Diners get great value at self-taught chef Pamela Ong’s intimate Asian restaurant
Mia Stainsby
Sun
Waitress Rachel Chou holds the house special fried rice (front) and satay chicken. Photograph by : Stuart Davis, Vancouver Sun
When I commented to a server on how inexpensive the dishes were, she was honest. “Middle,” she said. “Not too cheap. Not expensive.”
Between you and me, a meal at Ellie’s Tropical Cuisine is cheap. The most expensive dishes (and they’re seafood dishes) are $12 and the majority are under $10; appies can be had for as little as $2.50.
The menu jumps borders from Malaysia/Singapore to Taiwan and attracts Indian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Taiwanese and North American customers. Normally, a restaurant with a menu featuring 127 savoury dishes would have me wondering if a kitchen could competently put out so many dishes.
For these prices, you’re not getting fine cuisine but the owner-chef, Pamela Ong, a self-taught cook, actually gives you great value for her modestly priced food. Eggs with shrimp and mushrooms ($7.50) were a little over-salted but featured fresh, plump shrimp in an airy omelette; grilled fish on banana leaf ($11.95) featured a lovely sole with a golden coating; sauteed pea tips seemed expensive at $10.50 until we saw the enormous portion; beef noodles with spicy sauce ($6.95) was an earthy plate of darkly marinated shortrib meat, udon noodles and veggies — very nice!
Ong’s curry laksa and beef curry are apparently popular dishes, as is the chicken with three sauces.
And if you think the food menu is extensive, the beverages take up a lot of real estate, too, with fruit juices, smoothies, slushies, cold fruit teas, milkshakes, shaved ice drinks and interesting teas (like the chrysanthemum blossom tea).
There is no such person as Ellie, by the way. The name is plucked from a popular bakery in Taiwan. The vibrantly painted room has a surreal touch with several oversized Escher prints with his signature staircases going off in all directions. And unlike the acreages occupied by many Asian restaurants in Richmond, this is quite small and intimate.
ELLIE TROPICAL CUISINE
Continental Centre, 3779 Sexsmith Rd., Richmond, 604-232-0999
Open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday to Sunday; closed Monday.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007