604: Hei Hei Rice Roll (Richmond)

Seems like there are a lot more hidden gems at the Richmond Public Market Food Court these days. Recently, there's this new Rice Roll hype circulating around Vancity. This Hei Hei Rice Roll food stall boasts about their hand roll rice rolls from choosing and grinding quality rice to form their secret rice roll batter, then steaming and rolling them into rice rolls.

Their opening hour was 11 and they start accepting orders at 10:50. When I arrived at 10:55, there was already a massive line. By the time I got to put in my order and got my rice rolls, it was already 11:20. That's a pretty long wait for a Monday morning in Richmond. Normally every where is dead in the morning in Richmond.

This is my first time trying these Guan Dong style rice rolls and the texture is quite interesting; but since I've never had it before I'm not sure how authentic it is or how it should taste like.

The rice rolls are thin and has a reasonable amount of meat in it. Amongst the three meats - shrimp, pork and beef - my favourite was the shrimp. The shrimps are on the firmer side and is mildly crunchy, so you know they use better quality shrimps. The beef and pork rice rolls are stuffed with flattened minced meat, that is mildly gamey and sticks to your teeth slightly. I'm not used to this texture and taste since the Hong Kong Dim Sum style beef rice rolls are normally very aromatic with the cilantros and dry orange peels, and the beef texture are a lot smoother (they probably add a lot more oil). I've also never had pork rice rolls before and that's my least favourite since it's on a blander side.

I also ordered the plain ones because that really puts the chef's culinary skills on a test. Their plain rice rolls are soft and a little chewy. I've never had rice rolls that's chewy so I was a little thrown off by it. I quite like the chewiness but I have definitely had softer rice rolls in Hong Kong. For every bite of the plain rice roll, I made sure it was completely drenched in soy sauce, sesame sauce and Hoison sauce. By the end of the meal, I wasn't sure if the condiments was the main and the rice rolls were the sides; but that's not important. That's the proper way to eat it and it was delicious. That being said, I still prefer the rice rolls from NamShan - they make the softest rice rolls!

On a side note, my other favourite stalls at the Richmond Public Market include the Xi An Cuisine and the Peanut's Bubble Tea.

Location: Here

💵 Price:$5.5 to $8.5 - steam rice rolls

🤤Taste: 4.7 / 5

📈 Price Performance ratio: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗

Retention Rate: 50 / 50

🕯Atmosphere: NA

🪑Seating: Food court seating

📍 Richmond

Pros:

- Made fresh

- Thin rice rolls

- A great and light breakfast / lunch

- Great value

Cons:

- Long wait

604: Crispy Falafel Lebanese Donair (Surrey)

This place is located in an awkward location between a busy intersection at King George and 24 Avenue in South Surrey. So awkward that it's hard to make a turn into the strip mall if you are at the wrong side of the busy street. I had always spotted this place and wanted to give it a try but never had the chance to, because I'm always at the wrong side of the street on my way home. Tonight I decided to make a trip there as I was feeling pretty lazy tonight and did not want to cook.

A few things worth praising:

• I asked for the staff's recommendation since it's my first time visiting, and she gave a sample of every single meat.

• Excellent value!

• Delicious

• It's made fresh

The chicken is apparently the best seller here at this location. It's juicy and moist. The beef was alright - it was a little stringy. My favourite was the lamb since it's the most flavourful of all. Overall, the shawarma was delicious. The wrap is crispy and it's packed with your choice of meat with a perfect kick of spiciness. Inside it's herby and flavourful with the perfect meat to vegetable ratio. Mind you! It can get very messy with the dripping sauce. I got it all over my hands.

I love the lamb shawarma but I'm not a huge fan of their desserts. The desserts are also pretty costly (mainly cause it didn't taste good so I don't see the value in this).

Next time, I'd like to try their kabobs!

UPDATE:

Returned to Crispy Falafel to try out their skewers / kebab. Slightly disappointed with the portion of the skewers as it was on the thinner side so it didn't feel as meaty and it wasn't very satisfying for the meat lover. In terms of the taste, it's pretty good but not mind blowing. For $17.99 + tax, it's pretty expensive with the lack of meat. All else has a generous portion though.

Multiple Locations in Surrey:

King George || Grandview Central Shopping Centre || Cedar Hills

Menu: Here

💵 Price: Under $10 - $18 (without desserts and sides)

🤤Taste:

• Donair: 4.6/ 5

• Greek style Baklava (the rectangular one): 2.6 / 5

• Lebanese style Baklava (in a roll form) : 2.3 / 5

• Skewers: 3 / 5

🕯Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️

🪑Seating: ⭐️⭐️

📈 Price Performance ratio: 5 / 5

Retention Rate: 100% for the Donair

📍 South Surrey - King George

Pros:

Shawarma:

🌯 The lamb shawarma is delicious!

🌯 It’s made fresh! The wrap is crispy! The filling is saucy, herby, and has a perfect kick of spiciness

🌯 Loaded with meat

🌯 Excellent value

Drawbacks:

🍰 I’d pass on the dessert next time

🍰The Lebanese style Baklava: I’m not exactly sure what I had.. almost felt like I ate a sweetened, scrunched up stack of newspaper 📰

🍰 Greek style baklava: They used mostly sugar rather than honey. Sorta crispy but it’s a stale kind of crispy with a chew ☹️

* Skewers: on the thinner side.

* Skewers: Pretty expensive

604: Joyee's Top Pick All Year Around - NERO

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/20e9c4_c16cce7082e2461eb9e9c90a1a2693f4/720p/mp4/file.mp4

This is definitely my favourite dessert shop in Vancity. Whenever I'm in downtown, I always, ALWAYS, make a trip to Nero's. They offer two types of waffles - the Liège and the Brussels.

The Liège is a Belgium waffle that has a soft, chewy bread texture with melted pearl sugar, while the Brussel is a light and crispy waffle. According to my survey, 100% of my dear followers prefer the Belgium waffles; and as do I (good choices my friends ;)

You get to choose a savoury or sweet topping and I always choose the sweet. I'm actually not too adventurous with their selections here at Nero. I always choose whatever has chocolate toppings, so my selection is restricted with the Banana brûlée, the orange mousse, or the classic with dark chocolate drizzle. All of the chocolate classics are served with a heapful of whipping cream and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I'm a bit torn between the banana brûlée and the chocolate mousse. I loved the dark chocolate ganache from the chocolate mousse but preferred the banana brûlée over the oranges. I just wish they would replace the orange with the caramelized banana.

All I can say is that you would not be disappointed with Nero's waffles. I have never failed to convert any of my friends into a Nero fan. My sister always request multiple stops to Nero whenever she visits Vancouver. That's how good it is.

Location: Seymour || Robson

Menu: Here

Price:

* Classic Sweets: $10 - $12

* Savoury: $15 - $17

Taste: 5 / 5

Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Seating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Price Performance ratio: 5 / 5

Retention Rate: 100%

Worth copycatting? YES

Drawback:

* Parking is always a pain at the Seymour location

* Line ups are expected