Angel Cafe

A good friend called up the Viv and offered some teacher materials he no longer needed. So we arranged to visit Herbie the Love Bug (that's the nickname we'll give him) today and go out for dinner as well. After moving 4 boxes worth of stuff (great, all we need is more stuff) into the car, we decided to go to Angel Cafe for dinner. You might be asking: "Wait a minute, didn't you just go to The Boss today?" Why yes, I did and I am visiting ANOTHER Hong Kong-style cafe for the second time today. It must be that I have this strange attraction to these places.

So the family, Love Bug and his missus all make the trek over to Fraser and 44th to Angel Cafe. Luckily for us, we found a parking spot nearby AND didn't have to wait for a table. Score! There are not a lot of tables that seat over 4 guests, so we were lucky. The dining room is bit cramped, they even started putting tables on the bakery side as well to compensate. The portions at Angel Cafe are downright generous. For the prices you pay (rarely anything over $10), you really do get good value. Moreover, the food tastes good. Viv had the Fried Rice Noodle with Beef and Vegetables. The dish was quite large with a generous helping of sliced tender beef and yau choy. The noodles were not too oily and there was just enough sauce. I choose to have the Hot Pan Set meal where you can choose 3 meat items that are served on a sizzling hot plate. Included in the meal is a soup (cream soup or borscht), garlic bread, baked potato, vegetables, spaghetti or rice, choice of sauce, choice of beverage and dessert. The 3-item meal costs $14.95 and the 2-item meal costs $11.95. The 3-item meal is priced a bit steep for this class of restaurant and honestly, the 2- item meal is more than enough for most people. I choose the 3-item meal just because I have the "eyes are large, pants are tight" affliction (it's a Chinese saying). However, both are still solid values for the amount of food you are receiving. Although, it's worth mentioning that Alleluia Cafe in Richmond offers their 3-item meal for only $9.25. Only difference is that you don't get garlic bread and dessert.

For my 3 items, I choose the Chicken Steak, Beef Short Ribs and Ox Tongue (yes, ox tongue AGAIN! I love tongue! That didn't sound right...). The chicken steak is essentially a de-boned chicken leg that is pan-fried. It was cooked perfectly all the way through, while being tender. The short ribs were good as well; however one piece probably sat too long on the sizzling plate and it was charcoal-like. The tongue was melt in your mouth tender (that also doesn't sound right). I asked if Viv wanted any tongue and she gave me a dirty look. The baked potato could have used another hour of baking, since it was not that soft. Love Bug and his missus seemed to enjoy their meal and concurred with my assessment of the chicken steak and tongue. They also had the Fish Filet Cutlet, which was Basa. It was crunchy and a bit flavourless. The dessert was coconut pudding and it was quite good, not being too sweet. Usually, the service is pretty efficient, if not impersonal; but for some strange reason, the food was coming out at a snail's pace. I will assume this is a one time problem. Overall, I think Angel Cafe is good value since you get good food at low prices.

The Good:
- Large portions
- Reasonable prices
- Central location

The Bad:
- Service is indifferent
- Tight dining room

Angel Cafe
5995 Fraser Street
Vancouver, B.C.
604-323-8948

Business Hours:
8:00am - 11:00pm (7 days a week)