Van tea has been my family's go-to restaurant, particularly for breakfast. Lately i find that the quality varies depending on the day of the week that you visit. Not sure if it has been the same chef/cook on Saturdays during breakfast and lunch time but the food hasn't been as tasty when compared to weekdays. Today we went for a family lunch gathering on a Saturday and the restaurant was jam packed. Not sure if this was also a factor but every single dish we ordered was so greasy. We also noticed that the portion wasn't as big as what we usually received on weekdays. The complementary soup that came was lukewarm so that was already one point off. The dishes when served were not presented nicely. For example, there was food hanging off the plate and pot (they eventually fell to floor) or spilled sauce on the table. Even my favorite dish stir fried beef rice noodles was just mediocre today. We ordered 6 dishes and every single dish was salty and greasy. It really felt like they were made in haste. It was overall a disappointment and I don't think I'd want to visit the restaurant on a Saturday again. read more

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Found abt the lobster special and had to go. Honest to goodness Chinese food, i tell you! Got a few things to go with the lobster special and it did not fail me. The dessert at the end was a surprise. Expecting red bean soup but got a Chinese jello instead. Prawns were amazing too. Salted egg flavour and sweet and sour pork had wok hei! Service could be a bit slower but it's a Chinese restaurant. So i get it. Everything was gooood! Portions were generous and the taste on point. The washrooms could use a bit of cleaning as well as the flooring...so had to take away a star. Would go back for sure! Overall tho, good comfort Chinese food at reasonable prices. Cheers! Happy eating! read more

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I went here with my family a month ago. We wanted some tasty lunch on Canada Day long weekend. We had a #4 House Special Tofu Hotpot ($28.50), #16 Satin Pork Chop on Rice ($23.95), #2 Laksa Rice Noodle with Hainan Chicken ($22.95) with Iced Tea ($3). Tofu hot pot and Laksa were pretty good. I liked the vermicelli noodles in Laksa. Chicken was tender and delicious. Satin Pork Chop was good, but I wasn't too impressed by the appearance of it. It was just some grilled meat with sauce on the side. Pork was delicious and tender as well. Not to forget, Iced Teas were perfectly done. It was so refreshing to sip after eating all these food. Food was pretty good just that we won't order Satin Pork Chop again. read more

We came here for a family dinner. They have a set Seafood Feast menu where you can choose a certain number of dishes at a fixed price, and it comes with rice and soup of the day along with either a lobster with supreme soy sauce or a spicy crab. The lobster was just OK. We've had better lobster before. A lot of the other dishes were also...just OK. I think the best dish was the Stir Fried Spicy Eggplant & Green Beans. I didn't eat a lot of the dishes since I don't eat meat, but meat eating husband said the food was generally quite "meh". read more

Van Tea Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

We came on a Saturday at 5:30 and of course not many patrons yet. Friends recommend Hainan chicken so we ordered. Fried halibut with onions and stir fried beef rice noodle. Beef rice noodle-- generous portion for $23 with good wok hei Halibut--thick hard(not crispy light) batter stir fried with grn onion and yellow onion. Chopped into very small pieces with a lot of bones. $29 Chicken Hainan style-- meat is def. free range with some chew, smooth texture. Sadly w/o any flavours from pandan, lemon leaf or lemongrass. Tasted like plain boiled chicken so must use garlic spicy dip or ginger onion dip that came with it! Complimentary rice and soup(flavourless) accompanies every entree. Service with a smile during ordering and while serving. Restaurant gets filled shortly after 6ish. They also started to take credit cards! Would not come for dinner entrees again, lunch maybe for noodles, baked dishes only. read more

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This place is cash only! The food comes out quick and the portions were larger than expected. I liked the red bean drink and the rice dish was unique and flavorful. The service was kind and I liked the variety of the dishes. Unfortunately they ran out of the hainan chicken by dinner time, so if you want to try that, make sure to go early! read more

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This has the look and feel of a Hong Kong cafe AND a regular Chinese restaurant, from the inside of the building to the dishes it offers. It's really loud inside, and that explained why parking was hard to find in the already-small parking lot that it shares with some other businesses. I got here with family around 6pm to large crowds but snagged a spot for 4 easily. Since it was busy, it was rough flagging down servers from getting our orders to asking for more tea and water, but this didn't affect my experience here. We got the crab and fish maw soup, spicy pork with green beans, Hainan chicken, Singaporean style fried vermicelli and steamed black cod fish with tofu and black bean sauce. All of this ended up being too much for me and my family but we still thoroughly enjoyed everything. Hainan chicken was seasoned so well, though both the Singaporean vermicelli and the green beans were a little too spicy for me to enjoy even though they were both also packed with flavors that I expect from most Chinese restaurants. The cod fish was very appetizing; meat was easy to get out and the sauce was so savory that I forgot I was eating fish! It did take longer than expected to come out, though. I'll still recommend this place since it has quality food and it even serves as an ideal place whether you go to eat on your own or with a big group. read more

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Van Tea Cafe.. Richmond style take 2... I have been to the Vancouver location multiple times because really like their live seafood deals and their baked salted egg yolk spareribs plus a few specialty dishes not many places have. As for this newer Richmond location, came here once when it first opened and all I can say is; barely any service and food was horrible, nothing like the Vancouver location. (Richmond can't drive and now can't cook too?!?) The restaurant is located on plaza on Garden City Road and Capstan. It has a shared parking lot that is free for customers of the plaza. Anyways , here I am back again to give it another try (pleaseee be that uncle from HK in the kitchen who can cook a hundred different tasty dishes). Here were the food I ordered; 1. Wok fried lobster with vermicelli noodle pot. The lobster is almost 2Lbs, decent size with tender meat. Honestly pretty tasty with good wok hay. Pretty good deal for $79 . 2. 2 item (chicken steak & sausage) combo with spaghetti and borscht soup. Pretty straightforward combo dish at most HK cafe. The spaghetti was nicely cooked. 3. 3 item (salmon, sausage, pork chop) with rice and Chinese soup. The salmon was a bit overcooked, however the pork chop was tender and nicely cooked. Overall, this time around the environment was more pleasant; the servers were friendlier and more attentive, the food was better especially the lobster dish, and atmosphere was more welcoming and comfortable. I think the only thing i personally would like is the grill combos to come in a hot sizzling skillet, the classic Hong Kong style I am more accustomed to. Other than that, a much better experience this time around. Maybe Richmond can cook better than they drive after all (just kidding guys lol but seriously stop taking 30mins to park) read more

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These guys gave the best Hainan Chicken Rice in town. Hands down the best! Prior to trying theirs I thought Mui Gardens was the best but short of flying to Singapore this restaurant comes closest to what's available there. The rest of their menu is pretty good too. Their Laksa falls short but it's edible. Stay away from their Blackman fried rice, There's no Blachan in it, it's just a poorly put together version of a curry fried rice. read more

With most other HK cafes slupping in quality, or closing, Van Tea manages to maintain their standards, making them one of the best remaining HK cafes in town. 4.5 stats (8.9/10) Last visit Aug 2024 read more

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First time trying this place. Food tastes good, very friendly staff. Clean place. Parking is easy, but the place gets busy by 10:30. Will definitely go again read more

Good service but food quality is going down. Order curry beef, steam mushroom chicken rice, and bitter melon with beef. Curry beef is not Hong Kong style that there is no curry taste at all. It's really bad. Milk tea is come with curry beef but tasteless. Steam rice is just so so. Bitter melon is normal. Overall I will give it 60 points. There are so many good choices of Chinese foods in Vancouver that I won't come back for dinner. read more

My least favorite HK style restaurant thus far. All the flavors were below mid. My party ordered multiple dishes and we were not impressed with anything. HK milk tea - it tasted like 100% sweetness, we were never offered an option to adjust but it was overly sweet for my taste. Luncheon meat breakfast sandwich - so overpriced for something so simple Crispy chow mein noodles with pepper beef- sauce was way too salty Shrimp wonton noodle soup- this was a also a miss, the flavor was not I expected from traditional wonton mein soup Sweet sour pork- this was not bad, it reminded me of Panda Express orange chicken since the pork was not very crispy soaking in sauce. Pork congee with preserved egg - very bland, it didn't taste seasoned at all. Baked spaghetti with chicken steak - this was also mid Fried squid - this was okay, not bad read more

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kaya. french. toast. if you didn't think hk style french toast can get any better, van tea proves you wrong with its kaya stuffed version. it is one of the best things i've ever had and i constantly dream about this. i swear i had taken a picture of it but it seems it's nowhere to be found except in my memory. menu simply says "french toast" so i'm not sure if the kaya is a normal thing. i don't see why they wouldn't advertise it. they also had thick rice noodle (hard to find where i'm from) option for beef brisket and it was amazing. macaroni soup was standard and always hits the spot. read more

All the food was SOOOOO good. Such a big portion. Rib eye steak and pork chops pasta was huge and delicious. Russian borscht soup was so good. Curry beef brisket is another delight. Service was friendly and fast and polite. The restaurant is very clean, very vibrant and the drinks were very tasty too. Nothing was greasy, too salty, too sweet. Everything was perfect. read more

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Nice place with solid good Cantonese food. It is nice and modern and clean inside. The parking lot is hell and always full. The waitresses go at top speed so know what you want. Portions were exceptional! That is a plus! read more

The rare occasion I had time and in Richmond for HK style breakfast. I had 2 minutes to order before 11am. Randomly choose Spicy Diced Pork with Rice Noodles, Soy Sauce Chow Mein and HK Milk Tea. Spicy Diced Pork was so dry, it was two steps away from being pork floss. The rice noodles were very nice, I'm certain the broth is just not my cup of tea. Chow Mein was not al dente and over cooked from the steam, the green onions and onions were perfection. Overall, looking around, there is a more senior crowd which is understandable as all the dishes weren't as salted/seasoned. Seniors don't like salt, sweet and oil. Order accordingly. Milk tea was good. read more

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I ordered Spaghetti Bolognese and it is fantastic! Service and ambiance is good. I will be back when I get in town for sure. read more

Van Tea Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

First time trying this spot out and I find it very enjoyable! Probably not the best spot in BC because they have a very high standard for Chinese food but still very satisfying. The wait staff were very friendly and patient and the place was clean. One thing to note is that they accept cash only read more

Van Tea Cafe - Beef rice noodles - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

Tried this HK cafe place after my family picked me up from airport. I'm giving them 4 stars based on the fabulous black bean tofu steamed fish. Wow. This was so well done and delicate. It reminds me a bit of my grandmas old steamed fish. Cantonese steamed fish is my favorite - very healthy and just delicious and this dish was soooo good. The other stuff was not bad. They have lots of Malaysian dishes for a HK cafe but the Roti while crispy the sauce was just Ok. The yin yang (chicken on one side and shrimp with cream sauce on other) was great and everyone ate it up. - e fu noodles - fairly decent. Service was not rushed and not that rude. Haha. Overall would come back to try it out. read more

Van Tea Cafe - Assortment of dishes: Malaysian flat bread (Roti), fish (right), yin yang baked rice, Portuguese chicken rice. - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

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Ordered their lobster and crab set dinners plus their lamb pot for takeout. Portions were considerably smaller than dining in restaurant. they used their small 7.5" x 5.1/2" aluminum foil containers for the dishes. Paid $340 for 6 adults and we were still hungry afterwards. Forgot to take photos. Not returning again. read more

Small to mid size HK style tea cafe in the restaurant plaza on the southeast corner of Capstan and Garden City. Pretty busy on a Friday night, although we didn't have to wait too long for a table for 3. Interior on the more modern side for HK cafes in the area. Feels bigger inside because ceiling are high, but the place is very noisy when busy. Pretty standard HK cafe Cantonese fare on the menu. They offer the lobster or crab combo option where you get one of lobster or crab, and a couple of other dishes and they'll throw in soup and rice. We go the lobster plus 3 dishes. All the food came out pretty quickly. The lobster is stir fried in their onion and soy sauce style, was pretty meaty and tasty. We also got their half Hainan chicken, and the chicken was soft and smooth like you'd expect for Chinese style chicken. The black pepper sauce diced beef had good flavor, but portion is on the smaller side. On the other hand, the Malaysian style pork ribs are meaty and have good portion. It's a sweet-sour sauce preparation with a hint of spice. Lastly, the included lotus root soup was alright. Total was $120 before tip. We had some leftovers. There are cheaper HK cafes offering similar food in the area, but this place was still pretty decent. read more

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Decent but somewhat pricy HK tea cafe. Parking is available in the strip mall lot, as well as the side streets. The interior is decently sized and modern. This place faces W and does not have AC, so the place does cook during the hotter days. Something to keep in mind. This is basically a run of the mill HK place. Pick 2-3 items, pick the carbs, pick the drink. Extra charge for cold drinks. Comes with soup and tea. Honestly a bit more than the competition, but my buddy thinks the food quality is slightly better as well. Personally I couldn't tell. Decent quality but the pricing is a bit high. Plenty of similar places in the area. read more

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It was surprisingly hard to find a HK breakfast place open before 10am in the area (and on a Sunday). My friends and I had a full day planned and met up here around 9:30am for breakfast. They have a decent breakfast menu (super affordable if you convert to USD) and we got three noodles, a congee, soysauce chow mein, and some saucy rice noodles to share among 3. My friend loves noodles and went a little crazy on that but portion sizes and taste were solid. I was actually craving pineapple bun bc I kept smelling it while on the skytrain and was slightly disappointed they didn't serve any here. Overall, a pretty good spot if you're looking for HK breakfast early in the day. read more

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I found the dishes are a bit oily, and the prices are a bit high too! It might be because of its location , being in Richmond, a high rent location. The cauliflower dish, the brownish colour on the vegetables indicated a bit over stir fried, the same scenario happened with the 3-cup chicken, the chicken meats were a bit darkened due to over stir fried or baked. The only dish that was decently cooked was the lobster. I had had lunch there before, but dinner is my first time. The service was good. Waitresses keep asking us about our needs, I didn't tell her about my thoughts because that wasn't her fault. Next time, I would go there for lunch only. The ambience was good, I didn't make reservation. It was crowded with customers, but we only had to wait for about 10-15 minutes for our table. read more

Spotty service. That's to expected at a canto joint like this. The second outpost from the original in Vancouver. Food is pretty standard for HK 茶餐廳. The stand out is the egg white and dried scallop fried rice. They make one of the best in the city. Similar to the one done in Vancouver. This location has been open for roughly two weeks or so, possibly three. 10% off for their grand opening. read more

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My folks suggested we check out the newly-opened Van. Tea Cafe in Richmond tonight for dinner. We ordered the seafood feast with 3 items & this was the set: - Spicy Crab - XO Assorted Seafood & Chicken with Vermicelli in Hot Pot - House Special Tofu in Hot Pot - Sautéed Deep Fried Sole Fish Fillet with Cream Corn Sauce - Chef's Special Soup of the Day - Steamed Rice The large spicy crab was perfectly cooked in a mild Thai-style curry that was both flavourful & creamy. The XO hot pot was another stand-out dish, with a generous portion of perfectly seasoned chicken, seafood, & vermicelli. The tofu hot pot was chock full of fresh & tasty ingredients. The deep fried fish was also delicious, served with a creamy egg-drop & cream corn sauce. The starter soup of the day was a Cantonese-style meat soup, rich & flavourful in taste. It was an amazing dinner overall. Definitely coming back again! read more

Great to have a HK style cafe in the area! I've been to their location on Main Street before. We went for an early dinner and had the beef brisket and tendon which came with a small soup and rice. I was surprised that rice was included! The beef was tender and tasty and the sauce was really good with the rice. We also ordered the satay beef rice noodles and the portion was quite big and came with a hot drink (we chose HK milk tea). FYI they don't take credit card. Cash or debit (min. $20). read more

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=== 1. VERDICT/VALUE If there was an upstart for Hong Kong-style cafes in Richmond, it would be Van Tea Cafe - it should be on your list of places to check out! Van Tea Cafe offers good food (tho perhaps a little salty) at good prices (a little cheaper than the others) with reasonable service - recommended! === 2. FOOD Hainanese Chicken - Half-Order ($20.95) Comes with rice and a bowl of Chinese soup of the day. The chicken is decent, but comes with bones - best in town is till the boneless chicken from Cafe D'Lite Express nearby. The soup was a little salty on this day, but tasty! Two Protein Combo ($24.95) It comes with what seems to be a slice of garlic bread (very light in garlic), borscht-style soup (no cream choice), and your choice of two proteins, which on this night, I chose cod and chicken steak. The chicken steak is alright (thicker one available at Jimmy's Tea Cafe nearby) and the cod has small bones. Both are good though! === 3. SERVICE Their grand opening was Halloween weekend, and so perhaps they are working things out. It is very busy at the moment and folks have left, not wanting to wait, but that's not the fault of the restaurant - every table has been consistently full in the evenings, and the staff work at a reasonable rate, certainly well enough in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin, and are kid-friendly. Be aware that you can only pay by cash or debit card. === 4. ENVIRONMENT They renovated the place from what the older Chinese restaurant looked like and it's a good thing: brighter, cleaner, and more comfortable. Small and large groups will fit here, as will baby strollers and wheelchairs (though it may be tough with the booth seating on the right side of the restaurant). Parking is in the shopping complex lot outside - but it's often full, so be prepared to wait, circle around, or find street parking. read more

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Good portion of food for reasonable price, service is good overall and the waitress is very friendly and helpful!

Walked in on a Thursday lunch and it was a lot more busy than I expected! Every single table was full with customers waiting for tables at the entrance. You have to write down your name first and they'll let you know when there's a table ready for you. The waitress also asked if I wanted to combine/ join tables with others (which I said no since I had my kids with me) and they called the next person on the list. Their menu is quite extensive and after we were ready to order, it did take some time for a waitress to come by. I ordered their choice of entree with pan fried steak and deep fried sole fillet. It had a choice of noodles, fries or rice. With a choice of their soup of the day, a side of garlic bread and a drink! Pretty good deal if I say! The meal came quickly and the food was very fresh. Their iced HK milk tea was not as sweet as I wanted which was disappointing! Everything else was very delicious! They only took cash or debit so be prepared for that. There's also free Wi-Fi which is great! Would definitely come again to try the other items on their menu! read more

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My mom and I went to this place for lunch on a Saturday afternoon. It was a busy time for them but we were quickly seated after a short wait. On that day we order the Bake Chicken with Spaghetti in Portuguese Sauce and Malay Beef Brisket Curry. The curry tasted great. I love the Malay style curry with a spicy kick. The brisket meat were tender and its pair with the sauce and rice on the side. The Bake Chicken Spaghetti was ok. The chicken meat were tender, but the sauce was blend to my taste. Overall, I recommend this place for an Asian style café in the area. read more

Van Tea Cafe - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

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This is the one of best Chinese style chicken restaurant in Vancouver. All their Chicken were freshly cooked tender and tasty. Their family combos are rated high in taste and are value packed. The service seems fine as this is a very busy joint. Ambiance is always crowded by the seating are comfortable if you are luck to have a table. Get there before 6:00pm read more

We ordered dandan noodle with shredded chicken, a mix match noodle combo, seafood congee and deep fried squid. We enjoyed the food, delicious. The deep fried squid was cooked perfectly! The chicken in the dandan noodle was sooo tasty! Service was awesome! The ladies were very pleasant, always smiling, very attentive and helpful. The prices seem expensive but the serving is worth it, I think. It just takes a bit of time for them to serve the food. But it's worth the wait and the place is so vibrant. I don't mind the wait if I'm in good company =) read more

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Friendly service and dishes are consistently good... always busy when we go there. A hearty meal at reasonable price .

This was the second Hong Kong Style Cafe that I visited during my time in Vancouver for my trip and it was awesome! I visited this restaurant yesterday at 7:20 P.M. and the ambience was standard for your average Hong Kong Style Cafe. Also, the service was good when I was ordering and asking questions. In addition, the staff was really nice and it was very clean inside. The first item that I ordered was the Garlic Bread which was crunchy on the outside, extremely soft on the inside, and had the perfect flavor. The second item that I ordered was the Baked Pork Chop With Rice which had tender meat and crispy skin. Furthermore, the rice flavor was greatly enhanced by the tomato and cheese flavors. You can tell that they put effort into this dish! The third item that I ordered was the Broscht Soup. The flavor was on point and the texture was perfect. The fourth item that I ordered was the Grilled Chicken And Pork With Spaghetti, Corn, Broccoli, And Gravy. The corn was seasoned with butter and the broccoli had a good texture. In addition, the meat was seasoned with pepper perfectly and it was juicy. Furthermore, the spaghetti had the perfect texture and the whole dish's flavor was enhanced by putting gravy on it. The last item that I ordered was the Boneless Chicken And Mushroom Claypot With Bak Choy. Every part had a smoky flavor, the meat was tender, and the vegetable was cooked perfectly. This was the best Hong Kong Style Cafe that I have visited during my trip! I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who wants to go to a good Hong Kong Style Cafe! read more

Van Tea Cafe - Garlic Bread - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

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A Hongkong style cafe/restaurant seving some fusion type western dishes adapted with Asian flares, good food, a little pricy, good services, newly decorated clean decor. read more

Tasty, inexpensive breakfast combos with both Western and Chinese options. Bright, clean place. Great speedy service. Highly recommended! read more

Van Tea Cafe - Congee, HK style coffee milk tea. - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

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This is my new favourite HK style cafe in Richmond. Great selection menu, fast service, generous portions, and consistently good cooking. They should open up more locations. read more

The price are so high with that kind standards. The pork chop baked rice with white rice not fried rice for 18.95. The two combo items cost me 20.95 and 3 items for 24.95, the same price as joy cafe . read more

Van Tea Cafe - the menu of the restaurant - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Richmond, British Columbia

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