604: Lemon Tree (Richmond)

Many bloggers from Instagram claimed that they make the best bubble waffles, so I had to pay them a visit to verify this.

Like Eggette House, they also have a combo deal but a dollar more expensive than them, which is still a great value, but I still decided to opt out of the drink. Without the drink, it costs $4.80 for a waffle.

The waffle isn't greasy and it's ultra crispy but it's missing the mouthfeel. The weird thing is that when I broke the bubble in half, there's a lot of fluff inside. The waffle is aromatic but the custard and buttery flavor tasted artificial - like butter versus margarine.

Overall, I think it's a great bubble waffle! I liked it enough to rank it as my top three favorite bubble waffles in Vancity, but my favorite is still from the Bubble Waffle Cafe in Aberdeen.

I'd say the quality of our average bubble waffles here in Vancouver exceeds the majority of the cafes in Hong Kong. One interesting point my friend brought up is that the rent in Hong Kong is expensive, so they skimp out on the batter, making their waffles crispy but lack substance in each bubble.

📍Location: Here

💵 Price: $7.99 for a combo or $4.8 for a waffle

🤤Taste: 4.5 / 5

🕯Atmosphere: NA

🪑Seating: NA

📈 Price Performance ratio: 4.6 / 5

Retention Rate: 100%

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕤:

🧇 ultra crispy

🧇 aromatic

🧇 not greasy

🧇 good value when ordered with a drink (but I opted out the drink 😅)

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤:

🧇 The buttery or custard flavor tasted artificial. it’s almost like having margarine spread instead of butter.

🧇 it has a lot of fluff inside when u break the bubble apart, but the mouthfeel isn’t there

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

🧇 great waffle. I’d say top three in Vancity?

🧇 my favorite is still from 🥇 Aberdeen Bubble waffle cafe🥈Eggette House

Joyee Cooks: Tomato Scrambled Egg with Oil Splashed Noodle

Here's an easy meal for y'all. You can double the ingredients for the tomato scrambled eggs, make it into a separate dish and serve it with rice. That's what I did the night before and the leftovers were used to make this oil-splashed noodle.

You also don't have to splash your noodles with hot oil if you are more health-conscious. I sometimes opt out of that and it still tastes good! The only difference is, it won’t match the name of the dish :)

Tomato Scrambled Egg with Oil Splashed Noodle (番茄雞蛋油潑麵):

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• Noodles - 2 packs

Tomato Scrambled Eggs:

• 2 tomatoes - cut into four *

• 2 eggs (lightly beaten)

• 1 tsp salt

• 4 slices of ginger

• 1 tbs tomato paste

• 1 tbs sugar

• 1/2 cup water

• Thickener: 2 tsp cornstarch + 3 tbs water

* I used about 2 cups of cherry tomatoes (halved)

Sauce #1:

• 2 Tbs minced garlic

• 2 Tbs chili powder

• 2 Tbs chopped scallions

• 2 tbs sesame seeds

• 6 Tbs oil (optional)

Sauce #2

• 4 Tbs soy sauce

• 4 Tbs vinegar (soul ingredient!)

• 1 tsp of salt

• 1 tsp of sugar

Procedure:

1. Under medium heat, heat wok or frying pan with 1 tbs of oil. Add egg mixtures and salt. When eggs thicken and edges turn slightly golden, scramble eggs with spatula. Remove scrambled eggs when eggs turn into soft curds or cook until set with no visible liquid (eggs should not be dry). Set aside. (May serve with rice at this point)

2. In the same pan, warm 2 tsp oil under medium-high heat. Add ginger, lightly fry until golden brown. Add sliced tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, sugar, and water. Reduce to medium-low heat. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add thickener and scrambled eggs, set aside.

3. Cook noodles as instructed. Run noodles under cold water then drain. Set aside.

4. In a bowl, mix all ingredients, except for oil, from Sauce #1.

5. Optional: Heat oil in pan and pour hot oil into Sauce #1.

6. Add Sauce #2 ingredients.

7. Divide the noodles and tomato scrambled eggs evenly in two bowls. Pour sauce mixture in bowls, top it off with sesame seeds and chopped scallions.

8. Serve.

Tip: The noodles will continue to cook so remove noodles from heat when it's 85% done. Rinsing noodles under cold water will slow down the cooking process because we want chewy noodles not soft noodles.

604: JooJak Restaurant (Vancouver)

I decided to make a stop here to try out their Chinese Hamburgers (Rou Jia Mo) as per recommendations from Xiao Hong Shu (XHS). Apparently, they have authentic Chinese Hamburgers, and one blogger suggested adding extra green pepper for $0.50. Someone also recommended their Biang Biang Mian and their saliva chicken.

Out of curiosity, I researched the Chinese characters of this dish. I've never seen this Chinese character before and it's interesting to discover that this word does not exist. That explains why I can't type this with my Mandarin Pinyin Keyboard!

According to BBC, the "biang" character is onomatopoeic, meant to mimic the sound of dough hitting a counter. It is also more complex to write than any character in the Chinese language, with a whopping 58 strokes (though, depending on whom you ask, this number may vary slightly). Given how much thought must go into writing it, I was surprised to discover that the character doesn't actually exist – at least, not according to official dictionaries.

Anyway, back to the food. The Chinese Hamburgers were as good as the ones I had from Old Xian and Xian Cuisine in Richmond, but I wouldn't say you'd have to travel all the way to Vancouver for this. For only $5.75, they have loaded the buns with meat filling. Since the lamb filling already comes with green pepper, I did not add extra green for this. Between the two, I think I prefer the pork belly just a bit more. The pork belly filling is fattier so it's a lot juicier and it just glides down your throat.

I also prefer it when the chef is heavier handed with the cumin spice on the lamb, but that's just me. I love that stuff. That being said, I think this is perfect for most Canadians here or those who can't handle the heat. Both burgers are perfectly marinated. The only drawback is that the bun is a bit harder than what I'm used to. It reminds me of a drier pita bread. I think I'd prefer a mantou bun texture instead, but perhaps this is how it should be? I need to go to ShanXi one day to try some of these Chinese hamburgers!

The worker there was also super sweet! Since I ordered two burgers and a bowl of noodles, she placed the burgers inside a take out paper bag. She assumed that I wouldn't be able to finish everything and she was right. It was way too much for one person, but I did intend to bring the leftovers home.

The highlight of this meal was actually the Biang Biang Mian. It was wide and thick, chewy and smooth, and of course, HAND PULLED! I especially loved their sauce as it's a vinegar base mixed with some chilli powder and then seared with hot oil. When chilli oil and or chilli flakes are added to vinegar, something magical happens. It's like a God given recipe. It's just so good. The citrus flavour from the vinegar opens up your appetite, which helped me finish the whole bowl of noodles plus a burger. (I think I could finish the other burger too but I managed to have some self-control...)

I also noticed that the bowl of noodles wasn't too greasy either and it doesn't have any msg. It tasted homemade. I told the worker (and quite possibly the owner) that I really enjoyed her noodles, and especially with the vinegar-based sauce. I also told her that I'm pleased that the noodles weren't very greasy either. She said that even though they do add quite a bit of oil to the noodles, they don't add sugar or MSG to their food. From her stories, I gathered that she's a health-conscious lady. So I doubt a lot of oil was added to it, or at least, it's significantly less oily than most YouPo (Literal meaning: oil splashed or seared) Noodles I've had in other restaurants.

Overall, I think their noodles are great and I would make a trip to come back for it again. Their noodles are better than Old Xian from Richmond, where overall food quality has gone down the drain.

Their saliva chicken was also recommended by the worker and I've also seen many people ordering this dish from XHS, so I think I would come back for their noodles and try out the chicken next time.

📍 Location: Here

💵 Price: $5 - $5.95 (hamburger)|| $7.5 - $10.95 🍜

🤤Taste: 4.2 / 5 (hamburger) || 4.7 / 5 🍜

🕯Atmosphere: 2.5 / 5

🪑Seating: 2.5 / 5

📈 Price Performance ratio: 4.9 / 5

Retention Rate: 100% for the 🍜

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕤:

• Burger was loaded with fillings

• Burger was seasoned perfectly

• Burger: used pork belly for the pork filling - super freaking juicy and delicious

• Burger: lamb filling is mildly spicy. Perfect for those who can't take the heat.

• 🍜 their noodles are phenomenal - chewy, smooth, thick and wide!

• 🍜 not oily = not greasy!

• 🍜 First time having a heavy vinegar-based oil seared noodle. I loved it!

• No msg added

• Excellent customer service!!!

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤:

• TBH, I'm not sure how the hamburger bread should be like. The bun resembles a slightly harder pita bread. Is this how it should be. Think I prefer a mantou bread texture instead.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

• Recommended by XHS for their authentic Chinese Burger (Rou Jia Mo) and their noodles. Oh, and their saliva chicken, which I need to come back to try!

• The quality of their Chinese burger is similar to the ones from Old Xi'an and Xi An Cuisine

• The worker was super sweet.

• 🍜 Would come back again for their noodles! It's better than Old Xian's Biang Biang Noodle, as their quality has declined this year.