Queen’s Cafe By Eighteen Chefs - Burnaby, British Columbia

I would say the pictures I've posted are quite self explanatory. We paid $17 for this salted egg yolk platter only to get a watered down dipping sauce which they call fondue that doesn't taste like salted egg yolks. It was accompanied by frozen fish, chicken fingers and fries that were ... super underwhelming. 1/5 I would say that the best dish might have been the curry but I would say that most hk cafes can make the same if not better tasting. 3/5 Lastly the nasi lemak was not what was on the picture of the menu. You're only able to choose chicken or fish or pork so unlike the picture containing all 3. Imagine eating that large portion of rice with these tiny fish filled with bones. But I would say the spicy sauce it came with was good so ill give it a 2/5 Overall not too expensive but definitely not great tasting. They also seem disorganized when we arrived, not able to find our reservation and honestly why does it matter when the restaurant was 2/3 empty. Read more

If you are ordering Southeast Asian foods (such as Curry, Laksa, Coconut rice, etc.) then they are pretty good. I especially love the curry dish here. Specialty drink looks/tastes great, though the portion is pretty small as they fill so much ice in there. There are disappointments such as the ... black pepper salmon rice, or salted egg pork (which is just pork cutlet with a weak egg sauce instead of expectation of grilled pork). I'd suggest to avoid those HK cafe menu items. Environment is nice enough and the place is Chinese own speaking Cantonese/Mandarin. Waiters are polite, though sometimes the younger one seems very new and confused. Read more

Tried out this place for the first time. The baked curry chicken rice was awesome as it was overloaded with cheese, along with the delicious curry sauce. Seldom see this item in other restaurant. Their laksa was great too, and perfect for someone who likes spicy food. The soup base ... was well flavoured and the noodles were not soggy at all. Friend had Hainan chicken rice (forgot to take picture) which was tasty, but would be good if there is less bone and more meat for the chicken. The environment was clean with good hygiene, waitress wore mask, and there’s sufficient social distancing with the tables. Will visit again soon, would be nice if they have better lunch sets that provide more options. Read more

Had the laksa and it was delicious! Also had the salted egg fries. The salted egg fries were not bad. Think if the salted egg sauce was less watery it would adhere to the fries better. Pretty yummy Singaporean cuisine. Would definitely come back and try the other ... dishes! Read more

The corner of Kingsway and Salisbury in Burnaby seems like the perpetual Bermuda Triangle for restaurants… it never seems like any restaurant can make a go of it in this location. Previously Queen’s Cafe, and after many lengthy delays, the latest restaurant to grace this property opened up calling themselves Queen’s ... Cafe by Eighteen Chefs (Eighteen Chefs being a popular Signaporean chain). I visited in early December when I tried their Hainanese Chicken Rice ($16.80) which comes with bone-in chicken, soup, and rice. While the soup was quite bland, the rice was moist and flavourful (although a bit too salty due to the soy sauce). I also found there wasn’t much meat as it was mainly bones. On my next visit, I decided to try their Chicken Skewer with Truffle Udon Noodles ($11.80). They told me it takes about 15 minutes to prepare because it’s all made fresh. To be honest, this was surprising good… although it was a bit difficult to eat given the way it was presented. The chicken had a good char on it but the meat was still tender. Meanwhile, the noodles were tender and toothsome with a good chew. The only bad thing I have to say about this dish is that it was a bit too oily and, again, too salty. By my third visit, I began to notice that the service seems a bit awkward… that’s not to say that the server wasn’t friendly… it’s just that her whole demeanor and presence was just a bit off. Anyhoo, I ordered the Mee Siam ($12.80) and found it to be quite spicy. The bowl of rice vermicelli comes with tofu puffs, 2 shrimp, and an egg. Seriously… this dish is not for the faint of heart as you’ll feel the heat from the full-bodied soup. The last dish that I tried here was the HA Fried Rice with Spring Chicken ($15.80) which comes with garlic chili sauce – I think “HA” is supposed to stand for “Heart Attack”. The chicken had nice crispy skin, which I think was the best part. Oddly enough, I found the fried rice (which seemed more like sticky rice) was kind of weak and plain. Overall, I found the menu to be fairly limited but some items (such as the chicken skewer with truffle udon noodles) were pretty good. Still, prices seem a little bit high for the quality. Read more