Neptune Seafood Restaurant - Richmond, BC

It's one of those rare days when Mr. Piglet and I are up and ready early in the morning but we didn't have a choice about it.  My dear mechanic only had one time slot for the day and it just so happened to be only 9:30 am so now we're stuck in Richmond without a car, it's raining and I've just been told that it will take several hours.  Nothing to do but go and eat!

After a gruelling 30 minute walk (ok, it wasn't gruelling - just trying to be dramatic), we find ourselves on No. 3 Road.  We actually meant to go get a coffee but I spot Neptune Seafood Restaurant out of the corner of my eye.  A few years back they had a dim sum special where you would get discount for eating before 10:30 am.  FYI, there is not discount anymore.  LOL.  Oh well, we've already walked in so we might as well sit down and have a meal.  It's been renovated for a few years now and it looks great but hopefully the food is good too...

Shrimp Dumplings - $5.38

The "must" dish of a dim sum meal - big pieces of shrimp in a delicate wrap that isn't too thin so that it disintegrates when you pick it up and not too thick so that it's hard to chew.  Awesome.

Steamed Bean Curd Rolls - $5.38

Took about 45 minutes but it finally arrived at our table and I was pleasantly surprised.  Rather then swimming in a glutinous cornstarch-thickened brown sauce, this came in a light savoury almost soup-like sauce with a hint of seafood.  I really liked this dish more than normal because you could taste the contents of the roll (love the mushrooms and pork!)

Minced Beef Rice Rolls with Cilantro - $5.38

The beef is nicely flavoured and the cilantro thankfully isn't overpowering but complements the beef really well.  Mr thinks the thicker rice roll makes the dish too doughy but I think it's fine - the roll has better integrity and easier to pick up and eat.  I really enjoyed this dish and would order it again.

Baked BBQ Pork Pies - $4.38

The pies look beautiful and the crust is both light and flaky but after a few bites, Mr and I are a bit disappointed.  All I can taste is ginger in a few bites.  Methinks somewhen didn't mince or mix very well as I hit a few pieces of ginger in the filling.  I love ginger but I love pork more - if the name of the dish is BBQ Pork, then that should be the main focus of the flavours. 

Pan Fried Turnip Cakes - $4.38

Crispy on the top and it's got this great mix of chinese sausage and turnip flavours.  It's a bit more oily than I've had at other places and I also wish the texture were a bit more firm rather than mushy.  Not the best I've had but not bad.

What do I think of Neptune?  It's ok - the dishes were for the most part ok to good but at the prices we were paying, we would have expected more or something special and faster service.  The only dish to really surprise us was the bean curd rolls and everything else was just as you would expect it.  If only they still had their dim sum special, it would have been more worth it then.  Oh well.  Take it as you like!

Oinks:

• Takes credit card and cash
• Free parking
• Easy access from sky train
• Rice roll and shrimp dumplings were good

Doinks:

• On the pricier side
• Tea charge of $1 per person
• Some dishes were only so so