confessions of a graphic designer: HaiYi Seafood Restaurant

Happy birthday to my dearest brother and dad. We went close by for dinner due to the snowstorm warning we had in Vancouver. Although it was snowing it wasn't snowing as hard as in burnaby or coquitlam thank goodness!

The restaurant seem quite new. I believe it was taken over by a new owner. The place is brightly lit and the decor wasn't too shabby. We decided to order individual items from the menu instead of ordering their cheapest set menu which was about $500.00 with tip. We started off with the fish maw soup with crab meat. Bouncy textures, soup was flavorful and clean. Afterwards we had the fried tofu. This was one of the best dishes of the night. They were known for their tofu here so we ordered it. Nice and crispy, not to oily made just right. Afterwards we had the fried squid. The salt wasn't evenly distributed so some of the squid were saltier then others. We had the rod cod made in two ways: steamed in black bean sauce with orange peel (a rather different flavor then I'm used to) not a fan of the orange flavor and the stir fry fish with vegetables which I prefer more. The fish was fresh, flaky and tender and not overcooked.

I had chosen to order the pork jowl with bitter melon on a bed of rice noodles. This was different as well more on the tangy side due to the preserved vegetables. The rice noodles were slightly overcooked but the "wok heat" flavour was there. We had the eggplant hot pot with tofu, this was alright compared to the many I had elsewhere. Too oily in my opinion. We had a stir fry scrambled egg with shrimp. We also had the stir fry vegetables with squid.

Lastly we had the taopica baked pudding with taro. This was definitely a let down for me. The crust was too thin and heavy. Not crispy at all. Not enough sweetness as well very bland.

And we had a cake from St. Germain and the cake was overly too "chestnutty for me. I prefer the mango cakes there.

Overall the meal was clean and not overly oily which I prefer. The portions were big but the prices were on the higher end. There was about 5 tables during the snowstorm which was very good in my opinion. Service was great! Food came fast and everyone was efficient. Overall, a great meal.

Next time I'm coming to try the hot pot the other table was having. Fresh seafood cooked right in front of you on the table.