Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Suhang Restaurant - Richmond, BC

It's Mrs. Teddy's birthday (well, a week ago...) so time for another Piglet household gathering!  Yay!  I love family dinners and we don't have enough of them during the summer since everyone is always so busy.  Mrs. Teddy didn't really have any preferences so I gave her my restaurant-blogging-wishlist and Suhang was the choice.  We've been here before on a number of occasions but I've never blogged about it so this would be perfect opportunity since lots of dishes would be ordered and everyone around the dinner table likes to discuss what they like and don't like.
Suhang is a Shanghainese place that's tucked away in a strip mall right in the heart of Richmond - a favorite among locals and the tables are generally full any day of the week.  They serve a variety of dishes but we come here because of one in particular that must be ordered when you make your reservation...

Chicken Hangzhou Style (Beggar's Chicken) - $45.00
Normally this dish is packed in mud and then baked for a few hours but Suhang bakes it in giant bread case.  They usually bring it out to the table in all it's bread casing glory, show the patrons and then bring it back into the kitchen for the casing to be removed.  It then returns to the table still wrapped in lotus leaves and is unwrapped it tableside - quite a production, n'est pas? The dish consists of sticky rice combined with Chinese mushrooms, edamame beans and chestnuts in a soy based sauce baked inside of a chicken - since it's wrapped in lotus leaves, the moisture is trapped making for a very tender and flavorful fall-off-the-bone chicken.  We've had this dish on several occasions and it's a favorite of this Piglet but this time it was a bit TOO moist, like it had been baked for too long.  Mama Piglet commented that the rice was a little bit on the mushy side and the edamame beans had been cooked to almost disintegration.  The flavors were still wonderful and the chicken was still good - maybe just an aberration?  I hope so.  I LOVE this dish and I'd be disappointed if a good thing was ruined.


Fish with Wine Sauce - $15.80
The fish is really good!  The wine sauce has some really subtle flavors and aromas but it matches the delicate fish really well.  No fishy taste here!  I don't care for the addition of the wood ear mushrooms - it doesn't really provide that contrast in taste or texture since it doesn't have enough bite or flavoring to them.  I would have preferred a crunchier veggie, like a sweet snap pea, but it's a very minor detail since the fish is the star.  Aunt Piggy likes it and even tells others at the table to gobble it up.


Pan Fried Pea Leaves - $18.00
"Is that what you ordered?" - our server.  So we wrote all of our orders down and handed it to the server.  He didn't know, for whatever reason, what this dish was so he just ignored it.  Not quite sure how that happened because we wrote down what was listed in the menu.  When we finally asked for it after all of the other dishes had already arrived, another server sold our guy out and told us he didn't know what it was we ordered and just decided not to ask.  That's awesome.  Whatever.  Anyways, this dish is pea leaves quickly cooked in a wok - you generally can't go wrong with it and it tastes really fresh.  The only thing that bothers Mama Piglet is that it's a tad on the oily side - you can even tell in the pictures as they have an oily sheen to them.  Looks great in the photos but leaves a bit of oily texture in the mouth. 


Beef with Onion Hotpot - $15.95
The beef is on the leaner side (like!) and the brown sauce has a savory umami taste to it that everyone at the table enjoys but I found it to be a little bit on the oilier side for my tastes (you can see it kind of pooling near the spoon).  If only they could cut down on the cooking oil...  or is that what makes it good???? 


Beans with Dry Chili - $14.80
The beans are crunchy and the chilies are a good balance of salty and spicy without being too much of either.  Suhang does it really well and much better than some other places where we've had it before.


Deep Fried Bean Curd - $13.50
This dish is Q-dog's favorite and it's an unnatural obsession.  Everytime we go to any Chinese restaurant, this is the dish he orders - for lunch, dinner or dim sum and even when it's not the menu, he'll try to order it.  I don't know what it is...  Anyways, Suhang's version is ok with a good amount of salt, pepper and jalapenos and the tofu is crispy but again, a little bit oily but I guess it can slide since it is a deep-fried dish.


Steamed Sliced Roll (we ordered it deep fried) - $3.75 each
This is Y-Pup's favorite and Mama Piglet always orders this for her when she can.  It is as named - a deep fried bun with sweetened condensed milk.  I'm not quite sure how they do it but the bread kind of falls apart in sections and the bun itself is quite sweet.  Everyone at the table enjoyed it but again, there's a nice sheen on the buns from the deep frying.


Eggplant with Chili - $14.80
This dish has some kick!  You don't feel it at first but it hits the back of your throat within a few seconds.  The eggplant is good nicely and the pork is tender.  A bit on the oily side again (what's with the oil here??) but that seems to be the theme today.


Coconut Jelly - Complimentary!
Don't go away just yet!  There's complimentary dessert!  Just a small cube of coconut flavored jelly with a light coconut flavored marshmallow layer on top.  Usually you get a red bean soup or mango jelly so it's nice to get something different.  Yum!


The Piglet household has had several meals here before and we've enjoyed them each time.  Generally the dishes aren't so oily (aside from the deep-fried items) so hopefully it's just tonight.  The food is here is quite good and if you have a group of 5-6, all of whom are rice gluttons, I would recommend the hangzhou chicken to try but just remember to order it when you make the reservation.  Bon appetite!


Pros:
  • Takes reservations
  • Free parking
  • Good food - albeit a little bit oily on this occasion
  • One of those rare Chinese places that actually take credit cards as well as cash
  • Complimentary dessert
Cons:
  • Moderate to a bit more on the pricey side - the portions are a little bigger though
  • Funny service - who doesn't clarify an order?
  • Free parking - it's still difficult to find a spot!


Suhang Restaurant 蘇杭人家 on Urbanspoon

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