Dinesty Dumpling House Burnaby

Nice bright and open space at the newest Dinesty Dumpling House near Metrotown. They've jammed as many tables as they could into it without compromising too much on spacing. The result is you could have some substandard spaces like being right next to the server station, the entrance, or the bathroom.
Still, decor is nice even if the privacy isn't quite there all the time -- tables near the walls are quite close together.

The Xiao Long Bao here come in steamers of 8, and each bao is about the size of a ping pong ball.

Luffa and Shrimp Xiao Long Bao ($7.95 for 8)

Where's my shrimp?
More importantly, where's my soup?

Steamed Shrimp, Scallop & Pork Soup Dumplings ($7.95)

Delicious soup.
Filling tasted fatty but otherwise quite tasty.
Where's my shrimp and scallop?

Deep Fried Chicken Rolls with Asparagus and Ham ($9.95)

Asparagus is token -- one piece slightly bigger than the eraser at the end of your pencil.
Meaty portion! It's like a quarter (or more) of chicken, without the inconvenience of bones. Price for portion is really decent for this item.
Deep fried but not hot inside. Chicken may have been cooked separately and prepped for deep frying.
Couldn't taste anything except chicken, especially once you slather on the provided mayo. I recommend you skip the mayo.

Fried Bun with Condensed Milk ($2.95)

Just enough condensed milk. If you like more, then maybe ask for more up front.
Bun was pleasantly fluffy on the inside. But otherwise nothing too special here. Use lots of the condensed milk.

For a posh looking place with cute servers wearing wires like Cactus Club managers, service was disappointingly mediocre -- more like a cheap Chinese restaurant place. Though we were next to the server station and the teapots, topping up tea was very spotty even though the restaurant wasn't half full yet.
In-restaurant menus are all colour-pictures, which is really helpful. But the pricing on their Xiao Long Bao was $1 more than the online menu.
Don't try to confuse them by asking for a particular menu item to be delayed because they might totally forget it (they did that to us). Food apparently comes when the kitchen preps it. (This is what some non-Chinese restaurants are calling "family style" nowadays.)

TIP: There is a Wednesday special! And their Richmond location has weekday specials as well.

TIP: Remember to get your XLB card stamped at the time you pay. 10 steamers and you get 1 free.

2016-Jan-22 Dinesty Dumpling House Burnaby - steamer of XLB

2016-Jan-22 Dinesty Dumpling House Burnaby - luffa and shrimp XLB (closeup)

2016-Jan-22 Dinesty Dumpling House Burnaby - filling and soup of Steamed Pork Soup Dumpling

2016-Jan-22 Dinesty Dumpling House Burnaby - deep fried chicken rolls with asparagus and ham

2016-Jan-22 Dinesty Dumpling House Burnaby - deep fried chicken rolls with asparagus and ham (closeup)

2016-Jan-22 Dinesty Dumpling House Burnaby - fried bun with condensed milk

2016-Jan-22 Dinesty Dumpling House Burnaby - fried bun with condensed milk - fluffy bread detail

2016-Jan-22 Dinesty Dumpling House Burnaby - a few of the many pots

2016-Jan-22 Dinesty Dumpling House Burnaby - mirrored ceiling

2016-Jan-22 Dinesty Dumpling House Burnaby - round table

2016-Jan-22 Dinesty Dumpling House Burnaby - cutlery

2016-Jan-22 Dinesty Dumpling House Burnaby - chicken on toast

2016-Jan-22 Dinesty Dumpling House Burnaby - ornamental tree at server station

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 3

A picture from my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. I can't remember why I had this couple in the picture, but I do vaguely remember this to be in London, on the first official day of the tour group getting together. Their insistence on my helping them take a picture caused the three of us to be late getting back to the bus. The local tour guide had a "rule" about lateness, that we had to buy chocolate to share with everyone. As it turned out, later in the trip, on at least two occasions, we were stuck on the highway on either a long commute or a traffic jam, and I had chocolate and chocolate-covered marzipan to share. About the chocolate-covered marzipan -- Apparently we were in Austria just as they were celebrating Mozart's birthday with special marzipans wrapped in foil with the famous composer's picture. I'm pretty sure it was Mirabell Mozartkugeln . Anyway, there were enough to go around the en...

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 10

The last of my pictures (at least the ones that survived the cheesy disposable cameras) from my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. Below is the obligatory group photo. Not sure everyone's in it, actually. I'm pretty sure this one was taken by the tour director, Mike Scrimshire as I'm in the back row, on the right side.

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 9

More assorted couples on my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. An American couple who joked about being from "the land of the giants" -- and with good reason, because both of them were really tall! A cute Jewish mother-daughter pair who ducked out part-way to divert to Israel. I vaguely remember the issue of the daughter being an orthodox Jew was highlighted in France when, to make things easy, she just declared herself vegetarian for the wait staff. I also remember there was some logistics error in France because our party size was way underestimated or simply relayed incorrectly, and there was a shortage of food at dinner. Dessert came as an unopened can of yogurt. It did not seem like they tried to make it up to us later, either. Plus there was smoking every which way in France, and I had a helluva time with that. We were also in a hotel that seemed tucked away in the burbs, and not walking distance from anythin...

Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

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