After crossing off more wedding planning tasks in Richmond, the fiance and I were looking for a place to have dinner. We were feeling like HK cafe comfort food, so I suggested Silver Tower but we also saw Happy Day Cafe on Google. Since neither of us have been here, we figured we’d give it a try and see if it could be added to one of our go-to Richmond restaurants.

I remember when Happy Day Cafe first opened, people were going crazy for it, with long line ups. I didn’t really understand why because there are so many HK style cafes in Metro Vancouver and didn’t think it was anything special? Anyways, it has since quieted and there wasn’t a line up during the weekday evening we went.

Happy Day Cafe is located inside Garden City Plaza, where we go quite often when in Richmond. So far in that plaza, I have written about Tsujiri, Canadian Brewhouse, Thai Son, Nando’s, Qoola, and now Happy Day Cafe!

Walking inside, Happy Day Cafe was definitely more upscale than your typical HK cafe. I’m used to a no frills, semi-hole-in-the-wall type restaurant but Happy Day went all out with their design and spared no dollar.

Tables were distanced, with big plexiglass barriers between the tables. They also had a tablet that you walk up to, which reads your temperature before you’re allowed to enter.

Spaghetti bolognese: My go-to at HK style cafes! I rarely order anything else. If I do, you should probably check up on me because I may not be okay, hahahaha.

The spaghetti bolognese here was delicious and comforting! There was a generous portion of meat sauce and the pasta was al dente. The portion was quite big too. A classic dish baked perfectly!

Baked Portuguese seafood on rice: After debating between the baked tomato pork chop and this, the fiance decided on the latter. It was a great decision because he enjoyed his dish as well.

There was a lot of seafood inside, and he noted that the sauce was delicious and fragrant.

Overall, our first visit to Happy Day Cafe was delicious and certainly won’t be the last time. A solid place to get your HK style cafe cravings satisfied!

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!