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.

Lotus Seed Paste Stuffed Almond Cookies

Lotus Seed Paste Stuffed Almond Cookies

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! It's the Asian Thanksgiving Day, the day where families come together and celebrate a bountiful harvest. Or the day we eat a lot of mooncakes if that's more significant.

Last year, I brought a traditional mooncake to share with my school friends. Papaya Crumpet brought a Starbucks one (they're flavoured like Starbucks' drinks!) Unfortunately my family didn't buy or receive any mooncakes this year, so I have none to share. As a 'replacement', I created these cookies. They are flavoured like the Chinese almond cookies you find at the store and stuffed with a white lotus seed paste, the same stuff as in the mooncakes. 

Lotus Seed Paste Stuffed Almond Cookies

The process of shaping these little cookies took longer than I thought; the dough was slightly crumbly and I had to really press to make a disk of dough that didn't fall apart. The sealing of the edges was okay though. Since the dough doesn't spread at all in the oven, shape the cookies as you wish them to come out of the oven. My goal was to create a chewy and soft cookie. These are not super chewy but they aren't crispy at all. This cookie dough base is very simple and uses wholesome ingredients. It makes a small batch so be sure to double or even triple if you're looking to make a few dozen!

The faint hint of coconut and almond lets the sweet lotus paste filling take the spotlight. Lotus seed paste reminds me of my childhood, eating the steamed buns for dessert at dimsum. I think this cookie is a clever way participate in some Chinese festivities. The outcome was very good and my friends complimented on how good they tasted. I'm quite satisfied with them myself; be sure to eat them warm for the best taste! Microwaving the cookie for ten or so seconds will do the trick.

Lotus Seed Paste Stuffed Almond Cookies

Lotus Seed Paste Stuffed Almond Cookies

Cookie dough recipe adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie

Yield: 9 two-inch cookies

Ingredients

• ½ cup all purpose flour
• ¼ cup whole wheat flour
• A few grinds of Himalayan pink sea salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp + 1/8 tsp baking soda
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ tsp almond extract
• 2 to 4 tsp milk
• 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• Lotus seed paste (¼ cup will be sufficient; comes in a vacuum-sealed bag, similar to the packaging of red bean paste.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325˚F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
2. In a small mixing bowl, sift together flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar. 
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. Smush dough into a single ball with a rubber spatula or hands.
4. Make somewhat circular disks using approximately one tablespoon portions of dough. Roll about a teaspoon of lotus seed paste into a ball, flatten and place in centre of cookie dough disk. Place another dough disk on top and seal edges. Press a single sliver of sliced almond on top as decoration.
5. Cover and refrigerate unbaked cookies for 30 minutes.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 11 minutes and broil on high for 2 more minutes. Avoid over-baking to keep cookies soft.
7. Enjoy warm (not burning hot!) and store in an airtight container.

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Mitsuwa Marketplace

Before boarding our Seattle-bound flight, we went to fill our bellies up with some authentic Japanese food. Mom intended to go to Souplantation (yet again) but my brother was strongly against it. After a quick Urbanspoon search (or was it Yelp?), I discovered a popular, well-rated Japanese food court located inside a supermarket.

Despite the many Asian communities in Vancouver, we seem to be lacking true Japanese cuisine. I would pinpoint Denman Street as the area, that I know of, with the most Japanese eats. But I think this single food court packs more excitement than all of the Japanese food in Vancouver combined.

The food court is the first thing we encountered once stepping food into the building. There were so many people; all the seating and tables were occupied by Asians (there were some Caucasians too) gobbling down casual Japanese eats. My family immediately became a little bit too excited and ventured off in four different directions. 

Mifune inside Mitsuwa Marketplace

Luckily my dad managed to snag a table, and that's where we all met after ordering our own meals. Dad has been craving katsu for the longest time; he always asks where good katsu can be found. Vancouver doesn't even provide the amount of options that this one food court has. He came back happily with his katsu don, fried pork cutlet on rice. My brother got a bowl of ramen that came with a piece of tonkatsu. Both were around $6 or $7 from Mifune. 

Katsu Don from Mifune

There was an immense amount of rice in this bowl. My dad's usual portion would be a quarter of this; he managed to eat half. He had one minor complaint, and that was that the katsu had lost its crispiness after the egg and onions were added. I don't think this katsu matched up to his memory of the katsu he had in Japan, but it was still okay. I'm not sure why dad didn't purchase from Miyabi-Tei (the stall I purchased from) since their katsu don was cheaper and looked more appealing. 

Ramen & Tonkatsu from Mifune

My brother had no comments on his ramen, he's not much of a foodie. More like the garbage can or black-hole stomach. The ramen looked rather plain, but I can't speak for the flavour as I didn't try any. However his piece of tonkatsu was, and stayed very crispy.

Miyabi-Tei inside Mitsuwa Marketplace

I love unagi, it's my default whenever I go to sushi restaurants. Unfortunately, unagi don is extremely over-priced in Vancouver. There is no way I am paying $13 for a bowl of white rice and a measly small piece of unagi. You can imagine my joy when I saw a bowl of unagi don plus egg cost only $7.50. -angelic voices- According to the constant stream of customers purchasing their lunches from Miyabi-Tei, it is one of the most popular spots in the food court. Their food looked the most appealing, there was a wide selection, and their prices are very reasonable,

Unatama Don from Miyabi-Tei ($7.50)

This bowl of unatama don was not nearly as large as my dad's katsu don, but still at least double what I should be eating for lunch. Emphasis on the should, because I ended up clearing the whole bowl. Oops, sorry diet! Wait..what diet? It's vacation time! There was a fair amount of juicy, thick, smooth eel and the egg was flavoured with a sweet sauce. There was a tad too much sauce which made the rice too wet to pick up with chopsticks. The egg was scrambled perfectly, very fluffy and just how I like it! The little side of edamame and picked daikon was a nice addition. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal and left very full but very content. However, the miso soup had a strange taste to it and I didn't drink it. Although this unagi don was not as amazing as the one from Pioneer Saloon in Honolulu, it was still mighty tasty. If only I could bring a Japanese food stall back home.

Santouka Ramen inside Mitsuwa Marketplace

My mom's lunch was the most expensive, and she thought $12 was just not as much of a steal as the rest of our lunches. She got a bowl of spicy ramen from Santouka Ramen. There is a ramen restaurant in Downtown Vancouver with the exact same name...I'm not 100% if it is the same company though.

Spicy Ramen combo from Santouka Ramen

After waiting in a long line up and retrieving her order, Mom slurped up those ramen noodles and really enjoyed the soup base. She said it was very flavourful from the pork bone and the spiciness added the perfect amount of flavour. The marinated egg was well received too. Even the hungriest person would be super full after eating this; that little bowl on the side is white rice with some seasonings. Mom was much to full of noodles to eat the rice so we packed it to go in my plastic container. This is why I always carry an empty container on all my food trips, it's very useful.




Click below to see the best matcha drink on Earth and some sweets!

The Calm Before the Storm: A Snippet of Coconut Crumpet's Life

The clouds move in and summer moves out. It's the Sunday summer leaves Vancouver, wind, rain, lightening and thunder take its place. Back to living in Raincouver...

Honey Roasted Mission Figs

To contrast that gloomy mess outdoors, I discovered a new favourite treat. I've documented my love of ricotta in pancakes and muffins, and my first box of mission figs. Combine the two in an open-faced sandwich, add a drizzle of honey and there you have it, the most classy breakfast ever. Here are some more detailed instructions:

Ricotta, Honey, and Fig Tartine

To roast figs, place them cut-side up on a baking dish, drizzle with honey, add a few cracks of freshly ground pepper and bake at 400˚F for about 15 minutes. Toast a slice of bread until brown. Spread ricotta cheese over one side, taking care to spread all the way to the edges. Drizzle with honey (or mix the honey in with the ricotta before spreading on bread) and top with roasted figs. Bake at around 400˚F until ricotta cheese is browned (about 15 minutes?). Don't be impatient like me and take it out the second a browning spot of ricotta appears. Good things come to those who wait ;)

Whole Wheat Ricotta Peach Scones

After a hectic morning of teaching Sunday school to the cutest grade ones and twos, and a roll of kimbap for lunch, I kept myself occupied in the afternoon by baking up a batch of scones. Whole wheat ricotta peach scones. It's the first batch of scones I've made at home where cutting the dough into shapes was possible. For some strange reason, whenever I make scones at home (yes, it only happens at home), the dough becomes so runny I am forced to make drop scones instead. They don't taste bad at all, but it's frustrating when everyone else can cut their dough into different shapes and mine always end up being circular mounds. I am not super content with the outcome of the scones; they were a bit too greasy and not sweet at all. I'll do a few tweaks to improve the recipe before I post it. For those that are itching to try these scones themselves, I followed the recipe from Smitten Kitchen but used frozen coconut oil instead of butter, milk instead of heavy cream, and added some meyer lemon zest (makes all the difference). I think an egg wash would really benefit the appearance of these scones and some vanilla or almond extract for an extra flavour boost. The glisten you see on my scones is from a drizzle of honey I added at the end and attempted to caramelize under the broiler.

Before the thunderstorm, and where I do my food photography

So this is how Coconut Crumpet usually spends her weekends, that is when there isn't any homework to be done. We'll be watching the rain fall for the next half a year... Although the chilly season brings bad weather, I am looking forward to eating mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival (it's actually before the Autumn Equinox...) this week and pulling out those large cans of pumpkin puree I've been storing in the basement since Christmas. I have a perfected pumpkin loaf to share with you all. It's one of my faaaaavourites! Time to dig out my rain boots and that black peacoat I'm known to wear all autumn and winter long.

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡ 

Market Broiler

The males in my family are extremely well trained and behaved. They are used to my mom and I going shopping for hours and wait patiently for us with no complaints. Really, that is amazing and I can't even fathom how they manage to do it. Applause please. While we were shopping at the Outlets at Orange, which was across the street from our stay at the Ayres Inn, my dad took a look at Market Broiler's menu and told us he really wanted to go. And dad rarely ever says he really wants to eat something; it would be inconsiderate if we didn't let him go.

There was that one day, one cloudy Sunday in August, when we ventured out to Santa Monica for a day trip. That didn't last long and we were back in Anaheim by mid-afternoon. After some more shopping at the outlets, we had dinner at Market Broiler. "California's favourite fresh seafood restaurant". We'll see if they live up to their claim.

We stepped foot into the restaurant at uhm...about 6pm? And two waitresses greeted us and one led us to a table. It's a pretty spacious restaurant, but only a few tables were occupied. For a Sunday night, there was a sparse crowd. Part bar, part table seating, and part outdoor seating, this location reminds me of The Keg or something. A couple sitting at the bar was sipping on a fishbowl sized margarita or something. It's called 'fishbowl' on the menu, and it ain't joking.

Complimentary bread

We were provided with warm sourdough bread, much like the type the Old Spaghetti Factory feeds us. I appreciate that the bread was warm, but the slabs of butter were past room temperature and became a gooey mess once opened. I just enjoyed my bread plain, and in limited amounts. I have a bad habit of gorging myself with empty complimentary carbs before I realize I have a whole meal to finish.

Southern Fried Catfish ($9.95)

My brother got a Southern plate, with fried catfish hush puppies, coleslaw, and fries. It was a really large portion of everything fried. Ehh...not really my style. We weren't sure what a hush puppies was, and asked our waitress. She got the chef to come out and explain to us, which was really nice. He explained it was essentially fried 'leftover' batter. The catfish (which is also called basa...which is not good for you..) was breaded in a cornmeal batter. I thought it gave a nice flavour to a flavourless fish. My bother didn't really enjoy his meal because the catfish didn't suit his taste buds. It's a matter of opinion; some love it, others don't fancy it. The coleslaw was seasoned with spices which was interesting, but didn't actually add a distinct flavour. For those that usually enjoy catfish, this may be okay. Other than that, I wouldn't specifically recommend this dish.

Fresh Catch of the Day: Snapper ($11.95) - cooked perfectly

The menu at Market Broiler is really vast. There are so many items and specials hidden here and there. I found a fresh catch of the day special which cost only twelve dollars. My dad had originally wanted to eat snapper and lucky for him, that was the special of the day, so we saved a few bucks. Both parents ended up getting the special, just with different sides. My mom chose coleslaw and fries, and my dad chose vegetables and roasted potatoes. When our entrees arrived, my mom's fish was cooked perfectly. It was smooth and melt-in-your-mouth, the perfect texture. This piece of fish was very well enjoyed.

Overcooked snapper :(

Unfortunately for my dad, his fish resembled nothing like my mom's piece, despite being the same fish. It was flaky like overcooked tuna and very disappointing. We're guessing two different cooks prepared each of my parents' fish. My dad sent his back to kitchen and hoped the next piece would be better. The way the staff brings stuff back to the kitchen is a bit odd. Instead of taking the whole plate away, they ask you to place just the item you don't want on a smaller plate and bring that back. I like how they don't waste you're vegetables, but the way our waitress asked my dad to put the fish on another plate was awkward and borderline rude. 

When the 'fixed' order of snapper was served to my dad, it was the complete plate, vegetables and all. The head chef (same one that came to explain the hush puppies) came to apologize and brought my dad a special sauce he made to 'make up' for the poorly executed fish. (The sauce was a garlic-y oil, which my dad thought was a much more suitable pairing for the fish as compared to the tartar sauce.) I was happy to see that the chef came out personally to apologize, it was very professional. The little 'gift' was another part of his good customer service. 

So, after a long wait for his entree, my dad finally got to eat. The texture still wasn't identical to my mom's piece of snapper; I guessed that mom's was actually undercooked by a tad bit, which is how my dad prefers his fish. But it wasn't terrible so my dad didn't bother sending it back again. Lesson of the day: if you're unhappy with a dish, send it back.

Creative Combinations: Coconut Shrimp & Mahi Mahi ($16.95)

I was pretty excited to find a page in the menu where I could build build my own entree. Two mains and two sides. I chose coconut shrimp and miso mahi mahi. The shrimp were large, but as seen by the colour, they were fried for too long. The coating of shredded coconut didn't come close to the flavour of the coconut shrimp I had in Kahuku. The coating at Market Broiler didn't bring any flavour. The dipping sauce for the shrimp, which is the slightly orange-y one, was AMAZING. Pure coconut bliss. It was sweet, tangy, very coconutty, and reminded me of pina colada. It may sound weird, but it works beautifully with the coconut shrimp. When my mom wasn't watching, I ate the sauce on it's own, tee hee~

The mahi mahi fish, hidden under that kale, didn't taste like miso at all. I was rather confused by this. Miso is such a strong, salty, distinct flavour and I could taste none of it. It looked like it was a totally different seasoning, more like cajun spices than miso. The fish was cooked okay; mahi mahi is a sturdy, flaky, white fish. I was just a little disappointed because I was looking forward to the miso part of this entree. -pout-

My sides were disappointing. The vegetables were more mostly-raw-red onion than the good stuff, and the roasted red potatoes tasted more like boiled than roasted. Wheres the crispy skin? Not here. Fail 'roasted' potatoes.

Market Broiler isn't a fantastic-omg-must-try restaurant, it is a chain so... Our experience had it's ups and downs. The service from our waitress was slow, but the head chef (which by the way, is Asian. I find that cool, haha!) is a great business person. Food was mostly mediocre and needs improvement; however the array of options available is wonderful. But I guess the more variety they serve, the higher the chance of ordering a 'mehhh' quality dish. Price is reasonable, but I recommend coming for lunch because the lunch specials are around ten dollars and sound like a better deal. I wouldn't purposely come back to Market Broiler, only if there was no better options at the time. 

Reviews on Yelp



Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Little Next Door

Besides The Griddle Cafe and Cafe Gratitude, I had a few other bucket list restaurants in Los Angeles I just had to eat at. Little Next Door is one of them.

Little Next Door

Little Next Door is a French restaurant, with some of the best food (and macarons!) in Los Angeles. What drew my attention to this restaurant was 1) all the positive reviews, 2) the menu items, 3) the location and setting, and finally 4) the prices. Sounding like an all-around awesome deal? It was!

This little restaurant facing West 3rd Street (a very busy street) is smack in the middle of the hip and trendy city of Mid Wilshire. I just kind of think of it as between Beverly Hills and Hollywood; sounds expensive, no? After a morning of shopping at the Outlets at Orange, we took an hour drive to get to this area. With loudly growling stomachs, we headed to Little Next Door for a very late brunch on a Saturday afternoon. Since it was like 2pm, we were seated immediately. I was very content with our table as it was next to the fence, facing the sidewalk, no direct sunlight, and would give beautiful lighting for photos. So far, Coconut Crumpet was very happy.

Our waitress spoke bits and pieces of French to us, greeting us with a warming 'bonjour!', calling us 'madame et monsieur', and thanking us in French too. It created this unique environment in which my family has never been in before. She was very attentive and came back frequently to refill our water, bring us more bread, or just ask how we were doing.

Complimentary bread and balsamic olive oil

We quickly ordered and another waiter brought us some complimentary bread. My family of four devoured two bowls of bread, happily dipping it in the luxurious spiced balsamic olive oil. The oil had fennel seeds and a multitude of other spices and herbs, very fragrant and a pleasure to eat, especially when you're almost dying of starvation. (We had breakfast at 7am..and brunch at 2pm..) The baguette had a crunchy shell and an extremely pillow-y interior, also served warm. Love.

Quiche Lorraine ($9)

Matoi Sushi

Time for a GLO, Girls Lunch Out, with my two childhood friends. A get together before the meteoroids of school rain down on us. Our original plan was to get some Korean-style chicken and ddukbokki at Vesta Grill, but arrived to find it wasn't open on Sunday afternoons. So after sitting in a hot car for a few minutes trying to come up with new ideas, we decided to try Matoi Sushi.

It was almost 1:30pm when we step foot into this Japanese restaurant. I was surprised to find all the tables completely filled, didn't know Matoi was that popular around here! That is a good indication for either a) good food, b) good deals, or c) all of the above. A square table would've been more convenient for us girls to told a conversation, but sitting at the bar was a fun experience. We had some pretty good laughs from chefs overhearing our questions and comments. They gave us spoons when my friend refused to drink her miso soup without one, and corrected us when we were guessing what the 'special of the day' was in our bento boxes.

Specials at Matoi Sushi

We were provided with several menus, tea, and cutlery. The regular menu can be viewed online; there are also two special menus. The one titled 'Today's Special' are more appetizer or izakaya sized and the 'Lunch Specials' come with rice and sides. On a side note, the green tea Matoi Sushi serves has a stronger flavour and I quite enjoyed that. We were asked to place our orders not long after we were given menus because the kitchen was taking it's last lunch orders. The restaurant closes for a few hours in preparation of dinner.

Although I didn't keep track of the exact amount of time for our food to arrive, it felt like a slightly lengthier period of time. We were chatting a lot, but were also very hungry. Nevertheless, when the food arrived, we were blown away at the portions.

Udon Combo A ($7.99)

My best friend was going to 'be a rebel' and ordered Udon Combo A, which was a simple bowl of udon and seaweed with half a California roll. She happily slurped up her udon noodles and was so full afterwards. If I wasn't so full, I would've finished off her kelp. 

Bento Box A ($8.50) Top: with beef teriyaki, Bottom: with chicken teriyaki

The rest of us ordered the Bento Box A, with a choice of either chicken or beef teriyaki, plenty of tempura, a 'special of the day', salad, California roll, and some orange. Oh my. I had the box with the chicken teriyaki. The waitress also came by to ask if we wanted a bowl of rice to go with our box. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs at that point so we both said yes. I actually finished the whole bowl of rice (whoaa....) but she didn't. I guess that's why they ask first before giving it to you; it's a lot of food. We should've just shared one box. The chicken teriyaki was okay, I gladly cleared it off with my plain rice. The tempura was very crispy and I liked the assortment of vegetables; yay for kabocha tempura! The salad was dressed with an interesting creamy sauce; it's nice to have something refreshing to clear the palate. The 'special of the day', seen in the top right corner, was a salmon meatball drizzled with Japanese mayonnaise. It wasn't bad, but wasn't outstanding. We were too full to full enjoy it by then. I ate one or two pieces of my California roll and had to pack the rest home for my brother to eat. It was a standard California roll, could use more avocado ;)

Pocky sticks come with the bill!

We were some of the last customers to leave the restaurant. Our waitress came back before we were finished our meals to inform us the cashier was closing and we could still sit and eat after paying our bill. A small package of chocolate Pocky sticks comes with the bill, but only one package per table. Not a problem since we hadn't any room left in our stomachs anyways. It's a nice touch~

The service is friendly and still exists, meaning they will come refill tea without being asked to. Our waitress also split the bill for the three of us. I'm not sure if Matoi Sushi is Japanese run or Korean run, because the (main?) sushi chef at the bar spoke Japanese to some employees and Korean to others. It's quite neat actually! I had a great first experience at Matoi Sushi and will be sure to come back again in the future. It's nice to have more choices for sushi other than Sushi Town and  Sushi California.



Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡