Hanami Restaurant (YVR)
As my flight was delayed and I didn't want to settle for food court fare, I decided to try Hanami Restaurant located just outside the international departures gate. I knew it was probably a bad idea because airport food is known to be mediocre and expensive, especially when the restaurant in question is a sushi and dim sum place rolled into one.
Since the place was filled with Chinese staff, I thought it would be smarter to go with Chinese food. According to this menu on the table, we could even get Shanghainese dim sum here.
We decided to get a noodle dish to fill our stomachs as we had skipped breakfast that morning. I was surprised that the flat noodles with beef and veggies in sauce (菜遠牛河) ($13.50) actually looked quite decent. It wasn't the best I've had, but it was really not bad and the portion size was reasonable for the price. I liked how there were a lot of veggies to go with the meat and noodles.
I wanted something nice and hot, and decided to risk trying the Shanghai pork dumplings (小籠包) ($5.50). They were acceptable and there was a bit of soup inside, but the skin was much too thick and made them seem more like buns than dumplings. I was pretty surprised that the slices of carrots on the bottom were actually cooked and not raw. Most of the time, carrot decorations like these are served raw.
The baked flaky egg custard tarts (酥皮雞蛋撻) ($3.75) were definitely the worst I have ever eaten. The tart shell was anything but flaky and the centre of the tart was still cold due to uneven reheating. The custard tasted alright, but the gummy and doughy shell completely ruined it. I think if I were ever to eat soggy cardboard, it would taste exactly like this.
For an airport restaurant, the prices were not as bad as I had expected even though we were charged $1.25 each for tea. Next time I would still consider coming here for noodles, but I wouldn't try the dim sum again.
Since the place was filled with Chinese staff, I thought it would be smarter to go with Chinese food. According to this menu on the table, we could even get Shanghainese dim sum here.
We decided to get a noodle dish to fill our stomachs as we had skipped breakfast that morning. I was surprised that the flat noodles with beef and veggies in sauce (菜遠牛河) ($13.50) actually looked quite decent. It wasn't the best I've had, but it was really not bad and the portion size was reasonable for the price. I liked how there were a lot of veggies to go with the meat and noodles.
I wanted something nice and hot, and decided to risk trying the Shanghai pork dumplings (小籠包) ($5.50). They were acceptable and there was a bit of soup inside, but the skin was much too thick and made them seem more like buns than dumplings. I was pretty surprised that the slices of carrots on the bottom were actually cooked and not raw. Most of the time, carrot decorations like these are served raw.
The baked flaky egg custard tarts (酥皮雞蛋撻) ($3.75) were definitely the worst I have ever eaten. The tart shell was anything but flaky and the centre of the tart was still cold due to uneven reheating. The custard tasted alright, but the gummy and doughy shell completely ruined it. I think if I were ever to eat soggy cardboard, it would taste exactly like this.
For an airport restaurant, the prices were not as bad as I had expected even though we were charged $1.25 each for tea. Next time I would still consider coming here for noodles, but I wouldn't try the dim sum again.
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