Mamalee Malaysian Delight

Yes! This place is exactly what I want. Laksa soup is so good. There are line ups sometimes to get a table, another sign of how good this place is. Only down side is they are closed on Sundays.

Both the Hainan Chicken Rice and Curry Beef are excellent. I would say the best in Greater Vancouver. Service is a little slow recently. Soups unfortunately a bit watery without enough stuff. But I always come back for what they do best!

SIMPLY PHENOMENAL!!! We took a weekend flight out to Vancouver from Los Angeles for a food run last weekend. My fiancé used to live in Vancouver during her high school years and has raved about MamaLee to me for as long as I can remember. Inevitably MamaLee was on top priority on our food mission. I am a huge fan of traditional Chinese cuisine and Hainan Chicken Rice ranks pretty high up there on my list. I have always thought that Savoy Kitchen (Alhambra, CA) makes the best Hainan Chicken out of all the spots I’ve ever tried, including overseas in Asia. After my visit to MamaLee’s, I realized I have been completely tricked all my life! MamaLee’s Hainanese Chicken Rice is the BEST I have ever had!!! I was literally almost in tears during my first couple of bites in. I could not tell if it was dark meat or white meat I was chewing on. The texture and consistency of the boneless chicken meat was so JUICY and TENDER that my taste buds didn’t know what to do! Of course the flavor was on point, every bite was as amazing as the first (explosion in your mouth). Complimented by the oh-​so-​chewy special ingredient garlic rice and the ginger sweet & sour sauce for dipping, it was the closest thing to heaven on earth! My friends and I wanted to order another whole chicken for no reason just to keep the party going. We also ordered Fishball Laksa Noodle Soup, Curry Beef Brisket Rice, and Spicy Pan Mee. Every dish was so mind-​blowing good! We were all sad that we had no room left for dessert, it’ll have to wait until the next visit. As we finished our meal, I was so touched by her cooking that I had to personally thank MamaLee for creating the most magical Hainan Chicken Rice to grace the earth! She was very sweet and humble, and even let us take a picture with her. Thank you MamaLee for this amazing tastebud life-​changing experience, and we hope to see you again really soon so we can try the rest of your entire menu! Much love!

Hainan chicken was something I’d not tried before so I didn’t realize it was served luke warm and that tainted my opinion.
This place is popular and I guess more of a lunch option to the area if you want something cheaper than banana leaf across the way.
The Roti Canai was awesome, the chicken,. less so but I see potential here in some of the other menu items and will make a point to come back in the colder months and try the curries for example.
It is not a glamourous place but not completely lowbrow either,. they have a sign in sheet so you don’t have the stress off battling other patrons for a spot,. you also order by using a dry erase menu,. for some reason I kind of liked that.

Food is awesome but service is horrible. They are always understaffed and it takes a while for you to get the waiter’s attention.

It’s been 10 years and I still think about your hainan chicken rice ALL the time. You are the reason I’m back to Vancouver again. It is still as yummy as i remembered. Thank you!

I love their Hainan chicken. Boneless, juicy and tasty. The sauce that comes with it is also the bomb!!! Delicious combination. The chicken rice however has room for improvement. It was a little dry.
Laksa and curry beef brisket is very mediocre. Curry is quite tasteless and disappointing. Hardly tasted any curry spice in it except heat and oil. I also find the laksa bland. Too much coconut milk in it and not enough spice again. Won’t order both again. Perhaps my Malaysian tastebuds expected much more!
Great variety of drinks. Be prepared for slow service here. Small number of staff.

The Haianese chicken is pretty good. I like how it’s boneless and free of hassle. The roti canai was average… A little bit too much on the sweet side for me. 3.5 stars.

Hainanese chicken is the Best!
my favorite items to order: Hainanese chicken, Roti, Laksa.

Always my favorite place for Hainan Chicken!!! Their Laksa is very delicious too!!! Must eat restaurant every time I visit Vancouver!!! And once you had mamalee… you will not find any hainan chicken place that would satisfy you in Los Angeles!

This place is close to my hood and in the past it has closed down due to health issues a couple times. I am not going to deny that even though I know about they having sanitary issues. I still go. Their Hainese chicken are really good. But not cheap. A friend told me that they are very authentic.
I don’t they have parking. Well I have never drove there. I go by feet because I am super close by.
As a tip I suggest ordering a whole chicken to stare then to order it individual portion. Its cheaper and you do get more. Another thing to note is that this place is super small. Not a lot of tables. And also they close early.
I can’t remember which day but they are close on one of the weekend day I believe.

my friend chrystal brought me a large hainan chicken from mamalee after finishing my half marathon and… let’s just say the large hainan chicken didn’t stand a chance against me. i literally tore up the to go box.
both the rice and chicken were flavorful. the chicken was tender and i loved every bite of it! i didn’t think i would be able to find good hainan chicken rice outside of savoy chicken in los angeles, but i did, thanks to my friend chrystal!
she also got me a roti bread, which was deliciously flaky!
the take out quality was just on point :) can’t wait to dine in next time around!

Came here for the hainanese chicken and wasn’t disappointed, but I must say that Prataman’s are still the best I’ve had and that I like their sauce better. However, mamalee’s is a good choice if I want good hainanese chicken and don’t want to go all the way to Richmond.

The food here is great but the service is lacking. I came at 7.30pm, there was still empty tables but was rejected because they’re closing in 30 minutes. I then asked to order for take out but was still rejected because they said they already had too many orders.
Either change your hours to say that you’re closed at 7.30pm or improve the service. Saying that you can’t take 1 more order to a customer who was already there 30 minutes before closing is just not acceptable, imho.

My 200^th review — woohoo!
My friends come here sometimes but I’ve never come with them… until now!
Luckily I showed up a bit early (fearing the lines) and snagged a table. The menu is rather small compared to larger Malaysian restaurants but that’s ok considering the size of the place.
I got the large hainanese chicken on rice and it was pretty tasty but not the best I’ve had. There’s two other places I prefer (but those come with some bones left, so if you can’t pick ‘em…they’re not the best places to eat for you). My friend had warned me that the portion size would be smaller because they did meticulously debone everything… but I’d rather pay the same for more and occasionally spit a bone out. The rice was good but not as good as other places.
Overall I’d say I’m pretty disappointed. I’ve heard such great things and seen the lines and never had a chance to try it. Now that I’ve been here… I don’t think I’d come back unless I was in the area. I think maybe the reason it’s so popular is because it’s the only Malaysian place nearby with the exception of Banana Leaf.

I don’t know why this place doesn’t have better reviews. The food is delicious and clean. It deserves nothing less than 4 stars.
Yes it’s not your typical hainanese chicken with bones, and ginger sauce, but their take on it is still extremely delicious.
The daily soups are always good clean bone soups. There’s a different one every day.
Here’s what I always order:
Spicy Pan Mee Noodles
Half Hainanese Chicken with Chicken Rice
Gailan with Fried Shallots & Oyster Sauce
Barley Drink Half Sweet
Fresh Corn Juice (seasonal)
My boyfriend always orders the Laksa.
I personally am not a fan of the Laksa. I have been to Singapore many times and the Laksa in s’pore is much more action packed. However everything else that I order here is just as good as places I’ve had in S’pore.
The reason why it doesn’t get 5 stars is the mediocre laksa, mediocre roti, lack of tables and expensive prices.
But the above dishes I’ve mentioned are definitely the best in Van. Can’t be the best at everything but they are the best at something!

Finally got the chance to eat here last BC Family day long weekend, 2 weeks ago.
The long line-​up was a déjà vu for us. It was like Singapore all over again, you «queue» for good food and is definitely well worth the wait!
The Singaporean chicken rice tasted very authentic! By far the best Singaporean chicken we’ve had in the last 4 years. We also ordered the Bak Kut Teh but was disappointed. The stew was good but they used pork
chop instead of ribs so it tasted very different.
I gave it 4 stars for great menu except for the Bak Kut Teh. One star off because they close on weekends. Not readily accessible for us who do not live in Downtown.

If you don’t want to be addicted to this place then stay away. Actually, stay away anyway because the more people that comes here the less chicken for me!
I absolutely love this place. Used to called Café Delight, Mama Lee make best Hainan Chicken in town! The best part about the chicken, aside from the delicious sauce and perfectly cooked and oiled rice, is they are boneless. You can devour those chicken with the minimum about of time and effort.
Also try other things on the menu like the satay and curry. But seriously, once you have those chickens I don’t know why you would ever want to eat anything else in here.
It’s a very small place so often there will be a bit of a line. Put your name down on the white board there and prepare to push other people away who are in front of you. Because… Yes, you are right, NOTHING should be between you and those chicken!!!

4* Hainanese chicken (did I spell that right??). Juicy, decent amount of soy sauce, warm’ish and tasty rice. I’d definitely come back for take-​out.
Packed with students before 6 pm on a weekday. I think you get a chicken soup with the Hainan chicken too.
The seafood laksa was a downer — bland broth, 4 prawns and the rest of the «seafood» was artificial crab meat.
Roti at the next table looked good, but I didn’t order it.

Very good, for a HK-​style Malaysian restaurant. I suspected this would be the case the instant I walked in and heard Cantonese being spoken. Not sure why people are questioning the authenticity — it’s authentic HK-​style Malaysian!
Parking is available on the side streets.
The inside of the restaurant looks like a HK-​style café. Surprise, surprise.
Staff were friendly and quick. Very good ratio here. The place never felt understaffed, and the waiter was always there within seconds of a wave.
The food here is very delicious. Tropika and Banana Leaf come to mind if I were to compare.
Gai Lan with hoisin sauce — not too heavy on the sauce, which I like. Served with deep fried bits of something something up top.
Hainan chicken rice — special mention. They even debone it for you here. Nice soft pieces. Again, just the right amount of sauce.
Seafood laksa — generous portion of prawns, and nice soup. Reminds me of Aberdeen Centre food court, if you’ve had the laksa there.
Roti — nice and fluffy. The dip tastes exactly like the laksa soup, which is beautiful. Tastes pretty identical to that of Tropika, which is a good thing.
Beef brisket rice — nice pieces of beef, cooked just right. Just the right mix of potatoes.
My only complaint — the portions are definitely on the small side. In other words, it’s overpriced. The items looked big in the menu photos, but my friends and I were really scratching our heads. The dishes were only slightly larger than tapas. We considered going for fast food afterwards.
Oh yeah, and this place is closed on Sundays! Beware.
Excellent taste, but mediocre value. Hence the 4 stars instead of 5. If only those dishes were bigger.