Kongee Dinesty 金津粥品專門店

After a year long hiatus, I'm back with more reviews, and I'm starting with a newly opened restaurant in Richmond called Kongee Dinesty.

The restaurant is in an easily accessible plaza on Garden city and Capstan Way. The plaza is now filled with restaurants, but even at lunchtime there were plenty of parking spots. 

The interior is quite new and reminds me of Dinesty (same owner maybe?). It's bright, spacious, and plenty of daylight comes through the interestingly dressed up window that makes it near impossible to see into the restaurant from outside. 

We were given the lunch menu so it was quite limited. We ordered just a few dishes to see if it was good and we weren't disappointed.

Sampan Congee - A congee staple at most establishments, it was average to good. J doesn't meat pig's ears, so I don't know why she orders this. H didn't really care for it but she didn't complain either.

Sweet Chinese Donut - A favourite of mine. It was decent here, but tasted a little too doughy. H loved it though. I liked how it wasn't overly fried. 

Pan Fried Turnip Cake with X.O. Sauce - This dish was the main event of my meal. The turnip cake was cut into cubes and pan fried in sauce. The cubes were a little on the thick side, so you get a lot of soft turnip cake in every bite (as opposed to the crispy outside). It could be cut a little thinner to increase the ratio of crispness. The sauce was tasty, but they could have been a bit more generous with it. The one thing I didn't like was the bean sprouts. They were flavorless and seemed to be added to the plate as more of a garnish than part of the dish. 

Chinese Donut Wrapped with Rice Roll - in a nutshell I was disappointed with this dish. Maybe I was getting full and they served this nearly 20 minutes after everything else we ordered. However, I found that the doughnut was too doughy, and the rice wrap was a little below average. They provided a bit of sauce, but it felt a little stingy too. Overall, I probably wouldn't order it again. 

H also got a glass of warm soy milk, which was just okay. 

Service wasn't bad. There were probably 6 staff waiting tables and hosting, but there were also a few times we had to wait to flag someone down. The restaurant only has about 20 tables, so they can probably do with being a little more attentive. 

Overall, I think I will go back because it's new, there's lots of parking, and they have a more extensive dinner menu that I haven't even looked at yet. For now, I do recommend trying it out, but time might change that recommendation. 

Summary
Food: Good. Based purely on lunch, it was close to just being average.

Service: Good. There were plenty of servers, but at times they weren't very attentive.

Setting: Good. It's a new establishment.

Value: Good. Their prices are quite reasonable and the food is pretty good.

Kumare Restaurant & Bakery

Our friends wanted to get their Filipino food fix, so we booked Kumare Restaurant & Bakery for a Saturday night dinner.

Lumpiang Shanghai

The restaurant is in a small plaza and there were just enough parking spaces for the size of the restaurant. When we arrived, we were seated pretty quickly but it took a long time between visits from the servers to place our order. The place was quite busy, but the servers clearly weren't very attentive that night. The food also took a very long time before they were served, but it could have been due to the number of large parties dining that evening.

We ordered 6 dishes and split everything 'family style'. Following is what was ordered.

Chicken Pandan

Lumpiang Shanghai - Deep fried bite sized spring rolls made up of ground pork, shrimp, and onions. Served with a side of sweet chili sauce. The sauce was the best part of the dish. The spring rolls had a light, thin, crispy skin, but the stuffing was very 'mystery meat'-like. The ingredients were very well-ground up so the texture was very bland.

Chicken Pandan - Fried chicken marinated in coconut milk and wrapped with pandan leaves. The chicken was very tasty and juicy. I thought the coconut milk flavour was too light, and overall the dish was too greasy.

Kumare's Rice

Kumare's Rice - Shrimp paste (bagoong) fried rice garnished with shredded mangoes. The mangoes had little to no taste and didn't add much to the rice and could have been left off completely.

Adobong Sitaw - String beans, shrimp, and pork braised in soy sauce, garlic, and vinegar. The sour nature of the sauce made this a favourite at our table. It went well with the garlic rice and the flavours were well received. I never thought I would enjoy minced pork with vinegar.

There were also 2 pork dishes that I honestly can't remember the names/descriptions of. The grilled one was actually quite good and very flavourful. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it was extremely greasy. The second pork dish was a little overwhelming in terms of the 'porkie' taste. The sauce it came with was good, but it was a little light in taste and heavy on cream.

Adobong Sitaw

After all the mains, we also ordered a couple of Halo Halo desserts which I didn't end up trying because I was feeling sick (not from the food, just in general).

Foodwise, all the dishes were very tasty but they were also consistently too greasy. I'm not sure if this is something common with Filipino restaurants as 3 of 3 that I have tried in the Lower Mainland are all pretty greasy.

Grilled Pork

The restaurant location wasn't bad as they practically have their own parking lot in front of the restaurant. The interior was a little confusing as it feels modern with dark colours and dim lighting, but the nature of the food they serve is more family-oriented. 

Despite the hit on service and the greasiness of the food, I still recommend Kumare Restaurant & Bakery because the food is good. Although, I would also recommend the greasiest dishes in moderation. 

Summary

Food: Very Good. This one could have slipped down to Good, but in moderation the greasiness can be overcome. 

Braised Pork

Service: Poor. The servers are slow and aren't really attentive to all the tables in a consistent manner. The kitchen is also quite slow with serving up orders. 

Setting: Average. Just enough parking out front, and tables that can be easily arranged for large parties. 

Value: Good. Their prices are quite reasonable and the food is pretty good. 

Halo Halo

Ginger Indian Cuisine

Ginger Indian Cuisine left me very pleasantly surprised.

Butter Mekhani

J ordered the usual Butter Mekhani which she shared with H. The portion size was generous and the dish was thick and very rich with flavour. It tasted great and went well with the naan and rice. It didn't taste over complicated with too many different spices. Since H shared the dish, she had to order it non-spicy. 

Daily Special

I ordered the Daily Special which is basically 2 types of curry on a plate instead of 1 (plus a samosa). That night it was Korma and Kadai Paneer (if memory serves). I asked for my dishes to be spicy. I felt that both were a little thin but they were tasty nonetheless. Again, the ingredients in the both curries gave them a rich taste, but they didn't taste too heavy in spices. The samosa was average. I thought it was very light on stuffing. 

The Naan was quite good. It wasn't too thick and it was cooked well and lightly crispy. It wasn't the best I've had in the Lower Mainland but it ranked near the top. We also ordered the Paneer Naan, which is naan stuffed with a combination of cheeses, cilantro, and spices. It was quite heavy and really could have served as a substitute to naam plus rice. It was very good, but in hindsight I probably would have skipped ordering rice. 

Naan

Service was pretty good. It wasn't very busy at the restaurant but many patrons came and went and also commented very positively about the food. Many of the other patrons shared my sentiments in that it was like a gem of a restaurant to find in Richmond.

The restaurant is located in a small plaza on Bridgeport Road near Costco. The other shops in the plaza are all closed at night so there was ample parking. The interior of the restaurant was moderately well-lit and they had a TV on one of the walls playing the hockey game.

Paneer Naan

Overall, I would go back to Ginger Indian Cuisine. I know of several good Indian restaurants in Vancouver, but this is the first one in Richmond that I have tried that I enjoyed enough to want to go back. I recommend it!

Summary
Food: Good. I would almost rate it Very Good, but I did feel that my curries were a little thin.

Service: Good.

Setting: Good. Ample parking and there`s a TV for the hockey game.

Value: Good. The price weren't outrageous and the quality is good.

Pearl Castle Café 圓香生活餐飲

This review is for the Pearl Castle chain, although my most recent visit was the Richmond Centre location.

Milky Seafood Hotpot

Pearl Castle was a long-time favourite of mine, but in recent years they have spread themselves quite thin and lost the focus on quality. They regularly raise their prices and keep opening new locations. 

My most recent visit was to the Richmond Centre location. Their menu is pretty consistent across locations and they have quite a bit of variety. I decided to try their milky seafood hotpot for a change and was a little disappointed. 

Milky Seafood Hotpot

The pot was rather large but most of it was soup and lots of cabbage. There were a few pieces of seafood in the pot including a shrimp and a mussel. The soup was rich with milk and pretty flavorful. However, overall I wasn't impressed and probably won't ever order it again. 

Service is standard for a Chinese restaurant, and the setting is pretty average. The only bonus for the Richmond Centre location is that it's in a mall so parking and shopping are readily available. 

Overall, I would recommend the Pearl Castle chain of restaurants, but I would stick with the Sexsmith location and some of the other dishes that you everyone else ordering like the crispy peppery chicken nuggets or the three spice chicken.

I find that in general, the Minoru (Richmond Centre) location is slower on service and the food quality isn't at the same level as their original location on Sexsmith. 

Summary

Food: Good

Service: Average

Setting: Good

Value: Average

Gokudo Shabu Shabu Hotpot

Many months ago, J bought a Social Shopper voucher for a 2 person meal at Gokudo Shabu Shabu Hotpot in Richmond. The voucher included hotpot for 2 which included the following: 4 orders (40 pieces) of select meats, select soup bases to choose from, 2 vegetable plates, 2 drinks, and 2 desserts. We finally got around to using the voucher this weekend. 

The restaurant is located in the middle of Continental Centre, across from Pearl Castle. Parking at that mall is always a bit of a challenge, but it usually doesn't take too long to find a spot. We circled for a few minutes before getting a spot and making our way to the restaurant. 

Inside, most of the space is occupied by a U-shaped bar. By the entrance to the restaurant are the only 2 tables in the dining area, each with seating for 4. Since we had reservations, we were seated at one of the tables. The restaurant specializes in individual hotpots, so each seat has its own element carved into the tabletop so the pot can be lowered under to save space. 

Typically, you would order a hotpot combo which includes one type of meat, their house special soup base, a plate of vegetables, and a drink (I don't remember if it includes dessert). With the voucher we had, we were allowed to pick 40 pieces of meat from basic beef, chicken, pork, and lamb. On the menu, they also had premium cuts of meat available. We ordered 30 beef, 5 chicken, and 5 lamb. J ordered the satay soup base and I got milk. For our drinks, J ordered an herbal tea and I ordered Taiwanese Sarsaparilla ("root beer" on the menu). 

While waiting for our food, we received 2 plates of sauce for the hotpots. There were no options, but the amount of sauce was more than sufficient. Based on my limited experience with deciphering ingredients, the sauce consisted of light soy sauce, sweet soy, fresh ground garlic, and chives. As expected, the pots and the raw food came pretty quick. The frozen ingredients were still cold but no longer frozen, and the raw ingredients were clean and fresh (no limp veggies). 

The beef "sirloin" that came was at least 50% fat. It was definitely tasty, but way too fatty for us. I would not recommend ordering it if you're health conscious. The lamb was good and so was the chicken. The soup bases were tasy as well. My milk soup was flavorful without being too milky or salty. Since we cooked the food ourselves, there isn't much else to say about the food.

We did encounter one problem while we were there. The element for seat was not working properly. The control knob was broken so the only options for that element were full blast or off. To make matters worse, my milk soup pot came about 80% full. I put a few items in and when it started boiling soup started flowing all over the table. A server noticed and tried to fix it with no luck. I ended up moving my pot to H's seat and just reaching over to cook.
 

Service wasn't bad, but it was a little strange that there was only 1 server at first. We arrived at 12:30pm so I expected more, but the restaurant was mostly empty at first so it wasn't a problem. Do keep in mind that after serving the dishes, there really isn't much maintenance needed from diners. 

As my appetite shrinks with age, I would definitely consider revisiting because the prices aren't bad when compared to similar establishments. AYCE hotpots typically run $20+ per person while at Gokudo Shabu Shabu Hotpot, you get a sizable meal for under $20. I would have been satisfied with half the amount of food (read: meat) I had (which would be the equivalent of the regular combo). The voucher was a bit overkill in my opinion. 

Summary
Food: Good. Great sauce and fresh ingredients. I can't bring myself to rate it higher because I did the cooking. 

Service: Good. Not much more to say about it. 

Setting: Average. Parking is okay, but the layout of the restaurant isn't great for larger numbers. 

Value: Good. Hotpot is always pricey unless you do it yourself at home. No complaints here.

Shanghai River 滬江海派料理

I went out to Shanghai River this past weekend for lunch with the in-laws to celebrate my brother-in-law's first job and paycheck. This restaurant is on my list of regular places to go eat and I've been going for the last 7 years. Besides a noticeable decline in XLB (小籠包 - (xiaolongbao) or soupy pork dumplings) quality several years ago when supposedly the master chef left the restaurant, the overall food quality has been pretty consistent over the years.

On this particular visit, we ordered quite a few dishes including the popular Shanghai Thick Fried Noodles. For some reason, the noodles were completely unseasoned. We sent the dish back and it was returned to our table with some extra grease, but it tasted completely unchanged! Rather than cause a scene, we packed it to go and salted it later ourselves.

Despite that one problem, all the other dishes were very good as usual. We ordered XLBs, green onion pancakes (one of my favorites), salty soy milk, Chinese doughnuts, sticky rice stuffed with pork floss and Chinese doughnut, a wonton soup, some spicy beef noodles, and gyozas. I love the green onion pancake at Shanghai River because it's thick and fluffy. I haven't been to any other restaurant that makes it this way. It's usually thin and very firmly packed together, making it harder to chew as it cools down.

I will continue to revisit the restaurant as overall it is still one of the best Shanghai places to go in the Lower Mainland.

Summary
Food: Very good. Their XLBs are still good and the green onion pancake is exceptional.

Service: Good. There are many servers around and they are quick to respond. They may not have the best attitude all the time, but overall it's good.

Setting: Good. Easy parking (always one of my top considerations) and the dining room is large, well-lit, and very clean. It can get loud though...

Value: Good. The food is a bit on the pricey side, but your money goes towards everything: food, service, and the establishment.