Duotian Fish Soup Noodles Restaurant

My family and I would always come here to enjoy a delicious bowl of fish noodle soup. The first few times we were there, it was very good since of course, they want to leave a good impression to the customers.
However… when we would go there at night time… the soup started to get a bit saltier. As in… when they make the new batch of soup, the soup would be saltier because they ran out of the fresh soup. I mean, come on. You are like 30 seconds away from T & T supermarket which is literally right in front of your eyes on your left.
There were some days they told us they ran out of toppings and I am wondering. If you guys ran out of that stuff… at least you could make a stop at T and T or something. I mean, at least be prepared for anything right?
This place is one of the locations where you would go for a quick meal if you do not care about salty it is or what not. However, keep in mind that if you go there early, at least the fish soup would not be that salty.
The food is good and all, but ya. just be careful about ordering fish noodle soup at night.

I like this place, price is reasonable and the food is overall pretty good. The only complaint Is their drinks, it’s way below average in terms of typical hk style café.

I was here during a weekend for a warm lunch with my bf and his mom. We expected this place to be busy based on the parking lot and in fact everywhere to be busy considering it was a Sunday and it was 12pm. We basically waited about half an hour to get a table.
I would say don’t expect too much from this place in terms of service. All the waitresses were running around already. So, don’t expect a smile but do expect what you order is what you get.
All of us ordered the the noodle where you can customize. The portions were relatively big and they give a good amount of meat. Though personally it was too much for me. Their cold milk tea that I ordered with the meal had like this weird after taste to it. I was definitely not a fan of that.
Overall, I would suggest others to try this place out when there is no line up and when you’re not starving (I saw someone who went to T and T to get some buns and was munching on it while waiting for a table) because it’s not worth the wait at all.

I think I’ve been spoiled by Deer Garden!!!
I came for dinner here tonight and I’m have trouble finishing the bowl of noodles.
The soup is watery and lacks flavour in comparison to Deer Garden
The noodles are powdery and breaks apart so easily.
I doubt I’ll return here

Finally a place that opens early… I gave them an extra star for opening at 9am…
We ordered a breakfast combo. with an egg omelette and a noodle combo. The omelette was huge, it was okay nothing special. The noodles however lacked soup.
We also ordered the noodle/​drink combo… this time I had the spicy broth I found it salty. really salty next time I will sick to the original fish broth.
Would I return. yes for the fish noodle soup or baked pork chop on rice.

I come here extremely often with my family for dinner. They also have a western menu. Their noodles, congee and rice dishes are very customizable. You can choose all the toppings, broth, and types of noodles. I also really like their french toast but it is pretty expensive now. They also have bubble tea as drinks!

I came here with the Fam Team and I ordered the following: Fish Soup with enoki mushrooms and fish balls with udon noodles. This really didn’t taste like anything special. It’s cool that you get to mix and match ingredients for your own personalized bowl of noodles, but I was missing the fish taste in my bowl. Maybe I was unlucky and got the last bit of a can but it was as if the noodles were simply submerged in cloudy water. The fish balls had more fish taste than the soup. The noodles and toppings were pretty good and I got to taste them thoroughly in the tasteless soup. Alas because the soup is an essential feature, I feel this meal was a big miss. I also got a hot ovaltine (chocolate with milk, essentially) and this tasted like the powder stuff you get from Asian groceries. I’d say the ovaltine was better than the noodles since there was actually a strong taste here. Compared to Deer Garden, Deer Garden wins hands down. Same with Cattle Café.

Trying out more food options in the hood…
This is similar to Deer Garden for the combo, so no need to elaborate. They also have combo congee, and combo Hot Pot Rice.
We ordered.
Tomato pumpkin Soup vase with Vermicelli noodles, 2 toppings are beef brisket slices and cuttlefish slices. Generous portion, we have to pack half home.
We also ordered the garlic wings for extra $ 1.75 + add $ 2 to upgrade the drink to Mango Slush
The combo rice is mushroom and steam chicken match with dried cuttlefish with chicken.. And comes with HK Style Milk Tea.
Very clean, staff are efficient.

Typical HK café style joint. As usual, do not expect service in these joints. They offer similar menu as Deer Garden.
Portions: Average
Taste: Average
Pricing: Average
I don’t know what else to say except. It is decent and I will go back.

Another variant of the choose the broth, choose the topping, choose the noodle, choose the beverage, restaurant.
This is the second one that I’ve been to and it’s definitely a solid place to come to. I found the broth to be a little less flavourful that the broth from Deer Garden. The side dish of chicken wings was also one less wing than that of Deer Garden for the same price of $ 1.75 — total of two wings.
The one thing that I noticed here was the claypot rice. This was not available at Deer Garden. A lot of people were ordering this and it certainly seemed to be a popular dish. It came out awfully fast so I suspect that it wasn’t prepared in a «traditional» way. Either way, it wasn’t what I ordered so I can’t comment.
English isn’t their strong point so be warned. My order of «HK milk tea» written in English some how came out to be Horlicks, and that’s what I got served. No biggie.
It’s a drive across town for me, but at least I know of a place that I can come to if I have a craving for noodles and if I’m in the area.
Next time I’m writing my drink in Chinese.

My family and I come by at least once a week. Great food with pretty good prices. Parking can be very tough especially during the lunch hours as there are tons of other stores. Stone pot rice is delicious here.

HK style café. There are booth seats and tables. Parking situation is decent. Sometimes the whole plaza is packed depending on time of day but there is residential parking available if you are willing to walk a short bit.
There is an extensive menu selection. You can create your own noodle soup, rice clay pot and congee combos. Likewise, you can order some standard HK style food such as their baked pasta dishes or sandwich combos. In the mornings before 11:30am, there is a breakfast menu available (A + B combos) where you can choose from a selection of items with a drink included for under $ 7. I find the food quality pretty decent and prices very reasonable.
Service is average. You place your orders and get your food pretty quickly. The restaurant accepts credit cards so you do not need to bring cash in advance! Apparently the owners are the same ones as the BBQ shop next door.

Coming back from an event this morning I stopped by Duotain Fish Soup Noodle Restaurant with 2 friends on my way home. A late afternoon lunch. I had the congee with sliced beef and shrimp. I added an egg for an additional $ 1.
It was a bit too watery. Lacking in flavor and substance. Not much rice… It’s like drinking a bowl of thick white water… The onion cake and ice lemon tea was ok.
I gave this place 3 stars: it was clean, lots of selection to choose from, and service was quick! My friends said their food was tasty. One had a chicken sandwich and the other one had a hot noodle soup. I’m thinking maybe I ordered the wrong thing. I’m willing to try this place again!

This is the place to go to if you’re feeling in the mood for a giant bowl of soup. You can get 2 toppings and $ 1 extra for any side dishes. I like to get pan fried pork chops or chicken wings on the side with my chicken broth soup, rice noodles, with enoki mushrooms and sliced pork or beef balls. Perfect for a rainy day!

If Deer Garden Signatures has a head-​to-​head competitor, this would be it.
Parking is plentiful as this is part of a strip mall. Duotian is upstairs.
The inside is relatively clean, and looks like a typical HK-​style café. Except it’s more TW if anything.
The menu is a bit convoluted, so I just went for the special soup/​rice order form which they hand out on top of the menu. For the soup option you pick a soup base, noodle type, and 2 toppings. A cold drink can be had for $ 1 (hot ones are free), and sides such as deep fried wings are available for $ 1.50 each.
The laksa I had was a bit on the bland side, but the order form did state «no MSG», so maybe this is why. I found it similar to what you’d find for home-​style cooking. The Korean glass noodles were a bit thick (they were like clear spaghetti), but were nice and long. The beef balls and enoki were also fairly plentiful, though the amount was slightly less than what you’d find at Deer Garden. The amount of soup is definitely more though.
It’s good to know that there’s a half decent soup and noodle shop in this area of town.

I heard lots of people say this place is good so I had to check it out. This place is OK. I think it’s more the novelty that makes it seem good. Getting the menu and selecting your soup, noodles and toppings is kind of cool. You also get a huge portion for $ 7.50, which additionally includes tea or coffee so I commend the restaurant for value. The food was just all right for me. One of my toppings was beef balls which tasted a bit off. Maybe it’s a different kind but they certainly don’t taste like the beef balls that I am accustomed to from the supermarket or even in phở. Speaking of which, I would say that this place is an alternative to phở if you’re not feeling like phở but still want some noodles and soup. Average food but A+ for value.

Duotian, a duo of toppings in a hot claypot bowl.
I’ve been here before and it was a complete miss, but yet I was convinced to come back again and give them another shot. Apparently I didn’t order the right «stuff,» but if it ain’t good why put it on the menu.
So sure enough I have returned to decided to go for their rice with toppings in a hot clay pot. I got the Salty Shrimp Roast Pork & Chinese Sausage plus an egg. The clay pot came and it was huge! The server removed the hot lid for us at the table and you can smell all the beautiful aromas emanating from the bowl. In the center of the bowl had a nicely medium cooked egg with veggies and half of the bowl with roasted pork and the other half… wait, what is this? It was the salty cured duck instead, but I’m still ok with that and probably I made a mistake on the menu (which I’ll get into). I let my hotpot sit for a bit to allow the harden crispy rice to form (fan jew). After a little time I poured the soy in and another puff of steam rose from the pot. It was like reliving a dream.
My thoughts about this dish was alright. The size is impressive, but the flavour didn’t quite hold up. The roast pork portion need more of the shrimp paste in it cause it almost tasted like it had none. This dish came out pretty fast so it leads me to believe that the rice was cooked separately and then placed into this hot clay pot to get the «fan jew.» There’s no replacing a traditional «bo jai fan» with short cuts. There was very minimal «fan jew» and the flavours did not cook into the rice.
The price is right if you’re looking for a quick fill, but I’ll rather wait for good «bo jai fan.»
Oh, about the menu. You’ll get a menu but you’ll also receive a piece of paper and pencil their specialties. Pretty much you just mark off 2 toppings, write in Chinese your hot/​cold drink order (lol just copy the menu cause it’s all there), and give it to the server. On another note, don’t seat near the windows cause the window sill is digesting. You’ll see bit of dirty, hair, food, and other things I don’t want to identify. Why do so many restaurants miss these things?

I’ve been here twice already and the quality of food has been consistent. This restaurant specializes in rice noodles in soup and Hong Kong style clay rice pots. You can customize your food with whatever toppings you like. I like the make-​to-​order idea because you choose whatever you feel like eating at that moment in time.
In terms of rice noodles, you can pick your soup base, noodle type, and toppings. As for Hong Kong style rice pots, you can choose any two kinds of meat from cured pork sausage, cured liver sausage, fish sauce ground meat patty (one of my favorites), cured pork belly etc.
The booth style seats are comfortable and the service is fast and attentive.
If you are looking for a cheap eatery around 1^st Ave and Renfrew, I’d recommend giving this place a try.

Came for a close-​by eating solution to my dinner problems, as people have said there is a new joint that opened up at First Avenue Market. This plaza over the years has seen more and more food options pop up, and this is a welcome for me, so I do not have to haul my behind to Richmond, as gas is not cheap, and this type of food is abundant in that neck of the woods. So what is up with the name of this place «Duotian», huh, oh well, might as well go in and see what the deal is.
This restaurant serves the same type of ‘choice’ noodles that Cattle Café and Deer Garden serve, and did I say, it is in my vicinity! What they also have is ‘rice pots’, so move over noodle choices, I’m in for a hearty meal. Once I saw this on the menu, my soupy selection in my mind was out the window, I went and had a hard time choosing which two types of meat I wanted to be cooked in with my rice. It came in a nice clay pot, with the sauce on the side, and once they opened up, a gush of steam started coming out. I must have not had this dish in a long time, as I scarfed it down in a hurry.
The place inside is nice, as in ‘booth’ style roomy. You won’t feel packed like those places in Richmond. The parking lot can be a bit of a drag, but you do have downstairs, or the street level on Renfrew. I would come back again, and I don’t have to waste time or gas to go out far now to get this fixing of food.

We heard that they opened for few months with huge portion of noodles soup and rice in pot (bo chai fan)
The noodle soup was pretty bland. Typical Chinese fish soup with noodles. I found the soup too salty and the fish and squid balls were favourless. The pan fried pork chop was fatty and salty too.
The rice in pot was huge and taste ok, not impressed at all.
Well… only $ 7.25 for the combo with drink. It’s ok to fill up the stomach but not the quality/​taste of the food.