of us wanted to try it. We were considering going back to order this. The crust is made in house, and it's really big so I think the ratio of crust to pie filling would be perfect. I don't know how it tastes, but I will try it for sure!
• It was so big, I had to take a picture of it from the guy who ordered it beside me. The picture I used for this blog isn't the picture I took though...but it's almost the same, I just think this one was a better angle. (I had to take mine from a distance - which is understandable because it wasn't even my order...how odd would that have been?)