Ho Yuen Kee

My friends took me to Ho Yuen Kee a few weeks ago only because Angel Cafe was closed. It's pretty much another run-of-the-mill Chinese seafood restaurant, but then again, there were only a few of us and we only ordered three dishes. We'll have to try it again sometime in a bigger group.

We ordered the house-special chow mein, which was good, but our next dish was a mistake on our part.....
......the assorted meats hot-pot, which is pretty much the exact same ingredients as the house-special chow mein except no chow mein and it's served in a hot pot. Again, this dish was really tasty, lots of ingredients, and good size portion.

The deep friend smelt was cooked with sliced garlic, there were loads, but wasn't quite salty enough for me. Spicy, but not quite salty enough. Nothing a bit of extra Chinese seasoning salt couldn't fix.

Like I said, the food was pretty good, but we didn't get a chance to sample many different dishes, so we'll defintely have to go back again. Several other tables had ordered crab, which may be this place's specialty....it looked really good.

Mui Garden

The best Chinese curry I have ever had, bar none. I've been eating at Mui Garden for over 10 years now, and I still haven't found a place that has better Chinese style curry. The first time visited Mui Garden's was in college when a friend of mine - Ada (forgot her last name) took me to the location on Main Street in Vancouver. The shop didn't look particularly interesting - kind of dark and boring in a cafe/diner style sort of way. I had Curry Beef Brisket on Rice and I've been hooked ever since.

I don't know about the other locations, but the one in Richmond often comps some sort of Chinese soup.
The steamed rice comes in two varieties, one plain, the other glorious. I forget what it's called in English, but just ask for it. It's cooked something magical, possibly garlic and chicken stock (from the Hainan chicken). Anyway, it's the perfect companion to......anything on the menu.
Spareribs & Walnut in Premium Sauce. I know, the name sounds kind of silly, but this dish is deliscious and it's kind of new to me.
I'm not even sure if it's sparerib to tell you the truth, it tastes like pork chop, deep friend, then drowned in this wicked sauce (might have mayonaise in it) and walnuts.
The curry beef brisket, and it should be on everyone's "things to eat before you die" list. It's so rich and creamy (probably due to loads of coconut cream/milk), the curry isn't overpowering, and the brisket dissolves in your mouth.

String beans stir-fried with ground pork.
Assorted hot-pot, usually tofu, shitake mushrooms, BBQ pork, and an assortment of seafood.

The usual condiments with Hainan chicken. The one on the upper left is great with just plain steamed rice (and the other type of rice I talked about earlier).
Hainan Chicken, not my favourite, but for those who like it, I'm told that Mui Garden has one of the best.
Sweet and Sour Pork, Mui's is served with lychee, something I don't think I've seen anywhere else.
The pork as a nice crispy coating underneath the sweet and sour ssauce, which means it's been deep fried to order. Some places will have a huge batch of the stuff sitting there and getting soggy, not Mui Garden. The pork isn't sitting in a pool of sauce either, just enough to coat the por and some vegetation. Order this, you won't be disappointed.
The Gailan is really good too, cooked perfectly.


Deep fried tofu with seasoning salt. This dish is huge and pretty filling. It could be a meal on it's own, but you'll probably be really thirsty after because of the seasoning.
Mui Garden in Richmond can be found on 5960 Minoru Boulevard just north of Westminster Hwy. (604)303-7977. Anyway, Mui Garden is definetly worth going. Order their signature dish - the Curry Beef Brisket.