All entries in the 'Travel' Category
Jade Garden in Shanghai
Jade Garden is part of a chain of restaurants owned by the Maxims Group. Other establishments in the group include Sichuan Garden, Shanghai Garden, Chiu Chow Garden, and Peking Garden. Jade Garden is a popular Shanghai eatery that offers signature local dishes as well as Hong Kong style dim sum in a classy and refined setting. The place was decorated with high ceilings, translucent unadorned glass, marble floors and subtle lighting. It was a memorable experience because of the great service and graceful atmosphere. I always wanted to try their signature Steamed Reeves Shad (Yangtze River Herring) and Jardin de Jade Jasmin Tea Smoked Duck.
We started off our dinner with a couple of dim sum dishes - Spring Rolls with Pork and Deep Fried Turnip Pastries. The spring rolls had an unique texture that I have not experience before. After a close examination, I noticed that unique texture came from the ingredients cut into strands and assembly length wise inside the spring roll. Every bite of the spring roll has a very evenly distributed amount of filling.
This was my second time having deep fried turnip pastries; I loved the crispy and flaky texture of the pastry coupled with very flavorful shredded turnip inside.
Yang’s Fry-Dumpling in Shanghai
Yang’s is very well documented restaurant. I always pay them a visit because I can not resist their mouth watering shengjian mantou. This is the most famous fry-dumpling stall in Shanghai and has been in business for fourteen years. They have two stalls on Wujiang Lu no more than twenty steps from each other. There is always a queue of impatient patrons waiting for their shengjian mantou.
September 18, 2009 | Danny | Comments 6Rui Fu Yuan Restaurant in Shanghai
Greetings from Shanghai! I’m having my first dinner at Rui Fu Yuan Restaurant. This was not my first time eating here. I tried this restaurant in early 2008 and really liked it. Business must be very good because I’m eating at the new branch just two blocks from the original location. I was able to try the original location on my first trip. There are only two locations. There are two things to take note:
- If you don’t read and speak Mandarin then don’t bother coming to this place
- Make sure you have a reservation
Rui Fu Yuan is known for their authentic Shanghainese food among the locals.
Our first dish, Jellyfish Appetizer. The dish was served at room temperature containing jellyfish heads, black vinegar, sesame oil and parsley. It was lightly salted with a defined black vinegar taste. The jellyfish had a sharp and crisp texture. Jellyfish heads sounds weird, but its a Shanghai delicacy. I liked it.
September 8, 2009 | Danny | Comments 0Cheesecake Factory in Portland
We left Vancouver at 6 am on our guys road trip heading to Portland. This was my first trip to Portland, luckily there was only a ten minute wait at the border crossing. In total, the drive from Vancouver to Portland was about 6 hours. When we arrived, we checked in to the hotel and dropped off our bags and headed to the Woodburn Company Stores to do some outlet shopping. After a long day, we were hungry and the guys recommended going to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I didn’t mind going because I haven’t dined there before. Besides, they are only available in the USA.
Higgins in Portland
I traveled with a group of friends to Portland for a golfing and shopping trip during the July 4th weekend. On the second day, we golfed at Heron Lakes Golf Club in the afternoon. Heron Lakes Golf Club was rated four stars by Golf Digest. The golf club has two courses, but we golfed on the Great Blue Course. This course is a favorite challenge among low handicap golfers. The 6,902 yard course’s fairways ramble between Scottish-style mounds and pose a collection of excellent risk/reward riddles. It was a beautiful afternoon for a round of golf.
After golfing, we returned to the hotel to shower and rest. My friends were expecting to have dinner with a friend that is attending school in Portland. We met at the hotel not knowing where to have dinner. We gave her the honor of choosing the restaurant because she a local. Jolene decided on a restaurant called Higgins. She claimed that some of her friends recommended the restaurant, but she had not tried it herself. We didn’t know exactly where it was, so I used Urbanspoon on the iPhone to get the address of the restaurant.
We arrived at the restaurant and the the front of the house sat us in the lower dinning area. They informed us there will be a 15% gratitude charge for a group of three or greater. We had a group of six. At this point, we did not care because we were starving and tired from golf. Next, Jolene mentioned that her intention was to have dinner at the Higgins’ bar, but we stayed cause we are already seated. The restaurant had a mahogany wood decor, open kitchen and big windows utilizing the natural sunlight. The waitress brought the menus and informed us about their specials. We quickly decided and ordered our food.
July 13, 2009 | Danny | Comments 2
