The One Restaurant 美味關係

After a heartbreaking experience at Ali Shan Restaurant 阿里山品味餐廳, I needed something to overcome the heartache.  Something that better resembled the classic "railroad bento 鐵路便當".

After a quick search of local Taiwanese joints, I settled with The One Restaurant 美味關係.  Okay, I admit, I was a bit skeptical about coming here.  You see, our last visit (which was our first) in 2010 was not very pleasant.  While a few dishes were somewhat decent, the horrendous service made the whole experience miserable.

Now, six years later, before walking into the restaurant, I have told myself to stay calm.  Yes, Buddha Girl, stay calm.  Things could have improved since 2010.  And if not, just sing, "Let it go, let it go..."

 

For $4.75CAD, my large order of Assam Black Tea 阿薩姆紅茶 was, in deed, a large cup.  Please correct me if I'm wrong but I think this was served in a 550ml beer mug?

Anyhow, while the tea was bold, the Assam tea taste was a bit off.  Perhaps the supply source was weak?  I requested less sweet but it was still a bit too sweet for me.  Next time I'd try it half sweet.

At $4.50CAD/order, The One Green Onion Egg Roll 香蔥蛋餅 had decent amount of scallions but the egg was too overcooked.  The dough was quite thick and the drizzled sauce was overly salty.  No improvement since our first/last visit.

I was satisfied with my $10.75CAD order of Taiwanese Railway Style Sausage with Rice 鐵路香腸便當.  I know, I know, this did not truly resemble the classic "railroad bento 鐵路便當" because the sides were on a separate plate instead of presenting everything in the tin box.  But hey, this was a lot better than Ali Shan Restaurant 阿里山品味餐廳, right?

The round tin box had two links of Taiwanese sausage on the top tray while the bottom level had white rice topped with pork meat sauce and accented with Chinese sauerkraut (aka. pickled mustard greens).

The sausages were plump and savory with just the right amount of sweetness.  Of course, the links here couldn't really go wrong, unless the kitchen does something funky with it.  The sausage links are made by the famous tea duck supplier.  Those who have followed our blog for years would know what I'm talking about...

The pork sauce had a higher ratio of lean meat with an one-dimensional flavor of soy sauce.  This lacked that fundamental sweet aromas of cinnamon and shallots.

The sides were simple so nothing much to comment about.

The tin box was a special edition sold to the public to celebrate 123 operating years of Taiwan Railways Administration 臺灣鐵路管理局.

I had two take-out items for Buddha Boy.  The first was Meat Sauce on Steamed Rice 台式滷肉飯 for $8.75CAD.  Any difference between this bento and my railway box?  This had no sausage links and one side dish was different.

The Deep Fried Chicken Nuggets 鹽酥雞 was the second to-go item.  This had sizeable chunks of chicken that were lightly coated and well fried.  Gentle use of five-spice blend mingled gracefully with basil.  While this was a good improvement since our first/last visit., for $7.50CAD/order, this was expensive.

Service was much. much, much, much, much better than our first/last visit.  Maybe because I visited during off-peak hours?

With a baby in carriage, the servers were accommodating and told me I could sit anywhere.  Hey, that's a good start.  Throughout the meal, servers came and checked on how I was doing.  Empty dishes were collected promptly and hot tea was regularly replenished.

After this experience, I'd return again.  Hopefully it's not just a one off.

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The One Restaurant 美味關係

5908 Kingsway, Burnaby, BC V5J 1H2

604-569-1866

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