Vancouver: Cafe D’Lite

When I told my friend Mike that I was going to Vancouver, the first thing he said is that I had to go try the Hainanese chicken at Cafe D’Lite. “This restaurant is the only thing i miss about vancouber, nay CANADA!” he later wrote in an e-mail. He now lives in Hong Kong and unlike me, prefers it to the Great White North. We may disagree on our preferred country of residence, but we usually agree on food so I knew I had to try the place.

It was Helena’s first experience with Malaysian and Singaporean food and I think she was a little apprehensive. We ordered the highly-recommended Hainanese chicken, seafood laksa and a plate of choy. I wish I could tell you what kind of choy it was, but I’m still learning the differences. Unlike other Hainan chicken dishes I’ve had, the dish arrived boneless, a plus for the Caucasian girl who doesn’t like bones. I loved the side dish of wasabi and sweet soy sauce and as always, the ginger rice was a welcome change from the standard white rice. Helena preferred the laksa over the chicken. Laksa is a beautiful noodle soup dish of seafood in a coconut curry broth. I wasn’t impressed with the from-frozen-shrimp or fake crab but the soup itself was delicious. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Overall: 7.5 out of 10 tofu puffs
In conclusion: I can think of at least 65 other Canadian dining establishments I would miss more than this place, but I admit this Hainanese chicken is pretty damn good.