Kwong Chow Congee & Noodle House

Located on Main and 16th, this place has been around for a while, but I rarely visit the area, so it's never been on my to-do list. Finally made the trek one day and decided to give this place a shot. 

Their Won-Ton Soup was plentiful, and each one was rather plump. The soup itself was nothing special, but it wasn't bad either. The dumpling skin was thin, and the shrimp within were quite fresh, with a good bite to it. It didn't seem like they packed it with filler, there was a lot of shrimp in each dumpling, good consistency.

One of must-haves at these Congee/Noodle places is Chinese Broccoli (Gai Lan) with Oyster Sauce. It seems to make the fact that I'm eating otherwise less healthy food less guilt-inducing. See a previous experience at Congee Noodle. The dish is simple, but I never liked washing vegetables, so if someone else is willing to wash and prep these for me, I'll gladly pay for the dish. I like the stems because they usually have a good crunch to them (these babies are hard to overcook) but the stems are great for soaking up the oyster sauce too. In fact, I've been know to eat these as fries...stems and oyster sauce instead of fries and ketchup. 

And I can't walk into one of these places without getting BBQ Duck Soup Noodles, either with Lai Fun or in this case, with rice noodles. To be honest, I don't even come into these places unless I am craving BBQ Duck, which is what keeps me going back to Copa Cafe. I normally ask for the BBQ Duck to be served on the side, but I clearly forgot here. I prefer it served separately so that the skin stays crispy. No. 9 in Richmond does this by default. But it wasn't a huge deal here because the skin wasn't too crispy to begin with. I still put the duck off to the side while I tacked the noodles though I wasn't overly impressed with this dish simply because the noodles/soup weren't hot. They were warm, but not quite "hot".  

Another comfort food dish, but one that I don't have too often, the Salted Fish & Chicken Fried Rice. If you are not familiar with this dish, the first thing you'll notice is the pungency of the salted fish. It's dried and salted and extremely potent, a little goes a long way. Traditionally, this dish is made with chicken but I have had it with pork as well. There is also some lettuce as well as egg to make the whole dish come together. There was a lack of wok-heat in the dish, but the essential flavours were present.

Take Note:

• Great deals before noon or after 2:30 (tea time) and also open late, til 2am 
• Service can be inconsistent
• Stick to the tried and true congee and noodles or rice dishes, seafood not recommended.