Royal Seafood Restaurant

           One day, we met up with some relatives for dim sum at Royal Seafood Restaurant in Richmond. This is a newer restaurant located in a strip mall. You can't miss the large sign. The location is in a residential area if I recall correctly, but don't quote me on that. The mall has plenty of parking, although the restaurant is on the second floor. You can either go up a grand stairway which looks as it it would be used for wedding pictures, or take a shady looking elevator up the side. Your choice. The dining space itself is not large, but you have a fantastic view of the parking lot and some (albeit not a lot) elbow room. The prices are normal, in line with most other places, and the portion sizes are average though. However, it may be a pain to order as most of the menu is in Chinese. 

           The first steamer we got after placing our order was the Haw Gow at what I think was $5.50. These were above average, with a bit of sesame oil with the shrimp which tasted fresh. The only downside was that the wrapper was a bit think and that made it hard to remove from the steamer. However, it still ends up with a 3.5/5 rating. The next steamer were these things, which I don't remember very much about. My mom said it has something to do with beans, and some kind of mushrooms but these were not memorable and I wouldn't order these again if I

had the choice. Mostly because I didn't enjoy the mushy texture and the odd taste. I would give it a 2/5. 

           The next dish was some offal, more specifically, the Beef Offal. I enjoyed these, as they had a bit of crunch to it, and had enough flavour to make it self sufficient. It was salty, crunchy, moist, and there was a surprising amount on the plate. However, one thing that I did not enjoy very much was the puddle of grease at the bottom, and while the offal on the top had no issue with it, the stuff on the bottom was coated in grease. Still a 4/5 though. This was followed up with the shrimp spring rolls, which did not have a grease problem. They were very crispy, and the shrimp inside was moist and juicy too. This made for a good bite when combined with the gingery sauce that is served with the plate on the side. The sauce wasn't needed though, as the shrimp had a nice flavor by itself. However, it these sat around too long, they would soften, although that is a problem with everything. In the end, it still gets a 4/5.

          Next up was the Plain Rice Noodle Rolls, with their sauce poured on top of them. They were decent as well, and while not good enough to blow me away, there was nothing wrong, which is why they get a 3/5. Their description was very accurate: plain, and the sauce was the only flavoring agent. We also had the beef balls, but I didn't try them but still took the picture, which is why there is a picture but I have no idea what they were like. Everyone else at the table seemed to like it though. One of the last few dishes

we had were the Eggplants Stuffed with Fish Paste. These had a good salty flavor with a nice texture. I think these had a nice texture, being soft but not mushy, while the fish paste was firm, although the flavors did have an MSG taste.They get a 3/5 as well.

          Moving onto the final dish of the day, which were the Sticky Rice in Lotus Wrap, or Lo Mai Gai, which was a filler item. These were decent where the rice was cooked properly, and everything inside was cooked well too. They were not overly large or little and there was enough filling. Nothing was amazing, but it was acceptable. I would give it the average 3/5.

Bottom Line: Average Dim Sum
Overall: 3/5

Tim Hortons (YVR U.S Departures)

           We all know what airport food is like. Expensive and probably not so great, but that was what my family had to settle for when we had a flight at 9 am to the Hawaiian Islands. Alas, sacrifices would have to be made, which meant some probably not so good food for breakfast. We noticed that there was a Tim Hortons at reasonable prices. I actually sort of like Tim Hortons, so this was pretty good for me. Located beside a couple of more expensive places, it was very popular. Or maybe this was the only decent place. The first thing we noticed was that the pastries case were in the back, and the selection was a lot smaller. However, there is no way to know if they are good unless you try it!

          

 I already had a tiny breakfast, so I just opted to go with a donut so I could see if they were the same as he locations not in the airport. I got the Honey Dip, which was pretty on par with the ones I have had outside of the airport. Heck, it was better, being nice and soft. However, it still has that dense texture associated the donuts. At least it wasn't too sweet or  not sweet, along with a nice airy texture when you first bite into the donut. It was like eating cotton candy for a second. I would give this donut a pretty decent 3.5/5. While it wasn't great, it was better than other Tim Hortons. Unfortunately, I only got 2 pictures as everyone was very hungry, because they didn't eat breakfast. I only got 2 pictures too,and the other one was the hash brown. I didn't like this hash brown because it was about as hard as Dwayne Johnson. Pun Intended. As least it was edible, so it wasn't too hard, but it was indeed pretty hard. Remember kids, hard and crispy are two different things. Wait, I'm a kid! Too bad the large amount was not successful in softening the Hash brown. Overall, it was a pretty disappointing 1.5/5. By the way, one of the reasons that I got a donut was to compare it with the famous Leonard's Bakery on Oahu. Keep an eye out for some Hawaii posts coming your way.

Bottom Line: Decent airport eats.

Tip: Come here if you are hungry.

Overall: 2.5/5 based on what I tried.

3880 Grant McConachie Way, Richmond, B.C, Canada