King's Chinese Cuisine

For the last family dinner before my relatives flew back home, we decided to go to Fraser Court Seafood Restaurant since we haven't been there in years. We dropped in unannoucned without a reservation again like we did previously at Empire Seafood  Restaurant, but had no luck this time. There was a full blown wedding reception in progress and we left hungry.

After much discussion, we finally decided to head to King's Chinese Cuisine. We've been going there for years, and while it's a bit of a dive, the food is consistently good and affordable. We're not the only ones that of that opinion as King's is always packed and this time was no exception. After a short wait, we were seated and once again proceed to order from a set menu in Chinese that I had no part of since I am Chinese illiterate. Even though we have a party of 5, we ordered a 6-person set meal, this time featuring a crab main, at $88.

Unfortunately, they seemed to have forgotten about us as we sat around for a good 20 minutes and had to call the staff multiple times before we were served anything. We were all too eager to dive in when we were finally brought our first dish, an appetizer of jellyfish and pork hock. This is a cold cut dish of shredded and marinated jellyfish and thinly sliced ham hock.The jellyfish was very crisp and both it and the pork was very flavorful.

Next, we were served fish maw soup. This was a very large portion for 6 people and everyone had at least 2 servings each. This had noticeably less chunks of seafood than the other night at Empire, but this was not a surprise since we expect to pay a lot less for this meal. Despite this, the soup was very good and enjoyed by everyone.

After the soup, we were brought the pepper salt fried prawns. This was shell-on shrimp deep fried with lots of chilies, scallions, and garlic. The shell was sliced open at the top to facilitate easy peeling, but was still a bit of a hassle to peel. The flavor profile was very good though. The chilies were sweet and not overly spicy, and there was plenty of garlicy flavor without being overpowering or salty.

We were then brought the live crab. This looked to be poached crab topped with a thin sauce and served on top a bed of egg noodles with ginger and scallions. The essence of the crab was infused into the sauce and made the egg noodles very delicious. However, the sauce was very mild and could have used a touch more seasoning.

The next course to come was fried tofu skin with mushrooms and bok choy. There were osyter, shiitake, and enoki mushrooms served with a thick sauce. The tofu skins and sauce were very sweet and went very well with the tender bok choy. This was a very delicous dish.

The 6th course was cod and broccoli. It again had a thin sauce that was adequately seasoned, and both the fish and broccoli were nice and tender. This is a pretty typically executed dish you can find at other restaurants. Nothing special to say about it other than that it was well executed.

At this point, we were pretty stuffed, so we were quite surprised when the pepper chicken hotpot landed on our table. We didn't think we were going to touch this very much, but we ended up finishing most of it because it was soooo delicious! There were huge chunks of succulent boneless skinless chicken, with pickled red and green bell peppers, and onions. What made this dish successful was the sweet and sour peppery sauce. This was very appetizing and rejuvenated ours right away. The pickled vegetables were crunchy and crisp, and married very well with the tender chicken. Everyone loved this dish!

We ended the meal with the usual red bean soup. This was a very good meal, and dollar for dollar, much better in my opinion than the one we had at Empire the previous night. Not only were the flavors altogether more successful, but we had a lot more to eat as well. If you don't mind the fact that they've probably never renovated in 20 years and that the paint is literally chipping and peeling off some of the walls, King's is a great place for some decently priced Chinese food. Be prepared to wait for a table though. They were especially packed at lunch since they also have dim sum awesomely priced at $2.30.

Pros:
-decent food at reasonable prices
-decent portions
-cheap dim sum

Cons:
-food can take a while to come out
-extremely busy
-you can see the paint peeling off the walls
-service can be sparse due to volume of customers

Notes:
-small parking lot in back.
-ample free street parking nearby

Empire Seafood Restaurant

I've been to Empire twice before.  Each time, it was because my dad found an ad in the newspaper for what he considered a good deal on a seafood set meal, and this time was no different. Well, financially, it was a lot different, because this time I didn't have to pay! Some relatives flew in from overseas, and I get some good company and a good meal. Hooray!

The last two times here cost me $40 and $30 per person respectively for their king crab and lobster dinners. Neither of those experiences really wowed me. It was comparable to other Chinese fine dining in the lower mainland. They do have some unique flavors compared to other expensive Chinese restaurants I've been to, but nothing worth the price point in my opinion. Each time, the centerpiece of the set meal, the seafood, had an underwhelming portion, while the rest of the meal was good and tasty. Lo and behold, we had more of the same this time around.

The unfortunate thing about these set meal dinners at a lot of restaurants is that the menus are written in Chinese characters only, and I can't read these for squat. So, I don't really know what to expect and what everything is called. This time, we had the $128 lobster dinner for 6, but we had a party of 5.

I do know what the first course was though, since this is a common starter for a Chinese meal:  Fish Maw Soup. Empire's version had chunks of crab, shrimp and of course, fish maw in a mild syrupy egg drop soup. This soup is always served with red rice vinegar and white pepper powder on the side, and you season it yourself to taste. I like mine with lots of vinegar, and lots of pepper. Empire's version had lots of real crab, and was delightful to eat. A good start to the meal.

The next course was Peking Duck Wrap. They brought the whole roasted duck out and carve it out in front of you on a side table. You get the skin on top layer of meat, and they take away the rest of the duck. My uncle says they often give you the whole duck when they serve this in Hong Kong, either for the meal or to take home. I've never seen any GVRD restaurants offer this with this dish. The carved duck is served along with some fried rice chips.

What you do with this dish is take the duck, place it on a steamed wrap, garnish with scallions and cucumber, drizzle on some hoisin sauce, then roll up and eat. The duck was roasted to a nice crispness, and nicely fat and moist. The wrapper was also of a good fresh consistency.

Restaurants often give you less wrappers than actual pieces of duck and Empire was no different. I guess they expect you to put more than 1 piece in each wrap, but nobody ever does since it makes you look greedy or foolish if you are left with more wrappers than duck. This isn't a huge problem since the duck is very tasty on its own, and we had a lot left over. They probably would have given us more wrappers if we asked, but we didn't want to fill up on carbs.

Next up was the signature Lobster. This was again an underwhelmingly small specimen. It was cooked in a garlic and ginger sauce, and was the same as other Chinese restaurant lobsters in my opinion. I have to admit that I'm rather indifferent to lobster, crab and other crustaceans in general, so I'm probably a little biased here. I often like the noodles that get served in the sauce much more, and it was disappointing to me that this was just the lobster alone. I wouldn't consider this lobster big enough to satisfy 6 hungry lobster lovers.

We then got served a Fish Stir Fry. We didn't know what type of fish this was, and didn't ask. We just know it wasn't cod. The fish was chopped into nuggets with skin-on and bone-in, fins and everything. Stir fried with onions, garlic, scallions, and a ton of oil. This was incredibly greasy to eat and sat on a pool of oil. If that wasn't bad enough, the fish didn't taste very fresh at all, and had a slightly rotten fish taste to it. Surprisingly, my uncle loved the fish, but nobody else had very much of it.


The next dish was Pork Lettuce Wrap.  I've never liked this dish very much and consider it a cheap overpriced item. It's basically ground pork and chicken stir fried with water chestnuts, onion, garlic, scallions and rice cracker bits. Again, you drizzle on some hoisin sauce, and roll it up to eat, but this time it's on a piece of green lettuce.

For the essential fiber portion of the set meal, we got a plate of Bok Choy and Mushrooms. This was a good assortment of tender mushrooms served on a bed of tender bok choy. I think it was slightly under seasoned and could have used a touch more salt, but was otherwise enjoyable.

The carb portion of this set meal was Fried Sticky Rice. Empire's fried rices have always been a high point of the set meals I've had here before, and it was the case again tonight. They really know how to make good fried rice. The rice was of a good chewy consistency, with each individual grain separate but glutinous and not overly oily. This was fried with bits of dried shrimp, scallions, Chinese sausage, shiitake mushrooms and egg. If there's anything that would entice me to shell out the dough for dining at Empire, it's their fried rice.

The dessert though, was just plain Red Bean Soup. For a seafood set meal, this is a disappointing end. I never understood why high class restaurants choose to serve such an underwhelming item as a complimentary dessert. Dessert is the last item your guests enjoy, and I think it pays to give them something spectacular to end on a high note. Would it really hurt your bottom line to throw in something extra like tapioca pearls, or black glutinous rice, or coconut milk to jazz things up a bit? A lot of places also offer a choice of mango pudding or some other dessert, but we've always ended up with just plain red bean at Empire.

Overall, I'd say the dining experience at Empire is more or less the same as its competitors. Your plates get changed often, and staff are abundant. I think they do have above average decor though. You get a decorative plate underneath your utensil plate, and a nice velvet cloth napkin instead of paper. Their restaurant is also large and very well furnished. We walked in at 6:30 PM without a reservation, and was seated and served right away despite the restaurant looking busy and packed. I think Empire is a decent choice for affordable Chinese fine dining. It's not cheap, but doesn't totally break the bank either.

The meal today was a little less impressive than the last two we had here. Last times, the set meals included an awesome almost western style tangy Pork Rib Onion Stew, and very fragrant Yeung Chow Fried Rice with Taro. These weren't items you typically see on a competitor's menu and I thought they were both incredibly delightful to eat. I was hoping to see these again tonight, but we got a more typical serving of dishes instead.

Pros:
-very good fried rice dishes
-large and adequately staffed
-attentive service
-good decor

Cons:
-small seafood portions
-not cheap
-complimentary dessert could use some choice or pizazz for what you're paying

Notes:
-abundant free parking in mall complex

Aqua Riva

For Dine Out Vancouver 2011, we decided to go to Aqua Riva, simply because they were the only restaurant that could accommodate our group at the time everyone was available. It started out pretty terrible, and stayed that way. Half of us couldn't find the damn place. The address is listed as 200 Granville St, but the restaurant is actually on Howe... This is because it's part of a complex called Granville Square that spans several blocks. For those looking to find the place, it's on Howe right next to Canada Place.

Aqua Riva is usually ridiculously expensive, but the $28 Dine Out menu brings them into affordable territory. The restaurant itself was impressive large, and most impressively, completely packed at 8pm on a weekday. We were lucky enough to be seated window side and had a gorgeous view of Canada Place and Vancouver harbor.

We received the usual complimentary baskets of bread after we made our orders. Instead of your usual sourdough, there was french bread and slices of focaccia. These were served with the usual whipped butter, but also some mild salsa, which complimented the bread very well. The breads themselves were very fresh, with a crisp crust and soft, moist interior. This was a very pleasant start to the meal, but it wouldn't last.

I, along with several others opted to start with the Sesame Crusted Scallops with Spinach and Cous Cous Salad and Orange Sesame Vinaigrette. The scallops were supposed to be seared but they turned out to be cooked on one side and raw on the other. The raw portion was also very gummy and rubbery, and not very appetizing. The cous cous, on the other hand, was a great appetizer. Dressed in a mildly tart orange sesame vinaigrette, it was a very good way to whet one's appetite for the entree.

Others in my party had the Manhattan Seafood Chowder with Chorizo Sausage and Saffron. I'm not a fan of soups, but everyone who had the soup enjoyed it. I guess I should have had the soup instead. No one opted for the third appie option, which was Baby Green Salad with Smoked Wild Sockeye Salmon and Grilled White and Green Asparagus and Sherry Dijon Vinaigrette.

For the main, I choose the Ginger Potato Crusted Wild Salmon with Grilled Asparagus Risotto, Corn and Black Bean Salsa and Basil Butter Sauce. Everyone enjoyed the deliciously crisp potato crust, and found the salmon well-seasoned, but all agreed the filet was a bit dry. The corn and black bean salsa was bland and detracted from the flavorful fish. I could have done without it.


Those that ended up with the Wood Grilled Rib Eye Steak with Cajun Jumbo Fries and Salsa Verde weren't too happy with their meals. Nobody had their steak cooked to the degree they wanted. Medium became medium rare, and medium became a bloody chewy piece of rubber. Nobody sent their steaks back to the kitchen but they really should have. The "cajun jumbo fries" turned out to be greek style baked potatoes, but the cajun spice was so mild they tasted practically like plain baked potatos.

The Orecchiette Pasta with Grilled Prawns, Shiitake Mushrooms, Spinach, Ancho Chilies and Basil Pesto Cream Sauce turned out to be the entree to get, as everyone who had the pasta thoroughly enjoyed their dish. Unfortunately I didn't get an acceptable photo of this dish. As you can see from the blurry pics above, I'm still struggling with my new camera :-(

For dessert, I had the Banana Chocolate Mousse Cake. This was garnished with a fried banana and fruit coulis. Neither the fried banana nor cake was very successful. The banana wasn't fried to a good crispness, and wasn't sweetened. This piece of banana wasn't very naturally sweet either, and this made for a very soft, yet chalky slice of banana. The cake also had a serious lack of sugar. The chocolate ganache had a rough texture and the cake was very dry. The middle layer was just a blended banana paste, and the whole thing felt like a chore to eat. I had McDonald's new baked banana chocolate pie just a few days prior, and enjoyed it much more than this, and that only costs 70 cents. I guess this might be suitable for someone who likes a very mild dessert, but for a guy with a sweet tooth, this was a failure.


Conversely, the folks who had the Apple and Cranberry Crisp complained that it was too sugary. To put it into perspective, one said that you needed to mix the ice cream to drown out the sweetness of the rest of the dish. I ended up taking some apple crisp to sweeten and moisten up my dull, dry cake.

Given the asking price, the food here definitely wasn't worth it. If you're going to be asking $25-30+ for an entree, serving dry fish and undercooked steak isn't acceptable. This Dine Out experience certainly didn't entice us to return for their regular menu. I'm quite surprised that there were such glaring mistakes with each course that was served. Given the price and locale, Aqua Riva seems like a tourist trap, so I guess we'll be leaving it to the tourists.

Pros:
-great ambiance and view
-attentive, friendly service

Cons:
-expensive
-underwhelming food
-hard to locate

Notes:
-easily accessible by skytrain

Website and Menu: www.aquariva.com