Tag Archives: fish

Deer Garden Signatures in Richmond

My 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.

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 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.

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Aotoya – The Blue Door

So a while back, Tenhachi, my favourite and most authentic Japanese restaurant closed down (see post here of Tenhachi). But they reopened at a new location. Unfortunately, although I had seen ads and heard my friends going there, but because it was somewhat afar from where I lived, I didn’t get a chance to check it out – until now.

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed with the interior. Fluorescent lighting, torn booth benches taped together with duck-tape and overall was not a comfy, warm atmosphere. We were a little skeptical at first because we were the only ones in there, but by the time we were about the leave, it was almost full house.

Sukiyaki don with miso soup $10.95

Sansai Udon $9.95

I would have loved to order a teishoku, but since I wasn’t really feeling all that hungry, and I wanted something refreshing and light, I ordered the Sansai Udon $9.95 which had mushroom, ferns and vegetables. Sheepie ordered the Sukiyaki don with miso soup $10.95

The Sansai Udon was really good. Some might say it’s a bit on the bland side, but I prefer things that are light, so it was perfect for me. The ferns made the dish feel healthy. The udon was ‘good’ udon. Not those $1 udon in a pack that are super thick and white – cheap to buy and low in quality. These are smooth, actually tastes good and just goes down really quickly.

The service was fine. However, if I didn’t know that it was Tenhachi, I dunno if the Sansai was enough to make me want to return again. Not that the Sansai was bad or anything, but the overall atmosphere and experience wasn’t all that wow. I dunno, but it seemed a bit depressing…which does affect the food. I will have to go back and try the teishoku for another assessment Will continue…

Second Time

Back to Aotoya for the second time. This time, it was jammed packed so we had a bit of waiting time. Food is excellent. Very authentic Japanese food. The restaurant, as I have complained before needs upgrading. It’s a bit worn down and you can really see it on your way past the tables to the restrooms.

I ordered the Chicken Karaage Teishoku $13.95 (for Dinner). Each teishoku (set) comes with a kobachi side dish, pickles, a bowl of rice and special miso soup.

Sheepie’s bento looked really nice, though I guess you are paying double the amount of a cheap, lower quality restaurant. California Roll Dinner Box $13.95 – tempura, chicken/beef teriyaki or chicken ponzu, seaweed salad, deep fried daily special (in this case, he had karaage and a spring roll) and special miso soup.

We were there on a weekend, and we had no idea that there was even a promo for getting a free dessert. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, if you order more than $20, you get a complimentary dessert! It was a nice surprise. So I ordered the Strawberry Parfait – nice small portion for not getting too much sugar. Delicious and cute size.

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Richmond Maritime Festival in Steveston

Aug 9th-11 2013

Celebrate the festival which takes place in Steveston. There are performances on the small stage, lots of activities for the kids like crafts.

The festival is a bit low key. There weren’t many food booths, so don’t go there with an empty stomach. The ice cream on a stick was $4 and takoyaki was $6 for 7 pieces…so we passed.

The booths there are the same as other festivals I’ve seen. (like at the Davie Pride party, Taiwanese Festival and the 125th Anniversary of Stanley Park). It gets a little redundant seeing Telus, TDBank, 24 Hours, etc. You can only collect so many of their resusable bags they hand out. LOL.

You could check out how the Asian immigrants – largely Japanese families lived while working at the cannery.

Here, many of the booths were empty, I think mostly due to the fact that it was posistioned at the very end of the festival, and not everyone came that far.

There was a huge line up to get onto the boat, so we passed on that too…

It was nice to be there on a nice sunny summer day. Good to be out doing something, but not interesting enough for me to go back. But if you happen to be there, do check out the Gulf of Georgia Cannery!

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