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*Restaurant is now closed*
Looking back to last year, I heard about a lil' Malay restaurant in a run-down strip mall in Richmond. Interestingly named after a popular bible verse (John 3:16), I was planning a visit. I even had a close encounter when we were at Tian Shi Fu for the Chinese Restaurant Awards, but ended up missing out as the place closed due to redevelopment of the aforementioned strip mall. Well lo and behold, they opened up another shop on Lonsdale in North Van. Seeing how we were heading to the North Shore anyways, we stopped by for lunch.
For the kiddies, they wanted Satay and Roti... So yes, we got an order each of the Beef and Chicken Satay as well as the Roti Canai. Very saucy and sweet, the beef satay was on the chewier side and meaty. As for the chicken, it was predictably more tender while not particularly moist though. We would've liked to see more char as the skewers were rather wet from all the sauce. On the other hand, the roti was pretty solid. Lightly crispy on the outside, flaky and chewy on the inside, the roti was not very greasy. The side of curry dip was on point with a rich creamy consistency while being aromatic from the coconut milk and a touch spicy.
Onto the best item of the meal, the kiddies couldn't get enough of the 1/2 Hainanese Chicken. Properly deboned, the chicken was tender and succulent. Even the breast meat was moist. As much as the garlic sauce on top looked super flavourful, it was actually rather mild. It was still good though! Unfortunately, the chicken rice was not to our liking. It was too soft and didn't have a whole lot of flavour. We would've liked to see some more nuttiness and chicken fat. Although not my favourite version of Laksa, the one here was respectable. I found the broth to be creamy, aromatic with a touch of spice. I would've liked to see more seafoodiness and even more spice personally. The noodles were nicely chewy while the requisite tofu puffs, egg, shrimp and fish cake (no fish ball) and chicken were there.
We also got the Pulot Panggang and I wasn't a huge fan. The rice was rather dry (which is fine, but it was overly dry). The sweetened coconut was okay though, but this version either did not have any dried shrimp or had very little, because the filling was very sweet. For our one veggie item, we went for the Stir-Fried Green Beans with Garlic Sauce. This dish exhibited enough wok heat where the flavours were definitely caramelized. We liked how there wasn't too much residual moisture on the plate. On the other hand, the green beans were soft and no longer had any vibrant crunch. They either oil-blanched it too long or stir-fried it too long.
My mom really wanted the Hokkien Mee and on the surface, it looked good. It was actually decent with chewy noodles and crunchy sprouts. All of the other ingredients were prepared properly as well. In fact, there was just the right amount of seasoning. We realize there was supposed to be a "sauce", but it wasn't appealing because on the bottom of the plate, there was a pool of grease. Suffice to say, not appetizing. We also got the Beef Rendang and in terms of flavour, it was good. There was a good mix of coconut milk fragrance and creaminess mixed in with ginger, lemongrass, cloves and a background spice. The pototoes were soft, yet still holding their shape. Despite not expecting succulent meat, the chunks of beef were too hard and dry for our liking. All-in-all, a hit and miss visit to John 3:16. We understand they have just opened up shop and there will be some growing pains. Hence, I would say that it is still worth a visit if you are in the area.
The Good:
- Excellent Hainanese Chicken
- Generally on point flavours
- Really friendly service
The Bad:
- A few execution issues (maybe because they just opened?)
John 3:16 Malaysian Delights
1933-1935 Lonsdale Avenue
North Vancouver
(778) 847-3316
For some reason, I've never gotten into the Alaskan King Crab craze that hits every year. Don't get me wrong, I love crab, but not enough to shell out hundreds of dollars to eat it. However, Big D was determined this year to organize a group to devour a king crab. He declared it Team King Crab and made a reservation at Yan's Garden. Yan's Garden??? Man... I don't mind the food there, but the service... I'd rather be in a car wreck in Richmond than suffer through their "alleged" service. Whatever... Viv and I decided to go anyways.
Since we had a table of 10 hungry souls (mostly just Big D), we opted for the larger crab meal which cost us $600.00 before tax and tip. Of course we couldn't just eat crab and call it a day, so we kicked things off with the Peking Duck. This was carved table side and the skin was fairly crispy, but in a chewier manner rather than being light. They might've been too aggressive with the deep fry. The layer of fat was minimal though. We found the crepes to be a bit gummy. Our next course was the Fish Maw and Seafood Soup. Normally, this is either made with dungeness crab or chicken, but since it was a mix of seafood, there was squid and it wasn't the right match texturally in my opinion. Other than that, the fish maw was a bit firm while the broth had a silky consistency and was mildly sweet.
Okay, onto the main event, we had the Steamed King Crab Legs with garlic served on 2 large plates. I thought they prepared this very well with fluffy crab meat that was cooked just enough so it retained plenty of moisture and exhibited a buttery rebound texture. There was plenty of natural sweetness to go with the ample amount of minced garlic. After we devoured all of the legs, we moved onto the body meat in the Deep Fried King Crab with Peppery Salt. This was also executed properly with springy and fluffy crab meat encased in a light crispy starch coating. Wok-tossed with chilis, garlic, pepper and salt, there was enough seasoning while not being overwhelming.
For the second course of the Peking Duck, we had the classic Duck Lettuce Wrap. Although there was technically "enough" filling for all of the well-trimmed lettuce cups, I would've liked to see a bigger portion. There wasn't a lack of moist duck meat, but there wasn't a whole lot of crunchy veggies. They're not expensive, just put more to prop up the dish. In terms of taste, the filling was a bit too salty for my liking. On the menu, the meal came with an empress chicken, but we didn't want that and substituted a whole Crispy Fried Chicken instead. Although the whole thing looked dry, this was not the case. Of course the dark meat remained moist while nicely brined, but the breast meat was still decently tender and not chewy. As for the skin, it was indeed light and crispy with rendered-skin.
Time for some veggies after all the meat and seafood right? So we had the Shiitake and Button Mushrooms with Shanghai Bak Choy. Not an overly complex dish, but it was solid. The bak choy was still crunchy and vibrantly green while cooked all-the-way through. On top, the dried shiitake had been braised long enough to completely rehydrate being buttery and moist. The oyster sauce glaze coated each mushroom just enough without causing a watery mess. With some more veggies (underneath), we were served the Golden Fried & Stir-Fried Sliced Cod. Although the stir-fried cod was buttery, flaky and tender, the fried portions were overcooked in my opinion. They were crunchy on the outside though. Back to the stir-fry, it wasn't overseasoned and the veggies were cooked just enough with proper wok heat.
The last course of the King Crab was the King Crab & Seafood Fried Rice topped with Portuguese sauce. Sadly, this was not very good. I found the fried rice overly dry and bland. Also, there wasn't a whole lot of seafood nor crab to be found. Furthermore, there wasn't enough sauce to flavour and moisten the rice. As for the sauce itself, it was not flavourful lacking coconut milk aroma. Since we upgraded to the more expensive meal, they threw in the Crab Sauce Noodles. This was prepared with the residual crab juices from the steamed legs. As such, this was rather flavourful with the natural sweet and saltiness of the crab meat in addition to the garlic. On the other hand, the noodles could've been cooked a bit less as they were no longer appealingly chewy.
For dessert, we were served 2 items including the Baked Tapioca Pudding with a buttery sugar pastry crust on top. This was good, yet I really wished they had the sweet lotus paste filling. Texturally, the pudding was on the firmer side, but not stiff. It wasn't overly sweet either except for the topping. We also had cubes of Mango Pudding, which were the typical candy-like and not really mango tasting variety. So, after shelling out $140.00 for Viv and myself (including tax and tip), we felt the food was generally okay, while the crab was on point (except for the rice). The rest of the food was more or less typical of Yan's being decent but not great. In terms of service, we lucked out as Head Case was with us and he knows the owners. Hence, we were treated like human beings this time around.
The Good:
- Decent eats
- Fairly comfortable
The Bad:
- Generally indifferent service
- Parking lot is insufficient
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*Restaurant is now closed*
For the kiddies, they wanted Satay and Roti... So yes, we got an order each of the Beef and Chicken Satay as well as the Roti Canai. Very saucy and sweet, the beef satay was on the chewier side and meaty. As for the chicken, it was predictably more tender while not particularly moist though. We would've liked to see more char as the skewers were rather wet from all the sauce. On the other hand, the roti was pretty solid. Lightly crispy on the outside, flaky and chewy on the inside, the roti was not very greasy. The side of curry dip was on point with a rich creamy consistency while being aromatic from the coconut milk and a touch spicy.
Onto the best item of the meal, the kiddies couldn't get enough of the 1/2 Hainanese Chicken. Properly deboned, the chicken was tender and succulent. Even the breast meat was moist. As much as the garlic sauce on top looked super flavourful, it was actually rather mild. It was still good though! Unfortunately, the chicken rice was not to our liking. It was too soft and didn't have a whole lot of flavour. We would've liked to see some more nuttiness and chicken fat. Although not my favourite version of Laksa, the one here was respectable. I found the broth to be creamy, aromatic with a touch of spice. I would've liked to see more seafoodiness and even more spice personally. The noodles were nicely chewy while the requisite tofu puffs, egg, shrimp and fish cake (no fish ball) and chicken were there.
We also got the Pulot Panggang and I wasn't a huge fan. The rice was rather dry (which is fine, but it was overly dry). The sweetened coconut was okay though, but this version either did not have any dried shrimp or had very little, because the filling was very sweet. For our one veggie item, we went for the Stir-Fried Green Beans with Garlic Sauce. This dish exhibited enough wok heat where the flavours were definitely caramelized. We liked how there wasn't too much residual moisture on the plate. On the other hand, the green beans were soft and no longer had any vibrant crunch. They either oil-blanched it too long or stir-fried it too long. 
My mom really wanted the Hokkien Mee and on the surface, it looked good. It was actually decent with chewy noodles and crunchy sprouts. All of the other ingredients were prepared properly as well. In fact, there was just the right amount of seasoning. We realize there was supposed to be a "sauce", but it wasn't appealing because on the bottom of the plate, there was a pool of grease. Suffice to say, not appetizing. We also got the Beef Rendang and in terms of flavour, it was good. There was a good mix of coconut milk fragrance and creaminess mixed in with ginger, lemongrass, cloves and a background spice. The pototoes were soft, yet still holding their shape. Despite not expecting succulent meat, the chunks of beef were too hard and dry for our liking. All-in-all, a hit and miss visit to John 3:16. We understand they have just opened up shop and there will be some growing pains. Hence, I would say that it is still worth a visit if you are in the area.
