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Ken’s Chinese Restaurant

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Ken’s Chinese Restaurant has been a fixture of the Chinese dining scene in Vancouver for many years so when I was invited to a Chinese Bites meal at the restaurant I was excited to check this place off my list. This favorite spot is located in the Kensington area of Vancouver and serves up traditional Chinese dishes along with HK Cafe style cuisine. Ken’s has earned many awards over the years for their dishes, some of which were part of our tasting.

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We began with Fish Soup with Winter Melon and Dried Scallops. When I heard there was dried scallops in the soup I was expecting it to be “fishy” but I was pleasantly surprised, the broth was light and the flavor of the other seafood really was able to come through.

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One of Signature Dishes of the house is Ken’s Specialty Chicken served with a ginger and garlic sauce. This is a love it and hate it menu item for me, I love the chicken and flavor of the meat but the jiggly skin isn’t my kinda thing (I love crispy skin on chicken). Ken’s specialty chicken was really good in the meat department, it was juicy, flavorful with the side sauce and the pieces were plump but the skin still skeeved me out.

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Another Signature and award winning dish at Ken’s is the Lobster with Konnyaku in Hot Pot. The lobster was a winner for me, it was deep-fried with a crispy coating on the outside and the lobster wasn’t overcooked. Flavor wise the sauce was good but the konnyaku (Japanese noodles) were a bit soft for me.

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The Golden Dungeness Crab is an award winning Best Seafood dish in Vancouver by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine. This was a hit at the table but for me personally I found it to be on the heavy side with the salted duck egg yolk, butter, and garlic coating on the outside of the crab. The crab itself was sweet and delicious but to get the full flavor of the dish you have to eat or suck the egg coating off the shell which I don’t like.

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The winning crab dish for me was the Crab with Garlic & Spicy XO Sauce. With the sauce being on the drier side this crab was easier for me to eat and the spicy XO and garlic sauce complimented the sweet crab beautifully.

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Next up was an oddball dish for me but still good. The Pan Fried Chicken Fillet with Spicy Thai Sauce featured great, juicy pan fried chicken but the sweet Thai chili sauce was just from a bottle and I would have liked to see some kind of homemade Chinese sauce used.

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One of my favorite dishes at Chinese Bites dinners is the Braised Fatty Pork and Ken’s didn’t disappoint. The sauce wasn’t too sweet and the succulent pork belly had a good fat/meat ratio with fat that melts in your mouth.

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One item that was served but I didn’t partake in was the HK Cafe classic Baked Seafood on Rice. There is something about the white cream sauce and cheese with the seafood that doesn’t quite click with me but the other diners at the table liked it.

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The rice dish of the night was a Malaysia Style Fried Rice. The stir fry on the rice left the dish light and fluffy and it had a nice savory and spicy kick to it with the sausage and chiles used.

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Lastly, we got an order of the Black Pepper Diced Beef Tenderloin. Usually, when I’ve had this the beef is overcooked but Ken’s was cooked perfectly leaving the beef tenderloin medium rare. The sauce had a good spicy kick from the black pepper and it wasn’t overly gloopy from the cornstarch.

Overall I thought the meal at Ken’s Chinese Restaurant was good in my books, the dishes were prepared well and the portions were generous. It would seem lots of people like Ken’s because the place was constantly busy during our visit. Their award winning dishes are worth a try and the crab with XO sauce is a must order!

**Disclosure-as a Chinese Bites reviewer my food was paid for by Chinese Bites but my opinions are completely my own and were not influenced by the restaurant or ChineseBites.com**



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