Hakka Momo Corner

I'm sure you are aware there are many many Indian restaurants in the GVRD.  Hey, that is a good thing since I love Indian food!  However, if you are familiar, most of them feature Punjabi cuisine.  That is mainly due to the influx of immigrants from the Punjab region of India.  This is not unlike the plethora of Cantonese restaurants here due to many of the immigrants originating from Hong Kong during the 80's and 90's.  So whenever I see an Indian restaurant featuring something different, I am so interested in trying it.  This is the case with Hakka Momo Corner.  With their Indo-Chinese cuisine combined with a dash of Southern Indian, they are the only place to find Dosas in Richmond.  For those who are not familiar, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) used to have a large Hakka Chinese population of about 25,000 before the 1960's.  Therefore, Indo-Chinese cuisine is a thing and one of the lasting legacies of the influences from those Hakka Chinese.

We began with something that would be quite familiar to Chinese palates in the Sweet Corn Soup with prawns.  This was essentially a cream of corn soup that was a bit creamy and aromatically sweet.  The pops from the niblets was enjoyable as with the pieces of meaty prawns.  Even though Honey Mustard Wings are not an Indian nor Chinese dish, we wanted to try them anyways.  They were good with crispy rendered skin and meat that was still moist.  The honey mustard was subtle-tasting as there was only minimal sauce on the wings.

Staying on the same theme, we had the Chicken Lolipops that were very different than the honey mustard wings. Being Frenched, the wings had the bulk of their meat at the bottom of the drumette.  It retained more moisture and hence it was almost juicy.  The skin was crispy and coated with a slightly spicy and earthy sauce.  Of course we had to try their Steamed Momos and we got it with a chicken filling.  These were really good with a medium-thick dumpling skin that was delicate and not dense.  Inside, the moist and fairly light chicken filling was slightly sweet.  It was served with a spicy chutney that also had some tang and sweetness.

Sure, Butter Chicken originated in Dehli, but there is a version from Kolkata.  It is generally sweeter and definitely creamy like the original Delhi dish.  Since we were there on a Monday, it was actually on special for only $16.00.  This included rice and naan.  I found this one here creamy and rich with a few spices that weren't familiar compared to the Punjabi version.  It had a nice sweetness that helped temper the spices and tang.  Since they do not have a tandoor, their naan was more of the soft pita-like version.

As you can clearly see in the picture above, there was an egg in the Chicken Biryani.  This is distinctive to the Kolkata version.  Also, you will also notice that the overall look of the dish seemed to be lighter.  That was intentional as the Kolkata dish has less spices, hence it was more fragrant and subtle.  This was definitely the case here where the rice was fluffy, but not wet while the flavours were aromatic.  The large chicken leg was fork tender and naturally sweet.

We ended up trying one rice and one noodle dish that truly encapsulates the Indo-Chinese cuisine that originated in Kolkata.  We had the Chili Garlic Fried Rice as well as the Street Style Hakka Noodles.  Of the two, my preference was the noodles as they were perfectly textured being chewy and not very greasy.  In terms of taste, there was good smokiness from the wok hei and caramelized sweetness.  There was some mild spice and a bit of earthiness.  As for the rice, it was more flavourful with more spices and heat.  The rice itself was nutty and dry which was the desired texture.

We moved onto a few dishes including the Chili Prawns.  All of these dishes could be had with your protein of choice or be prepared vegetarian.  I really enjoyed the flavours of this dish was it paired well with the side of included basmati rice.  It definitely showed its Sichuan influences with spiciness and savoury-sweet tanginess.  The large prawns were perfectly cooked with a nice meaty snap.

One of my favourite dishes of the meal had to be the Crispy Honey Chili Garlic Fish.  This reminded me of the dishes I used to eat at a Sichuan restaurant out on Denman called Won More.  It was spicy, sweet, savoury and plenty aromatic.  Definitely a dish that needed plenty of rice (which was included).  The ample pieces of fish were still a bit crispy despite being wok-tossed in the thick sauce.  The meat was flaky and moist.

Okay, before you bring the pitchforks out, there was a method to the madness in ordering the Kung Pao Chicken.  It might sound like some Westernized dish, but rest assured, it is authentic (as long as it isn't ordered in a mall food court).  This was was garlicky, plenty savoury and somewhat spicy.  The chicken was in large chunks and plenty tender.  The flavours had pentrated into the meat.  Once again, a bowl of rice on deck was the perfect compliment.

As a bonus, we were served some true Southern Indian cuisine with the Dosa (with potato curry), Idli, Vada and Sambar.  The typical Southern Indian breakfast all on one plate as the Dosa combo.   The dosa featured a thin and crispy lentil crepe filled with a lightly spicy potato curry.  Hence, it was vegetarian.  The vada was crispy with a firm and spiced interior while the idli was also firm with its classic spongy texture.  Naturally, these were accompanied by Sambar, which was mild with some tanginess.  On the side, we found the classic coconut chutney which had some spice, aromatics and hits of ginger.  Right beside it, we found another common chutney in the red chutney that was the spicier of the two.  Overall, the food at Hakka Momo Corner is solid and well-priced.  Definitely something different and completely unique for its location.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Classic Indo-Chinese flavours featuring a combination of Chinese and Indian spices

- They have Southern Indian breakfast (Idli, Vada and Dosa)

- Well-priced

The Bad:

- Wasn't expecting them to have a tandoor for one item, but the naan wasn't my favourite