I remember this restaurant very well. But then the last time we were here, it was so long ago. It must have been something like 5 years since we were here — most definitely before we started blogging. The reason I remembered this place was that it used to win Best Chinese Restaurant awards from either the Richmond News or Richmond Review.
So, last weekend, I wanted to spend the entire weekend working on chowtimes … you know tweaking the template, planning for the “free advertising” idea, and such. What that means is that I meant to spend the weekend right in front of the computer. So, we went to the one restaurant that is nearest our home.
The New Hong Kong Restaurant is located in the strip mall on Garden City and Blundell. Forget about the address. You’ll see why below.
I can’t remember this place being like this. The entire place looked old. The melamine bowls look faded. And newspapers were somewhat strewn in the front entrance. Not that I really mind but sometimes it does show how little they care about making a good showing. I mean, how much effort does it take to make sure that the papers are arranged neatly.
We ordered the 3-person dinner special which costs $32.95 on the menu. For that we get soup, rice and fortune cookies and a choice of three dishes from a selection of 30 items.
The soup sure had lots of veggies in it. Suanne said that it is called “sai yeong choy” in Cantonese. Also, there are some pieces of pork and honey dates too. But the colour looked way too dark, too green if you ask me. Maybe it is supposed to be like that. It was not bad. It was not great.
The Pan Fried Gai Lan with Garlic Sauce was pretty good. It was a big serving. Suanne and I liked the crunch of the stem. Arkensen refused to try but we eventually got him to take a small bite … he said it was bitter. It is not bitter bitter but we know what he meant.
The Chicken with Ginger and Green Onion Hot Pot was served very hot, like the way it should be. It was saucy and perfect with rice. Nanzaro repeatedly dug right into the bottom of the pot for the sauce for his rice. The chicken was boney … not much meat but otherwise quite OK.
What really broke this meal is the one above. It is the Steamed Cod Fillet and Tofu in Black Bean sauce. It was not a problem having told that we need to wait 15 minutes for this. But this one not only does not look right but it does taste quite offensive. The fish meat was greyish in colour, even in the inside. The fishy smell was “whew” although it was masked by the black bean. I really think that the fish is not only not fresh, it perhaps was bordering on being rotten. All of us took a bite and refused to touch it any further. Our boys love fish but if they don’t touch it, they don’t like it. Even the color of the sauce, look at it, greenish brown. I was somewhat angry about this to tell the truth. I don’t know how on earth this could have happened in the kitchen.
We did not wait for the water melon and decided to get back home pronto to continue to work on the blog. Gosh, this blog is like a full time job now!
“Sai yeong choy”… Isn’t that watercress? Or garden cress? Hmmmm… Most probably watercress. If that’s the case, my mother used to prepare two version of watercress soup: a “boiled vegetable” version were the watercress is quickly boiled and served – as a result, it keeps the green colour – and a “lou fo” (old flame/fire) version where the watercress is cooked with bones and other “stuff” for a long time and, as a result, yielding a brown-greenish colour broth. Still, that one looks suspicious.
Gai-lan bitter? You got to be kidding me! If that was really the case, I would not even try to imagine if you served them rapini! Of course, it is possible they have super-sensitive taste buds. Do they find broccoli bitter?
It is really a shame they messed up this big with such simple food… I hope you did not get food poisoning.
I like the new look of the site.
Bad fish is bad news. I had an invasive parasite attack my intestinal lining last year that caused a lot of internal bleeding. I’m glad you guys were smart enough not to touch it after you decided it tastes funny.
“Sai yeong choy” is watercress. To me, the vegetables in the picture look typical of a restaurant soup where the pot has been on the stove for a long time.
Gai-lan doesn’t usually taste bitter, but I have eaten some stalks that had a bitter twinge. Perhaps that happens when the vegetables are old?
gai-lan is bitter if the leaf is old or they didn’t take enough off the bottom of the stalk. the fish, you can tell that it’s questionable, they tried to cover the whole thing up with the black bean. you should have had it returned, or have them eat it.
Yup! That fish should be returned to the kitchen. That leads to my next questions.
Do you guys (authors or readers) tell the restaurant staff that the food has gone bad and ask for change?
Do you walk out of a restaurant after you spontaneously walk in and find it very unclean and messy?
Do you walk out of a joint when you try to order takeout and find the staff is very rude? Do you before you confirm the order and pay for the food?
I walked out of a restaurant once. I was waiting in line to order food. The cashier just sneezed and didn’t cover himself. You could see the bubbles/water flying in the air. I was so disgust and I turned around walking out right away.
My friend told me she ordered takeout once and the lady was really rude to her. It totally ruined her day. She felt stupid and regretted she didn’t just walk out. She keeps asking me what if it happens again in other restaurants, should she just walk out without proceeding the transaction.
I am not that kind of person who bosses waiters around with a mean attitude. I always say “May I”, “Can I”, “Could you”, “Thank you!”. I don’t believe in being Mr. Nice Guy either. I think people have to earn business with some professional attitude not treating customers like crap.
Hey Nick:
Errr … no. We did not confront the restaurant owner. I would say that we’re not wired that way. That’s just us being us. The staff were not rude but rather quite friendly. That is why I think what went wrong was in the kitchen. The lady who waited on us perhaps did not realize it but we did not raise a fuss. Maybe we should have but Ben and Suanne, well, just let it slide … into the blog.
Boy! You sounded angrier than me! 🙂
Ben
Personally, If you can smell the bad fish odors AFTER it was cooked, so could have, the cooks , BEFORE it was prepared!! When restaurants willingly serve questionable foods (such as bad fish) it makes me wonder what else they will serve to diners, who don’t notice the food is bad or off. Since you had several items that were ‘off’, I think I would,myself, called the Health Dept. You might save someone’s life.
Pamela
(Long time visitor, first time commenter.)
I actually drove by this place just last week… I was very surprised it’s still around! I used to get takeouts from here all the time when I lived just across the street, and that was some 12 years ago.
I was gonna give this another try sometime (haha, for old times’ sake), but I might have to do some rethinking after reading your entry 🙂
This is the closest chinese food restaurant in our neighbourhood and we wish we could use them more but the quality of the food is really bad. When you order stir fried vegetables or american-style chow mein, it all comes covered in this gloop that looks like wallpaper paste.
The place is never busy which is a bad sign. Too bad they couldn’t turn it around.
At this Vancouver Coastal Health website, you can see restaurant inspection reports such as the one for this establishment.
http://www.foodinspectionweb.vcha.ca/Facility/Show/a15f2358-2527-11d4-8057-0080c86e0695