Monthly Archives: March 2014

Deer Garden Signatures in Richmond

Deer Garden Signatures 鹿園魚湯米線 on UrbanspoonMy boss had been raving and talking about Deer Garden for a while and since she knew that I was a huge noodle fan, she recommended it even more.  So Sheepie and I went on a Friday evening down to Richmond. We weren’t too familiar with Richmond area and even with the guide of Google maps, we had some problems trying to figure out the location. Finally parked the car and started to walk around and found it on the second floor.

It was a busy restaurant, and the staff told us to go to the back room. We walked ourselves to the back and sat down at one of the tables with the menus and fill out forms already there.  So the deal is $8.50 which includes a choice of your soup, noodle, two toppings and milk tea. The selection is quite extensive, so a lot of opportunities to come back and try a different combination every time until you find your perfect combo or keep it always different so you wont get bored.

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I chose the original fish soup, vermicelli noodles, fish balls and fish tofu -yeah, in a bit of fish craze lol. I thought it would be a bit boring with only fish related things so I was actually pleasantly surprised that there were more toppings that were already included. Lots of cilantro, a big piece of bean curd and veggies. The portion wad really filling and overall very tasty. Sheepie had the instant noodles which I thought no one would ever choose!…hahaha. He had it with the Thai Tom Yum Goong soup. It smelled really good. A lot more flavourful. I would have tried more of the spicier soups if my stomach weren’t so sensitive. There was a variety of milk teas you could select. Yes, the adventurous me chose the regular milk tea :P Overall, I enjoyed the experience. Sheepie on the other hand didn’t as much. It’s a bit far for us to go to but if we happen to be in the area, it would be interesting to go again to try out more combinations.

 Taste: carrotcarrotcarrot     Price for Value: carrotcarrotcarrotcarrot

Atmosphere:  carrotcarrot    Service:  carrotcarrot
Location: carrotcarrot

Beta 5 Chocolates

BETA5 Chocolates on UrbanspoonA chocolate shop out in the middle of nowhere by Terminal. Located around the industrial area, I was surprised to see a number of people lined up to purchase – quite a bit actually. The shop is actually a garage transformed into a chocolate making store. They have a counter with the chocolates, and a table in the middle with packaged chocolates. On the right side, the different cream puffs available.

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I was surprised to see Sheepie buying some chocolate considering he didn’t really like any of the pieces he bought last time. The Jasmine Tea was ok, though the taste was really faint. But we both didn’t like the olive oil. It literally tasted like you were biting into a cream of olive oil.

Some of the chocolates were however very pretty. I was very attracted to the cute Valentine special that was all red with a velvet like texture and cute little hearts on it. I also like the green tennis ball looking one. Both I like for visual beauty. As for taste, I can’t comment as I haven’t tried them yet.

Their packaging is minimal or with simple patterns – just the kind of packaging I love! The texture is similar to my business card that is almost silk-like and thick.

I tried their Vanilla cream puff $4.50 per puff! As the name suggest, it’s all cream inside. It’s really good, and although I do love cream, the size is too big. Half would have been good for me. Perhaps they can start ‘mini’ puffs in the future. I do find it a bit too pricey for cream puffs, but I guess if you’re paying $1-2 for a small chocolate piece, it’s not that expensive in comparison.

This is only a ‘buy and go’ place. No place to sit or have tea with your desserts, so not a place for you to meet up with friends and chit chat. I think many were there to buy gifts for their friends and family.

A Birthday Gift

A friend gave me a box of Beta 5 chocolates. They were so pretty!! :D It’s too bad I didn’t take a photo of each one…I started eating and forgot >_<

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Imperial Stout: love the blue colour! So beautiful! Very pleasing to the eyes. It’s an award-winning filling made by blending Green Flash Brewing Co.’s Double Stout with a 45% milk chocolate. I’m not a beer fan, so can’t really say it was my favourite.

Crispy Praline: this had hazelnuts. Being allergic to nuts, I gave this to Sheepie.
idearabbit-beta5_2Fisherman’s Friend: it’s a filling with the couch candy and 67% dark chocolate. It wasn’t as terrible as I though it would be. LOL. But it’s not something you can eat a lot of. Very interesting to have it in chocolate.

Earl Grey: it’s very soft inside. The Earl Grey flavour is very subtle.

Banana: I couldn’t really detect the banana flavour, but tasted good.
idearabbit-beta5_3Pear & Praline: the milk chocolate ganache flavoured with fresh pear and eau-de-vie sits on a layer of crispy ilk chocolate praline. Interesting crunchy bits.

idearabbit-beta5-21Coconut – Lime: The white chocolate filling was really coconut-ty. The hint of lime and texture of shredded coconut was really nice. Shell was super thin.

idearabbit-beta5-20Salted Chocolate Caramel: it was chewy and the salt complimented the caramel.
idearabbit-beta5_4Bay Leaf: I call it the tennis ball lol. Very beautiful and love the fuzzy surface texture.

idearabbit-beta5-23Mokaya: has a faint licorice and coffee flavour. Couldn’t really detect the banana flavour.

idearabbit-beta5-22The Whole Cherry: the cherry oozes out once you bit into it! The red colour on the dome is beautifully done.
idearabbit-beta5_1Jasmine Tea: very creamy.

 Taste: carrotcarrotcarrot     Price for Value: carrotcarrot

Atmosphere:  carrotcarrot  Service:  carrotcarrotcarrot
Location: carrotcarrot