We left the downtown Seattle around 8:45 AM and arrived Canadian Custom around 12 noon. It took us about 25-30 minutes from the US-Canada border to Richmond- River Rock Hotel/Resorts, where we were going to spend a night in. <$160 US dollar 1 night, tax included> <http://preferredhotelgroup.com/summit/hotel.aspx?id=YVRRR&src=26054261> Since there were free Wi-Fi in the shuttle bus, 4 hours just slip by without being noticed!! We like this hotel because of the location (right at the skytrain station) and the amenities. I love their jacuzzi/swimming pool area-- it reminded me about the onsen/hot spring in Hokkaido, Japan with the decoration and tree landscape.
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| River Rock Hotel and Resort--- Standard room with 2 queens bed — at River Rock Casino Resort. |
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Complementary teabag from the hotel~ |
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| Carmomile tea~ |
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| Espresso machine in hotel |
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| Playing with my toy~ |
We made a reservation at Kirin Seafood Restaurant while we were in Seattle~ Yes! We are really serious about this restaurant and we just wanted to make sure that they will have a table ready for us upon arrival. This place is really popular and if you didn’t make a reservation before you arrive (especially on weekend), be prepared to wait for an hour or more in order to be seated. <http://www.kirinrestaurants.com/> Kirin is still my number 1 favorite dim sum place~ but I’m planning to try Sun Sui Wah Seafood restaurant next time as it has the same Zagat score as Kirin restaurant and foodies like it in Yelp. <http://www.yelp.com/biz/sun-sui-wah-seafood-restaurant-richmond>
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| Har Gau @ Kirin |
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| Rice paper roll in soy sauce @ Kirin |
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| Fried Taro @ Kirin |
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| Siu Mai @ Kirin |
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| Durian Mochi @ Kirin |
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| Rice paper roll wrap around the chinese donut @ Kirin |
We took the skytrain all the way from Richmond-Brighouse to Waterfront; and since Saturday and Sunday all zone cost the same (Zone 1 price for all zone), we even took the seabus to the Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver. We took the skytrain back and stopped at Lansdowne for our next food stop- No. 9 restaurant! We love the Hong Kong Style BBQ items in here and so far I have nothing that I don’t like from this restaurant: quality of food, quantity, price, etc. <http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/Q4u7W5grwSKZy-suUKhtqw?select=EMxa7N-LHDeRJQIr5OTgCw#EMxa7N-LHDeRJQIr5OTgCw > We were too hungry and forgot to take pictures of food before we demolished everything. hahaha And we called off the day for our day 1 in Vancouver.
On day 2 in Vancouver, we have a mission to check out those legendary restaurants before we hit our cruise ship. The first place that we checked out is Lido Restaurant for the highly rated bakery-- Hong Kong style pineapple bun (Bor Lor Bao). For those who lives in LA and knows about the pineapple bun in Hong Kong cafe (in Monterey Park), this bor lor bao/ bor law yau in Lido restaurant is completely different from the one in HK cafe. I’m not trying to compare which one taste better (as taste is very personal preference) but I can tell you that the bor lor bao in HK cafe is more dense, more chewy (maybe more gluten), stronger flavor as compare to the one in Lido restaurant-- it’s lighter, fluffy bun, flakier crunch top.
<http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/lido-restaurant-richmond?select=mNfEX8-jUPSRrfanb0v6bg#mNfEX8-jUPSRrfanb0v6bg>
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| Lido Restaurant in Central Plaza |
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| "Bor Law Yau" (Pineapple Bun with Thick Cut Butter) |
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| British Style Milk Tea~ strong tea taste!! YUM!! |
The second stop is Dim Sum-- I was planning to try Sun Sui Wah seafood restaurant but
the rest of the group has voted Empire Chinese Cuisine-- because it’s right next to our 3rd food stop as compare to Sun Sui Wah, which is 2 blocks away. We ordered 5 dim sum dishes including halibut in special bean sauces. We all were 101% full as the portion here were huge!
<http://www.yelp.com/biz/empire-chinese-cuisine-richmond> 20% off discount if you order before 11AM and the bill is 40% cheaper than Kirin --- but in my opinion, the quality of the food, service and ambience are no where close to Kirin. The food are still decent but it’s not as delicate and tasty as Kirin.
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| 20% off if you order before 11:30AM @ Empire Chinese Cuisine |
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| Halibut in special bean sauce@ Empire Chinese Cuisine |
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| Har Gau @ Empire Chinese Cuisine |
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| Shrimp wrapped in rice paper roll @ Empire Chinese Cuisine |
We all were so full that we need to walk on Alexander road to aid digestion. There were a lot of restaurants on Alexander road and I bet it will take us weeks or months to try them all. Four point Shelton is right across these restaurants so staying here will guarantee good food experience. However, 4 point Shelton is 3 blocks away from the Skytrain-- if you don’t have a car, be prepare to walk a lot. I’d prefer our hotel River Rock Hotel and Resort ($189 per night 2 queen size bed) than 4 point Shelton ($161 per night) just because of the location, amenities and the presentation of the hotel. After more than 30 minutes walk, we felt we were ready for the 3rd food stop-McNoodle House. McNoodle house is famous for their wonton soup noodle and it’s a delicate and traditional dish. In the past, only upper class people were able to afford this dish. In my opinion, you can’t find any comparable wonton soup noodle in LA.
<http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/2Cxky-NIGL7DoCSLbzoPuA?select=BrWaKVA_KlE1cIDPwaNKoA#FTbQ1s7touBX9ukAlXVmdA> They put flatfish in the wonton and using the same fish in the soup stock so that it can enhance the freshness and flavor of the wonton and soup; they also has a very crisp texture egg noodle and this is the highlight of the dish-- as egg noodle with this texture rarely exist in the North America in my opinion. It makes a good contrast with the wonton and this make the whole eating experience close to divine!
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| Kam Do Bakery |
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| Kam Do Bakery |
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| Kam Do Bakery |
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| Egg Tart!! I can eat 5 at a time!! @_@ |
After 3 hours of pig out, we were full - up to the skull! We took the skytrain to Waterfront station and then get on board on the Golden Princess sailing from Vancouver, BC Canada to San Pedro Los Angeles.
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| At the pier of Canada Place/Waterfront |
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