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.

Mayuri Indian Cuisine

Restaurant: Mayuri Indian Cuisine

Cuisine: Indian/Vegetarian
Last visited: January 17, 2010
Area: Surrey, BC
12677 80th Avenue
Price Range: $10 or less

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

Food: 4 (Coming from an Indian perspective)
Service: 3 (very nice, just very slow)

Ambiance: 2

Overall: 4

Additional comments:

• Family owned
• Authentic (for North Indians and myself, but if you ask a South Indian person the menu is but the execution is not so much)
• Serves South/North Indian cuisine
• Specializes in South Indian cuisine
• All vegetarian
• Popular for dosa (20 varieties, not 30 as advertised)
• Lots of homemade Indian bread options (about 9)
• Lots of starches
• Big portions, good value
• Dairy free options
• Gluten free options
• Vegan friendly
• Extensive menu
• All ages
• Seats 50
• Busy during lunch
• Fully licensed
• Dine in/Take out
• Catering and party hosting available
• Open Mon-Thurs 11am-9:30pm
• Open Fri-Sun 11am – 10pm

**Recommendation: Mysore Masala Dosa, Mysore Cheese Dosa, Thali, Marsala Chai (It’s especially good here). These recommendations are mine as well as from Indian people that eat there. They used to offer these amazing raw banana pakoras; it’s still on the menu but sadly not offered.

This is about my 5^th visit to Mayuri Indian cuisine. It’s not really a hole in the wall but it is kind of in the middle of nowhere between industrial complexes. My Indian friends introduced it to me first and since then I have brought my non-Indian friends as well. The vegetarian and non-vegetarian friends liked it and for most it was their 1^st time. Everyone was more awe’d by the overall experience rather than the food itself, but nobody complained about the food – except some dishes were a bit too spicy. I like spicy, so it was fine for me.

I am quite familiar with North Indian food (home cooked and restaurant) but not South, so from my “Indian” perspective and the perspective of my Indian friends Mayuri is considered a good restaurant for South Indian cuisine. They do serve some North Indian food, but I would classify them much more as South Indian. Everyone orders dosas and they have some South Indian rice specialties that are hard to find elsewhere.

For me, a restaurant has got to be good if your friends of that culture keep bringing you back. Also you know it’s authentic when you’re the only non-Indian in there, and I’ve been the only non-Indian all 5 times. Personally, I think Mayuri Indian cuisine does a fine job. It serves great food, made upon order and at a great value. Don’t underestimate the entirely vegetarian menu, I get so sleepy every time I finish eating here – the portions are big and they’re heavy in starches.

I’m going to treat this review like South Indian cuisine for beginners…

On the table:

**Mysore Masala Dosa 5/6

• Crepe stuffed with Potato Curry, Filled with Spicy Special Sauces $7.45
• I’m still so sleepy and full from the dosa…
• Dosas are huge; anywhere you go you’ll find them this big. It’s really unique looking and don’t be overwhelmed by the size. It’s only the middle that has about a bowl and a ½ full of potato curry, the rest is just the crepe. It’s still incredibly filling though.
• The potato curry is spicy, not too salty and flavourful. It’s not saucy or soupy, but very creamed and thick although there is no cream. It’s almost like a mashed potato curry but with some small tender chunks of potato. There’s also onions, ginger, garlic, carrots, peas and spicy Indian spices, but you can order it mild.
• The crepe is made of lentil flour and it’s really thin and crispy until you get to the part where the potato curry is. When it gets wet or touches sauce it becomes flexible and almost chewy.
• They put a thin layer of tomato paste on the inside giving it a tanginess. It’s also seasoned generously with garam masala (freshly ground Indian spices) and some chili powder. It’s quite salty in the beginning, very aromatic and then the spiciness hits you just after.
• With the combination of the spicy crepe and spicy potato curry, this dosa had my nose running – but I like my heat so it tolerable for me. I did have a hard time tasting the other food after though and had to allow a break in between…and some water.
• The dosa is served with sambar (lentil soup described below) and 2 kinds of chutney: coconut and ginger.
• The coconut is sweet and there’s dried coconut flake in it. It’s not that creamy and very light tasting and makes the dosa mild if it’s spicy.
• The ginger chutney was more like chili chutney. It was bright red and very spicy, but still good.
• If you’re adventurous and want to sample everything then order the Mayuri South Indian platter, that’s what I did my 1^st time. I didn’t really like the extras, so I just order the dosa now.
• South Indian Platter includes:
• 1 dosa (Chose your own dosa for $1 extra)
• Idli: steamed rice cakes, almost like polenta in texture. It’s bland like plain rice is but it’s used as the ‘bread’ for the soup.
• Vada: a deep fried donut similar to a honey crueller from Tim Horton’s but it’s savoury not sweet. It’s not salty either; it tastes like the deep fried denser version of the Idli. It’s quite bland and very filling.
• Sambar: lentil soup – this is good! But it com es with any dosa, not just the platter and you can order it separately too.

**Thali 4/6

• Two poories, Plain Rice, Flavored rice, Daal, one Fry, one Curry, Sambar, Dahi, Sweet, Papad $11.95 (I don’t know what the menu means by “one fry”)
• This has everything, but the kitchen sink in it! My mom calls it “Indian nachos” lol. I enjoy the variety so if you want to sample everything go for this. However this is more of a North Indian combination platter. I wouldn’t call it authentic North Indian, but it’s a North an d South Indian fusion – essentially its North Indian dishes made by South Indian people.
• You can order each of these items individually as well. It’s meant for one person, but could easily feed 2.
  

• The Thali Breakdown
• Poories 2/6:
• Deep fried whole wheat bread.
• This is deep fried bread so it’s really crispy and almost tasted like deep fried pita bread made out of corn meal.
• I wasn’t really a fan and prefer roti or naan. The poorie is stiffer but as the cool down they taste a bit stale.
• Papad:
• Also known as papadums. These are typically served as appetizers and you eat them with chutney. It’s a thin crisp wafer and they’re very aromatic. Not really spicy but more salty and made with lots of cumin, garlic, salt and pepper.
• Plain rice: is just plain Basmati rice...it was very white though.
• Flavoured rice 6/6:
• I’m pretty sure it was there “hot pongal” rice, but I’m not certain. The description sounds like what I was eating.
• This was delicious. It was rice with moong daal (yellow split pea, similar to a lentil) cooked with black peppers and seasoning. It’s not spicy though. It tastes like a puree of creamed curry lentils and rice. Just think of it as baked beans and rice but with curry instead of tomato sauce. It was savoury and I really enjoy ed it! It's delicious with the raita (which is basically plain yogurt).
• It was like Indian risotto, but mushy.
• Channa Masala 3/6:
• It’s 3/6 here, but when it’s made well it’s a 5/6 for me. This is chick peas cooked in a tomato based sauce. It was savoury and very tangy and simple.
• It’s a North Indian vegetarian dish, and they don’t make it extremely well here, but it’s decent. It’s a small portion, and I would only order it as a main at an Indian restaurant that focuses on North Indian cuisine.
• The one here is a bit watery and not as flavourful. It’s not their specialty.
• Tomato Daal 4.5/6:
• This dish is stewed lentils cooked in tomatoes and Indian spices. It was the most savoury of the 3, very mild, and I really liked it.
• It was creamy (but no cream), saucy and it’s very healthy too. Well they probably use some clarified butter in it, but it doesn’t taste like they use a lot.
• It's not as rich as a butter chicken sauce, but it's similar. It also has some mustard seeds in it, which were great.
  
• The only thing is that it's not as thick as I would have liked it.
  

  

• Paneer Butter Masala 6/6:
• Paneer cooked in rich creamy sauce is how the menu describes it. I think they did a great job with this dish.
• Paneer is a cheese, but I question if it’s homemade here – I doubt it. It’s an Indian cheese similar to cottage cheese but firm, not hard though. It’s a very hearty cheese (almost like chicken) but mild in flavour.
• The dish tastes like butter chicken, except made with paneer. The sauce is a tomato based sauce and it is not spicy at all. It’s a bit tangy, but not as tangy as the channa masala.
• This dish has no dairy, but probably some clarified butter to give it that richness.
• Sambar 6/6:
• Thick lentil vegetable soup. I really like the sambar here. It’s not too watery and very flavourful. The beans are slowly cooked so they break down into the soup.
• It’s not really a spicy soup, but almost like tomato based vegetable soup made Indian style.
• Traditionally, you can order idli (those rice cakes) and break pieces of it into the soup and let the patties absorb the flavours of the soup.
• Sweet/Rice Pudding 1.5/6:
• The rice pudding didn’t taste like it was made that day. The rice was hard and it seemed almost pureed and very bitty. It was too sweet too and had no rose water or cardamom.
• Achar 1/6
• This is definitely an acquired taste for sure! I’ve never liked it and I always give it a chance. It’s the most sour and salty thing you’ve ever tried…not a fan.
• You’re supposed to have a bite of it in between chews of everything else, but I’m still not warming up and I don’t find it enhances anything. It kinds of breaks everything up, but I’ll let my water do that.

Mango Lassi 4/6

• It was a bit on the watery side and it was made of mango puree (not fresh), ice, and yogurt. It wasn’t too sweet and I liked it, but I’ve had better.

Café Gloucester

Restaurant: Café Gloucester

Cuisine: Chinese/Asian/Fusion
Last visited: January 12, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (South Cambie)
3338 Cambie Street
Price Range: $10 or less / $10-20

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

Food: 4.5
Service: 3

Ambiance: 2

Overall: 4

Additional comments:

• Typical Hong Kong café menu
• Some fancier items like sizzling plates and 3 course meals
• Some creative dishes
• Small selection of Japanese donburi/ramen
• Cheap for what you are getting
• Extensive menu
• Individual meals $10 or less
• Set 3 course menus around $20-22
• Daily specials around $13
• Spacious, brightly lit
• Great for snacks
• Offers some Asian fusion dishes
• Some Western plates w/Chinese influence
• Dine-In/Take-out
• Extra $.50 or $2 for take-out
• Some desserts: ice cream/jello/cheesecakes
• Open late, attracts late night diners, all ages
• Accepts Visa

**Recommendation: Tahitian Pork Chop on Rice, Seafood Bread Box

Café Gloucester has been around for ages! I remember going there for late night dining when I was younger, but I haven’t made a visit in a while. It’s one of those casual late night default kind of places, but it’s not a 24 hour Hong Kong diner either. I wouldn’t make the trek out there just for the food, but I was craving Chinese and was in the area I wouldn’t mind going. It’s almost like a classy version of #9 Restaurant serving up typical Hong Kong café dishes. It’s very typical Chinese (Cantonese) dining and attracts all ages.

The menu is more creative than I remember it being and they told me that they were releasing a new menu in a couple months. The items are typical Hong Kong café items with some inspirations from other cuisines like Japanese, Shanghai and Malaysian. Since the restaurant caters to Chinese (Cantonese) most of these dishes are made with that kind of Chinese twist. I’m impressed with what they had to offer – I mean it’s not gourmet, but for most items at $7-8 with a drink included…I can’t say they do a bad job. Nonetheless the dishes were quite tasty and it exceeded my expectations. They also call them "mini sets" but there's nothing mini about them...pretty big portions.

On the table:

**Taiwan Seafood & Mushroom Bread Box 5/6

• $7.95 + drink included (Cold drink + $1, Jumbo + $1.50)
• It looks pretty good huh? I really like this dish and I used to always order it back when Honolulu Café was open in Richmond. It’s rare to come across, but when it’s on the menu I like to order it.
• It’s basically half a loaf of Taiwanese bread (white bread) and they fill it with seafood and a cream sauce that tastes like the base for their cream soups. It’s more of a cream soup than sauce they fill it with. Then they bake the entire thing until the ‘bread box’ is nicely toasted on the outside.
• Chinese style cream soups are less rich than the Western ones. There’s no cheese in it, but it’s still milk, flour, and some butter (although not as much as Western versions).

  

• There’s actually a lot of seafood in here and I was surprised. Mind you it was all frozen, but everything tasted pretty good except for the shrimps.
• It had 1 mussel, 2 shrimp, 2 pieces of cod, 2 artificial crab sticks, 1 squid, 1 octopus, 1 scallop and some button mushrooms and chopped onions. I kept finding more and more seafood as I got further into the box…it was great!
• If you’ve never had Taiwanese bread it’s fantastic! It’s really soft and a bit sweet. Taiwanese bread is completely different than American white bread…it’s better!
• The bread box holds all the ingredients really well and it’s toasted on the outside but still really soft on the inside. This is a way better version of the Western soup in a bread bowl. I just wish they used fresh seafood and cooked the seafood in the broth…but this is going gourmet and double the price I was paying, so I can’t ding them.

Szechuan Spare Ribs Rice Cake Soup 2/6

• $7.50 + drink included (Cold drink + $1, Jumbo + $1.50)
• This soup and noodle bowl didn’t really do anything for me. I love these rice cakes too! Rice cakes are a Shanghainese thing and they taste like rice noodles but they’re patties. They’re chewy, firm, but not hard, and sticky yet slippery at the same time…does that makes sense?
• I don’t find that rice cakes go well with soup though. It’s a heartier noodle so I prefer it to be served in a more traditional way – in a sautéed dish with lots of sauce like at Taiwanese Cuisine or Chen’s Shanghai Kitchen.
• They give quite a lot of spare ribs, it’s just they’re really small and don’t have much meat, although the meat it did have was tender. They’re not quality pieces either, quite fatty – but Chinese people like this. I think they cook the spare ribs separately and toss it in the soup so the flavour of both is mediocre.
• The soup was just a regular pork based broth, but it was a bit too watered down. It’s the standard soup base they would use for all their noodles with added chili oil. It was spicy broth, but one dimensional in flavour.
• The dish also had Chinese fungus (those black jelly-like clouds), celery, snow peas and some chopped cilantro that was also tossed in at the end.
• It didn’t taste bad, but I just wouldn’t order it again. I’ve never seen it anywhere else.

**Baked Tahitian Style Pork Chop with Rice 5/6

• $7.25 + drink included (Cold drink + $1, Jumbo + $1.50)
• I liked this! Kudos to creativity! It's one of their specialties because I haven’t seen it anywhere else either.
• It's almost like an Asian, or this case Tahitian, casserole. It’s a huge piece of breaded pork chop served on top of fried white rice with a rich and creamy coconut curry sauce. There are also some scrambled eggs in the mix, but not much. It tastes like and reminds me of Baked Portuguese Chicken on Rice – that is a common dish offered at Hong Kong style cafes.
• The twist to the dish and what made it “Tahitian” was because it had honeydew, cantaloupe and raisins in it! I was very surprised and I don’t even like these fruits but I liked it in this dish! They sauté them so they get very sweet, tender and juicy! It’s almost the texture of sautéed zucchini so think of it as adding sweet ‘vegetables’ to the dish. (Or warm up to the idea by thinking of pineapple fried rice).
• The cream sauce was savoury for sure, but also sweet from the coconut milk so the sautéed fruits and raisins just complemented with another level of sweetness. (It’s also not spicy)
• I could have used more raisins though. I could also use some toasted coconut on top, which would have been great! I also missed a little bit of crunch and some onions would have been nice.
• On top was a HUGE piece of breaded and deep fried boneless pork chop or cutlet. It was actually really good, but it got soggy underneath the sauce.
• They baked the whole thing with a little bit of cheese on top so it had a lovely gratin topping.
• This dish is rich and heavy, but it’s really good especially if you like that savoury and sweet chemistry.