Updated: 17th Nov 2014; Bo Laksa King is closed.
Full Disclosure
This post is written based on complimentary samples from Bo Laksa King’s new delivery service.
There is something really different about Bo Laksa King’s.
Some of you would remember me writing about Bo’s Laksa about two months ago. I went out of my way to check out Bo’s Laksa simply because of rave reviews from Chowhounders. It is not often that Chowhounders gets excited altogether at the same time.
It is definitely a find. I think it’s because Bo Laksa King’s has this certain element of surprise because they operate in such humble setting. You will never expect to find a laksa counter inside a convenience store anywhere else.
Not only is the laksa great, both Bo and his wife Tiffany are genuine people. People do find them very approachable. I remember Michelle telling me during the 12B dinner that they had such a great time chatting with Bo for TWO hours! They are obliging and can easily relate to just about anyone.
A lot of people are rooting for Bo. I sense a lot of support for him to expand his business. Well, he had finally done so — but said that he wants to not grow too fast and have the quality of his food suffer. So he had decided to start a delivery business — with an expanded menu. He just started the delivery business earlier this month.
Last week, Bo wrote me an email asking us to provide him our home address and phone number. The reason is he wants to send some samples to try. We were hesitant to accept this because we live in the south end of Richmond and he operates from Vancouver near the Joyce SkyTrain station. It is a long way to do delivery.
But he was very persuasive and seeing that Bo and Tiffany are such great people, we did not hesitate to help him promote his business to chowtimes’ readers. The only condition is that he must send us his Laksa! Other than that he can send us anything else he wants.
The timing were perfect. Bo sent the samples to us just in time when we were about to get settled down to watch the Vancouver 2010 Opening Ceremony on TV. We love it and certainly very different from getting pizzas for sure.
Bo’s Laksa is second to none. It is still the same price ($7.50) and equally as good. The laksa soup was still really warm when we got it and he delivered this in two containers … one for the soup and the other for the noodles. This is a good way to prevent the noodles from getting too soggy. We like our laksa soup really hot and went to microwave it really hot.
From just serving a few dishes at his counter on Joyce St, he now has 33 items, many of them new. You can check all of his offerings on his new website: http://www.bolaksaking.com/
After the Laksa, the next thing we tried was the Papaya Salad. We had heard also good feedback of his papaya salad but have never tried it before.
Bo’s Papaya Salad is $6.75 and consists of shredded green papaya, tomato, onions, cilantro, crushed peanuts, fresh red chilli, dried shrimps, green beans, mix with garlic, lime, and vinaigrette dressing.
What we like best about the Papaya Salad is that it has a lot of dried shrimps and a few chili sprinkled throughout that gives a bit of heat in some bites. It was crunchy as we munch on it. Taste-wise, it has a pleasant sourness and spiciness to it.
The Pan Thay Stir Fry is $7.75. This is described as … stir fry yellow noodle, chicken, seasonal vegetables, with curry masala sauce.
Nice! This is simple stir fry yellow noodles which is soft. It has a slightly different twist to the Chinese stir fry noodles in that it has masala sauce. We can taste the spices used here. This reminds me of the Malaysian Mee Goreng. We like that it is stir fried drier — we have wet mushy stir fry noodles.
Nanzaro and Arkensen loved this the most and ended up having all of it.
The Lamb Curry is $11.75 and is the most expensive item on the delivery menu.
It was very good too. Suanne steamed some rice to go with the Lamb Curry. The lamb meat was tender and firm. Bo said that he makes this with his own special and secret curry spice. Oh yum!
The problem is that Bo sent us way too much food! Tiffany said that they want to send more and we said NO!
So we decided to save some of the food for the next day. We deliberately save the ($8.75) Pad Thai up because we wanted to test if it is still as good overnight in the fridge.
We got to give Bo the thumbs up. We like his Pad Thai … dryish and not too oily and wet like what we sometimes find elsewhere.
We just had to microwave it and it is still flavourful. Great to have for breakfast.
The last item is called the Tropical Yum ($8.75). It is a mixed vegetable stir fry – baby corn, sweet peppers, kangkong, tofu, bamboo shoot, celery with tamarind and sesame curry sauce.
Honestly, this one is not something we like. It is too “busy” with to many “heroes” … so much so that we don’t really know what we are eating. Suanne does not quite like the sourish taste and thought that it would be great if it was made with oyster sauce or fermented bean curd.
Anyway, Suanne and I wish Bo and Tiffany every success in their delivery business. If you would allow us to suggest, I think during the Olympics is a great time to check out Bo’s delivery especially if you watch the games on the TV.
yum, that papaya salad looks awesome. ever since i moved to abbotsford i’ve all but stopped going out for food. i’m volunteering in vancouver a lot in the next few months so i’m making a list and this is going on it!!
Hi Trisha:
Let us know what you think of Bo’s Laksa. You should also try his green tea salad. It’s one of a kind.
Ben
That looks great! No tea salad? (I guess you have tried that anyway).
Hi FMED: Yeah, tried tea salad before. Have you ever tried Bo’s Drunken Beef before? His website says that it is his own creation.
Hi Ben and Suanne!
I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but I truly love your blog!! I’ve gotten my sister and boyfriend hooked on this site too and it always seems to be the place we go to when we’re deciding where to eat! 🙂
This post is fantastic. Both my parents are born in Myanmar/Burma and I love Burmese food! I’m excited about Bo’s new delivery service as there seems to be no burmese restaurants opened anymore. There are a few restaurants that have some Burmese dishes though (Mitzi’s in Chinatown and Bowl of Stars on Kingsway). However, these don’t seem as authentic as what Bo has to offer!
Anyways, I will hit up this place soon! Hope you guys are having a good olympics!
Shelley
Hi Shelley:
I would most certainly love to hear what a Burmese would say about the authenticity of Bo’s food. I never had Burmese food before and as such does not know if it is authentic or not. I just like it.
Ben
Ben, will be going for Bo’s on Sunday for lunch so I guess I will give you my thoughts on the food after! LOL!
I tried Bo Laksa King last week and I loved it! Had the laksa and the tea leaf salad, as well as the roti. I was a little confused at first, not realizing it was inside the convenience store, but Bo and Tiffany were so great! I’m happy to support an independent business and will definitely be going back soon.
Ain’t Bo and Tiffany amazing people? I think people love to root for the underdog and they are such nice people. I think that adds a little bit to the deliciousness to their food. LOL!
We asked if Bo would consider delivering downtown during the Games. You can imagine the laughter that ensued after that question.
He did mention that the City Hall folks visited, and asked if he would consider opening up a street cart if permits were available. I hope to God that is an positive sign that the powers-that-be are moving forward on a street food initative.
Hi Joe:
I did not get the part when you said Bo laughed at your suggestion to consider delivering to downtown. What was that about?
Hey Ben – that was some apprehension on Bo’s part about Olympic traffic downtown. This was prior to the Games starting. I think most people that live downtown would agree that car traffic hasn’t been nearly as bad as expected. So maybe Bo will deliver downtown afterall.
Oh Ben and Suanne, you guys have no idea how long I have been searching for a place that has good laksa in Vancouver. Having lived in Singapore for a short time before and going there on numerous trips, I truly miss authentic Laksa (both Malay and Singaporean. I havent yet found one here that is even 1/2 as good as the real stuff. This place sounds like such a great find and even greater that I don’t live far from it. Will go there as soon as I can. Thank you for sharing!
The food looks delicious. I am trying to convince my friends to go with me, but the idea of driving there to eat with no seating does not appeal to them. I said it is all part of the experience; it’s fun, right?
Is there a park with tables nearby Bo Laksa’s?
best bet would be Central Park off Boundary Rd. in Burnaby. if you took the skytrain to BLK (Joyce stn), you’d go one more stop east and get off at Patterson station and you’ll be at the park.
Being a Malaysian and Laksa lover myself, I tried out Bo’s Laksa thanks to this review. I agree their Laksa is one of the best in town. It’s quite good comparing to authentic Malaysian Laksa. Mind you though, there are a few different kind of Laksa, and they have the curry type – more like Singapore laksa. It’s not really spicy, if you can handle it, I suggest asking Bo to make it even spicier.
Someone else here also suggested Malaysia Hut in Surrey. Their dishes are based on East Malaysia (Sarawak/Kuching), their Kuching Laksa is not bad, but I personally do not think it’s better than Bo’s (it’s also different Laksa, different taste). You can forget their Asam Laksa, which was terrible. One dish in Malaysia Hut you have to try is their Kon Loh Mee. It tasted quite close to Sarawak Sibu’s “Gan Puan” mee – Sibu’s famous dry noodles.
Thanks again to Ben and Suanne for the great finds.
Now I need someone to tell me where I can find the best Penang Laksa in Vancouver 🙂
Hi PeterAce:
Malaysian Hut is one of the first restaurant post we wrote – http://chowtimes.com/2006/01/14/malaysian-hut-restaurant/ . It was less than 2 weeks we started the blog in January 2006! That was a long time ago but we can still remember that meal. The food was pretty good.
Penang Laksa? That is Assam Laksa isn’t it? We can’t recall if we had Assam Laksa before in Metro Vancouver. Maybe we should ask Bo to make it!
Ben
Hi Ben,
After six days in Merida enjoying fantastic Mexican fare, I’m sitting in a hotel room in Cancun craving all the great Asian food in Vancouver. Tomorrow afternoon I arrive back home and cannot wait for Bo & Tiffany’s laksa and roti!!
Saludos!!
So, that’s where you had been. I was wondering what happened to you. Anyway, I guess you can’t make tomorrow’s Monday lunch, right? No problem … we’ll catch up when you’re settled back again.
Ben
After all the reviews on Bo laksa King, I had to check it out myself with my 11 yr old son in tow. Frankly, I was kind of dissappointed with the laksa & satay. However, the roti canai & fermented tea leaf salad were good. The curry dipping for the roti was too oily & salty to my liking. I asked my son his opinion & he said my laksa, satay, satay sauce, curries/rendang were way better! Maybe I should start a business too! LOL!