I have heard many great things about this long celebrated Chinese restaurant, but today would be my first time visiting and dining at Shoom.
They have recently launched a late night menu, so I went down with a handful of foodies to check it out. This is available from 9pm to 1am weekends.
Unfamiliar with the concept I was informed that this late night eating is called “da lang” in Chinese. It originated in the Chiu Chow region of China, and consists of late night congee with small dishes, available for dining on the street. The intent is it is after 9pm, you are hungry, but still want to eat well.
It is essentially the same popular dishes served at dinner time, but scaled down for smaller portions, and at a fraction of the cost. So you can still order the variety that Chinese banquet meals are known for, but not have to commit to the cost or the full serving of it all.
I did not grow up with many of these dishes so was thankful to be dining with folks who know their Chinese food. This meant I was able to sit back and simply enjoy want came before me. In such instances I typically play note taker, writing down all that we want to order and dictating it to our server. And this is that following.
Fried eggs with oysters. I am told this is a childhood classic. A unique combination proving that eggs go with anything. Nothing exciting, I could have used a sauce for it.
Deep fried fish with chilli sauce. Crispy, salty, small fish you eat in a bundle like fries. Not so much a main, but a great topping you could add to the dishes to come, much like fried shallots.
Deep fried pork intestines. These were much fattier than they looked, a gelatinous mouthful that I was not a fan of. Although they were given freshness by way of the accompanying sweet and sour sauce on the side.
Sautéed pea tip leaves with garlic. As a textural diner this I did not touch. I am not a fan of wilted greens, but it is customary to have a 100% green dish at any Chinese meal. And apparently I disliked it so much, that I didn’t even take a photo of it…
We had two different clam dishes. The wok fried clams in black bean sauce was fragrant with plenty of delicious salty savoury flavour. I would say to the point that the black bean was the star of the dish, masking the clams.
The clams in Japanese sake broth was more seafood focused. Nice and floral, lest you take a direct sip of sake broth. A shot of it would hit you hard.
The most memorable dish and what appeared to be everyone’s favourite was the Golden salted egg prawns with rice cake. So tasty that I wish we had the regular, larger serving to share as a table. There was plenty of salted egg yolk coating over everything. The rice cake were a fun chew, whereas the heavy breading masked the shrimp.
Deep fried squid with chili salt is a classic, however Shoom’s take here left me wanting. The breading came out ashy with a slight acrid oily taste. It needed much of the chilli salt that settled on the bottom of the plate. This was not my favourite rendition.
I was however, a big fan of the Congee with pork and century egg. And if and when I come back, I will be ordering this again, late night or not. It was so soothing and satisfying with tender pork and the unique taste and texture of century egg to pause on.
The Grilled lamb with cumin was a grower, not a show-er. The impact of the pronounced cumin flavour coming towards the end, and you missing it on the onset.
Sweet-and-sour pork is a classic to order, and a good gage to use to different between Chinese restaurants. The menu advertised it coming with lychee, but there were only but 2-3 in the mix. There was more onion, green pepper and pineapple to have it listed in the name. As for the pork it was more fatty than meat and could have used more sticky syrupy sauce to mask this fact.
The wok fried escargot in house special sauce was a nice idea, but incredibly tedious for such a little amount of meat. You had to pry the snail from its shell with a tooth pick, only to get enough to mistake it for something stuck in your teeth. I understand it is delicacy, but the required work for bare minimum gain is a no for me.
The Sautéed pork cheek slices with angled loofa and fungus was a nice meat and vegetable dish. There was a bevy of varying textures to sort through, all coated in a thick syrup-like gravy.
And for dessert they had cute mango pudding set in mini mason jars, each served with an out of proportion parfait spoon. A curious presentation that did not affect how good the mango pudding was. This was exactly as you expected it to be. A jello-like texture with bits of fresh mango embedded within.
In short, c is a a great option for late night eats outside of fast food and convenient stores. They are open until late so you can have quality Chinese style banquet dishes at a fraction of the size and price.
Shoom Restaurant
6555 Fraser St, Vancouver, BC V5X 3T4
(604) 568-7797
shoom.ca
