Cattle Cafe (Vancouver)

Ever since the success of their Richmond location, Cattle Cafe has expanded into Burnaby (twice), opened up a hot pot joint and now have taken over the old Dae Rae Oak in Vancouver. For those familiar with the location, it is rather small and odd-shaped.  Hence, don't be surprised at the haphazard seating arrangements that wreak havoc for the wait staff and customers trying to get in and out of their seats.  Not much unlike a typical day in Richmond traffic...  So after Friday hockey, we headed over for some HK-style cafe action.  However, I never did a post about it.  You see, my pictures turned out pretty bad, and furthermore, the Canucks were ousted by the LA Kings that night.  Yes, it was bad news all around, but I had to return and do it again. And once again, I was still not convinced the pictures turned out right and the Canucks were still not playing (something to do with a lockout!).

To start off my meal, I selected a Hot Horlicks for my included beverage.  On a side note, I can never get over the name "horlicks".  I cannot seem to order it with a straight face.  "Hey, I'd like a hot Horlicks please! Make it a large!".  How about, "Mmm...  This hot Horlicks makes me feel all warm inside...".  I digress.  Anyways, I went for one of their specialties, which was the "build-your-own-noodle" being the Sweet Potato Noodles in Fish Broth (with fish and tendon).  Compared to Deer Garden Signatures, I found the broth to be lighter with less depth.  However, it was still pleasant and hit the spot for a cold night.  The noodles were chewy and plentiful while the fish moist and the tendon was soft.  Since a bowl of fish noodles seemed a bit "unsatisfying" as a meal, I got a side of XO Daikon Pudding Cake to share with Emilicious. Besides, she balked at sharing the hot Horlicks with me.  So...  The fried cubes of daikon cake were nicely textured riding the fine line between being soft and stiff.  As for the XO sauce, it was surprisingly spicy and really did add a good seafoody spice to the dish.

Milhouse, once again, was not very hungry, so he settled for the Beef Brisket Hot Pot which included rice, some side dishes and of course, a really big pot of food! I tried some of the relatively lean brisket and it was sufficiently tender with a decent amount of chew left.  It was somewhat spicy and there was enough seasoning in the broth.  For her own order, Emilicious had the Beef Brisket with Rice Noodles. By virtue of using the same brisket (albeit a different sauce), the meat was decent.  The rice noodles were not overcooked while the gai lan was still vibrant.  She was happy with the bowl of noodles.  On the topic of noodles, Gordo had the Sliced Beef and Hand Squeezed Fish Noodles in Satay Soup (which I had last time).  The significance of the dish is the picture in the menu.  You see, the noodles are made with fish mousse which is piped into boiling water from a pasty bag.  The picture in the menu...  well...  leaves a lot to the imagination...  LOL...  I found the soup to be really salty the last time I tried it and Gordo pretty much echoed the same sentiments.  However, much like me, he still enjoyed the bowl of soft, fluffy noodles with tender morsels of beef.

Lastly, for reference purposes, Milhouse had the Baked Seafood & European Wieners in Cream Sauce with Fried Rice the last time we were here.  Well, it was strange to look at (due to the European wieners, but it is a HK-style cafe...), but ultimately it was creamy in a starchy way with lots of moist Basa.  Still not sure about the wieners though...  Again, Cattle Cafe did the job for late night eats.  I've had better, yet, the food is pretty predictable, inexpensive and well-portioned.

The Good:
- Predictable
- Decent portions for the price
- Above average food

The Bad:
- Not only exclusive to this location, the seating arrangements are tight and somewhat uncomfortable
- Parking lot for this location only good for really narrow cars
- Really awkward for the staff to serve you here (they try though)