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Top Shanghai Cuisine 上海一只鼎 – Richmond

During our trip to Vancouver, we were recommended a Shanghai place to eat, so we decided to stop there for a little snack. We were told it was located at the intersection of No 3 Road and Ackroyd Road and was called Top Shanghai Cuisine and we were excited as there were a few tables there during an odd hour of visit. We weren’t really greeted by anyone, so we just picked a table, and some menus flew down on our table.

We started off with the usual suspects. the Soybean Milk and we got one hot and one cold! The cold one came in a fairly good sized glass, and it was cold and refreshing. It doesn’t tasted like store bought soy milk, yet, it’s not the same as the ones I make at home either. Regardless, it was really nice.

The hot soybean milk came in a little mug, and it was piping hot! Super comforting, and actually something I was looking for to help cut some grease as I’ve been eating a lot and wasn’t planning on quitting eating healthier as I was on holidays!

When I talk about grease, there’s nothing more notorious than Deep Fried Dough, and here, it comes on a plate with a few pieces. To be honest, it wasn’t the best either… It was decent, with a nice crunch to the dough, but the inside wasn’t super tender and soft and there was tons of grease in this one.

From here, was ordered some Shanghai style dumplings, which they called Steamed bun filled with pork Nanxiang Style which was really good. The skin on these steamed buns was extremely thin and delicate and the meat filling was plenty!

Here’s an excellent shot of the inside of the steamed bun – not too much hot liquid came out of these, but it was really delicious!

While we were here, we also ordered something that I love, the Pan Fried Pork Dumplings which I love from anywhere. Here, the skin seems a little chewier and with this unique texture, it leads me to think they made the skin by hand! I’ve never tasted any skin quite like it and it’s very enjoyable.

Now, as delicious as this was, I must say, it was the greasiest dish of them all! As you can see on the plate, there are already puddles of oil, but it never stops me from eating dumplings! I do wish there was a tad more filling in these but the flavours was spectacular! It was very enjoyable, and filling. Now that we’re full and bloated – we were ready to find the next food adventure!

Overall, I did enjoy this place, and I’m glad I only came here for a quick snack and not a meal. There’s tons of food and it’s a tad greasy. The prices aren’t terrible either! Parking can be a challenge as it shares a parking lot with other stores and supermarkets – it’s located in a strip plaza and drives go anywhere, in any direction.

Top Shanghai Cuisine 上海一只鼎 on Urbanspoon

Top Shanghai Cuisine 上海一只鼎

5880 #3 Road
Richmond, BC
(604) 278-8790

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The Teahouse in Stanley Park

We were in Vancouver visiting family and we took a day off to just do a bit of sight-seeing at Stanley Park, where we went to visit the Aquarium, and then found ourselves a little hungry for an early dinner. We ventured off a few sight seeing stops after the Aquarium, where we found The Teahouse at Stanley Park where we decided to have an early dinner – or a late snack!

We decided to sit outside on the patio to soak up the view, even though it was chilly. They did have heaters which really helped! What a gorgeous place – and apparently both tourists and locals visit this restaurant. I thought it would be specifically aimed for tourists, but it’s always nice to see restaurants like this have lots of locals too! I ordered a Hot Tea and it was a much needed hot tea to warm me up from the inside out!

We weren’t sure what to order since it was an odd time to eat. It was around 4PM, and the waitress recommended we try their Happy Hour special with Fresh Mussels & a Stanley Park Beer, so of course, we did! We definitely wanted to try the Stanley Park Beer and it was a nice beer! It wasn’t too light, but it wasn’t very bitter either. The plate of mussels that came to the table was huge and it even had a side of fries with it! It was delicious and seafood is just not the same when you’re near a large body of water!

Right away, after we ordered, a large basket of bread and butter came to our table! This was great, it’s like we’ve suddenly turned this strange late night snack to dinner all by itself! The bread was really fresh, and it was great to use to soak up all the juices from the mussels!

Okay, now after we got all the starters out, we still ordered some appetizers! We really wanted to try their Salt & Pepper Squid, and we got an order of it. It was really good, fried till it was crispy, but the squid was still tender and soft. It sat on some lime aioli, and topped with some jalapeno peppers! It was a delicious take on the “salt & pepper” I’m use to!

Now that we’ve had so much food, we decided to not order a full entree… and we opted out for some side instead. We’re still on a seafood mission/tread, so we got a side of Grilled 4oz Salmon and Albacore Tuna which made a great sample platter! The grilled salmon was my favourite, but the tuna was delicious! I loved them both and if I was to return, I would get the same thing again!

Overall, the experience here was top notch! The waitress was fantastic, the scene was divine, and the food was perfect! The best part about the Teahouse was the the prices are so reasonable, you weren’t paying a premium to have this great location!

The Teahouse on Urbanspoon

The Teahouse

Ferguson Point
Vancouver, BC V6G3E2
(604) 669-3281

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Sweet Obsession Cakes & Pastries

I love dessert, and while I was in Vancouver, I met up with a good friend that suggested we’d do dessert! Now, why did I not think about a suggestion like that! She recommended that we’d meet up at a place called Sweet Obsession Cakes which by the sound of the name is a place I will be obsessed with – and I am!

This store front is tucked away on a strip plaza and it’s a small but intimate with tons of sweets in the store! I love stores like this, so I was extremely content the moment we stepped foot into this cafe! The display cases were full of cakes even though it was becoming late in the day, and there was still a lot of people in and out of the cafe!

I sat down and ordered my favourite drink, the Chai Tea Latte which was really creamy and flavourful!

I couldn’t decide which piece of cake I wanted, but I finally settled on the Neopolitan Cake which was a chocolate cake with layers of vanilla butter cream and incorporated into the cream was raspberries and raspberry coulis! What a sweet treat, and it reminded a lot of “Black Forest Cake” taken to new heights!

The other piece of cake that I wanted to try was the Roasted Coconut Chiffon Cake, where my friend said she’ll try that piece and give me a bite to sample! It was soo good, and it wasn’t overly sweet – which I really like! You can definitely tell there was coconut flavours in this delicate chiffon cake. In between the layers of the coconut chiffon cake was coconut toffee and coconut butter cream. I wouldn’t mind getting a slice of this myself next time I’m there! I am a huge fan of coconut flavours!

The last piece of cake we ordered for the night was the Dulce de Leche Cake which looks overly sweet, but in reality, it was quite well balanced with the cinnamon flavoured vanilla chiffon layered with dulce de leche and pecans with milk chocolate ganache. The cake did get too sweet when the only thing left was just the ganache and no cake!

Sweet Obsession Cakes & Pastries on Urbanspoon

Sweet Obsession Cakes & Pastries

2611 W 16th Ave
Vancouver, BC V6K3X5
(604) 739-0555

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Yummy Yummy 好滋味 – Parker Place

During our stay in British Columbia – well, Richmond really… we stayed at the Radisson 2 blocks from Parker Place which was a Chinese Mall. I love it, since we don’t really have anything like that here in Calgary. One of the days that we were there, we got to break free from all the family events and we found ourselves here… looking for breakfast! We decided on the place with the longest line up, which just happens to be Yummy Yummy in the food court.

They actually move through their line up really quickly – or they tell you to sit down and wait for your order. They were really friendly and speedy! Everyone in the line in front of us was order Chinese HK style Milk Tea so, immediately, we knew we had to as well! It was actually quite a delicious cup of milk tea, one of our favourites during our visit actually!

We were looking for a light-ish breakfast as we knew we wanted a day with tons of food. So, I ordered the Condensed Milk with Toast which has always been one of my favourite breakfasts. I hate ordering it because I always think to myself I can make it at home, cheaper. But, regardless, that’s what I wanted, and that’s what I ordered!

My husband ordered a sandwich too, but his was the Corned Beef with Egg Sandwich which is something he has always loved! I don’t usually make corned beef, since I am not a fan – so I was really happy he ordered it for himself! He ate it in 4 bites, so obviously he was in love!

Then, just for fun, we ordered BBQ Pork Rice Rolls just because another person in front of us was, and there were other tables in the food court who were enjoying this dish as well. We didn’t go wrong, that’s for sure! The rice crepes were steamed fresh, and they had just the perfect amount of BBQ Pork. I loved this dish, and it was just so fulfilling!

Overall, we really liked our food court experience before we headed over to Vancouver for some adventure!

Yummy Yummy on Urbanspoon

Yummy Yummy

4380 No. 3 Rd
Richmond, BC V6X4E8
(604) 270-8830

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BKH Jerky

I watch Dragons Den on TV with my husband, and I love Beef Jerky. When I heard about the Dragons liking BKH Jerky I knew if and when I go west, I would have to give this jerky a try! So, we got our act together one afternoon and made it to BKH Jerky for fresh jerky!

The store was located at:
BKH Jerky
3201 Fraser St
Vancouver, BC

It wasn’t too hard to find, but we did have a GPS with us. The hours they are opened are from Tues-Sun 10-6 and
Monday/Holidays 11-5. They are decent hours and we got there at 3pm on a Monday, and there was no one there. We asked for a bag of Pork jerky and a bag of Beef jerky, and they got it fresh from the back… and then vacuumed sealed the package closed for us! We were excited as there were some that were already pre-packaged!

We didn’t actually have time to eat the Jerky while we were in Vancouver. We brought them home before we enjoyed them. We started with the Pork Jerky which we really liked. The texture was amazing, and there was a hint of smoky taste that we loved. The jerky was really tender, and it was just amazing!

The Beef Jerky, we had high hopes for. At the end of the session, we all felt the pork jerky was just a little bit better. The flavours are so good, and the freshness really makes a huge difference! The store does nothing besides make jerky and I wish they were in action – making the jerky while we were there, but it’s alright! We love this place and next time, I will bring some home to give to people!