Cantonese BBQ

There are some pretty good choices for Chinese BBQ within Greater Vancouver.  Naturally, the first thought that comes to mind is HK BBQ Master or the one across from it at Parker Place.  However, there is a another in Vancouver that could be spoken in the same breath.  It is Cantonese BBQ on Kingsway near Joyce.  I've been here countless times and finally got to eat in (rather than merely taking out, things are fresher when eating in of course).  We ended up with one of their lobster dinners that included some other dishes.

Naturally, we started with some of their famed BBQ including the Roast Pork and BBQ Duck.  As you can see in the picture, both looked pretty legit.  I've had these before but first time dine-in and yes there was a difference.  The duck skin was low in fat (must be the breed of duck) and whatever fat there was, it was rendered.  Hence it was crispy and delicious.  The duck meat was moist and well-brined as well.  As for the roast pork, it featured crispy and light crackling with juicy pork.  Very good.

So they have a couple of Lobster specials and we picked the one that included 2 Lobsters on Sticky Rice.  These were pretty small lobsters, but there was enough meat to go around.  Lobster was cooked right and it was coated in a flavourful starch-thickened sauce.  Might've needed a bit more of it since the sticky rice underneath was a bit bland and dry.  Overall, it was decent, but the one at Ho Yuen Kee is superior.

For our 3 dishes, the best of the bunch was the Peking Pork Chops.  Just on appearance alone, the sauce looked on point, especially with just enough of it to coat each piece.  Despite the sauce, each pork chop still had some crispiness on the outside while the meat itself was juicy and tender with a rebound texture.  As for the sauce, it was nicely balanced with sweetness and tanginess.  I feel this is one of the better versions I've had lately.

Since my son loves beef brisket, we decided to go for the Beef Brisket and Daikon Hot Pot.  This ended up to be pretty brothy, but we didn't mind.  Some places tend to thicken the sauce a bit more.  The pieces of brisket, which was more like beef rib finger meat, was tender and full-flavoured from the stewing.  Since the daikon was cooked separately and then added to the hot pot, it didn't take on as much flavour, but better than being too salty.

Being a bit boring, we got some veggies into our meal with the Yau Choy in consommé. This was merely whole stalks of yau choy cooked in broth with some ginger and fried whole garlic cloves.  As you can imagine, this was quite light in flavour and unless we actually ate one of the garlic cloves, it was almost undetectable.  The point of the dish is to be more "ching" or clean.  The yau choy was cooked properly maintaining a light crunch.  I won't add the pictures of my takeout orders in the past, but I can say that the BBQ Pork is just "okay" here.  The marinade doesn't penetrate the meat enough, hence it relies heavily on the dextrose glaze for impact.  I went for half-fat, half-lean and it was still not completely juicy.  Stick with the BBQ Duck here, it is one of the best in town.  In terms of dining in, the food is above average and of course you get to eat the BBQ at its optimal state.  Be aware that they are very busy and the seating is very tight.  Also, the BBQ Duck usually sells out before dinner time, so either come earlier or reserve one.

The Good:

- Excellent BBQ Duck

- Roast pork is good too

- Other dishes are above average

The Bad:

- Very busy, things sell out and seating is tight

- Horrible parking lot