Bo Laksa King

Restaurant: Bo Laksa King

Cuisine: Malaysian/Burmese/Singapore/Thai

Last visited: February 16, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (Joyce-Collingwood)

4910 Joyce St

Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4.5

Service: 4.5

Ambiance: 1.5

Overall: 4.5

Additional comments:

• Major hole-in the wall
• Located inside Malaysian grocery store
• Specializes in Malaysian/Burmese food
• Famous for laksa and wraps
• Husband and wife operation
• Good for quick lunches – Malaysian wraps
• Fresh, homemade, made upon order
• Half menu made on site, half from main off site kitchen
• Popular to neighborhood/locals in area
• Seats 2-4
• Cheap eatery – not dirt cheap, but reasonable
• Lunch and dinner service
• Full dinner menu only available online from 6pm - pick-up/delivery only
• Dinner - Pick-up before 8pm
• Delivery charges apply
• Open late
• Catering available

**Recommendation: Roti Canai, Laksa, Malaysian style wraps (but I haven’t tried)…also haven’t tried but the Lahpet Thoke (Fermented tea leaf salad) is authentic Burmese food not available anywhere else.

I would have never heard of Bo Laksa king and would have never discovered it on my own. Thanks to Kim (I’m Only Here for the Food) I was able to try this major hole in the wall located in a Malaysian/Asian grocery store. I’m also never in that area so I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to wander around. It’s a total word-of-mouth place and their business depends on this type of advertising.

It’s a husband and wife operation and they’re really nice people. She’s Chinese and he’s Burmese. The recipes are actually very authentic but they also offer a mixture of South East Asian cuisine from Malaysian, Singaporean, Thai and the rare…Burmese! They even have a couple Chinese dishes in there. It’s popular for quick lunches and their full dinner menu is only available online for delivery or pick-up before 8pm. They operate out of the small kitchen in the back of the grocery store and also a main kitchen that is a few blocks away on Victoria. Keep this in mind because the menu is limited if you’re going for dinner and eating in.

Okay so being a major hole in the wall, I have to lower my expectations a bit, however not by much because the food was really good. It’s a hole in the wall with fresh, authentic, homemade, made upon order meals for a good price…what more can you ask for? Overall I was pleasantly surprised. I would go back because I think there’s better then what I had, and I want to try a wrap.

On the table:

Burmese Tea 4/6

• $1.50
• It’s similar to Thai tea but not as strong or sweet. It’s frothy, milky, creamy and a smooth tea.
• It’s still quite sweet though because it’s mixed and shaken with condensed milk.
• The tea is authentic Burmese tea that is steeped and it’s stronger than Chinese tea, but milder than Thai tea.
• It’s made upon order and a pretty large cup for only $1.50

**Roti Canai 5.5/6

• The small is served with beef curry $3.99 Large is served with chicken curry $5.99
• The roti is very hot, fresh and made upon order on a griddle. It’s super fluffy, flakey, soft, stretchy and chewy…but it was a tad oily. We devoured it in seconds though so it didn’t matter. You can watch her toss it and cook it on the spot – it’s almost like watching a pizza dough show.
  

• The curry is their beef curry sauce. It’s very flavourful and slightly spicy. There are little bits of beef brisket throughout and the sauce has a very strong beef broth flavour. They use lots of spices and herbs in there so it’s very flavourful.
• It’s quite oily too though so you really have to scoop up the sauce or you’re just dipping into oil. It’s good though!

Satay Skewers 3.5/6

• Choice from marinated chicken, beef, or lamb served with sticky rice, cucumber & spicy peanut sauce. (3 skewers) $3.50
• The satay skewers are made on a griddle rather than a grill…which I’ll let go because they’re working with limited resources being in a grocery store.
• You wouldn't miss out by not ordering it, but it’s a pretty decent sized appetizer for a $3.50 bargain!
• This chicken is marinated in a curry spice, but I couldn’t really taste it. It was tender and the pieces are big, it wasn’t necessarily anything to rave about.
  

• The sticky rice is almost like a dessert. The rice is a bit sweet and almost like a giant mochi ball sprinkled with dried coconut flakes.
• The peanut sauce is that authentic creamy Thai peanut butter sauce rather than the chunky Malaysian sauce. I prefer the Malaysian version. Bo Laksa King’s is okay but the fish sauce mixed into the peanut sauce was a bit too tangy for me and I didn’t really like the brand they were using – a bit too rancid in taste.
  

**Laksa 6/6

• Prawn, chicken, fish ball, tofu puff, egg, sweet bell peppers and bean sprouts. Choose from vermicelli or yellow wheat noodle $7.50
• The authentic way is to have it with vermicelli – so that’s what we ordered it with.
• We got it to go, so the fancy bowl is not how it’s served.

• It’s loaded with tons on topping and that surprised me.
  

• There are lots of fresh herbs and spices in the broth and it’s really obvious. It had that slow cooked, on the stove all day homecooked flavour. It tasted very authentic with exotic herbs and spices that I’ve never really experienced in laksa before.
• It wasn’t very spicy for me, but just very aromatic! It’s very rich and creamy with the sweetened taste of coconut milk.
• The noodles are al dente! They’re harder then expected, which I like! They were blanched in the soup and packaged in a separate container to ensure they’re not overcooked.
  

Pad Thai 3/6

• Thai rice noodle, eggs, shrimps, extra firm tofu, Chinese chives, dried chili peppers, banana flower, bean sprouts, preserved turnip, stir fry in house made traditional tamarind sauce $8.75
• This is a traditional version of Pad Thai and not the Western version where they make it with Ketchup. This one is made with Tamarind – just like the one at Tangthai Cuisine of Thailand Restaurant.
• It’s one of their popular items, but I wasn’t crazy about it.

• Overall it was still good with lots of shrimp (6 of them); however I really didn’t like the whole peanuts. I usually love peanuts too, but I want them ground up when I’m having it with Pad Thai.
• It was served with a house made fish sauce…which I didn’t like. By home made I mean adding chilies, jalapeños and some additional spices to a bought fish sauce. It was too tangy and rancid…which is expected…but it was almost overly rancid and off. I love fish sauce too! Maybe it was just the fish sauce brand they’re using?
• It was a tangy and spicy Pad Thai with jalapeño peppers. I thought it need more flavour though…I was relying on the lime and the fish sauce (which wasn’t that good)…and also the peanuts (which weren’t ground up)….so everything was there…but also not there for me…
• I prefer the ground peanuts and fish sauce at Thai Basil.

Tropika Restaurant - Richmond

Restaurant: Tropika Restaurant - Richmond

Cuisine: Malaysian/Thai
Last visited: January 9, 2010
Area: Multiple – Richmond, BC (Aberdeen Mall)
4151 Hazelbridge Way
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3.5
Service: 2.5

Ambiance: 4

Overall: 3.5

Additional comments:

• Specializes in Malaysian/Thai fusion cuisine
• Bordering on Chinese, for me it's Chinese inspired too
  
• A lot of things taste the same - lots of dried shrimp paste
• Chinese operated, could be even Chinese owned I'm not sure
• Great presentation for drinks
• Great for large parties or groups
  
• Go when it's not as busy
• Extensive menu
  
• 3 locations in Vancouver and lower mainland
• Long line-up and wait for Richmond location
• Spacious, seats plenty
• Attracts Chinese
• Popular for seafood
• Won awards
• Reservations recommended

**Recommendation: Roti Canai (but mine wasn’t goo on this occasion), Terung Udang Kering, Sambal Bunchies, K.L. Crab, Tom Yum Kung Soup (not all items are in this review)

Tropika is a small chain restaurant with 3 locations in Vancouver, BC – one being at The Aberdeen mall in Richmond. I decided to go to the Richmond location, and to my surprise it was a full house. It seats plenty and there was a line up and wait list at 6:15pm so I had to wait until 7pm. We were seated at the very back of the restaurant at this random fold out table and chairs that were used just to satisfy the dinner time rush. (I would have rather waited for a proper seat, but I was arriving late for dinner).

Tropika serves Malaysian and Thai cuisine, however I find it more on the Chinese side than authentic Malaysian and Thai fusion. I mean there are some Malaysian and Thai qualities to the food, but it is very Chinese inspired at the same time. I missed the use of fresh basil, limes, lemongrass (Thai) and cinnamon (Malaysian). Maybe it’s because I started this blog that my standards have changed a bit, because I remember liking Tropika more.

Overall the food tasted pretty good, but I just felt like everything started to taste the same – a lot of dried shrimp, some fish sauce, and a lot of oil. I also don’t recommend coming when it’s busy because the quality of food was affected. They do have an extensive (and literally heavy) menu and I only touched upon it. I’ve tried several other things on their menu so what I ordered on this visit isn’t really what I would recommend. I just wanted to try something new. It would require at least 2 more visits for this to be a fair review.

On the table:

**Roti Canai (Malay Bread) 2/6 (on this occasion)

• Malaysian bread served with curry sauce. 2 pcs $5.90
• This is a type of grilled flatbread similar to the Indian paratha bread. It’s very buttery, and it’s almost stretchy and chewy.
• It’s one of their most popular appetizers and I think they just made a batch and put them under a heater because mine wasn’t that fresh. It’s wasn’t fluffy, and it was actually quite stale.
• The curry sauce was watered down. It’s definitely not the same curry sauce they serve with their curry dishes. I could tell because I went to another Tropika location (Cambie) right after this dinner and tried their chicken curry.
• The curry sauce they served with the roti was luke warm and the flavour was mainly spicy. As it gets cold, the flavour gets sweeter and not just spicy. It was made with pureed onions, chili powder, fish sauce and some curry paste.

Satay Sticks 3/6

• Minimum of 6. Your choice of chicken, pork, or beef with peanut sauce $7.20 Each $1.20
• The satay sticks were dinky looking to me. It was dark meat chicken and it was a bit fatty, but at least it was grilled nicely without drying out.
• The peanut sauce was not very creamy, but very chunky. I liked the texture because there were lots of coarsely chopped peanuts. It’s a great sauce in general, but it’s on the sweet side here. It was almost like there was too much honey or Hoisin sauce in it. I think it was more honey. It was a bit oily too. I like the peanut sauce at Paratha Man better.

Stir-fried Radish Cake 3.5/6

• Stir fried steamed radish cake with shrimp and Chinese sausage $4.25
  
• It also had minced Chinese mushrooms, water chestnuts, dried shrimps and some Hoisin sauce as the marinade. It was all mixed together and formed into a dome shape and they top it off with 2 shrimps $4.25
• This was recommended by our server; otherwise I would have looked past it.
• It was almost like Malaysian dim sum! It was a cross between pan-fried radish cake and sticky rice you would find at Chinese dim sum.
• It has a very mushy, gummy and almost sticky in texture - but it’s supposed to be. It’s almost like a thick and chewy mashed potato, but it’s not starchy although filling. I like the sweetness of the Chinese mushrooms, creaminess of the radish and refreshing crunch of the water chestnuts (although there wasn't much of that).
• The sausage and dried shrimp brought salty flavours, jerky-like, and the Hoisin sweetened it all up a bit. There was a slight pickled taste and I don’t know where that was from. Overall the fish was quite interesting and tasty.

Sambal Egg 3/6

• Deep fried gourmet egg topped with Sambal sauce $2.00
• It’s not always deep-fried, but it is here and that’s part of what makes it different and good.
• The egg has a thin deep fried layer that reminds me of dried tofu skins. It wasn’t as crispy as it should be and I think they had premade a bunch.
• Sambal is a chili paste sauce and I don’t even know if this one was homemade. I feel like it was jarred Sambal sauce. It was a spicy, a bit sweet, but they gave us too much oil and too little pasts. The egg is supposed to be stir fried and fully coated with sauce, but becuase there wasn’t enough sauce it was a bit dry. Usually this dish is a 4/6.

**Terung Udang Kering 5.5/6

• A Troika specialty. Rated as one of the best eggplant in the city by some local food critics. Our eggplant dish is stir-fried in Sambal sauce and sun-dried shrimps with a touch of sesame oil to make a refreshingly extraordinary experience. (Description from menu) $11.95
• I have never ordered this before and I was unaware that it had won so many awards. It was really good, but it’s also something that comes up often in Asian cuisines so I don’t feel like it was EXTRA spectacular here. I mean it was delicious, but “best eggplant in the city” is a bold statement.
• It was almost like braised eggplant because it was so juicy and tender and had absorbed so much flavour, like a sponge. It literally melted in your mouth and was almost creamy in texture and stringy.
• The eggplant was spicy, but not too spicy and there was some green onion it is as well. It was sweet, spicy, and salty from the dried shrimps and fish sauce. The dried shrimps have so much flavour and they were almost deep fried because they were a bit crispy. It was so flavourful and well infused in the dish it actually gave it a very nutty taste…especially combined with the sesame oil.
• My only complaint is that it was very oily. I mean really the sauce at the bottom was so oily and my lips were super greasy. It would deter me from ordering it again though. It was really good.

Hainanese Chicken 1.5/6

• The pure flavour of the chicken is specially enhanced by the components of our chili sauce and Hainanese Chicken flavoured rice (which can be ordered separately) to create exciting flavours. (Description from menu) Half $7.95 Whole $12.95
• So what it actually is is a chicken boiled in a rich chicken bone stock that’s served cold. The oil it releases in the stock is then used to cook the rice that accompanies the dish. The condiments are peanuts, cucumbers, chili sauce and ginger oil.
• This is actually a Chinese dish that originates from Hinan, China but it is often associated with Singaporean or Malaysian cooking.
• First off I’m not a big fan of this dish in general, unless it’s from Admiralty Chicken. This is the best I’ve ever had Hainanese Chicken.
• I don’t think it was made well here. The chicken was moist but not flavourful as it didn’t absorb any of the flavours of the stock. It wasn’t as slippery as it should be too. It's not spicy, it's only spicy if you use the chili sauce it comes with.
• The ginger oil wasn’t fresh either and tasted like they used old ginger root to make it. There was no green onion in it either.
• Hainanese Rice: the rice was pretty good. The literal translation is “oil rice” because of the way it’s made. Don't let that freak you out though, it's not really oily, although it does use oil. It’s just very rich in flavour. $1.75/bowl
• Coconut Rice: the coconut rice here is good and you can smell the coconut milk more so than actually tasting it. $1.75/bowl

Prata-Man Singaporean Cuisine

Restaurant: Prata-Man Singaporean Cuisine Restaurant

Cuisine: Singaporean/Malaysian
Last visited: November 19, 09
Area: Richmond, BC
#180 - 9020 Capstan Way
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4 (if you stick to recommended items)
Service: 3
Ambiance: 2

Overall: 3.5
Additional comments:

• Family owned and operated – Chinese Malaysian
• Very popular to locals
• Popular hole in the wall
• Homemade/home style
• More Chinese-Malaysian, than authentic Malaysian food
• Seats 20
• Busy for lunch
• Quick eat, cheap prices
• Lunch and dinner service
• Eat-in/Take-out (Eat in if you can, paratha bread is better fresh)
• Cheaper price for take-out (I would still prefer to eat in)
• Cash only

**Recommendation: Chicken curry, paratha bread, Hainanese Chicken (Don’t bother exploring their items, these are the ones)

This place is the definition of “hole in the wall” – the location is quite hidden at the end of a small plaza on Cambie. It seats about 20 and everything looks really rundown from inside and out. Even the chefs/cooks are wearing those super thin plastic disposable aprons – the same material they use as table cloths at cheap dim sum places. As much as a dive this place feels and looks it manages to be one of the most popular hole in the walls in Richmond…maybe even THE most popular.

I’ve been here on a few occasions and people often get take-out from here for potluck dinners. I’ve always been pretty impressed by it until I started ordering items that aren’t as popular. Don’t bother exploring the menu. I also got take-out on my last visit there and I’ve never really been disappointed, except on this occasion. So I’m going to base my review taking all my visits there into consideration too.

On the table:

• Beef Rendang 1/6
• This is a very popular Malaysian dish, but the one they make here is not representable of it at all! It’s supposed to be a beef slowly cooked in coconut milk and Malaysian spices until it becomes falling apart tender and absorbs all the liquids and juices it’s cooked in. However they made it into beef brisket curry – beef rending looks and tastes NOTHING like this.
• First, it’s supposed to be a deep reddish brown colour, not yellow.
• I kept thinking maybe they made a mistake with my order. But they told me it would take longer, which it should because it’s slow cooked; however I think it took longer here because nobody orders it. It took 15 min. to make – so I know there was no mistake, it was just not Beef Rendang.
• It had beef brisket, potatoes and curry sauce. Even as a beef brisket and curry it wasn’t that great. The beef brisket was extremely fatty and there was hardly any meat.
• Where to get REAL AUTHENTIC Beef Rendang: Kedah House on 1652 South East Marine Drive, Vancouver (East Van). The best here.

• Paratha Bread 5/6
• I love their paratha bread here, but because I got take-out it wasn’t as good as good. I would really recommend eating in if you can. If you get it to go I’d order it with rice.
• It almost tastes like there’s potatoes in the recipe. It’s fresh and made upon order. It’s very soft with a crispy outside and it pulls apart beautifully. It’s a bit thicker and bigger than what most places will serve.
• It must be eaten with their curries. Yum!

• Tofu Goreng 3/6
• Deep fried tofu with bean sprouts and peanut satay sauce for dipping.

• This is a very popular Malaysian appetizer that Malaysian people would order. The recipe isn’t authentic here.
• Again, better if you eat-in, and again it’s not a poplar item and they do make it better at other places. The best I’ve had it is again at Kedah House.
• The tofu was big pieces, which is good because some places serve it with tiny pieces.
• It’s very crispy, but didn’t have soy sauce or chili sauce. I’m not sure if they serve it differently when you eat-in, but tofu goreng has to be served with chili soy sauce.
• The peanut satay sauce on the other hand was amazing! There was lots of ground peanuts, garlic, ginger and I think some honey to combine it all and sweeten things up. It was very fresh with fresh pureed lemongrass too. It was thick, slightly spicy, sweet, and nutty.

Yummy Asian Delights

Restaurant: Yummy Asian Delights

Cuisine: Malaysian/Singaporean
Last visited: November 3, 09
Area: Richmond, BC (Richmond Public Market food court)
Unit 2100, 8260 Westminster Hwy
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2
Service: n/a
Ambiance: n/a
Overall: 2
Additional comments:

• Family owned/operated
• Hole in the wall Malaysian stand in Richmond Public Market food court
• One of the popular stands
• Homecooked
  
• Quite authentic, but really oily/greasy
• Great deal - 2 items on rice about $4.25
• Big portions, pile up the food
  
• Offers Malaysian shaved ice desserts
• Cheap
• Cash only
  

**Recommendation: n/a

I haven't tried enough here to make a fair judgment about their overall food or to give a recommendation for what to order. I ordered 2 items on rice which was a great deal and they load up your plate. I think it was about $4.25, but I don't really remember. There's at least 12 items to chose from and you can see them all. Everything is quite authentic although it's pretty greasy. They make about 3 kinds of deep-fried halibut/fish and the pieces are pretty big. A lot of people went for this.

On the table:

• Malaysian BBQ Halibut 3.5/6
• I actually have no idea what this is called, I just chose it because it looks really good.
• What I called it is the best way to describe it, except it's not barbequed. It's actually boneless strips of halibut deep fried and then sauteed in the Malaysian style BBQ sauce.
• The sauce tastes like a combination of Hoisin sauce, garlic, soy sauce and fish sauce.
  
• The fish was really good and tasted like fish jerky. It wasn't necessarily dry, but it has that texture and marinade where it tastes like jerky. It was very flavourful, saucy and the strips are pretty big. Quite greasy though, but you expect it from these places.
• Eggplant and Tofu Curry 1.5/6
• I don't know if this was the name of it either. It was a vegetarian Malaysian curry made with big chunks of eggplant, green beans, cabbage and tofu puffs.
• The beans weren't very fresh in this and the curry sauce was way too mild. It looked like it has been sitting under the heat lamps for too long. Which very well could have been the case. It was almost bland. Not spicy at all.
• The tofu puffs absorbed a lot of sauce so those were good, but everything else was just bland and mushy. It was almost like a stew or soup.
• They had really big chunks of eggplant, but when they served it they tried skimping out on them. I specifically asked for at least 3. Do the same :)