Shine Valley Lamb Soup on Garden City Road, Richmond

This is a meal to celebrate mother’s day plus birthday and something else for Nanzaro.

Ben suggested a couple of places for Nanzaro to choose and he picked Shine Valley Lamb Soup.

The decoration is very traditional with wooden tables and benches. The benches were a bit hard on the bum.

Chinese tea is served.

We had some grilled lamb as appetizer. Six skewers for CAD9.

Xian Noodle Restaurant on No. 3 Road, Richmond

My family went out for dinner on a weekend. It is getting rarer for the whole family to eat out together.

Xian Noodle Restaurant has a location on No. 3 Road now, on the row of shops north of Real Canadian Superstore.

The decor is simple and pleasant. We were there early and the restaurant was not busy.

We were handed a Chinese menu and we had to ask for an English one.

I guessed most patrons of the restaurant read Chinese.

Arkensen ordered a Lamb Noodle Soup.

Dolar Shop Hot Pot in Lansdowne Mall, Richmond

Emily, Marian and me met up at Dolar Shop Hot Pot for dinner on a week day. Emily had just returned from China.

Emily made reservation and she was there early to ensure we had a table. Marian picked me up from work and when we arrived, there were people waiting in the waiting area.

Do not be misled by the name of this place, it sounds like dollar store but it is a high end hot pot restaurant.

There is a sauce bar with appetizers and various sauces for you to mix and match.

Here are some of the items on the sauce bar.

The appetizers include kimchi, seaweed and roasted peanuts.

Happy Day Cafe re-opened on Mcclelland Road, Richmond

One of our favourite Hong Kong style cafe reopened near the Richmond Walmart at Mcclelland Road. It used to be on Park Road and the whole strip mall was closed for redevelopment.

Happy Day Cafe grand opening was on 20th February, 2019. It was still very busy after almost a month of opening when we visited. We waited about 20 minutes before we got a table, that was before noon.

There is a grand opening promo for a free upgrade of your drink and this offer is until 31st March, 2019.

Nanzaro ordered a Fish Soup Noodle for $12.95. He opted for the curry laksa broth which was quite disappointing because it was very mild tasting.

There is a new option for the noodle which is “yee mien”. There were plenty of suey choy in his noodle soup and he kindly offered me to have them.

Friends of Tai Chi Dinner at Shiang Garden, Richmond

Lorna invited me to the Friends of Tai Chi Chinese New Year celebration dinner at Shiang Garden.

This is an annual event for the Friends of Tai Chi group. The master of this group had been teaching tai chi for 20 years. She used to be a member of the Richmond Community Kitchen too.

The event began with tai chi performances by some students.

A duo sword performance.

The master performed a sword performance.

I particularly like above performance where the performer recited the poetic movement along with his performance.

The master ended the performances with a fan performance. I like the sound of flipping open the fan during the performance.

A round of lucky draw before dinner was served.

Dinner started off with a thick soup, “geng”. The above is Fish Maw Soup with Crabmeat. A little red vinegar to cut the richness of the soup.

Duck served in two ways. The server brought the whole duck to the table to have a view of it and brought it to another working table to carve it.

Red Star Seafood Restaurant on Cambie St., Richmond

It was Lorna’s special day. She invited me and Marian to join her and her friends on their weekly dine out to celebrate her special day. By the way, her friends do not know it’s her special day.

We had dinner at Red Star Seafood Restaurant at President Plaza in Richmond.

These were the items they ordered. A whole soy sauce chicken. They were juicy.

A tofu dish with scallops and fish roes. The scallops are of good size and the tofu is silky smooth.

Bian Fu Chang Noodle Shop in Richmond Public Market

Ben and I went to the Richmond Public Market to get groceries. Since, it was near lunch time, Ben suggested that we had lunch here before we headed back home.

Ben decided to try the above Bian Fu Chang stall which was new to us.

Bian Fu Chang is primary a noodle shop which also has some appetizers on the side.

We decided to try their specialty noodle which is the item number 1; Special Six Delicacies & Pigskin. Wow, the bowl was huge.

It was loaded with pigskin, pork slices, pork liver, Chinese sausage, wood ear and bok choy. You have the option to choose the spiciness that you like. We always go with medium. We really enjoy this noodle and will be back to try others.

Bian Fu Chang accepts cash only.

Tin Tin Seafood Harbour Restaurant on No. 3 Road, Richmond

I had the opportunity to attend praise dance in the summer.

For this last occasion for me, I joined the group for dim sum after praise dance. This particular group always go out for dim sum after the praise dance to get to know one another better.

We went to Tin Tin Seafood Harbour Restaurant this time. The organizer had reserved two tables. This place was full house and we had to wait a few minutes as one of our table was not ready yet.

Tin Tin Seafood Harbour Restaurant does not charge for tea which is a good thing.

One of the lady took charge to order as the rest of the group were busy chatting. The above is Spicy XO Sauce Rice Noodle with Shrimp. This was really good.

We ordered three servings of the Eggplant with Shrimp Paste as one of the lady suggested not to cut them into smaller pieces.

Kingspark Steak House at Westminster Hwy, Richmond

My family went out for dinner on a Sunday evening. When Ben asked what we would like to eat, everyone’s answer was “anything”. I’m sure Ben is frustrated with such answer as no one wants to take charge. Is this a common problem?

So, Ben had to decide again. He drove to Kingspark Steak House and we found a parking spot right in front of the restaurant. Perhaps, it was still early, just around 5PM. Parking has not been easy in this part of the strip mall.

Nanzaro ordered the XO Sauce Seafood Fried Rice. The serving was not as big as those we get from Enjoy Café 1+1.

I shared an order with Ben. We had the Seafood Chow Mien. This dish was rather disappointing. The sauce looked like glue. We will not order this dish again. The serving was also rather small.

RMD Oriental Rice Noodle on Akroyd Rd, Richmond

My family visited the RMD Oriental Rice Noodle on Akroyd Rd for dinner on Sunday evening.

This is a new restaurant that replaced the Tri-Ty Café.

The name of the restaurant literally says “Cross Bridge Rice Noodle”; just like the art work on the wall.

The above is how the ingredients of the dish being served; everything displayed in small saucers. The sliced meat in rectangle box is charged extra for $2.99. Both Nanzaro and Ben selected lamb for the extra meat.