A Little Taste of Taiwan in Michigan

What: Spicy Beef HotPot and Taiwanese Fried Chicken
Where: Boiling Pot – East Lansing, Michigan
Cuisine: Taiwanese
Affordability: $10-15

This week, I had to journey out to the cold wintery side of the continent where the daily temperature for the week was hovering around -10 C if not colder with wind chill. I would like to thank Boiling Pot for existing in this town and providing a delicious warm meal after a long day at work. Yes, I went to the same restaurant and ordered the same thing two nights in a row, is that foodie faux pas?

Boiling pot specializes in individual hot pots. There are several varying soup base and meat combinations to choose from, and tons of different vegetables and tofu are thrown in and cooked together. When they bring the pot to your table, they’ll light a bit of gas underneath, so it stays boiling hot. Be careful not to burn your tongue!

The Taiwanese chicken is also very good. Though it doesn’t look anything like the authentic popcorn chicken often found at the night markets in Taiwan, the flavours are similar enough that for every piece of chicken I eat, I’m transported back to my home country.

Definitely the highlight of my trip. Until next time, Lansing!

VIP Vietnamese Cuisine

What: House Special and Deep Fried Tofu
Where: VIP Vietnamese Cuisine
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Affordability; $7+

Pointers:
– I admit there are lots of Phó choices in Markham, but VIP is kind of a regular spot for us. I used to work in the area and we’ve always called this place J6…J6 being one of our picks on the menu. It looks like, however that they changed it, so J6 is no more.

– I decided on the House Special since it’s 20 minutes before closing and I can’t make up mind. It’s the perfect Phó if you can’t decide. It has all your meat basics including tripe and tendon, noodles and beef broth. You can’t really go wrong with that. And VIP doesn’t disappoint either. Our Oder came really quick as usual, and flavourful. I didn’t even add hoisin sauce in mine. Quickly dug into it and gobbled up the Deep Fried Tofu, which is also a favourite.

– Overall, a good meal. Check it out when you’re in the area. They have lots of different soups and the old J6 is the curry. If it is back on the menu, get that!

– Thank you to the staff for not kicking us out even tho it was way past their open hours. Much appreciated.

Sushi on the west coast is so much better!

What: Roll Lover Party Tray
Where: Sakura Sushi
Cuisine: Japanese
Affordability $8-10

Pointers:
– This small  restaurant is a gem in the heart of Richmond centre area, and a rare find as it’s owned and operated by Japanese people.

– We decided to order a party tray for lunch which consisted of dynamite rolls, California rolls, spicy tuna rolls and salmon avocado rolls with a total of 48 pieces. We found this to be just the right amount of food for hungry three people.

– The dynamite roll had nicely fried tempura shrimp, California rolls were moist with just the right amount of mayonnaise, but my favourite was the spicy tuna roll. Although it lacked the crunchy panko bits, the degree of spiciness was perfect as they incorporate hot sauce, not spicy mayo, into the fish before rolling it up.

-Definitely recommend this place if you’re feeling hungry when you get off the skytrain at Brighouse station or if you’re shopping at Richmond Center!

Three Ringed Binder

What: Three Ringed Binder
Where: The Works
Cuisine: Hamburgers
Affordability: $12-15

Pointers:
– This gourmet burger chain restaurant originated in Ottawa, and now has stores all across GTA as well as in Waterloo. Make sure you arrive early as there was still a wait when we arrived at 8:30pm.

– There is a huge selection of common and unconventional burger toppings ranging from peanut butter, fried egg, Kraft Dinner, to mushrooms, onions and cheese. On my Three Ringed Binder burger there was Sautéed mushrooms, chipotle mayo, gouda cheese & 3 crunchy o-rings. The combination of these toppings in addition to the Spicy Die-cut fries makes this one of the most satisfying greasy meals ever.

– Only slight concern from our group is that the hamburger meat was cooked medium well with pink on the inside (though the waitress did ask us if we were okay with it – being biology undergrad students, we were a little worried).

– Will we be back? – 100% yes!!!

Chicken Lollipops!

What: Chicken Lollipops
Where: Everest Hakka House
Cuisine: Hakka Chinese
Affordability: $8

Pointers:

– Everest moved their original Indian restaurant about a block west of their new Hakka restaurant. And what an addition it is to the neighbourhood! Hakka is Indian food with the Chinese influence…or is the reverse? Either way, we’re glad it’s there.

– We ordered the Chicken Lollipops as no one was really hungry. We just wanted something light to snack on as dinner was being prepared and waiting for us at home. These were just the perfect appetizers! They were perfectly deep fried the Chinese fried chicken way, yet flavourful with Indian spices. They were perfect on their own for snacking. But you gotta come early and order then right away. They only prepare so much per night that they run out of this fish fast! The night we were there, they couldn’t give us another serving! They are definitely worth a “come back to”.

– Will we go to Everest Hakka again? Sure. We definitely need to try the other items on the menu!