604: The Bund Shanghai Cuisine

This Shanhai restaurant is newly opened along Marine Drive in White Rock and has already earned many good reviews from Instagram and Xiao Hung Shu. The reviews on Xiao Hung Shu are reliable because none of them are paid, and I've read many amazing reviews from the bloggers at Xiao Hung Shu so I was quite confident about this restaurant.

The owner's from Shanghai and she was really hospitable. Good customers are rare to find in Chinese restaurants so this was surprising. To me, good customer service is just a bonus. As long as the food is good, I don't mind eating good food sitting on a bucket.

The food they offered was innovative. It's shanghai food with a modern twist! We were given the choice to steam or fry the soup dumplings (Xiao long bao). The soup dumplings were filled with a lot of soup and the meat was tender. The whole thing just dissolves and slides down your throat. I don't like it when my soup dumplings are meaty and dense, so this was a nice surprise! The dumpling skin was thin and smooth. Overall, this was a pretty high-quality xiao long bao.

The potstickers (pan-fried dumplings) were glued together by this thin crispy layer on top and inside was stuffed with a shrimp. We really liked this cause it was crispy and it wasn't too filling since they used shrimp instead of fatty meat. Dipping it with vinegar also helped cut the grease.

The pork nuggets were pretty bland and lacked crispiness. It needed more seasoning and a longer frying time.

The cucumber salad and sweet vinegar rib met the standard.

The Shanhainese fried noodles were delicious! The noodles were chewy. The meat to veggie to noodle ratio was perfect! It's also not too greasy.

The lamb skewers were flavorful and juicy. Normally these skewers are dry, but they tasted great. It was marinated perfectly with my favorite cumin herb.

Overall, the food wasn't too greasy and everything, other than the nuggets, was amazing. The great customer service was a nice bonus. We enjoyed our five-star experience sharing a delicious shanghai dinner, chatting away while mesmerizing the sunset and the gorgeous water view. This luxurious dining experience was so reasonably priced too!

📍 Location: Here

💵 Price: $25 - $30 pp

🤤Taste: 4.8 / 5

🕯Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🪑Seating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

📈 Price Performance ratio: 4.8 / 5

Retention Rate:100%

Summary:

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕤:

🥡 Shanghai food with a modern twist - innovative dishes

🥡 Quality food

🥡 Great customer service (rare find in chinese restaurants)

🥡 Food isn't greasy

🥡 Thin dumpling skins

🥡 Dumpling contains a lot of soup

🥡 Patio dining facing White Rock beach - great atmosphere

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤:

🥡 Fried pork nuggets are a bit bland and need more seasoning. Also, it was a little soggy.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

🥡 A great new Chinese restaurant added to the Fraser Valley. This will be my new go to in the area now

604: Rainbow Cafe (Richmond)

This is my final stop for my Bubble Waffle hunt. It's one of the most established stalls for its bubble waffles and dragon beard candies, and I'm so thankful for their existence because dragon beard candies are pretty much extinct in Hong Kong. However, their bubble waffles never really impressed me but I'm here today anyway trying to recall why I didn't like them.

First of all, it was really greasy. Secondly, the texture was inconsistent throughout. Some bubbles near the end were super crispy but it tasted like fortune cookies, and the bubbles on the center had substances inside but they were a bit spongey.

Thirdly, the waffle was not fragrant - either some vanilla, custard, or butter flavor would be nice but none of that was noticeable. What's present is the slightly stale greasy scent... Finally, the whole thing is a bit sweet and savory. I don't know. The waffle costs $4.50 which is now below market pricing in Vancouver, but the whole thing just doesn't remind me of what an authentic Hong Kong style bubble waffle should be like.

Just stick with their dragon beard candies. Those are authentic!

📍Location: Parker Place

💵 Price: $4.50 per waffle

🤤Taste: 2.8 / 5

🕯Atmosphere: NA

🪑Seating: NA (Food Court)

📈 Price Performance ratio: 2.5 / 5

Retention Rate: 100% for the dragon beard candy

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕤:

• Below market pricing

• Has amazing dragon beard candies. It's authentic
  

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤:

• Tasted artificial

• Greasy

• Inconsistent texture throughout

• Not fragrant. Butter/vanilla/custard flavors were all absent

• what's present was the slightly stale grease smell

• The Bubble waffle isn't very authentic
  

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

• Just stick with their dragon beard candy

• Love the fan that he uses. Super nostalgic haha

Joyee Cooks: Milo Dinosaur Iced Latte

I've never been a fan of sugar drinks, but there are a few beverages I would occasionally get. Other than the "Milo dinosaur", other drinks that earned my approval include the salted cream cheese foam from Heytea and the Oat Milk Latte with cream foam at Starbucks. So when Javy Coffee contacted me, I decided to collaborate with them and developed a Milo Dinosaur Iced Latte Recipe:

Ingredients:

Salted Cream Cheese Foam:

• Cream Cheese - 2 tbsp

• Milk - 1 tbsp

• Sea salt - 1/4 tsp

• Condensed Milk - 1 tbsp

• Heavy Cream - 100 ml

Milo Dinosaur Iced Latte:

• Chocolate (melted) / chocolate syrup - 1 tsp (optional)

• Milo Powder - 2.5 tbsp

• Hot water - 1/2 cup

• Milk - 1/2 cup milk

• Javy Coffee Concentrate - 1 to 2 tbsp

• Ice cubes (I made it with chocolate milk)

• Condensed Milk - 1/2 tbsp (Adjust to your liking)

• Milo Crumbs for decoration - 1/4 cup (or go nuts)

Procedure:

1. In a double boiler, melt cream cheese with milk, sea salt, and condensed milk. Set aside to let it cool down slightly.

2. In a separate bowl or cup, add heavy cream and cream cheese mixture, and whisk it with an electric whisk or milk frother until it thickens slightly. Don't overwhip it or it will become whipping cream. Set aside.

3. In your latte cup, spread melted chocolate or chocolate syrup around it.

4. Then add Milo powder, condensed milk, hot water into the cup. Mix well.

5. Add a bit of milk (to temper your drink to prevent your ice cubes from dissolving)

6. Add Javy Coffee Concentrate. Mix well.

7. Add ice cubes

8. Add the rest of the milk

9. Add cream cheese foam

10. Add Milo crumbs. Go crazy on it.

11. Enjoy!!

Note:

* Since I'm not a regular coffee drinker, the Javy coffee concentrate is an excellent choice for me! It's readily available to make any of my recipes, it's easy to use, and the flavor's bold! I've enjoyed it with my Milo Dinosaur Iced Latte, Oat Milk Latte, and Mocha Iced Latte (which I will also be sharing my recipes with you guys soon). This would also be perfect to make my tiramisu cakes as well.

* After a minute of whisking, I switched from the milk frother to an electric whisk cause I got too impatient. It was too slow.