It was only of those rare nights when we went out for a movie. I tried to get both the boys to come along but only Nanzaro was willing to come along — somewhat reluctantly.
We chose a rather random movie. We chose it more because of the movie timing than the show. It was called “The Town”. It was about robberies, shoot outs with a bit of romance thrown in. Suanne doesn’t like such shows but Nanzaro and I does. But she likes Ben Affleck (who incidentally also has a role directing this film).
Nanzaro and I checked before we left the house. The movie is rated 14+ but they have two of those “ahem” scenes. It was kind of awkward, especially for Nanzaro. The show was totally predictable … enjoyable but I thought I saw this story line a hundred of times on TV already.
After the movie, we went to look for a small bite. Not wanting to drive far, we went to Richmond’s glutton street. We could not find one that we had not blogged about before and yet will stay open at least until 11PM.
Come to think of it, we don’t usually dine out after 9PM. That is why we were kind of surprised that many restaurants were already closed or were closing by 10PM.
Without much of a choice left, we went to the Amigo Restaurant. Among the many HK Style Cafes in Richmond, this is one place we had never had the want to check out. I am not sure why. Maybe it is because people don’t talk about this place or maybe I thought this is an Asian teenager hangout.
Apparently. it was not a teenager hangout. This is very much like the usual HK Style Cafe you find elsewhere in Richmond. The whole place seems so slow, it even seem so listless. The customers were so quiet, like they are there just for a bite and don’t talk to each other much. It is weird … everyone look so tired.
Service was good. Very prompt. We got everything we needed when we need them.
There was not much of a choice already at that hour. The waitress handed us their “Afternoon Delight/Late-night Special” menu (click to show in larger image).
It is small, just 32 items. All of them very normal HK Style fare. Nothing particularly exciting or stands out for us. They are mostly $7 and that came with hot coffee or tea ($1 extra for cold).
Suanne wanted something super light and found the lightest to be the Sweet Soy Sauce Chicken Wing (6 pcs).
This is $8 for … just 6 winglets served on a bed of iceberg lettuce.
The winglets were so terribly small that it fits on a spoon. I did not know that this even came in this size at all.
For $8 for 6 pieces, I find this not worth the money. I was wondering what happened to the wing tip. At least serve that too and make it look bigger, no?
Nanzaro did not order the fried rice.
Instead, he had the Stir fried Noodle with Mixed Seafood and XO Special Sauce ($8).
What XO sauce? What more XO Special Sauce? The sauce is so flat that it is almost like soya sauce noodles and does not do much in flavouring this dish. If anything, it was quite oily. Anyway, this one has squid, scallop, prawn, mushroom, cabbage and sweet pepper on it.
Well, well … yours truly ordered the fried rice. How is that for a change? Even Nanzaro was surprised.
This is the Thai Style Shrimp Fried Rice ($8). Actually, there is nothing Thai about this fried rice. Maybe it is the prawns that they think that made it “Thai”. It is just like added pineapple to it and call it “Hawaiian”.
Like the noodles, this is also quite greasy. What would have made it more Thai and better is if they had fried some chili padi with it.
We asked for the hot milk tea to go (for the next days breakfast). We did not want to drink it as we cant sleep if we drink tea at this hour.
Have anyone ever tried Amigo Restaurant before? I am sure they have an expanded menu for the daytime hours.
I only go for their value menu LMAO you HAVE TO try the cajun/african chicken next time! I always go there just for that!!!
Is this the one beside Zodiac (if Zodiac is still alive)??? If so, I think I tried it once years ago…can’t remember how it was but I remember the prices were quire reasonable back then.
Hi Buddha Girl: What is in Zodiac? Is that a BBT place? I just check Google Street View and yeah, Zodiac is just next door to the Amigo. Ben
Hey Ben! Zodiac is a karaoke drinking place…LOL! Used to go there quite a bit back in my younger days…come to think of it…a lot of those karaoke places (not Zodiac) have yummy Tw snacks…
Hahaha yes Buddha Girl Zodiac is still there. Been there a few times super drunk already. I think it’s so expensive though LMAO though I have never paid for it yet…
Elaine: Wow…that place is still there??? Sigh…the good old days…LOL! Yea…back then the girls never have to put out a penny neither…always covered by the guys…the guys in our group back then were very “big men”…LOL! I do agree…that place is expensive…the very last time I was there was for a bday party couple years ago and I was shocked on how slow the place was…it used to be packed…even in the lounge area!
I’ve always found Amigo to be quite decent. Not the cheapest HK style cafe but still some decent value. I’ve also found their western style food to be better than the Asian ones. It’s almost like comfort food some days. Try their ribeye set, it’s quite good.
Like Elaine said, one must go there for the African style Chicken! That’s pretty much the only thing I eat there.
Amigo is actually one of my favorite HK style cafes in Vancouver……their steak is very good (particularly the ribeye), and that stir-fried noodle Nanzaro ordered is one of my favorites as well. I always order the “prawn and luncheon meat in hot and sour noodle soup” — the English translation isn’t done accurately; it’s actually rice vermicelli, with prawns and Vietnamese ham in this Tom-Yum like hot and sour soup.
OH and BTW, I’ve read on some other forums that Amigo’s “fried rice noodle with beef” is the closest thing we have in Vancouver to the authentic version you can find in Hong Kong. Apparently only they manage to get the “wok hey” and the soy sauce taste right……I’ve never tried it though cos’ it’s a dish famous for its high fat and calorie content. Their milk tea is also decent, again known for how close it is to the “original authentic” version in Hong Kong. I do agree with this though — Amigo and iCafe are the only 2 places in Vancouver that serve milk tea similar to what I’ve had in Hong Kong.
Hi Elaine, Andy, EDC and Cici:
Oh … I guess I went at the wrong time. I will definitely want to check out the African Chicken and Fried Rice Noodle with Beef just to see what you are talking about. Thanks!
Ben
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Do you guys know if Amigo takes Credit card or is it Cash only??
Just pay cash, it is no good to use credit cards anyway.
I don’t understand why the author said this cafe is quiet. Does he expect everyone should shout at the top of his/her voice? This is a rather odd comment by the author.