Song Cafe - Heather St, Vancouver, BC (please call us for free parking!) — Restaurant in Vancouver

Song? A new hit or just a one hit wonder?

Saw a posted about iCafe being replaced by this new Hong Kong cafe. It got me intrigued because the last time I been to iCafe was probably a decade ago and needed to find a replacement for Honolulu Hong Kong cafe after papa and mama closed its doors after decades in business, wish them a happy and much deserved retirement.

The restaurant is located on the second floor and it seems like the outside signage isn’t fully done yet cause still able to see the iCafe imprints. Inside is newly renovated with booth seats situated all along the sides of the windows and tables along the middle. I would say quite a spacious layout creating a relaxing and comfortable dining environment overlooking the busy street below.

Here were the food I ordered;

Lobster bisque baked with puff pastry. The puff pastry was nicely baked, the bisque was hot and it came with 2 slices of toasted bread with butter. However the little amount of minced shrimps in the bisque ruined the bisque taste a bit. I really wish restaurants would stop using shrimps especially frozen shrimps for lobster bisque cause the noticeably taste of them do not go well and it’s a bad hack. Hong Kong style borscht soup. Taste wise, a little light. Hong Kong milk tea (hot). I personally find Honolulu cafe’s from before a bit better. Grilled platter 2 items (chicken steak & sausages) with spaghetti, daily soup, hot drink. The chicken steak was nicely seasoned and grilled. The sausages were juicy and spaghetti wasn’t over cooked so that was good. The Hong Kong style borscht soup was a bit on the lighter side. Grilled platter 3 items (grilled pork chop, sausages, Atlantic salmon filet add extra $5) with steamed rice, borscht soup and hot drink. The grilled pork chop was tender and wasn’t dry, the sausages were juicy, and the salmon was nicely seasoned and cooked to perfection. Honestly, the grilled salmon was moist and juicy right to the center. I haven’t had such a perfectly cooked salmon in a long time regardless of low end or high end or whatever cuisines I been to in the last couple of years. And it was a very generous portion, however, I wish it was served in a hot iron skillet or plate. Usually those extra $ add ons I am not a fan of but the $5 extra was well worth it.

Overall, the restaurant is freshly renovated therefore it offers a comfortable dining experience. Plus it being on the second floor, it gives a nice little view of outside and the surrounding area when sitting on the booths by the windows. The only downside is the parking; there are parkings on the side streets and all but with the endless constructions in the West Broadway area, parking can be a bit challenging and most areas are $6/hr. The menu has quite a sizeable selection like most Hong Kong cafes. As for the food, there certainly is room for some adjustments and improvements, but overall so far decently okay. I will return to try out a few more different dishes. As for the service, the servers were quite friendly but missing the finishing touch of thanking and saying good bye or please come again. Maybe it’s a traditional Chinese thing, don’t show much love and affections in public. Lol

I would repeat to see if it’s going to be a big hit or just dwindled away. To be...

When you come to Song Cafe, you have to make sure to order the right thing.

Steak meals. That’s it.

That’s what they’re great for. Only. In fact, I’d rate this second best in the lower mainland (just behind Fatboy). Better than Gloucester. Better than Redbud.

They have by far the best pan-fried pork chop in town. Their cuts are actually medium-fat and juicy (and I’ve tried it twice and both times were the same) unlike all other HK shops where it’s dry and lean like eating sandpaper. Their spaghetti is actually hot and al-dente, unlike Silver Tower where you need the sauce to make the spaghetti lukewarm.

Please don’t order their bake food. Their seafood is frozen and tasteless, as confirmed by the manager. Even she said not to order it as it’s so so, and their steak meals are the most popular.

Hence why you see polarizing reviews here, because some people unfortunately ordered the wrong thing.

5/5 if you order steak meals. And please stick to steak meals. If you want baked, please don’t come here and instead go to Silver Tower, Happy Day (they’re only good for bake imo) or...

Ordered the 3 protein set, salmon, pan fried chicken and pork cutlet. The salmon arrived raw in the middle. When we showed the waitress, she said nothing and just took the plate back to the kitchen. We finished all of our food and the salmon finally arrived…

There was no acknowledgement or communication on how long it’ll take. At the end we wanted to order more food but was yelled at by this larger Chinese guy that we didn’t understand the menu. It literally said on the lunch menu “thick toast” and that was what we wanted to order. We ended up just saying never mind and paid for our bill. The food was okay, portion size is good but you’re choosing quantity over quality here. The unfriendliness of the large Asian guy really deterred us from wanting to come back. The entire experience was very negative, I don’t want to be yelled at while I’m paying...