Updated: 20th Jan 2015; This restaurant is closed.

So Allie had decided that her last day in beautiful Vancouver would be Christmas Eve. Helen and I promised to treat Allie to a farewell lunch before she leave for Korea. I wanted to introduce to her Malaysian food which she had never tried before. We went to the Tropika Restaurant in Aberdeen Centre in Richmond. Tropika is a chain of Malaysian cuisine restaurants in Vancouver.

I ordered the Malay Curry Fish Head Hot Pot. This is a curry dish with fish head, long beans, eggplant and tofu puff. It is very rich and creamy. The gravy goes best with steam rice. Helen was afraid to eat try the fish head but she liked the gravy. I know, not many people can stand the thought of eating a giant fish head. Allie liked it though. This dish costs $14.95.

Allie wanted a chicken dish. So, we recommended Hainanese Chicken and ordered half a chicken. Allie liked this a lot especially with the pounded ginger. Allie told us she never has this type of chicken before. In Korea, chicken is usually fried or baked. This dish costs $12.95.

Helen ordered a Vegetable Hot Pot. Although it’s called Vegetable Hot Pot, this dish comes with prawns, potato, carrot, and daikon. I would have imagined that this is a vegetarian type of dish and never thought it would include prawns! We ordered this mild but you may have it however spicy you want. This dish costs $13.95.

We also ordered 2 steamed rice (costs 2.50 for both) and a Hainanese chicken rice (costs $1.75). Some places rice were free so I thought that $1.25 for a bowl of steamed rice is expensive. The total bill came up to $56 including tips.

We had a good meal and enjoyed ourselves a lot. We exchanged our addresses and emails and hope we will meet again, somehow, sometime, in future.

So, Allie, all the fondest wishes to you and your family. I am going to miss having you around and especially your delicious homemade kimchees. Your kimchees are simply the best. Life is going to be a bit more lonelier without having you around the neighborhood.