Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodle

Restaurant: Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodle

Cuisine: Taiwanese/Noodle Shop

Last visited: January 30, 2010
Area: Richmond, BC

Unit 2800-4151 Hazelbridge Way (In Aberdeen Mall)
Range: $10-20

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

Food: 2

Service: 3

Ambiance: 3

Overall: 2

Additional comments:

• Specializes in Taiwanese beef noodle and soup bowls
• Taiwanese/Chinese (China) chefs/cooks
• Fresh, made upon order
• Homemade, everything made from scratch
• Handmade noodles, dough etc.
• Prepared in small batches
• Large selection of drinks (bubble tea, brewed tea etc.)
• Selection of desserts (shaved ice, Frappe Bliss)
• Large selection of tradition Taiwanese snacks
• Very long line ups at peak hours
• Open/display kitchen
• Lots of seating, quick service
• Popular to locals/Chinese
• Lunch and dinner
• Offers snacks and bubble tea
• Private room available
• Open 7 days

**Recommendation: Noodle topped with ground pork sauce, Pan fried ground pork cake

Chef Hung is getting slammed left, right and centre.

Yes, it’s a bit overpriced, but they do give you a lot of meat. Yes, it’s not worth the long line up, but it might be worth checking out if there is no line-up and if you’re still curious. Yes, it’s overrated, but do I regret trying it? No, because I still had to see what the hype was about; and when there’s a 30+ min. line-up for over a month now…they must be doing something good right?!…errr maybe not…nonetheless I tried everything I wanted to try to make sure I wouldn’t have to line-up again to give it another chance.

For me it was a cross of Taiwanese and Shanghainese food, and in this case I could get better of each cuisine elsewhere. The broth just wasn’t as flavourful or rich to match the authenticity of Taiwanese or Shanghai cuisine. They’re charging a couple dollars more than Japanese Ramen Noodle places and a lot more than Wonton Noodle places and the food is surprisingly bland. The portions are really deceiving because it’s a big bowl with not a lot of noodle, yet a significant amount of meat. The noodles are deceiving too because although they don’t give you much, but they really expand and fill you up fast. You have a choice of either flat noodle, thin noodle or vermicelli and most people seem to be getting the flat noodle.

I do appreciate how everything is homemade and fresh, but the flavour just wasn’t there. It is a relatively quick eat – after all the line-up doesn’t die down during dinner. They’re not rude about it and there’s a lot of staff so the food comes fast and they don't hesitate to ask when you need your bill.

On the table:

Champion beef shank with noodle in soup 2.5/6

• Champion beef shank with noodle in soup $10.95 – Flat noodle
• For $10.95 I should be getting either a big portion, or really amazing noodles and soup. I got neither. This is their hot ticket item and it was only ok. That’s kind of embarrassing.
• If I only order this I’d be really disappointed because this itself isn’t worth the wait. The bowl is big, but not the portion too.
• The broth was very basic and light and almost watered down in taste. It wasn’t very flavourful and the beef taste wasn’t as potent as it looks for sure.
• The noodles were great though. They’re cooked in small batches just until al dente. This is a tricky word – al dente is actually more “undercooked” than one may think. So these noodles come across as undercooked but they’re not. They’re chewy, hand made and it absorbed the flavour (as little as it had to offer) of the soup well.
• They do give you a lot of meat though. The beef shank is quite tender, could be tenderer, and the fat is almost interwoven in layers.
• They also have 2 slices of seared beef which is individually hand seared with a torch. This part was good as well.

**Noodle topped with ground pork sauce 3/5

• Noodle topped with ground pork sauce $6.95 – Flat noodle
• Beef is their specialty, yet this pork noodle bowl was better! I still like it better at other authentic Taiwanese places though – like Lao Shan Dong in Burnaby, or even Zephyr in the Sky in Richmond.
• This noodle bowl is only supposed to come with a little soup, just enough to wet the noodles and then some. The soup again is a bit bland although it looks rich. It’s sweeter, saltier, thicker and richer than the soup in the beef bowls.
• They give you a lot of ground pork which is quite tender and lean. It’s actually quite chunky and not minced like other authentic Taiwanese places would serve it. It’s pretty good though, very marinated, but not saucy and it could have been saucier. I think there were bits of tofu in it, but it wasn’t apparent.
• I do like the al dente chewy and slightly hard noodles. Although I think the thin noodle would have matched the dish better since the meat was ground.

Marinated Beef Crispy Pancake 2/6

• Marinated beef wrapped in crispy pancake $5.95
• This dish is much better at Shanghainese restaurants.
• It was a homemade crispy pancake/crepe rolled with marinated beef slices, green onions, cucumbers, and Hoisin sauce.
• It looks better than it tastes. The pancake part was good and crispy and there was lots of filling, but the dominant taste was raw green onions.
• I could barely taste the meat, and it was very crunchy but there was too much onion and they needed more cucumber. It was slightly spicy from the onion overload.
• Overall it was a bit dry although not oily, but I needed more Hoisin sauce for sweetness and more flavour in general.

Fried Chives Pancake 1.5/6

• Fried chives pancake (2 pcs) $3.95
• This was stuffed with vermicelli, chives, and scrambled eggs.
• The pancake was a very thin crepe and not crispy but soft. It was quite floury and left a powdery layer on my lips.
• The filling was a bit oily and bland with a slight white pepper taste. If anything else it tasted like sautéed onions, with just the natural flavour of the onions and nothing else.

**Pan-Fried Ground Pork Cake 4/6

• Pan fried ground pork cake (2 pcs) $3.50
• I think this is the best thing I ordered and it was worth it. If anything I would come back for these if there was no line-up and it was convenient.
• They dough is homemade and it’s very crispy and thin almost like dumpling skin but more doughy.
• It was the most savoury, but not necessarily flavourful and I wonder if it would be more flavourful than the beef cake. After all the pork noodles were more flavourful than the beef was.
• The pork was really juicy and when you cut into it the juice even leaks out. It reminded me of those Pan-fried Shanghai Pork Buns.
• They’re very crunchy too because they mix the pork with green beans.
• They’re made completely in house and you can watch them doing it. They’re very oily though, but I would order them again.

Pan Fried Sliced Radish Cake 1/6

• Pan-fried sliced radish cake (2 pcs) $3.50
• Ok, no. I like the sliced radish in pastry they serve for Shanghai dim sum better than this.
• I really like radish too, but this was just really bland and fishy tasting. It was fishy tasting because they put some dried shrimp in it as well as Chinese mushrooms although it was way too little and you couldn’t taste them.
• It was packed with filling and really juicy and crunchy, but the dominant flavour was just fishy.
• This was also very oily and I preferred the pork version hands down.
  

Dessert

Mango Shaved Ice 4/6

• $3.50
• This dessert is from Frappe Bliss - a franchise, so they just bought the machine that makes it.
• There is an actual store front for Frappe Bliss in the Aberdeen food court upstairs and it’s better there because you get more variety for toppings. Toppings here are limited and +$1 each.
• This dessert is still amazing and it’s a pretty decent bowl for the price.

Shanghai River - Review 3

Restaurant: Shanghai River - Review 3

Cuisine: Shanghainese/Chinese/Asian/Dim Sum

Last visited: January 24, 2010
Area: Richmond, BC

7831 Westminster Hwy
Range: $20-30

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

Food: 5

Service: 3

Ambiance: 5

Overall: 4.5

Additional comments:

• Known as the best/Richmond's most popular Shanghai restaurants
• High end Shanghainese Restaurant
• Hit or miss items - but when it's a hit it's a big hit!
• Busy/Crowded/Line-ups all the time
• Reservations recommended
• Menu in Chinese and English - some pictures
• Shanghainese staff in front and in kitchen
• Very popular to locals/Chinese/main stream/tourists
• Should go with at least 4-8 ppl - how the menu/portions are designed
• Visible "Xiao Long Bao" (famous steamed pork dumplings) making station
• Private dining room available

**Recommendation: Steamed mini pork dumplings "Xiao Long Bao", braised eggplant with chili sauce, deep fried crab with chili & garlic, hot and sour soup, fried rice cake with pork

This is my 3^rd visit to Shanghai River since I started Follow Me Foodie. As mentioned in my previous posts I have been here before I started blogging as well. They been quite consistent on all my visits so therefore my ratings haven’t changed. The more I try the better recommendations I can give you and I can also track if the quality is still there.

Shanghai River is always packed and it’s one of the most popular fine dining Shanghai Restaurants in Richmond and Vancouver. Collecting a wall of awards, this is a restaurant that is familiar to locals and tourists alike.

Speaking of tourists, that is why I came here. I had a friend visiting from Austria and there everything “Asian” is all categorized under “Chinese food,” so I had to show him the difference. It was Shanghai Dining 101…for a European. He liked every single dish except for one…you’ll see which one. He liked the lettuce wraps and surprisingly the hot and sour soup the best!

The food here is Shanghainese; however it’s catered to Chinese, specifically for Cantonese taste buds. Therefore it’s not as saucy, salty or oily as authentic Shanghainese cuisine should be. The food is still good, but if you ask a Shanghainese person – then no, it is not quite authentic. There’s a reason why it’s still packed though so I wouldn’t write it off just because it’s not the real deal.

Shanghai River: Review 1

Shanghai River: Review 2

On the table:

**Xiao Long Bao – Steamed mini pork dumplings 6/6

• A dumpling filled with juicy ground pork meat and pork broth or soup $6.80 for 8 pcs
• This is a staple item when dining Shanghai. I will order it every time I come here and everyone else does the same. The ones here are good, but the ones at Chen’s Shanghai Kitchen have more soup that’s also hotter.
• For more details on these Xiao Long Baos at Shanghai River please click here

**Hot and Sour Soup 5/6

• A small size will generously fill 5 bowls $9.80
• It’s a hot and sour soup made with pork broth, chilies, tofu, shredded pork, bamboo shoots, black wood ear mushrooms, shrimp, carrots, mushrooms, green onions and egg whites.
• The ingredients vary from place to place and so does the level of spiciness. For me, it’s not that spicy and nobody complained about it being too spicy either.
• This soup originates from Szechuan cuisine, but it is often served at Shanghai restaurants. The traditional Szechuan recipe will also have pork’s blood, which I’m not a fan off so I’m glad it’s not in this one. Pork’s blood is solidified and it looks like dark brown smooth slices of tofu when they use it in the soup.
• There are tons of ingredients in this version at Shanghai River. There are more ingredients than there is soup. All the ingredients are different textures of crunchy so you’re chewing quite a bit.
• The soup is sour from the vinegar and spicy from the use of chilies, chili oil and white pepper. It’s not that spicy though, so don’t freak out if you can’t handle too spicy. It would be much spicier at an authentic Shanghainese restaurant in Shanghai.
• The shrimp is not bad and a decent size and we all got at least 2 of them. With the amount of ingredients they used I really think the value is here.
• The bamboo shoots are pickled on their own so it enhances the overall “sour” flavour to this soup.
• The broth is a pork based broth so you still get that saltiness you want in a soup. Great balance of flavours.

Chicken with Wine Sauce 2.5/6

• This is also commonly known as “drunken chicken”. It’s half a chicken that is marinated and steamed in Chinese wine. It’s served chilled. $6.80
• I think they used to do a better job with this. They use to pour ½ a shot of wine/whiskey on it at the table before serving, but they don’t do that anymore.
• This is eaten as an appetizer. This is the only dish my friend didn’t like. Maybe it was because of the way it looks and the taste was unusual.
• The wine doesn’t really cook out in this dish and I think they add a little bit of just the wine before serving. It’s quite boozy and at first it’s sweet and then it gets a bit bitter because it’s too much wine.
• The chicken is very well marinated, but there’s also not much meat. Consequently the meat absorbs the wine easily.
• Since it’s served cold there is a little gelatin on the chicken which is common. It’s supposed to be flavourful, which it is, but the wine was too overpowering overall.

Pan-fried Pork Buns 4/6

• A pan fried bun that is made with homemade bread dough and filled with juicy pork $6.80 for 5pcs
• This is usually an item you would order for dim sum and not for dinner, but since it was Shanghainese food 101 I had to order them.
• These buns are made pretty well and you could pop the bun whole if you wanted to. Just like the “xiao long baos” you dip them in vinegar before eating them.
• I could taste the flavour of the meat in these ones more than the “xiao long bao” because these buns have less soup. The soup comes from the fact that the pork filling also has gelatin so as it cooks/steams/fries the gelatin melts and becomes the “soup” or gravy. There wasn’t as much soup as I would have liked though.
• The flavour of the meat has ginger and garlic aromatics, but they’re extremely minced up so you’re not biting into pieces of anything except for pork. I feel like they could have been using ginger oil because it was so subtle. The meatball is really soft, but also not mushy like meatloaf.
• The bottom of these buns are nicely browned and fried and most importantly not soggy from the soup.
• As well as green onions there should be some sesame seeds served on top of these buns.

Duck Meat Lettuce Wraps 3.5/6

• Stir-fried duck meat and vegetables. Served with lettuce leaves and Hoisin sauce $16.80
• And I thought EVERYONE knew what a lettuce wrap was. Nope! Not the Austrian, so of course, I had to order this “typical” one as well.
• Ok rip to the off! $16.80? The portion was so small! There were 6 lettuce leaves! They gave just enough stuffing for the 6 leaves, but the plate looked empty when they served it. Was it good? Yes. Was it great? No. Was it worth $16.80? Definitely not.
• The best ones are still at Kirin Seafood Restaurant.
• What I did really like was the addition of pine nuts! That was their twist which I really liked. I know they’re expensive, but the price still isn’t justified.
• Everything was really minced up including the duck meat and I like my stuffing a bit chunkier. I felt like I was eating ground pork which is kind of a waste of duck meat.
• It’s stir-fried with water chestnuts, green onions, onions, and carrots. It’s savoury from the marinade, nutty from the pine nuts, sweet from the caramelized veggies and the duck.

**Fried Rice Cake with Pork 5.5/6

• Stir-fried rice cakes with shredded pork, cabbage and pea shoots.
• I love rice cakes, so I maybe a bit biased. I really like this dish and it’s common in many Shanghai restaurants. I still think they do an excellent job here.
• The rice cakes are thin and fresh! They’re not the packaged ones or dried ones you see at the grocery store so they're very soft here. These “noodles” or rice noodle patties are made in house. They’re cut nice and thin so they can pick up more sauce. They don’t absorb flavours though because they’re a thicker noodle. It has a creamy texture, but there’s no dairy. They’re smooth and slippery, but chewy and stick to your teeth.
• I liked the use of pea shoots and not many places will do this. They may not use any greens or if so they will use spinach. The pea shoots made it more “gourmet”.
• The cabbage is stir-fried and combined with the slices of Chinese mushrooms they both add a sweet and juicy flavour to the savoury dish.
• The only thing is that it need more sauce and it wasn’t as salty as it should have been. If it were authentic there would have been more sauce because rice cakes need a lot of sauce. I know it looks oily, but that a common characteristic of Shanghainese cuisine.
  

Dessert

Glutinous Rice Balls with Sesame 5/6

• Sticky glutinous rice balls filled with hot black sesame filling. I don’t remember the price, but it wouldn’t be more than $8 for 8pc.
• I’m not a fan of this dessert, but I did try it. For people that like it, it’s 5/6, but for me it’s 2/6.
• It’s fresh, made upon order, and served hot.
• The sticky rice balls are nutty and sweet because they're rolled in a coating of ground peanuts, sesame seeds, coconut and light brown sugar. The dough is made out of rice flour and it’s the same as eating a mochi. It’s very thin, chewy, delicate and sticks to your teeth, but doesn’t have much flavour without the crumbled toppings.
• The sesame filling is made of ground black sesame seeds and sugar so it’s sweet, but not too sweet.
• The black sesame is smooth but also gritty. It has a really deep nutty thick flavor and it’s almost creamy like a crème anglaise.
• They’re pretty small, so you can eat them whole like a mini cupcake. I like the outside better than the inside filling.
• Overall I’m just not a fan of most Chinese desserts though. I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Shanghai River - Review 2

Tan Tan Noodles

Restaurant: Shanghai River
Cuisine: Shanghainese/Chinese/Asian/Dim Sum

Last visited: Multiple - October 17, 09

Area: Richmond, BC

7831 Westminster Hwy

Price Range: $20-30

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

Food: 5

Service: 3

Ambiance: 4

Overall: 4.5

Additional comments:

• Known as the best/Richmond's most popular Shanghai restaurants
  
• Higher end Shanghai/Chinese Restaurant in Vancouver/Richmond
  
• Hit or miss items - but when it's a hit it's a big hit!
• Busy/Crowded/Line-ups all the time
  
• Reservations recommended
• Menu in Chinese and English - some pictures
• Shanghainese staff in front and in kitchen
• Very popular to locals/Chinese/main stream/tourists
  
• Should go with at least 8 ppl - how the menu/portions are designed
• Visible "Xiao Long Bao" (famous steamed pork dumplings) making station
• Dishes meant to be shared
• Private dining room available

**Recommendation: Steamed mini pork dumplings "Xiao Long Bao", braised eggplant with chili sauce, deep fried crab with chili & garlic.

To see my 1st review for Shanghai River

To see my 3rd review for Shanghai River

After talking to my friend from Shanghai I have learned that Shanghai River is not really authentic Shanghainese food. It's still good, but just not authentic. I can see where she's coming from because I've been to Shanghai and when comparing the food I get it.

It's true the dishes here are influence by Chinese/Cantonese cooking. The food is still good, but it's just not authentic Shanghainese. They need to cater to the tastes of the majority so being in Richmond - it's no doubt that the food will have a Chinese/Cantonese flair.

For the record we ordered 16 steamed mini pork dumplings aka "xiao long bao" between 2 people. Don't think we missed out! ;) I just didn't bother to write about it again because it's already in my 1st review for the restaurant.

On the table:

• Pan fried pea tips 6/6 (Just depends on if you like the veggie though)
  
• These are stir-fried snow pea tips. I love this vegetable. It has the flavour of snow peas and the texture of a firmer and sturdier spinach. It kind of tastes like it too, but better.

• They make it really well here and it's a simple recipe, but who cares when it's good. You get a lot of it too, a nice pile enough for 4-6 no problem.
  
• It's not oily even though it's pan-fried and they saute it with a light soy sauce to give it some saltiness and flavour. Nice and healthy .
  
• They style if more Chinese than Shanghainese.
• Tan Tan Noodles 4.5/6
  
• This is the most unique way I've seen tan tan noodles done. There's definitely a professional chef in the kitchen and his take on it was solid - although I don't know how "authentic" it was .
  

  

• I have no idea how he made the soup base. It was served with this thick creamy and frothy layer - it looked like a latte! It was really flavourful and I think it could have been a mix of sesame and peanut butter sauce. There were some finely ground peanuts, but not enough of them. There was also lots of finely ground black pepper which is different because usually it's just spicy from all the chili oil they use.
• It wasn't actually that spicy for me. It wasn't that oily either, which means it wasn't as "authentic" because Shanghai food, and especially this dish, is really really heavy with oil. This is traditionally supposed to be served with red chilies too, and those were nowhere to be found. Nonetheless I still though the soup tasted great.
• The sliced cucumbers are great because it lightens up the dish and cuts through all the richness and spiciness.
• The noodles are nice and fresh and made in house. They absorb really easily though and got soft quick.
  
• The could have used more mince pork because there wasn't that much at all. Actually everything was just a bit too minced and finely ground...it almost became powdery. The pork was so minced it blended in with the peanuts.
  

Dragon's View Chinese Cuisine

Steamed Meat Dumpling or "Chiu Chow Fun Guo"
Steamed Meat Dumpling or "Chiu Chow Fun Guo"

Restaurant: Dragon's View Chinese Cuisine
Cuisine: Dim Sum/Chinese/Asian
Last visited: Multiple - October 16, 09
Area: Richmond, BC
#1298 - 3779 Sexsmith Road
Price Range: $10-20

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

Food: 3.5
Service: 3
Ambiance: 4
Overall: 3.5
Additional comments:

• Located on the second floor
• Considered a higher end dim sum restaurant
• Traditional dim sum dishes
• Dim Sum should be more gourmet than it is
• Discount if you arrive before 11am
• Ordering form service
• Busy/line-ups at peak hours
  
• Fancy set up
• Serves dim sum and dinner
• Previous owners of Wah Wing Seafood (the restaurant that used to be there)
  

**Recommendation: Steamed Meat Dumplings or "Chiu Chow Fun Guo", Sticky Rice Meatball

This place is over a year old and was previously Wah Wing Seafood Restaurant. Wah Wing closed down due to health issues or something scary like that. The same owners renovated the place and created Dragon's View Chinese Cuisine. Don't be scared, even though it is the same owners they've completely changed it and it's clean and safe now.

It's considered an upscale dim sum place, but prices do not match or exceed Kirin. If you go before 11am they offer a discount like most dim sum places. Most of the items were ok, but I prefer Rainflower or Kirin to this one. The items aren't as executed as finely as it's competitors, although they still taste better than the average dim sum. The decor is quite nice and the second floor location gives it that royal feeling it aims for. I just feel like it banks on it's location/decor/ambiance rather than the food they serve. The dim sum doesn't match quite as well, but I would still come again.

On the table:

• Steamed Shrimp dumplings aka "har gow" 3/6
• Har gow is a staple item when you go for dim sum - it's every dim sum restaurants specialty. Most of the time you can gauge how good everything else will be depending on the har gow.
• The skin was a little dry and it was a bit sticky. I'm assuming they used no oil to give it that shiny finish. However sometimes the oil helps to give it that smooth texture you expect when eating a shrimp dumpling.
• The shrimp was nice and crunchy, but the one at Rainflower is bigger, juicier and more plump.
• They put a little more bamboo shoot than most other places to give it that extra crunchiness.
• **Chiu Chow Fun Guo 6/6
• A dumpling stuffed with minced pork, dried shrimp, water chestnuts, celery, green onion and bamboo shoots.
• This was delicious. The filling is well marinated in this pork based gravy sauce. It's nice and salty from the soy. It's not a creamy gravy either.
  
• The skin on these dumplings are thicker than the skin on the shrimp dumplings. It's a little more gummy and very chewy, probably made with more rice flour/gluten.
• I love the texture of these. With all these ingredients in the filling you get a bite of everything. It's almost like an Asian 'turkey' stuffing without the breadcrumbs wrapped in a dumpling.
• Steamed rice rolls with dried shrimp and chives 3/6
  
• I always order these whenever I see them on the menu. They pour a sweetened soy sauce on it and you eat them with peanut sauce and hoisin sauce.
• Traditionally these are known as "peasant food," but nowadays they try to make them more gourmet. In order to do this they make them fresh and they roll the rice roll out nice and thin. The ones here are not as thin or delicate as they should be for this type of restaurant.
• The shrimp was also dispersed inconsistently and some rolls were thicker than other ones.
• Steamed BBQ Pork Buns 2.5/6
• Hmmm I'm really not sure if they make these in house. It kind of reminded me of store bought ones, but it's just my own assumption and I could be wrong.
• They were freshly steamed and really hot when they came out, but the filling was a bit dry. That's why I think they could have been frozen. It wasn't saucy enough and the pork meat wasn't all lean. They had some fatty pieces in there that was distracting for me. Sure fat adds more flavour, but the ones made in house nowadays use pretty lean BBQ pork.
  
• The good thing was that the filling wasn't a bright red colour, so I know they didn't use much red dye which is great...which also makes me think they could have made them in house.
• Steamed Fish Maw with Shrimp Paste 3/6
  
• For me the dish when done well is a 6/6, but the way they make it here is a 3/6.
  
• Fish maw is the gas bladder of the fish. I know that sounds pretty weird. Fish maw is a Chinese delicacy so this dish is considered a "high-class" treat.
• Fish maw is the texture of a sponge and it's also a little bit slimy, mostly because it absorbs so many juices. This is a savoury dish.
• They steam it in a very flavourful fish or chicken broth so it's sponge-like characteristic just absorbs all the flavours and it gets really juicy. The fish maw held so much juice that the shrimp paste tasted dry.
• The shrimp paste is basically a shrimp cake. It's also where I mainly deducted points. It's not very good. I think they mixed it with fish paste or something. It was a rough texture instead of crunchy. It was course and a bit bitty as you chewed it.
  
• There was a good ratio of fish maw to shrimp paste though.
• The dish is served with the broth the fish maw is poached in. Drink this - it's really good. However I've had more flavourful ones before. I like it when they add steamed Gogi berries to the broth...they didn't do that here.
• 
• **Sticky Rice Meatball 3/6
  
• This is basically a chicken meatball (the frozen ones you can buy at the Asian supermarket) rolled in white and black sticky rice and some pork gravy.
  
• It's not like it's exceptionally good or anything, but the reason I recommended it is because it's one of their own creations. I've only seen it done here...so why not try it.
  
• It's simple but it tastes good. It's almost the same as the steamed sticky rice - the gravy is definitely the same.
• I like the combination of black and white sticky rice. Black sticky rice just has more texture to it, it's a bit firmer almost like wild rice.
• There's nothing gourmet about this dish, but for an upscale dim sum restaurant I kind of expect original dishes to be somewhat more gourmet.
  

• 
• Stir-fried Mixed vermiceilli with veggies 3.5/6
  
• I'm actually not exactly sure what name this dish is under on their menu, but I can describe it.
  
• It's a mix of cellophane (mung bean) vermicelli and rice flour vermicelli noodles. They stir fry it with Shiitake mushrooms, noodle thin carrots, Enoki mushrooms, green onions and dried scallops.
• I love the texture of this dish. Everything is chopped into noodle thin strands so you get a bite of everything and you can actually taste all the ingredients. It's well-balanced and consistent in flavours. A little crunchy from the veggies, juicy and sweet from the mushrooms, and soft and slippery from the 2 kinds of noodles. It wasn't too oily either. It's a pretty creative dish that has a lot of flavour without a lot of sauce.