Light Up Chinatown's Food Fare

BC smoked fish cakes at one of the stalls

Every summer the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation holds Light Up Chinatown! A two-day festival to entice the city's residents to come down and check out the neighbourhood, have some Chinese street food, maybe patronise one or two restaurants, and re-visit some sights, like the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden, the Chinese Canadian Museum, or the Vancouver Chinatown Storytelling Centre.

This year's event started today and I arrived half an hour before it started officially at 11am. Booths were still getting ready so I wandered around and met some people I haven't seen in a while, catching up with them.

Chicken sausage hot dog with pickle cream drink

For me, Light Up Chinatown! is about the food, so at 11am my first stop was at Say Hey Cafe, where the sandwich eatery was doing a collaboration with Dicky's Dumps, best known for their frozen handmade dumplings.

On their menu, the Dumpling Glizzy sounded interesting, where they took their chicken and ginger dumplings but made them into a sausage that was boiled then grilled, and placed in a sesame hotdog bun, with thinly sliced cabbage, mayonnaise and scallion oil on top.

The 'pickle cream' lemonade definitely piqued my interest and I had to try it. If you are a fan of pickles, it's definitely an enjoyable drink, slightly tart, slightly vinegary. Best of all I carried it around with me and the ice cubes took a while to melt so the drink was still cold! I almost went back to get another cup...

Then I headed to Hawkers Lane on Columbia Street where the main festival was held. 

Chicken wings, spring rolls, wontons & fish balls

First up was chef Dez Lo using seafood from EatFish and seasoned with chilli products from Holy Duck Chilli. I had the BC smoked fish cakes that were fantastic -- I could taste the smoked fish flavour and two slices was a good hearty portion with spot prawn chilli oil and spicy mayo.

I was already half full when I made it to Mama in the Kitchen with chef William Lew. They were cooking up a storm with four items to choose from. The HK curry fish balls I've tried before and they are delicious and nostalgic, while I liked the crispy spring rolls choc full of vegetables and dipped in a plum sauce.

New for me to try were the chili chicken wontons in a shrimp garlic chili oil, and the num num chicken wings. The wings were grilled then seasoned with a mala dry spice. The wings were juicy fresh off the grill, and got progressively spicier as you ate them.

Recreating a radio studio in the 1970s

I gave my stomach a break by heading into the new section of the Chinatown Storytelling Centre in the basement. It opened about two months ago and features Chinatown in the 50s, 60s and 70s. There are mini recreations of apothecaries, a mural of the Marco Polo, a supper club that became well-known for its smorgasbord and live entertainment.

The space includes a large screen with objects that float around -- you can touch it and a window pops up with more information about it. Otherwise visitors need to have a tour guide to show them around to explain everything.

My last stop was at Saan Saan Cafe, a few blocks away, but that meant walking along Main Street where numerous people hang out in the Downtown Eastside. It can be daunting to walk along there, but for the most part they are harmless. It's just shocking how the three levels of government cannot come up with a comprehensive plan to help these people get off the streets and rehabilitate. 

HK style milk tea gelato sandwich

The tables at Saan Saan Cafe were almost all occupied when I arrived at 2pm. I got one of their specials for the month -- a Hong Kong style milk tea gelato sandwich. While it looked like a big portion, it was actually delicious. The gelato had a lovely fragrant milk tea flavour with bits of cookie in it for texture in between two slices of firm cake.

Taiwanese Frozen Meals in a Pinch

Braised beef, and chicken and corn noodles

I'm still on the hunt for delicious Taiwanese braised beef noodle that can easily be heated up from frozen.

The standard I'm measuring it against is The Regent Taipei's version that I used to eat in Hong Kong.

The frozen packages from the box

In Vancouver I recently tried the version from A.Bento, a Taiwanese eatery on Broadway, which also offers some frozen dishes to make at home, including braised beef noodle.

Each box comes with two packs, one with the braised beef in the sauce with some bok choy, and the other is the dried noodles.

You take the beef out of the packaging and it's a giant solid mass that melts and heats up relatively quickly in a pot, while in another boil some water and then put the noodles in.

The two come together in under 15 minutes, and tastes straight forward. The beef is very tender, but perhaps the spicy braised beef noodle version would be tastier.

I also tried the frozen chicken with corn and noodles, with the same preparation. However, here the serving is one whole chicken drumstick which takes longer to heat up, but nevertheless is pretty tasty and substantial, garnished with corn kernels. 

The noodles in both are wide and a little thick, and has a kind of homemade texture to them. The soups of both are savoury and comforting.

Family Style Dining at McKiernan in Montreal

There's a big dining space at McKiernan if you can get a table

A food staple for Montrealers is the rotisserie chicken. One time we got lost trying to find the nearest metro station, and a guy carrying his roast chicken dinner in a plastic bag not only gave us directions, he escorted us, as he was walking in the same direction.

One place well known for its rotisserie chicken is McKiernan, a bustling restaurant in an industrial space overlooking Lachine Canal.

The rotisserie chicken is a must here

Chef Andersen Lee suggested we go there for brunch, but with last-minute reservations, we could only get a table at 1.30pm. However, when we arrived early and wanted to add another person to our table to make it five, we were told we'd have to wait even longer.

As we waited around, we could see large groups of people, extended families ranging from babies in carriers hooked on the arms of their fathers, to seniors well into their 80s who climbed up the stairs to dine here. 

Hungry diners waiting for a table can play foosball to pass the time, otherwise they are forced to watch what others are dining and salivate even more.

When we were finally seated we quickly ordered several dishes from the brunch and lunch menus, and none disappointed. 

Thinly shaved prime rib with arugula

The half rotisserie chicken was roasted perfectly, juicy, tender and seasoned just right, topped with arugula that had a lemony dressing.

We also ordered a schnitzel Holstein that was garnished with anchovies for a briny flavour, and the tuna crudo that was seasoned in a tangy sauce.

McKiernan is also known for its prime rib dinners, but for lunch and brunch you can have thinly sliced prime rib with a light creamy sauce and lots of arugula on top. Again tender and delectable. One can only imagine the prime rib dinner being even better.

There's also simple dishes like pasta with garlic and broccoli -- now that's different and delicious, or how about roast Brussel sprouts tied together with a creamy ranch dressing and lots of toasted sliced almonds.

Lemon meringue pie, donuts and banana pie

How could we not have dessert? There was banana pie, not cream pie, where banana slices are mixed with custard, and a lovely lemon meringue pie, light and dreamy. McKiernan is also famed for its donuts. One online review advised asking the server to save us some in advance, but he said there was plenty to go around. We ordered two pillowy donuts, one filled with strawberry jam, the other cookies and cream.

I didn't know about McKiernan but now I do and fully understand why you need to make reservations way in advance. If it's good for people of all ages, it's good for you too.

McKiernan

5524 Saint-Patrick Street

Montreal

514 759 6677

Review: Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen

Large portions are served at Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen

When my friend AY calls and says we should meet up for lunch, it means a culinary adventure for me.

He's a walking guide book to food in Vancouver, but not the Michelin Guide restaurants. AY is a bona fide lover of street eats and will go to great distances to find where good food is and then share his discoveries with other foodies... like myself.

The restaurant is know for its Bun Rieu

Today we met up for lunch at Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen on Victoria Drive near East 33rd Avenue. I managed to find parking on a side street and AY was already in line. The place was absolutely packed for a Sunday.

Diners slowly trickled out and finally we got a table right by the window.

Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen used to be located a few blocks further south, but moved here almost four years ago. It is known for its crab vermicelli as well as homemade fish balls, so we ordered both with rice noodles and a dish of salt and pepper chicken wings.

Not long after two giant bowls arrived, along with a plate heaped with raw bean sprouts, lime wedges and fresh basil leaves.

Fish cakes and vermicelli in a clear broth with dill

Bun Rieu ($19.95) is described on the menu as "special crab soup with vermicelli". It has a tinge of red, but it's not spice at all; the colouring is from the crab paste mixed with egg, creating fluffy mounds floating on the surface, and underneath are some shrimp, slices of pork, deep-fried tofu puffs, slices of Vietnamese pork sausage, and tomato wedges along with lots of rice noodles and coriander and spring onions.

Meanwhile Bun Cha Ca Dac Biet ($18.95) is fish cakes with rice noodles in soup, featuring a clear broth, with not only fish balls, but also sliced fish cakes, Chinese celery, tomato wedges, lots of dill, and spring onions. The fish balls are not a round ball per se, but somewhat springy in texture.

This dish is the lighter of the two, but both are substantial in terms of portion.

The chicken wings, or Canh Ga Rang Muoi ($17.95), need to be dipped in the lemony pepper sauce to give them flavour, otherwise on their own they were bland, as the batter didn't have much taste.

Chicken wings dipped in a lemony pepper sauce

Somehow over the course of two hours we managed to finish practically all the food!

Needless to say I soon suffered a food coma after I got home...

Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen, 5155 Victoria Drive, Vancouver, BC. Tel: 604 321 2711 

Next Level Cantonese Dining

Whole roasted piglet presented before it was chopped up

Last night we had dinner at Congee Noodle House on Broadway and Main Street. It's a Cantonese-style institution that has been open for over 20 years, though it was temporarily shut for three years from the end of January 2020, when the retaining wall at a nearby construction site collapsed during a heavy rainfall, which caused a sinkhole. As a result part of the parking lot in the back caved in and fell into the excavation pit.

Braised goose webs, fish maw and pea shoots

At the time people worried this restaurant, which mostly serves piping hot tureens of congee, fried noodles and fried rice, and other family-style dishes was closed for good.

But in May 2023 Congee Noodle House was back open, complete with renovations inside and since then has had a steady stream of business despite construction of the subway on the road right in front.

The restaurant doesn't just serve basic dishes; at the back, groups of diners in private rooms can eat classic Cantonese dishes, like whole roast piglet, stir-fried lobster with vermicelli, deep-fried shrimp meat on crab claws, steamed fish, and salt-baked chicken.

We had some of the aforementioned menu items, as well as braised goose webs with collagen-rich fish maw artfully decorated on a bed of dau miu or pea shoots, and plump sui gao or dumplings filled with shrimp, pork and vegetables with egg noodles in soup.

Caramelised eggplant is next level culinary skill

However one dish stood out -- an off-menu item -- caramelised eggplant. Much in the same vein as caramelised banana, the eggplant chunks were probably steamed and then pan-fried in sugar that was starting to turn into a caramel colour.

The end result is a slightly crunchy exterior, and soft, tender interior. Not easy to make, but boy the result was amazing.

Congee Noodle House

141 East Broadway

Vancouver, BC

604 879 8221

Delicious Gluten-Free Bites at Saan Saan Cafe

The other day I took my friend visiting from Toronto to eat in Vancouver's Chinatown. Well on the edge of Chinatown, dodging the homeless people along the way. 

Saan Saan Cafe has been open for over a year and it's a gluten-free cha chaan teng offering savoury and sweet items along with drinks from Hong Kong-style milk tea and yuenyeung (coffee and tea), to cocktails from Friday to Sunday.

The cafe is housed in a building that owner Eric Siu's multi-generational family lived in since 1950 when his grandparents moved in with his father and aunt.

After family members moved out, the building, which was constructed in 1904, fell into disrepair. Siu and his two siblings discussed for years what to do with the space and decided to turn it into a cafe.

It's extremely helpful that Siu is a practicing architect, though he says there was a lot more work that needed to be done, from replacing old pipes and installing new electrical wires.

The end result is a high-ceilinged space that is very welcoming and comfortable. The washrooms are also nicely decorated!

It's also helpful that Siu's siblings, Sarena is a registered dietician, and Jamie is a food scientist, to develop gluten-free items for the cafe.

The focus on gluten-free food is due to Siu's sensitivity which has resulted in him not being able to eat a lot of Chinese food in conventional restaurants; Saan Saan Cafe allows him and others to eat food they used to enjoy, or introduce it to friends or partners with celiac disease or other gluten sensitivities.

They started offering baked goods, like black sesame caramel, and pineapple coconut cookie, a mash-up between bolo bao and cocktail buns, and char siu triangle puffs. 

A few months ago they introduced a savoury menu and I finally tried them the other day.

We sampled the soy sauce chicken, which is pretty straight forward, some chopped chicken on a bed of rice. The chicken is tender, and has lots of flavour in every bite. It's a substantial portion which is good to share.

Another is curry fish balls which are usually made with gluten to give them their bouncy "QQ" texture. Here they are homemade and have more of a meatball texture. But with the delicious curry sauce and gluten-free, it's still decent and the sauce is a good way to finish off the rice in the first dish.

Our favourite has to be the prawn toast, a thick meaty chopped shrimp filling in between white bread that has been deep-fried and then sliced in half. It's slightly crunchy on the outside, and firm and slightly bouncy in the middle, and the sweetness of the prawns come through.

I had a glass of refreshing Ribena lime soda, my friend had the iced Hong Kong milk tea.

We were full by the time we finished everything and got some cookies (brown butter hojicha chocolate and pineapple coconut) to go.

Saan Saan Cafe

227 Main Street

Vancouver, BC

Picture of the Day: Japanese Chicken Curry

Japanese chicken curry rice in Chinatown the other day

Chinatown eats this week at The Boss Bakery & Restaurant: Japanese chicken curry.

I was expecting the sweet and slightly spicy curry sauce with potato and carrots, but not the chicken being similar to a weiner schnitzel, but covered in panko and deep-fried.

The presentation of the randomly placed chicken strips looked like an octopus with fuzzy arms!

Portuguese-style egg tarts for a sweet finish

For dessert we had Portuguese-style egg tarts with flaky layered pastry and an egg custard that wasn't cloyingly sweet.

A Chicken Dish with Two Different Results

Uniform and delicious roast chicken with rice at Chef's Choice

A gourmet dish that's definitely not Chinese home cooking is roast chicken with glutinous rice. It definitely showcases the chef's skills as it requires de-boning the chicken and then flattening it butterfly style and adding a layer of cooked glutinous rice underneath. It's then roasted so that the skin is extra crispy.

By coincidence I managed to sample the same dish yesterday and today with extremely different results.

Last night we ordered it at Chef's Choice on Broadway and we were impressed when this roast chicken with sticky rice dish came to the table. The half portion of chicken was uniform in size, portioned into two-bite pieces. There was equal parts rice and very tender, flavourful chicken, topped with crispy skin.

A very different version that looks bloated

We were still thinking of the dish fondly when we went to Li's Chinese Restaurant in Kerrisdale tonight. It used to be called Lok's and we hadn't been there in years. The restaurant had recently changed hands, with more northern dishes, specifically spicy ones from Chongqing, though the former Cantonese-speaking owner works there on weekends. 

This place also had the roast chicken with glutinous rice and we ordered a half portion.

When it was served to us, it looked like a whole chicken, and was stuffed to the gills with rice -- the ratio was at least twice as much rice as chicken, as if it were bloated from carbo-loading. Each piece was so big that we were soon full (on rice) and we had to pack up the rest.

While it's great that this chef knows how to make this dish, and promotes it as a signature dish, it would be better if he could further refine it. This roast chicken with sticky rice dish is not about more bang for the buck, but about flavour and finesse, which unfortunately missed the mark here.

Picture of the Day: Steamed Crab and Pork Patty

Steamed pork patty surrounded by crab legs

Tonight we went out for dinner at Golden Paramount Seafood Restaurant in Richmond and had some staple dishes, like winter melon soup, crispy chicken, sweet and sour pork, and steamed fish. They were all very good, perfectly cooked. 

The winter melon soup was perfect for today, which reached a high of 27 degrees.

We also ordered steamed crab -- with pork patty cooked together with the chopped up crab.

One of our friends at the table had seen this combination on a TV cooking show in Hong Kong where a top chef made it, and it looked so delicious that they asked the Golden Paramount manager if this could be done for us.

My picture is of the dish half eaten, but you can see the pork patty has soaked up the sweet juices of the fresh crab meat. 

Will we see this variation in other Chinese restaurants around town? Very high chance. 

Hakka Style Salt-baked Chicken

Salt-baked chicken Hakka style at Southern Delicacy

The other day we went to Southern Delicacy restaurant in Vancouver and tried salt baked chicken, a traditional Hakka dish.

My mother remembers her mother stir-frying coarse salt in the wok for a long time before burying a chicken wrapped in parchment paper in the salt and cooking it for about an hour.

Chicken wrapped in parchment paper

She remembers it being hard work, constantly shovelling the salt to prevent it from burning.

The one we tried was fantastic -- the meat was cooked through, but tender, juicy, and seasoned perfectly, not salty at all.

It sounds similar to Italian salt-baked cod, which isn't wrapped in parchment paper at all, though the skin acts as a barrier between the salt and fish meat.

In the case of the chicken, I looked up the recipe and it doesn't look too difficult?!

Take a raw chicken and rub Shaoxing wine on it, as well as sand ginger powder, salt and white pepper. Then let it marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day take the chicken out and let it warm up to room temperature, tie up the legs and wrap it in parchment paper. Meanwhile get some coarse salt, the same weight as the bird, and in a clean wok, stir-fry the salt for about 15 minutes over medium heat, until the salt turns light brown.

Have a Dutch oven ready and pour some of that salt in there, add the wrapped chicken and then cover it with the rest of the salt.

Wrapped chicken in coarse salt

Cover the Dutch oven and have it on the stove on medium heat for around 35 minutes, then turn off the heat and let it sit for another 30-40 minutes.

The chicken should be done by then.

Some recipes suggest the presentation of the chicken should be deboned, while others, including the restaurant, serve it chopped with bones attached.

Eating Paws is Not a Bear Necessity

Don't eat bear paws in Canada! It's illegal folks!

Some habits from the old country die hard, like eating bear paws and shins.

A 52-year-old man from Abbotsford, British Columbia pleaded guilty to charges under the Wildlife Act in Port Coquitlam Provincial Court today.

Originally Hong Tao Yang faced five counts, but agreed to plead guilty to two charges of trafficking in bear parts and one charge of trafficking in wildlife meat. The remaining two charges were stayed.

Yang was fined C$8,625, the statutory minimum for the three offences, and has 18 months to pay the fine.

In 2022 he bought bear paws from an undercover officer who warned him that buying bear parts was illegal. Yang paid C$100 for four bear paws and asked for bear shins in the next transaction, which was the following year.

After the third transaction in 2023, Yang was arrested.

In court the defence said Yang wanted the bear paws and shins because of Chinese beliefs in the medicinal and health benefits in consuming bear parts. He said Yang bought the bear parts for his family and that they "were cooked and consumed in traditional-style treatments".

Ever since the Zhou dynasty (1046-256BC), bear parts were considered highly prized ingredients that were eaten by emperors and nobles. Apparently bear paws were braised with ingredients like ginger, chicken, duck, chicken broth, rice wine and scallions. According to the recipe, the bear paws have a strong gamey smell, and the hair and bones need to be removed too. Hard to imagine how delicious that would taste...

As for Yang, he tried to ask the judge to reduce the amount of the fines, claiming he was suffering financial hardship.

However, the judge did not agree, as it was pointed out Yang has a net worth of over C$1 million, most of which is from a home he owns in Abbotsford...

Vancouver Special: Corner 29

Jumbo prawns cooked vermicelli in clay pot

Our newest restaurant discovery in Vancouver is called Corner 29, as in the Chinese restaurant is located on the corner of Main Street and 29th Avenue.

My parents' friend took them there last week and this time brought another round of friends including myself.

The restaurant has been open here for over a year, and it's definitely value for money for solid Cantonese cuisine. Here's the menu. 

Bits of red snapper in black bean sauce and tofu

The dinner started with egg white drop soup with crab meat, a bit on the bland side, but perked up with white pepper or vinegar. Across the room we could see another table had a whole winter melon soup.

Soy sauce chicken was very tender, the sauce not too salty. Even though there were eight of us, we couldn't finish the entire bird and packed up the rest of the pieces. 

We were told that the restaurant had red snapper and suggested it be cooked two ways -- filleted and stir-fried with kale, and another dish using the rest of the meat and bones with black bean sauce and tofu. Both were very good, though at least one piece of the filleted fish was not cooked! 

Another highlight was the prawns and vermicelli cooked in a clay pot. It arrived sizzling hot at the table, and there was a lot of vermicelli. We had to hunt around for the prawns (one per person) and they were jumbo sized, very meaty. I couldn't resist helping myself to more vermicelli.

Pork dumplings with noodles

We also had stir-fried Romaine lettuce with fermented bean curd, but this was quite salty and the more you chewed on the lettuce, the spicier it got. We returned it to the kitchen, thinking they would give us a less saltier version, but it didn't come back out again.

Instead we had pork dumplings with alkaline noodles in broth. We didn't really ned more carbohydrates, but someone at the table requested it, and even had another helping of the pork dumplings.

By now we were all pretty stuffed and requested the deep-fried egg twists or daan san. They were very light and fluffy, and came with the desiccated coconut and sesame seeds and the corn syrup separately to avoid them getting soggy.

In addition to that dessert, we also received the house dessert of sweet mixed bean soup. Needless so say I was so full and am still full hours later... 

One thing's for sure -- we will be back, probably trying the dim sum, which we hear is good...

Corner 29

4488 Main Street

Vancouver, BC

604 559 8660

 

Shanghainese Cuisine in Hong Kong

Stir-fried river shrimps are a classic Shanghainese dish

Hong Kong has some Shanghainese associations where residents with ties to the city can have their favourite Shanghainese dishes.

On this trip I was lucky to eat at two of them. At Ning Po Residents Association at the foot of D'Aguilar Street, my friend ordered stir-fried river shrimps, drunken chicken, stinky tofu and spinach with broad beans.

Two giant (and pungent!) pieces of stinky tofu

River shrimps aren't readily available in Canada, they are tiny, yet plump and sweet. I can't even imagine de-shelling them... stir-fried they are coated in a glistening cornstarch sauce and then dipped in dark vinegar. Delicious.

I haven't had stinky tofu in Vancouver either, so why not here, especially as my friend likes eating it too? At Ning Po we get two giant slabs that are deep-fried and before they even arrive at our table we can smell them. The tofu is piping hot, and then biting into it, it has a slightly crunchy exterior and then very soft and smooth inside.

For dessert we had Shanghainese deep-fried souffle balls filled with banana. The egg whites are whipped up, and then dollops of the mashed banana are added to the egg white to create a ball and then put in hot oil and cooked for a few minutes before they are scooped up, dried and then icing sugar dusted on top.

Lion's head meatball with cabbage in broth

The ones here were so light, fluffy and delicious. 

A few days later I had a chance to eat at Kiangsu Chekiang and Shanghai Residents Association also in Central. Our generous host ordered several dishes, like the stir-fried river shrimps, and giant lion's head meatballs in soup with cabbage. The meatballs were soft in texture, made with fatty pork but the broth barely showed any oil. 

For dessert we had lotus root stuffed with glutinous rice in osmanthus syrup and lotus seeds. This is a pretty laborious dish, having to clean the lotus root, stuff them with glutinous rice, steam them and braise in the osmanthus syrup. 

What a treat.

Stuffed lotus root with lotus seeds

Delicious Budget Thai Eats in Yuen Long

Whetting the appetite with pomelo and prawn salad

When I was in Hong Kong, a foodie friend was keen to take me to a dai pai dong in Sham Shui Po called Oi Man Sang. Customers have to queue for a table, but many believe it's worth it, as the place is known for cooking fresh seafood. We were all looking forward to it -- until we found out it would be closed on Qing Ming, or grave-sweeping day, one of the few holidays the staff get off.

Braised beef in a tart soupy sauce

So, we had the second-best thing -- a Thai restaurant in Yuen Long, about a 20-minute walk from Yoho Mall II in the New Territories. 

My friend drove us there along with his cousin and her husband, along with another chef acquaintance to Thailand East. When we got there it's a large compound, with people eating outside and inside, and parking at the back.

We were shown to a indoor area and upstairs where practically all the tables were filled. While the place served Thai dishes like green papaya salad and skewers, they also had claypot rice -- very Cantonese, and soy sauce chicken.

To start the pomelo and shrimp salad was delicious, large chunks of the citrus fruit together with plump shrimp, cherry tomatoes and peanuts, with a light soy dressing that was seasoned with fried garlic chips. Soon came the pork and beef skewers dipped in a thick peanut sauce.

Claypot rice with Chinese sausages was spot on

In a large stainless steel bowl was a giant beef bone, seasoned with garlic and coriander. The bits of beef fell off the bone easily and the slightly tart soup was delicious. I could have eaten the soup on its own and be fully satiated.

Next came two piping hot claypot rice, and they had the crispy rice at the bottom. The first had Chinese sausages, including one with offal and pork belly, the other with small pork ribs. Both were delicious and just depended on which flavour your were more partial to. How a Thai restaurant prepared spot on claypot rice I don't know, but practically every table had at least one.

A pre-ordered baked soy chicken arrived sitting up on a mini stake with a bowl at the bottom to catch the drippings. It seemed disconcerting at first to see a headless chicken sort of standing upright, but we took pictures anyway. After the photo session it was whisked back to the kitchen for the chef to expertly chop into pieces.

Roasted chicken was tender, hardly dry

For vegetables, water spinach with a touch of chillis was just right, along with more fried rice with pork belly and scrambled eggs on top. 

By this point we were pretty full, but wait there's dessert! We had the standard black sticky rice with mango and coconut milk, and a plate of taro-flavoured jellies with small cups of coconut milk jelly. 

Together with good conversation mostly about food, and talking about what we ate, it was a very enjoyable evening at a restaurant on the side of the road. For five people the bill came to around HK$1,300 including drinks, about HK$260 per person. Practically Shenzhen prices! No wonder the place was packed!

Black sticky rice with mango and coconut milk

Thailand East

G/F, 1 Tung Shing Lei

Yuen Long

9790 6118

Hong Kong Can't Compete with Shenzhen

Many restaurants were quiet in Hong Kong this long weekend

This Easter weekend Hong Kong was eerily quiet. 

Over 680,000 people left the city to either go to other countries, or crossed the border into the mainland.

Many who did the latter headed to Shenzhen, the "it city" where options are plentiful but the key word is cheap.

How cheap, you ask?

Cheap food in Shenzhen, though quality not high

An acquaintance just came back from Shenzhen yesterday. He said four adults and three children went out for dinner and the total bill was around HK$600.

What did they eat, you may ask?

A whole grouper cost HK$68. In Hong Kong that same grouper would cost HK$500. Granted he said the Shenzhen fish didn't taste very good, but hey, it was super cheap.

Same goes for half a chicken, HK$68. Even four pieces of KFC in Hong Kong costs HK$89.

How can Hong Kong even compete with prices that are a fraction of those 45 minutes away by train?

It's impossible because rents in Hong Kong are so high, as well as labour and food costs.

It's not about eating good food in Shenzhen, but it's really cheap. And with people in Hong Kong struggling to make money post-pandemic, they love the cheap thrills they can get across the border. 

Is it any wonder restaurants and shops are struggling in Hong Kong these days? 

All Hail the Best Restaurant in Asia

This modern French place the top restaurant in Asia

Last night was the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards held in Seoul and it was so great to see chef Daniel Calvert's restaurant Sezanne clinch the top spot this year.

He is a young British chef from Surrey, southeast England, who knew from the age of 13 he wanted to cook. And he's a damn fine cook. He has the talent, skills and finesse, and being in Tokyo suits him perfectly, where precision artistry is appreciated. 

In 2016 Calvert came to Hong Kong to help chef James Henry open a French bistro called Belon for Black Sheep Restaurants.

Calvert (second from left) with his team last night

He thought he'd only be there for six months, but in that time he fell in love with the city and became head chef the following year. However, the initial excitement of Belon had dissipated by then.

"When I took over Belon, it was not doing well. It was very hard to get people to change their minds and eat here again. So I would say going from this restaurant, which was empty, to turning it into what it is today, that's probably my biggest achievement," he said in August 2020 when he was leaving the city.

People were not used to the expensive items on the menu, like three pieces of asparagus and dots of caviar at HK$900 (US$115), and chicken wing stuffed with matsutake mushroom and foie gras at HK$348.

Instead of lowering prices or doing gimmicky dishes, Calvert persisted and in 2017 that year Belon earned a Michelin star. 

His attention to detail and taste are impeccable

After he moved to Tokyo, the Covid-19 pandemic postponed the opening for about a year in 2021. But Calvert was ready to show off his culinary talent. Six months after Sezanne opened, he earned the restaurant's first Michelin star, and its second in 2022.

Some dishes that diners have raved about are duck foie gras slow poached with chicken leg and soy sauce, Shanghai hairy crab marinated in yellow wine with rice, and mille crepes with Australian black truffles. 

When he was in Hong Kong he was curious to learn more about Chinese ingredients and condiments, and incorporated them into his dishes; same goes for what he has discovered in Japan.

Meanwhile on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, Sezanne ranked second last March, and last night climbed to number one.

Now in his mid-30s, Calvert claims to have no secrets to his success. "I'm not the greatest chef in the world -- I can't attest to that. But I do think I work harder than most people. I think that was the key."

We're so pleased to see him do so well. Hard work rewarded in spades.

Picture of the Day: Chicken Pot Pie

The chicken pie is choc full of ingredients

The deal of the week from Costco! 

We go to the giant warehouse membership store around once a month to stock up and try some of the pre-packaged meals. The lasagna is good (though rich), and shepherd's pie is good too, but after eating those a few times you want to try something else.

For C$10.99 I found a large chicken pot pie and it was delicious!

You have to heat it up in the oven for an hour and it's more than enough for three people. 

The crust is flaky and for the most part holds up the filling inside -- large chunks of chicken, along with carrots, potatoes and peas. 

Nice comfort food at a very good price.

Review: Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

Ginger and Rocky are back... with a daughter called Molly

The other day I watched the sequel to Chicken Run -- Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. Hard to believe the original was made 23 years ago! Aardman Animations is famous for making claymation stop-motion animation that's painstaking to make, but as a viewer, so much fun to watch. 

If you remember Chicken Run, the chickens bust out of the hen house when they realise chickens are being killed by Mrs Tweedy to make chicken pies. The chickens then settle in a place far away from farms and people.

Stop-motion animation is painstaking to make

In the sequel, the leader of the flock, Ginger, gets together with Rocky the Rooster and they have a baby chick called Molly, and becomes much like her mother.

But the chickens soon discover some development is afoot near where they live and Molly sees trucks going to a special place she wants to check out, but her mother doesn't want her to leave...

Dawn of the Nugget starts with a quick refresher for viewers who may not have remembered Chicken Run, and then fast-forwards to the present. All the old characters are still there, like Babs the bird who is sweet but clueless, Mac a Scottish chicken with some smarts, Fowler, the elderly rooster who constantly talks about his Royal Air Force days, and the two rats, Nick and Fetcher who help the chickens.

Part of the storyline involves some other chickens living in a utopia, which immediately reminded me of Barbie! What a strange coincidence, which in a way made it more amusing. 

This utopia scene looked familiar to Barbie

Nevertheless the action scenes were quite clever and unexpected, while the humour was a bit muted, but funny towards the end.

Mel Gibson wasn't called back to reprise his role, and was replaced by Rocky, while Julia Sawalha didn't return as Ginger either and instead Thandiwe Newton took on the role. 

People who watch Netflix will be able to see Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget on December 15 onwards. Good family fun for 98 minutes.