I got to know Ada and Heidi from A Taste of Community Kitchen event. They were born in Malaysia but grew up in Hong Kong. They are Muslims. We talked about eating out for Muslim which is quite limited here as there are not many halal restaurants that I know off. These are a hand full of those that served halal food: Kedah House, Seri Malaysia, Xin Jiang Delicious Food in Richmond Public Market, Darya Restaurant, Anatolia’s Gate Turkish Restaurant and Abdul’s Sharwarma. Beware that not all Malaysian restaurants are halal. The restaurant is deemed halal only if it gets it’s meat from a source which is certified halal.
Ada and Heidi wanted to eat out at Kedah House and invited me to come along. This is their second attempt to try Kedah House’s food as their first attempt failed because the restaurant was closed on the day they went. So, this time, I called up Kedah House to find out the days that they are closed before we went which is Monday and Tuesday. So, we decided to visit Kedah House on a Thursday. What a bummer, the restaurant again was not opened on that Thursday. Apparently, when we checked with a neighouring shop, we were told that sometimes Kedah House will closed if they have a banquet to cater for. What a disappointment to Ada and Heidi.
So, we had to go for plan B. Fortunately, Adaand Heidi have another place that they can go to, which is halal, of course. It’s Garden City Kabob Grill on Blundell Road and Garden City Road. This place was previously owned by a Lebanese but it’s now taken over by a Filipino family.
The sharwarma can be seen the moment you enter the shop. Sharwarma is made by skewing meat on a metal rod and slow roasting the meat on all sides by the rotating spit in front of a heat source for hours. In Turkish, sharwarma is known as doner kebab. The cooked meat is shaved off the stack and made into a sandwich wrap with a tortilla or pita bread and dressed with vegetables and dressing.
Garden City Kebab Grill is a small place with a few tables and you help yourself with the cutleries and condiments located along a wall.
Their menu is simple, some rice combo with kebab, wrap, fish and chips and even vegetarian spring rolls. Click on the image to have a large view.
Ada ordered two items from the menu. The first item was Gyro Chicken Donair on Pita for $5.69. The donair is big and I’m surprised …that Ada was able to finish it.
Ada also ordered some home made vegetarian spring rolls to share. The spring rolls were deep fried upon order. They were very crispy and flavourful. 8 pieces is only $2.99.
I had the Roast Lamb Platter for $10.99. It consists of lanb stew, salad, rice pilaf, potato and a yogurty dipping sauce. The rice pilaf by itself is flavourful.
The lamb stew was a big serving. It comes with a small rack of ribs and a big chunk of leg. The sauce is tomatoish.
The platter also comes with half a piece of pita which was grilled before serving to us. I was not able to finish all my food and had some leftover to go.
Heidi had the Kabuli Palou ($9). This comes with a skewer of beef on rice pilaf topped with raisins and carrots, salad, potato and pita bread. Ada and Heidi, thank you for the meal and I’ll make sure you will make it the Kedah House for our next eating out adventure.
After the meal, we learned from the owner that they are going to include pork in their menu due to demand from customers. Ada and Heidi were sad to hear that as this means that they will have less a place to eat out. Anyway, Ada told me that besides halal restaurants, they can eat at vegetarian restaurants, Japanese and Western restaurants but they will only order seafood or salad.
Do you know any other halal restaurants that I can let Ada and Heidi know?
Hi Suanne, that was a big piece of lamb. How was it? Is it tasty? I want to try that place. Its close to home for me.
Hi Crispy Lechon, I would say it was decent and it’s value for money.
Thanks Suanne, sounds like I will be going there for a lamb lunch today. Cannot eat a lot though. I have to save room for tonight’s Extreme Da-lang Chowdown.
Hi Ben,for something different for Ada and Heidi. They can try Best Burrito on 195 West Broadway in Vancouver,A Burrito place owned some Pakistanis that is Halal.Butter Chicken Burrito anyone???
I’ve tried the lamb and it was very good. Tender, juicy, and definitely worth the money!
I would recommend trying their “taho”, it’s something they do at the side in addition to the Greek food. It’s basically a Filipino version of tofu pudding. Very good and worth the value!
I believe Al Watan on Fraser is Halal; they serve Indian/Pakastani food.
did the lamb taste gamey? i’ll try it if its done well cause i dont think i can eat that much if its really gammy
You must try the kalamari.. and the roast lamb is also delicious. I think this restaurant is one of Richmond’s best kept secrets for mediterranean food!
I recently discovered that tnis store sells tofu-fa Pinoy version. Its quite good and comes with arnibal with sago on the side. Arnibal is the sugary syrup made from palm sugar used to sweeten the taho (tofu-fa) in the Philippines. The taho is cooked to order or you can call ahead to avoid waiting. I usually order the unsweetened version. It comes in sizes 1, 2 and 4 litres. Highly recommended!
Hi Crispy Lechon, this made to order tofu fa is a great find.
Wow! I didn’t realize more people knew about the Tofu pudding here! I just tried some last night cause Marvs family bought some, and it was delicious! 🙂 Absolutely a great find!
I really like the tofu pudding there. Its very smooth and with the sweet syrup with pearls that you get with it, it tastes very close to tofu pudding you get in the streets of Manila.
BTW, Is Marvs of Filipino descent?
Crispy, I seriously think we may have bumped into each other with the same restaurants that we go to ….ehhehehe
Agreed, the tofu pudding is very smooth and refreshing! 🙂
uhmm… I’m not really sure what Marv is exactly..he confuses me when he explains it lol
This restaurant changed ownership in April and new owners are Filipino Chinese, the mother and daugher in law (lori)runs the place, the daughter is a chef and son likes to cook so this business is perfect for them….I havent tried their food as Im not into shawarma..I only go there every week (since November)to pick up Taho – soy pudding….which is really good and addicting . Best Value would be their Large i think its 4liters that sells for $15. yes comes with arnibal and pearls..Tip is if you will eat the pearls the next day, just take it out from the sauce-arnibal so it will stay soft the next day. I bought a gigantic bag of pearl in November just for this, I cook my own as the pearls they provide is gone the same night that I buy it
Crispy is right, you can order ahead of time, when they dont hv their lunch rush, they can have it ready within 1-2 hours..
they are closed on Sundays and their Ph# 604 2447147. I hope this helps.
Actually, if you microwave the arnibal (sweet sauce) with the pearls, the pearls will soften too. I didnt know the chef is the daughter in law of the Fil-Chinese owner. I overheard her calling the owner mama and I thought that was just a term of endearment coz she doesnt look Fil-Chinese. Anyway, I dont think it takes that long to make the taho. Last time I was there, I didnt call ahead and I just waited just over 30 mins. The wait was well worth it. 🙂
I hv to try reheating the left over pearl , thought it wont as its starch.. Tnx for the tip
yes Lori is a filipina who is married to the family ,but the daughter herself is a culinary chef and I heard joined the Canadas top chef contest before… Thus explains why The rice under this new ownership tastes better than the previous…thats what I heard…