Description: In general, Chinese food in Canada is pretty much the same wherever you go. So, when someone suggested that we head up to the Robson Street location of
Hon's, I was expecting the usual. What I experienced was good food in an atmosphere that is hard to forget.
Even though we arrived close to 7pm, this place was packed full of customers and we actually had to wait to get a table. When a table became free we were seated at the front of the restaurant right next to the take-out till. We were seated at the end of a very long line of tables joined end-to-end. All of the tables are arranged in these long lines throughout the restaurant. So, if you do not enjoy getting cozy with strangers, this might not be the place for you!
Our group of 5 ordered tea, won-ton soup, and a variety of dishes to share. While waiting for our food we took in the fantastic sight, the open kitchens. The back wall and the wall closest to where we were seated are full of open kitchens separated based on the specialty of that kitchen. You can watch the chefs busy at work preparing meat, noodles, vegetarian selections and soups in their deep kitchens. This definitely makes Hon's a little on the noisy side but it is all part of the experience.
We started off with our soup which contained more noodles and vegetables than I am used to. This was a good start! We were not finished with the soup when the rest of our dishes arrived. We had ordered a variety of beef, pork, and shrimp dishes that were mostly noodle and rice based. I picked a broccoli beef dish to add some extra vegetables. This one quickly became the favourite of most of the group. The food was excellent in quality with the vegetables remaining crisp and the meat dishes actually containing meat. Yes, I have actually been to Chinese food restaurants where the battered items seem to be missing the chicken and the meat dishes seem to be made from the fatty remnants of whatever was left over from the day before.
While the decor is definitely spartan, Hon's definitely provided an excellent meal to share. When we split the bill each of us paid around C$20. We finished the meal with the obligatory fortune cookies. Of course we had to read them out to each other and we all got a good laugh from that. We ended up a little on the stuffed side so it was a good thing that we had a few blocks' walk back to our hotel.
Hon's is open 7 days a week, Sunday to Thursday from 11am to 11pm and Fridays and Saturdays from 11am to midnight. You can print a 10% coupon right from the Hon's website.Close