Hoang Long Noodle House – Edmonton, Alberta

We often stop by West Edmonton Mall when we go visit Edmonton, even though we may have nothing to get there or anything. This time, we just walked a circle and the decided we will get a quick bowl of pho before heading home. Located right inside the mall – outside of the supermarket we found Hoang Long and it wasn’t busy – but had a few tables.

Once inside, we pretty much got to sit where ever we wanted as they were not busy. The menu was kind of neat as it’s quite customizable by picking options of what you want in your noodle soup. I wasn’t feeling that great so just wanted to stick with my favourite, so I got the Beef Noodle Soup with Beef Balls as that’s the “1 item option.

My hsuband got pretty much the same thing, but his was Beef Noodle Soup with Rare Beef instead. It was quite rare and tender! the bowls of soup was average in size and the prices seems high for a bowl of pho, but the location was nice.

Overall, the food was decent. It wasn’t the best but it’s nice to sit down in a mall to eat dinner that isn’t your typical chain restaurant or bar/pub. For basically $20, you can’t go wrong on a nice hot bowl of noodle soup.

Hoang Long Noodle House

West Edmonton Mall
8882 170 Street
Edmonton, AB
(780) 483-0891

Dynasty Century Palace – Edmonton, Alberta

Recently, we traveled for a day trip to Edmonton in search of a good dim sum place where we kind of stumbled upon Dynasty Century Palace which was located on the second floor of a large building right on 105th Avenue. In fact, it’s quite hard to miss! The location is large with lots of parking – which makes it quite an ideal location (although the parking lot it is attached to is a pay lot).

We got seated and the service here is really speedy! They definitely know turning tables means they’re making money – so they work hard and I’m sure they rewarded! They are the traditional style dim sum experience with the carts which is fantastic! We started by ordering everything, and everything was quite delicious and fresh. The prices were also very reasonable!

We got our standard orders which would consist of Chicken Feet which the flavours were really good, the texture was nice and the size of them was quite large and they were not tough or over cooked! They’ve mastered chicken feet for sure!

Usually we don’t order sweets or if we do, we wait until the end. But when the waitress comes by sayings she’s got fresh Egg Tart on her cart, we’re going to get it and eat it right away! These were really good, quite a buttery tart and the filling was good!

Everyone eats Ha Gaw or shrimp dumplings and this almost is the standard of this generation for dim sum. Since it’s a common dish, we ordered it. The shrimp inside was quite large, cleaned out properly and has an excellent shrimp texture. The skin was thin yet it did not break. Not a bad ha gow at all!

Then, something a little different, we got an order of steamed Beef Short Ribs which we don’t usually get as it’s often tough and full of fat, marinated in a black peppered sauce. Although this dish wasn’t as fatty as they normally come, it was just a tad on the tough side. The flavours was spot on – just like how I remembered it to taste! Overall, not bad as the flavour was just amazing.

I don’t often order rice for dim sum either as they’re really filling – then you don’t get to try as much options, especially when it’s just the 2 of us. However, the Lo Mei Fan or sticky rice was something I have been craving for awhile, so we ordered some. It didn’t come in the standard glass bowl, but it was just kind of dumped into a bamboo steam basket. The flavours and texture and taste was perfect! This really made me want to go home and make some – but I don’t as it’s pretty time consuming.

There’s nothing my husband likes more than Lo Bak Go or turnip cake, so when he saw that go by – guess what, we ordered it! It didn’t have much filling to it but instead it had more rice flour – so it didn’t taste as good as it could have. Still quite tasty and we all know I make this at home, and I must say, he likes mine the best!

Overall, we had a fantastic time here. It was fun, the service was great and the food was really tasty! We wouldn’t mind bringing people here or to come back ourselves as they have a huge selection of food/dim sum!

Dynasty Century Palace

200-9700 105 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
(780) 428-3388

1 Pot – Calgary, Alberta

It was a pretty chilly spring evening when we decided to go to Chinatown in Calgary and try 1 Pot which is located right next to the paid parking lot. The space is large inside, but they were really busy! We made reservations as a friend told us it’s a good idea to… and it is! Just make sure you and your entire party gets there on time!

We didn’t know how to order… if checking “1” actually meant “1” of the item or if it’s “1 order”, but it turns out to be just 1! So, we had to get a few more sheets for us to mark down what we wanted!

There’s tons of varieties of soups and there’s also a sauce bar kind of thing where you grab a bowl and put the sauces you like into the bowl to enjoy with your hot pot.

The food, and the soup was pretty decent. The quality was ok – but the portions were a bit on the smaller side. So, order lots up front too!

Overall, it wasn’t a bad experience, and they’re super busy – so they must be doing something right!

1 Pot – Hot Pot

123 3 Ave SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 708-8088

Fairmont Hotel Vancouver – British Columbia

During our road trip to Vancouver, we decided to stay at the Castle in the City, Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and what a glorious stay it was! Although the hotel was undergoing some major renovations, it was still quite nice. The lobby wasn’t done yet, and one of the main reasons for our trip was the visit their Fairmont Store – which they are renovating out.

We stayed in their King Bed Deluxe Room and it was quite nice. It’s great as it still has the old feel to it, yet it’s not run down! The room was simple and that’s really all we need!

The neat thing about this bathroom was the flush handle – it’s like the bar that you use to flush! It’s not typically what you see inside a hotel, but it was fine! It was a weird side note I had in my mind when I saw it.

The stay was still really nice, with a view of Vancouver Art Gallery. I think the only disappointment was the Fairmont Store not being here anymore and was told the closest one was in Victoria – at the Fairmont Empress. We did find finding where to go for parking the car tricky as it was our first time in this area. We ended up just parking the car on the street and running inside to ask Concierge where to go. It was quite an ordeal as there was some protest outside the hotel as well. But, we managed and all was well!

Fairmont Hotel Vancouver

900 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
604 684 3131

Travelodge Salmon Arm – British Columbia

We decided on a limb that we were going to take a road trip to Vancouver for the weekend, where we would stop over half way so we would have more time in Vancouver. Our halfway point this trip was around Salmon Arm where we booked into Travelodge which is conveniently located right off the highway.

We stayed in their 2 Queen Bed Room that is a motel like hotel that has tons of amenities! There’s free breakfast in the check-in area and a giant pool as well. The rooms are equipped with coffee maker, mini fridge and a desk!

The beds are decent and the rooms are quite clean – although my sheets smelled like smoke in a non-smoking room. I’m sure it’s just in the air though.

The bathroom is divided out such that the toilet and tub are in the bathroom and the sink with lots of counter space is located just outside of the bathroom area. This does make it convenient for more than one person to get ready in the morning!

The overall room was decent in size and the stay was good. Location and rates were excellent – so there’s really not much to complain about!

You can view the room walk-through below on the link!

Tradelodge Salmon Arm

2401 Trans Canada Highway
Salmon Arm, BC
(250) 832-9721