Doesn't TaZte Like Chicken

Location: Shanghai River
7831 Westminster Hwy, Richmond

Author: My Husband

My wife and I have been customers at Shanghai River since it opened, and we think it is the best beifang (northern Chinese) cuisine restaurant in the lower mainland. The people who own Shanghai River have seen fit to put some money into the upkeep of the restaurant, and things still look fresh and clean even after all these years.

We think they make some of the best “xiao long bao”, as well as a bevy of northern Chinese standards, in the lower mainland. As far as Chinese cuisine goes, I’m more partial to Cantonese, which I feel has a wider range. However, once in a while, when the itch for beifang food needs to be scratched, we will return to Shanghai River.

Here are some of our favourite dishes from a recent meal there:

We started with some xiao long bao.

Shanghai River has two varieties – the standard bao with just pork, or the xie fen bao with added crab roe and meat. We went for the xie fen bao, which adds a strong hint of crab roe flavour that goes very well with the pork. In Shanghai, most xiao long bao is of the xie fen variety; I think that is definitely the way to eat them. Shanghai River’s baos have a consistently thin skin, and there is a healthy dose of crab roe tinged broth that is oh so good. This is one of the must-have dishes at this restaurant.

Next up, some prawns.

These are prawns fried in soy sauce. The sweet and savory soy sauce complemented the sweetness of the prawns perfectly. The prawns were firm and fleshy – very satisfying.

Then, some crab claws.

My wife really likes this dish. Each “ball” is made by rolling crab/prawn paste into a ball around a whole crab claw, breading it, and then deep frying it. This version was good, though not that different than the many other versions we’ve tried at other quality Chinese restaurants.

And then, my favourite dish at Shanghai River.

This is a tofu hotpot with crab meat and roe. The strong flavors of the crab roe are imparted to the tofu, which is soft and smooth. The tofu, as well as the rich and complex sauce, is perfect accompaniment for simple steamed rice. We don’t usually have rice when we eat out in restaurants, but we made an exception for this dish.

And then some smoked duck.

This is another one of Christina’s favourite at Shanghai River. This ducked, smoked with black tea, is lean, yet moist and flavourful. While smoked duck can never be described at tender, Shanghai River’s version has a texture that yields readily to your bite. And the tea-smoked flavour is very strong in the meat.

And finally, a dish that we got for my mom.

Broccoli with fluffy egg white and conpoy (dried scallops). This is a simple dish, yet very comforting. The egg white and shredded conpoy is a perfect foil for the broccoli – the green-ness of the vegetable is toned down by the eggs and even I, of the vegetable averse school, ate some.

Shanghai River is one of those restaurants that have paid attention to the details and gone from strength to strength through the years. The place is always packed, so reservations are a must if you are planning to visit.

Location: Le Crocodile
100-909 Burrard Street, Vancouver BC

Author: My Husband

In the 20+ years I’ve lived in Vancouver, I have eaten at many places. Chain restaurants, ethnic restaurants, fine-dining restaurants, hole-in-the-walls, hot dog stands, not-quite-a-stand, etc; you name it, chances are I’ve done it. But regardless of the type of eatery, I’ve noticed an affliction that ails 80% of the places I’ve patronized – they don’t last more than 5 years in business.

Why these places go out of business, I don’t know. Perhaps the owners don’t know how to run a business? Or perhaps they had a bad business plan to begin with? Or maybe they had a run of bad luck? Maybe they’re bored with the business and want to do something else? Or maybe, just maybe, they’ve achieved their financial goals and can get on with retirement living? Whatever the case may be, the fact that 80% of restaurants fail within 5 years is a pretty damning statistic. Who in their right mind would want to break into the food business, given the odds against them? It would take a very confident businessman, or a very foolish one, to start up a new restaurant operation. However, year after year, many people do.

Just as with people getting into the restaurant business, year after year, many couples get married. And while the odds of a marriage breaking down, at approx 50%, are better than the odds of a restaurant failing, those are still pretty dismal numbers. Yet, sure as the sun rises in the east, people continue to get hitched every day. Statistically speaking, it is a fool’s game. Yet the cock-eyed optimist in all of us drives us to give marriage a go, to put our love, minds and hearts to beating the odds. And sure as there are restaurants that become profitable concerns, there are marriages that become long-lasting, loving unions.

Le Crocodile celebrates its 26th year in business in 2009, and Christina and I celebrate our third anniversary as a wedded couple (and over a decade as a couple) this year. And we really couldn’t think of a better restaurant – an successful, well-liked, long-established and profitable concern – in which to have our anniversary dinner.

As I’ve written in my previous post on Le Crocodile, there are some things that don’t change at the restaurant. The charming ambience, the impeccable service, the verbally-recited list of specials, Christina’s choice of appetizer…

This is how our evening went:

After placing our order, we were presented with complimentary amuse bouches of savory egg tartlets. The egg custard was so smooth it would give the best Portuguese egg tart filling a run for its money.

Christina’s foie gras. Notice that the preparation of this dish hasn’t changed since the last time we had it? It tasted as good as ever and my wife loved it.

My starter of roasted beef bone marrow. I’m not usually one to stick to the same appetizer, but I wasn’t totally satisfied with the way Le Croc prepared the marrow during our last visit and wanted it done differently this time. I requested a naked roasting of the bone marrow, with only a dusting of salt, pepper and thyme. These came out great, and tasted like the dish I had in France. The portion was huge this time around, and by the time I finished it, I was pretty full. Interestingly, my wife didn’t like this one bit. She claimed it tasted disgustingly like pork fat; but that is precisely the reason why I like it…

Christina’s main course of Angus steak. This was served with a slice of foie gras terrine atop the steak. The terrine, which had slightly softened from the heat of the meat, was as smooth as silken tofu. The beef had the texture of butter, only slightly more chewy. The jus had the perfect balance of richness and acidity. This was a really superbly executed dish.

My main course of lamb shank. The lamb was very tender, and there was a lot of it. I found the jus too acidic, but it may have been intentional as there was so much meat. I could only finish one of the two shanks.

Complimentary pear sorbet palette cleanser. There was some pear liquor in this, and it tasted suitably pear-ish.

We ordered the same dessert that we had on our last visit. Chocolate covered crepes with a rich hazelnut cream filling. It’s every bit as good as it looks.

Another year, another anniversary. Another meal at Le Crocodile, another satisfying experience. Some events and places go together naturally, and we think we’ve found our preferred pairing.

Location: Miko Sushi
1335 Robson Street,
Vancouver

Author: My Husband

What, two sushi posts in a row? Well, I did say we’ve been eating more than our fair share of sushi in my previous post, didn’t I?

The focus of this post is Miko Sushi on Robson Street. Here are some fun facts about the place: (1) it has been at the same location for over 10 years; (2) the chefs and waitresses are Japanese; (3) many professional athletes have eaten and left their marks here.

Both side walls of the restaurant are plastered with autographs of pro athletes who have eaten here. It would seem that many of the Canucks stars like sushi…

Without further ado, here’s our meal:

Fanny bay oysters. These were fresh and briny, and served with the typical Japanese ponzu mix.

Deep fried soft shelled crab. It is difficult to find well-prepared soft shelled crabs in Vancouver, and these were lacking as well. The lack of batter, and perhaps insufficient oil temperature, meant the crab retained more oil than a perfect deep-fry job. It was less than crisp, though the meat was still firm and tasted fresh. Alas, the gills were not removed before deep frying, which resulted in us having to inelegantly pick them from our mouths.

My nigiri. Toro, hamachi, tamago, ebi, uni, and tobiko. The uni was perfect, and the fish was fresh. The ebi was probably pre-packaged and too firm, but there was a sweetness to it. The sushi rice was seasoned well, but packed a little too tightly.

My wife’s nigiri. Toro, unagi, and amaebi. Christina claimed it was all good, with the unagi and amaebi being standouts. The unagi was perfectly boneless, had a good balance of fat, and a sauce with just the right amount of sweetness. The amaebi was very fresh, with a very crunchy texture that didn’t become too gluey during the chew.

As mentioned in my previous post, we like to end our sushi meals with some hot courses. We had a roasted eggplant topped with bonito. I was expecting the eggplant to be marinated or basted with a sauce during the roasting, but it was done naked. As a result, it tasted pretty bland even with the bonito topping.

Grilled black cod. This dish was a winner; the fish was perfectly cooked with rich, tender flakes of black cod just melting in our mouths.

Grilled salmon belly. This dish was a bit of a mixed bag. For the parts that had lots of fat surrounding the meat, it was rich, tender and flavourful. The leaner parts were a little overcooked and firm.

We used to eat at Miko when we were living downtown, and we’re happy to report that standards have been maintained over the years. Their prices have also held over the years and if anything, may actually have dropped! When we’re in that part of town and looking for a Japanese fix, Miko is still our favourite choice.