Malaysian Hut Restaurant

14727 108 Ave, Surrey

Food: 3

Service: 3.5

Price: Relatively cheap, but it is a small family owned restaurant

It's been raining almost non-stop for about 2 weeks now, thus there is a lack of motivation to venture out of my comfort zone. So after quick search on Dinehere/Urbanspoon, I soon realized their are several restaurants that are close to home and seems to be worthy of a visit. It was either Japanese, Thai or Malaysian, since we haven't had Malaysian for awhile, that's where we decided to go.

The restaurant is very small, and immediately you know it is family owned, because the servers were also doing homework at the next table. The ambiance does have a nice cozy feel to it, and our server was very personable.

First up, we ordered a roti to share. I am impressed, their roti was crispy/flaky on the outside, but still soft in the middle. It was also very aromatic. The curry dip was also very good, it was slightly spicy, but simply delicious. Therefore I think this is a very worthy dish for only $3.50, plus you get 2 pieces. (most places charges about $5 for 2 pieces)

We also decided to get a 2nd appetizer, since I wanted something with the sambal sauce. This one is called Sambal egg, and it's $4. Basically it's just hard boil egg but fried with sambal sauce with some small fried fish. Although the sambal sauce was good, but I did not like the fish part. Therefore I won't be ordering this again.

Next up is the Curry Assam Laksa ($7.50). Although it certainly looked appetizing, sadly it wasn't. It was very light tasting, even though it's a curry based laksa. I don't know what this suppose to taste like, as I am not Malaysian, but it does have a detectable traditional Chinese medicine taste in the soup. Because of the rather strong Chinese medicine taste which I detest, I won't be ordering this again.

Lastly, we ordered the Meehoon Goreng which is a stir fried rice vermicelli with dried shrimp, egg, BBQ pork, shrimp and bean sprout. The Meehoon Goreng was slightly spicy and the vermicelli was moist. The only thing I didn't like was the dried shrimp, but that's just a personal preference. This dish was $8, and you get a good portion for the price.

Overall, we were generally satisfied, as you got to keep in mind this is Surrey we are talking about here. It's hard to find a decent Malaysian restaurant. So in the end, we will definitely come back for more, as it is close to where I live and the food is decent. But if you don't live in the area, I don't know if it's worth the drive.

Whenever I feel tired or too lazy to search for new places to try, I would end up going to one of my trusty back up restaurant. I usually don't blog about the same restaurant twice, but I believe these deserve a 2nd recommendation.

Ddoo Gau Bee

203-4501 North Road, Burnaby

Food: 4

Service: 3.5

Price: cheap

First up is my "never failed me" Korean restaurants. Although I wouldn't say they are the most authentic, but they are definitely one of the cheapest, but still manages to make it taste good. From the outside decor or even inside decor, you would not believe the prices of their specials. It's even cheaper than eating at the food court.

They always have some kind of special on, and it changes quite often. This would be one of their recent special: pork bulgogi with rice and miso soup. Drum roll please........ it only cost $6.50. That's right folks, it's cheaper than most food court. The portion is more than adequate for one person. The taste was great as well, it was very saucy with a slightly spicy/sweet taste. The teppan plate kept it nice and warm.

On a second visit (I insisted on coming back, since I wanted to try another one of their special), we had the Teppan Jajangmein. The portion size is huge, it meant for 2 people, but I would say it's enough for 3 or even 4. It taste slightly different from their regular jajangmein. Between the 2, I perfer the teppan version. It was loaded with veggie and pork and even dates (interesting). Since it was also served on a teppan plate, it was nice and hot. For $12.95, this is a highly recommended worthy meal. You will leave happy and full.

Once again, this place hasn't failed me yet, so I will definitely be back periodically to check out their new specials.

Bubble World

137-10090 152 Street, Surrey

Food: 4

Service: 3

Price: cheap

Now that I moved closer to this Bubble World location, I visit it quite often. The prices here remained relatively the same through out the last couple of years. It's still busy all the time too.

This is my meal: stewed triple layer pork. How can you not drool just staring at delicious piece of pork. It's stewed to perfection, the skin/fat just melt in your mouth. The sauce on rice is just divine. The best part of the meal is...... it only cost $5.95. Yep, that's right, all that meat/sides dish cost under $6. Once again, try finding that at the food court, I think not. (May except at Yaohan center in Richmond).

Needless to say, I will definitely come back again and again. :)

Bubble World

#137-10090 152nd St, Surrey

Food Quality: 5

Service: 4

Price: Cheap

We all know you can probably find good curry restaurant in Surrey, there is probably one around every corner, but if you don't feel like curry tonight, why not try some bubble tea food.

Bubble World is a franchise, with 1 location on Robson, 2 location in Burnaby and 1 in Surrey. As far as I know, only the location on Kingsway and Surrey one serves food, the rest just sells drinks. Out of many Bubble tea food I have tried, Bubble World would be close to the top of the list. Their food taste great and it is served fast.

This one is a 3 layer pork with noddle, it came highly recommended. As long as you can eat fatty pork(the good part), then this dish is a must try. Even though the fat is visible, it doesn't taste very gross or greasy. The noodles were very glutenous, and chewy but soft. The soup base was good without MSG. The side dish we ordered was very common in this type of restaurant, deep fried chicken nuggets. Size wise, it was a good portion. Taste wise, it was nice and crispy.

This dish was good, I think it was suppose to be teriyaki chicken on rice, but it turn out more like a Oyakodon, except with deep fried chicken. Once again, it was very good. Usually rice dishes come with side dish, but this one didn't, because the meat portion wasn't on a separate dish. Oh well....

I must say this place has NOT raise it's price despite food inflation. Those main entree are still around $6-7, which is quite cheap for this type of food, their bubble tea is just average, price is also slightly cheaper than other places. BUT don't expect this for long, I am guessing they will be raising this prices soon.

Service was good and fast, when request extra cutlery or napkin, it was brought over right away. This place is pretty busy on weekend, don't think they take reservation, but as long as you come early (before 6:30), you probably won't have to wait very long or wait at all.

All in all, a good place for food and bubble tea when you don't want to spend too much OR in a hurry to go somewhere.