Dinner and BBT

Above Image from chowtimes.com

Tonite, I met up with Vince and Meryl in Richmond for dinner cos I wanted to try out a new place called Dinesty. It is a new Taiwanese restaurant and I have heard great reviews about this place. We were to meet at 545 but of course, those 2 were running 20 minutes late and I grabbed a table as soon as I got there cos it was getting busy which meant I ended up waiting 30 minutes for them. I was feeling really bad after 20 minutes so I decided to order steamed pork dumplings and a chinese green onion pancake to start cos I was starving. Finally the two arrived and I had already went through the menu and the two items I had to order were chicken with basil in 3 spice sauce (cos this is my fave dish at Vogue) and stewed pork in brown sauce with tofu and eggs (this is my fave dish that HonHon makes for me!). There were so many menu items, we couldn't decide what else to order but Vince decided to order another entree to try (shredded pork with hoisin sauce and pancakes, altho it seemed more like crepes - a good choice and one I was eyeing on) and we ordered a few more snack/side dishes to share. OMG, there was a lot of food but we wanted to try a bit of everything! If Jas wasn't feeling so sick and we had the extra person, there wouldn't have been so many leftovers cos what we ordered would have been perfect for 4 adults. Oh well, it's ok cos we could take the leftovers home for lunch the next day. I didn't really want to take anything BUT the stewed pork in brown sauce with tofu and egg altho there were no eggs left! Gosh, we were so stuffed but it was all so yummy! Except for the stir fried prawns with green onions and carrots - that was a bit plain and boring plus I could have done a much better job at home with those prawns! But overall, it was pretty darn good :) Def a fave place to eat and I agree with V & M, some of the dishes are very similar to Northern Dynasty (also located in Richmond). Next week, we are going to go for Malaysian! cos one of their fave little Malaysian restaurant is closing it's doors! I love that both of them really enjoy food and trying new places! Which is why I thought to text them about trying out a this new restaurant and of course, both would never turn down a meal :) After a very stuffed meal, we decided to finish the night off (still staying with the Taiwanese theme) with BBT at Pearl Castle Cafe as it is known for being one of the best BBT places. I ordered a hot coconut bubble tea and I figured the "bubble" meant it came with pears cos at 5.50 it better be included, to my surprise it did not come with pearls and to add pearls (or the other stuff) it costs an extra $0.50!! Whadaelle?? I asked our waitress what "bubble" meant than if it didn't mean pearls (cos most places serve "bubble tea" as tea with pearls altho on most menus, tea drinks aren't listed as bubble tea) and she said it means bubbles in the drink cos they shake it up before serving creating air pockets which technically are bubbles.....???? Wow, I guess I learned a thing or two about bubble tea! The place was quite busy and it was def a full house with a crowd lining out the door but I wouldn't come here again unless someone (like Vince or Meryl) wanted to come here for bbt only cos the crowd was much too young (and obnoxious) and the drink cost are highway robbery! But it was a nice night of trying out new food and catching up. Meryl wasn't feeling well so we called it an early nite so she could get some rest. This weekend is suppose to be a splendid weekend with sunshine and warm temperatures, we are going to get together on Sunday and get on our bikes to hit some trails! Will be fun! Check out photos of our dishes on my flickr account!