Rating / 3 out of 5 stars

Xu’s Wonton House in Crystal Mall’s food court are the new owners of the stall previously occupied by Wang’s Shanghai Cuisine. With new owners come expectations, or doubt. Can they do well and keep up with the previous owners’ success or will they flop like a fish? The menu has remained relatively the same, but what about the taste?

(Above: Xiao Long Bao in a bamboo steamer.)

We ordered our usual: Shanghai mini wontons in soup, regular wontons in soup and Xiao Long Bao. I eat with my eyes first, and my eyes were telling me these were not the same dishes.

Tre’s Shanghai mini wonton wrappings were nice and light, but the meat was scarce. Some didn’t have any at all. The broth however was comfortably piping hot.

My empty wontons were swimming with large strands of seaweed and dried shrimp. The broth was a bit bitter and more concentrated than Wang’s. The large pieces of seaweed were clumped together in chunks. I wanted to enjoy my soup, but I couldn’t.

(Above: Shanghai style mini wontons in broth.)

The Xiao Long Bao was juicy, but missed — just missed the mark. The wrapping was thicker, making the soup dumplings heavier. It was good, but if you’ve tried Wang’s before, then you’d be bitten with a slight disappointment.

Our bill came to just under $13 which is about what you’d expect for Chinese food court meals. I’m not sure if we came on a off day or Xu is still ironing out their kinks, but the food doesn’t quite match Wang’s. The new owners, however, are much more friendlier than the previous. For now, we’ll just have to get our dumpling fix elsewhere.

Perfect for: Runner up for best food court xiao long bao.

The Details

Crystal Mall Food Court
4500 Kingsway, Burnaby
604.909.6688

Rating / 4 out of 5 stars

Fortune House Seafood Restaurant in Metrotown serves up consistently solid dim sum in a more upscale than usual environment. Dim Sum can be both a harrowing and rewarding experience. Regardless of the venue, it usually involves some sort of physical activity (primarily concerning the elbows). Fortune House is no different, although its comparatively luxurious decor necessitates are more subtle approach — arrive early, or take a number and wait. Elbows are a last resort.

(Clockwise: 1. Spare Ribs in Black Bean Sauce. 2. XO Sauce. 3. Chicken Feet.)

There is no cart service here (that would be uncivilized) — orders are placed by marking off desired dishes on menu sheets and handing it off to your server. Case and I ordered a few dim sum standards. The chicken feet was fall apart tender and bathed in a beautiful savoury sauce; the steamed spare ribs gently seasoned and tender; while the shrimp and chive dumpling proportionately balanced with the right amount of meat and thickness of dumpling skin.

(Top to bottom: 1. Steamed Bean Curd, Scallops and Enoki Mushrooms. 2. Baked Red Bean and Tapioca Dessert.)

We followed up with some dishes not found in all dim sum restaurants. The steamed bean curd with scallops and enoki mushrooms were awash with a light cornstarch glaze; while the baked red bean and tapioca dessert was a crunchy delight on the outside and sweetly soft on the inside.

Our meal came to $35 including taxes and tips, which is certainly on the pricier end of dim sum. However, the quality of food at Fortune House has always been solid.

Perfect for: solid Dim Sum while waiting for the mall to open.

The Details

4700 Kingsway, Burnaby
604.438.8686
fortunehouserestaurant.com

Rating / 2 out of 5 stars

Beautiful Island is a Taiwanese restaurant located on Imperial Street in Burnaby that appears to have been recently renovated.

The dining room at Beautiful Island is quite spacious and smells like new paint. The wood flooring and dark tables add a modern touch. A bubble tea bar is located right up front near the entrance. Portraits of photographed tapas are displayed on the walls. The place is sparse, and feels more like someone’s office space furnished by Ikea.

(Top to bottom: 1. Taiwanese Meatball 2. Bubble Tea.)

Although they have a regular menu, we ordered some small dishes to share: Oyster omelette, Taiwanese meatball, Taiwanese sausage, Chicken braised in wine, a couple bowls of rice and a hot milk green tea.

Our milk green tea arrived first and it was awful. The tea was lukewarm and the milk concoction tasted a bit off. We sent the tea back to be reheated in hopes it would taste better when properly heated. It did not.

The oyster omelette looked like slop, but luckily tasted better than it looked: bits of scrambled eggs, oysters mixed with rice cake and topped with red sauce (which tasted like ketchup mixed with Sriracha hot sauce). The steamed wine braised chicken was moist and tender, but a bit salty to my liking. The Taiwanese meatball had barely any minced meat and bamboo shoots and was mostly sticky rice cake. The red sauce over top did not have any of the chili or garlicky goodness we were used to. Finally, the Taiwanese sausage was decent and paired well with the slivers of raw garlic served on the side.

(Top to bottom: 1. Oyster Omelette 2. Taiwanese sausage with slivers of raw garlic.)

Our bill including taxes and tips came to just under $25. The prices are decent at Beautiful Island and they have a large menu. The food, though, is mediocre (perhaps working through some kinks in the kitchen?) But the hot milk green tea — I feel nauseous just thinking about it.

Perfect for: Last ditch effort for late night snacks in Burnaby. Avoid the bubble tea.

The Details

#1 — 4648 Imperial Street
604.468.0258

Rating / 4 out of 5 stars

Alvin Garden is what used to be Xiang Cuisine – now re-branded with an updated decor. The food remains more or less the same: well executed dishes from the Hunan region of China with intense heat that will likely satisfy anyone who has love for some spicy goodness.

(Top to bottom: 1. Julienned seaweed marinated with garlic and peppers. 2. Stir fried green beans with generous amounts of chili peppers.)

We ordered the spicy pan fried green beans with minced pork, a familiar dish that’s been heaped with chili and seasoned with salty, preserved vegetables. Next, fish (Ling Cod) head with tofu, a spicy stew served in a mini wok over a portable flame. Followed by some appetizer sized dishes: dried bean curd with celery marinated in vinegar, and seaweed with ginger and garlic.

Finally we had chicken in spicy sauce: diced chicken (bones and all) swimming in a spicy broth, and a pot of rice to balance out the heat and saltiness. We initially asked for all of our dishes to be very spicy, but the waitress suggested a medium heat instead. We normally ignore that advice, but this time felt the server knew best.

(Top to bottom: 1. Chicken in spicy sauce. 2. Dried bean curd with celery.)

Luckily, we listened to our server and had our dishes served in medium heat, as they were extremely spicy, but fantastic. Overall, we enjoyed all the dishes at Alvin Garden except the spicy dried bean curd with celery. This dish had a strangely familiar sour flavour (similar to balsamic vinegar). The combination of balsamic vinegar and Chinese spices was too odd for us. You also have to watch out for all the meat and fish dishes that are served diced with the bones still in it. Those not used to it, will be fishing bones out with each bite.

Our bill including taxes and tips came to just under $55. Alvin Garden isn’t the cheapest Chinese restaurant around, but it’s well worth it. Make a pit stop to the ATM, though, they’re cash only for bills under $50.

Perfect for: Fiery, home cooked Hunan style dishes to keep your belly warm.

The Details

4850 Imperial Street, Burnaby
604.437.0828

Rating / 2 out of 5 stars

Kiku Sushi sits in a tiny strip mall complex next to Burnaby’s Metrotown that houses a couple banks, an insurance provider and London Drugs. Joining the ranks of modern sushi restaurants in Vancouver, Kiku has their own special lineup of contemporary interpretations on traditional sushi.

(Top to bottom: 1. Winter California Roll 2. Tobiko and Tamago Nigiri Sushi.)

Case and I sat down in the spacious booths, serenaded by the gentle pop tunes of Madonna’s Papa Don’t Preach on 103.5 QMFM. The menu looked impressive. The chef has created special house rolls that veer off slightly from the traditional recipe. We ordered some Nigiri: Tamago, Toro, salmon, Saba and Tobiko. In addition, we ordered a spicy tuna roll and Kiku’s own Winter California roll.

The sushi was average at best. The rice wasn’t properly packed and disintegrated upon contact with chopsticks while old standbys like Tuna belly, which is normally a no-brainer, was surprisingly mushy and sinewy. The saba was extraordinarily dry, while the Tamago lacked any discernable flavour. The spicy tuna rolls were pretty decent, but perhaps it was mercifully masked by the spices in the hot sauce. The Winter California roll — well, that was just something that should probably be left off any menu: a california roll drowned in a creamy, motoyaki-like sauce, then torched. It was like dunking sushi in microwaved chip dip. Hideous.

(Top to bottom: 1. Tuna and Salmon Nigiri Sushi 2. Spicy Tuna Roll.)

The service was quite decent, albeit slow for an empty restaurant. The staff including chefs and servers were quite amiable and seemed eager to please, and the presentation of the food was deceptively pretty. Our meal including taxes and tip was $22. But Kiku Sushi was trying to run before they could walk, attempting to match contemporary sushi creations popularized by places like The Eatery, Zipang and even Sushiyama. They should really stick to getting down the fundamentals first.

Perfect for: bypassing your time while you’re waiting for your mortgage to be approved next door.

The Details

4986 Kingsway, Burnaby
604.434.6020