Family Dinner at Garden Villa

This unassuming little place is known for its push cart dimsum at lunch. For dinner service, they only open if there is a demand. On the night we decided to go, they were really busy, almost the whole restaurant was full. I had never been here before, but it's a popular place for my family to have our family dinners. It's been a long time since I've had an honest-to-goodness Chinese meal (HK-style cafes don't count!), so I was really looking forward to this.

Any meal that starts off with a crab and prawn claw is a good meal.

This is by far one of the larger ones I've had. Good thing I had a spare berry battery...now you have something to compare this to. Very hot inside...I sliced it open just a bit and whoa, holy steam!

I took a bite and I have to say, the texture of the meat was very good.  It wasn't mushy with a lot of filler, something I expected due to its extra-large size.

The soup of the evening was Fish Maw with Chicken. Very clear broth, thickened by slow cooking and the fish maw. It's very good on a cold day. Add a bit of white pepper to bring out the flavour.

Our next dish was StirFried Veggies with Shrimp, Fish slices and Mushrooms. Everything was really fresh, large prawns, huge chunks of fish and sliced mushrooms. There were lots of celery and some chives...very healthy!

This is one of this restaurant's signature dishes. Lamb stew served with Tofu Sauce. The lamb is cut into thick chunks and is stewed bone in and with loads of bean curd skin.

See the overwhelming pile of lamb? Oh, boy this is such a rare treat, very few places do this right, and when it's done properly, the juiciness of the lamb is maintained and the gamey-ness is minimized.

Here is another family favourite, Chinese-style Fried Chicken. The skin was so crispy, and the meat was so moist and tender. The only disappointment? No prawn chips to accompany it!

This was my piece...I prefer dark meat so this drumstick was eamarked for me. Such crispiness...I almost don't miss the prawn chips...almost!

Our craving for carbs was satisfied by this Egg White and Scallop fried rice. Very mild and delicate, not at all heavy. A delightful way to end a very satisfying meal.

The egg whites and scallop were tossed gently into the rice, along with small chunks of celery. I would have preferred it with gailan, but that's a small complaint. It's just that the flavour of celery can be overwhelming, when the rest of the ingredients are so mild.

The dessert of the night was another signature item. Double-Ground Black Sesame Paste. So smooth and rich...and not nearly as sweet as you would think. Just loads of sesame flavour and rich velvety texture.

Even just a small bowl of this was too rich for me...I decided it to share it with my cousins...I think I had about half a bowl. I haven't been to a family dinner in a long time, and I am so glad I went. Great food and great company sure make for a perfect evening.