Asian Food Court Eats

Beef rendang and flaky roti at the Aberdeen Centre food court

A friend arrived from Toronto and I picked her up at Vancouver International Airport around 11am and she wanted to eat something Asian.

So we headed to the food court at Aberdeen Centre in Richmond.

On the weekdays this place is quiet, but this being a Sunday, it was busy! It wasn't too hard to find a table, but the vast majority of them were occupied.

We wandered around a bit to check out what was available and settled on sharing a northern Chinese set meal that included spring onion cake, some chive and pork dumplings, stir-fried thin slices of lamb in a slightly sweet soy sauce, and a small bowl of fake shark's fin soup (very thin vermicelli), with ribbons of bean curd skin, and wood ear mushroom.

For drinks we headed to a juice bar, where she had the drink equivalent of mango pomelo sago, while I had a combination of mango and papaya slush that was quite sweet.

Our set meal wasn't quite enough so I headed to a Malaysian stall and ordered the beef rendang. The server asked if I wanted rice or roti and chose the latter. We were not disappointed! The chunks of beef were so tender in the thick curry sauce that wasn't spicy at all. We dipped the flaky roti in there and it was delicious.

That was so filling we didn't need dessert!

Meanwhile there were more people queuing up for food and I was impressed to see practically all the stands doing decent business, with people of all ages dining here.

Canada Line Adds a New Station in Richmond

Capstan Station is now open to transit riders in Richmond

Richmond has a new SkyTrain station that opened today that will hopefully be able to reduce overcrowding during peak hours.

Located between Bridgeport and Aberdeen stations, Capstan Station is operating two years behind schedule, but will now service many residents who live in the area.

A tiled mural by Howie Tsui

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said when the Canada Line was being built, population density in the Capstan neighbourhood and development area was low, but a plan to eventually build the stop was part of the original Canada Line plan.

"We knew that the time would come. However, with development, we very much do need it [now]." he said.

The station was supposed to open in 2023, but there were delays due to the pandemic and it was assessed the soil was unstable, which meant performing structural upgrades to the station.

The total cost of Capstan Station is C$62 million, with Translink covering $30 million, and the rest by the City of Richmond, with thanks from developers like Concord Pacific, Polygon, and Yuanheng with buildings in the Capstan area helping to kick in some of the $32 million.

There are both up and down escalators at Capstan

Interesting to note the station is one of the first to have both up and down escalators, and it has a tile mural designed by Hong Kong-Canadian artist Howie Tsui. Entitled "The Breath Below", it depicts aquatic life in the Fraser River estuary, in the style inspired by traditional Chinese landscape paintings. 

Taste of Hong Kong at Cha Kee

Pineapple bun with iced milk tea from Cha Kee

Many people recommended I check out a cha chaan teng called Cha Kee in Richmond, so I finally did -- twice.

Opened in December 2022, it's tucked away in the corner of the first floor of a shopping mall called President Plaza, across from Aberdeen Centre in Richmond. 

Buttery scrambled egg sandwich

It seems just about everyone sitting in the food court are eating dishes like scrambled eggs with white bread toast, satay beef with instant noodles, and sipping cups of milk tea.

Other dishes include pork chop rice noodle, French toast, BBQ pork spaghetti, Hong Kong style Swiss sauce chicken wings, and curry fish balls. 

The first time I went, I had just eaten breakfast so I tried an iced milk tea and the pineapple bun. Each person gets a circular vibrating pager, even me with a simple order.

My pineapple bun arrived warm with a tall glass of iced milk tea. The pineapple bun was fluffy, with a crumbly cookie top, and was delicious, washed down with a very caffeinated milk tea. I was buzzing for pretty much the rest of the day.

I went again the other day with a friend where we were able to try more items. She had a bowl of macaroni with uneven slices of pork liver, which came with a side of scrambled eggs and white toast that she washed down with a cup of hot milk tea.

She invited me to have a few bites of the pork liver and I heartily tried some. Liver is an acquired taste and here it wasn't seasoned, but just kind of boiled in the thinly-laced chicken soup with a lot of macaroni. 

Meanwhile another friend had recommended the scrambled egg sandwich and I did not come away disappointed. In between two slices of toasted white bread slathered with a generous amount of butter was a big portion of scrambled eggs that were pillowy soft.

Slices of liver in macaroni soup

I can easily see how biting into this sandwich is the edible version of a big hug for people missing Hong Kong diner food in Vancouver.  

After finishing the scrambled egg sandwich I was actually quite full, even though I only had a small cup of iced milk tea. Food courts are where cheap and cheerful food is at!

Cha Kee

8181 Cambie Road

Richmond

Jumbo Sinks to its Demise

Jumbo docked in Aberdeen harbour before it left June 14

Today came news that the Jumbo Floating Restaurant, that left Hong Kong's Aberdeen harbour on June 14 has sunk in the South China Sea.

According to a press release issued by Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises Limited, the floating restaurant passed through the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea when it "encountered adverse conditions" and water entered the vessel, causing it to tip.

Marine engineers inspected the vessel before it left

"Despite the efforts of the towing company responsible for the trip to rescue the vessel, unfortunately it capsized on Sunday (June 19)," the statement said. 

It added no crew members were injured and because the vessel sank to a depth of 1,000 metres, it will be extremely difficult for the company to conduct a salvaging operation.

When people found out about the news, they immediately latched onto it as a metaphor for Hong Kong's demise.

Really? Is the city a rundown has-been bloated vessel that only catered to tourists served crappy food?

Definitely not.

There are sneaking suspicions on social media that the company -- which is owned by late casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun's family -- may have accidentally sunk for insurance purposes.

Ah To's prescient cartoon of Jumbo's fate

Its insurance is probably worth more than the scrap metal...

Interesting the restaurant had a press release ready for the media too...

What did political cartoonist Ah To know? When he heard news on June 1 that Jumbo Floating Restaurant would be towed away, he drew the sinking Jumbo Floating Restaurant together with the Goddess of Democracy and Lady Justice at the bottom of the ocean to represent the end of the June 4 candlelight vigils in Victoria Park and the rule of law.

And another artist known as SurrealHK made a computer manipulated image of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant sinking in Victoria Harbour... coincidence? Inspiration?

Jumbo Floats Away from Hong Kong

Jumbo Floating Restaurant was opened in 1976

Remember Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Aberdeen? In its heyday it mimicked the look of an imperial palace, where visitors could dress up in royal robes and sit on the throne for a picture before tucking into a Chinese banquet-style dinner.

To me it was very kitsch and touristy, I didn't quite see the charm of the place, while other guests lapped up the idea of being an emperor or empress for a photo.

Later parts of Jumbo were rented out to restaurant groups who tried to turn the outdoor deck space into a hip area for drinks. But that didn't last long.

Mounting losses forced Jumbo to close in 2020

After years of losses, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the restaurant to shutter in March 2020.

It was donated to Ocean Park in hopes that it could revive the massive floating restaurant, but there were no restaurant operators interested in taking on an ageing and expensive place that cost several million to upkeep every year.

Now the vessel's license is set to expire next month and its owner, Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises is searching for a proper docking space for this massive structure in order to carry out regular maintenance.

Since Hong Kong does not have such a space, Jumbo will have to leave the city after four decades. 

"As different sectors in Hong Kong have been hit by the fifth wave of infections, we foresee that the Jumbo Floating Restaurant cannot return to business in the near future," the company said.

In its heyday the restaurant catered to tourists

Therefore it will send out the floating restaurant somewhere for maintenance while it waits for a white knight to come... but who will?

Jumbo had an inauspicious start -- on October 30, 1971, a fire broke out on the restaurant which led to the deaths of 34 people and 42 injured. It was eventually reopened five years later by gambling tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun who had the floating restaurant decorated like an imperial palace. 

The chances of Jumbo have another life are pretty slim... its time and place have long gone.