*UPDATED - May 22, 2010 - WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER-see bottom of post*
I've finally found an alternative to Alleluia, currently my favourite Hong Kong style cafe, and that would be Angel Cake Cafe. Living in Richmond, I'll probably still go to Alleluia, but if I'm ever in the Fraser Street area, I'll definitely drop by Angel Cake Cafe.
Their menu has all the typical Hong Kong cafe stuff, including the combos and mix and matches. Prices are a bit more expensive than Alleluia, but you really get what you pay for as I'll tell you about later.
I ordered the two item combo that goes for $11.95 compared to Alleluia's $8.50. Angel's combo comes with a soup, that's only slightly bigger than Alleluia's, but both taste good.
I think Angel's Ice Lemon Tea is a bit lacking compared to Alleluia's. It's not to say it was no good, just that Alleluia's Ice Milk tea and Ice Lemon Tea are superior by far.
My combo came with a peice of garlic toast, which was actually quite good. Alleluia's combo does not come with this.
A pasta dish was ordered, and very typical of Hong Kong cafes, they never do the noodles al dente. Still, the sauce was rich and creamy, and I think they used a lot of butter and garlic which is a lot better than the typical white sauce used in such places (most places have white sauce that taste of flour and milk).
I ordered the cutlet pork chop (deep fried pork chop cutlet) and rib-eye steak with onion gravy.
What I was not expecting was a baked potato with bacon bits, green onions, and sour cream, all wrapped in tin foil. Wow. Also, the veggies weren't just mixed veggies from Green Giant, but actual veggies, grilled just right.
As I said, my expectations were't very high, but I was really surprised to find that they actually cooked the meat to exactly the way I wanted - fat and bloody, or blue-rare. A few of my recent steak experiences in some medium to high end restaurants have been a bit disappointing in the overcooking of a perfectly good peice of beef. Angel got this one right, thanks!
Another item that Alleluia's combo does not come with was this coconut pudding desert, which was also suprisingly good. The evapourated milk on top was a perfect combination.
Overall, I can't say I like Angel over Alleluia. They both have good points. For $3.45, I get real vegetables, a slice of really good garlic toast, and a desert. Like I said earlier, if I was ever in the area, I would definitely go, however being in Richmond, I'd probably stick to Alleluia.
*UPDATE May22,2010*
I just had one of the worst experiences with customer service today, and to my great disappointment, it was with Angel Cafe. When I first went to Angel Cafe, the service wasn't particularly good, but I brushed it off because the food was pretty decent, and you really can't complain about the price. I even told my friends that this place has great, cheap food, but the service is pretty bad. During my first experience, the host/manager (the man with the shaved head and glasses) did not give me a good impression. He seemed so pissed of with his own life, he would be better suited washing dishes in the back, and away from the customers. Anyways, he seated us in the take-out section of the restaurant and basically left us there for what seemed like an eternity before we had our orders taken. We were ignored for a good long time, but we weren't in a hurry so it didn't really bother us. The food came shortly after ordering, but after that, it took forever to get the bill, and on top of that, he forgot our desert and we politely reminded him. He was not pleased, even though we were pretty nice about it. Anyway, all this, I brushed aside because when I go into a place like this (typical HK style cafe), I have pretty low expectations as far as customer service. Probably about as much as I have going into Hon's or a food court (with the exception of Alleluia - where the servers work pretty hard).
Today, the short little bald man really pissed me off. I arrived with a group of 12 people today, and understandably, there would be no way we were going to get seated together. He seated 4 of us, while the rest of us waited. A few other customers started trickling in and were in the line up with us. Couples got seated ahead of us, understandably, but then a customer in a poorly fitting suit (with running shoes to go with his ensemble) came in, seemingly quite familiar with the manager. I heard this customer asking the manager for a table for 11. Ok, I thought to myself no problem, after the rest of OUR group gets seated first.
We're all hanging around the waiting area to get seated, (1/3 of our group is already seated and have ordered their food). Another group comes in (group of 4) and wait a bit. The manager proceeds to seat the group of 4. WTF? He already split up our group, so why not seat another 1/3 of our group? We don't question this because maybe he's working to get the remainer of our group (8 people) seated together.
In another part of the restaurant, we see the waitresses working hard to clear some tables. Ok, good, the manager managed to redeem himsef because he's going to seat the rest of our group (8 people) together. The manager goes outside and calls in the group of 11 and seats them...........we're speechless, but we bite our tongues for a bit longer and wait to see if they have another table of 8 for us.......nothing happens......we flag down the manager and ask him about it. He gives us a dirty look and says that the group of 11 had a reservation, and suggests that next time, we should make a reservation. I'm stunned, did this little twinkie of a manager just lie to my face, while giving me a dirty look and blaming me for not being able to get seated? Because I clearly heard the customer in the crappy suit and running shoes come in and ask for a table for 11, and not confirm a reservation. The little manager didn't even bother trying to explain the group of 4 he seated ahead of us. Please keep in mind that we are not expecting to sit together, we were willing to sit seperately. Twinkie already seated 1/3 of us, logiclally, another 1/3 would get seated next if a table for 4 became available, and so on.
Suffice to say, I'm never going to Angel Cafe again, unless that idiot of a manager is gone. That was the worst example of customer service, bar none. I honestly have not experienced such bad customer service, not even in the Yaohan food court.
This is an example of a short line up, which only extended as far as the restaraunt windows. Often times it extends right past the next shop. The issue has been addressed with the management, and suggestions have been made to expand the restaraunt, but they seem quite content to keep it the current cozy size. A good time to avoid the line up is right before 6PM, when parking just becomes permitted on Hastings.
The complimentary bread, to hold your hunger at bay. It's nothing fancy, it's not freshly baked (in fact, it's a little cold - as if right out of the fridge), but it tastes good and comes with a little packet of whipped butter.
This is the Tondi Don Vincenzo - It's stuffed with romano cheese and garlic, served in a rich, creamy, garlic parsley sauce - it's awesome.
