Nancy Wonton House
5257 Victoria Drive
Vancouver, BC
Once again, during the Olympic Games, after I attended the only event I got tickets for, which I got from the original lottery, it was dinner time. The problem was that… I didn’t know where to go for dinner! Driving round and round (OK, not literally), I was going through Victoria Drive when I noticed Nancy Wonton House, a place I have in my list for a while but haven’t for some reason. And one of the reasons people like this place? Its hours: it close at a relatively late (or early, depending on your perspective) time of the day.
When I arrived, there were some tables occupied and one of the waitresses was having dinner. After seated, it was the usual menu and glass of tea.I will have to say that this has been one of the few instances that I could have ordered without even opening at the menu. That is because of a post by Sherman when he visited it twice but ended up writing a single post. However, I wanted something else and that ended up being…
Chicken knees. I am sure some people will look at me funny and say “knees?!”. When you order this you don’t order it for the meat, obviously. Rather, you go for it for its crunchiness when you chew into it. Add some fried goodness and garlic and you have almost a winner. In this case, it had all these characteristics, except I wish the batter was fried slightly bit more.
As I mentioned, I knew what to order without even opening the menu and, come on, with “wonton house” in your name, you can pretty do exactly that. Here, five relatively large sized pieces of wonton, packed with shrimps and, more importantly, it had some snap into it. That is important because it means they weren’t overcooked nor they were sitting there for a long time before it was served. The broth was savoury with some chicken aftertaste but not extremely salty. As for the noodles… Well, it was a bit odd. It had some texture in it but, at the same time, it had also some odd taste. I am not sure how to best describe it except it went away after the first couple of bites. However, that “oddity” could detract some people if they choose to stop at that moment. (Sorry for being vague on the last one… -_-;;;)
In the end, I left with a full stomach. It wasn’t the best in the world (my mom makes better); however, it fulfills several what it is supposed to do: some late night good eats and a decent price. And, for that, we should give it some credit.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Yah, the 2 times I went for the noodles, they turned out different. Strange. The wontons are good though like you said. Chicken knees, so good… Too bad some people are scared of it. Just cartilage!
Sherman, it might be a case of just go for the wontons and overlook everything else!
Usually when I go there I get the wonton soup (w/o noodles) and a bowl of congee.
Ah, Nancy’s. I used to go there often because I worked in the area. Not the best food around but…well, it was better than a lot of alternatives in the neighborhood.
Ed, welcome! If you think about it, that area has gone through some level of change and there are better alternatives now. Of course, not necessarily at 1:00 a.m.!