Copa Café

Came here for lunch, this place is a Cantonese Style Café (cha Chan teng) which has a pretty big menu with mixed grill and rice dishes.
For this visit I opted for the Rib steak and chicken steak on veggies with black pepper sauce. A good deal for $ 13.50 and comes with soup and hot milk tea.
The meal was tasty and worth the price.

Copa is one of the brighter lit, cleaner and better furnished Hong Kong-​style cafes I’ve been to. The seats are quite comfortable, and the restaurant is quite modern looking. Unfortunately, that’s all I found noteworthy about this place.
On its own merits, Copa Café is an unexceptional example of this genre. They seem to charge $ 1-​$ 2 more than most other places for the same dishes, probably to offset higher west-​side rent. Be prepared to be nickled and dimed if you opt to «upgrade» your dishes. Parking is limited, but Copa is 30 meters from a Skytrain station.
We had the Ramen in Hot and Sour Soup. The menu showed a red pepper icon next to the dish, implying it was supposed to be hot/​spicy. It wasn’t. The ramen looked and tasted like the «instant» variety. The soup had the usual prawns and shredded pork. But it also had pickled radishes which is a first for me. Different, but not necessarily in a good way.
We also ordered a Fried Chicken cutlet and fried egg on rice. Similar to virtually any other HK-​style café, except they were stingy with the sauce.
Food was served quickly and efficiently. But, the waitress tried to take away my plate before I had cleared it.
There are places that are cheaper than Copa. There are other places that serve better tasting food than Copa. Sadly, there are places that are BOTH cheaper and better tasting which makes recommending Copa a difficult proposition.

Came here last week being in the area and having a craving for some HK café style food. I’ve driven by here many times on my way to other great restaurants along the Cambie strip but always wondered what the food was like.
This place tries to portray itself to be more upscale compared to other HK cafes. I guess if you do compare how the restaurant looks to others you could say it’s more «upscale» but I wouldn’t truly call it that in the larger scale… maybe a step up. I have to say that their prices also reflect this. You know… the more upscale the higher the price.
Pros: Nice and clean restaurant with a pleasant atmosphere. Food portions are large. Decent selection of food with some items that other HK cafes do not normally create. Service was average for a place like this. They take Visa for orders over $ 25.
Cons: Average food quality (nothing to write home about). I tried a fried flat rice noodle dish which sounded interesting and was marked as spicy. It tasted like the very common beef with fried rice noodle dish. No spice, no different flavour, just your average run of the mill dish you can pick up anywhere at a chinese fast food joint… and at $ 13 not a good value. While they charge a lot more compared to their competitors, their prices do not include a drink. Also, many HK cafes have a special non-​peak hours discounted menu, which this place doesn’t. I also didn’t like how the tables were placed very close to each other. I don’t like it when I feel people can easily eavesdrop on everything you say. Definitely no personal space here.
So, an extra star for the pleasant feel for the restaurant. Otherwise, meh, I think I’ll look elsewhere when I have a craving for this type of food.

As this is located super close to the King Edward Canada Line Station (beside Corner 23), it is very convenient. I’ve been here for lunch and dinner before and they also have breakfast available everyday. I’m always a bit hesitant to go to HK cafes because I find that most cafes give customers a sense of urgency and time pressure. Perhaps they are trying to mimic an «authentic» and «real» café in Hong Kong. However, my friend and I were able to slowly enjoy the food and stay a bit even after we were done eating. (Perhaps it’s because they weren’t busy that night.) Also, the hostess and waitresses were well-​mannered and did not have an attitude, as I usually experience from other HK-​style cafes.
This time, I came here for dinner and I ordered the House Special baked pork chop on rice. Usually, baked rice takes longer, but I was pleasantly surprised that it came reasonably soon. Because this was their dinner menu, it was $ 12.95 and did not come with a drink, unfortunately. Nevertheless, the portion was huge! I got to pack some home for lunch the next day. I was afraid that the breaded pork chop would get soggy as it was covered in sauce, but I found that it was crispy with every bite! Also, the tomato sauce had melted cheese in it and it was very tasty as well. I’m giving it a 5-​star based on this experience and overall, I find that this is one of the better HK-​style cafes in town.

This restaurant is located just a stone’s throw away from the King Edward Canada Line Skytrain station. Parking is also available in a small lot behind the restaurant.
I have dined here several times before — I like to stop by this place if I’m taking the skytrain and craving some HK-​style café food on my way home. The mini meals menu is available after 9pm — lots of choices and combos, at decent prices.
One of the menu items I regularly get is the Singapore noodles. I like the curry/​spicy taste & relatively generous serving of shrimp & meat in that dish. I also like the mix-&-match noodle soup combos here, and usually pick the laksa soup, macaroni noodle, luncheon meat, and fishballs. The laksa soup is HK-​style, so it’s not as thick as the Singapore/​Malaysian style I’m used to, but it still tastes pretty good.
Service is prompt and they’re open late. So, not a bad place to grab a quick HK-​style meal if you’re in the neighbourhood!

Fucking shitty. Got a lobster bisque soup. Turns out all your getting is the «lobster broth» and half a piece of shrimp. For $ 6. K cool. This place couldn’t be more cheap.

Always end up here due to other people’s suggestions but their food and service are lacking and not as good as Glouchester. Their borsch is fantastic though. Their soya udon was really good but super oily. I don’t touch their seafood anymore as I got sick last time I ate their baked seafood rice.

Service has dropped to rock bottom. Will not return to this place.
Went to Copa for breakfast. When we walked in from their entance in the back, we were told to wait in the front. Then once we got to the front, they seated us at where we entered. The lady who seated us has a poor attitude, when we moved to another table because of the close proximity to the washroom, she just plain straight telling us to sit where we were. Very rude. We asked another waitress if that table is taken she said no but she just didn’t want us to sit there. OK fine. Then there came another customer and she got seated there. We were upset not because we didn’t get to sit there, but her poor attitude. She could just tell us sorry that table is reserved or something like that. No, she just gave us a stare and said sit back where you were. Wow. This waitress is a middle age woman, 5″ tall, long hair with ponytail, works during day shift. She practically is the reason why I’m not returning to Copa.
Good thing is the other waitress (same look but taller) tried to make up for her but trust me, I’ll never go back to this place anymore. Food is good but the poor service is too hard to swallow. If you are seated close to the washrooms, you can constantly smell the stinky air freshener. Very unappetizing.
I will take my business somewhere else. The end.

The service at this place can be weird, but the food is pretty good. The dinner time portions are gigantic. Hubby and I together still got our buts kicked by one order of fried rice… And for those of you who know my husband… We always thought he could eat unlimited rice.
The kids meals are massive too. We thought we had a choice of linguine OR fish and chips/​grilled cheese/​sandwiches etc, but nope it’s linguine AND one of the other options. Also comes with a sizable mango pudding and a juice.
We had to ask a bunch of times (possibly over 9000) for a VIP card, but we got one eventually. Now we earn points by taking the fried rice challenge.

The service is bad. Maybe it’s just the one serving me that’s so unfriendly. I’ve waited for 20mins and no one served me. I even packed the rice myself. It was my first time there and I won’t go there anymore. The food does not add any points, just normal.

* Welcome to surcharge land *
Always game to try another HK Café, I popped into Copa to try it out.
I ordered the baked ox tongue rice ($ 9.95) with the soup ($ 2 surcharge) and ice in my milk tea ($ 1 for the ice). I’ve got to say I’m not a huge fan of surcharges. The whole «$ 1 for ice in your milk tea thing» gets old — even though so many places in HK and Vancouver charge for ice. Anyhoo…
The borscht arrived first with a «bonus» roll. Surprised there wasn’t a surcharge for the roll! (Oh no, I just gave them a surcharge idea — I bet it will be charged soon.) It was very tomatoey, and a bit too sweet for my taste. But there were a good amount of veggies cut in, which softened the sweetness. Not bad overall for what it is. Photo:
The cold milk tea was unsweetened (hooray!) and had a nice strong tea flavour. Good! Photo:
The baked rice was passable. The rice didn’t have much wok flavour, but the addition of fresh tomato slices was a nice touch. The ox tail itself was a bit tougher than I like it though. Overall this was a slightly below average rendition of the dish. I really prefer my ox tail to be super tender. Photos:
and
Overall this is a passable HK Café. But there are plenty of better options not too far away, so I don’t see myself returning anytime soon.
I’m still looking for «the one» — perhaps one day! And perhaps it will be surcharge free too as a bonus!

Great place for a quick bite. I usually go to the location in Coquitlam, but I was in the area and I’ve been there a few times. The décor is getting a bit old, but it does its job. They have friendly staff and fast food. I always get the pan fried rice noodles with scramble eggs and shrimp. Delicious!!!
My aunt got a gravy steak with rice. It’s not a steak house people so don’t expect it to be steakhouse material, but she said she enjoyed her meal and finished it.
My uncle got the baked seafood rice, which he did not like at all. It was dry and did not taste good. So I wouldn’t recommend that at all.
I want to mention we ordered off the mini set meals so we all get a free drink with the meal.

Excellent food. Love the fresh (sugar on the side) milk tea. Enjoyed my dinner of some beef noodle dish I scarfed. There is so much to choose from.

It is with mixed emotions I write this. Copa used to be good. Things have now gone downhill on multiple visits. The food is only ok. But unfortunately the management is very poor. There are so many good places to eat Chinese in Vancouver. Avoid this.

Copa Café has slowly grown to become my preferred HK Café along the Cambie corridor. While their menu has recently gone up in price for their lunch time mini meals, it’s still a great balance between quality and service. One of the managers, Alan, may seem like the grumpiest of Asian men, but he’s actually really attentive and keeps his servers on their A Game.
Avoid the double boiled soup combos… they aren’t worth the premium price tag. Stick to the stir fried noodles or fried rice combos… best options to go with at Copa.
And if you are gong there for the breakfast, their Asian congee options are pretty solid as well. Stick to the soy sauce noodles vs the radish cake though

We were in the area and someone suggested to go to Copa Café. I generally like HK cafes. We went late on a Saturday afternoon and were seated right away. The environment was nice and clean.
We had ordered the short rib stone pot, assorted meat pan friend noodles and tomato baked pork and rice. The stone pot was pretty good and I would order than again but I could pass on the pork and rice dish. I felt the noodles were only so-​so and may opt to try another noodle dish. The server also asked us what drinks we wanted and I assumed that this was included with our entrée order but was charged. This wasn’t a problem but it was a bit confusing when we were ordering. The server made it seem that we had to order a drink because it was included. Overall, I would go back to cola but only if I was in the area.

Centrally located Copa Café has been around for a long time. I like the fact that street parking is usually plentiful.
Overall, the food is pretty good. Good HK café faire! I had the roasted chicken, veggie, noodle plate. It was pretty good.
Service is efficient. I would say it’s not overly friendly, but certainly the waitresses filled up my tea without being asked to. The décor is clean and functional. Clearer than your average HK café.
Just a bit on the unspectacular side… Nothing stands out as being exceptional. Everything is just ok…

One of those places with menus for lunch that fit everyone.
My friend tried the Chinese Lunch Menu which comes with traditional soup, a stone pot Braised Beef Stew and bowl of rice. I had the minced beef with Fried egg.
Both our meals were quite substantial. Décor is typical Asian Western place with comfortable seating.
Easy to find street parking, and they have a lot at the back.
We have been here for breakfast at 8 am and it’s very good.

I would consider the food here similar to or parallel with the old can that you forgot about in the back of your pantry and paid 29 cents for. What was it called again? No one even knows. How ironic. The server didn’t know what it was either. If you have any questions about what’s in th food don’t expect your server to know anything. I asked if they added peanuts to their Thai fried rice and she gave me nothing but a blank stare. Didn’t even bother to ask the chef.
This was my second time returning to copa café. The first time I ordered the baked chicken on spaghetti with cheese, and I rememmber having to almost empty both the salt and pepper shakers to make it taste like anything. The second time I ordered the chicken and pineapple fried rice. What the hell was I thinking? I think it’s because I had recently had Thai pineapple fried rice from Sawasdee (so delicious) and I was craving it again. Giant mistake. The cup of hot sauce that I had to add to it wasn’t enough to make a noticeable difference in flavour. It was like a bad first date: bland, boring, and lacking personality. The only deserving reaction was a few eye rolls and a quick scan of where the exits were to get out of there as quickly as possible.
I have yet to be impressed by asian food in the west side. I’m seriously open to suggestions, as my experience thus far has been less than sub par.
Would I be back here again? Probably if you paid me generously or forcefully coerced me. But on my own free will? Hell no.

A Hong Kong style café next to King Edward skytrain station, convenient to public transit commuters.
The first thing I noticed was the number of Hong Kongers, always reassuring when you walk in to a Hong Kong style café. If you look at their extensive menu list they have both western and Chinese dishes. If you are wanting to eat western food, I would say skip unless you really know what **Chinese style** western food is.
I ordered the Fujian fried rice with iced lemon tea. My friend ordered the pork chop baked rice and the portions were huge so it justifies the higher price ($ 9 per item) Very tasty !!!
Service was also very good despite it being full house.