Parklane Chinese Restaurant 百樂潮州酒家: Set Dinner for Six

We had such a great first experience at Parklane Chinese Restaurant, we made a reservation for a Sunday night to celebrate Thanksgiving and my grandmother's birthday here. 

Upon arrival, we were seated promptly at one of the large circular tables in one of the room sections of the restaurant. Being adjacent to the large windows, the natural lighting was plentiful and pleasant, at least while it lasted. The white tablecloths are clean and the settings are organized. It's one of the more upscale types of Chinese restaurants, the types that provide you with those addicting salted roasted peanuts at the table. I kinda ate them all...

Like our last visit, we chose to order from the selection of set menus. Please refer to my first post for a photo of the set menu with prices. This time, we got the Set Menu Dinner for Six Person (A). Many of the items are the same as the Set Menu Dinner for Four (A) that we tried last time. So again, my first post will have photos and thoughts of those dishes. Today, I will just go over the items that are unique to the six person menus.

Chiu Chow Marinated Platter

To begin, the appetizer plate consists of a selection of marinated items. Moving clockwise from the top we have tofu, intestine, cuttlefish (squid), pork belly, and then duck wings in the centre. I didn't try everything but from what I did try, the tofu is my favourite. It's super smooth and soaks up all the savoury marinade. Just so you are aware, everything except for the squid is marinated in the same sauce. Or at least it tasted the same to me. The cuttlefish was rather bland and way to chewy for my liking, and I really like chewy foods. I ended up dunking it into the vinegar that accompanies the marinated food. My parents managed to trick my brother into eating the intestine, saying that it was 'sausage'. -evil sibling grin- Hey, he said it tasted good. I'll pass.

The downside to this platter is that the tofu and duck wings are part of two dishes on the set menu. It is exactly the same as the marinated duck; then again, there is an option to choose chicken instead of duck. Overall, I wasn't impressed with this appetizer platter.  

I don't have a photo for the Pepper Pig Stomach & Salted Vegetable Soup, but I can definitely tell you about it. This is a broth-y soup that has an extremely heavy white pepper flavour. (That's good, if you enjoy ground pepper like me.) It's very warming to the body so it'd be wonderful on colder days. I let my grandpa enjoy the pig stomach; apparently it's not commonly found in restaurants anymore, making it a real 'treat' for the adults. This pepper-y soup was a great way to begin the meal. If the words 'pig stomach' deter you from trying this soup, the alternate soup choice is the more thick, goopey-type-soup Chicken & Fish Maw one, which I reviewed in the first post. Both soups are very different from each other and have their own good aspects and components. However, if I was forced into choosing one, I'd pick fish stomach over pig stomach, haha! 

(Front) BBQ Ribs with Plum Sauce & (Back) Stir Fried Gai Lan with Dried Sole and Fish Filet

In the six person menu, BBQ Ribs with Plum Sauce replace the Honey Garlic Pork Ribs. These barbequed ribs are of a much larger cut than their honey garlic relative. Although fried just as crispy and smothered in the perfect ratio of sauce, I prefer the honey garlic ribs. I couldn't really taste the plum in the sauce and the meat was not as tender and fall-off-the-bone as I remember the honey garlic ribs to be. I must've picked the 'bad' pieces because almost every piece I ate were very fatty. For easier-to-eat and a more umami flavour, go for the honey garlic ribs. Even as a person who tries to avoid meat and doesn't really favour pork, I could chow down piece after piece of those.

The veggie dish of the set menu is gai lan with fish! This was simply seasoned and helped to clear the palate between eating all the heavy and greasy dishes. (It's kind of impossible to avoid fat in Chinese cuisine as everything is either stir-fried or deep-fried or just laden to fat for flavour.) The fish filets were very moist and flaky, delicious! I have no complaints about this dish, except that the serving could be just a tad but more generous because I inhale vegetables like I breathe air. 

The oyster omelette, fried rice with olive leaves, marinaded duck, and dessert were all the same as last time. In addition, the quality and execution of the items were on par in comparison to my last visit a month before. There are items in the six person menu that weren't really worth eating, such as the appetizer platter and plum sauce ribs, so I think ordering a four person menu and adding a few more dishes from their regular menu would be a better deal. Oh, we were not given the tiny teacups of bitter tea at the end of our meal, not that we remembered at the end because we were so stuffed. My mom said she doesn't think any of the other tables received it either, so I'm not sure if it is just an occasional extra thing they give. The tea is supposed to help with the digestion of all the fatty food just eaten.

Both my grandparents were extremely satisfied with the night's dinner. My grandpa is a considerably picky eater, and one without much teeth, so that says quite a bit. My grandma shocked us all by saying that we should come back again the next Saturday. Being so full with all this delicious Chiu Chow food, I wasn't too sure if that was the greatest idea. Having said that, I can confidently say that it is totally worth the drive to Richmond to experience Chiu Chow cuisine at Parklane. Be sure to get the oyster omelette!

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Parklane Chinese Restaurant 百樂潮州酒家: Chiu Chow Cuisine!

In celebration of my parents' wedding anniversary, we went out for dinner! Being the unadventurous people, they originally planned to just go to a local restaurant. But that kind of defeated the purpose of celebrating with something 'special', so slowly we brainstormed a little farther, and then a little more farther until we finally decided to ditch the idea of eating in the Tri-Cities and drove all the way to Richmond.

Our friends had recommended this new restaurant to us; they are chiu chow people themselves. Parklane Chinese Restaurant is located in the London Drugs plaza, and there is plenty of undercover parking. It is in the store spot where Empire Seafood Restaurant (帝苑皇宴海鮮酒家) once occupied, however that restaurant has moved across the plaza. I have visited Empire for a dinner a few years ago when it re-opened and it's pretty good! The interior is very bright and clean. Seeing that Parklane serves Chiu Chow cuisine, I was pretty excited to eat Chinese food that wasn't Cantonese or Northern.

Set Dinner Menus at Parklane Chinese Restaurant

Even without a reservation, we were seated immediately on a Friday night. There were several other tables of customers dotted around the L-shaped restaurant but it didn't really get busy and full until we were leaving at around 7pm. Once seated, we were given menus, condiments, and roasted peanuts to snack on. My parents were quick to make their decision and we ordered Set Dinner for Four Person (A); they said set menus are always a safe bet because not only does it usually include their signature items but many people order it on a daily basis, meaning fresh food and experienced chefs.

Golden Lake Seafood Restaurant 湖濱海鮮酒家

Golden Lake Seafood Restaurant 湖濱海鮮酒家

On our way home from Whistler, my dad wanted to have some dimsum for lunch. A four day fast from Chinese food is too much for him, haha! Family friends have mentioned Golden Lake Seafood Restaurant and it required no detours to get to, so we gave it a try.

The larger seating section of the restaurant

By the way, if I remember correctly, all orders placed before 11am get 20 or 30 percent off the final check. We juuuuuust missed it...:(

Sneak Peak of Menu

The menu is quite vast compared to our local dimsum restaurant. But since it's a 'fancier' dimsum restaurant, items are categorized into small, medium, large, and specialty prices. And most of the time, there are barely any small items. So expect to pay at least $4 per item. There are larger dishes like noodles and fried rice on the backside.

Dimsum at Golden Lake Seafood Restaurant

1 -Eggplant stuffed with shrimp paste ($4.50)

The eggplant pieces were fairly large and served very hot. Pretty good. The black bean sauce was slightly on the bland side though.

2 - Beef rice roll ($4.50)
Standard rice roll. The beef is the same as the beef balls; not 100% beef but mixed with fish paste.

3 - Chicken and Chinese sausage rice casserole & Beef short rib rice casserole ($5.95 each)
Rice is not cooked in the hotpot so no crispy rice at the bottom :( There are more bones than meat in both casseroles. Not the best we've had. Only good aspects were that there was a lot of rice and I liked eating the broccoli.

4 - Chiu Chow dumplings ($3.95) (they spell 'Chiu Chow' really funny on the menu but I don't remember what it was...)
One of my favourite dishes to have, and not every restaurant serves it. Plus, it's usually cheaper because it's a 'medium' item. :D Golden Lake's has a good amount of peanuts (yay!) and radish. The skin was slightly dry on the outside since it was pretty thick. Other than the skin, the filling was good. The best I've had was at Po King in Burnaby, but it's closed now *teartear*

5 - Beef ball ($3.95)
Pretty large, tastes very standard. Not too 'fish-pastey', which is good.

6 - Beef tendon ($4.50)
Cooked until very soft and the sauce has a good level of spiciness. There are a lot of large pieces that are good to eat. Just a little oily like all beef tendon dimsum out there.

All the dishes we tried were very standard. Not special or different enough to be worth the higher dimsum price. There is also a charge for tea per person ($0.80 per head). Charging higher prices just for gold-fabric-covered chairs ain't gonna cut it at a Chinese restaurant. There is very limited parking so be prepared to try and find some street parking around the area. We were lucky enough to nab a spot right as we arrived. Inside the restaurant is pretty small, so expect to wait for a table during peak hours. Overall, our experience wasn't disappointing, but not amazing enough to have a reason to purposely come back. 


 
Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Tung Sing Chin 東昇村海鮮酒家

Needing to find dinner somewhere on the way back from Downtown, we met with my dad at Tung Sing Chin on Hastings street. Both friends and relatives have raved about the good prices and portions at this restaurant, so we decided to see for ourselves.

When we arrived at around 6pm, there were not very many people in the restaurant, but I didn't expect there to be because it was a random Monday night. The lack of customers usually makes me wonder if business is always this dim, but since I've seen the long line ups for dimsum before, it didn't bother me much. I believe many people that visit this restaurant are 'usuals'; waiters greeting them and chatting about random things with them, already knowing what food they want etc.

Tonight our eyes were slightly larger than our stomachs, so we ordered a three dish set meal, despite my aunt telling us that a two dish set meal can feed four people. That's because all set meals come with a 'free' extra dish of either lobster, crab, or chicken. So our three dish meal became a four dish meal. 

After ordering, we were served a complimentary soup. All set meals come with soup. I didn't snap a photo of the soup, but it was a lotus root duck broth. It was okay, flavourful without the overuse of MSG. (I'm sure there is some in there....)
 

Lobster in a Butter Cream Sauce

Since I was craving lobster, my parents allowed me to pick lobster as our 'free' dish. We chose to have it cooked in a butter cream sauce. Usually people will pay a few extra dollars to have noodles added to the base that will soak up all the rich sauce. But since we already ordered more than enough, we skipped doing so. This dish was pretty good; there were enough large chunks of meat to share amongst the three family members that actually eats seafood. The sauce is a bit heavy, but that's expected from cream and butter. The raw shredded lettuce helps balance that. Although the lobster was tasty, my mom says the 'free' chicken probably would've tasted better and been a better value.