TGEL: Daimo

Sauteed pea greens
Three-egg spinach and mushrooms
BBQ duck
$16 p.p.

I had been whuppin' The Brazilians at NBA 2K7 for several hours, building sixty point leads via the simple strategy of having Magic Johnson on my team. By 10 p.m. G-Roc was getting sick of this, having nothing better to do than to see if he could get all his players fouled out. (It didn't work: once he was down to his last five players, the computer wouldn't kick anyone else out, despite Marcus Banks having ten fouls.) Clearly it was time for a food break, and Daimo is the best open-late (till 3 a.m. daily) carpark restaurant near the El Cerrito-Richmond border.

64KB is a vegetarian, always dangerous in a mostly Cantonese restaurant (plus he thought the soon-to-be-steamed fish looked sad), but we took the server's word that the three-egg spinach and the much-ballyhooed pea greens were meat-free. Strangely, the pea greens were unevenly heated, though this didn't detract much from their freshness. G-Roc was a little put off by the richness of the other, more oily dishes, but 64KB and I preferred the spinach and mushrooms, braised in a very thick sauce. The pidan and hamdan (xiandan) retained an egg taste through their preservation. The duck was also just how I like it, with crispy skin enclosing mounds of fat -- I don't eat them, but I think they help infuse the BBQ sauce.

So now I'm annoyed that it took me four years in the East Bay to get to this place: it's exactly my idea of comfort food, just like the neighbourhood Cantonese dives my parents, uncles and aunts would take me to before their endless mahjong sessions (the New Asia in Otahuhu!). It might just be because I rarely have this sort of food now, but Daimo seems a little better. To make sure, I'll have to go back here with carnivores to put a fish out of its misery, and pay attention the next time my parents take me out. Ah, now I'm homesick.

Daimo
3288A Pierce St, Richmond (in the Pacific East Mall/99 Ranch carpark)