Victoria-Fraserview/Killarney Archives

In Uncategorized

Bonjour Vietnam Bistro: Instagramable Cafe in Vancouver on Fraser Street

June 17, 2020

Bonjour Vietnam Bistro is one of the newest restaurants to open in Vancouver. During the pandemic, we are seeing lots of restaurants close down, but there are still lots of restaurants in the pipeline that are opening. It’s a hard time for all, you’ll want to make sure to pay Bonjour Vietnam Bistro a visit to experience their food and beautiful Instagramable space.

They are located on Fraser Street in Vancouver putting a modern twist on authentic Vietnamese food which is very Vancouver.

Keeping You Safe

To keep everyone safe, we noticed these safety measures:

Sanitize hands at door
All servers wearing face shields
Washrooms had a side that said max 1 person at a time even though there are 2 stalls
Distancing of tables
Limiting group sizes

Interior

The space is like a garden! It’s so stunning and makes you feel like you’re outside. They have definitely put in a lot of thought into their interior design. It’s the perfect spot for photos and a meal with all your friends.

We absolutely enjoyed the ambiance. The music is mostly jazz and went nicely with the theme of the restaurant.

Dishes

On the menu, you’ll find items like skewers, salad rolls, spring rolls, tropical salads, noodle soups, vermicelli bowls, platters, BBQ rice dishes, and dessert.

The currently have a smaller menu due to the pandemic, so they won’t have their full menu as they were originally intending.

Chopstick Drive

You can purchase their beautiful chopsticks for a cause! All proceeds go to BC Children’s Hospital. The chopsticks come in pink, blue, and yellow.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s a fun space with solid food from what we tried so far. While we were here, there were lots of people passing by trying to get a glimpse of the space since it does stand out. Now that it’s open, you can see for yourself, what the buzz is all about.

Address:
3944 Fraser St, Vancouver, BC V5V 4E4

Website:
https://www.bonjourvietnambistro.com/

In Japanese

Masayoshi: Takeaway and Staff Meal Program

April 10, 2020

Masayoshi is back and offering their new takeaway and staff meal program. It’s been a while since our last visit which was for Valentines Day in 2016. It was a memorable meal and always great for a special occasion.

Since the restaurant industry is really suffering because of Covid-19, I really wanted to support them anyway I could. Plus, the takeaway menu looks very good and is a decent price.

My husband actually took the initiative to put in an order on their website at 8am (he even set a calendar reminder so he wouldn’t forget). Some items sell out very quickly, so you have to act fast before its gone. He bought a bunch of items so we could have a date night at home. Since we can’t go outside to dine, we bring the food home.

Staff Meal Program

Chef Masayoshi has joined the “Staff Meal” program initiated by Say Mercy, another local restaurant. This program offers exceptional value to customers on certain dishes and it’s a great opportunity to give back to those in need.

There is automatic $2 donation per Staff Meal order at checkout (as Shipping) for the Vancouver Food Bank. The items that are listed as a staff meal is already a good price, so adding the $2 on top is a good way to help those who need it.

How to Order

Online orders are live 8:00am – 2:00pm from Tuesday to Saturday.
https://www.masayoshi.ca/online-order
Same day pickups ONLY from 4:30pm – 6:30pm at Masayoshi.

Make sure to follow them on social media just in case any information has changed.

Shabu Shabu Salad 豚しゃぶサラダ　おろしポン酢

This salad has pork, Chinese cabbage, daikon radish, ponzu, sesame and green onion. I love all the items in this salad. It doesn’t look like much but it is good.

Salmon Kasujiru サッカイサーモンの粕汁

The Salmon Kasujiru is a soup made with sake kasu or sake lees, a by-product of sake making. The sake kasu is full of savory taste and the salmon and vegetables also bring out the flavor of the broth. There is also wild sockeye salmon, deep fried tofu, green onion, burdock roots and carrots. This dish was ok, but not my favourite.

Edomae Chirashi

This is the most popular item on the menu and it gets sold out quickly. I’ve heard anywhere from 5 -30 mins and it’s gone. It’s stunning, so how could you not want a bite of this dish. It is topped with an assortment of marinated fish and seafood on a bed of sushi rice.

I really wanted to like this dish more, but I thought there could have been a little bit more sashimi. Their photo on the website just looks so good and lush. I clearly eat with my eyes. I just felt there was a bit too much rice.

Soboro Don 三色そぼろ丼

This is this new donburi on the takeaway menu. It is a classic Japanese comfort food and Chef Masa made his version with minced beef, shrimp, eggs, and topped with 2 pieces of shrimp and ikura over a warm steamed rice. There is a limited quantity per day. At first we weren’t sure about this dish, but once we popped this into the microwave for a short amount of time, it tasted a lot better. Very filling.

Pork Belly Kakuni 角煮

The kakuni takes a whole day to prepare, so you get the melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness. It’s definitely a labour of love. The tender soy-glazed pork belly is great with a bowl of rice. When we got home, we made sure to pop this in the microwave to reheat it. Yum. Really delicious. Even the shredded cabbage dunked in its juices is good too.

Buri Yellowtail Teriyaki

This yellowtail is amazing. My husband usually hates cooked fish, but he said this is one of the best cooked fish dishes he’s ever had. We made sure to put this into the microwave to reheat, but wow, we both really enjoyed it.

The yellowtail is cooked really well and the flavour really penetrates deep into the flesh.

Final Thoughts

It was nice to have a taste of Masayoshi at home. They do have many more items on their menu that we didn’t order. They seem to be a hit once they opened up for takeout orders.

It’s a nice treat to have some really good Japanese food at home. We absolutely loved the kakuni and Buri Yellowtail Teriyaki.

Address:
4376 Fraser St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
h ttps://www.masayoshi.ca/

In Victoria-Fraserview/Killarney

Hanoi Old Quarter Restaurant: Northern Vietnamese Cuisine in Vancouver

February 24, 2020

Hanoi Old Quarter Restaurant is located on Victoria Drive and they specialize in North Vietnamese cuisine. They are also the sister restaurant of Mr Red Cafe. I’ve been to Mr Red Cafe many times and I really wanted to try out their unique dishes here. I came with a few friends to catch up over lunch.

Interior

The interior has a decent amount of space and easily configurable for small to large groups. It has similar decor to Mr. Red Cafe. The seating is comfortable and lots of space to move around.

Kids

They do have one high chair for the entire restaurant, so if there are multiple kids dining at one time, the rest will be out of luck. When we were here, there were no other kids dining here.

There is also no changing tables in the washroom.

Egg Coffee

Egg Coffee is a Vietnamese beverage made with egg yolks, sugar, condensed milk and coffee. It is served in a hot bowl of water. At first it seemed very strange as every time you drink the coffee, some water droplets may drip on your clothes. The water bath is there to keep the coffee warm.

I really enjoyed the egg coffee. You mix everything up before you consume so it so the egg mixture, coffee and sugar all combine. It’s really good. The egg adds a nice touch. The coffee is still bold but it adds depth, texture, and character to the drink.

We really enjoyed it.

Vietnamese Coffee with Condensed Milk

The Vietnamese Coffee with condensed milk isn’t served with the metal dripper contraption like other places. It’s already done for you. Some love to put it together themselves and others don’t. As there is a lot of ice in the cup, we drank this so fast.

Westlake Shrimp Cake

This is pretty fantastic. I haven’t seen this anywhere else in Vancouver. It’s like a deep fried potato pancake with a shrimp on top. Then is it paired with some greens and sauce.

Fresh Avocado Rolls

There are 4 rolls to an order and it was really delicious. It is paired with a peanut sauce on the side. A great appetizers that is lighter, but very good.

Deep Fried Chicken Wings

There are a good amount of wings to an order, but I wanted more flavour in the wings. It is served with a wedge of lemon and salt and pepper.

It was a bit too bland for me.

Steamed Rice Noodles with Grilled Pork Patties and Pork and Shrimp Spring Rolls

This is not what we imagined this dish to look like. It was more like a platter of the items described plus greens, herbs, beansprouts, and cucumbers.

We weren’t really sure how to eat this, so we grabbed a bit of everything and ate it together with the rice noodles.

Chicken Lemongrass with Rice

There is 2 pieces of lemongrass chicken, broccoli, rice, and sauce. The flavour of that lemongrass chicken was really good. A good dish for an individual person.

Free Range Chicken Pho

This was the special on their board. It was very fragrant and had a good depth of flavour. Lots of noodle and a good amount of chicken.

Final Thoughts

Hanoi Old Quarter Restaurant is pretty good and a great addition to the neighbourhood with it’s Northern Vietnamese cuisine. Not all Vietnamese cuisine is the same, so it’s great to experience different types of dishes from that region.

The food was pretty good and the only item we didn’t like were the wings. Everything else was solid.

Address:
5207 Victoria Dr, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.mrredcafe.ca/Menu?selectedStore=HanoiOldQuarter

In Kensington

Viet Mama Cafe: Homey Vietnamese Food on Victoria Drive

February 7, 2020

Viet Mama Cafe is one of the newest restaurants to open up on Victoria Drive. This little shop serves up home-style Vietnamese Cuisine. The menu is small, but they put a lot of love into each dish.

All the recipes come straight from their family kitchen. They decided to open up Viet Mama Cafe after getting multiple compliments from friends and family about how great their food is. The whole cafe is family run, so there is a lot of heart in the kitchen and in the food.

They do not use MSG in their pho and all their dishes use fresh ingredients.

We were invited to check out Viet Mama Cafe for some lunch.

Interior

The space isn’t too large, but has a decent amount of seats. We did notice on a weekday that it was pretty busy around 1pm. As the space is new, it’s very very clean and organized.

Kids

I brought along my 11 month daughter and they have high chairs available. They do have a handicap accessible washroom, but unfortunately no changing table. They were kind enough to let me change her on a table at the rear of the restaurant.

Iced Vietnamese Coffee

I love Vietnamese coffee. They serve this a bit different. It’s shaken up and then served so its already milked with the condensed milk. Nonetheless, it still tastes good and give you a kick of caffeine into your day.

Salad Roll / Goi Cuon

The salad roll has shrimp, pork, cilantro, mint, and vermicelli served with fish sauce. The sauce on the side was a bit on the salty side, so we used less of it. Everything tasted nice and fresh.

Meat Rice Roll / Banh Cuon Nhan

This has ice flour with pork, shrimp, fried ham, meatballs, fried shallots, and veggies served with fish sauce. There is also fresh herbs, lime and red chilis if you want to enhance the flavour. I love the addition of the fried shallots. I really enjoyed the dish and I would order it again.

Special Beef Noodle / Pho Dac Biet

This has beef brisket, rare beef, and beef balls over noodles. The pho was quite nice. More subtle in flavour as they don’t use MSG, but its such a clean tasting broth that makes you feel good afterwards. The portions were a great size.

Crab Meat Noodle with Fish Cakes / Bun Rieu Cua Cha Ca

This pho is also very popular. It has Real crab meat, fish cake, tofu and veggies over the broth and noodles. I really enjoyed it and the flavour had some depth to it.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we enjoyed dining at Viet Mama Cafe. The flavours were very clean, not too salty and just had a homey feel to the dishes. The menu doesn’t have too many items, but it’s a solid set of items that will satisfy customers. Very family friendly as well. I loved both pho dishes as well as the rice roll.

Address:
5118 Victoria Dr, Vancouver, BC

In Event

Bells & Whistles: Wünderbar Oktobeerfest pop-up

September 29, 2019

Bells & Whistles is located near Fraser and Kingsway in Vancouver. They have a rotating tap of beers and a variety of food items to pair with them.

Of course, there is also something going on at Bells & Whistles. Right now, they have launched their Wünderbar Oktobeerfest pop-up until October 6, 2019. If you can’t be in Germany for the real thing, celebrate in style at Bells & Whistles.

Interior

There’s always a lot of different events hosted at Bells & Whistles. I love the centre of the room with the long tables and big screen. If you aren’t into mingling, there are other cozier tables if you want to be in the comfort of your friends.

At the rear of the restaurant, you can play some skee ball and shoot some hoops.

Seasonal Beers

I am loving all the beers on the menu. There is a good range of Oktoberfest beers from Germany to Vancouver. I tried the Persephone Oktoberfest and its a good beer from Gibsons, BC. Its a German Märzen that is an amber lager with hints of caramel, spices, and malt.

Warm Pretzels

The little round pretzels are more like buns and they are served with a tangy honey mustard dip. It came out super hot and steamy. Best eaten warm as it’s the best way to enjoy it. They honey mustard sauce was pretty good.

Currywurst – Vegan Edition

They have currywurst made with Beyond Bratwurst on top of curry ketchup fries. As a meat eater, this was very impressive. The curry ketchup really ties that taste together. All the meat eaters were so into this. They do have their regular bratwurst made with Two Rivers, which is also good.

Oktober Feast Platter

If you’re sharing a meal with friends and want a bunch of things to nibble on, the Oktober Feast may be a good option. It has pork schnitzel, Two Rivers Bratwurst, rosemary bacon, German Potato Salad, sauerkraut, mustard and pickles. Really good quality meats they use.

All items are easily sharable among 2-4 people. Not a full meal, but just nibbles.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Smoked Pork Shank with celeriac remoulade, green cabbage and hickory sticks are inside this. It is served in a milk bun with fries but you can always swap it with onion rings too.

This was my favourite of the 3 sandwiches. Lots of flavour from the pork and the other ingredients balance it out.

Eggplant Schnitzel Sandwiches

This has fried eggplant, braised sauerkraut, and a caper and mustard aioli. It is also served in a milk bun with fries but we got onion rings instead. The eggplant was pretty chunky and tough to eat. As the skin in pretty tough and the center of it more soft, the eggplant schnitzel would slide around. Even though it is called a schnitzel, it didn’t resemble it at all.

When you bite into the sandwich, you can only taste the eggplant as the aioli and saukraut doesn’t stand out at all.

Pork Schnitzel Sandwiches

This has fried pork cutlet, braised sauerkraut, rosemary bacon, and a caper and mustard aioli. It has all the same items as the eggplant schnitzel but with the pork instead of eggplant. I liked the crunch of the pork schnitzel. It’s not as large and extravagant as schnitzels you can find in Germany, but a decent portion in a handheld format.

Streusel Sundae

There is the base of the vanilla soft serve, streusel topping, and a caramel-apple compote. It’s always nice to end the meal with a sweet treat. It does melt quickly as it is soft serve. I enjoyed the crunch of the streusel and the sweetness that comes with the caramel-apple compote.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for a place to celebrate Oktoberfest with friends, check out the Bells and Whistles Wünderbar Oktobeerfest pop-up. Some items are a hit and miss, but there are a few surprises like the Currywurst with Beyond Bratwurst option. The Oktober Feast Platter is a good item to share among the table too with high quality meats.

Address:
3296 Fraser St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.bellsandwhistlesyvr.ca/

In German

Deutsches Haus (Vancouver Alpen Club): German Cuisine in Vancouver

July 16, 2019

I’ve passed by Vancouver Alpen Club numerous times and I’ve always been curious about Deutsches Haus, which is located inside in the lower level.

We love German cuisine and have been to a few restaurant in Vancouver. Our friend is German and wanted to find some good authentic German cuisine, so I suggested we go to Deutsches Haus.

Interior

The interior is definitely dated and has an old smell to it as well. We did see many people make reservations for dinner time and it was busy by 7pm on a weekend. They have small to large tables and can fit a lot of people.

Krombacher Pils

You can get this in 300ml, 500ml, or a pitcher. We went with the 300ml and it was delicious!

Pretzel

This was fresh from the oven and it definitely was because it was piping hot. Good texture and size, but we wanted some more salt sprinkled on top.

Feast for Four

Since there were 4 of us, it made sense to get the platter for 4 so we can try a bit of everything and get a feel for this restaurant.

This comes with 1 full size oven roasted pork hock, 4 schnitzel, 4 Bavarian meatloaf, and assorted sausages. It is then served with spatzle, red cabbage and sauerkraut.

When it arrived at the table, it was definitely enough for 4…perhaps even 5 people.

The roasted pork hock was crisp on the exterior and so tender and flavourful on the inside. This was my favourite item on the platter.

It is also very oily, so it’s hard to eat a lot of it.

The schnitzel was quite a good portion size too, delicious as well when paired with the mushroom gravy.

It was my first time having Bavarian meatloaf and it was like a soft spongey spam. It definitely took more getting used to.

The sausages were good too but I wished there were more of it. The red cabbage and sauerkraut was very authentic according to our German friend.

The spätzle is an egg noodle dumpling an it accompanied the platter well. Pour some of the mushroom gravy or the other sauce and it’s great.

Black Forest Cake

I’ve had Black Forest Cake a lot when I was a kid, so I have been avoiding it for a very long time. Their Black Forest Cake has layers of chocolate cake, cream, and cherries. We liked the fact that they didn’t use the canned Maraschino Cherries.

Apple Strudel

This came piping hot our from the oven and served with whipped cream and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Final Thoughts

Overall, pretty good German food from Deutsches Haus. The schnitzel and the roasted pork hock were my favourite items on the menu. It was good to try the platter to taste as much as we could since it was our first visit.

Next time, I would come back for a plate of Schnitzel.

Address:
4875 Victoria Dr, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.vacbc.ca/

In BBQ

Kuan Zhai Road: Chinese BBQ Skewers in Vancouver

July 2, 2019

Kuan Zhai Road is a new Chinese Restaurant on the Border of Vancouver and Burnaby. They specialize in Chinese BBQ, grilled fish and spicy food.

I saw a few friends loving this place, so I made them take me with them. I love Chinese BBQ skewers and spicy food, so this seemed like the place for me.

The parking lot is small, so it fills up really fast. Most people just park on the side roads as there are more spaces.

Interior

The space has small to large tables so you can come with a few people or lots of people. You can also call ahead to reserve.

The are booth-style seating and smaller rectangular tables too. The space is a bit dusty and cluttered with storage in the dining area.

BBQ Skewers

The menu has a variety of skewers cooked in an assortment of spices like cumin. Most of the skewers had the same spice. Our favourite varieties that we got were Taiwanese sausage, shrimp, chicken gizzards, and pork. There are more adventurous items like duck tongue and lamb testicles if you dare to try.

The skewers were ok, but one of my friends felt it was a bit bland and could have used a lot more seasoning. We did ask them for a container of spice to make it spicier.

Smashed Cucumbers

This was really good! A good balanced between the chili oil, and vinegar. It complimented the skewers very nicely.

Spicy Pot

On the menu, you can order their spicy pot, then go to the large fridge to select your skewers that will be boiled in the hot and spicy broth for $6.90.

Each skewer is $0.69 and doesn’t matter if it’s meat or veggies. We didn’t want veggies, so my friends and I went for all the meat.

Once you collect your tray of skewers, they clip on your table number so they know the skewers belong to your table. You would think this would be straight forward right? The first time the hot pot of skewers arrived, we looked at it and it had vegetables so we knew right away it wasn’t ours. They couldn’t find our pot, so they made us pick all our skewers again. This time, I made sure the table marker was the right one so it doesn’t go to someone else’s table.

It was definitely annoying but we decided to give it another shot. When the second hot pot of skewers arrived…there were vegetables again so that meant it wasn’t ours. As we told our server, I don’t think she believed us, so we showed our pictures of the skewers on our phones and how we do not get skewers with veggies because we are all about the meat life.

They took the pot away and gave it to the correct table and then tried looking for our hot pot. It was probably 15 minutes later until the finally found our pot.

We ordered medium spicy for our hot pot, but it wasn’t very spicy at all. I was surprised it wasn’t any hotter as some Chinese food can by really spicy.

Final Thoughts

This visit was definitely a miss for us. I’ve heard it’s really good. Either way, I did have patience so I wasn’t too bothered by the service as there was always some food at the table to nibble on. In the end, they did give us $30 worth of vouchers to use next time. They definitely have some kinks to work out.

Address:
3488 Kingsway, Vancouver, BC

In Brunch

Ubuntu Canteen: Community-focused Restaurant on Fraser Street

April 21, 2019

Ubuntu Canteen is an organic restaurant, bakery and community space on Fraser Street. It’s a really great concept and I love how they are engrained in the community and giving their customers a fantastic gathering space.

We were invited for brunch during the weekday to see what delicious dishes they have pumping out of their kitchen.

Interior

The space is very open and there is lots of space to roam around. Great for small to large groups. As a new mom, I appreciate the layout and how it’s so accommodating to strollers and families. Love, love, love it!

Pastries and Baked Goods

There is a good selection of pastries and baked goods at the counter. You can’t go wrong with any of them as they pair well with their coffee.

Chocolate Croissant

A standard chocolate croissant that is buttery and flakey with sticks of chocolate inside.

Raisin Swirl

A sweet flakey swirl with raisins was surprisingly good. Not too sweet and works well when sipping on a cup of coffee.

Coffee Brioche Bun

This was pretty delicious with the coffee cream hiding inside the brioche bun. The flavours inside do change up occasionally, so next time they might have a different flavour.

Croissant

A solid croissant that is buttery and full of layers.

Cortado

Cortado is an espresso cut with a small amount of warm milk to reduce the acidity. More popular in Europe than it is in North America, but it can be found on some menus in Vancouver. They use the beans from Bows x Arrows, which actually used to occupy this space.

Ham and cheese croissant

This crispy croissant is stuffed with cheese, then topped with ham and scrambled eggs. It looks amazing and tastes equally as delicious. Everything should be topped with scrambled eggs all the time.

Bavarian sausage

There are 2 pieces of Bavarian sausage, freshly baked pretzel, mustard and kraut. If you’re looking for something simply German, this is it. The pretzel is really delicious.

Chicken Broth

Who knew chicken broth could taste so good. It is topped with green onions and sesame. It reminded us of a really clean and nutritious pho broth but with chicken. We wouldn’t have ever thought about ordering this, but we were glad they insisted on it.

Red Fife Risotto

This isn’t your typical risotto. It also has Nettle Pesto, ricotta, and a poached egg. The grains have a nice bite and texture to it.

Roasted mushroom Tartine

A slice of artisan bread is topped with hummus, assorted mushrooms, preserved lemon and greens. This is great for any mushroom lover and it comes with a side salad too.

The side salad is nothing special, but it was a nice addition to the tartine to get more greens into the diet.

Lamb Bolognese

You can’t go wrong with Henry corn polenta topped with lamb bolognese and a beautiful sunny side up egg. The lamb bolognese is very flavourful and kept us wanting more.

Rotisserie

This items is available after 11am. You can have this as a quarter bird, half bird, or full bird. We ended getting half a bird for our order. The chicken comes accompanied with mushrooms, grains, sour cream, radish and spinach.

The chicken was juicy and flavourful. The skin isn’t overly spiced, so the natural flavours of the chicken do shine through.

Final Thoughts

The food here is fantastic along with their coffee that they serve. They are very proud to be working with so many local producers to offer the best food possible. Along with the focus of having a community space, its one that I will definitely be returning to.

They also have a lot of fun activities happening here like a book club, wine club, Sunday supper series, film night, and more. Check their website or their social media for the latest events.

Address:
4194 Fraser St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.ubuntucanteen.ca

In Noodles

Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen: Vietnamese Cuisine in Vancouver

July 23, 2018

Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen serves up Vietnamese Cuisine that sets themselves apart from other Vietnamese restaurants. They have more than their regular beef pho and they are more known for their specialty pho. I saw a lot of other people coming here, so I thought I would give it a try to see why all the hype is about.

Just remember, they are cash only, so make sure you have some.

Interior

The space isn’t that large and it looks bigger due to the mirrors. I went at 4:30pm on a weekday and it was decently bust but no line up. If you come at peak dinner times, be ready for a little bit of a wait since they have gotten quite popular for their pho.

Spring Rolls (#1 Cha Giò)

We ordered their pork spring rolls and they came piping hot out of the fryer. It comes with a side of fish sauce too for dipping. These were packed full of meat and not too much fillers.

Special Crab Soup with Vermicelli (#23 Bún Riêu)

This is one of their popular dishes. It has vermicelli noodles, tofu puffs, Vietnamese pork ham, pork leg and shrimp in special crab soup. It was really good and not too overpowering with the crab. The crab is subtle but it works with the other ingredients very well.

Special Fish Cake & Vermicelli in Soup (#24 Bún Cha Ca Dac Biet)

Another popular dish too. It is loaded with dill and herbs, fish cake, tofu, garlic and tomatoes. At first we didn’t know if the dill would work so well, but it make sense in this dish.

Herbs, Bean Sprouts, Chili, and Lime

Herbs, bean sprouts, chili, and lime come complimentary if you choose to customize your pho a little bit more.

Rare Beef (Tái)

We ordered a side of rare beef for $3.50 extra, which is not too bad at all. The beef was bright red in colour. You would dunk this in your hot pho broth to begin cooking it.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was a good experience and all the dishes were reasonably priced. We were not disappointed with any of the dishes during this visit. The downside is that this place is cash only and closes very early.

Address:
5083 Victoria Dr, Vancouver, BC

In Japanese

Ichikame Shokudo: Ramen in Vancouver

December 17, 2017

There’s a new ramen shop in town called Ichikame Shokudo located in South Vancouver. I was invited to give their ramen and other dishes a try. I was pretty excited to try this place and we can never have too many ramen shops in Vancouver. Especially in this area, it needs more food options.

Interior

The space isn’t too large, but is good for groups of 2 or 4. They can accommodate larger groups, but go early or later in the evening.

Complimentary tea

As we sat down, they gave us some hot tea as we browsed through the menu.

Shio Ramen

The broth is very light and not rich at all. It’s definitely a different style that personally didn’t attract my taste buds. It lacks the depth of flavour. If you’re looking for something that has a cleaner taste, this is it.

Spicy Ramen

I was hoping this would have a better kick of flavour, but it was still a bit bland and needed more heat and depth. Their ramen eggs are good and the chashu is not bad either.

Kimchi Cheese Ramen

This has a spicy ramen base with veggies, kimchi, and topped with seared cheese on top. This was a very interesting combination and strays a bit from tradition ramen flavours.

Italian Tomato Ramen

This ramen has a tomato base soup with fried chicken, cheese and mixed greens. The soup base is very comforting as it reminds me of tomato soup from my childhood. The fried chicken in the broth made the exterior soggy, so it would have been better on the side.

Pork Belly Samurai Rock

It has braised pork belly, green onions, sesame and pickled radish, egg, on top of rice in this hot stone bowl. The pork belly as nice and torched with a good amount of fat. The portion size is good for an individual.

Katsu Cheese Curry

On top of the bed of rice is curry, katsu, greens, cheese, seaweed and nori.

Beef Cheese Curry

The beef, cheese and veggies in this hot stone bowl. All three were decent but I preferred the other 2.

Pork Yakisoba

Served on this hot skillet with all the yakisoba and pork on top.

Vege Mountain

This huge bowl of cabbage was awesome. Nicely seasoned and a great item to share. I love cabbage, so I had a lot of this and took the leftovers home. For the price, this portion is generous.

Prawn & Cheese Gyoza

The gyoza comes with 6 pieces per order. These gyozas are topped with prawns and the cheese sizzles on the hot plate. It does take some time too cool down.

Spicy Cheese Gyoza

Somewhat similar to the other gyoza. With both of them, I wished the gyoza were more crisp especially when it comes on a hot plate.

Takoyaki

It comes with six pieces per order. A nice snack to share with the table.

Agedashi Tofu

It is presented in a bamboo steamer and comes with 4 pieces. Garnished with nori and bonito flakes similar to other dishes. This tasted ok, but nothing special.

Veggie Croquettes

4 pieces per order and it is crunchy on the outside and savoury on the inside.

Chicken Karaage

One of my favourite appetizers! Crispy, moist and delicious. A great item to pair with your meal.

Yukikaze Freeze

They have partnered up with a local company – 77k Freeze to create their Yukikaze Freeze. There are 7 different flavours and I tried the Wasabi Chocolate as it was pretty unique. With this particular flavour, it was chocolate with dried wasabi sprinkled around, so it wasn’t as intense as I would have imagined.

Freeze Drink

There are 9 different freeze drinks and they also have frozen iced tea drinks too.

Final Thoughts

A lot of the dishes were pretty average. Nothing really stood out to me that I must return for. If you’re in the area and you’re craving a bowl of ramen and don’t want to travel far, this is a good option in South Vancouver.

We Rate Ichikame Shokudo:

Address:
6956 Victoria Dr, Vancouver

Website:
http://ichikameshokudo.com/

In Cafe

Icy Bar: Chinese Dessert

August 20, 2015

Icy Bar has been around for a long time in the Lower Mainland. I remember the first time I had Icy Bar was in the food court of Crystal Mall. Before there were all the other shaved ice places around the city, this was my go to place for shaved ice.

I came here for an evening with a bunch of bloggers to try the different types of desserts that Icy Bar offers at their dine-in locations.

Traditional Eight Mix Icy 八寶冰 ($10) is easily customized with different toppings that they offer. You can choose 8 toppings from the following list:

[one_half last=”no”]

Basil Seeds
Green Bean
Barley
Taro
Black Rice
Red Bean
Peanut
Beans
Chendol
Coconut Jelly
Lemon Jelly
Mix Jelly
Green Tea Mochi
Mango Mochi
Taro Mochi
Original Mochi

[/one_half]

[one_half last=”yes”]

Grass Jelly
Almond Jelly
Pearls
Tapioca
Pudding
Watermelon
Mango
Strawberry
Lychee
Cantaloupe
Pineapple
Honeydew
Mango Poppers
Lychee Poppers
Coconut Milk
Mango Puree
Strawberry Puree

[/one_half]

If you add more than 8 toppings, it’s an additional $1.

They also have premium toppings too like ice cream and durian that costs a but more to be added.

I love this item since you can share with friends or hog it all to yourself. It’s pretty big, so sharing is encouraged. There’s a lot of flavour that the toppings can add to the chunks of ice.

Don’t forget to add the condensed milk to this. If you don’t, you will regret it.

Strawberry Mango Ice Cream Icy 芒果草莓雪糕冰 ($10) is part of their shaved icy series that already have the toppings predetermined. It’s good for those who are indecisive.

Mango Ice Cream Mochi Icy ($10) are for those mango lovers out there.

Tea Egg 茶葉蛋 is probably their only savoury item here. Seems pretty odd to me.

The exterior had a nice flavour, but could be a bit stronger. I just didn’t like the yolk.

Pancake Series 班戟 is a dessert wrapped with their special pancake with whipping cream and a particular filling.

Strawberry 草莓
Mango 芒果
Durian 榴蓮
Taro 芋頭

They taste ok, but I would prefer the whipping cream to be ice cream instead.

Plant Pudding 盆栽布丁 comes in 5 unique flavours below. It’s called plant pudding since the share of it resembles a potted plant. But this version is edible of course.

Original 原味 ($5.50)
Durian 榴蓮 ($6.50)
Mango 芒果 ($6.50)
Oreo 奧利奧 ($6.50)
Tiramisu 提拉米蘇 ($6.50)

I actually quite like the original flavour! It brought be backed to my childhood as there were graham crackers in it.

Black Rice with Coconut Milk 椰汁黑糯米 is served hot and it has a balance of both ingredients.

Chocolate Honey Toast 巧克力金磚 is a tower of toast drenched in ice cream, honey and chocolate. The toast is nice and crisp.

Red Bean Green Tea Ice Cream on Thick Toast 红豆抹茶冰淇淋 it’s not as impressive as the other toast but prehaps it’s because I don’t like red beans.

Tofu Pudding 豆腐花 can be customize similarly to the shaved ice. You can add any topping for an additional cost. I love tofu pudding, but I would keep it simple and add ginger syrup to it.

It’s not a Chinese dessert cafe without drinks right? They have a wide range of bubble teas, slushes, smoothies, etc.

Fresh Papaya Milk Slush is what I ordered. Very good flavour and super delicious.

Overall, a good range of dessert here and they ever had more that we didn’t end up trying. Most people end up getting shaved ice and a bubble tea of some sort.

Foodology Disclaimer: I was invited by ChineseBites to dine at Icy Bar and my desserts were comped. All thoughts are my own.

We Rate Icy Bar:

Address:
3618 Kingsway, Vancouver

Website:
http://icybar.ca/

In Bubble Tea

Milk & Sugar Cafe: $2 Bubble Tea Special

October 4, 2014

Milk and Sugar Cafe is located on Kingsway near Joyce. They are best known for their $2 bubble tea specials and $3 all day breakfast. You really can’t go wrong with those prices. They usually have 3 different kinds of bubble tea on special.

When KoreanGirl and I came here, we didn’t particularly like any of the flavours, as they were cheesecake, slushes, and oreo ice cream flavours.

Avocado Mango Fresh Fruit Bubble Tea (Large $4.25) it was a strong combination but I wanted to try it for fun. I love both fruits, so I didn’t mind it at all. It was dominated by more of the avocado taste.

Lychee Green Tea with Mango Stars was what KoreanGirl ordered.

Their food menu is limited, but it’s all under $5.

Condensed Milk Toast with Ice Cream ($3.50) it took a long time for this to be made. It was a busy day and they only had 2 people working here. We didn’t mind as we had our bubble tea to occupy our time. We loved the toast but though the ice cream was a bit too much, so next time we will probably order it without ice cream.

Overall, decent place with good prices. The interior isn’t that pretty, but it will do.

We Rate Milk & Sugar Cafe:

Address:
101-3365 Kingsway
Vancouver BC

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/milkandsugarcafe

In Japanese

Kishu River Japanese: Just Stay Away

February 24, 2013

I was in the area and my coworkers wanted to grab some lunch close by. We tried going to Congee Noodle King, but they were packed! All the tables were taken, so we settle on Kishu River Japanese.

No one was eating here during lunch and this place smelled pretty funky. There was a very unhygienic odor lingering but it smelled very stale. This was the first sign that something didn’t seem right.

As we sat down to order, we saw a makeshift office complete with a fax machine in the corner. This seemed weird too. We made our order and there was only 1 server and 1 cook. With 5 bento boxes ordered, this took about 40 minutes to prepare. The restaurant was not full at all. At this point, we were very scared, hungry and annoyed. We didn’t have much time to eat, so we just decide to get it to-go.

Bento Box F ($10.95) unagi don, salmon roll (6pcs), tuna and salmon sashimi, salad and fruits. Comes with miso soup too.

The description sounded great, when I opened my box, I was scared. The salmon rolls were falling apart, the salad looked old, the unagi (eel) was so small and not fresh at all. Plus, if I’m paying over $10 for lunch, it better me good.

The tuna sashimi pieces were large but the salmon was so minimal. The quality of sashimi was quite poor. It was icy and just defrosted.

Overall, I have nothing good to say about this place. The service was horrible, the food was barely edible, and everyone was pissed off.

We Rate Kishu River Japanese Restaurant:

Address:
3339 Kingsway Street
Vancouver, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Kishu+River+Japanese+Restaurant&hl=en&sll=49.2445,-123.034515&sspn=0.116101,0.260925&hq=Kishu+River+Japanese+Restaurant&t=m&z=12″]

In Filipino

Max’s Restaurant: Filipino Food on Kingsway

November 24, 2012

Max’s Restaurant is a Filipino chain restaurant that has recently opened on Kingsway. M, Scarface and I were curious about the food, so we decided to check it out. There are a ton of seats inside, so its great for large families. Private rooms are also available for birthdays or large gatherings. When we went at night, there were tons of families here. There was a wait for a table, which I was surprised.

Calamansi juice was really good and tasted fresh. Much better than the canned one from stores.

Tapsilog Breakfast comes with garlic rice, 2 eggs, pickled peppers and the meat. Breakfast is served all day and is one of the cheaper items on the menu. It’s simple but its way cheaper than the other items on the menu.

Milk Fish was a good item and you must dip it in the vinegar sauce. M and Scarface enjoyed it.

Lechon Kawali is deep-fried pork belly served with atchara and lechon sauce. Its meant for 2 -3 people since it is quite fatty. The quality of this wasn’t very good at Max’s Restaurant, I’ve had better at other restaurants.

Pork Binagoongan are pork cubes sauteed in a rich, mildly sweet and salty shrimp paste sauce. There is also a bed of fried eggplant. It is garnished with tomatoes and chopped spring onion. It’s not a dish for everyone, but I thought it was good.

Garlic Rice is a must order item if you are ordering meaty dishes.

Buko Pandan is made of buko strips, green gulaman and cooked tapioca. It is then flavored with sugar & pandan. M got this and he loved it.

Overall, Max’s Restaurant is a good place if you have a large group of friends or family. In terms of quality, it really isn’t that good compared to Kulinarya. I would just come for the breakfast items, but if you want quality meat dishes, you can find that elsewhere. It’s not worth the price for what you pay here

We Rate Max’s Restaurant:

Address:
3546 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.maxschicken.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=3546+Kingsway+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=3546+Kingsway,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia+V5R+5L7&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Chinese

Fatty Cow Hot Pot: Signature Dishes

August 19, 2012

Foodology Disclaimer: ChineseBites.com approached us to have dinner at Fatty Cow Hot Pot. Although the meal was complimentary, the views and opinions expressed are entirely our own.

On July 19th, I headed back to Victoria Street along with Raymond, Sherman, Rick, Kevin, Janice and Romina to have dinner at Fatty Cow Hot Pot. Widely acknowledged as one of, if not THE best hot pot in the city, I was eager to compare Fatty Cow to some of the better Chinese hot pot experiences I have had around Vancouver and abroad.

From the outside, Fatty Cow looks like your typical humble Chinese restaurant, however, the interior is a much different story. Boasting a smart, modern aesthetic with Asian elemental flair, I was very surprised at how clean and attractive the entire area was. I am quite used to enjoying hot pot in some pretty run down dives so this beautiful seating area was a pleasant surprise.

Anyone that is familiar with how hot pot works knows that the most important aspect of the experience is the broth. Singularly used to cook the various ingredients, the foundation or base flavor set of the entire meal is dictated by the broth used. For this particular outing, we had two pots going with a home-style peanut satay broth and a Fatty Cow ‘Hot and Spicy’ broth. Both broths were quite strong but personally I loved the spicy variation better. Seemingly anything we put into the spicy pot came out tasting delicious from thin strips of meat to seafood and veggies. Those with delicate palettes or aversion to spicy food may find the spicy broth a bit too much but I thought it was just perfect.

One of my favorite dishes of the night was a plate piled high with deep fried fish skin. A very simple dish but delicious nevertheless. The skin was perfectly crispy and flavorful, almost like the prawn crackers served with Peking duck.

Throughout the evening, it was very apparent that all the ingredients were extremely fresh. In addition to the marvelous seafood, I also really enjoyed the plentiful plates of thinly sliced meat. When added to the spicy broth, the meat became infused with flavor and when cooked properly, came out extremely tender. I cannot recall how many plates of meat we ended up polishing off but it was definitely very delicious. Note: Be sure not to cook the meat for too long however, as they are quite thin and do not require that long in the boiling broth.

A rare miss of the evening came in the form of the diced cubes of beef. Unlike the thin strips that cooked quickly and were eaten even quicker, these cubes were extremely chewy and difficult to get through. I definitely recommend sticking with the plates of sliced beef over these cubes as diners may find the thick form factor a bit difficult to manage.

You can never have hot pot without some form of fish balls! All three varieties of this fan favorite were exceedingly fresh and tender. The fish balls were well formed and constructed with zero filler content which lead to exceptional taste and flavor infusion.

Although the guys at the table had ‘conveniently’ forgotten to order any vegetables, one of the ladies with us ordered this basket of beautifully fresh veggies. Just like everything else, the vegetables were very fresh and definitely were a nice respite from the heavy seafood/meat experience we were engaged in for about 1.5hrs.

Two of the dishes we were served were special order and not part of the regular hot pot price. First, a Fatty Cow Giant Scallop served on a half shell! This scallop was simply massive and many of us at the table were gawking at the size of each serving. Although it cost extra, it definitely was worth it in my opinion as the scallop meat was delicious and the sheer size was amazing. I will definitely order this again on a return visit.

The second special dish we were given was lobster! Now, lobster can be quite expensive which is why it is understandable that this is not part of the normal hot pot package. The lobster was very fresh and sweet and really made for a luxurious hot pot. I sometimes order crab with hot pot but two entire lobsters is very uncommon. I think we were all very appreciative of the special offering at the tail end of the meal as it really capped the meal off nicely.

To wrap up with a few final thoughts, there are many hot pot restaurants in Vancouver but very few of them are actually any good. As iterated earlier, the keys to a good hot pot experience are 1) amazing broth and 2) fresh ingredients. It is clear after this dining experience that Fatty Cow has both in spades. I was personally very impressed with the aesthetic appeal and overall cleanliness of the interior as well as the very high quality of fresh seafood and other produce. After this experience, I have no reservations about stating that Fatty Cow may be the best hot pot establishment in the lower mainland. I will definitely be back soon with either family or friends, especially once Vancouver starts getting cold again.

Words of Wisdom:

Go with the spicy broth, your taste buds will thank you
The diced beef cubes were a bit tough, definitely go with the thinner slice sets
Enjoy with larger parties, hot pot is a social event!

We Rate Fatty Cow Hot Pot Restaurant:

Address:
5108 Victoria Dr.
Vancouver, BC, Canada
(604) 568-6630

Website:

http://www.fattycowhotpot.com/

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In Chinese

Golden Swan Restaurant: Signature Dishes

July 22, 2012

Foodology Disclaimer: ChineseBites.com approached us to try a few signature dishes at Golden Swan. Although the meal was complimentary, the views and opinions expressed are entirely our own.

Last week, I headed out to Victoria Street along with Sherman, Rick and Kevin to try a few signature dishes at the Golden Swan Restaurant. The first dish we tried was the Golden Swan Appetizer Platter (五福拼盤). A very common offering, this opening dish was quite well done. The prawns, bean curd wrapped mushrooms and meats were tasty and definitely whet the appetite for the subsequent dishes. Portion wise, this dish is good for 5-6 diners. For larger parties ie 8-10, you will probably want to order two. Great presentation and good base flavors, a very familiar and welcome start to dinner.

The second dish was the Soft Tofu in Japanese Style (千頁滑豆腐). First off, the name was a little confusing as we were not quite sure what the Japanese element was but that aside, a pleasant dish. The tofu was very soft and well complimented by the sauce and diced vegetables. I think this dish would go very well with a few bowls of white rice. Vegetarians will definitely want to consider this as a light entrée over the meat platter above.

The third dish was the Sauteed Geoduck and Scallops with Sweet Peas (帶子象拔蚌炒蜜磄). For those not familiar with Geoduck, this dish will definitely be an interesting experience. The geoduck was tender but a little rubbery. That said, the highlight of the plate was definitely the large scallops and fresh sweet peas. Again, with a bowl of white rice, the tofu dish above and this seafood offering could be a light dinner unto themselves. Even though I am not a huge fan of geoduck in general, the scallops and vegetables were prepared well.

The fourth dish was the Sauteed Beef Tenderloin with Chayote in Black Pepper Sauce (黑椒合掌瓜炒牛柳粒). I felt the pan tossed beef was decent though I would have liked to see the beef a little bit more tender. The black pepper sauce was good and definitely appreciated as the prominent flavor profile as chayote tends to be rather bland. Personally, I could have done without the pieces of strawberry as they were served somewhat mushy and the sweetness was not really complimentary to the overall dish.

The fifth dish was a deep ceramic pot of House Special Salty Chicken (秘製鹽焗雞). This turned out to be one of my favorite dishes of the evening. The chicken was salty, tender and very clean. There was absolutely no oil residue which left the skin very crisp and crackling. The serving size was quite large and easily accommodated the six of us at the table. With a bowl of noodles or rice, this chicken can very competently stand as a primary entrée.

The sixth dish was an Egg white custard w/Almond milk (天鵝杏汁炒奶). Unfortunately, this dish was by definitely a “miss” in terms of taste and presentation. The white custard was extremely bland and not very appetizing. Visually, the dish was not very engaging so I ended up only taking a small spoonful to try. Although technically it did not taste that bad, I personally would not order this again. I strongly feel a dominant ingredient needs to be added to give this dish some semblance of flavor and structure.

The seventh dish was Angel Hair with Tiger Prawn (天使干燒大売蝦). This dish was an interesting ‘fusion’ attempt, combining the very popular Italian pasta ‘Capelli d’angelo’ or Angel Hair pasta with a very popular sambal prawn component. Overall, this dish was simple but very appetizing. The excess sauce from the prawn went very well with the pasta and almost made for an Asian spaghetti of sorts. I would have liked to see the prawn sauce with a bit of heat but to be fair, it was quite good as it was.

The eight dish was a large bamboo steamer of Lobster, Scallops, Shrimp with Rice on Lotus Leaf (荷香珍珠海龍皇). This large seafood dish was very generous, packed full of lobster, scallops, shrink and rice. Flavor wise, it was pretty good though the rice was a slightly dry/hard for me. Overall, the seafood was prepared very well and the portion was quite dense. A good signature or showcase dish for those wanting a bit of everything.

The ninth dish was actually one of two desserts we received, a Baked Tapioca Pudding (西米焗布甸). Those familiar with Asian cuisine will definitely recognize this dessert dish as it is very common in any Chinese restaurant. Having eaten this baked pudding dish literally hundreds of times, I can say this is definitely one of the better offerings in Vancouver. The pudding inside is not overly sweet and the top crust being slightly thicker than normal, almost like an almond cookie. Although I was quite full from the meal, I actually reached for seconds of this great dessert. A very pleasant end to a good meal.

The tenth and final dish of the evening was a plate of Durian Rolls (飄香榴連酥). For anyone familiar with what durian is, I do not think I need to say that there are few ‘fruits’ in this world more polarizing. Honestly speaking, you either love it or you hate it. Due to the very strong smell and thick, almost meat like texture of the fruit, durian is not exactly a universally embraced dessert ingredient. That said, I personally love durian and found these rolls to be pretty great. The actual flavor of the durian is not overpowering but it is definitely present. The pastry is flaky and fresh and with the durian infusion, is a very unique pastry you have to try at least once.

To wrap up with a few final thoughts, I felt the evening was a fairly strong showing by Golden Swan. Although there were one or two misses, the majority of the signature dishes we tried were quite good. With good presentation and simple, traditional seafood dishes, eating at Golden Swan will definitely feel like a very familiar experience to those well versed in Chinese cuisine. For those just starting out and wanting to learn more, I think this restaurant is a pretty safe choice for a solid orientation. I didn’t find anything startlingly innovative or new but for the food they do make, they do it quite well.

Words of Wisdom:

Anything with prawns, scallops etc. is a pretty safe bet
For vegetarians, there are several rather tasty selections to be had
Nothing ground breaking but traditional fare prepared well and at fair prices

We Rate Golden Swan Restaurant:

Address:
5380 Victoria Dr.
Vancouver, BC, Canada

Website:

http://www.goldenswanrestaurant.com/

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In Brunch

Bino’s Family Restaurant: Bang For Your Buck

August 25, 2011

I have to be honest, I judge restaurants based on what they look like from the outside. Bino’s is a family restaurant of Kingsway and Joyce. They are best known for their cheap all day breakfast. For some others, it is their “hangover cure”. For M and I, its just good cheap eats! All their seating is booth style and the interior is quite dated.

We were introduced to this place through a friend and we were mesmerized by their cheap breakfast. We decided to come again since I somehow misplaced those pictures.

Their menu does really have everything from breakfast, lunch to dinner…it’s all there. They also have a kids menu. Most of their items are under $10.

M ordered the Monte Cristo with side of sausages ($6.30 +$2.60). It originally comes with fries, but M felt like sausages, so we opeted out of the fries for a discount of $0.65. Then he added the side of sausages. The sausages were the usual breakfast sausages and they were good.

Their version of monte cristo is egg dipped french toast with ham and swiss cheese. Since there are so many variations of the monte cristo, it wasn’t the version that M was looking for. He wanted it deep fried and smothered in jam. He’s still on the hunt for that kind.

In the case of Bino’s version of the monte cristo, it is still very good and it tastes best with syrup.

I had the Corned Beef special with a side of bacon ($5.95 +$2.60). It has slices of corned beef and mustard on rye bread. I substituted the fries for bacon. hehehe. BACON! I really liked the bacon here, its crispy!

The sandwich doesn’t have too much meat, but it is an ok amount for what you pay. I like how they have mustard on both sides of the bread so you get a good amount of mustard to go with the meat. Mustard+corned beef are a good combination! I really just wished there was more meat.

Bino’s doesn’t have the best breakfast you will ever have, but they give you the bang for your buck. They try to keep their prices low to cater to seniors. I think most of their customers are seniors who just like good eat for good price. It’s just simple and more like “home” type of food thats not overly complicated.

Words of Wisdom:

Free parking in rear, don’t forget to register license plate with waitress
Cheap eats, decent food
Good breakfast deals
Corned Beef Hash is very good
Most popular item is the All Day Breakfast and

We Rate Bino’s Family Restaurant:

Address:

3312 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC

In Cafe

Congee Noodle King: Hit or Miss

April 6, 2011

After looking at the bank accounts and bills, I thought it would be best to try to eat meals $15 and under. Since M and I were on Kingsway, we thought going to Congee Noodle King would be a good idea.

Congee Noodle King has lots of round tables that fit 8 people. The interior is bright and mostly large groups/families are here.

Looking at some of the plates and bowls, M was very turned off by the quality of it since the tops were chipped and super scratched up. In the picture, they look ok, but if you look closer you can see how you may be afraid to eat from them .

We started off with ordering cold milk tea. I really found this to be a bit on the sweet side. I would prefer getting my own little container of syrup to tweak the amount of sweetness.

M ordered the sweet and sour pork on rice. This sweet and sour pork was not very good at all. There was way too much coating around the pork that you could not really taste the pork. M is a huge sweet and sour pork fan, but Congee Noodle King did not do this dish justice.

You would probably get better Sweet and Sour Pork at Manchu Wok at a food court than at Congee King.

Since this restaurant is called Congee Noodle King, I just had to have the Congee. I ordered the diced fresh oyster and minced pork congee. It has green onions, coriander and salty peanuts. The congee tasted very good and had no complaints.

It was a good texture and it was not too runny or too thick.

Overall, I find some of the dishes here at Congee Noodle King a hit or a miss.

I usually go to Chinese restaurants speaking English just to see if they will treat me differently. Usually there is no problem with the service.

In this case the service was a bit lacking, I called for the bill but it never came (I asked for it in cantonese – “mai dan”) . She even acknowledged me, so I am sure she knew that I wanted the bill. I asked another waitress for the bill but I could hear them telling other staff to take care of it. Eventually the bill came but it took them a while to come back to get our change, so we went up to the counter so it would make the process a bit faster. M was already pissed off about the subpar Sweet and Sour Pork.

Words of Wisdom:

Limited parking in the rear
Park in residential areas
Can’t go wrong with congee or the fried items
Cash Only

We Rate Congee Noodle King:

Address:

3313 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC