Teochew porridge in Vancouver

So I'm back from my food trip to Vancouver and must say that it was great. So where did I go? Of the ones relevant, there was Hawker's Delight, Landmark Hotpot, and Banana Leaf, back to Hawker's Delight, and the Hawker's Delight again (take out for a 6 hr drive back to Portland). Hawker's Delight: Excellent food, depending on what was chosen. Over the 3 meals there, we had laksa, lontong, nasi goreng, mee pok, dry noodles, mee goreng, curry chicken rice, and hainanese chicken rice. As you can see, a lot of food for 3 meals. Everything was excellent except the last two. The laksa was the best I've had. My wife really liked the lontong and mee pok. The gorengs were very authentic. The curry chicken was a little disappointing from the lack of kick and insufficient marination, but not too bad. I'd rate the hainanese chicken rice the worse. The rice wasn't really flavorful, and the chicken was rather bland I thought. Overall, I'd definitely go back there again, if only for the laksa. A definite 8-9/10 (depending on what's ordered). Landmark Hotpot: You'll really need to stuff yourself if there are only two of you and you want a good selection. Stuff ourselves we did, and it was good. Not much more to talk about. Oh yes, the hot tea was really good too! (No rating as I don't really have anything else to compare it to) Banana Leaf: We were actually quite disappointed with this place, from an authentic Malaysian/Singaporean food point of view. We had the curry puff as appertizers, and ordered the beef rendang, quarter hainanese chicken, Sayur Lemak, coconut rice, and finished with ais kachang. The puffs were over-fried and the stuffing was too mashed up. The beef rendang was alright, but wasn't flavorful enough and the beef was a little stringy. The hainese chicken was alright also, but didn't come with the right chilli! Now anyone who knows chicken rice knows that the condiments can make or break the dish. Finally, the ice in the ais kachang was one rather big chunk and the porcelain spoons with rounded edges didn't help to break it up. Overall, only a 6.5/10. BTW, I've been to Singapore Restaurant the last time around and I thought it was worse than Banana Leaf. Finally, if anyone likes gelato and guavas, definitely try the guava flavor at Mondo Gelato. It was like eating the fruit itself. Well, thanks to all for the recommendations. Please drop a comment if you know of any other places I have to sample. Thanks!

Thanks for all chiming in! I've been to Prata-Man and liked it. But from your reviews Roland, you seem to really like Banana Leaf. I've not tried that, so this time I'll make a stop there. Also will check out the other places too if I get a chance. Heck, it's only going to be a long weekend there (Memorial Day), so that's only up to 6 meals :-). If I find a good Teochew place, I'll drop a note. Thanks again! Top

Unfortunately, Carianna's been out of business for years now.

Unfortunately, Carianna's been out of business for years now.

Hi Top, Not sure if there are any direct Teochew restaurants in Vancouver area. But you might get warmer by contacting or visiting one of these: Tropika Restaurant http://www.tropika-canada.com/ http://www.evalu8.org/staticpage?page=review&siteid=4931 Banana Leaf Malaysian Restaurant 820 West Broadway, Vancouver / 604 731-6333 Singapore Restaurant 546 W. Broadway, Vancouver / 604-874-6161 Kelong 4800 #3 Rd Richmond Singapore cuisine / 821-9883 Carianna Chiu Chow Garden 8511 Alexander, Richmond / 270-8933 Bali 1016 West Broadway, Vancouver / 731-6333 Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean cooking Prata-Man 9060 Capstan Way, Richmond / 278-1348 Some of these have been reviewed and can be found on Vaneats site. There must be hundreds of restaurants in Richmond and I'd be very surprised if you can't find one with Teochew flavors. Good luck. If you do find a good one let us (and Roland) know.

Hi Missy, Generally I'd agree with you for visitors seeing a new place. However, this isn't the first time I'm driving to Vancouver. I've actually been there countless times, have experienced the local scenes and have sampled the local food, even though I can't say that there's anything special about the Vancouver local food that's very different from Oregon's -- they're all part of the Pac NW anyway. Maybe you can suggest a place that will change my perception. For this trip anyway, the purpose was to get back to the familiar flavors without paying for 2 plane tickets to Southeast Asia. I've already got most of the other ethic foods covered, but not this particular one, so I asked. BTW, I wouldn't count out having burgers in Asia or even Chinese food in Italy. I've done the former, having lived there, and had the opportunity to do the latter. Let me tell you that Chinese food served in traditional Italian style is an experience onto itself. Cheers!