This review is a long time coming! Back in August, Cola, the monkeys and I had lunch at Green and Oak. I had heard about this restaurant, which took over Mr. Chili a couple of years ago. I’m not surprised that Mr. Chili shut down because it wasn’t good.

The monkeys had mentioned that they liked Green and Oak before, and the menu looked decent so we came here one afternoon.

I was really surprised at how good it was here. We have been sleeping on Green and Oak this whole time! I brought some takeout back for the husband, who also loved it. Since then, we have gotten a couple of take out orders and Green and Oak has quickly risen to one of our favourite restaurants, which I never would have expected!

The restaurant was really clean and nicely decorated with a wooden theme. I also appreciated that they had wooden shelves under the table for bags.

Roti bread: We started with a roti bread, which was delicious and served hot and fresh.

Clear chicken noodle soup: I was surprised to see a clear noodle soup on the menu. Usually, Malaysian places don’t have clear noodle soup. I was curious if it was any good, and decided to order it with vermicelli noodles.

Firstly, the chicken soup is a great deal because it came with Hainanese chicken (I think?). There was so much chicken in the soup, and it was juicy, flavourful, and tendor. The soup base was also flavourful and garlicky. I really enjoyed the noodle soup and would get it again.

Clear chicken noodle soup: I didn’t know this, but the chicken noodle soup is the monkeys favourite! They come here often and always order this. They chose the egg noodle. You can pick from egg noodle, vermicelli, rice noodle, or a mix.

Pineapple fried rice: Cola picked the pineapple fried rice, and it was delicious! The fried rice was very flavourful and had a generous amount of prawn, BBQ pork, and pineapple.

Mee Goreng: The mee goreng was absolutely delicious as well. I don’t normally order mee goreng and am not sure how it is supposed to taste, but we all really enjoyed it.

Fried chicken wings: The monkeys are also a big fan of the chicken wings, and I could see why. The chicken wings were piping hot, fresh, and crunchy. Each order comes with 4 big pieces. The chicken wings also came with a lemon vinaigrette sauce which complimented the chicken wings well.

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Now, on to our two take out orders!

Malaysian curry seafood on rice: The husband decided to try one of their curry dishes, and he really enjoyed it. The seafood curry had a lot of seafood inside. The curry was also really fragrant. He switched the rice for the chicken oil rice, which was delicious too! The roti was delicious when dipped into the curry.

Curry seafood fried rice: I ordered the pineapple fried rice, but when we opened the takeout container, we realized they gave us the curry seafood fried rice instead. I didn’t mind too much because this was really good too. They were quite generous with the shrimp and fish pieces.

Singapore fried vermicelli: The singapore fried vermicelli was soooo good. This is usually served in Chinese restaurants too, but I found that Green and Oak included some fried shallots in here which elevated the dish even more! There was a strong curry powder taste which I loved.

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After one dine in visit and two take out orders in the past month, it is safe to say that we are fans of Green and Oak! We have tried a few different items and they were all good. We will definitely be coming back here or ordering more takeout.

Singapore Hawker was recommended to me by a coworker. Seeing that his food recommendations are always on point, I knew I had to go! I found myself in Coquitlam one day and it was the perfect time to pick some up for lunch on the way back.

Singapore Hawker is located across from Coquitlam Center, next to Legend House. There is some street parking available outside of the restaurant.

Once inside, you place your order at the counter and wait for your food so it is more like fast food/food court style. I called the restaurant before I came and the food was ready by the time I arrived 15 minutes later.

Currently, the seating area is closed due to COVID. When I walked in, the restaurant smelled sooo good and I knew we were in for a treat later.

Roti canai: I love roti canai! The roti bread here did not disappoint, and was delicious. There was a nice chew to it with a slight sweetness. Flaked perfectly with some crispy pieces, the roti bread went well with the curry dip.

Hainanese chicken: Since trying Mamalee’s delicious Hainanese chicken, I had to compare Singapore Hawker’s version of it. The chicken also came with chicken oil rice and soup.

The boneless Hainanese chicken was juicy and tender. I found it more oily here than Mamalee’s, and they seemed to use more sauce here because I saw some sort of brown sauce under the chicken (sorry, not a Hainanese chicken expert). It was good and I would get it again.

I absolutely love my chicken oil rice and it did not disappoint. The chicken oil rice was very flavourful and there was a generous amount.

Kari lembu: The fiance requested the Malaysian beef curry, aka kari lembu. This was the full size, they also have a smaller size that comes with rice but we made some rice at home instead. This dish was delicious as well. The curry was very fragrant, flavourful, and packed a lot of heat. The beef chunks were tender and marinated well.

Overall, we really enjoyed our meal from Singapore Hawker. Since we ordered the full version of the curry and also some roti bread, we had enough food for lunch the next day as well. Singapore Hawker is a great place for decent Singaporean food in Coquitlam.

The fiance and I were in the mood to try something different. After looking at different cuisines, we decided on Malaysian! I can’t say I’ve had much Malaysian food in my life. Anyways, we have heard good things about Banana Leaf and picked the location on West Broadway.

We came on a Saturday evening around 6pm without reservations, and it was quite busy already. If we came any later, we probably would not have gotten a seat right away!

I do remember coming to this location as a kid with my relatives, so it has been around for a long time! However, I remembered the restaurant being darker inside. The restaurant does seem to have been renovated in the past few years, I was looking on Yelp and it used to look different. The style now is more open and modern.

Drink: I don’t remember the name of the drink and it isn’t listed on the online menu, boo! But it was a virgin cocktail made with passionfruit, mango, soda, and maybe some other juices.

The drink was sweet and refreshing and wasn’t overloaded with ice, which I appreciated. One of my pet peeves is ordering a drink and half of the drink is ice. My only complaint would be that the banana leaf decor they put inside the drink was a bit dusty, which was off putting. I ended taking it out of my drink.

Chicken skewers: We started off with the grilled chicken skewers. The chicken was very juicy and full of flavour. There was a lot of lemongrass and garlic flavour, which we enjoyed. The skewers were a great start to the dinner!

Beef rendang curry: Rendang is a type of spicy Indonesian meat dish, which we haven’t had before. I love all different types of curry – Japanese, Thai, Indian, and now I was able to try Indonesian curry!

Compared to Japanese and Thai style curries, the spices were sharper if that makes any sense, and less creamy. The beef rendang curry packed a nice, spicy heat to it. It reminded me more of Indian curry. The beef was also melt in your mouth tender, and it was a generous portion.

We ended up ordering a side of roti canai to dip into the curry, which was the perfect complement!

Pineapple seafood fried rice: This is probably one of their most popular dishes, and visually appealing ones too! I was quite excited to try the fried rice and it did not disappoint.

The pineapple gave the rice a slight sweetness to it and was unlike other fried rice dishes I’ve tried before. There was a lot going on in the dish with some seafood, chicken, pumpkin seeds, raisins, and pineapple… However, the flavours all went together and wasn’t as overwhelming as it sounded.

It was a bit messy to scoop out because the rice would fall onto the plate, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. I also found the portion to be a bit small for the price, but at least it was good.

Roti canai: The roti canai was an extra addition to go with the beef rendang curry. I remember having roti canai many years ago and enjoying it, this time was no different.

All the dishes we ordered were delicious. Since I don’t have Malaysian food often and am not of Malaysian descent, I am unsure of how authentic it is…. but it was definitely tasty. It was nice to have something different apart and we would come back.