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Tropika On Robson
Categories: Restaurants Indonesian Restaurants Malaysian Restaurants Singaporean Indonesian, Malaysian, Singaporean [Edit]
1128 Robson StVancouver, BC V6E 1B2
Neighbourhood: West End
(604) 737-6002
- 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
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
52 reviews for Tropika On Robson
Review Highlights
"I loved their Roti Canai bread as a starter."
(in 8 reviews)
"The pineapple fried rice was also done nicely where there..."
(in 7 reviews)
"mild curry with chicken and potato."
(in 15 reviews)
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52 reviews in English
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Review from Simon K.
Out of the three locations I know (Cambie and Richmond the others) this would be my favorite one of the bunch, maybe it is the seating arangement, or just the decor as it looks more upscale than the other two. Being here many times, I find that this one tends to your needs, always refilling water, and also going that small step to answer questions on the level of spice you can take, or any food allergies that the table has.
If you have a window seat, it overlooks the hear of the shopping district of Robson, a nice view whatever time of day you are in here. The food is very consistant here, as in good everytime I have visited. I really do enjoy their lunch menu, as it is a fairly resonable price for the amount of food your getting. One of the dishes I occasionally order is the curry beef served on rice (rice choices, chicken flavour, coconut, ginger, plain), and they also give you a sambal egg, and the egg roll, which usually makes me walk like a penguin back to the office if I am working in downtown!
If your looking for this type of food, and need a place that is more on the "impress" side, this may be your place. Nice decor, great service, and solid on the food. And when your done eating you can spend more money on Robson! -
Review from Nick L.
9/29/2011
Head up the stairs to Tropika on Robson.
Have eaten in and done take out.
Both good.
I remember liking the satay sticks and the pineapple fried rice which was moist and moorish.
They do good curries here as well. It's a nice place - it isn't super memorable though.... -
Review from Jim C.
Lions Bay, BC
2/9/2012
We're big fans of this place as well as banana leaf. The Sotong (squid) belachan introduced me to this wonderful ingredient that must be stored in a mason jar or it sticks up the kitchen. The Kari (lamb) kambing also very good. I wish Asian restaurants would use spot prawns instead of the usual "poo" prawns though.
-
Review from Judy H.
Vancouver, BC
1/29/2012 1 Check-in Here
Decent service, ok food, overpriced.
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Review from Ashok S.
1/10/2012 1 Check-in Here
Prompt service, trying the canai roti and Malay sea food combination platter. Food was good and i really enjoyed the fish on the combination platter. Will love to come back.
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Review from Jay J.
New Westminster, BC
10/22/2011
This place provides good service and delicious foods.
(yet, they need to put some more seafood in the dish). -
Review from Lyn L.
8/1/2011
One of my favorite places when in Vancouver.....
Their fried crab is sooo good...but since we ate so much crab in Anacortes, we had other dishes...
Spare ribs, clams and the ong choy....all so tasty! Service was great. Our server was right on with the recommendations...wish we had more people so we could have ordered more dishes! -
Review from Alice A.
7/16/2011
After reading a few recent positive reviews, I thought there'd be really no harm trying Tropika for lunch. But for me, the food was really... meh.
Like the bf put it, it's like eating cheap food in a high-end restaurant setting, it just didn't gel. My sambal prawn lunch combo was served much earlier than his beef rendang. Neither were great. I was given three small shrimps, very unimpressive. The sambal sauce was authentic but drizzled sparingly.
Probably wouldn't return. -
Review from Theresa W.
Vancouver, BC
6/29/2011
Tropika is my trusty go-to place for medium sized groups (6 - 8 people) who are looking for delicious Asian meals. I love the variety of food here, and I've never hit a plate I didn't like.
The must order dish is the KL crab - we always get one without fail. The crispy bits they pour on top are so good that we practically lick the plate clean, and the crabs are always meaty and fresh (never dried up or watery!) Our group basically ordered all the large picture items: beef satay skewers, Hainese chicken, lamb curry, Sambal bunchies (which is the strangest name ever for sambal green beans with shrimp), and a pineapple fried rice. Portions don't leave you crazy stuffed, but I was completely happy with all the delicious food in my tummy.
Overall it's great food, and decent prices. Parking is definitely going to be hard since it's on Robson Street, but it's pretty transit friendly (catch the #5 from Burrard, or... just walk?).
I keep forgetting to try the Roti, it'll definitely be on my list next time I go! -
Review from Nina H.
7/19/2011
I had a good meal here with a group of friends. We had dishes that included the roti, pineapple fried rice, mi goreng, and lamb curry.
The lamb curry and the pinapple fried rice were wins for me. I love lamb curry and their's was quite flavorful. The pineapple fried rice was also done nicely where there was enough salty to balance the sweet of the pineapple. The mi goreng was a fail though. I was very disappointed with this dish, it tasted like something I'd get at an Americanized fast food stand in a mall full of people who didn't know better. Roti was alright, I liked the samba sauce.
Service was pretty good. -
Review from Anthoni L.
6/30/2011
Its been awhile, years ago.
But from what I remember of the place, I loved the food.
I don't necessarily like or can eat seafood, but I did and I didn't die.
But I did really enjoy the service, decor and food.
This was one of the places that made my trip to the BC area a very good one. -
Review from N C.
Burnaby, BC
The Indonesian spring rolls are dry because the outside is coated by peanuts. The curry is good but I was served the fattiest part of the beef brisket and obey half of my beef brisket had any beef on it. I think that the quality here may have gone downhill since I was last here two years ago. The waiters act like used car salesmen and wait around eying you like a hawk while gossiping with each other in a corner if it's dead. But I did go at lunch so maybe it's different at dinner.
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Review from Dee B.
Burnaby, BC
12/24/2011
Although this place is sort of on the pricey side, the food makes up for it. I enjoyed the roti canai very much and the satay sticks w/ the peanuty sauce. Would return next time !
-
Review from Edward L.
2/16/2011
The Chinese name for Tropika literally translates into "Singapore Malaysia Indonesia". That is exactly what you get here.
Having been to the other locations, I must say that this one is one of the better locations. I've had everything from Hainanese chicken rice to the vegetables to the pad thai to the skewers. You really can't go wrong with any dishes here.
The must-have dish here is the Turnip Cake (not sure of the exact English name but it's an Appetizer). This is not the bland squishy white square you get at dim sum places. No sir. This is a done of.. crack. It's that good. It's basically a seasoned and modified version of the traditional dish. I know of no other place that makes a turnip cake that comes anywhere close to Tropika's.
My gripes for this location is a) crappy street parking (what else is new), and the price. It is admittedly a bit expensive, which stops me from coming more often. But as a 1st date, this place is awesome. It's classy, the food is fantastic, and if you get a window seat, you can enjoy watching the bustling Robson Street life.
One last strange observation: unlike most other establishments, Tropika's serving staff are ALL male. This seems to be true to all of their locations for some reason. My friend suspects it's to satisfy the "cougar" demographic, but who knows. (thanks RP)
Recommended. -
Review from Alison T.
Burnaby, BC
11/16/2010
Food is really good, service, not so much.
I have been to this location about 3 times, and each time, the service has been less than decent. I stopped by last Saturday with my boyfriend and didn't wait long before we had a table.
At first, a man with long hair was our server and he seemed very polite and nice, filling our cups with cold water.
However later on, we were barely greeted by a non-smiling server instead. Being pretty much a regular at their Cambie location, we both knew the menu well and ordered right away and he walked away without so much as confirming the order.
The food was good as usual, we got the pineapple fried rice, skewers and my favourite, their roti canai. I usually order their grilled pomfret with sundried shrimp except that night we weren't very hungry. But I was really craving the sun-dried shrimp so my boyfriend ask the non-smiling server if it were possible for us to get like a little bowl of it (just because I wanted to enjoy it with my rice).
He immediately flat out said no without even offering to check with the kitchen staff nor apologizing and them promptly walked away. I wasn't so much upset with the fact that I couldn't get my sun-dried shrimp but rather that he was just so rude about it.
Anyway, if you want to experience Tropika with better service, definitely visit their Cambie location, it is much much better! And order the roti! -
Review from Folland O.
Vancouver, BC
3/11/2011
Delicious food, great location on Robson, crappy parking and no debit machine or ATM.
My friend dragged me here for dinner after a party one night. She was craving Malaysian and I was craving Greek but I'm sure happy she convinced me!
We started with a couple of drinks, she had the raw young coconut and I had the tea punch. I found the punch too sweet but still good but I was also immediately craving the coconut! I don't know many places that serve fresh coconut but I strongly suggest ordering it. They are delicious and served with a spoon so you can scoop out all the coconut meat!
We started with roti and satay and shared a noodle dish with shrimp.
The roti was cooked differently than I am used to, was more like a small crepe than flatbread but very good with the curry sauce it came with.
The satays were perfection. We had chicken, beef and pork. The peanut sauce had lots of chunky peanut bits and I also used it to dip my roti in. Yum!
The noodles were good but nothing extraordinary. I would probably try something different next time. I can't remember the dish name for the life of me though!
The reason I only gave it three stars is that they don't have a debit machine and they have no ATM. they wanted me to run down the street to Bread Garden to get cash. Fortunately, my friend decided to use her credit card.
Also,I found that there was a language barrier with some of the servers. At one point a guy came up to us while we were just finishing our meal and said "Hello, are you finished yet?" which I'm sure was meant to be polite but came off as intrusive and pushy.
I would recommend this place to a friend and believe that I would return, mostly for the coconut and satay. Just remember to bring cash! -
Review from Fiopo F.
West Vancouver, BC
11/23/2011
Hit or miss. Hainanese chicken is the same chicken you found in other Chinese restaurants: Tasted ok, but not the real deal. Didn't like the mee goreng but the roti canai and vege dishes were not bad. Would return if I happen to be in the area but won't make it a destination.
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Review from kristin e.
7/10/2010
Came here on a recommendation from my sister and was told to order the curry fish. Usually I like eating really spicy Malaysian/SG food but because my mom was with us, we had to keep things mild. I ordered the the sambal kangkung (one of my favorites) and the stewed pork ribs in fish sauce both mild and insisted that the curry fish remain spicy (it's described as "tastefully hot" on the menu).
Unfortunately, there might have been a mix up because the dry curry fish was mild too, so all of our dishes were mild. The satays and the coconut fried rice were already mild to begin with.
On the plus side, the food was really good. The curry fish (most expensive dish we ordered at $23) was a nice buttery, flaky halibut steak smothered in curry sauce. The ribs kind of tasted like a mix of pork adobo/beef mechado--basically that braised, stewed meat flavor.
I wished I weren't too full to order desert because I spied a girl at the table in front of us eating a very delicious looking shaved ice with all the fixins. *sigh* Now that it's summer, I just want to eat halo-halo all day everyday.
Anyway, service was good too. Good location as well because it's on Robson with lots of shopping. -
Review from Jason D.
Vancouver, BC
1/17/2011
Not the Tropika I once knew... What brought us here this night was the Group buy voucher that I had purchased way back in October and it will expire in Feb.
This time I found the food to be a little bland and lacking taste. The Pad Thai is definitely not as good as it used to be. It had a more watered down taste and not enough flavour. I also ordered the Lamb Curry and it also lacked taste. The sauce needs allot more work IMO. It just doesn't cut it. Very Mediocre.
One thing I do not like though is that some dishes can be really oily. I had ordered 6 satays (3 Lamb, 3 Pork) and while eating I noticed they were almost covered in oil. Also the Egg Plant dish (Which is very good btw) has allot of excess oil.
Service seemed to be fine that night, but maybe we just came on a good night. I have never been here for lunch but would consider it one day.
Luckily the Entertainment book will keep me coming back to this place!! -
Review from tee a.
5/31/2010
This post is more about the service versus the food.
Before yesterday I use to like Tropika. Spicy noodles (try: meegoreng), different curries and there is always a coupon in the entertainment book.
Last night I was there for a friend's birthday. (4 ppl). I had bought a cupcake from the cupcake store on thurlow (will review that later) with a candle. I arrived 10 mins early asking the manager if he's able to bring the cupcake out w/ the candle at the end of dinner. He said that he would only do it if we were to add 15% grat to our bill. (Here's the thing.... I use to be a server for many years, so I'm a great tipper!) Anyhoo... I was so surprised he said that. So I was like, forget about it. I understand if it was a cake that requires a cake cutting fee etc.. but a cupcake... seriously?!
Needless to say, I will NEVER go there again! I also work in a hotel so I will never be recommending any tourists to that restaurant again.
I understand if it's cheap good food w/ poor service (insert any HK restaurants) but for a restaurant like Tropika with the location and ambiance. Unaceptable!
There are so many great Malay restaurants in Vancouver, ie. Banana Leaf. -
Review from Rick C.
9/17/2010
Tropika on Robson is a great place to have lunch downtown. Their lunch specials are really good, filling and affordable.
They have a good selection for lunch. I enjoyed their chicken and rice dish which is relatively safe and tasty. All the other dishes are good too.
The restaurant is really nice upstairs and it's a good place to go with the office. There's plenty of room to experiment but also play it safe. -
Review from Stephanie M.
Vancouver, BC
9/17/2010
We came here later on a quiet weeknight and ordered the sambal prawn curry and sayur kari (mixed vegetable curry). The prawn curry was delicious and came with a good amount of prawns. The vegetable curry was also tasty but a bit too salty for me. The odd thing was the meal came before our drinks! Speaking of which, they do have a nice selection of delicious tropical-inspired drinks which go nicely with the various curry dishes.
Our server was attentive at first but lost interest in us once we'd stopped ordering food and drinks. Very annoying when you can't concentrate on the conversation you're having because you have to keep an eye out for an absent server.
I didn't like this place as much as Thai House or Banana Leaf; it was "good" but not "great". -
Review from Edward B.
Vancouver, BC
6/2/2010
Ah! Malaysian/Singaporean/Thailanese food. One of my favorites.
Then again I kinda eat everything...
Anyway. Tropika On Robson. The place is really good, it's somewhere in the middle of Robson St, the high end shopping district of Vancouver. Restaurant looks really good, the interior is modern and simple as well.
Food, meh. It's alright, I guess. I was eating with a big group and we ordered the crab, beef curry, prata, and fried fish. Honestly, I don't quite remember what we ordered, I don't know the name either :P
But anyhow, the crab's alright, the size is decent, and they have these flakes that adds the flavor. The fish, it tastes sour, small portion and it's not that special. The beef curry's pretty good. The prata is alright, but the curry is sweet and I don't really like it.
I had a 'cha-cha' for dessert I believe??? It tastes decent too, its a sweet soup-like dessert with coconut milk and some jelly added.
Anyways this restaurant is alright. It's probably pricey though. -
Review from Jenna L.
5/2/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Walked in on Sunday late afternoon with my family for a late lunch. As the timing was a bit funny (4PM) we didn't make a reservation but still got seated by the window! One star for that. The service was attentive and not intrusive throughout the dinner.
We ordered chicken, lamb, pork satays to start, and they were tender and juicy. Th peanut sauce is chunky and amazing! Then we had deep fried fish with brown-ish sauce with fish sauce. Sorry my sister ordered so I don't know what the name was! I promise it tastes far more appetizing than what you can immidiately imagine of fish sauce... The server also debones it for you so you don't have to fight with it with two forks (as there are no knives).
We've also oredered lamb curry and pineapple rice and a bowl of coconut rice. I like the lamb curry! But I'd like to say that of Banana Leaf was more "pang-ed" with spices and flavors. But Tropika's is good too.. The coconut rice was so subtly frangrant and I enjoyed it with curry. Why not have more fun that the plain old rice.
The pan fried egg noodle with tofu, eggs, shirmp was pretty good. But I find noodle dishes in Tropika to be o-k in general. After that, we still felt we needed a bit more so ordered Pineapple rice as a last minute resort. The portion is not that big on this, although the mounds of rice on top of half cut pineapple can be fooling. Other than the fun factor of having your fried rice in a pineapple, choose otherwise.
Finally we finished eating in only 45min (guess we were really hungry after a VSO concert) and we seemed to have howled all the food rather quickly... The girls next to us sat down shortly after we ordered and when we finished they still haven't ordered anything!
Anyways, the service was great (especially the younger guys will be nicer) and the food came fast, and they were good. We also got a $5 coupon towards next visit. Yum! -
Review from Tiara Q.
Delta, BC
1/5/2011
I've been to all three locations and I have to say that the food at each location has been consistent. A very good sign.
Like many people have said, the Robson location, the food is great but the service is a hit and miss.
I've been to this particular location 3 times, and two out of the three the service was a miss. Luckily my stomach and tastebuds were happy so I didn't have to bitch about the shotty service. -
Review from Krsna V.
3/26/2009
Quite average.
In a land of great Asian food, this restaurant sticks out as a Mexican hooker on the northshore.
They advertise themselves as serving Thai and Malaysian cuisine. I ordered the simplest of the dishes: Singapore noodles. It was OK, did not make me all excited like the earlier dinners I had. There were exactly 4 shrimp in the dish. Yes, I counted because I was bored with the food.
Service was prompt, good view of Robson street, and the food is edible. Other than that, nothing much to write about.Listed in: Mr. United Nations, Vancouver - nature lover's…
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Review from Luisa S.
Vancouver, BC
9/20/2008
This place offers a medley of South East Asian flavours (Malaysian, Singaporean and Thai) and they do it well... though not as well as their counterpart on Cambie, to which I'm partial.
The décor at this branch is slightly more upscale that the other, with higher ceilings and marble Buddha carvings in the background. To their credit, the use of cooler tones creates a much airier feel than the one on Cambie, which at the best of times is still stifling.
Moderately priced, each dish is flavoursome with just the right amount of heat to make it interesting. -
Review from Sanaz J.
Vancouver, BC
3/2/2011
The food is good, service depends on the night. On week nights where there's less people you get better service. The chicken skewers are delicious, the secret is in the sauce really.
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Review from Anthony F.
Vancouver, BC
3/3/2010
This is a Chinese-owned Singaporean restaurant. My brother and I headed there on a quiet Olympic morning for lunch.
We had Hainanese Chicken, which was free-range and flavourful, although the rice was not seasoned as well as I've had in the past. We ordered a beef brisket red curry which was balanced in flavour, great consistency and certainly resembled versions I've tried in SE Asia. Lastly I ordered what I think was a preserved fish/seafood fried rice which was yummy.
Although I can't vouch for authenticity of this place, the food is certainly very good, reasonably priced, and the service up to par with the Robson strip. -
Review from Gina I.
12/1/2008
Tropika on Robson is one of my favourite restaurants to go to with my boyfriend. He gets me to try new dishes & I end up thanking him.
My favourites here are the gado gado, sambal bunchies & the keri lembu which is so soft & stringy.. melt in your mouth.
Great service & good food. Really don't have any complaints. -
Review from Rachael T.
Toronto, ON
3/19/2009
Thank you Tropika for knowing how to cook! After my scare at the Thai House, I was so discouraged never to find a decent Thai place in the heart of downtown... I was a little skeptical about this one because it is more a Malaysian/ Thai and thought that thick noodles would be the main specialty.
Having a group of 10, we ordered a variety of dishes, including
- 2 pad thais
- 2 pineapple fried rice
- coconut curry chicken
- sambal bumches (beans)
- gado gado (deep fried tofu and potato with egg salad)
- mild curry with chicken and potato
- 5 plates of deep fried bananas & ice cream for dessert
The portion sizes were great, and you combine the bean sprouts and the noodles together for the pad thai, which I liked. I still think Sala King in Toronto has the best Pad Thai hands down.. but no complaints about this one!
Peanut sauce from the gado gado was very tasty and the coconut chicken curry was absolutely delicious. Pineapple fried rice was nothing spectacular but up to par.
The ambience was very decorative as the front doors downstairs do not do it justice.
I will definitely come back for more tasty goodness.
I've been told that the location at Cambie / 16th is better but I don't know how much better it can get. -
Review from Salim H.
4/10/2010
Quite surprised by some of these reviews. Food is delivered cold, and no smile. It should be called coconut restaurant. The taste of coconut was overwhelming, and vegetables were extremely soggy.
My gf and i were greeted with again, no smile, and no one would come to take our order until i went and called the waiter over.
Not going back. Location is great, but unfortunately a tasteless experience. -
Review from Cynthia C.
1/9/2010 4 photos
Strange as it may sound, I've never had good Singaporean food in the Bay Area. I just don't know any good restaurants so I was never too interested in SG food even though people rave about it.
This place absolutely changed my mind about SG food though. Everything was sooooo good!!
We had the following:
- Beef & chicken satay - meat was super tender, comes with pineapples!
- Roti Canai ( Malay Bread ) - loved the spicy sauce that came with it.
- Assorted Assam Seafood Hot Pot - this was my FAVORITE dish. The sauce in this dish was spicy and tangy. What was absolutely amazing was the fish in the dish. It basically soaked up all the sauce and had so much flavor!
- Sambal Kang-Kong ( Tung Choi ) - this is the regular tung choi stir fried with peppers. Yums!
- Singapore Style Seafood Fried Rice Vermicelli - meh... i'm not big on super thin rice vermicelli. it was good but not my fav.
One star off for running out of dessert. We picked 3 different things off of the dessert menu and was rejected all 3x. Don't offer it if you don't have it!
Just thinking about the food at this place while writing this review is making my tummy rumble. I'll definitely be back here next time I'm in Vancouver! -
Review from kelly y.
5/12/2010 1 photo
Atmosphere: nice, quiet. View of the street would have been nice, but I was sitting more interior. I liked the stone tiled walls and the large windows facing Robson.
Food:
Roti Canai - pretty standard. only came with one. dip was spicier than the usual, maybe less peanutty, but tastes good nonetheless.
Coconut Seafood Fried Rice - not particularly special. Appears to be rice steamed in coconut milk and oil, then mixed with seafood.
Terung Udang Kering - eggplant, supposedly their special dish, but isn't too different from Szechwan eggplant with the exception that ground pork has been substituted for by shrimp, and the sauce is Sambal based. Really unimpressive.
In general, the food is pretty standard for malaysian.
Staff: average. They accidentally brought us some grean bean dish at first, but this was quickly corrected without problems. -
Review from Tim L.
8/17/2008
Tropika provides a trio of Asian cuisines that actually works. Malaysian, Singaporean & Thai.
Typically a restaurant that attempts to do more than one kind of food fails quite miserably, however they do it just right here.
Being on Robson this particular location I find is far more decorated and lively, with staff behaving much more hospitable and attentive. -
Review from Joe L.
Vancouver, BC
12/10/2009 1 Check-in Here
I was absolutely delighted with my lunch at the restaurant yesterday. There are over 30 items to choose from from the 2-sided lunch menu and most of the dishes are around $7.95.
I ordered water convolvulus (aka water morning glory, or on-choy as labelled in many Chinese grocery stores in town) with shrimp paste and squid. The flavour and the "wok gas" of the dish were appropriately powerful and it was no less authentic than the same dish called kang-kong that you can order from most hawker stands off the streets in Penang and Singapore.
My dish also came with a bowl of rice with choices among plain steamed, coconut, ginger and Hainanese chicken rice. My pick, of course, was my favourite - Hainanese chicken rice. It was rich and greasy (i.e. not tainted by any health food movement) - just perfect for what it should be!
It's definitely on my list to return to try out their dinner menu. -
Review from Michael T.
4/17/2011
We love coming here, always make it a ritual of our Vancouver-Robson experience. Good ambiance and service, food is very good as well. I'm a big fan of Malaysian and Indo food so maybe I'm biased, but I think this place is very well done. Staff very helpful as well, they even helped take our stroller up the stairs.
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Review from Gourmet Princessa L.
10/8/2009
I give this Vancouver based Malaysian restaurant a 3 stars because I lived in Malaysia for 15 years and my father is a Malaysian, so naturally my bar for Malay food is very high. However, I must say Tropica serves honest, delicious and unpretentious Malaysian dishes. Its extensive menu basically covers every cuisine from the major ethnic groups in Malaysia - the Chinese, Malay and Indian.
Among the dishes we sampled, it wasn't half bad. We ordered a combination of 3 items in a shared platter that consists of:
1. The sweet and sour pork with bell peppers (Chinese) is very addictive. The fried pork pieces are done perfectly and covered in the red tangy sauce.
2. The chicken satay appetizer (Malay) was well marinated, has great flavors and the dipping peanut sauce is robust and you can actually taste pieces of peanuts when you dipped the satay in it.
3. On to the curry of combination vegetables (Malay / Indian) - has great curry aroma and flavor, not too spicy and the nice variety of vegetables are not over cooked, which is very important to me. The curry sauce is perfect when drizzled over the coconut milk rice, which was very well made.
Appetizer:
The roti canai (Indian) is so-so. Essentially the roti was too doughy and not fluffy like it supposed to be. Hey, there's always room for improvement right?
Curry puff - a pastry filled with potatoes flavored with curry wrapped with puff pastry dough and deep fried. Enough said, anything deep fried will taste good.
Desserts - burbur chacha - a hot soup-like dessert made with coconut milk, taro, yam and sago (tapioca) is a little too starchy, but otherwise taste like home.
The servers are nice and polite. We had a great table by the window over looking Robson Street. The restaurant located on the second floor of the building is new with modern deco and spacious dining room. Over all, a satisfying visit for a late afternoon snack.
If you ask me will I go again or will I recommend this place to a friend - yes and yes, but with a condition that you are willing to try new things and when you have an urge for Malaysian food fix like my fiancé does even though he's not a Malaysian. -
Review from Lisa N.
Vancouver, BC
3/24/2010
My friends really like this place. Not sure why, I just think it's okay. The look of the restaurant is sleek, not really traditional Thai/Malaysian stuff, not many ornaments. The waiters are just all guys it seems, my cousin used to work here, so service was decent when I went.
I'm not really a fan of their desserts. The coconut fried rice I heard is okay, the pineapple fried rice is supposed to be really yummy. The vegetarian dish with curry and stuff is nice too, pretty filling. The pad thai is not bad, but definitely not the best but generously portioned. The prices for everything didn't go past $20, so it's okay.
The waiters here only come to take your order, bring your order, refill water, and take away your plates. They don't really smile or engage in any kind of interaction.
All in all.. an okay restaurant. It's at least better than Sala Thai on Burrard. -
Review from Mark C.
9/16/2008
Surprisingly fair food at fair prices.
The kang-kong with squid had the right taste, but the squid was really too tough. The singaporean laksa was not bad either.
Just the food itself is three stars, but an extra star for the reasonably priced lunch menu.
