Szechuan Chongqing Restaurant @ Pine St./West Broadway

It's another Groupon meal! This time, at Szechuan Chongqing Restaurant on West Broadway. It looks very big as it has a huge sign on the second floor (above some other shops on the ground floor) and has an eye-catching green and yellow signboard, easily seen from the 99 B-line bus.

Back in February, this restaurant was offering a dim sum tasting for $18 for xx (sorry, can't remember!) number of dim sum dishes for Dine Out Vancouver 2012. I was excited to try that out, as I have limited dim sum experiences in this city, but in the end I had to give it a miss due to some unfortunate events.

When I saw the Groupon for this restaurant, I thought, maybe I'd finally have a chance to try this restaurant again! The Groupon was offering $15 for $30 of food or a $20 set meal for two ($42.50 value). The set meal looked attractive:

• Two spring rolls (a $4 value)


• Bean-sprout chow mein (an $8 value)


• Ginger beef (an $8.50 value)


• Szechuan-style green beans (an $8 value)


• Vegetable fried rice (a $6 value)


• Dai ching chicken (an $8 value)

I decided to get the set meal since it was an easier choice of what to eat. We went there on a sunny Saturday after a beautiful harbour cruise around the Burrard Inlet. I had called to check if we could use the Groupon for lunch (since it says "dinner for two" on the deal) and the person on the phone said no problem.

We got there and it was rather empty for a Saturday. It was around 12:30 p.m. when we arrived and once we presented the Groupon, the waiter whisked it away and brought us some tea.

I was very surprised that the food started coming after several minutes. First up was the spring rolls.



Two giant spring rolls cut in half, the presentation was not exactly glamourous. The spring roll skin was fried perfectly to golden brown, and it was served with plum sauce. I imagine it was easily poured out from a jar as it was no different from those at Chinese fast food places.



The fillings were bamboo shoots, a little pork and some carrots. Again, very ordinary.

While we were slowly munching on the spring rolls, the other dishes came within five minutes of each other.



The green beans were deep fried and then sauteed with a salty, dark sauce and some garlic and chilli. It was too salty and greasy for my liking, and in my opinion, greens at the table should be light and refreshing for cleansing your palate between the heavier (meat) dishes.



Every restaurant has their special fried noodles, and they generally taste pretty good. I was, however, disappointed by this (again) greasy and bland noodles. All I tasted was oil. I bet you I can make tastier noodles than this!



Fried rice, it should be bright and vibrant, soft and fluffy. When this dish came, I was saddened by the grey, heavy look of the mound of rice. I took a bite and instead of the fluffy texture that usually comes in fried rice, this one was oily and tasted quite nauseating. I don't mean to sound mean but I certainly do not think this meets my standards of fried rice.

Speaking of which, I might do a recipe post on my take on fried rice! Requires little oil and tastes even more awesome! Are you interested in that?



This is the chicken dish, which looks like chicken braised in soy sauce. The taste of the sauce was quite good, but there was no special oomph to it. I would have enjoyed this dish if only there were not so many bones in the chicken! I spent half my time getting the bones out rather than enjoying this dish.



The ginger beef was deep fried (presumably) beef and slathered with sweet chilli sauce. I enjoyed the sauce, but not the tough, rubbery meat. Deep frying may mask the weaknesses of some ingredients, but not this one.

At this point when all the dishes were arriving, each more disappointing than the last, I was ready to leave. The food was not tasting good; the atmosphere of the restaurant was just getting weird (I can't describe it!).

We hastily finished up most of the food (so greasy!!) and got the meat dishes to go. Our bill came and we only had to pay about $5 more. I was so relieved when I finally left. I felt pretty glad that my missed dim sum experience here may have turned into a blessing in disguise.

No, I don't think I'm ever stepping foot in there ever again. This is one of the most disappointing Chinese restaurants in Vancouver. If you can't do it right, just don't do it. I don't think I've ever been so critical in my restaurant reviews before, but this is an exception.

This meal is definitely not worth $42.50. Heck, I don't think it is even worth $20! Spend your money elsewhere; anywhere would give you more value for money than this place!

P.S. Anyone still want my fried rice recipe?

♥ Nikki

CNY Dinner at The Jade Seafood Restaurant

Happy Chinese New Year to all! It's the year of the ferocious yet magnificent dragon, the year I was born but I am not a dragon.. Such a complicated matter... Whatever it is, I wish everyone a prosperous and fulfilling new year ahead!

It is traditional to have a "reunion dinner" with all the family members on the eve of the lunar new year, and J.S.'s friends here in Vancouver decided to do just that. Sunday (Jan. 22) is the actual eve of the new year, but since all the restaurants would be fully booked and everyone had school on Monday, it was most sensible to have the dinner on Friday (Jan. 20) instead.

A large group of us (30 people) headed to The Jade Seafood Restaurant in Richmond. It was a rainy evening and the place was quite a few blocks from the Landsdowne Skytrain station. It was a long walk in the rain and we got there around 7 p.m.



The place was packed, full of people having their own reunion dinners and scurrying waiters. The atmosphere was like a very busy market, with staff dashing madly back and forth between tables with gigantic platters of food and tableware.

A Chinese reunion dinner is very similar to a Chinese banquet dinner you would have at a wedding, J.S. told me. Almost everyone must have had the chance to attend any sort of wedding dinner of relatives/friends, but I have never had the luxury of attending any wedding dinners except when I was less than a year old (I remember only because there were pictures!). J.S. told me it is very common to have a 10-course meal with luxurious dishes just like at a wedding banquet.

As I sat down at the table, taking in all this chaotic atmosphere, the feeling of fear overcame me. This familiar chaos of a Chinese restaurant was intimidating to me; all my memories of having dinner with relatives in Hong Kong came flooding back. I feel like I had not experienced such an atmosphere for such a long time, and I am so used to the Western dining culture that the Chinese way of dining is becoming so foreign to me.

We waited a good 20 minutes for our food, and when they came, they ALL came within minutes of each other. The organizer of this dinner had picked 10 main dishes for a table of 10 people (our party had three tables in all) and, my golly, an organized chaos is the only way to describe it! I'll elaborate more later after showing you all the pictures of the food!



Dish #1: Crab and fish maw soup

Fish maw is a chewy, spongy part of the fish that has a unique texture and somewhat crunchy to the bite. There was a generous amount of fish maw in the soup, along with pieces of juicy, fresh crab meat and egg white swirls. This soup is delicious and somewhat imitates shark's fin soup, the most popular Chinese soup.



It is common to have the waiter bringing the entire serving of soup and serving them into individual soup bowls prepared on the turntable. The amount of soup in the big bowl is usually determined to precisely match the number of guests at the table. Swift, skilled movements by the waiter had the soup served up in no time.



Dish #2: Braised pig trotters with lettuce and black moss

This was my favourite dish of the night. Pig trotters are an acquired taste and not everyone likes them, but I love that chewy, tendon-like texture that melts in your mouth yet has a slight resistance to the bite. Black moss is "fatt choy," which literally means "hair vegetable." It may sound a little off-putting to be eating something that resembles hair, but in Chinese, the sound of the words are similar to mean "fortune," so it is good luck to eat that so you will have good fortune in the new year.



Dish #3: The Jade Empress Chicken

Another popular Chinese New Year dish, this is a whole chicken cooked with a salty, "bouncy" skin. This dish is typically served cold and I just love the taste of cold chicken, and the skin added an amazing texture and saltiness to the moist meat.



The chicken is usually dipped into this concoction of oil, shredded ginger,  green onions and salt. I don't usually like ginger but this sauce wins me over every time. It is a little on the salty side, which could get a little oversalted when combined with the salty chicken (you know I have slight salt phobia!).



Dish #4:  Braised Dried Oyster with Sea Moss

I did not know what was the chewy, meaty thing rolled with the Chinese mushooms until I asked our dinner organizer what it was. It turned out to be oysters. I have never had oysters this way and they tasted rather interesting. Rolled up with beancurd sheets and served alongside choy sum (Chinese cabbage), it was a rather new taste for me. I could not fully judge the overall taste as there were only nine pieces for 10 people and J.S. and I just shared one.



Dish #5: Fried Rice with Egg White & Dried Scallops

With all the hearty meats served, it was about time to have some carbs to balance it off. The fried rice was fragrant with a very unique taste of onion. It did not occur to me it was only fried with egg whites until I saw the menu. I think this fried rice would taste a lot better with less rich dishes such as simple steamed vegetables, so that the full flavour can take the centre stage instead of merely complementing the main dishes.



Dish #6: Crispy Fried Squab

I learned a new word -- squab -- which is pigeon meat. The texture of the meat was extremely similar to that of duck meat, a sandy grind against your tastebuds. I'm not so huge on duck and eating pigeon sounded a little sad, but the way they fried this made the skin so tasty it was impossible not to eat it! However, it was full of blood inside as I guess the meat and bones cannot be fully cooked with just a short time in the fryer. The crispy skin was my favourite part of the squab. The fried shallots brought back memories of Singapore where it was a common topping for porridge, noodles and all sorts of dishes.



Dish #7: Buddha's delight (luo han zhai)

A popular vegetarian dish, this is a platter of various vegetables and vegetarian ingredients. The Jade Restaurant's version had Shanghai bak choy as the vegetable and came with an assortment of black fungus ('wood ear'), white fungus ('snow ear'), straw mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms and fish maw. I enjoyed the texture of the black fungus more than that of the white fungus as it was more crisp and hardy. The Shanghai bak choy was lightly cooked and had a juicy, fresh crunch to it, a very refreshing lightness in the middle of such a heavy meal. This is a lighter dish in the midst of the assorted luxurious meats which I found to clean the palate well.



Dish #8: Braised Pork Belly Served with Pickled Vegetables

The pork belly is one of the most decadent parts of the animal that one can enjoy. The creamy fatty part melts in your mouth while the braised meat falls apart in concert. The pickled vegetables give a nice punch to the already flavourful meat and this makes a winning taste combination. Served in a claypot, the braised pork belly has a unique warmth to it, along with baby bok choy for the vegetable component. Not an ideal dish for the skinny girls watching their weight; but it is good to have it in small amounts.



Dish #9: Black Cod Hot Pot with Green Onion & Ginger

Another dish served in a claypot, this fish had a very addicting taste to it. It was fried but not crunchy, soft but not soggy. There were very strong flavours of soy sauce along with the green onions and ginger. I loved the taste of the fish, but my only complaint was the gigantic pieces of fish bones that were in it. I personally think this would be a perfect dish if they fried the fillet part of the fish instead of the bony parts.



We started with a bowl of warmth, we also ended the meal with a bowl of warmth.



Dish #10: Pumpkin soup with sea coconut (complimentary dessert)

Dessert was on the house with dinner, and the typical meal-ending bowl of soup that I NEVER look forward to was always red bean soup. Some restaurants have great red bean soup, others not so much. I was dreading the all-too-familiar red bean soup when the huge bowl of yellow soup arrived and surprised me. I asked the waiter what it was and he said it's pumpkin soup with sea coconut.

I was apprehensive at first, but the smooth, creamy soup gave me a pleasant surprise. The chewy sea coconut tasted like the longan fruit. I may have had some terrible experiences with sea coconut but I actually liked this one. The soup tasted nothing like pumpkin and more of sweet coconut milk, which I did not mind. Maybe it was better that I could not taste the pumpkin!

***

The food was delicious, the amount of meat was equivalent to what I would have consumed in one week, I was not too bloated even though I had 10 different courses of food. It was a good dinner. But remember how I said it was a harrowing experience?

I found that the speed of Chinese dining greatly exceeded that of Western dining. Waiters would come by every five minutes or after a course was served, bringing fresh clean plates with a loud clatter. I was trying hard to savour every dish carefully but almost had my food taken away by mistake because I was so slow! Efficient waiters, you might say, but it was not what I was looking for in a dining experience. The timing of all the courses were also rushed because all of them came in humongous plates, which mean the table could only fit so many plates at one time. They constantly hurry us to finish up the remaining one piece of the meat or transfer the last few pieces onto smaller plates, thereby creating more bustle and stress to the meal.

Yes, I felt the meal was stressful. The speed that I had to eat at to keep up with everyone else was not the pace I am used to eating. That is also partially the reason why the photos in this post were not too great. Everyone at the table was hungry and ready to dive into the food, while the photographers at the table (three of us, including me) all had to take our shots before everyone dug in. I would prefer a more relaxed and calm setting where I was free to eat and take pictures as I like.

But this is the Chinese culture, more particularly, I think it is the Hong Kong culture that is so fast-paced, just like how people walk in the bustling city of Hong Kong. I may have been born in Hong Kong but the culture shock is just too much for me to absorb. I have grown to enjoy the slower pace of life in this Western country, taking in everything around me, one breath at a time.

Note to self: Do not host a stressful 10-course meal for my guests at my event of a lifetime!

The Jade Restaurant is located at 8511 Alexandra Road (between No. 3 Road and Garden City Road), Richmond, B.C.

♥ Nikki

Penang Delight Cafe at Rupert St

Happy New Year! I wonder if there are any remaining readers here.. I apologize that this space has gotten a little dusty, but that was because I was tied up with my course exams! Now that is finally done with, I am determined to get this back up and running!

To kick off 2012, J.S. and I were invited to have dinner at Penang Delight Cafe, a little restaurant in East Vancouver that serves Malaysian cuisine. Being from Southeast Asia ourselves (him from Malaysia, and me from Singapore), we looked forward to trying Malaysian food in Vancouver. We have tried Banana Leaf, but that's another story...

We went a little earlier than his large group of friends so we would not have to wait too long for the food. We arrived a little after 7 p.m. and we got ushered to a small table close to the back. The restaurant is not very big, but there were a fair number of tables.



We sat in this little "corridor" at first. Our waitress served us tea, and we requested for water. She cheerily replied in a Malaysian accent, "I change for you?" She also asked if we want hot water or warm water, very considerate of her. After we had placed our orders, J.S.'s friends arrived and we asked if there was room to sit with them. It was a little chaotic at first but we made do, and ended up sitting beside the counter of the restaurant.



There were many decorations and photos on the wall, and the place got more bustling as the night went on. I felt relieved that our food arrived in about 20 minutes, since our friend who had been there had to wait for an hour for his food last time!



I ordered the Kari Ayam with rice which, simply put, translates into curry chicken with rice. Sorry, a little out of focus here, but there were three large pieces of chicken with a few cubes of potato, all served on a piece of lettuce, and a serving of rice.

You may think, it is just a curry dish, how special can it get? I must admit, I was not sure what I was in for. Will it be too spicy? Will it taste like Indian curry? Does it taste as good as it looks? All these questions were running through my head. I took a small taste, and boy, I was surprised!



The curry tasted exactly like what I've had in Singapore, and it was the kind that was not too spicy, nor did it taste like any other kinds of curry. It was flavourful, savoury with just enough spicy to define curry. When I tasted it, I thought, "This is the correct taste!" -- a feeling of home came back to me.

Sounds like I'm exaggerating, but it was genuinely tasty! The rice was perfectly cooked and  went hand in hand with the curry sauce that I am so used to having on my rice. One downside to this dish -- J.S. and I both agreed they should have served more sauce, since we Singaporeans/Malaysians LOOOOVE to drench our rice with sauce (or maybe it's just us...). Nevertheless, it was good curry, perhaps even better than the ones I've had in Singapore! I would say it was regularly priced at $7.95 for a not-so-big serving of rice.



This was the dish J.S. picked -- Cantonese Chow Fun (Cantonese fried noodles). When I saw that on the menu, I thought, "Why would anyone order Cantonese food in a Malaysian restaurant?" But we did not regret trying this dish at all.

It had two different kind of rice noodles in it -- crispy, thin white vermicelli and brown, soft  'hor fun' (flat noodles). The crispy vermicelli was soaked in the glossy sauce, which made it soft and chewy, giving it a nice texture on the teeth. The brown hor fun was smooth and fun to slurp up. Having two noodles in one dish was a very exciting adventure for my tastebuds!

The sauce tasted also just like the kind we have at home; it was thick with some egg swirls in it. There was a generous assortment of toppings on the noodles -- thin slices of pork, thin slices of fishcake, large pieces of squid which were tough to chew (just like the ones in Malaysia, according to J.S.), fat juicy fresh shelled prawns, Chinese cabbage (choy sum) and I can't remember if there were black mushrooms... Everything went very well together and the portion size was definitely worth the price of $8.95 for this noodle dish!



For dessert, we had Kuih Dadar -- crepes rolled up in the shape of a spring roll with shredded coconut and 'gula melaka' (brown palm sugar syrup) inside. I had never tried this before. We initially decided to try other desserts but this was the only one they had that day. It took 20 minutes to come and we were almost about to cancel it, but they served it after we reminded them about our order.

I thought the presentation was good, since it was drizzled with the brown sugar syrup and shredded coconut, reflecting what was in the roll. However, J.S. was disappointed and thinks they could have done better displaying the dessert like the picture on the wall.



I wished I had taken a better shot of the inside, but this is all I have. The coconut was chewy and very sweet with the syrup, and the crepe was spongy and tender, which soaked up the syrup nicely. We both enjoyed this dish, but decided the price was too exorbitant since it was $4.95 for only two pieces.

Over all, it was nice to have food from our home countries and it left me with a good impression of the place. Our waitress was extremely helpful, courteous and went all out to cater to our table, especially when we were waiting for our dessert, she offered to bring us fresh napkins. The boss also walked around chatting with customers and frequently asked if we needed anything.

On the other hand, this place did get pretty busy past 8 p.m. and service levels dropped after that. No surprises, but if you want your food quick and your service good, go there before 7 p.m., when it is not too crowded!

I might or might not visit this place again, since it is quite far away from my neighbourhood of comfort. At least, the place is easily assessible by bus but the journey is still long. If I ever visit this place again, I'll look forward to trying other dishes on the menu!

Penang Delight is located at 3885 Rupert St., Vancouver, B.C.

♥ Nikki

iCafe at Heather St

Finally, I am going over to get over this blogging slump! One month of delicious food coming right up!

Somewhere near the end of April (gee, it's already the end of May!), on April 26 to be specific, we went on a crafts shopping trip at Michaels. That place is a heaven for anything artsy! We (okay, I did) went a little crazy with four balls of yarn and three different-sized knitting needles! Yes, I'm teaching my man to knit (!).

After our shopping trip, I spotted iCafe and remembered vaguely dining there once before. It's ANOTHER Hong Kong restaurant (third one featured in this blog, perhaps the last, unless we venture into Richmond or something). It was on the second floor of a building at the corner of Heather and West Broadway.



A small, trendy little restaurant-cafe, iCafe serves traditional Hong Kong cafe dishes. They have full menus but we picked the "afternoon tea/late night" specials. They should be relatively smaller portions but we found the size satisfactory.



The menu for the specials. There are more on the other side but they are more snack-ish foods like sandwiches and finger foods. I picked the mini beef brisket in curry sauce on rice and JS picked sauteed beef with seasonal vegetables on rice. Each meal also comes with a hot drink.

The waiter was not very responsive and we had to wave our hands in the air for several minutes before he came to take our order. We were there before 5 p.m. for an early dinner and the place was nowhere near packed.



The drinks came first. JS got Ovaltine (on the left) and I got Horlicks (on the right). Way too diluted and tasteless -- you gotta add your own sugar. Both of them are powdered drinks sold in the supermarkets of Asia, so there really isn't much to say on them.



The food came pretty quick. This is JS's beef with Shanghai bok choy and rice. Nothing too exciting. It seemed like they put too much meat tenderizer until the meat taste was more or less gone -- it tasted kind of bland and plastic-like. The vegetables were quite fresh.



We have noticed a trend that every time I go to a Hong Kong restaurant, I order some kind of curry. Deep down inside, I am secretly addicted to curry, especially the non-spicy and creamy kind. This beef brisket fits the bill perfectly and it had a little kick to it. The rice came on a separate plate. The beef was tender and meaty, much better than JS's beef dish. There were also some chunks of amazing fried potatoes and translucent onions scattered in there.

There was so much food I had to pack up half of it to go -- hooray for lunch the next day! And believe it or not, each of our meals with the drink is only $6.95 plus tax! So the whole meal was pretty much less than $20 even with tips. We probably paid around $18 or something for both; I don't remember now.

This is a good place for tasty and inexpensive food, but the service was rather poor. Over all, great food but mediocre service -- almost the norm for Hong Kong restaurants. I don't think I'll be eating at another Hong Kong cafe any time soon! So much more cuisines out there to try!

iCafe is located at 2525 Heather Street, Vancouver, B.C.

♥ Nikki

Cafe Gloucester at Cambie St

About a week and a half ago (yes, it has been that long eh?), we went to try out Cafe Gloucester on Cambie Street, a couple blocks away from Copa Cafe.





It is also a Hong Kong-style restaurant, and the menu was more or less the same, except they had more choices. We wanted to give it a go and compare it with the horrendous service we got at Copa.



We were immediately greeted as we entered. A waitress said we could sit anywhere as it was only 5pm and the restaurant was no where near packed. We picked a booth and settled into our seats.



The restaurant had a very open layout, with wide paths for walking and a central counter where orders are taken. The layout really resembles Tang's Noodle House (which is another story for another day), and the soft lighting makes it very cosy. The choice of music was instrumental pop hits, very gentle and romantic.



I was pleasantly surprised that we had fork and spoons as utensils given it was a Chinese restaurant. Usually we prefer forks and spoons (being from Southeast Asia) over traditional chopsticks.

The waitresses were VERY attentive. They asked us three times before we could decide on what to get. They were also patient in answering our questions about the level of spiciness. Once we asked how spicy a dish was, she said "Would you like it more spicy or less spicy? We can make it either way you like it." Very thoughtful and intelligent on her part.

J.S. decided on a Szechuan seafood platter and the portion size was very healthy! We requested for less spicy and it was just right, the way my taste buds can handle!



There were squid, cod fish, large scallops and shrimp. Quite a generous portion of seafood for a dish that was $14.99. The complementing vegetables were snow peas, celery, Chinese mushrooms and black fungus. Everything was very well cooked and succulent. I especially enjoyed the scallops as they were juicy and had the slightest sweet taste just enough to balance the flavour.

I ordered Portuguese chicken rice AGAIN! Just for comparison to the other one at Copa. It was slightly more expensive at $10.99, but the portion size was equally huge and the exterior looked pretty much the same.



The potatoes looked very appealing, golden brown and encrusted with coconut shavings. I could hardly wait to dig into it!



The rice was moist with some egg fried into it (simple egg fried rice). The sauce reached the rice nicely, so the rice was not dry and tasteless. The chicken was in very large pieces and there was a lot of skin (which I discarded). Most importantly, the taste of the chicken was sour -- definitely not something you would expect in a savoury dish like this.



I can't imagine what would make the chicken taste sour. It was kind of like citrus-sour, not rotting-sour. At least it was edible, but the sour taste became more prominent after each bite. Again, we got half of it packed up. The bill came to $26.68 including taxes, which was a little on the expensive side.

Over all, service was excellent and the food was so-so, almost disappointing. What a totally opposite experience compared with Copa. Copa had AMAZING food but super unfriendly service. Gloucester has top-notch service but mediocre food.

Where should you go? It's a tough decision. Go try them for yourselves and let me know!

Cafe Gloucester is located at 3338 Cambie Street, Vancouver, B.C.

♥ Nikki

Copa Cafe at Cambie St

Last Friday night, J.S. and I decided to give Copa Cafe a try, after seeing pictures from a friend and having passed by it gazillions of times on the bus.



Copa Cafe is a Hong Kong-style restaurant that serves Western food cooked like they are in Hong Kong, as well as more traditional Chinese dishes. I LOVE Hong Kong food!



I was drawn to the restaurant by its cheery mascot of a smiling chef with a bright red nose. The mascot's picture was everywhere -- on its signboard, its menu booklets, and even in this cute piece of art on the wall when we first entered the restaurant!



The interior gives patrons a classy, modern feel with its boldly coloured white and red furniture but yellow and orange hues on the wallpaper, enhanced with warm ceiling lighting. It provides a nice atmosphere but it was playing soft rock radio, which turned it into a casual dining environment as opposed to an ambient dining atmosphere. But the casual dining scene is quite common in Hong Kong, so no surprises there.



And the reason for so many pictures of the interior? We were standing at the entrance, waiting to be seated. We stood there and as you can see, the restaurant was not even half full and no waitresses saw us. We decided to remain civilized and not wave for attention; that would look kind of rude. After trying to make eye contact for one minute, a waitress with a suit [let's call her the Suit Waitress] finally saw us, but did not say anything and looked away.

After another minute of making frantic eye contact, she finally came over and asked us what we wanted, but not before dropping off a bag of food at a table. She did not greet us nor speak to us kindly; she said in a no-nonsense tone in Cantonese, something along the lines of "What do you want?" We reply politely and said we would like a table for two, and she looked somewhat surprised and then quickly showed us to a table at the corner of the restaurant, next to its big windows facing the sidewalk.



As we sat down, I began taking more pictures and placed my menu on the adjacent table. Our alarm bells were already ringing with regards to the service. After a few minutes, another waitress came to clear the table and she asked almost angrily, "Do you want this menu or not?" I felt obliged to put away my camera, which seemed unreasonable to me. Nevertheless I started looking at the menu.



There's the cute mascot again, on the first page of the menu! I browsed through it quickly and most of the items were over $14, especially for the Western meals, like steak etc. I like my rice so I flipped to the more Chinese-style pages and had a look. I decided on the Baked Chicken Steak on Rice in Portuguese Style. I am familiar with this dish and I quite like it. J.S. decided on a Chinese set meal with soup, a main dish with rice, and dessert.



There was a choice of tom yum soup, hot and sour soup and wanton soup. J.S. chose the wanton soup because I did not really fancy the first two. The small bowl of soup came with a generous serving of 5 to 6 wantons with half a bunch of Shanghai bok choy.



I was impressed with the wanton -- thin silky cover encompassing a flavourful burst of pork and shrimp. The taste of the meat was really good, but the soup was a little salty and had a little too much MSG for my liking.



J.S. chose the lemon chicken dish, and it was gigantic! It was a large chicken steak fried with batter and slathered with clear lemon sauce. There was also a generous portion of white rice, as well as the bunches of Shanghai bok choy on both sides. The chicken tasted fresh and the outside was crispy and not too soggy. The lemon sauce tasted homemade and pretty good! Pity the entire plate had an uneven bottom and the plate of food was wobbling nonstop throughout the entire meal. Epic FAIL on their cutlery part.



My Portuguese sauce chicken baked rice. This picture makes it look like Aladdin's magic lamp. But oh boy, it was GIGANTIC! A heaped dish of rice topped with a mound of chicken, and the "Portuguese sauce" is actually a kind of curry. The curry is mild and not spicy at all, essentially flavoured with coconut milk. The cheese is also golden brown at the top -- my favourite!



A slight fail on their part -- not covering a small portion of the rice resulting in that little section being dried up. Nevertheless, the impeccable taste was certainly up to my standards and the generous amount of chicken and rice was unbelievable. There were also small wedges of potato and onion hidden into the seams of the chicken and rice.



Here's how much was left by the time I was done with it. I only ate about one-third of the whole dish! The amount of chicken in there is about the same amount of meat I consume in a week! Definitely taking home leftovers! The waitress came to take it away and I presumed she would pack it in a box for me. She did not ask, also assuming that I wanted it packed. This might be a mistake on my part and I ran after her to make sure she was not about to dump it into the trash.



After that, the dessert arrived. The waitress came by hurriedly and literally PLONKED the dish down. She set the dish down so hard you could see the drop of milk on the bottom left corner of the picture that spilled out. The dessert was mango pudding in evaporated milk. There was no choice on the dessert in the set meal, so it came just like that.

It came with only ONE spoon, and we had to flag them down to get us another spoon. Believe me, I have been to restaurants when they are customer-attentive enough that they give us two spoons even for one dish. The spoon came without even a glimmer of a smile, just the same can-you-people-get-out-of-my-way face the whole time.

The pudding is another story to speak of. It was smooth and silky, and instantly melts in your mouth. The evaporated milk takes out some of the sweetness and balances out the taste. The pudding was not the usual wobbly jelly texture; it was very delicate and fragile. The taste also had genuine mango in it, leading us to think about whether it is homemade. Whatever it is, it was good!

***

Who would think the drama ends there? We had to wave our hands for 5 whole minutes before someone finally noticed us when we tried to ask for the bill. Yes, BOTH of us waved our hands. Who cares about civilized behaviour when you seem to be intentionally being ignored by waitresses?

When the bill came, it came up to $22.29 including tax. I was pleased with the total as it was within my expectations. When I went up to the counter to pay with my debit card, the manager (presumably) said to me, "Excuse me, if you are paying with card for bills below $25, we have to charge you 50 cents."

WHAT!? I can get a $1+ charge on my debit card at Safeway! You are telling me here that I have to spend $25 at your horrendous restaurant to pay with debit/credit card!? Good thing J.S. had cash on him or else we would have to suck it up to them.

Anyway, we ended up paying just a couple pennies more than the bill amount. These people do NOT deserve any form of tip, seriously. If the food was bad, I might have left without paying altogether! We scuttled out quickly in case they decide to be vicious and force us to pay a tip.

Conclusion:

Fantastic food with portions large enough to feed a small army. Definitely worth the price. Service? It makes me want to throw tomatoes at them and never ever go within 10 feet of the restaurant again. Since I don't get to eat Hong Kong food that often, I definitely want to eat more of it. But I really doubt that this restaurant deserves my money. I don't usually feel so strongly against a place but J.S. and I both agree that we would not be back. I might just get take-out if I am really craving for their food.

Copa Cafe is located at 4030 Cambie Street, Vancouver, B.C.

♥ Nikki