congee noodle house

congee noodle house is one of those places that you have driven past a thousand times (main and broadway) and wondered if you should stop (you should). we were seated almost right away in the large dining room. it's a little clattery and busy but not uncomfortable and this is one of those places where the food is the point rather than ambiance! service is friendly and a team effort. catch someone's eye and they will help you whether it is their table or not. we started with steamed shrimp rice rolls which were very nice. the noodle was very delicate (to the point of tearing easily) while the shrimp were large and maintained some texture (not overcooked). i was expecting the side sauces that you get with dim sum at some places but it really didn't need it. we had beef tendon and beef brisket with noodle (i forgot to ask for lo mein noodles but the rice noodles were decent). highlighted by a couple of large pieces of tendon that were just soft enough and a generous amount of brisket, this was another winner. the barbeque was very good also. three types (kitchen's choice) on rice was only $11 and a decent deal. duck, roastedporkand barbequeporkwere all tasty (not quite hk barbeque master but is anyone?)finally, there was the hk style sampan congee with minced beef that i had been craving. rich, creamy and hot (be careful not to burn the roof of your mouth like i always do). i am not able to identify all the ingredients but i was aware of the minced beef and some type of intestine. the topping was ginger, peanuts and green onions and a little sesame oil. wonderful! prices are very reasonable and the menu is long. the room is big and noisy and we found the staff to be friendly enough. most importantly the food is very good. we happily recommend that you give this place a try.

service...average at best.

cleanliness...questionable.

but dang the food is good! one of the very few good authentic hong kong style noodle houses left in the city. i guess you could argue that service and decor is authentic hong kong style too...kinda like a dai pai dong.

tonight, my wife and i filled our bellies on yummy noodle soup for $20 all in - great value! the bbq meats here are excellent. we often pick up a bbq duck or roastporkfor a nice quick dinner at home. my wife's family often orders take out from here for dinner when there's a family dinner (her mom doesn't like to cook) so it's kinda a family fave for affordable and reliable food.

this is a casual chinese restaurant located on broadway near main street with a very large menu consisting of congee, noodles, rice and chinese barbecue. i had their pineapple sweet & sourporkon steamed rice (which i upgraded to fried rice for an extra $2.5) and their b.b.q. duck with noodle. the food was actually quite good, and the prices are reasonable given the quality and portion sizes. unfortunately, what really soured my experience was the rather poor service. since i was a single diner, i had to share a table with a few other diners, which is understandable as they have mainly large tables at the restaurant. however, they were quite slow in cleaning the tables, and i found myself sitting with a pile of dirty dishes from a previous diner right next to me. moreover, the staff were very inattentive and never checked once on our table other than to bring the food. one of the other diners that i was sharing the table with asked for her bill and i swear she waited probably 15 minutes before the server finally arrived with her bill. i seriously felt sorry for her. all in all, while i really did like the food, the lackluster service prevents me from whole-heartedly recommending this place.

pineapple sweet & sourporkon steamed rice ($12.50 + $2.50 for fried rice):
4/5
theporkwas very good: it was tender, meaty and quite crispy wihtout an overly thick batter. the sauce was thick, and had a good balance between sweet and tangy. i got the dish with fried rice for an extra $2.50, and although the rice was quite tasty and had a nice savoury flavour, i actually don't think that you need to have it as the sauce was very flavourful and probably would be better paired with plain rice. although a bit on the pricier side, the portion that they provide is fairly generous, and given the quality, i do think it's worth the cost.

b.b.q. duck with noodle ($10):
4/5
they have two versions, either the the noodles in soup or with the soup on the side - i had mine with the soup on the side. the noodles had a very nice bouncy texture. there is a pretty good amount of bbq duck. the duck itself was quite flavourful, although i found it to be a bit too boney. the side of broth had a good savory flavour, and went well with the noodles.

summary:
food: 4/5
price: 4/5
service: 1.5/5
overall: 3.5/5
recommendations: pineapple sweet & sourporkon steamed rice, soup/mixed noodles

we were here twice during our 5 day visit in vancouver.

for breakfast we ordered the
1) white pepper,porkstomach and clam congee which i would suggest stirring to ensure the white pepper is evenly distributed throughout the bowl.
2) assorted meat congee - and by assorted i mean liver, kidney, meat ball, stomach and heart
3) salted chinese donut

both congees were delicious. the flavors were embedded in each of the bowls - the congee itself tasted like the meat flavors.

on a seperate night, we ordered takeout after a night out. we ordered
1) slicedporkcongee - not as flavorful as the ones we had for breakfast but theporkwas tender
2) prawn and scramble egg with fried rice noodle - i don't know how to describe it but it's delicious...
3) deep fried chicken wings with spicy salt and chili - you can't go wrong
4) salt and pepper squid - a classic
5) shanghai noodles - another classic

when i'm craving congee this is the place to go.  fresh congee with whatever you want inside and always accompanied by a delicious chinese donut. 

everything on the menu ive tried was good.  from the chow mein to the hot pots.  if youre craving late night congee or chinese eats, come to this place.

favorite congee:  preserved century egg and shreddedpork(must have chinese donut)

the food god

get theporkand century egg congee. if your feeling something hearty try the curry beef and vegetable brisket.
all the other dishes seem pretty generic but for some reason i always keep coming back for these two items. great take out and very comforting.

update: august 28 2016
had a quick take out dinner here. very comforting. can't go wrong with the cantonese classic items.
as for service the lady owner is rude... hence the overall rating.

not bad for quick chinese take out on a lazy day - ordered sweet and sourporkas well as a spaghetti with egg, tomato sauce and bacon/ham. these are some of my dad's favourite hong kong style comfort foods and although nothing special, pleases his palate so no complaints. decent eats for decent prices.

i'm a huge fan of congee (leanpork& preserved egg to be specific) and i've been to several congee houses in vancouver as well as richmond but i always end up coming back to this location for their congee. their other dishes are generic dishes you would find at chinese restaurants and they're flavorful. love this place for late night eats!

even though i don’t really like congee that much i liked this! this was the century egg andporkcongee. they state on their menu that all their congees come with peanuts and green onion. the congee was well flavoured as in salty and didn’t taste plain like what my mom makes haha i think that’s why i don’t like congee at home…

going downhill. ordered the roastporkon rice and asked for a side of ginger-green onion oil like i have always done in the past several years at this place. they now charge $0.25 the quantity of meat on the plate is very little. do not recommend ordering the bbq meats on rice dishes. other items are typical cantonese dishes. they have family style dinner specials like 2 main dishes, side order of bbq pork, including soup/rice but abit pricey compared to other restaurants.

okay chinese food. tried this place 4 mil b-day (since she is not fan of szechuan) i find this style of cantonese cuisine rather bland n boring. ordered beef n gai lan, chix n black bean chow mein, sweet n sourporkand squid w/ salt n chilis.

was o-kay but found their menu way to big and confusing

this was a late addition to our meal, and it was so good because i felt like i hadn’t had it for a really long time. i probably haven’t because it’s not particularly common around here.well cutting to the chase, theporkwas just lovely crispy but just a bit on the salty side

the textures of both the skin and the meat were also pretty darn good. the skin was as bouncy as the skin of a perfectly cookedporkhock while the meat was pleasingly tender when it was dark and acceptably tender when it was white.

take out with the girls. ordered take out from this place, as i was in town for a conference and wanted to have dinner with my friend. good thing, i ordered take out, as it is difficult to find any kind of parking for this restaurant. i ordered the king crab, buddas's delight and theporkbbq which came out to about $50. food was good and i would definitely come back again the next time i'm back in vancouver.

go to place for a bowl of congee and doughnut. i always order the congee with the hk style beef and octopus andporkstomach and the chinese sweet doughnut.

although service is kind of slow, the ladies generally stand around and stare off into space or chit chat amongst themselves, the food speaks for itself.