Corner 23
4008 Cambie Street
Vancouver, BC
Another neglecting types type of restaurant for a long time, it was time I finally went to one. It was a noon I was doing some errands near the Cambie area and thought, hey, why not! After all, if this one was full, I could just go next door to Copa Cafe! Unfortunately, that was easier said that done, as there was almost no parking spaces in the next blocks. Fortunately, I spotted one and to Corner 23 it was…
After walking in, I reminded myself why I don’t frequent these places: You could see couples, young adults or families but not a single, solo diner. Not that I feel uncomfortable eating by myself, at this point, I have absolutely no shame on doing this and I don’t care if people stare at me (specially when I bring out my SLR). Fortunately, they had two seat tables and sat on one.
After given the menu, I realized something. While my original impression was that it would be a HK style cafe, actually it seems Taiwanese. That put me in an odd situation… What should I order? Other than bubble tea and one other dish (more on that below), I couldn’t think of a dish that is mostly Taiwanese in origin. Sure, there is beef noodle soup but that is also a part of Chinese cuisine. After thinking (???) for a while, I made my order.
I know, I know. Everybody should be disappointed I ordered this; in fact, I myself was disappointed I ordered wonton soup. In a way, what was served was something I can do at home. The wonton had barely any taste and it was mostly wonton skin. There was some filling; just not that noticeable. The soup/broth was mostly nappa cabbage based. However, despite these thoughts I won’t complain much. This is because my mother used to prepare similar broths to go along with our meals. Childhood memories?
My second dish was oyster with egg pancake. This is the one dish I have heard is of Taiwanese origin. However, that was all I knew about it! That, of course, brought a problem: How should I eat it? I mean, it is almost a blob! Among the issues is the elasticity of the “pancake”, as you couldn’t cut it down as a pancake or omelette. And what is with the sauce on the top? Since there was nobody to criticize me, I started hacking it with the “knife” and eat some “pieces” of it. It had an odd chewiness to it, a consistency similar to when you chew a whole piece of marshmallow but that does not dissolve to fast. Tastewise, it was on the lines of a savoury pancake and, in a disappointing way, not much oyster flavour to it. Don’t get me wrong, there were pieces of oyster but you couldn’t really taste it. Had it been given to me in a blind taste, I wouldn’t have known. Along in the pancake, pieces of nappa cabbage which, again, provided some more texture.
I am certain that I did not order the best nor the most representative dishes. The dishes above, in some way or another went sideways. However, looking at the other tables, you could tell some set menus (also available in places like Beefy Beef or No 1 Beef Noodle House) were quite interesting. And, did I mention they weren’t that expensive? Because of these factors, I will certainly come back.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
You’re probably right Kim, the 2 dishes you ordered didn’t look all that good. The set meals are pretty decent at Corner 23. However, as a big party, I got to sample quite a few dishes and some were not that great. However, most of them were. So the % of good dishes outweighed the bad ones.
Sherman, that shows you that, I can give positive feedback of a restaurant despite I did not order the “correct” dishes and the ones I sampled are not necessarily good!
LOL… I bet now someone will nail me on Salumi once again because I said what I said…
Nah, that would be apple to oranges. In the case of Salumi, there was the hype it was good; not necessarily the case of Corner 23.
I had some good wonton and sui kau recently, but it was at Neptune Seafood restaurant in Richmond, Not sure if you have the same aversion to Richmond as Sherman, lol.
As for the oyster pancake, it looks like a real mess. I had an awesome one at @Ease Cafe, again in Richmond. The pancake was really light and crispy, almost like a crepe, and the sauce was not drenched like yours. Actually, the sauce looks like some type of sweet and sour mess, while the one I had was sweet and spicy and not as runny.
I think taiwanese food is usually hit and miss in terms of taste and quality, as their primary focus is their bbts.
Next time, try Sunflower Cafe for reasonable prices when you’re in the mood for taiwanese food. It’s in Burnaby and closer to your area. Oh, and it also has small tables, perfect for one person.
Holly, yes, I have the same isue… Oh, wait, another thing we have “similar”… NOOOOOOOOO!!!! Yeah, there are a lot of Taiwanese places in Burnaby, like Sunflower and Pearl House, et al, not to mention Bubble World. However, not a fan of these places so there might be some time before I go to the next one, hehehehe.
Next time you are there, try their stew ground pork on rice, it’s around $5 for a big bowl, and it’s the best I’ve tried around town. They don’t really use ground pork, more like chopped up pork belly. It’s very good value for the food you get.
Also if you get the chance, try their pork hock, I mean after all their restaurant is name Wan Luan Pork Hock in Chinese.
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