Mambo Café (Aberdeen Food Court)

Here is an oldie but goodie located at the food court in Aberdeen Centre.  Mambo Café has been one of the most popular stalls here offering classic Hong Kong-style eats for a reasonable price.  Despite drinks not being included with your meal anymore, it is still a good deal.  Up until lately, I hadn't been back in quite some time.  Not that I haven't visited the Aderdeen Food Court though.  It is just I've been going to the other stalls.  But this was about time I actually do a post on the place!

When judging a HK-style café , one must order the Baked Pork Rice.  That we did and it was a substantial portion for $15.00.  Sporting a well-prepared egg fried rice base, this was a great start.  The rice was chewy and nutty while being just dry enough.  On top, they didn't skimp on the tomato sauce.  Viscosity was spot on with proper thickness where it was almost creamy.  There was a background tanginess, yet the amount of sugar and butter levelled if off.  We found 2 fried pork chops hidden within and they were tender with slightly crispy breading.

Another HK-style café  classic is the Baked Spaghetti Bolognese.  Once again, they filled the aluminum container to the brim with noodles and sauce.  Although not al dente, the spaghetti was still somewhat firm and not mushy at all.  Just like the pork chop rice, they were generous with the meat sauce.  Sure, it wasn't a traditional bolognese, but it was a good HK-style café version of it.  The meat was tender while the sauce had a mild tang with some fall flavours.

Completing the trifecta of standard items found on a typical HK-style café  menu would be the Baked Seafood Rice.  Again, this featured an egg fried rice base (which is the right way to do this dish).  There was a plethora flour-thickened white sauce (most likely a combination of milk and evaporated milk) that was aromatic and balanced.  Lots of seafood as the picture suggests including crab stick, fish, prawns, bay scallops and squid.

On another visit, we delved into more stir-fried dishes.   In the end, we settled on a family-favourite in the Singapore Fried Noodles.  For those who aren't familiar, this featured rice vermicelli stir-fried with onions, peppers, sprouts, BBQ pork and shrimp with plenty of yellow curry powder.  This particular version was quite good being only a bit greasy with plenty of components and exhibiting caramelization from the wok hei.  But for some reason, this took considerably longer than our other dishes.

We had a fried rice as well in the XO Seafood Fried Rice.  Loved this dish as the wok hei was on display here with smokiness and caramelized flavours.  Spice level could've been higher as the dish ate rather mild.  But the brininess from the XO was definitely there.  As you can clearly see above, the amount of seafood was balanced for the amount of rice.  With little corn niblets strewn around, we also had bursts of sweetness with random bites.

A visit to an HK-style café  isn't complete without some meat combo on rice or spaghetti.  Hence, we had the Mixed Steaks on Rice with a black pepper sauce.  This featured a minute beef steak, pork chop and chicken steak (deboned leg).  As you can tell from the picture above, the steaks were large.  I found them tender and yes, the beef steak was tenderized, but hey that is par for the course when it comes to HK-style café fare.  Peppercorn sauce was flavourful and this was a massive portion for the price.  In fact, with the lousy economy that we live it at the moment, Mambo Cafe (and all of the other food stalls at Aberdeen) is a good way to get a delicious and filling meal for a reasonable price.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Large portions
- Delicious

The Bad:
- Waits can be quite long and for one of our visits, they forgot one of our dishes 

 

Man Tung Cafe (HK-Style Cafe Menu)

I've always wondered why we don't have more HK-style cafes in the GVRD.  I mean, we are Chinese food central right?  There are certainly enough places to grab Dim Sum and a good ol' Cantonese meal, but that doesn't translate to HK-style cafes.  That is why I am rather enthused when I learn of new spots to grab my Baked Pork Chop Rice and Mixed Grill Combos.  This has brought us to Man Tung Cafe in Richmond in the old Afuri Ramen location.

Although they also feature a Cantonese dinner menu complete with Chinese BBQ, this post will feature their HK-style cafe dishes.  As part of their Mix Grill Combos, we started with their Borscht.  For those unfamiliar, the borscht found at HK-style cafes are not like the traditional Russian variety.  It is more Western-style vegetable soup with possibly some beef.  No, there is no sour cream here.  For this one, it was quite good with plenty of tang and sweetness.  Lots of chunky carrots and potato too.

For our first Mix Grill Combo, we had the Pan-Seared Duck Leg with Sirloin Steak & Crispy Sausage.  This also came with rice, veggies and a choice of sauce (we had black pepper).  Lots of meat here on this sizzling cast iron plate.  Nothing particularly interesting about the wiener but that duck leg was money.  The skin was well-seared and crispy while the meat was gelatinous and juicy.  As for the steak, it was sufficiently tender and not overdone.

Our next Mix Grill Combo consisted of Smoked Duck Breast, Black Truffle Scallops and Herb Butter Baked Lobster Tail.  I found the smoked duck breast to be nicely brined, hence it was juicy and tender.  There was balanced smokiness as well.  Being the formed variety of scallops, they were uniformly-shaped.  Texture was soft and moist, yet was not exactly like a whole scallop (but the price would be much higher as a result).  I thought the sauce had just enough truffle without being too overpowering.  Lobster tail was bouncy and well-seasoned by the herb butter.

Last Mix Grill Combo featured Herb Butter Baked Lobster Tail, Black Truffle Crispy Chicken Roll and French-Style Baked Mussels.  Not much to say about the lobster tail as it was the same as the previous combo.  However, that Chicken Roll was really good.  The chicken meat was super juicy and cooked just right.  Once again, there was just enough truffle for effect.  It was indeed crispy on the outside.  The super large Kiwi mussels were topped with a cream sauce and bread crumbs.  Somewhat similar to clams casino, there was enough texture and seasoning to compliment the meaty mussels.  This came with spaghetti rather than rice (it would be your choice).

As mentioned, Baked Pork Chop Rice is one of the standards of any HK-style cafe.  I'm happy to report that this version was on point.  It sported a aromatic egg fried rice base that was beautifully chewy and nutty.  It was perfect for accepting the tangy sauce that was also balanced with sweetness.  The viscosity was just right as it coated the pork chops.  I found the pork to be tender while the panko coating was softened by the ample amount of sauce. 

Another HK-style cafe classic dish is the Baked Spaghetti Bolognese and yes, we had that too.  This was also very good with noodles that still had a bit of chew left despite being cooked through.  On top, there was a considerable amount of meat sauce that helped coat every strand of spaghetti.  The sauce was thick, rich and full-of-depth.  It was sweet from the onions and carrots while the meat was tender.

Finally, we ended off things with the Condensed Milk Rich Toast.  Hidden in between the 2 slices of toast, we found sweet condensed milk.  Bread was soft and fluffy, but the exterior was coated with egg and fried until crispy.  We found a dusting of cocoa powder on top.  Nice end to a solid HK-style cafe meal.  I was particularly impressed with the portion sizes and also the overall execution of the proteins.  Pricing is reasonable with the Baked Pork Chop Rice and Spaghetti Bolognese coming in at $18.88.  Mix Grill Combos can range from $20.98 and up.  I would imagine the lobster tail increasing the price significantly.

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

The Good:
- Solid eats
- Large portions
- Reasonable-pricing

The Bad:
- I'm personally not a fan of reformed scallops
- I know people don't like this complaint, but the parking lot is often full 

 

café de A

Since I was picking up my car from DRX down on Hammersmith Way, I felt it was an opportunity to try out the new Hong Kong-style cafe that replaced Danny's Wonton in Ironwood Plaza.  I actually made 2 visits here since both times, there was only 2 of us.  Coincidentally, the second visit was when I dropped by DRX once again for their 10th anniversary car meet.  I guess this is where I'll eat from now on if I have to go to DRX!

The one thing I want to discuss right off the bat is the service.  When they aren't busy, it is proficient and decent.  Some servers are friendlier than others though.  But once it gets busy, then you will be lucky to flag anyone down.  That was the case for both visits.  Onto the food, we started with a choice of soup and for myself, I had the Cream of Ham & Corn with a side of garlic toast.  This was pretty typical, but good nonetheless.  It was semi-thick with the sweetness of milk and of course the corn.

For our first dish, we had the classic Baked Pork Chop Rice.  It was a decent portion where the fried rice base was dry (in a good way) and nutty.  It was the perfect recipient for the tomato sauce.  I found it to be rather mild-tasting in need of a bit more tanginess.  Possibly a bit more tomato paste in conjunction with ketchup would do the trick.  The viscosity was on point and the smattering of real shredded cheese was welcomed.  The pork chop itself was thick and tender while not being dry.

We also had another usual HK-style dish in the Baked Portuguese Chicken Rice.  This was quite good as the sauce also had the desired viscosity where it was just thick enough without being goopy.  It was creamy and aromatic from the coconut cream/milk and had that hint of curry.  Nice sweetness that was not over-the-top.  The pieces of chicken were tender while the potatoes were deep-fried first which prevented them from falling apart.

They also have Chinese BBQ available and we got the 3-Item Platter with BBQ Duck, BBQ Pork and Roast Pork.  Gotta say this was all legit.  By virtue of being the pork belly, the roast pork, was juicy, buttery and tender.  It was nicely dry brined where the salt penetrated the meat while the crackling was crispy and light.  The BBQ duck had a nice lacquer colour with crispy skin.  The meat was moist and tender where the star anise brine was present.  Lastly, the BBQ pork was also good being sweet and savoury with a moist texture.

On my next visit, I had to go for another typical HK-style cafe dish in the Spaghetti Bolognese.  This was decent with al dente pasta topped with enough meat sauce to coat.  It was thick and rich with a mild tang and meaty notes.  I could get the natural sweetness of the onions as well.  Once again, the melted real shredded cheese added nuttiness and of course, stringiness.  

Also tried their Clubhouse Sandwich and it as fully-loaded with bacon, fried egg, ham, chicken steak, cheese, lettuce and tomato.  Of course it was served on toasted crustless white bread.  Things were prepared properly with crispy bacon and juicy chicken.  The Cavendish fries in the middle were fried perfectly until crispy.  Overall, the food at café de A is competent with a few real stars (BBQ and the Clubhouse).  Would come back if I'm going to DRX.  However, the service does give me pause.  Not that they are rude or anything, but it just gets difficult to flag someone down when it gets busy.  That delays getting things packed and the bill.  I think for their benefit, they might want to get people out the door more quickly too as they do have lineups starting around 11:00am.

The Good:
- Competent food with some highlights
- Lots of parking (unlike many other Richmond restaurants)
- Fair portion sizes

The Bad:
- Service is fine when not busy, but when it is busy, it is hard to get any

i-Cafe Express (City Square)

For the longest time, i-Cafe resided upstairs on the Southwest corner of Broadway and Heather.  If you have been around for awhile, you will remember that location was Jukebox Johnny's in the 80's.  Now we find i-Cafe as a food court stall in City Square right beside Dumpling King.  They are now known as i-Cafe Express and I really do think this concept lowers the overhead with less staff and of course, less retail space.  They have most of their favourites on the menu while offering a slightly lower price point.  I was able to take out once and eat in another time for this blog post.  

On my first visit, I took home some of the Hong Kong-Style Cafe essentials including the veritable Baked Pork Chop Rice.  This was a decent portion consisting of the necessary fried rice base topped with a good amount of fried pork chop on top.  The pork was tender and meaty without too much fat.  The abundance of sauce was quite textbook being thick from the roux and exhibiting a balance of tanginess and sweetness.  This was a competent version of the dish.

Another classic dish that needs to be included is the Spaghetti Bolognese.  Depending on the version, it can get pretty close to the Italian dish.  This one here was certainly meaty and was the beneficiary of the sweetness from the onions.  Lots of depth and richness from the creaminess added to the sauce.  There was enough of it too that it coated all of the al dente spaghetti in the tin container.

So the Curry Beef Brisket may not be as vital as the previous 2 dishes when assessing a HK-Style Cafe, but it is a menu staple nonetheless.  This one was actually decently spicy with a good amount of earthy curry hit.  The coconut milk/cream provided plenty of creaminess and aromatics.  The beef itself was quite tender and so were the potatoes.  The side of rice was a generous portion.

On another visit, I actually sat down to eat and went with 2 dishes.  The first was the Laksa that was stuffed to the top of the plastic bowl with bouncy noodles and coconutty broth.  I wished it had more spice and brininess as it was aromatic but bland.  However, the plethora of components made up for it as I was eating for awhile to actually make a dent.  I liked the little details were there such as the soft-boiled egg (not cooked to oblivion).

I originally wasn't going to finish my second item in the Chow Kway Teow, but it was so good, i finished it too!  It was a good sized portion that was the beneficiary of solid wok hei.  Hence, there was smokiness and caramelization.  The noodles were nicely chewy while not clumping together.  Seasoning was adequate being a bit spicy, a bit earthy and plenty savoury.  They didn't skimp with the ingredients too.  Solid dish.  Overall, the food at i-Cafe was like it was before - solid and dependable.  I like the concept of them being in a food court as it lowers their operating costs and hence, the prices are reasonable.

The Good:

- Dependable decent HK-Style cuisine

- Reasonable pricing

- Decent portion size

The Bad:

- Well, being in a food court, you lose the restaurant experience, but you would find something like this at Aberdeen Centre as well

- The Laksa could be more flavourful

Starlight Kitchen

Since I can remember, Phở Hòa occupied the large restaurant space on Kingsway at Nanaimo.  However, it is now a Hong Kong-style cafe known as Starlight Kitchen.  Renovations are not very extensive as the interior looks roughly the same.  However, whatever they saved in their renos, it seems to have gone directly into the portion sizes.  They are quite generous and for the 2 times I've been there, the food has been solid and so has the service.

Let's get right into the usual dishes that we judge an HK-style cafe on.  The most obvious is the Baked Pork Chop Rice.  This was a good version as the fried rice base was nutty and chewy while the ample sauce on top was flavourful and slightly tangy.  It was more sweet than savoury, but it worked well with the melted cheese.  I liked how they didn't skimp on the sauce since there was enough for both the rice and pork chop.  About that pork chop, it was tender and still featured a crispy panko coating.

Next up, we had another classic in the Linguine Bolognese (instead of spaghetti in this case).  Really enjoyed this one as the pasta was almost al dente.  This is significant because many HK-style cafes overcook their pastas.  Just like the previous dish, they put more than enough sauce to coat every strand of pasta.  Furthermore, the sauce was thick, meaty and full-of-depth.  The melted cheese on top was definitely noticeable.

Moving away from tomato sauces, we had another HK-style cafe staple in the Baked Seafood Rice.   As you can see, the theme of "lots of sauce" applies here once again.  That meant that all of the fried rice base was coated with the starch-thickened cream sauce.  It was quite mild but had some aroma and sweetness.  There was a mix of seafood that included fish, imitation crab, prawns and Kiwi mussels.  They were more or less cooked properly.

Normally here, we would be ordering something like the Portuguese Chicken, but nope, this was the Baked Portuguese Pork Chop Rice.  Not sure if there is actually such a thing, but the sauce was the HK-style Portuguese sauce.  It was creamy and coconutty with a bit of earthiness.  Lots of sauce here on top of the crispy pork chop (like the previous dish) and also the fried rice base.  This was good but I personally enjoy the classic chicken version more.

When at a HK-style cafe, it is always a given that they have combo meat plates or other Western complete dish meals.  Hence we got the 2-Item Plate with chicken steak, pork chop with veggies, black pepper sauce and a side of spaghetti (this also included a soup to start).  Yet another solid dish with a juicy deboned and seared chicken leg as well as thin pork chops that were still moist.  Black pepper sauce was well-seasoned and slightly peppery.

Continuing on with a Hong Kong take with Western dishes, we had the Ham & Egg Sandwich with a side of fries.  This would be like the closest thing to what it should be if we walked into a diner.  However, the HK touches included toasted soft white bread without the crust and soft scrambled eggs.  I would've liked the eggs to be runnier and also the bread to be less toasted.  Fries were cooked perfectly being hot, crunchy and potatoey in the middle.

Like most other HK-style restos, they had a Chinese Dishes section of the menu too that included the Pickled Vegetable & Duck Vermicelli.  This was a huge portion that featured al dente vermicelli that was not clumpy nor dry.  There was enough moisture to keep things loose but not making the dish wet.  I found the flavours to be mild for this dish, but I usually add hot sauce anyways...  I would've liked to see just a bit more in the way of ingredients as there was very little of it beyond what you see in the picture.

So for whatever reason, I decided to try the Ja Jeun Mein.  I would say this was the only dish I didn't like in my 2 visits to the place.  I found the white noodles to be far too clumpy and even when I mixed the meat sauce into it, the noodles didn't seem like they wanted to separate.  The made for an overly cumbersome way to eat the dish.  Furthermore, the sauce was meaty but lacking in overall impact.  It was slightly sweet but I didn't get much beyond that.

Lastly and probably one of the best dishes of the bunch, was the Special House Fried Noodle.  This was absolutely massive and had a bevy of properly-cooked components including giant scallops, prawns, squid, BBQ pork and chicken.  The crispy noodles were soften by the proper amount of sauce.  Overall, the food and portion sizes at Starlight Kitchen are very good.  Compared to somewhere like Copa Cafe, Starlight is better in all regards including price point.  This will be one of my go to spots for HK-style eats for the forseeable future.

The Good:
- Solid eats
- Large portions
- Well-priced for what you get

The Bad:
- Not sure how it will be in the winter, but the dining room gets stuffy
- Service is good but hurried

 

Deer Garden

*Restaurant is permanently closed*

When my parents used to live in Coquitlam, I remember frequenting Deer Garden for dinner.  That stopped as soon as my parents moved into Burnaby.  Mind you, I could've easily just ate at Deer Garden without them, but it was out-of-sight, out-of-mind.  Such a shame really as their food was generally solid and well-portioned.  Recently, along with other foodies, I was invited to try out a variety of dishes at their new location.  That's right, they are no longer on Westwood Street.  Rather, they've moved into Henderson Centre right across from the New Pacific Market.  

We started off the meal with an Appetizer Platter consisting of Salty Peppery Pork Chops, Fried Wontons, Honey Shrimp and Fried Eggplant.  Loved the crispy and light batter on the pork chops.  Inside, the meat was tender and not dry.  There was enough seasoning to flavour the pork chops.  The shrimp were also good with a starch coating.  Since it was tossed in sweet mayo, the exterior was just somewhat crispy.  The shrimp itself was meaty and buttery.  I found the fried eggplant to be cooked-through without being mushy.

Next dish was the Whole Lobster steamed with garlic.  Nothing complex with this dish and really, the most important thing is that they served a live lobster.  That was confirmed with the delicate bouncy texture of the lobster meat.  It was sweet and fresh-tasting.  The ample garlic on top did not overwhelm the lobster.  It only accentuated the already-present lobster aroma.  Absolutely loved that they put the lobster butter on the side so we could easily eat it.  So much umaminess!

Moving onto a classic dish, we had the Hainanese Chicken with chicken oil rice.  The free-range chicken was beautifully prepared with tender and moist pieces of both white and dark meat.  I found that the skin was perfectly gelatinzed while a bit of gelatin lurked underneath.  The pieces of chicken were delicious on their own but the accompanying condiments helped in that respect.  As for the chicken oil rice, it as nutty, a bit fatty and full of umaminess.  The rice itself was chewy and nutty.

Like many restaurants of this style (think Miu Garden) we also had the Coconut Curry Bef Brisket to go along with the chicken dish.  This was every bit as good as Miu Garden with big chunks of beef that were super tender and surprisingly not that fatty.  The coconut curry was rich and creamy with so plenty of aromatics and proper seasoning.  Really needed white rice for this and with the sauce, maybe a few bowls of rice just for myself!

Going in a totally different direction, we had the Seafood Congee with a side of salty donut.  The congee base was a bit more homestyle than other Chinese restaurants.  The colour was bright white and the seasoning was mild.  It was still thick though and the amount of seafood was generous.  I found the slices of fish to be tender and flaky while the prawns had a perfectly-cooked meaty snap.  There was also delicate slices of scallop.

We moved onto a pair of soup noodles after this including Beef Tendon & Tripe Noodles as well as Home-Made 4 Kinds of Meatballs Noodles.  Both featured chewy wonton noodles that had an appealing resistance to them.  The tendon and tripe were tender, but not to the point there was no texture left.  I found the soup base to be quite good.  As much as it isn't as good at a dedicated wonton noodle house, it was still flavourful with a sweet meatiness.  Not much to say about the meatballs other than there were a good amount of them.

We always go for the default with the Sweet & Sour Pork mostly because we enjoy the dish.  However, it is so beloved by everyone, I tend to judge most places with this dish in mind!  Well the version here was actually quite good.  It featured medium-sized nuggets of pork that were juicy and tender.  This was definitely fried-to-order, which meant the exterior batter wasn't hard nor was the meat overdone.  Sometimes restaurants par-fry the pork to make preparation faster.  They didn't here.  The sauce was on the sweeter side and could've used a touch more tang.

We moved onto the a pair of hot pot dishes in the Singing Pork Sparerib Hot Pot and the Satay Sliced Beef Vermicelli Hot Pot.  Both came out sizzling with still vibrant veggies.  I found the ample amount of spareribs to be meaty, yet tender without much in the way of fat of cartilage.  It was seasoned properly with a starch-thickened sauce.  As for the sliced beef, it appeared that the cuts were more with the grain than against the grain, so the meat wasn't as tender as it appeared to be.  It possibly could've benefited from more tenderization through a longer marinade.  It did taste good though with well-seasoned vermicelli.  Love the chewy texture that was not hard nor was it too saucy.

We had a HK-style dish next with the Baked Pork Chop Spaghetti.  Yes, normally, this would be a baked rice, but honestly, I like spaghetti more anyways.  This was a large portion that would be best for sharing.  The spaghetti itself wasn't exactly al dente, but it wasn't soft either, so that was a good thing.  I found the sauce having the right viscosity and having a pleasant taste including just the slightest of tomato tang with balancing sweetness.  There was so garlic notes too.  Served in cut up strips, the fried pork chop was tender and not dry.

The same sliced beef from the hot pot showed up in the Beef with Egg Sauce on Rice.  Hence, it looked great on the place being cooked perfectly.  However, it as still chewy due to the combination of cutting with the grain and not being marinated long enough.  Despite this, the dish was still tasty and went will with rice.  The eggs were silky and the starch-thickened sauce was flavourful and the right viscosity.

We ended off the savoury part of the meal with the Fried Rice with shrimp paste, shrimp and chicken & the Supreme Fried Kuiteow.  The noodles were pretty good despite missing the usual flavour profile of a true chow kuiteow.  It had good wok hei which meant it was a a a bit smoky without any residual moisture.  I would've liked to see some brininess but it still tasted fine.  I found the rice to be quite good with plenty of ingredients.  It had enough of a hot wok fry that it had some caramelization and colour.  The ample amount of shrimp were cold-water crunchy.  I would've liked maybe more aggressive seasoning with this though. 

For dessert, we had the HK-Style French Toast with butter and syrup.  Classic Hong Kong Cafe-style, these French toast bites were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  There was a layer of sweetness already between the white bread, but the addition of syrup made this a satisfying dessert. In the end, we were quite satisfied with the combination of classic Chinese dishes and HK-Style cafe favourites.  Things were generally well-prepared except for the beef.

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

The Good:
- Well-prepared dishes
- Good portions
- Fairly large menu

The Bad:
- Unfortunately, the beef was not tender
- Kuiteow didn't taste like one, but really, it was still delicious