My final Vancouver post is from
Silver Palace, a Chinese place I hadn't tried before. The Chows were kind enough to bring me along with them for dinner here. I'm usually able to eat with them for a meal or two when I go up. Silver Palace has a pretty good reputation. The place is surprisingly small, consisting of about 10 (maybe less?) round tables, though each table was fairly big. Enough for the typical Chinese family dinner out, at least. We had quite a lot of food, so here are some of the highlights.
free peanuts!
shark's fin soup
fried tofu
It must seem a little weird that I took pictures of the peanuts, which you get for free at many Chinese restaurants. Let me tell you - these peanuts were
good. Apparently they're homemade (not sure what that means - they roast them there maybe?). All I know is that they're addictive, and I could easily have eaten a few dishfuls of them had I not controlled myself. I ate a lot of them anyway. The shark's fin soup was very good, and notably generous on the actual shark's fin. There was a small debate at the table over the best way to eat the soup - some like it plain, others like it with vinegar, and others still like to use a sort of Chinese mustard. I'm a vinegar man myself, but to each his/her own. The fried tofu was delicious! The crust was perfectly fried and crisp, while the inside remained soft, delicate, and steaming hot. And wonderfull salty.
crispy roasted chicken
chicken with taro in cream sauce
eggplant with xo sauce
The crispy chicken was a pretty nice rendition - crisp skin and tender meat. I only wish there were more skin (then again, I seem to wish that every time I have a roasted chicken). The chicken with taro was far superior to the duck version we had at Ming Yuen. This one was boiling hot (you can see the bubbles in the photo) and much tastier. The eggplant with XO sauce was a wonderful demonstration of the beauty of XO. Their version was quite delicious indeed, and lended a nice bit of flavor to the soft, steamed eggplant.
Silver Palace is yet another solid Chinese option in Vancouver, a city already flooded with good Chinese restaurants. A real luxury to be envied, indeed...
free peanuts!
shark's fin soup
fried tofu
It must seem a little weird that I took pictures of the peanuts, which you get for free at many Chinese restaurants. Let me tell you - these peanuts were good. Apparently they're homemade (not sure what that means - they roast them there maybe?). All I know is that they're addictive, and I could easily have eaten a few dishfuls of them had I not controlled myself. I ate a lot of them anyway. The shark's fin soup was very good, and notably generous on the actual shark's fin. There was a small debate at the table over the best way to eat the soup - some like it plain, others like it with vinegar, and others still like to use a sort of Chinese mustard. I'm a vinegar man myself, but to each his/her own. The fried tofu was delicious! The crust was perfectly fried and crisp, while the inside remained soft, delicate, and steaming hot. And wonderfull salty.
crispy roasted chicken
chicken with taro in cream sauce
eggplant with xo sauce
The crispy chicken was a pretty nice rendition - crisp skin and tender meat. I only wish there were more skin (then again, I seem to wish that every time I have a roasted chicken). The chicken with taro was far superior to the duck version we had at Ming Yuen. This one was boiling hot (you can see the bubbles in the photo) and much tastier. The eggplant with XO sauce was a wonderful demonstration of the beauty of XO. Their version was quite delicious indeed, and lended a nice bit of flavor to the soft, steamed eggplant.
Silver Palace is yet another solid Chinese option in Vancouver, a city already flooded with good Chinese restaurants. A real luxury to be envied, indeed...