After falling behind 2-0 in our Friday night hockey game, we were able to come back to tie the game and send it into a shootout. For me, anytime we head into a shootout, it is truly nerve-wracking. I'll admit it, the fact that the outcome of the game falls on my shoulders can be stressful. Fortunately for me, I didn't suddenly envision a crab cake flying towards me rather than a puck; thus we ended up winning. Phew! Now I can concentrate on eating! With 7 of us heading out for late night eats, we had to pick a place that was open late, could accommodate all of us and provide a variety of food. My idea was Golden Oscar, which happens to be the good ol' Hong Kong-style cafe. When I made the suggestion, Silent Bob remarked that he didn't even know what that really meant. To tell you the truth, it is a interesting concept. Imagine unique interpretations of Asian and Western food all in a Chinese cafe.
Located in a somewhat random corner mall, Golden Oscar and its neighbouring businesses are in predominantly residential area. By maximizing the little that they have for a parking lot, it is a recipe for disaster. Narrow spots, even narrower driving lanes coupled with crappy drivers, it leaves most people praying that nothing happens to their car. Luckily it was late in the evening and we could park crooked if we wanted to. Mind you, that happens all the time here anyways... Usually, at a HK-style cafe, there are a whole lot of options when it comes to food. However, I usually try to go for their set meals since I like meat. Unlike Angel Cafe and Alleluia, there is no option for picking 3 meats as a meal. Therefore, I thought that the Mixed Grill would provide me with all the meats I wanted. However, when it arrived, it looked like I got Chicken Steak instead. Well, it was indeed chicken steak. Uh, how the hell does "mixed grill" sound like "chicken steak"??? Serves me right, I should order in Cantonese next time. Everyone encouraged me to send it back; but honestly, I didn't want to take that chance. I might get back a mixed grill alright... but who knows what that would entail! Well, the dish that I ended up with was quite good. Essentially 2 deboned chicken legs that are pan-fried, they were juicy and the black pepper sauce was flavourful.
Boss Woman picked two items from the mini-set menu and also ended up with 2 beverages (each item includes one drink). When both dishes arrived, she admitted to being a bit greedy since there was too much food. Oh really? It seems she orders 2 dishes almost every time at HK-style cafes! Anyways, she started with the Fried Flat Rice Noodle which is essentially Singapore fried noodles without the vermicelli. She liked this dish since the noodles were soft while retaining their shape and plenty flavourful without being too greasy. Her 2nd dish, which is evidently her favourite was Shrimp Egg Swirl on Rice. With big crunchy shrimp in a scrambled egg sauce, this was another good dish. However, she didn't
prefer the rice and stated it would've been better without it. I'm not sure why she didn't order the Shrimp and Eggs like she usually does instead; but I didn't really go further with it. After all, she's Boss Woman...
Milhouse and Mr. Blueberry ordered practically the same dish albeit with different meats. One had the Chicken Fried Noodle and the other had the Pork Fried Noodle. Since they looked practically alike, I only posted a picture of the pork fried noodle (well, it also turned out to be a better picture too!). Although the 2 fried noodles appeared to be quite saucy, they both liked it since there was no absence of ingredients. Personally, I wasn't that impressed with the pool of sauce once all the noodles had been eaten. I guess it's personal preference in this case. Gadget Girl did her best impression of Miss Y and ordered something out of left field. Usually something you'd order at a wonton noodle house, she had the Fish Cake Lai Fun (fish mousse with rice noodles). There wasn't much to comment on this bowl of noodle since both the noodles and fish cake are not made in house. She did remark that the soup was a bit bland.
Silent Bob couldn't find anything really that he wanted and settled on the Portuguese Chicken with rice. Honestly, I'm not even sure if he knew what it was since he looked confused when it arrived. In reality, it's essentially a light coconut curry with chicken. He ate most of it so I suppose it was good? I didn't get a chance to find out, he didn't say anything about it... Polka King went for the Cream of Corn and Chicken Rice. Now, if this looks like someone took a can of Green Giant creamed corn and added chicken and egg to it and dumped it on top of steamed rice, you are absolutely right. Nothing amazing with this dish; but at the very least it looked and tasted alright. If it weren't enough, Milhouse copied Boss Woman and ordered a second dish - Fried Wontons. Well, they were crunchy and quite light. Surprisingly good really. Although I'm not sure why he was having an appetizer last. Whatever the case, the food is generally quite decent here at a reasonable price. Nothing ground-breaking here and honestly, the random movie posters on the wall trying to tie in the restaurant name is quite laughable. But it's not the ambiance that matters really.
The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Decent eats
- Lots of options
The Bad:
- Parking lot only fit for Honda Fits
- Nasty tasting soft drinks (as observed by Mr. Blueberry)
Golden Oscar
Posted by
Sherman Chan
on Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Labels:
Hong Kong-Style Cafe,
Late Night,
Vancouver
6 comments:
Actually, you would be surprised at how people manage to park in that parking lot (mainly due to Chong Lee Market)!
BTW, any time for Kimura, which is nearby, next time? Not cheap eats, though...
Yah, anytime for Kimura. I love Japanese food! Yah, I'd rather not park in the lot anymore... My car is too big and will get dinged, which it did in the Coquitlam T&T parking lot! $#*)*#@$)*#@
All complaints about parking lots pale in comparison to any parking experience at Crystal Mall underground parking. Yes, you've gone down to the Depths of Hades and that's what their parkade is like.
Couldn't have said it any better LR...
That's funny about the parking because I own a Honda Fit but that doesn't stop me from worrying about those humungous SUV's (yes I;m talking about you Sherman).
Anyways, I haven't been to Oscar's in awhile and your post tempted me to go again. The chicken steak was pretty good, tender, juicy and fried but I really liked their fried shanghai noodles as it had awesome "wok hai".
LOL, yah, but I love my SUV! It got dinged over the weekend by someone at the T&T parking lot in Coquitlam... Argh!
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