Hawker's Delight

My friend Rachel introduced me to Hawker's Delight years and years ago. I remember stepping inside and being reminded of what it was like to be at a roadside restaurant in South East Asia: a little sketchy and basic, but knowing you'd be getting really cheap, great food.

Hawker's Delight is a hole in the wall on Main Street and King Edward. It's a really no frills place. Don't expect any service or special attention here. You get your own water and napkins, you know? To me, there is something a little refreshing about how non-fine dining this place is.

The menu is smallish, and what's great is that there are pictures of every item on the menu, so you know what to expect even if you may not know the name of the dishes. The cuisine is Malaysian / Indonesian / Singaporean, and the prices are really, really great. Almost all of the dishes are six dollars and under, and that is a bargain these days.

I ordered the Laksa (around $6), a coconut curry broth with noodles, egg, fried tofu and chicken. This was pretty tasty. There was a good amount of spice and seasoning, and the broth had a nice richness. The noodles slightly overcooked, but it was a decent bowl of food.

Shane got the Mee Goreng (around $5), Malaysian style fried noodles. This was good and pretty tasty, although it was not the best Mee Goreng around. However, for the price, it was an amazing deal.

We also ordered 6 pieces of satay at $0.75 each. The pork was nicely cooked, with lots of charcoal flavour, and it was surprisingly tender. The satay came with a peanut sauce with was a little too sweet for my liking, but it went pretty well with the pork.

Hawker's Delight is a great place. It's always consistent and reliable, which is saying quite a lot. It is one of the best cheap eats you'll ever get in Vancouver.

Going there feels like visiting Asia.