The One Cafe 聚客亭

The One Cafe is a new Hong Kong style cafe on No. 3 Road, replacing the former Queen's Cafe. They have a 10% discount until the end of this month as part of their grand opening special. A family friend recommended the pork loin and the milk tea, so we decided to give it a try. Sad to say, it was quite a disappointment. When we got there, the place was pretty full. That wasn't too surprising considering it was dinner time and the place was new with a 10% discount. First thing I noticed was how dirty the cutlery was. My spoon was covered with stains, but I didn't bother asking for another one since that's usually the way things are in HK style cafes. I ordered stir fried rice noodles with chicken and vegetables (時菜雞球炒河). My dad had pork loin with rice (豬柳飯), and my mom had curry beef brisket with rice (咖哩牛腩飯). All combos came with a drink, and of course I chose milk tea (the hot version since cold drinks = $1 extra!). I expected it to be above average because the family friend said it was really good, but one sip and I realized it was the 2nd worst tasting milk tea I've ever drunk. (The 1st being a milk tea I ordered at a small bubble tea place in Kerrisdale.) The drink was very watery, and tasted like a big half of it came from watered down evaporated milk. What little tea I could taste was slightly bitter. I left most of it untouched.

My dish, however, turned out to be the "best" choice out of the 3. It was not bad, and a generous portion for $6.95. But it definitely lacked presentation. The rice noodles were literally swimming in sauce that was about to overflow the plate.

I also tried the curry, and my opinion is that most people could probably make better curry at home. The curry flavour was too weak and the sauce was watery.

And after seeing the pork loin, I wasn't even tempted to try it. But my dad tried my chicken and told me it was better than his pork, so I guess it must have tasted as bad as it looked.

The whole meal came to about $22, so if you're looking for a reasonably priced meal, this may be the place. Personally I won't be back...