老街冰室Cafe O Street — Restaurant in Richmond Hill

My workout buddy was raving to me about the Newmarket location for the longest time and I've had it in my bookmarks for awhile as a result.

So when this new expansion popped up in Richmond Hill near me I went to try it immediately.

I decided to order the special poached chicken because my family watched a video of a chinese food vlogger claiming it was one of the "best chicken rices" he'd ever eaten.

My parents and I visited on a weekday for lunch and made sure to make a reservation beforehand. When we arrived the line was pretty ridiculous (ppl were lining up outside).

My parents shared the stir-fried "home" style vermicelli while I downed the chicken rice.

Ok right off the bat, I will say, I did prefer the vermicelli to the chicken rice.

The chicken rice WAS good but it definitely wasn't mind blowing or anything. It had a nice jelly layer between the skin and the meat which is very hard to achieve but would I prefer this chicken to say hainanese chicken? Nah.

Also, the best chicken rices I've had tend to be boneless and the paired rice is usually super fragrant. The rice that came with the chicken was infused with a tiny bit of flavour but was definitely on the dry side. The accompanying sauces were also very scarce and not enough was provided.

Surprisingly like I said, the vermicelli was very good. It came with a healthy amount of char siu and shrimps scattered throughout the dish.

I had a lemon tea while my parents had milk tea. I thought the lemon tea was just ok. The milk tea however was quite rich. I think I'll get milk tea on my future visits.

I do plan to be back because the curry dishes sound very tasty AND the prices of the dishes are extremely consumer-friendly for this economic climate. I'm also planning to try the dish my buddy recommended which is L14 (ginger onion oil w/ chicken cutlet on instant noodle/rice) because he swears by it.

As it stands, I'm caught between a 3 star and 4 star rating at around 3.5 stars. I think I'll round up cuz the drink sizes AND the final bill was...

Arrive on a Thursday at 1200 and the place was packed.

Decided to try this new place due to the good reviews for their original location. It was still technically a soft opening, flower displays still at the entrance

Upon entering it felt like I was magically transported into Hong Kong. Minimum decor, tables/chairs crammed close together, noise level at times reached eat splitting levels, people speaking loudly with mouthfuls of food, service staff darting quickly between the tightly spaced tables delivering food or retrieving empty dishes. Nothing negative but a vibrant and energetic environment, loved it. I was expecting to be seated with other diners sharing a small table like some restaurants do in Hong Kong (that's a funny story in itself which I'll keep to myself for now)

Typical cha chang teng menu with some signature dishes like their French toast with salted cream.

I went traditional with their char siu rice dish and satay noodle soup.

At first glance the char siu looked dry, not glistening with oil and charred when purchased at a BBQ meat place. But sometimes first impressions can be wrong thank goodness, the char siu was tender and surprisingly flavorful, the yolk of the 2 fried eggs were slightly overcooked as I prefer then to be runnier.

The satay beef was tender, noodles firm, broth was typical, nothing unique.

With the numerous cha chaan tengs in Markham, their food was not bad however the difference maker for me was the environment, this place had a true Hong Kong style cha chaan teng vibe that I have not felt anywhere else.

The only thing missing were people reading their Chinese newspapers wth one bare foot propped up...

I stopped by Old Street Café in Richmond Hill and gave their free-range chicken with rice cooked in broth and the curry beef brisket with rice a try. Neither dish was particularly standout—nothing that’ll blow you away or leave you craving more. The chicken was decently tender, and the broth gave the rice a nice subtle flavor, but it didn’t feel especially memorable. The curry beef brisket had a fair amount of spice and the meat was soft, though the overall taste was just okay, not exceptional. That said, for this neighborhood, it’s honestly a very fair deal. The fact that it comes with a hot drink and soup makes it an even better value—hard to complain when you’re getting a full meal like that at a reasonable price. If you’re nearby and looking for something simple and affordable, Old Street Café does the trick. I wouldn’t go out of my way for it, but it’s a solid option...