Cafe D’Lite Express

I came to Aberdeen today specifically for this place for their Hainanese chicken. Arrive 6:52 (the food court closes at 7pm) but they wouldn’t take my order. Very disappointed.
I would give 1 star for this early closure. However, I admit their Hainanese chicken rice is quite good, so 2 stars.

What happened? Had the hainan chicken laksa today and it was TERRIBLE! Chicken recipe gone flat and tasteless. Noodles had some weird tasting water to it. This is not the same laksa recipe as mama lee’s on Broadway. So disappointed. Do not confuse this place with mama Lee (original café D’light) because it is just not the same anymore.

I love Café D’light! My girlfriend and I goes all the way to Aberdeen just to have their Hainese chicken on rice. I think it’s better than even restaurants because their chicken is boneless — makes it effortless to eat. I also tried their laksa noodles with fish balls once and it was really good. Just can’t get myself to order it over the chicken more than once! I heard from people that their food isn’t as good on weekdays. I’ve never gone on the weekdays so I can’t confirm if that’s true.

The hainanese chicken with rice is so good! I definitely need to try some other options. The drink selection is nice too.

Their Hainanese chicken is really good. Chicken is super tender — as if you barely need to chew it. I love the ginger onion sauce but they don’t give enough of it so ask for more. The rice cooked in chicken stock was really tasty. For $ 8.85 I couldn’t complain about the portions. I thought it was just fine. I would definitely come back for the chicken — I think it is one of the best offerings at the Aberdeen food court.

One of my favourite food in Aberdeen, and I think they have the best hainanese chicken rice in Vancouver area. I try so many different hainanese chicken in other places, I think the Café D’ Lite Express is the best so far. Size of the food is enough for me (not sure it’s enough for men XD). I always ask them to give me extra green ginger sauce, because I found that always run out of sauce when I eat half of it. If you guys love extra, definitely should go for it. They have the typical hainanese chicken without bones, which is one of the reasons I give them five star.
Ummm. I tried chicken Laksa, but it is a bit oily and spicy for me, maybe I am not a fan of the Laksa. Anyway, this place deserves for 5 stars.

Bad Hk style milk tea leaves a weird residue on the spoon and tea starts separating after a bit. Not fresh. Looks like made from a powder yuck! Threw mine out!

It’s a pretty small menu in terms of food but the staples in Hainanese rice, curry brisket, and the Malay (Malaysian) laksa are all there. For this colder lunch outing I went for the Malay laksa since I was feeling for hot and spicy noodles. For under $ 10 I think this was great bowl for lunch. The tofu soaked up a ton of soup and the fish balls were completely cooked (no one likes a surprise icy interior of a fish ball). The soup’s temperature held up surprisingly well in the plastic container so slow eaters like me can enjoy every last bite without rush. Afterwards I was stuffed enough to back to work and fight the impending lunch coma. Good laksa. Not quite as good as Kaya Malay but better than most Chinese noodle shops around this price point (Deer Garden, Cattle Café).

There’s no place like home. And the chicken rice took me right there.
I got so excited about this new lunch spot, that I managed to get my colleague excited too. We now crave a beautiful, delicious lunch here ever so often.
The laksa. Don’t think; just do. It’s one of the best I’ve had in town, and I don’t take my laksa lightly. It’s creamy, it’s thick, it’s spicy, it’s BIG!
The chicken rice brought a tear to my eye. I don’t often get a taste of home, but I did just there. In its simple packaging and flavorful contents, I found bliss like I never thought I would. This is my comfort food. For those who prefer healthier meal options, you can add this to your list. Steamed chicken, cucumbers, yellow rice and chicken soup. If this doesn’t warm your cold, rainy days, I don’t know what would!
I can imagine I’d be here everyday if not for the mildly steep pricing. It’s close to $ 9 for any of the delicious items on their menu. It’s a treat. If you’re feeling down, pick yourself up with a laksa or chicken rice. It’s sure to put a smile back in your heart.

Yes it’s in the noisy, hard to park Aberdeen Mall food court but… this place is good for their Hainan Chicken Rice for $ 8.25 and Seafood Laksa for $ 8.50. These are their two signature dishes. This little eatery did so well they opened up a restaurant in Kitsilano called Mamalee’s Malaysian Delight where the food is better. But regardless the Laksa was quite tasty and the chicken was tender but the rice was a bit dry, typically the jasmine rice is cooked in chicken broth and their rice wasn’t so oily so that was a pleasant surprise. If you need a quick bite this place is great but no need to make a trek over to eat here.

Besides the mediocre service, and by service I am only referring to the interaction you receive at the counter since this is a food court stand, the food is good.
Their laksa is delicious and so is their Hainanese Chicken. The laksa isn’t the best I’ve ever had, but for a food court, it’s pretty tasty. The Hainanese chicken is something I come back for often when I’m in Aberdeen Mall.
And of course, cash only.

Not impressed.
I gave Café D’Lite two chances.
The first time, I had the Hainanese Chicken. The Chicken was bland and the rice was hard and dry (reminiscent of day old rice.)
The second time, I had the Laska. The Laska had a 2 inch layer of oil in the soup. The noodles were bland. The curry wasn’t strong enough and the coconut soup was flat.

What happened?!
I used to love Café D’Lite and would even highly recommend it to my friends. But my experience today was just horrible. Service was incredibly slow. I opted to wait in line to order my food but had no idea the line would move SO SLOW (took like 15 minutes to order my Hainan Chicken Rice and another 15 minutes after while waiting for the food)!!
The Chicken was, unfortunately, not the same as it used to be. The meat was just not as tender and lacking a lot of flavour.
AND…The lady taking my order also had no idea what an «iced barley drink» was. I had to get my friend who spoke Chinese to order that drink for me in Chinese!
Plus, the complimentary soup they gave was WAY too peppery (like a pound of ground white pepper went into my tiny bowl of soup).
I’m incredibly sad. The Hainanese Chicken Rice dish from Café D’Lite was the only thing I’d order from the entire food court. Now I have to search for something else.
*insert sadface*

it’s been a 3 and a 4. I really wanted Singaporean food and also had to go to Aberdeen so we end up here. The hainanese chicken rice was pretty skimpy. You get a lot of rice but not a lot of chicken. Everything tasted great, but for the price I expected a little more chicken.
The laksa was spot on. Kind of weird of having imitation crab meat but actually it was really good in the seafood laksa. This dish was more worth it, lots of noodles, sprouts, seafood, etc in that little bowl.
The drinks were alright too. Next time maybe I’ll go with a half hainan chicken or something.

Here’s what you do to get quite possibly the *best* lunch experience:
1) Order Hainanese Chicken Rice with Soup ($ 7.75) and request «extra sauce, both green and red»
2) Now go order Fried Chicken Wings (6 pieces) from Wu Fung to your left
You will end up with Hainan Chicken and rice PLUS the Wu Fung Fried Chicken. Use the green dipping sauce for your Hainan Chicken, and the red dipping sauce for the fried chicken.
Best lunch in Richmond and the reason I drive all the way from Burnaby to Richmond… just for lunch.

One word: laksa.
Parking is available in the mall parking lot. Be prepared for massive amounts of cussing.
Their food is served in these curious white plastic bowls that look a little too thick to be disposable. These containers are also beautiful in the way that they repel liquids (aka they’re hygroscopic), so you can see all the oil bubbles as you chug the soup.
I’ve heard good things about their other dishes, but my main fix here is the laksa. It comes in different varieties such as chicken, fish balls, or seafood. I’ve had them all and each time it brings a smile to my face. They use 2 types of noodles (the yellow kind and the vermicelli), which is also a bit curious. I’m guessing they just store the noodles close to each other and hence the cross-​contamination.
I could eat at this place everyday. Recommended.

If you only need a quick option and are in dying need of some ‘hainan chicken rice’ I would come here. I would definitely consider this pretty good for food court material food, but if we are just strictly talking about the ‘hainan chicken’ dish itself, it was better served at their store location out on West Broadway.
Aberdeen food court has a ton of vendors serving different things, and what makes Café D’Lite different is that they serve this style and Laksa to the masses that venture the food court looking for a quick bite. Get it on a tray, feed you fast, take your money, and be done. The chicken is tender, boneless, but the taste on this day seemed to be off, or more close to a soy sauce chicken that was as tender as a hainan chicken. The flavored rice, wasn’t that flavored, but as I said, if I was craving this dish, and needed it in my belly, and I was here, I wouldn’t hesitate to go here and order it.
If you get a chance to compare, try to get out to the other location, you will know what I mean in terms of quality difference. Luckily Richmond doesn’t have many places that serve the dishes they do compared to some other cuisines.

The only thing that is worth getting here is the Hainanese Chicken on rice or noodle soup. I usually order the Hainanese Chicken Laksa that cost $ 7.50 and it doesn’t come with a drink.
Their Laksa soup base is flavourful and the chicken is super tender and juicy. This laksa also contains tofu puff, bean sprouts, parsley, and 2 different types of noodles. I really like how the tofu puff adsorbs the yummy soup and how the noodles contrast each other too. A link to show the different noodles used in the laksa:

The original restuarant Café D’Lite is located on West Boardway near UBC. It has been awhile and I almost forgot about this place since my university days are over (and even before, I only knew how to get there and not by the name itself).
Café D’Lite Express is a sister «restaurant» located inside Aberdeen Centre Food Court — although the original shop still surpasses; this express isn’t too shabby!
Famous for their boneless Hananiese chicken and rice; they are juicy, tender, and well seasoned. This place does live up to the hype unlike Jehtro’s (click)
Hananiese Chicken Rice
As mentioned before the Hananiese chicken is juicy and delicious especially when you don’t have to gnaw at the bones. The rice is pretty well seasoned too and isnt too oily. Overall a solid dish. Only time missing is some minced ginger and green onion sauce! It is so delicious to mix into your rice
Laska noodles with Hananiese Chicken
The broth is very flavorful. It is a strong coconut based curry soup with sambal chili paste and also includes bean curd puffs and bean sprout garnishes. However, it would’ve been nice if it was slightly more spicy. But I understand not everyone can handle that. The noodles itself has a twist of added texture — both vermicelli and regular egg noodles.
Would I return? For sure! Ten bucks gets me a meal plus a ice lemon tea; sounds pretty good. Besides, it seems like a better alternative from oily food court grub…

Within Aberdeen Centre, Café D’Lite Express is the Singaporean cuisine representative of the food court, which is one of my favorite places to go when in Richmond due to the variety. As the express moniker indicates, the menu is fairly limited. Rice and noodle dishes rule.
The star of the menu is the Hainan chicken which is served in numerous dishes. The other focus seems to be the other recognizable dish of Singapore which is laksa, a spicy noodle soup. Thus, the logical item for me to order was the Hainan chicken laksa ($ 6.75).
The wait was on the long side. Despite this being a food court, do not expect your order to come out with fast food quickness. These dishes are a bit more complicated, so be a bit patient about this.
The laksa is served in a disposable bowl which is okay, though I thought they were a little skimpy on utensils and napkins. The dish itself was okay. It did not really blow me away with the taste. The noodles which were there were two types were average. I did like the spicy flavor of the soup base and the chicken was pretty good. I do not usually like this preparation of chicken, but it fit in well in this dish. Though I thought the bean sprouts did not. The problem with them is they are one of those ingredients that seems to take away rather than add flavor.
Value wise, you do get a filling meal at a good price here. Café D’Lite is worth a try if you are looking for some decent Singaporean food at Aberdeen.