Van. Tea Cafe — Restaurant in Vancouver

We had a family dinner mid-week in their more private room off to the side with 4 large round tables. Only one other table was occupied, so when they left, we had a private room. It was good Cantonese cuisine, perfect dish sizes for 9 adults with no leftovers. We had 3-cup chicken; Malay sauce lobster - the sauce was so delicious we mopped it all up with white rice; stir fried pea shoots; curry crab; Hainanese chicken (firm, but juicy); deep fried halibut; spicy green beans with eggplant; beef with mushrooms; and finger-licking good citron honey spareribs. Service was very good, too. All-in-all a very satisfying meal.

We lunched here on Sunday and I ordered one of the clay pots that takes 15-20 minutes make; it took 30 minutes! My husband had finished his meal when mine finally arrived. It wasn’t as tasty as I remembered, so won’t be waiting around for it again. My husband’s egg swirl and shrimp over flat rice noodles was good. This would be a 3-star review.

Back for a Sunday night meal. They ran out of Hainanese chicken; a couple of us were very disappointed. However, the salty egg yolk spareribs, spicy Malay curry lamb briskets and fried rice noodles with prawns and scrambled eggs were really good. This would be a 4...

This is my second visit; I had come during the height of COVID and the food was much better than (that, or I just didn't eat out much during the period so everything taste good...)

We ordered a clay pot rice and a soup noodle for lunch. Both were disappointing. The clay pot rice didn't firstly used a clay pot, so there was no crispy rice at the bottom that is classic of the dish. The chicken was well marinated though.

The redeeming thing about the clay pot rice is at least it came with a complimentary soup of the day (which was reasonable) and a hot drink.

The soup noodle was also mediocre. The soup ran on the saltier side, and the ingredients taste as if they were thawed out.

Along the same price point and quality, I much rather go to Happy Day cafe or Joy cafe. Both taste much better, run a similar line of business and feature the same dishes.

Service was so-so. They attended to the tables when you call the server, but not great with refilling tea/water. But no expectation given this is a HK style cafe.

Their milk tea is good - rich and aromatic.

Parking is challenging as the restaurant is in a small plaza; we had to park a block away on...

Opening day, when you walk in there's a distinct smell of burnt transmission clutch from a car or something. Maybe it's the new paint, maybe it's the new material but it wasn't that appetizing to have this smell overpower the food. I felt nauseous half way through the meal. The food wasn't very good either, I got the Portuguese baked rice with chicken, there was more onion than actual chicken. The sauce is runny and the potatoes were a b it raw. For $13.95 I don't think it's worth it especially for the portion size. You can pay about the same amount at Copa for nearly double the amount and quality. Though, Copa doesn't come with a drink, the hot drinks here are average and in small tea cups. My dad had the Japanese style fried rice with salmon. It was simply soy sauce fried rice with bits of what appears to be canned salmon. We couldn't even finish our meals because of the burnt clutch smell making us feel a bit sick. The staff are friendly and the place is clean but I'd give it some time after the honeymoon phase is over....