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Café Gloucester
Category: Restaurants Chinese Chinese [Edit]
3338 Cambie StVancouver, BC V5Z 2W5
Neighbourhoods: South Cambie, Riley Park
(604) 873-3338
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
37 reviews for Café Gloucester
Review Highlights
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"Their Thai-style fried rice is awesome." In 7 reviews -
"For a HK style Cafe/Restaurant, it has a pretty solid menu..." In 9 reviews -
"Baked pork cutlet with mango on fried rice: Interesting..." In 5 reviews
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37 reviews in English
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Review from Beck C.
2/7/2012 1 photo
A step-up HK style cafe.
3 stars for its menu of comfort food standbys, bumped to 4 by its brisk yet attentive service.
If nothing else, my many meals here have taught me one thing.
What to order:
- flip straight to the baked dishes
- pick your protein (pork chops & Portuguese style chicken = STELLAR)
- do the right thing & get a strong cold milk tea to go with
Sharing is caring (for your stomach's capacity) here.
Then again. Gluttony breeds tasty leftovers! -
Review from Kenneth E.
Vancouver, BC
4/7/2012 4 Check-ins Here
Over-rated! Today, I saw ppl lining up for 30min. so in that regards, I wouldn't wait for this kind of food. Sure it's a happening place and if this HK-style suits your craving but c'mon, the food wasn't worth the wait.
Ordered their special: pork chop, lamb chop, thin steak, and chicken, all served on a hot stone grill, topped w/ a sunny side up egg, along w/ some steamed veggies: not bad for $21.99. Was it worth it? no, but good for leftovers too.
Enjoyed the mixed fruit crepe instead, a bit fluffy w/ the chinese version of whipped creme and drizzled w/ not-so-sweet chocolate sauce...better.
But have to give thumbs up to the half coffee/half tea cold drink, good sweetness.
It's always busy here, things haven't changed! -
Review from Gigi T.
Vancouver, BC
12/17/2011
I've been driving past this place a million times, and finally took a stop for lunch yesterday. AMAZING FOOD!
Coming from the same hometown, this HK style restaurant makes Western food, with an Asian twist. Same taste as the food you'd eat in HK.I got a set lunch, and they come with a cream of mushroom soup, with big pieces of chicken meat. They served bread along with a drink of your choice. My main entree had pork, chicken, bacon, and shrimp skewers on rice. I chose a mushroom sauce that goes with the dish. It was a little salty, but its super filling!
Its cheap and I ALWAYS ask them for a container, because I just couldn't finish them all. Its like having two meals for one price, I can't complain on that. -
Review from Christina N.
Vancouver, BC
5/16/2012
The food at this place is good.. I come here every so often... And yesterday was actually my first time eating late at 9:30pm. it was not busy. However, they forgot about our order and we waited for almost an hour .. It was ridiculous!!! Even the people who seated after us, got their food. I was so mad!!! The waitress kept looking my table and asking the other waitresses if our order was taken already.. Wow that made me even more mad!!! Sooooo in the end, we didn't even tip them!! That's just ridiculous!!! It was NOT busy, and we waited for an hour!!
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Review from Odie O.
4/8/2012
Used to be our favorite restaurant when they had their baked red Grouper fish dish but they no longer serve it so we don't go regularly as it costs more than other places. It's sad that they don't have that dish anymore and no one makes it, it was one of a kind. Very busy noisy place.
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Review from Helaine C.
Marpole, Vancouver, BC
3/30/2012 4 Check-ins Here
I usually go there after 9:30pm for the mini dishes. The food is ok. Definitely not as good as the "Cafe Gloucester" before the Cambie Street reconstruction. I'm sure long time customers know what I mean. The "tea' they use to make milk tea, coffee, lemon tea is just NO. We've mentioned that to them since the beginning but still no improvement at all.
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Review from Colene C.
12/17/2011 3 Check-ins Here
I love this HK style cafe. It just serves up the right amount of comfort food that makes me feel like a kid again. The best time to come is for their late night menu where you'll get the most bang for your buck + a drink. My go-to is the hot almond milk. Mm.
I've sampled plenty of things on their menu and haven't had any misses (though I usually steer clear of noodle soups here). The real standouts are the baked dishes, particularly the baked portuguese style chicken. It's creamy without being too rich and a great complement to the chicken. Plus, it's a hearty amount that will give you enough for leftovers the next day. -
Review from Herman E.
11/21/2011
If you're Chinese and you live in Vancouver, then it is a CAPITAL CRIME if you have not been to a HK style restaurant such as this. These types of restaurants are all over the city.
Characteristics:
- Cheap eats
- Typically there will be a set menu that includes a drink
- Has traditional Chinese food and other Asian food
- Has some bastardized style of western food done HK style.
I cannot explain it, but I do not like Asian fusion food when there is a western spin on it. However, if there is an Asian spin on certain western foods, I don't mind it as much, except for breakfast.
I never could understand why Asians substitute a wiener in a western breakfast meal and call it a sausage????!!!! That is just WRONG, OMFG!!! HK'ers fail miserably when it comes to breakfast.
The rack of lamb is not bad here.
Parking can be a pain, unless you take transit or walk.
Overall, the food is decent and I frequent this place when I feel the need for diversity. -
Review from Andrea L.
Vancouver, BC
11/23/2011
Not bad, it CAN get freak-ishly loud like any other restaurant can.
They are quite consistent with checking up on you.
I had some baked pasta thing and some chicken noodle thing the last time I was there, they could really lay off the MSG and some of the grease, you could just burp enough back up after.. naasty.
For the prices and location, not bad for what they are. -
Review from Simon K.
When you hear the name you wonder how they were able to conjure it up and unless you know the place you will not think, by name alone, that it is an 'HK cafe' style joint. This place has been around for quite a while now come to think of it, and probably one of those joints that I have repeatedly visited often due to value, and assortment of dishes on the menu.
The owners may have changed during the whole 'Canada Line', tear up Cambie street, time during the Olympic build up, but one thing that has not changed is the menu. Vast, filled with selection from soupy noodles, fried noodles, fried rices, pieces of steaks, sandwich's, etc, too much to go through in detail, the hard part sometimes is choosing what you really are going to have.
They also have two things going on here as well, one is the regular peak times where they have a normal menu, and the other times, which I consider more peak and busy for them as they have the set mini meal menu (it's not that small) with a drink, and this place does get busy, especially if you have groups of more than 4.
Along this area there are two other places that serve up the same type of food as this place, but this one just outdoes them, and is open later too. They take all forms of payment, there is a ton of street parking, just remember it is meter'd unless your coming after 10 PM, and you may bump into someone you know here if they like this type of food and they also live in the city of Vancouver! -
Review from Mark H.
4/24/2011 4 Check-ins Here
British name with big banging portions.
Went for the lunch special of fried panko crusted fish and pork chop in garlic sauce (sauce choice is up to you) with spaghetti instead of rice. Because I can. Combo starts off with a choice of Russian borscht or corn chowder soup and hot tea.
What arrives on a plate is a food challenge for those less hungry types. Fish was perfectly cooked and not oily at all. No complaints on the other elements.
Service is factory efficient.Listed in: Chinese Chowdown
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Review from Michael C.
Vancouver, BC
2/24/2011 3 Check-ins Here
I like coming here for a good HK cafe style Chinese food.
I believe most items on the menu does include a drink. $1 for cold & $1.50 for jumbo size.
Most of the stuff I have tried here is pretty good. I particularly like Baked Spaghetti Bolognese. MMMmmmmmMMMmmm
Don't get the Curry Pork Chop with Rice. That's the only thing that I didn't like so far about this place. The pork chop was good, but the curry was very..... monotone for me. -
Review from Patrick L.
8/13/2011
First time in Vancouver. This was the only Hong Kong style cafe I tried locally. However, I can offer a perspective of how this cafe compared with those in SF Bay Area.
First the bad part: The Hong Kong style ice tea does not have much tea in it. All I could taste was milk and sugar. The whole experience redeemed itself when the lotus leaf steam rice arrived. It had bits of shrimp, duck meat, etc. The rice and meat were moist and total harmony. Definitely a 5 five stars if not because of the milk tea.
The restaurant was packed but the seating was comfortable. Definitely worth visiting again. -
Review from Edward L.
Gloucester is one of the "higher-end" HK-style cafes (yes I see the misnomer) in Vancouver.
Their Thai-style fried rice is awesome. Of course it's been Hongerized, but the ingredients blend VERY well. I order this dish at least half the time I'm here.
The food here does cost a couple of bucks more than other HK-style cafes, but imo it's worth splurging once in a while. The food is noticeably more flavourful than the competition, and I have a severely undeveloped palate.
One side of the restaurant is all 2-person tables, which can easily be reshuffled to form a long table should you bring a large group, which makes this place a great place to gather after, say, a sports night.
The parking directly in front sucks, but fortunately the streets directly to the E and W of Cambie are free. Yay!
If you've never been here, give it a try, you won't be disappointed. -
Review from Dave B.
Vancouver, BC
2/22/2012
If you had a senile Chinese grandma that lived in a trailer park, this is exactly the food she would cook.
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Review from Annie M.
Vancouver, BC
It used to be very good HK style cafe and I haven't been Gloucester for a long time even though it re-opened after it re-opened.
The Malaysian fried rice was delicious, tasty and a bit spicy.
The seafood vermicelli was good and not too sweet. -
Review from Ellen W.
Vancouver, BC
2/28/2012
I just don't understand why they are so busy. The food is not that great but the services are excellent. This place seems to be opened for more than ten years now and their qualities do not change that much. It is always average but they are so crowded mostly. I think it might be due to their nice decorations and wide selections of food. Their decorations really make you feel that this place is so classy but they charge very little. That might be the reason they are so succeed.
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Review from Dennis C.
1/20/2011
This place is a comfort food restaurant... its what i crave the most when im hungover, which when i came here, i was pretty crappy.
My visits to Vancouver from LA often ends with long nights with alcohol. My cousin has brought me here each time i visited Vancouver, and each time it has delivered.
You wont find top notch food, and its certainly not something you would drive far for... its something that you would grab if you happened to be in the area and want some simple foods, and a large menu.
I always get the pork chop rice, the casseroles, or the beef noodle soup... standard chinese hangover food.
And i noticed one of the reviewers mention Hainan chicken... its just ok with me... there was this other place in Vancouver that was MUCH better, but i dont know the name of it....
LIKES: Huge menu filled with good food. Brings me back to the days when im in Hong Kong hungover and dying for comfort food.
DISLIKES: You cant smoke in here... then again, where on this continent can you smoke indoors anymore??... aside from Vegas... not to mention I dont smoke... hahaa.. sorry... i just couldnt think of any cons.
VERDICT: Hungry? Bored? Hungover? Youre in the area? Come here for some cheap good grub. -
Review from Odette C.
Vancouver, BC
I made a mistake and ordered the Prime Rib, it's suppose to be USDA Prime however as with most HK style cafe it was over marianted.
Other cafe dishes good, like the baked pork chop rice and sets come with good Russian borscht, dinner roll, hot drink and dessert. -
Review from Janet F.
London, ON
9/26/2010
I was expecting a lot from all the reviews that I've read on Yelp. But I'm not sure what the hype is all about. My friend and I ordered the Singapore fried vermicelli and the clear broth beef brisket with noodles.
I love Singapore fried vermicelli, it's always my go-to dish when going to HK cafes. I was disappointed by this one because they used ham, instead of char siu! The rest of the dish was good, nice curry flavours with a bit of heat. But I just can't forgive the misstep in ingredients.
The only problem I have with the second dish...was that they noodles were over cooked. They were gummy and fell apart!
I would consider coming back again if I'm in the area, but I definitely won't be making a special trip to come back. -
Review from Daphne H.
12/30/2010
Wow. This place brings back memories for me. Before the whole digging up of Cambie to buiild the skytrain stations for the Winter 2010 Olympics. I used to live here and was a regular here. My must-eat dish?
Baked Spaghetti :) YUM. So far, I've been to several HK cafes and this one has the best one in my opinion. I've measured most of the HK cafes around Vancouver against this one. One never forgets their 1st HK cafe experience.... -
Review from Rachael T.
Toronto, ON
6/23/2010 2 photos
Chinese diner? Count me in!
Do they serve baked pork chop rice?.. they better!
After a night of a lot of alcohol.... we came to Gloucesters to chow down! It was probably close to 10, and our rowdy bunch walked into a half full restaurant. Their late night deals start at 10pm so we were in luck!
I ordered what I specifically came for - pork chop rice! It came out in the largest casserole dish ever! Topped with lots of tomato sauce as I would have expected....the taste is still not up to par with richmond court in Markham, ON but the flavours were still on par. The pork was soft and tasty and the sauce had good flavour and spices. I told myself that I would eat half and save the rest for later......... that didn't happen. yes, I ate the whole thing. Mingle, take a bite, sip of drink, bite, bite, talk talk... eventually it was all gone and my stomach was hurting............ bad.
My friends ordered a bunch of other stuff which was just as tasty. One of the dishes had a hair in it and it was replaced immediately.
I'm not going to lie, but this is the most polite chinese diner i've ever been to. In Chinese, to say you're welcome - it is four characters (the full term).. which people tend to just shorten or not say it at all..
but I was so pleased to hear how courteous they were every time I said thanks for bringing me something, or filling up my tea.
Although they knew we were having a good time, I think they were happy to see us leave.. because we were LOUD!
oh.. good times! -
Review from Carina N.
1/18/2010 2 photos
This should be the ICON for the Hong Kong cafes. I was lucky to tried this place with 9 other people and sampled a lot of dishes. First thing first, this cafe is clean, spacious, and staffed with friendly waiters.
- Baked seafood rice: Well seared seafood including shrimps, mussels, and fish, on a bed of tasty fried rice, topped with creamy white sauce.
- Olive, Dry shredded pork & String bean fried rice (see my photo): Perfectly prepared and a bit smokey taste from "fresh off the wok". Rice is flawless with the exact amount of oil to give such texture.
- Baked pork cutlet with mango on fried rice: Interesting combination. Was good but I prefer the classic style.
- Curry beef with potato and spaghetti on the side: Juicy beef slices in the non-spicy yellow brown curry sauce. Potato absorbed all the curry and beef taste and is super tender and tasty.
- Ice yin-yang (half milk tea half coffee drink) was also pretty good.
- Complimentary tomato based borscht: Not so impressive
- Banana crepe: can skip..
I don't remember what else I had, but I was certainly in food heaven :) Please, we need a branch here in San Francisco! -
Review from Yoony P.
9/24/2009 1 photo
Food is great-- I especially like the cream of corn anything! (Cream corn shrimp on stir fried rice noodles is yummy!). Most dishes come with a free hot coffee or tea or $1.00 more for ice lemon tea.
The noodle soups are sometimes hit or miss. I ordered the "Szechuan Ranch Chicken Rice Noodle" soup today and thought the soup was a bit plain despite being spicey. It had a bit of a thicker consistency to it like it almost had corn starch in it. What's with the "ranch"? Is that a typo? Somebody enlighten me please!
I come here often after work because HK style chinese is good food for the soul when jetlagged. -
Review from Ernesto G.
5/28/2010 4 photos
Baked porkchop with fried rice and tomato sauce = yum!
If you're missing Hong Kong and you just want to grab a good meal for a good price, come by Gloucester's. Tasty food with a free drink for $8 including tax; so sweet.
The baked porkchop is great, but it takes a little longer than most dishes here, but oh so worth it.
Note: There's free parking down 17th avenue.Listed in: I heart Hong Kong
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Review from Alison S.
1/7/2010
Gloucester is my standard go-to place if I'm in Vancouver and needing a baked pork chop rice. Yes, that is a legitimate need.
They also serve noodle soups and other baked rice/spaghetti type dishes, as well as an assortment of more Chinese-style dishes that I haven't had a chance to sample as much of.
Personally I find their portions enormous. I have a separate dimension for my stomach, which is the same capacity as a large man's, and to date I have not finished a single portion here on my own. Usually they can be divided into two meals. Two Alison-sized meals is quite substantial and amazing. (Admittedly, Kam Do in Richmond has a mammoth pork chop rice that is four Alison-meals, but Gloucester's size ain't shabby!)
On today's visit, we had the beef brisket curry, and the baked seafood rice (a woman's prerogative is to change her mind, after all). The curry was just the right amount of curriness and not too spicy, and the beef was nice and tender with a good amount of fatty. The only non-beef component was potatoes though. I like carrots in my curry too, but the boyfriend doesn't care for veggies, so he didn't mind. The baked seafood was good, with a nice amount of seafood on top of the rice. They use shrimp, fish, artificial crab, cuttlefish, and mussels. The mussels were juicy and not dried out.
Gloucester has a fairly spacious design and I don't feel cramped when I'm eating here. The seats are comfortable and the restaurant is clean. Service is brisk but never rude. I don't think their business was much hampered by Canada Line construction, since they always look busy to me! -
Review from Emily L.
Vancouver, BC
6/19/2009
I came here for an early dinner today (afternoon specials) and I don't have any complaints- yet. It is my first time after the long nightmare of all the construction on Cambie Street but I did come here regularly back in the day.
Food: Their menu has quite a variety; they serve soups, salads, noodles in soup, baked rice, fried rice, fried noodles...etc. I ordered the Japanese Tonkotsu Ramen (basically Ramen in a thick white broth made by boiling pork meat and bones) and my mom ordered Thin Rice Noodles in Soup with Duck. My ramen was quite unique and really tasty. The broth was thick and tasty with a unique tiny sour aftertaste (in a good way). The pork bones had lots of meat and was really flavorful. The noodles were tender and perfect , not over or under cooked. I tried my mom's duck and was impressed as well. There was plenty of meat on the duck and it was also very tender. Portions were quite generous and the only complaint I have was that both broths were a little too salty.
Ambiance: The thing is...that they tried to create a nice ambiance but they neither succeeded nor failed. I mean they repainted the walls, and added some random paintings and decorations. Their main goal is just not to create ambiance. Noise level wise, it really depends when you're there. I was there at around 5:45pm and it was quite empty which was nice. However, my mom said that lunchtimes and dinnertimes are really really hectic.
Service: The service here is not too bad...but then again, I did go when the restaurant was quite empty. My mom did mention that the quality of food and service tends to go way down here when it is bustling with activity here. But then again, I'm sure this also happens to other restaurants as well.
Value: I think the prices are quite reasonable for the quality and amount of food you get.
I am quite satisfied today BUT I will definitely return and try something different so be on a lookout for another update! -
Review from Karen F.
Vancouver, BC
1/27/2009
My parents and I have been going to Cafe Gloucester for years. It is very solid Hong Kong-style "fusion" food, with a good range of classic Chinese/Cantonese dishes, smaller portions for "afternoon tea" that come with drinks, and yummy snacks like french toast or chicken wings. The setting is also slightly more upscale than your average Hong Kong-style cafe. They also have set three-course dinners on evenings and prime rib.
Overall, there's enough selection to satisfy those with expectations for their HK afternoon tea experience, with a broad enough menu to not alienate those used to more standard fare. -
Review from Johnson C.
Vancouver, BC
11/25/2009 1 Check-in Here
Gloucester seems to be the most popular HK cafe in Vancouver - it has been around for a long time and clearly has made some fans.
Gloucester is relatively pricey for a HK-style cafe (assuming their model inspired places like Copa or iCafe). Portions being on the smallish-average side but in an much more comfortable setting than in your typical HK cafe. $1 extra for iced drinks and their 'jumbo' size upgrade for $1.50 brings makes it the same size as some other good HK cafes.
The food is solid and this places seems to be very consistent in quality. I can see why it's so popular (especially since it's open late).
However, I really can't give it higher marks since it doesn't offer the value that other HK cafes do. But the food is tasty and consistent and I've yet to be disappointed when eating here. -
Review from Jenna L.
1/31/2011
Busy Sunday afternoon!
Came here with my sister and although the place was full and was busy, I was promptly seated after 5mins. But like many other Chinese restaurants with line ups, you have to rough it up and moosh through the waiting line to PUT YOUR NAME ON THE LIST. Otherwise all your standing is left in vain.
The order is promptly taken, pergaps too soon but hey, if I pass now I will probably not get another chance in 15min.. Got many choices on the menu, personally think the 19.99 combo with three types of meeat steaks and a generous bowl of soup is the best deal. But my sister and I alone can't finish that! So I went for portugese style currie porkchop on rice and sister went with honeymoon rice with prawns (half cream sauce/half tomatoe sauce).
The food came after ~15mins or so, and wow the generous portion for $7.95. My curry porkchop was good, but the pork tasted a bit funny, to be honest. It taste like a bit sour? Was the meat gone bad slightly perhaps? I am not sure. But I don't feel like making a huge fuss so I eat.
My sister was not happy with her dish for sure, she says there's 3 prawns in the whole dish and a whole lotta cream sauce. She's also not happy the waitress hastily took order and brought out cold milk tea instead of the regular hot milk tea.
So we eat silently, she doesn't finish her dish, and the ranting starts... Perhaps I don't want to come back again... -
Review from Renee C.
8/3/2009
For a HK style Cafe/Restaurant, it has a pretty solid menu with lots to choose from.
I like that I can get anything from toast to Japanese ramen to curries to Italian inspired pastas......and everything comes with a hot drink and if you want it cold you add a dollar.
The staff aren't particular nice but what can I expect?...it's an Asian place....no offence but I'm sure you know what I mean! @_@ They did refill our tea often, so that was good :)
I had the baked pork chop rice with a cold horlick...expected and expected...and I was satisfied:)
At the end of the meal you do feel bad lingering to have a conversation with friends cause they have people waiting for a table and they do make it known to you.
Overall experience....eh...would come back just cause it's been here forever and it's a good place to get good variety. -
Review from Sherman T.
Vancouver, BC
7/10/2011
There is one thing I love about Cafe Gloucester are there set menus after 9pm. It includes a drink and also a dish for about $8. I usually choose the honey lemon tea drink with bake rice with seafood. Their service is fast and the food is delicious. One of the thing I like the most is that they take credit cards! Most asian places in Vancouver only take cash. If you are hungry and need a late night snack for a decent price, check out Cafe Gloucester. It's open late till 2am.
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Review from Wendy C.
West Vancouver, BC
3/28/2011
Typical baked Cantonese western fusion. Totally hits the spot. Wish they had puff pastry covered soups.
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Review from food-voice l.
Vancouver, BC
Updated - 1/15/2011
Café Gloucester- 1/14/2011
Who serve the best HAINAN chicken and has the best value in town. Its debatable, most of the reviewers say Café D'lite, some say Mui Garden, and some said Banana Leaf and Panang Delight Café opened recently. It seems I am the only one say Café Gloucester on Cambie. Their Chicken cooked just right, the meat is tender and smooth as well as its taste. I haven't catered that restaurant few weeks now. To reconfirm my thinking, I decided to have the Hainanese Chicken Rice dinner to day at Café Gloucester. I may say their Hainanese Chicken just as good as before; tender and juicer, very consistence. The Hainanese Chicken Rice dinner comes with a bowl of special daily soup, garnished with sweet vinegar carrot and lo-bak, salt peanut and green verges. It's less than $10. I think this is tremendous value. They have very good selections in the menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have been customer of this eatery for long time; they have good food, good service and very good value. Highly recommended.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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9/8/2010
I have been cater this restaurant many years. their food, service and price always good,… Read more »
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Review from Richard J.
North Vancouver, BC
8/25/2009
This place is amazing! Hong Kong-style Chinese fusion. A club sandwich with fries and a side of salted fish and chicken fried rice? Sure.....and maybe a "healthy" drink. Lots of Chinese "comfort" food dishes that I don't find at many places. There's an almost diner atmosphere and a very reliable quality to the food. We were handed 3 different menus....the choices are endless. I love this place.
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Review from Michele L.
3/9/2010
Oh yum! I love this mini-HK town. The baked rice dishes here are a hundred times better than you can find in the US. Definitely worth the wait at the border just for this.
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Review from Christoper A.
Vancouver, BC
2/13/2011
Service is bad. Noodles were so overcooked they tasted like baby paste you would feed a 4 month old. When we told waitress they said nothing and walked away. Stay away...
