Grace, Eddie and I reached Phnom Phen after being 8 hours on the road driving up from Portland. It was memorial weekend so there was a bit of traffic through Washington. When we arrived it was almost 8:30 PM and it closed at 9:00 PM. Grace was enthusiastic about their butter beef and had reminisced over the past few years since she last had it. Butter beef is similar to a carpaccio but with thinly carved slices of raw beef marinated in a soy vinaigrette covered in minced garlic and cilantro. Eddie wasn’t sure of what to expect. We gave Grace full reign on making the order with a request of oyster pancakes from me. We were super disappointed that they were no longer allowing dine-in service. I tried to convince them to allow us to dine in but it was futile. Grace with her quick thinking pivoted us to takeout and suggested we should head to Granville Island for sunset outdoor dining experience along the waters. We were all hungry and I’m sure Eddie was the super tired one since he drove the entire way. I watched Grace lay out the huge styrofoam boxes of fried rice, oyster pancakes, fried chicken wings, garlic spareribs and butter beef. I noticed there were no veggies and Grace just laughed it off saying we aren’t wasting precious stomach space for veggies. The fried chicken and spareribs were garlicky and delightfully crispy. We did finish the butter beef although it was slightly underwhelming compared to previous experiences. It was sometimes hard to read whether me and Grace’s excitement for food would wear on Eddie’s patience but we were too distracted to care at that moment. As expected, we had lots of leftovers. Grace declared that we would have leftovers for breakfast. The weather was perfect with a light breeze and we watched the sunset together. The light pink and purple hue rested atop the pier and water. Then I said next to The First Dessert for my favorite HK style dessert since I checked it didn’t close til 11 PM. I saw a slight pause, hint of weariness on Eddie’s face but quickly dissipated and obliged. Although again due to long lines we couldn’t get a table seating, we ordered take out and I was happy to score a ginger milk pudding to take back to the listing.
We spent the next day exploring Victoria. We reached the ferry at the nick of time. It was Grace’s first time to Victoria and my very first time driving a car onto a ferry. The hour of a half ferry ride took us to Victoria and our very first stop was Butchart Gardens with a high tea experience. Grace got all of her photos. I tried to make dinner reservations at one of the coveted Cantonese seafood places but we would get back too late. While on the ferry ride back, I scrolled through pages of Richmond restaurants and browsed menus and reviews. Grace was craving HK cafe style condensed milk bun. I wanted seafood. I think Eddie was open to anything. We got back to Richmond around 10pm for another late dinner. I got some Hong Kong sass from the staff (typical). We again filled the table with clams with black bean sauce, salted fish chicken tofu claypot, veggies and rice (with a side of sass). We also got fresh BBQ meat with a duck surcharge. Grace got her wonton noodles and condensed milk toast. The uninitiated would be intimidated by the amounts we got. Grace and I tend to get carried away as we enable each other for sure. Eddie on the other hand does not like to see waste. But we finished most things and packed away the BBQ meats to take back to Portland. Then I said next to the late night Chinese grocery store! There was a tinge of why crossed his face but the Asian auntie side of me couldn’t help but stock up my favorite snacks. I think Grace would agree with me on this.
I booked Kirin for the next day which Eddie noted as the best dim sum outside of Hong Kong (maybe some hyperbole) but their Malay yuzu cake was pretty amazing. Grace already lined up some goodies to pick up on our pit stop in Seattle, Chi Cha tea and beecher cheese. The 7 hour drive back went by quickly being silly and chuckling all the way back. This trip made me nostalgic for spontaneous trips with close friends over good food although I could live without the HK sass.
Travelogue 