Disclaimer: All food in this review was complimentary. Opinions are my own.
Ken’s Chinese Kitchen is a Hong Kong-style cafe that has received numerous awards and accolades over the years. Their claim to fame is the Golden Dungeness Crab and Lobster with Konyaku in Hotpot which received the Chinese Restaurant Awards Critics’ Choice honour for Best Crab in 2009 and Best Lobster in 2010, respectively. I was recently invited to attend a menu tasting organized by Chinesebites.com. At the event, we sampled 10 of the best dishes offered at Ken’s Chinese Kitchen.
Ken’s Chinese Kitchen Menu
The regular menu is extensive to say the least with over 200 items offered. These include Chinese favourites, Western steak combos, pasta, sandwiches, congee and a variety of rice and noodle selections. A full menu is available online here.
What We Tried
The tasting menu for the event including the following items:
- Fish Soup with Winter Melon & Dried Scallop
- Ken’s Specialty Chicken
- Lobster with Konnyaku in Hot Pot
- Crab with Garlic & Spicy XO Sauce
- Golden Dungeness Crab
- Braised Fatty Layer Pork
- Pan Fried Chicken Fillet with Spicy Thai Sauce
- Malaysia Style Fried Rice
- Black Pepper Diced Beef Tenderloin
- Baked Seafood on Rice
To start, we had the Fish Soup with Winter Melon & Dried Scallop – a hearty soup with soothing mild flavours and savoury accents from the dried scallop.
Next up was Ken’s Specialty Chicken which was moist and tender.
I enjoyed the seasoning and flavour of the award-winning Lobster with Konnyaku in Hot Pot. The lobster is deep-fried first and I enjoyed the crispy batter on the outside. This dish comes with Konnyaku, a Japanese noodle-like taro jelly.
The Crab with Garlic & Spicy XO Sauce could be a fiery dish if you decide to eat the jalapenos with the crab meat. Otherwise, this dish had lots of flavour and good, meaty crab portions.
The second crab dish we tried was the Golden Dungeness Crab which was noted to be the best seafood dish in Vancouver by Conde Nast Traveler magazine. It is perhaps the restaurant’s most famous dish. The crab is deep fried before being tossed in a wok with a sauce made of salted duck egg yolk, garlic, butter and Chinese wine. In my opinion, I wasn’t a fan of the texture which was grainy due to the egg yolk. The salty flavour was a bit overwhelming for me. I prefered the Crab with Garlic & Spicy XO Sauce.
The Braised Fatty Layer Pork consisted of a very tender pork belly. Another popular dish at the restaurant. The broccoli florets with gravy provide a fun textural contrast.
The Pan Fried Chicken Fillet with Spicy Thai Sauce had moist and tender chicken pieces in a sweet and savoury sauce.
The Malaysia Style Fried Rice was tasty and had a great texture – fluffy and slightly dry.
Lots of tender meat in a savoury sauce for the Black Pepper Diced Beef Tenderloin.
Last but not least was the Baked Seafood on Rice with mostly shrimp and squid in a creamy sauce. A dish that is the epitome of comfort food.
Overall Impression of Ken’s Chinese Kitchen
All in all, Ken’s Chinese Kitchen had some overall tasty eats. Good to go with a group to enjoy these family-style dishes. Reasonable value based on the portions compared to the price. Rating: 3.5/5
Website: www.kenschineserestaurant.ca