Crystal Mall Food Court: Family Lunch Time!

Finally, a day where my family doesn't find lunch in the boring Tri-Cities.We met up with my Dad at Crystal Mall for a quick lunch during his lunch break. Since it wasn't quite noon yet, the food court wasn't the busiest I've seen it. Nevertheless, over 90% of the tables were already occupied by people slurping up noodles or shoving rice into their mouths. Most of the customers here are Asian grandparents or adolescence here for good deals, or business men that were brave enough to venture out of the Hilton hotel into a land filled with strange Chinese words and exotic foods. 

Crystal Mall in Burnaby has plenty of great Chinese eats; good because everyone can buy what they are in the mood to eat but bad for those who have a hard time deciding what they want. It would take forever to try and discover all the best dishes, but a foodie must start somewhere, right? So, let us begin! Prepare to see a lot of rice in this post..


Tasty Harmony

Tasty Harmony

On my last visit to the Crystal Mall food court with Peanut Crumpet, the Clumsy One and another friend of ours, I noticed long line ups for this newly opened stall. The cute Chinese font and easy-to-read menu definitely appeals to me. It yells "I'm new and hip!" instead of the run-down stereotypical Chinese food court stalls with menus so large I have to squint to read what's available. Now, not saying that you can't find good food at those places (aka hole-in-the-wall) but a clean appearance is a good way to attract ambivalent customers. As a random note, the English translation is more or less what the Chinese name says.  My Chinese name is also in it, no bias there.. :P

Both my mom and I decided to buy lunch from Tasty Harmony. They serve Hong Kong style cafe foods like chow mein, fried rice, baked rice and spaghetti, milk tea etc. Most meals are around $7. Each meal comes with a choice of soup (they have two available) and a drink. Cold drinks are an extra 50 cents and you can also upgrade to a larger size for an additional cost.

Bitter Melon & Basa with Rice ($6.75)

Cherry Fruit Juice & Icy Bar

The weather is warming up, which means I'm allowed to eat ice cold desserts again! One of my all time favourite cold treats is found at Cherry Fruit Juice & Icy Bar. There are two locations in Greater Vancouver; one is at the Crystal Mall food court in Burnaby and the other is at the Parker Place food court in Richmond. I have been to both and the quality and quantity is exactly the same.

3 Mix Icy ($4.25) and 8 Treasures Icy

On the vast menu, there are mainly pre-matched drink combinations or create-your-own. I usually opt for the later, which are called '3 mix' or '4 mix' drinks. The top two tall cups are both 3 mix drinks. The left includes canned lychee, almond pudding, and blueberries. The right is my usual default of grass jelly, red bean, and one other random item that seems to catch my attention. All icy drinks have shaved ice (just frozen water) and coconut milk. 

Strawberry Chocolate Icebox!

You drooling yet? ;) Just look at that natural pink colour! No chemically formulated colours here, folks!

My intention was to post an Easter recipe, but somehow this turned into another delicious frozen dessert. Well, who's complaining? ;) It's probably because of this beautiful weather I'm experiencing this past few days here in Vancouver.

Warning, your eyes may experience some extreme widening and you
may will feel the urge to get into your kitchen and make this chocolatey strawberryness ;)

If you like strawberries dipped in chocolate, you're definitely at the right place. And don't get intimidated by its gorgeousness; this is one of the recipes that requires little hands-on time, but a longer waiting time (which is definitely the hardest part!) :D

In fact, you make lose some of the love for chocolate-dipped strawberries, as now you can have something that tastes better, and is wayyyy healthier for you than the 50 grams of sugar you get from the chocolate fountain. Oh, and did I mention it's vegan also so no animals are suffering on your behalf? ;)

Strawberry Chocolate Icebox - makes one 11× 5.5 × 3 inch loaf pan