Ho Yuen Kee

Came here for a late night dinner with the folks and famjams! Its a typical Chinese restaurant, with typical foods that won’t blow your mind, but as many of these Chinese restaurants do, they will provide a cheap and delicious meal. We ordered a set combo which came with pork broth soup (a staple), fish, veggies, fried pork, chicken, and as I’ve grown up eating this stuff, it hit the spot! I’d go back just because its so affordable and cheap eats are harder to come by in Van!

Always busy! Always great food! Visited several times but forgot to take pictures to review it. This time I remembered and made sure I did coz it’s worth the complement. Also a great value for your meal. We had 8 course meal for 5 and cost us $ 180 including taxes and tip. Definitely worth a try for those who loves to explore food. Pictures I post here is just a few coz we got busy eating and some was almost over before I could get a shot. Lol!

The lobster sticky rice was the reason we came here. It did not disappoint. $ 28/​lb for the lobster. We were given a 3lb lobster and told to double up on rice since we had 8 people. (They don’t actually weigh the lobster in front of you and probably round to the nearest quarter pound or something.) The rice wasn’t super sticky compared to the lotus leaf rice at most dim sum places. It was mixed with kernels of corn and served in a large bamboo steamer lined with lotus leaf. Pretty tasty.
The other things we ordered tasted pretty standard:
* Deep fried tofu: Super crispy on the outside. Silky on the inside. Served with a sweet vinegar sauce.
* Sliced fish congee
* Preserved egg and pork congee
* Chinese donut
* Garlic pea shoots
$ 22.5 per person including tax and tip

Love every dish we ordered. I didn’t see my kids eat so happy for a long time. It is a very busy restaurant but the service is good and fast. The 姜撞双皮奶 is excellent and must try! It is very authentic Cantonese food.

Had an excellent meal here! We called 2 hr in advance to pre-​order the Peking duck and lettuce wrap combo and they gladly reserved one for ya. It’s one of the best I’ve had in Vancouver! Crispy and meaty duck slices, crispy chips, and loads of pipping hot wraps come with which makes this dish a HIT! Lettuce wrap was so-​so. Bit over cooked and can use more veges.
We had:
— Peking duck ¹⁰⁄₁₀
— lettuce wrap ⁶⁄₁₀
— beef and cilantro soup, Small size for 4 of us was prefect ¹⁰⁄₁₀
— braised tofu: rounded braised tofu (soft tofu inside), vege and big Chinese mushrooms ⁸⁄₁₀
Total $ 64 for 4 people and leftover for 1, super deal and satisfying; Service, friendly and polite; Cleanliness 8.5÷10
Have ⁴⁄₅ stars because of lettuce wraps. Definitely coming back for their signature lobster on rice and cold chicken jellyfish salad dish next! Excited mmmmm

Located on Fraser, the inner interior was dirty.
Big portions though, but at a hefty price for the location. $ 40 total for 2 dishes!
Shrimp was fake.

Omg the lobster sticky rice was so good… We ordered two. It’s a must! The food overall was so good.
However, the service was average; can’t expect much from an Asian restaurant. The restaurant it self is a bit old and dirty. There were bugs flying around our table. They need to have better ventilation; the restaurant was full and felt so stuffy.
Based on the food i would give them a ⁴⁄₅ but the restaurant was not clean and service was average is the only read why I gave a lower review.

I had one three, perhaps even four star experience followed shortly thereafter with a one srar experience so I agree with Marc D. about the inconsistent aspect.
The food itself is good, although when we had the famed lobster sticky rice several of us were pretty sure it was just normal rice (it was tasty though). It looked like long grain rice and it certainly wasn’t sticky. The shredded chicken/​jellyfish salad is delicious and the honey pork chop is also very good.
First visit was on a friday night to grab a late dinner with some girlfriends. Although the waitstaff originally didn’t really acknowledge us, after we waved them down Chinese-​style things picked up and we had no problems. The waiter was happy to suggest dishes, whisked away dirty plates in good timing, and brought out the free dessert without us asking for it.
Upon my second visit (with same friends plus a couple more) it was vastly different. The waitress was impatient, we had to flag her (or anyone else) down for everything, and re-​request items several times. One dish that was added on at the end was never input to the kitchen — we had to ask again when it was apparent through the kitchen window (that allows the restaurant to have a bit of an «open kitchen» aspect) that the chef was packing up to leave (2 hrs before closing). When it came time to get the bill, when presented with a credit card the waitress sais we could pay at the table or at the counter — and then walked off. We supposed that meant counter but then we were standing there for ten minutes being ignored. Come on, we want to give you money!!!
I don’t usually expect terrific service at Chinese restaurants, albeit with a caveat: I don’t expect it at **cheap ** Chinese restaurants and even at those places i’ve never had the group ignored so much. Ho Yuen Kee isn’t exactly a steal, with many dish prices being similar in cost to the same ones at Sun Sui Wah or Red Star, both places with a higher level of both ambiance and service. In fact our meal for five people came out to $ 145 before tip. The food is quite good for sure but I don’t find it acceptable to have such flagrantly poor service especially when there are many, many competitors in Vancouver at the same or even lower price point.

Didn’t get to try the house special sticky rice w/​crab since I was neither a big fan of sticky rice nor crab (did you say «WHAT!?” — yes, I know). It was the gf’s call but it was too much and expensive for 2, so we opted for the poor man’s lunch: fried rice, wonton/​dumpling noodles, and chinese donuts.
The dried scallop/​egg fried rice was so good. It looked white and bland but damn it was hella good. Flavorful but not too oily or overly spiced. The chopped green onion threw in last minute made each bite fun with a crunch. The wanton/​dumpling noodle was pretty good but not spectacular; I personally don’t like my noodles too thin; they were thinner than my hair, but it was a genius choice to go with the fried chinese donuts. Best chinese donuts I had yet, tasted fresh, crispy and crunchy outside, dense and bready but not too bready inside. Soak that goody soup right up while staying crunchy. Bill came out ~$ 27 – 30 for 3 dishes, not bad. The fried rice was really good but didn’t know why it was so expensive, $ 14-​$ 15.
Service is what you can expect from a chinese place. A young lady ran the whole show when we were there. But no complaint there.

Really good fresh noodles in very tasty soup. They are fast and their lobster rice is popular. Comfy booths and open late.

Came here tonight based on Unilocal reviews and our curiosity over the lobster over steam sticky rice.
We ordered a 2lb lobster. They showed us a «2.25lb» lobster. It looked very small. Being from the east coast of the USA, avid lobster eaters, frequently going up to Maine to enjoy lobsters and also buying lobsters from our own local markets, our lobster game is strong. The lobster that they showed us was no more than 1.75 lbs and definitely not over 2lbs. At $ 26/​lb, you can see how they can rake it in merely by ripping you off ½ a lb here and there. Small lobster aside, I have to admit that the rice and lobster were super tasty. I wanted so badly to hate it but alas, it was so friggin good. If we ever come back to vancouver, we’ve decided that we could not go smaller than a 4-​lb lobster as the dish would be too small and simply not satisfying enough.
We also ordered the cod with black bean sauce. The «cod» was really thin and too soft. I didn’t like it. I felt it needed to be saltier and lacked flavor. This was my least fav dish of the evening at $ 21.95. My husband, on the other hand, said the dish was perfectly prepped and that it reminded him of his childhood days in Hong Kong. He said the dish is supposed to be light on the sauce so that the flavor of the fish shines through. Makes sense but still not my fav.
We also ordered the honey garlic rib tips. This was easily my favorite dish. We all oohed and aahhed over this. $ 14.95(?). My mom has promised to recreate this dish as soon as we get home. The ribs were fried to a crisp and then tossed in a honey and garlic sauce. So good.
For our veggies, we ordered the Buddha dish. It’s a mixed vegetable dish full of mushrooms, wood ear (white and black), baby corn and Chinese broccoli. It was good.
We also ordered the crispy chicken but it never arrived. They claim to have run out of chicken but failed to let us know until we asked about our missing dish. By then, we were already ²⁄₃ of the way done with our meal and decided not to order another dish.
We finished the dinner with a sweet bean dessert which was a nice touch.
Our bill came out to be about $ 140 cnd. They charged us for white rice too. I hate when I’m charged for white rice. Even takeouts give you free white rice with each dish. The first bowl per person should be free. I can understand them charging for refills.
All in all, this was a decent place… albeit a tad overpriced and undersized for the lobster dish.

We came to Vancouver in search for great chinese food we could not find back home in SF. Someone once told me Vancouver’s nickname is Hongkouver so we looked around and found this little number representing the best Hongkouver food in town and it definitely delivered. The Pro Tip here is to call ahead and make a reservation. They don’t seem to discriminate for the number in your party for the RSVP and this can be helpful as the restaurant is quite popular with the local Hongkouvians especially during dinner rush.
We tried 3 things:
1) Honey spare ribs: wow, it like candied pork ribs but not in an offensive way. The sweet/​savory and slightly fatty amalgamated well and further complements other dishes in the table well.
2) Lobster over bed of sticky rice mixture with chinese ham, pea and corn. Oh my, we nearly licked the basket. The lobster was alive and freshest and could be as cooked perfectly without loosing it’s tenderness and sweetness. And the corn and ham in the sticky rice was such a genius move of this little party in a bite. I would not leave this restaurant without feasting on this for sure.
3) Chinese water spinach in garlic sauce. As expected, crispy tender green with just enough garlic to round out this whole meal.
Oh and what makes this whole experience so good that it’s exceed my expectation is the quick and attention service we’ve received during the whole service. Dishes were replaced to help clear out shells and bones while our water glasses were always refilled without having to repeatedly ask. This is where good food and good service can be found in a Chinese Restaurant. One in a million and I’m glad to have found it!

Overall the food is about average and the famous sticky rice + lobster/​crab is way overpriced

Day 4: Chinese Dinner… One Word Amazing
So i’m from NYC — the cantonese food scene there has been lacking in the last few years — nothing new or creative has been out there in a long time — and the same restaurants sell the same things all over. Granted it’s good! But according to my friends, i need to try the cantonese food in Vacouver, San Francisco and Hong Kong. With that said:
The restaurant itself reminds me of most other chinese restaurants, so the ambiance and the feel was familiar, the chairs and tables were nice and large and decorated well. We grabbed a table and looked at the menu to order. Of course the first thing we wanted was the Lobster Sticky Rice! The rest of the food was ok, but the Lobster Sticky Rice was the one thing that made this place a 5 star restaurant for me!
We ended up with a nearly 3 lb lobster on top of this bed of sticky rice that was savory and delicious. It had some corn mixed into it that gave it this… sweetness that was unexpected and the lobster was cooked perfectly! Even at almost 3 lbs the lobster was sweet and tasty.
I’ll be back if i’m in town and next time try the Crab sticky rice as well.

One of the «institution» of VAN Cantonese cuisine. Haven’t been here for better part of two decades. Food, both variety and quality, has gone upmarket; but still relatively affordable.
Everybody orders the sticky rice dish, and so did we. Fresh enough, tasty enough; but maybe add some peas to the rice, and minimal MSG. Great taste, except those sticky rice weren’t very sticky, if at all. Really, what are they? Sticky or short grain?
We also ordered the Soya Fried Prawns, Cooked Chicken Cantonese Style, Steamed Scallops on half-​shelves, Ling Cod Duo (soup and stir-​fry fillet), plus veg. They were all very well done, good portion size, except for the «Duo». Why? Because they ran out of the fillet, and we had to change order. Thus we added the Ling Cod Head & Belly with Black Bean Sauce. No bad, just a bit overcooked.
Heard the wait-​staff has ownership shares in the place. True or not? But they sure behave that way. Which is a good thing for a Chinese restaurant, right?! They did throw in dessert, nice touch.
Altogether a nice nostalgic revisit of an «institution». And I thought they only serve wanton noodles.
Will patronize again much much much sooner than two decades.

I will be making a special trip back to Vancouver just to eat here again. Next time I’m going to try the king crab on sticky rice.
Who wants to join me?!

Two stars because despite the variety of dishes we ordered, everything was salty and tasted similar.
From deep fried squid to pan fry beef, first I thought it was me… Then after two minutes everyone on my table started to wonder if everyone else felt that it was salty…
Some bites were so salty that they tasted a bit bitter
The lobster rice… it was alright, not as legendary as it sounds
The only dish I found decent that we ordered is the jellyfish chicken appetizer .
Won’t be returning for sure…
I think kirin’s lobster is so much better made than here…

Just checked out this restaurant after checking out different Unilocal reviews.
This restaurant is clean, the service is quick and the place is packed. Their signature dish is the steamed lobster over a bed of sticky rice and I’ll def need to try this next time. The food was not very salty and everything we ordered tasted quite good. Plus you know it’s good when all their customers are Chinese…

It’s one of those places where I know I’m going to get good food, whether it be a full on meal, or just a simple bowl of wonton noodles I know that this place has me covered! I’ve been here a number of times, whether for take out, a simple bowl of wonton noodles, a full on baked lobster sticky rice dinner, and late night with some lightly boiled geoduck and greens and again… and again… this place has delivered. Sorry Richmond, for this type of food you are a far second, make the trip, come to this place… not a hidden gem for all who know it, just remember to bring the cash as I keep on forgetting if they take any form of plastic, but the paper money is always welcome!
This is the in-​betweener… as in the quick congee noodles, and the high end seafood dishes that you would usually see in places like Fisherman’s Terrace or Kirin, and however you come in and whatever you order you will not feel out of place. So you ask me, how do they do this… first off, the location itself is not fancy looking, you are not getting the prestine chairs and table cloths, as this place looks like a regular congee noodle joint, and then if you have never been here, you wonder… can I trust ordering the more expensive dishes… then you start looking around like a guy who forgot to bring his map and doesn’t want to ask where he is going… and people around you are so varied in their ordering of food that really puts you in a tailspin!!! Come as you are, whether dressed up from another event, casual with your friends needing a joint to eat, or just after a long workout in your gym sweats, there is no dress code, and you will not feel out of place!
Just recently after a great Unilocal event I had a some hungry mouths to feed in the car, and the choice was Chinese! We weren’t overly hungry, just a snack, and with the three of us going this way to our cars we chose the better of the choices and stuck to our guns to come here. Three people, an order of Sanpan congee, a dish of deep fried spiced tofu. that was it. No dirty looks of… why can’t you order more. or you cheap bastards, nope, great service as usual… but that is with nothing unless you have great food! The food came, we had share plates and bowls, and eventually the bill was paid. Since it was after their dinner rush, there was no wait for a table, and yet there was no rush from them to get us out!
My office occasionally does take out from here, and of course nothing is like eating in the restaurant, but the food is still damn good. There are closer places, but you still have to stomach it… so why not come here!
I really believe that this place now has the best wontons compared to any other wonton noodles joint in the GVR… try to tell me different, you have probably not been here. Also after finally trying the congee, this place does a fine job on this type of comfort food. Already looking forward to the next sit down meal here!

I really like finding a gem in the rough and love it when its right in my own backyard.
Of course we had the lobster sticky rice and I’m already planning on how to get back for another order. Also had a dry fried crab with garlic, and by garlic I mean piles of it.
Had a couple meat and veg dishes, some fu young, soup & guy lan to round out the meal.