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Joyee Eats

Aug 15, 2021

604: JooJak Restaurant (Vancouver)

I decided to make a stop here to try out their Chinese Hamburgers (Rou Jia Mo) as per recommendations from Xiao Hong Shu (XHS). Apparently, they have authentic Chinese Hamburgers, and one blogger suggested adding extra green pepper for $0.50. Someone also recommended their Biang Biang Mian and their saliva chicken.

Out of curiosity, I researched the Chinese characters of this dish. I've never seen this Chinese character before and it's interesting to discover that this word does not exist. That explains why I can't type this with my Mandarin Pinyin Keyboard!

According to BBC, the "biang" character is onomatopoeic, meant to mimic the sound of dough hitting a counter. It is also more complex to write than any character in the Chinese language, with a whopping 58 strokes (though, depending on whom you ask, this number may vary slightly). Given how much thought must go into writing it, I was surprised to discover that the character doesn't actually exist – at least, not according to official dictionaries.

Anyway, back to the food. The Chinese Hamburgers were as good as the ones I had from Old Xian and Xian Cuisine in Richmond, but I wouldn't say you'd have to travel all the way to Vancouver for this. For only $5.75, they have loaded the buns with meat filling. Since the lamb filling already comes with green pepper, I did not add extra green for this. Between the two, I think I prefer the pork belly just a bit more. The pork belly filling is fattier so it's a lot juicier and it just glides down your throat.

I also prefer it when the chef is heavier handed with the cumin spice on the lamb, but that's just me. I love that stuff. That being said, I think this is perfect for most Canadians here or those who can't handle the heat. Both burgers are perfectly marinated. The only drawback is that the bun is a bit harder than what I'm used to. It reminds me of a drier pita bread. I think I'd prefer a mantou bun texture instead, but perhaps this is how it should be? I need to go to ShanXi one day to try some of these Chinese hamburgers!

The worker there was also super sweet! Since I ordered two burgers and a bowl of noodles, she placed the burgers inside a take out paper bag. She assumed that I wouldn't be able to finish everything and she was right. It was way too much for one person, but I did intend to bring the leftovers home.

The highlight of this meal was actually the Biang Biang Mian. It was wide and thick, chewy and smooth, and of course, HAND PULLED! I especially loved their sauce as it's a vinegar base mixed with some chilli powder and then seared with hot oil. When chilli oil and or chilli flakes are added to vinegar, something magical happens. It's like a God given recipe. It's just so good. The citrus flavour from the vinegar opens up your appetite, which helped me finish the whole bowl of noodles plus a burger. (I think I could finish the other burger too but I managed to have some self-control...)

I also noticed that the bowl of noodles wasn't too greasy either and it doesn't have any msg. It tasted homemade. I told the worker (and quite possibly the owner) that I really enjoyed her noodles, and especially with the vinegar-based sauce. I also told her that I'm pleased that the noodles weren't very greasy either. She said that even though they do add quite a bit of oil to the noodles, they don't add sugar or MSG to their food. From her stories, I gathered that she's a health-conscious lady. So I doubt a lot of oil was added to it, or at least, it's significantly less oily than most YouPo (Literal meaning: oil splashed or seared) Noodles I've had in other restaurants.

Overall, I think their noodles are great and I would make a trip to come back for it again. Their noodles are better than Old Xian from Richmond, where overall food quality has gone down the drain.

Their saliva chicken was also recommended by the worker and I've also seen many people ordering this dish from XHS, so I think I would come back for their noodles and try out the chicken next time.

📍 Location: Here

💵 Price: $5 - $5.95 (hamburger)|| $7.5 - $10.95 🍜

🤤Taste: 4.2 / 5 (hamburger) || 4.7 / 5 🍜

🕯Atmosphere: 2.5 / 5

🪑Seating: 2.5 / 5

📈 Price Performance ratio: 4.9 / 5

Retention Rate: 100% for the 🍜

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕤:

Burger was loaded with fillings
Burger was seasoned perfectly
Burger: used pork belly for the pork filling - super freaking juicy and delicious
Burger: lamb filling is mildly spicy. Perfect for those who can't take the heat.
🍜 their noodles are phenomenal - chewy, smooth, thick and wide!
🍜 not oily = not greasy!
🍜 First time having a heavy vinegar-based oil seared noodle. I loved it!
No msg added
Excellent customer service!!!

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤:

TBH, I'm not sure how the hamburger bread should be like. The bun resembles a slightly harder pita bread. Is this how it should be. Think I prefer a mantou bread texture instead.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

Recommended by XHS for their authentic Chinese Burger (Rou Jia Mo) and their noodles. Oh, and their saliva chicken, which I need to come back to try!
The quality of their Chinese burger is similar to the ones from Old Xi'an and Xi An Cuisine
The worker was super sweet.
🍜 Would come back again for their noodles! It's better than Old Xian's Biang Biang Noodle, as their quality has declined this year.

Joyee Eats

Aug 4, 2021

604: JoDeen (Burnaby)

Yayyyy, I came here on a Friday late afternoon and beat the hyped-up frenzies. There are a few street parking across the street, but I can imagine it being difficult to find parking spots on the weekend. When I walked into the store, I was surprised to see how spacious this cafe was. I was also surprised by the number of workers behind the open kitchen making their wheel cakes. There were at least 4 of them in the store and I was the only customer.

I ordered 3 wheel cakes with custard, taro, and red bean filling, and they were made to order. I think I waited about ten minutes in total, which isn't bad, but judging by how concise and careful they are with each wheel cake (see video below - I purposely didn't speed up the video so you can see their pace), it made me wondered how they would be able to manage any mass orders. I'm pretty sure they will be swamped on the weekend and a few upset customers would walk away.

The staff there are all Taiwanese and they are so friendly, as they normally are! They are also very thoughtful - they stamp the requested flavor onto the back of the packages so you know which is which.

As soon as I got out of the store, I took a bite into it (gotta try it fresh haha) and the texture of the wheel cake completely threw me off. It reminded me of a fortune cookie with lots of filling. Each flavor has its subtle distinct flavor with a mild sweetness to it. It's not too sweet, which is perfect for my Asian homies, but for those of you who enjoy brownies, red velvet cupcakes with extra cream cheese icing, and cinnamon buns with ice cream and more ice cream, this isn't for you. It's also slightly gritty with bits of microscopic oatmeals from the pastry.

From admiring the tasteful design of the cafe layout to observing the workers putting the wheel cakes together gingerly, then placing the items into a well thought out package, to savoring their wheel cakes, I can tell that quality is highly emphasized. They've put a lot of thought into their branding. I just don't know how they can deliver their products in a timely manner.

Indeed, my friend who stopped by their store the next day complained that she had to wait 2 hours for her wheel cake. Yikes...

I know everyone is or will be comparing this with the wheel cakes from Peanuts in the Richmond Public Market, especially with the price point. It's $3.25 to $3.75 per wheel cake at JoDeen, and it's under a dollar at Peanuts. A lot of them complain that it's expensive at JoDeen's, but considering that they have a massive store with a desirable contemporary ambiance, higher grade ingredients used, and overall more expensive overhead cost than Peanuts, I think they're reasonably priced. (I also believe that Peanuts is underpriced but I would not tell them that.)

Now is it 3 times tastier than Peanuts? The custard filling is four times tastier than Peanuts but all other fillings are just marginally tastier than Peanuts. As for the exterior, I much prefer Peanuts' chewy and glutinous texture. I also like that Peanuts have more options but JoDeen is currently in the soft opening phase. So maybe they will have more options in the future?

P.S - Sorry I didn't order the savory ones. It's not my thing. Neither are pearls with custards... but again it's a matter of personal preference.

📍Location: Here

💵 Price: $3.25 - $3.75 per wheel cake

🤤Taste: 4 / 5

🕯Atmosphere: 4.8 / 5

🪑Seating: 3.5 / 5

📈 Price Performance ratio: 5 / 5

Retention Rate: May be if I'm in the area...

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕤:

- Spacious cafe

- contemporary design

- friendly staff

- thoughtful packages

- all flavors have their own distinct flavor

- high quality ingredients used

- Can taste the oatmeal in the pastry shell

- very crispy exterior

- generous filling

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤:

- slow

- no chew to the pastry shell

- parking may be an issue on the weekend

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

- Reasonably priced considering that they have higher overhead costs than peanuts

- Prefers peanuts' chewy texture

- prefers the custard filling from JoDeen's

Joyee Eats

Aug 4, 2021

604 Joyee's Fave: Hiel Cafe (Burnaby)

Finally, I've found a cafe that makes souffle pancakes that are on the same level as the ones I had in Japan!!!!! You guys can forget about Fufu Pancake or Gram Pancakes here. Even though Gram Pancakes is from Japan, I wasn't a fan of their pancakes when I was in Japan. It's denser compared to Happy Pancakes or Flippers. I like the cloud-like-texture from Happy Pancakes. They were moist, airy, and light. Dreamy!

The location of Hiel is in between the border of Burnaby and New Westminster on 10th Avenue. It's a big cafe with outdoor patios, and the inside is quite roomy. They have a vast food selection ranging from cheesecakes, cookies, bars, souffle pancakes, drinks, and lattes etc. We ordered the two recommended souffle pancakes by the barista, which were the original and creme brulee.

I was timing them for fun and we waited about 20 minutes for the pancakes, which was the average time to make a souffle pancakes. While we were waiting, I enjoyed the jazz music playing in the background.

When the souffle pancake arrived, we were both surprised by the size of the pancakes. They were as big as my head. But coming to think of it, they only offer 2 pieces of pancakes, instead of the usual three, so I guess it's the same amount of batter used compared to the industrial standard.

First thing first, we had to test to see if it jiggles and it passed the test via boomerang. When we jabbed the original pancake with our knives, we already could feel the softness.

The first bite took me back to Asia in a split second. It's airy, it's pillowy, it's moist, and it's soft. The topping was just whipping cream whipped in soft peaks and has a lot of berries decorated around the plate. This would be suitable for all my Chinese friends since it's not too sweet.

The creme brulee was a little sweeter which I am more fond of. The topping is made with French custard and was torched with sugar to create the brulee top. It was harder to divide this up as the top was hardened by the caramelization. The bananas on the side were also caramelized. They were fantastic.

What I especially liked about their pancakes is that they both had a bold eggy taste to them. As you know, eggs in Canada have no flavor so I'm not sure what eggs they've used, or if they've added extra substance to the batter to bring out the flavor. Their pancakes are 95% similar to the ones from Happy Pancakes or Flippers, and this is probably the closest thing I could find here in Vancouver that resembles a real souffle pancake. In fact, their pancakes are very similar to my homemade souffle pancakes where we both use the undercooking technique to create these soft and moist pancakes. The bottom to the middle layer of their souffle pancakes is just cooked through and the top layer has a creamier texture since it's slightly undercooked. While the Japanese use the ultra slow cooking method to make a perfectly soft souffle pancake under low heat, and this method yields a perfectly consistent texture throughout - soft and airy. Personally, I prefer the undercooking method because it's easier to control the texture, and it's faster to make. I'm impatient. I also like the slightly undercooked gooey batter that gives the pancake more moisture, but the drawback with this method is that you would have to sacrifice the height and it's not as airy.

How do I know all this? I've probably read 100 articles on making souffle pancakes and learned all the science behind it. All I can say is that the Japanese are really good at Science...

The cost of these pancakes is $16 per plate, which I find very reasonable considering the time required to make these. It's cheaper than FuFu pancake too!

What are you waiting for? Head over there now!!!!