Silver Tower is a longstanding Hong Kong style restaurant in Richmond. The fiance used to frequent this place with his coworkers when he used to work in Richmond, and often talked about how delicious it was. After meeting a wedding vendor nearby in Richmond, we didn’t know where to have dinner so he suggested this place.

Normally, this parking lot and area is really hard to find parking! We were really surprised to see a few spots open in this parking lot, which Silver Tower also shares with Matsuyama next door. The street parking was also empty which is unheard of for a weekend!

Half of the restaurant tables were closed off, marked with red X tapes on the tables. I think it’s quite cool to capture photos like this to look back on, we are living in such strange times right now.

We also had to sanitize our hands and write down our name and phone numbers for contact tracing. I personally don’t mind as it’s more responsible if we were around new COVID cases!

Spaghetti bolognese: My go-to meal at HK style restaurants. Silver Tower’s version did not disappoint either! It was delicious and the portion size was decent as well.

Baked pork chop: The fiance’s baked pork chop was delicious too. There was a generous portion of baked pork chop on top of the rice, which was crispy and flavourful. The rice underneath could have used more flavor and more egg.

Overall, Silver Tower is a decent choice for quick, filling, and cheap HK style food if you’re in Richmond. It has been around for a long time as evident by the exterior, but they seem to have renovated inside at some point. They are also open until 2am (not sure if this is the case during the pandemic) which may entice some people!

For Father’s Day, I suggested dim sum. Initially, I wanted to get Western Lake but they were open too late, and my dad had to go to work. I called a couple of other places such as Happy Valley, but the braniacs over there had a voicemail message saying they were open for takeout and then the line cut off so you can’t even order. *eye roll* and Wah Lun’s line was dead too.

So Cindy’s Palace was actually a 4th option, but it turned out to be pretty decent!

Surprisingly, I have not yet been to Cindy’s Palace. With so many dim sum options around this area, we always end up going somewhere else. I always forget this place exists actually.

Picking up the take out was not smooth. I placed the order at 9:40am, they told me to come in 20 minutes at 10:00am. I ended up waiting for 25 minutes until 10:25, which I was not pleased about because my dad had to leave the house at 11:00am. I told the owner this and she was understanding and did apologize, and I also heard her checking on my order in the kitchen a couple times which I appreciated.

So although it was annoying, her service made up for it which is rare because Chinese restaurants are notorious for bad service.

Bean curd wrap: Ordering bean curd wrap is always a hit or miss for us. We were relieved that the bean curd wrap here was delicious! The filling was not dense as opposed to other restaurants. In addition, there was a decent portion of meat and veggies, and the sauce was not gooey.

Deep fried pork ball: The deep fried pork balls were delicious, and my favourite of the morning. They were fresh and piping hot, even after a car ride. The outside was crunchy, and a mix of sweet and salty.

Beef flour roll: The beef flour rolls were plump, containing a decent amount of beef and some kind of crunchy vegetable inside (daikon?). No complaints here.

Beef tendon: I’m actually not a fan of beef tendon but my dad likes it, so this dish was for him. He had no complaints about it.

Sticky rice wrap: The sticky rice wrap was delicious! The rice was very flavourful and there was a decent amount of filling inside.

All in all, I was very impressed with Cindy’s Palace. Despite the hiccup in the beginning with the take out delay, the owner was apologetic about it and the food ended up being very fresh and tasty. I would definitely come back!

Disclaimer: In light of COVID-19, I just wanted to say that I am doing my part by social distancing and only going out when necessary. This is a review based on contact-less delivery.

We are now in phase 2 which means restrictions are slowly lifting. It is crucial that we still limit our social circle, and wear masks when out. Yes, you may feel fine but you could be passing on the virus to someone who is immunocompromised or elderly that may not survive this virus. I know it’s summer and we want to go out and enjoy the sun, but let’s all remember to be safe and protect those most vulnerable.

Copa Cafe is a popular Hong Kong style restaurant chain in Vancouver. They have 3 locations in Vancouver, Coquitlam, and Richmond. This post will focus on the Vancouver location on Cambie Street!

My go-to meal at HK style cafes is always the spaghetti bolognese. Seriously, I’ve been ordering this dish since I was at least 7 years old and have not stopped! (Minus when my digestive problems act up and I can’t have dairy.) However, I remembered that the Copa in Coquitlam used a thin type of spaghetti which I did not like so I ordered something different this time.

Fried rice noodle w beef: Admittedly, I have no idea if this is the right English name for the dish. I only know it by the Cantonese name, “gon chau ow hau” so this is a rough description!

This isn’t exactly a HK style dish, but I was craving it after Cola was talking about it. It hit the spot perfectly and was so delicious. There was a smokey flavour from the wok, aka ‘wok hei’ which is very hard to replicate at home! In addition, the was also a generous amount of tender beef slices.

The portion was also absolutely huge! This was enough for dinner, and lunch the next day. It’s definitely a great value and delicious as well.

The only con is that it was on the oily side, but I would still order this again if I’m craving a solid gon chau ow hau (it feels too weird writing it in English to me!).

House special baked pork chop: This is one of the fiance’s go tos at HK style cafes. He really enjoyed this dish. There was a very generous amount of tender pork chop. As you can see, the entire top layer is the pork chop!

The rest of the dish was delicious too. The fried rice underneath, tomato sauce, cheese… Yum. The fiance couldn’t finish this either and had a lot leftover the next day. Again, great value!

We were really satisfied with Copa Cafe. This is comfort food for us and it was delicious. They seem to have bad reviews but personally, our food was delicious and the portions were enough for 2 meals!