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Corner 23
Categories: Food Tea Rooms Restaurants Chinese Restaurants Taiwanese Tea Rooms, Chinese, Taiwanese [Edit]
4008 Cambie StVancouver, BC V5Z 2X8
Neighbourhoods: South Cambie, Riley Park
(604) 879-8815
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
29 reviews for Corner 23
Review Highlights
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"The sauce for the pork hock is delicious." In 8 reviews -
"Very busy little Taiwanese style bubble tea cafe." In 12 reviews -
"Chicken nuggets are always hot and tasty." In 4 reviews
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29 reviews in English
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Review from Deanna P.
Vancouver, BC
2/3/2012
This is a proper bubble tea place (try the coconut!!). And the food is pretty fantastic too. I love the rice meals with the 3 little side dishes... you never know what you are going to get! But its always tasty.
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Review from win l.
Vancouver, BC
4/27/2012
I only come here for the tea when friends want to hang somewhere inexpensive for bevs. I don't touch the food since it's a typical Taiwanese joint offering food that's high in sodium & oil which I try to avoid as much as possible. For an unpretentious place to meet with friends & have a tea then this is OK. Heard the rest rooms are a bit horrific but that's common for an Asian place in this segment.
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Review from Diana L.
4/10/2012
I have come here on a couple occasions. The crispy, salty, peppery chicken is probably one of the best I've had. It always seems very busy, so they must be doing something right. Nothing at this restaurant really sticks out. I would say the prices are pretty average and so is the food. They have one very odd dish that is like a fishy pancake thing smothered in sauce; don't order it. It's not very appetizing. My rating sits right in the middle since my experience has been quite average with the few extremely positive and negative outliers.
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Review from Betty L.
11/18/2011
Popular hangout place for the young Asian crowd. Reasonable prices, fast but quallity of food is inconsistent. Went there yesterday with a friend for a quick bite. The food was hit and miss and the service was decent.
I randomly ordered the oyster omelet. It was beyond terrible because they used flour to bind everything together instead of eggs. The end result: very starchy and bland, the sauce on top was way too sweet. I picked out the oysters to eat. Hot and sour soup was under $5 for a very big bowl. It was quite flavourful but would be nicer if the consistency is thicker.
Might go back for a quick meal if I'm in the food and craving some Taiwanese food. -
Review from Edward L.
I first tried this place when I came here looking for my usual wonton noodle joint, and realized it had been replaced by Corner 23. Since then, I've been back a handful of times.
Parking is available out front on Cambie, as well as on the side streets.
The decor is typical/average of most other local Taiwanese bubble tea cafes. There is a 6-8 car parking lot out back, but this is nowhere near enough. The fact that this joint is next to a major intersection (Cambie and King Edward) means there isn't that much street parking either. This is probably my single biggest gripe of the vicinity.
The inside has a really weird odor. Something like dirty washcloths. Hard to describe it, but you will know what I am talking about when you step inside. Gross!
The signature dish here is Pork knuckle. Served with a little dish of sauce and some rice, it is tasty for sure, but wasn't anything spectacular.
The hot and sour soup here tastes REALLY weird (not in a good way). It was filled with mushy noodles at the bottom??
To give them credit, their oyster pancake is decent. It's served with this mystery sweet sauce (looks a bit like strawberry jam), and has the consistency of (for lack of a better word) snot. I actually enjoyed this dish, but there weren't quite enough oysters in it. In addition, the pancake was really thin. This is more of a snack than a meal. But still worth trying.
One last thing worth mentioning: it's cash only.
Corner 23 is half-decent for what it offers, but there are better alternatives if you walk or drive a few minutes in any direction. -
Review from Jacqueline T.
Its quite a decent bubble tea joint that serves a selection of tawainese foods and snacks. I always enjoy snacking on the appies. The sauce for the pork hock is delicious!!
Bubble Tea sizes are very large. The flavor is there, and not over poweringly sweet :)
Every little neighbourhood should have their friendly bubble tea corner! For those sweet urges, or late late snacking needs :) -
Review from Melissa C.
Richmond, BC
4/19/2011 2 Check-ins Here
On the corner of 23rd and Cambie, I came to this taiwanese bbt and food place with and on the suggestion of my friend Andrea P. We ordered a favourite: Pork Hoc dish. The pork hoc meat was flavourful and the skin was chewy, fatty, and yummy but the thing that upgraded this review to a 4 star was the rich, garlic sauce that came with the dish. I would fill my water bottle with it if I could - it's that good! The fried onion pancake was super delicious too! Not too oily and had a pleasant onion flavour.
The drinks came quick and are housed in these huge glasses and mugs! I order the hot vanilla milk tea. It was creamy and good but it was more like warm to almost lukewarm, not hot.. which is how I like it.
Corner 23 has some good stuff - come and experience it! -
Review from Andrea P.
3/29/2011 2 Check-ins Here
One of my top 3 favorite Taiwanese restaurants in Vancouver. If I could come here every week, I would.
1. Pork hock rice- their specialty, what their restaurant is names after. Pork hock is basically pigs feet... Don't let that scare you off! They marinate it, cook it and cut it in neat little pieces so it doesn't look like what it actually is :P the texture is chewy and moist with a little bit of fatty goodness. The best part of this dish... is the home made garlic sauce they serve with it. Omg. I don't care how bad my breath smells, gimme all the sauce!! Order the rice plate and it comes with sole veggies on the side and rice. Or order the appy and there is small or large portion.
2. Oyster pancake - delicious Taiwanese snack! Made with egg, starch, spinach and oysters and special sauce... One of my favorites.
3. Taiwanese popcorn chicken- never a fail :)
4. Fried onion pancake - served with their garlic sauce- yumm I just can't get enough .
5. Milk tea is a good size and they have a variety of choices- I personally like rose milk tea!
My only complaint is the stinky sewage smell that comes from somewhere in the vicinity of this parking lot.... Blegh. Can't they get rid of it?!
Summary: VERY yummy Taiwanese food (coming from a TW girl ^_^), parking in the back, cash only! -
Review from Annie M.
Vancouver, BC
Overall we both did not enjoy our first dining experience at Corner 23 and the food was quite salty.
The spicy wonton wasn't spicy and too much peanut butter sauce.
The spicy pork with cabbage was so greasy.
The beef wrap was chewy and wrap was oily too. -
Review from Cyndi H.
Vancouver, BC
Tawanese fast food, baby!
Lazer fast service, unhealthy eats, but boy do they fill the hole. The bubble tea? Well the pearls aren't perfect, but they're passable though the hot tea is overly sweet. That being said, the rose flavour was divine. DIVINE! Tell them to hold the sweet and you'll be drinking a garden. Seriously the most aromatic drink ever. Love.
The noodle soup was flavour-free (fail), the chicken nuggets looked more like strands of chicken (oh the grease of that meal challenged my arteries) and the XLB was seriously lacking in soup. Yep, probably the weakest XLB ever. Whatever though, it's still XLB
Cash only.Listed in: BBT!, Quick Eats, Cambie, XLB
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Review from Odette C.
Vancouver, BC
5/20/2011 1 Check-in Here
My favorite Rose flavored bubble tea. This is what I come for.
food wise it's average cheap Taiwanese fast food. Order Pork hock if you like garlicky sauce (the meat itself is chewy, don't worry the meat does not resemble a pig's feet.)
Everything else is average or below. -
Review from Rick C.
After the Giovane Cafe event, we got some dinner at Corner 23.
Cheryl stuck with the fried rice which looked good and was pretty big portioned. May got he fried vermicelli noodles. They were just okay.
The deep-fried squid was crisp and appetizing. Dennis and I both ordered the spicy beef noodle soup. It wasn't spicy and the beef was chewy and full of tendants. I enjoyed the thick Taiwanese noodles and the soup was otherwise tasty.
My mango milkshake sans pearls was delightfully tasty. I could taste the mango goodness packed into the shake.
It wasn't a spectacular meal, but I found it serviceable and hearty. -
Review from Flora C.
3/27/2011
My company beats the the food here in this case.
Generally, the food is ok and authentic here. Only, not ok dish is the Taiwnaese Oyster pan cake. The dish was runny and uncook. =(
After the meal, I feel the MSG effects. That is not good eats.
Pricy: Not pricy
Service: Fair but not fast
Environment: Small
Overall: Nothing really stands out
Parking: 8 available spots otherwise, on the streets -
Review from L K.
Vancouver, BC
10/16/2010 1 Check-in Here
We come to Corner 23 alot just because we love the food we order:
1. Beef Noodle Soup
2. Chicken nuggets with fried Basil
3. Japanese Green Tea bubble tea
The Noodle soup is super tasty and good amount of beef in the bowl for its price. Chicken nuggets are always hot and tasty. Thebubble tea is ok, but the japanese green tea flavor is my favorite
We tried other beef noodle places including beefy beef noodle place on Main and Flo on Granville and they just don't compare! -
Review from Marc D.
Vancouver, BC
5/7/2009
This Taiwanese cafe is in the heart of the area decimated by the Canada Line construction. The street is open again, and things are starting to open up and flourish, and now I even have ventured back to the area to see what is left after the storm!
Had the wonton in spicy sauce and the beef flank rice plate.
The wontons (there were about 8 of them) has a nice thin wrapper, but were a bit overcooked so that the wrapper was falling apart a bit. The sauce was much thicker than what I had expected. For some reason I was expecting the typical wonton in chili oil type sauce. But this was more of a thick sauce like the type with dan dan noodles. It had a nice heat to it, and overall I'd give the dish 3 stars.
The beef flank was overly chewy - not a good job. I normally love the way good Taiwanese restaurants cook beef flank so it is really tender. This was unfortunately not that. It was also in a sauce that had way too much corn starch (ala Chinese Canadian cooking instead of Taiwanese) with canned mushrooms (blech) and some fresh green veggies and carrots. Overall this dish was a "Meh."
Service was friendly, but there are many other Taiwanese places around Vancouver and I can't see myself returning here anytime soon.Listed in: Vancouver Taiwanese Food
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Review from beki L.
Vancouver, BC
12/24/2010 2 photos
This earned itself a 3 1/2 yelp stars!
Very busy little Taiwanese style bubble tea cafe! My fellow foodie, Dennis, has heard good things of this place so we opted to drive out this way in the pouring rain for some lunch.
we shared 3 plates: eggplant with pork in spicy garlic sauce, beef fried rice w/ black pepper & deep fried squid.
the eggplant dish was the best out of the three! nice hearty sauce not overly greasy with the right balance of spiciness...tasted great with the fried rice we got.
i was disappointed with the spicy squid. i guess i was expected the salt & spicy squid style at the usual chinese restaurants...i think they sprinkled it with cinnamon or something? it was a little bit odd to me...this contributed to the lost 1/2 star.
service was adequate, nothing stellar about it. but make sure you got cash on ya!! i would definitely come back if people wanted to hit this up again. the table beside us had ordered 4 completely different dishes that looked soooo yummy...i have to come back for more!
ps..the tea they serve with your meal is soooo goooood =) -
Review from JJ L.
Vancouver, BC
10/17/2011
Because of its location, I have come here more than once. I usually come to meet my girlfriends and it is in a central location. However, there are more cons than pros.
The cons:
- stank smell of piss or something gross
- lack of parking, sometimes have to circle around or park far away
- 50/50 on whether bbtea will taste good or not. one time the wrong order came
- the food is ok at best
The pros:
- location, location, location
- decent pricing
I wil suggest a new place for the next bbtea outing -
Review from Anthony F.
Vancouver, BC
6/13/2010
Background: Been to Taiwan. Me love Taiwanese food long time.
Food: Fried rice had weird crunchy chunks of MSG crystals in it and I think it had a neurotoxic effect on me. Pork knuckle is tender juicy and comes with a vinegar-like dipping sauce. Every Taiwanese person I talk to knows about this place and their pork knuckle. Any noodle dish here will probably disappoint as there are many hand-pulled noodle places nearby on the Broadway strip. Bubble tea, if you're into that, is decent although Dragonball is just down the road.
Ambiance: It's nice in here, comfy booths and chatty Asian teenagers doing their homework.
Service: The waitresses are, dare I say, cute as heck. Oh, but the service itself is average.
Pricepoint: $10 a person.
Overall: I'd come back here exclusively for the soft seating, pork knuckle, cordial service. Some of their food is of iffy quality however.Listed in: Chopsticks not chopsuey
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Review from Weldon F.
Richmond, BC
8/22/2010
Another Taiwanese BBTEA Food joint, but this one is surprisingly decent.
The drink portions were large which is a bonus considering how small the drink sizes are at Estea. You pay 4-5 dollars for a drink the portions should be large.
The food was pretty decent and closer to the food I've had in Taiwan though maybe some of the execution was a bit lacking.
Ordered:
Wan Luan Pork Hock with Rice - This is their signature dish and I would recommend trying this one. The dipping sauce for the pork is really good. Garlicy, sweet and savoury.
Beef Noodle in Soup - Tastes close to the ones i've had in Taiwan. The noodles are of the thick vareity which I prefer. Overall pretty good. Though the one I've had at Bubble World on Kingsway near metrotown might top this. The broth is a little spicy so people who don't eat spicy food should be a bit careful, they do put a spicy indicator on the menu. They do not offer a non-spicy version of this as Bubble World does.
Oyster Egg Omellete - The flavors are pretty good especially the sauce on top. However, i have a feeling they used a little too much rice flour in the batter and it all became a little goey. The texture didn't go down so well. Wish they had executed this a little better with more eggs and less batter. -
Review from HELEN C.
Vancouver, BC
11/3/2009 12 photos
I never thought that I'd even set my foot here or bother to try because I never fancy pork hock. However, 2 days ago I had to meet some people at this place.. so I went.
It seems like pork hock is the dish that you're suppose to order since that's the name (the chinese part) for this restaurant... but I still didn't feel like having it unless they gave it to me for free, ha ha ha. I decided to stick with my love for chicken and ordered the chicken karaage (deep fried chicken) with rice. Hmm.... It was alright. Quite disappointed since it costs $6.95. At first I was thinking, "ok~ not too bad, lots of chicken on the plate(check out the pix I've uploaded)".... and then later I realized most of them were just deep-fried batter. I'll give you HALF star for the bits of chicken meat that I actually tasted (and they weren't bad).
I still give this place 3 stars because I've tried my friend's Taiwanese steak on those hot iron plate thingy.. It was SO GOOD!!!
p.s. I've also tried my friend's plum slush.. 1 star! Too sweet, man!!! I had 2 sips and that was enough. Good thing I didn't order this. -
Review from Mark H.
7/11/2010 1 Check-in Here
Cheap. Cash only. Ordered shredded pork with egglant which came with rice, corn, cucumbers, and noodles. Shared Taiwanese chicken nuggets that came with an apple-like sweet sauce. Well seasoned with a bit of spicy kick.
Service was fast and friendly decent being nearly packed. Will have to try their bubble tea next time, they looked delicious. -
Review from Gladys M.
7/12/2010
Hmmm... This place is much nicer looking now than before but the food is not that great. A good place to meet up with friends and have a drink and some small snacks though as they use big glasses.
As for the food, we ordered:
1. Deep fried pork chop with rice - $6.95
2. Wan Luan Pork Hock with rice (supposed that signature dish) - $8.50
3. Chinese Pancake with Green Onion - $3.50
4. Seasonal Veg w/ Minced Pork Sauce - $4.95
5. Marinated Seaweed - $3.75
6. Marinated Egg - $1.25 each
And my review respectively:
1. Lot of fat with the meat ... but tasty overall.
2. The pork hock is kinda tough and chewy... and why do they serve it cold? Maybe if they serve it hot, it would be more tender?? Did not enjoy it one bit. Very disappointing in fact.
3. Ok
4. Good portion, but don't really need to add the minced pork sauce...IMO
5. It's way too salty & sweet!!! (They probably use the Taiwanese Soy Sauce Paste...) Regret ordering it.
6. Meh. -
Review from Carmella V.
Vancouver, BC
12/30/2010
I love this place! You must try the rose green tea, hot with bubbles. And all the food is good here too. Trust me, I tried it!
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Review from Lily L.
Surrey, BC
7/8/2011
The pork hock is definitely worth a try, but their other items are quite delicious also. Portion is decent, price is decent. I go back to this place again and again. I remember the pearls in their bubble teas not being that good, but the drink tasted fine.
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Review from Wendy C.
West Vancouver, BC
3/31/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Corner 23 is your typical bbt cafe. The drinks are pretty good and the chicken nuggets are not bad. Overall, it will satisfy your bbt cravings.
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Review from James P.
Vancouver, BC
6/1/2009
i went there for dinner last week... ordered their famous pork hock ( - for those that can't read Chinese, it's the same name as the store) and their Taiwanese steak on hot plate ()... plus a blueberry bubble tea...
their pork hock was so good, it was a cold dish that's chewy, which i like... and their steak was awesome.... although i don't find much different in TW steak vs HK style steak, i like their black pepper sauce and the noodles which comes with the steak... the food is very delicious i would definitely go back
keep in mind it's cash only, so bring cash -
Review from Danika L.
Vancouver, BC
2/22/2011
Came here with a friend. It was my first time having the pork knuckles, which I really liked along with the sauce that came with it. I can't recall the menu name for it - my friend ordered and she speaks Taiwanese. I ordered the coffee pudding bubble tea (or something like that...) which was a pretty big size. I don't know if they use coffee whitener etc... in their bbt, but in any case I couldn't detect any powdery taste. I also couldn't finish it, so got the rest packed in a to go cup :D Props to them for that!
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Review from Emily L.
Toronto, ON
7/2/2010
Cut place with a pleasantly busy atmosphere! My friend and I got a couple of items to share and were delighted with the huge portions and the great taste. Note: heavy on the garlic, but that was just fine by us!
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Review from wind T.
12/13/2010
Very authentic Taiwanese food. Recommended!
