Fernando Medrano's Sightings

It is King Crab Season, and these monsters are all being blown out. Here at Dynasty, they tend to season with restraint which worked well in the first course (garlic steamed legs) and last course (E-fu Noodles in the crab's juices). The middle course (deep fried garlic crab knuckles) could have used more seasoning. Delicious nonetheless and perhaps best King Crab I have had in recent memory. http://www.wisemonkeysblog.com/

Nice long-braised beef augmented with toasted cracked cumin stuffed into a freshly made Northern-style sesame bun. One of the quintessential street foods of mainland China. http://www.wisemonkeysblog.com/archives/5583

My favourite order here. Very consistent and close to the best I have had. (San Francisco's Roli Roti is the one to beat.)

Nicely balanced yet boldly flavoured dish. The white chilies have a reputation of being very spicy, but I don't find it so.

One of the best crab dishes collides with one of the best mushroom dishes. The Jade dry wok fries the mushrooms to intensify their flavours, to firm up the texture and to add that desirable smoky wokiness. The dish is nearly devoid of sauce which makes it unusual for this type of preparation. The crab is infused with mushroomy earthiness and the dry fried shiitake (and sometimes other woodland fungi such as chanterelle) has a nice chewy resistance.

This Char Siu Sausage with delicate hints of aromatics (mainly from five spice) is a personal favourite. Dollar Meats is a world-class Chinese sausage maker who makes what some people say is the best Lop Cheong in the world. Better than the ones you can get in Hong Kong they say. (Scores of people bring them back by the suitcase on their flight back to HK.)

Strong fresh herbal aromas. Nice light but flavorful broth.

Nice little papaya salad from a papaya salad specialist. They use a pork jerky sourced from the best purveyors in town - Bee Kim Heng. Soy Sauce is used instead of the usual fish sauce making the dressing a bit unusual.

This is one if my favourite food court dishes in Metro Van. Simply called “Steamed Bun with Pork and Rice,” fen zheng rou is a rustic dish: pork steam-braised in broken rice seasoned with dried chili and five-spice. Deeply savoury and very satisfying.

Very good. Subtle ginger, great texture. Does not taste like chicken ;-)