604: Bánh Mì Très Bon (Richmond)

I came here for the Vietnamese Sub cause I am determined to search for THE perfect cold cut Bann Mi. I ordered the trio and to my surprise, they are a lot smaller than what I expected.

Their special sub is better than the one I had last week. They are more generous with the mayo and sauce, but it's pricier. I think they should add more cold cut though, and the chicken and pork are pretty bland. One bite, two-bite, and all the miniature Banh Mi's were gone.

I also ordered their shrimp & pork tapioca dumplings (Bánh bột lọc) and they were delicious! The dumpling skins were like Al Dante 😂. It’s very chewy and springy and I think they went crazy on the herb and white pepper, which is excellent cause it greatly enhances the flavor.

Overall it’s a pleasant experience. They have great customer service and a lovely ambiance, but I’m not sure if it’s good enough for me to come back.

📍Location: Here

💵 Price: $12 for the trio sub and $12 for the dumplings

🤤Taste: 3.3 / 5

🕯Atmosphere: 4 / 5

🪑Seating: 3 / 5

📈 Price Performance ratio: 3 / 5

Retention Rate: 50%

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕤:

🥟 Love the texture of the shrimp & pork tapioca dumplings (Bánh bột lọc)

🥟 flavourful filling

🥟 the skin is springy and chewy

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤:

🌯 Quite bland

🌯 Bite size sub (but it comes in three)

🌯 Expensive

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

🌯 Probably wouldn't come back for their subs

🥟 May come back for their Bánh bột lọc but it's quite pricey, so I'm hesistating.

🌯 Overall, excellent ambiance and great customer service

604: Lemon Tree (Richmond)

Many bloggers from Instagram claimed that they make the best bubble waffles, so I had to pay them a visit to verify this.

Like Eggette House, they also have a combo deal but a dollar more expensive than them, which is still a great value, but I still decided to opt out of the drink. Without the drink, it costs $4.80 for a waffle.

The waffle isn't greasy and it's ultra crispy but it's missing the mouthfeel. The weird thing is that when I broke the bubble in half, there's a lot of fluff inside. The waffle is aromatic but the custard and buttery flavor tasted artificial - like butter versus margarine.

Overall, I think it's a great bubble waffle! I liked it enough to rank it as my top three favorite bubble waffles in Vancity, but my favorite is still from the Bubble Waffle Cafe in Aberdeen.

I'd say the quality of our average bubble waffles here in Vancouver exceeds the majority of the cafes in Hong Kong. One interesting point my friend brought up is that the rent in Hong Kong is expensive, so they skimp out on the batter, making their waffles crispy but lack substance in each bubble.

📍Location: Here

💵 Price: $7.99 for a combo or $4.8 for a waffle

🤤Taste: 4.5 / 5

🕯Atmosphere: NA

🪑Seating: NA

📈 Price Performance ratio: 4.6 / 5

Retention Rate: 100%

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕤:

🧇 ultra crispy

🧇 aromatic

🧇 not greasy

🧇 good value when ordered with a drink (but I opted out the drink 😅)

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤:

🧇 The buttery or custard flavor tasted artificial. it’s almost like having margarine spread instead of butter.

🧇 it has a lot of fluff inside when u break the bubble apart, but the mouthfeel isn’t there

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

🧇 great waffle. I’d say top three in Vancity?

🧇 my favorite is still from 🥇 Aberdeen Bubble waffle cafe🥈Eggette House

Joyee Cooks: Tomato Scrambled Egg with Oil Splashed Noodle

Here's an easy meal for y'all. You can double the ingredients for the tomato scrambled eggs, make it into a separate dish and serve it with rice. That's what I did the night before and the leftovers were used to make this oil-splashed noodle.

You also don't have to splash your noodles with hot oil if you are more health-conscious. I sometimes opt out of that and it still tastes good! The only difference is, it won’t match the name of the dish :)

Tomato Scrambled Egg with Oil Splashed Noodle (番茄雞蛋油潑麵):

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• Noodles - 2 packs

Tomato Scrambled Eggs:

• 2 tomatoes - cut into four *

• 2 eggs (lightly beaten)

• 1 tsp salt

• 4 slices of ginger

• 1 tbs tomato paste

• 1 tbs sugar

• 1/2 cup water

• Thickener: 2 tsp cornstarch + 3 tbs water

* I used about 2 cups of cherry tomatoes (halved)

Sauce #1:

• 2 Tbs minced garlic

• 2 Tbs chili powder

• 2 Tbs chopped scallions

• 2 tbs sesame seeds

• 6 Tbs oil (optional)

Sauce #2

• 4 Tbs soy sauce

• 4 Tbs vinegar (soul ingredient!)

• 1 tsp of salt

• 1 tsp of sugar

Procedure:

1. Under medium heat, heat wok or frying pan with 1 tbs of oil. Add egg mixtures and salt. When eggs thicken and edges turn slightly golden, scramble eggs with spatula. Remove scrambled eggs when eggs turn into soft curds or cook until set with no visible liquid (eggs should not be dry). Set aside. (May serve with rice at this point)

2. In the same pan, warm 2 tsp oil under medium-high heat. Add ginger, lightly fry until golden brown. Add sliced tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, sugar, and water. Reduce to medium-low heat. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add thickener and scrambled eggs, set aside.

3. Cook noodles as instructed. Run noodles under cold water then drain. Set aside.

4. In a bowl, mix all ingredients, except for oil, from Sauce #1.

5. Optional: Heat oil in pan and pour hot oil into Sauce #1.

6. Add Sauce #2 ingredients.

7. Divide the noodles and tomato scrambled eggs evenly in two bowls. Pour sauce mixture in bowls, top it off with sesame seeds and chopped scallions.

8. Serve.

Tip: The noodles will continue to cook so remove noodles from heat when it's 85% done. Rinsing noodles under cold water will slow down the cooking process because we want chewy noodles not soft noodles.