Pier 73

Michael turned another year older recently and of course we struggled to decide where to go eat. I would say it took us the whole good evening to figure out where the guy wanted to spent his birthday.

We decided to go to Pier 73 located at 3500 Cessna Drive, the website says its located in Vancouver which is really confusing because it is located at the Delta Airport Hotel in Richmond.

I have been to Pier 73 once with my mom but never returned and it was Michael's first time, I honestly don't know why we never thought about coming to the place. Pier 73 is located near the Vancouver International Airport, right by the Fraser River on the edge of Richmond. We can see the boats floating around and it was nice to have a view during the night. The restaurant is quite big and it felt like being in a dome when we were inside because of its high ceilings. 

I would say Pier 73's atmosphere  is a combination of bar and lounge. Like family fun meets raging hockey fans. Of course it serves the standard hot wings, nachos, and various other bar appetizers but it has some upscale meals as well.

Three Cheese Crab Dip 

One appetizer caught Michaels attention was the Three Cheese Crab Dip ($12). It was crab meat, roasted artichokes, basil, mozzarella, and cream cheese. Along with nachos and toasted baguette on the side. Surprisingly the dish was actually filled to the brim with crab, we thought it was just going to be swamped with cheese and only tiny bit of crab. But nope we were certainly wrong. There was a strong sweet crab aroma that we knew for sure these ones were the fresh ones. The sweetness of the crab complimented the creaminess of the cheese very well. The nachos and baguette was of course an incredible combination.  I loved the crunchiness with the soft gooey crab and cheese.

Although this was an amazing appetizer, Michael and I wished that there the amount of nachos and baguette was enough ratio for the crab dip. We ended up just eating plain nachos. Yum?

Smoked salmon fettuccine 

Moving on to entrees, as I mentioned in a previous post I promised myself I would try and eat more healthy this summer. Of course I had considered the healthy route but Michael convinced me on the pasta. So I thought okay fine, tonight will be my cheat day and tomorrow I will go back to being healthy. Anyways, I ended up getting the smoked salmon fettuccine with a creamy white wine sauce ($18). I must say the white wine sauce was very creamy but its a shame that the flavour was also a bit bland. But since the smoked salmon was rather salty I would think it was a fair enough pairing.

Steak and lobster

Michael on the other hand really enjoyed his meal. He had the prime dish - the steak and lobster. For less than $30, Michael thought the dish was appropriately portioned. The lobster shell was flipped inside out as a dish decoration with the meat still attached, which actually made it a little awkward to eat. Pretty though. The steak itself was cooked medium rare as requested and arrived perfectly cooked.

I really enjoyed going to Pier 73 with Michael, they have a great ambiance and I had a lot of fun dining there with Michael. I would love to go back and try out other delightful goodies on their menu.

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Hanok Korean Restaurant

Oh hello old friends, it surely has been awhile since life had so rudely interrupted us. My latest obsession is Korea. I have become infatuated with a Korean actor and would just absolutely do anything for this Asian Brad Pitt. It's okay everyone Michael knows about this crush of mine.

Since I have this crazy borderline psychotic obsession with this fellow it would make sense to go to a Korean restaurant. I can see Michael's eyes rolling already, but that's alright, he loves Korean food. So lets get started.

I found out of this pleasant Korean paradise through a friend of mine who said nothing but good things about this place, and one hungry night Michael and I thought we'd give it a try. Hanok is located on Alexandra Road in Richmond in a little strip mall with various other restaurants.

It's actually a really big and spacious restaurant with perhaps about 30 tables or so, the decor was the old historic Korea, quite cute and quaint I would say. When we arrived the place seemed to be really quiet, there were only about six parties  in the restaurant in such a big place.

Appetizers

Of course I had a hard time deciding and choosing what I wanted to get, but I promised myself I would eat healthier this summer.  I was feeling something with a broth, soupy type of meal but I also didn't want to leave the restaurant feeling really full. I decided to get the buckwheat noodles with radish kimchi and boiled egg ($9.99). I figured it would be a healthier alternative to the regular noodles or rice.

Cold buckwheat noodles

When it arrived there was an unexpected coldness to this dish. I then looked back on the menu and it said "cold buckwheat noodles" and of course I missed the word cold. But I still liked the texture of the noodles, it had a nice chewy consistency and the pickled radish gave it a nice crunch on the side. My only problem was that the dish overall was rather sour and I don't think I enjoyed that taste. I know that it is a pickled dish but I didn't think it was pickled everywhere.

I wish I had given the soup a little more of a chance but because it was such a big cold dish, I felt it left a bad taste in my mouth. As for the egg, I was hoping it would have been a running yolk because I feel the yolk's creaminess could have tamed the sourness, but unfortunately it was just a regular old fashioned hard boiled egg.

Soft tofu soup with seafood

Michael had the soft tofu soup with seafood ($9.99). The dish arrived very hot in its stone bowl. Michael was a little disappointed to find out they didn't use clams in the shell for the soup like the picture in the menu showed. There was a good mix of squid, octopus, mussels and other seafood in the bowl and it was definitely cheap, filling and tasty. Can't really go too wrong after meeting those three points.

I think the restaurant was somewhere fun to go with Michael but since I ordered a so-so dish I am keen on returning to try other dishes on their menu. But since I am trying to eat more healthier a taste isn't suppose to be eating tasty and delicious food anyway. So for a gal watching her hemline it was a pretty good meal.


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Diplomat Bakery

Hello foodie brothers and sisters! It was a lovely Saturday afternoon and why not spend it eating cake! Michael and I grew up in Richmond and we both know there are many Chinese bakeries in Richmond, but we feel that there aren't a lot of Western bakeries around to get a good carrot cake when we want one. Don't get us wrong, we love our pineapple buns as much as the next person but wheres a good a good a red velvet when you need one?

Last year a gal pal had mentioned to me Diplomat Bakery located at 6111 London Rd., It is along the Richmond dyke area by the London Heritage Farm. I feel it is always so hard to come to this bakery because they open for only limited hours during the day. So we better rush our day in order to make it to the place for a slice of cake. I just only wish they opened late at night like all the dessert places, it boils my blood just the thought they close during the day.

But their baked goods is all worth it when you get to taste the little sweet devils. I went for there for the very first time last summer and got a red velvet cupcake and it tasted divine! My favourite part was the cream cheese frosting on top. Yum! Now whenever I go I never know what to get because everything look so delicious.

Tiramisu

This time I had a sweet tooth for something really chocolatey. The cakes are not expensive at all. It's around $4 a slice, and cakes varies in prices by what kind of cake it is. Michael right off the bat knew what he wanted to get and I was just so indecisive! everything looked so good, I didn't know what to get. Since I was being such a complex person, let's start with Michael, he got the Tiramisu and he thought everything came together  very well but the cake was a bit too small. He also thought it took some time to order since Diplomat seemed like they could use more staff, judging from how busy it was.

Chocolate mousse cake

I finally made an executive decision and got the triple chocolate mousse cake. I know it sounds really sweet but surprisingly it was far from super sweet.  I actually thought I may regret this one, but I wasn't disappointed. It was a light mousse cake with different layers of dark, milk, and white chocolate. The cream chocolate glaze exterior was spectacular it was creamy and chocolatey and went well in the creamy mousse interior. There was a hint of chocolate sponge layer but I didn't mind it all because the mousse was just so good.

I love having a good cup of black coffee when I enjoy my desserts, so of course Michael and I got to enjoy our coffees to balance out the sweet cakes. It went down so smoothly. Coffee and chocolate, can there be any better combination?

Diplomat Bakery has been well recognized for their sweet treats but our problem with this little bakery is that we thought they weren't that service savvy. There was a long line up so it would have been nice to have more staff working or faster working staff.


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