JOY CAFE — Restaurant in Vancouver

I'm conflicted on rating this restaurant. Naming itself a cafe I guess they are supposed to be a HK-style cafe but having the name of Furtune Terrace elevates them and should hold them to a high standard especially for the prices they charge.

The menu has some odd names in their food. We just order a couple of standard dishes:

1. $14.99 oven-baked curry pork chop on (fried?) rice - taste was ok as curry was not really that strong of taste but the deep fried pork chop was good. From experience, I know this dish takes longer to serve as they take more time to bake the dish for the crust on top.

2. $14.50 beef with fried rice noodle - this was a lunch item so included standard HK-style hot drink. This dish was served luke-warm, probably because it was waiting for the other dish to be ready. Fortunately, it tasted good with the wok-hei flavour expected in wok-fried dishes so I didn't mind this too much (my companion did mind this though as a more critical connoisseur).

Both dishes were a tad pricey for the portions you get. I would have though the needles dish to be a couple dollars less for the portion size (feels like a lunch size dish with not a lunch size price). The por chop dish is a little more understandable but was still wanting a bit more rice (deeper cassarole dish would be nice).

On the tables will also be a couple of plastic sleeves for guests to store their face masks during the meal if desired.

Service was ok as there were many servers flitting about, but some seemed to be doing it without purpose. We never were without tea and they did check back with us a couple times so overall not bad.

They have their own parking somewhere which I forgot to ask about so don't know if it's free or reimbursed for restaurant guests. For now there is still ample free 2hr residential street parking just on Lords and also 68th Ave. Further still if none on those streets.

They seem to do takeout as well with the full restaurant menus as that's what they gave me when I asked for takeout menus.

Will try again as there are so few Asian options within walking distance in this area. Hopefully they can work out their...

Came here for takeout dimsum since it was highly recommended by a few people. I was very disappointed by my experience. It took over 30 minutes to receive the items - it was a slower day with a little less than half of the seats filled with 6-7 wait staff, perhaps the kitchen was short staffed or the order was forgotten, but I only ordered four simple, staple items:

Steamed beef tripe and tendon in chu hou sauce + rice rolls. By far the worst item ordered. The tendon was inedible due to it not being cooked long enough, and the tripe tasted like it was burnt and stuck to the bottom of the pot. The rice rolls were standard but cold and you could taste the type of rice they used but unflavorful - lacking sauce and/or adhesive sauce to the surface of the rolls. The rice rolls were not even reheated until they were tender, the center was still cold.

Steamed chicken feet in supreme sauce. This was nothing outstanding compared to other places in Vancouver and the chicken feet were a smaller size than the usual.

Stuffed whole eggplant in Thai sauce. This was really the only dish that passed and was decent. The eggplant was cut in half and topped with shrimp paste, battered and fried. The eggplant wasn't too oily and the shrimp tasted like shrimp.

Steamed Minced beef balls (with tangerine peel? Or they might have changed it because there was only the taste of cilantro) No tangerine peel taste. Enough said.

An unreasonable excuse was made in regards to why the order took so long - "the minced beef balls take 25 minutes to steam" ... the beef balls would have shriveled up by then.

It should be known that all items ordered here except for the stuffed eggplant (cutting it in half and frying, but even the shirmp paste is premade) are premade, they really just need to be cooked/reheated.

I do not understand the rationale of charging 20% more compared to other places in Vancouver but being average to below-average in terms of quality and standards - And it took so long as well. 3/4 of this order would be unacceptable and returned to the kitchen. Unfortunately, this was a takeout order so that...

I recently had a layover in Vancouver and decided to grab some food during my wait. I chose this restaurant based on the positive reviews, but my experience was far from pleasant.

I arrived around 10:00 AM, aware that the restaurant opened at 10:30 AM. I didn’t mind waiting, but the staff’s attitude was surprisingly rude. When I explained that I wanted to order breakfast, the staff member impatiently informed me that they didn’t serve breakfast, even though they offer items like pineapple buns and other Hong Kong-style snacks, which I had intended to order. She then asked what I wanted to eat, but in such an annoyed tone that I wondered if she was just trying to dismiss me.

After asking me to wait, I sat down quietly until 10:25 AM. During this time, another couple walked in and was promptly seated while I was ignored. Eventually, the same staff member came over and asked what I wanted to order again (which made me wonder if her earlier question was just a way to get me to leave). I asked for a chicken chop bun, and the staff responded with a frustrated tone, questioning my choice. The entire ordering process felt unnecessarily drawn out and filled with attitude. They made my food but never asked me for payment until I reminded them. So, after waiting for nearly ten minutes, I had to wait again just to pay.

As for the food itself, I was disappointed. The fries were crispy, but the chicken chop bun was underwhelming. The pineapple bun was not soft at all, the chicken was cold, the skin wasn’t crispy, and the mayonnaise lacked flavor.

I chose this place because of the good reviews, but it honestly made me reconsider dining here. Vancouver’s Cantonese cuisine is usually quite good, but this experience was really disappointing. The service was incredibly poor, and I didn’t do anything to deserve such treatment—I simply waited quietly. This was...