#21 food networking at coco hut !

i’ve always wanted to get to know a couple of restaurant owners in order to be their restaurant ambassadors. thankfully, raymond’s parents opened ” coco hut ” 6 months ago. i have been wanting to head to the restaurant since the easter weekend but to no avail. it was not until last thursday that kenny, iva, janet, edwin and i decided to go there. raymond came down straight after work even though he wasn’t scheduled to work. how nice !

coco hut
8328 capstan way
richmond, bc
(604) 270-3368

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i was really glad to know that coco hut was located in union square. union square consist of many of my favorite restaurants and entertainment places such as yavis cheesecake club and kfever respectively. guess i have one more restaurant to add to my list of union square favorites. well, jason was our sever that day. he was very friendly to us and didn’t pull a long face when we didn’t make an order for an hour. when raymond came over, he helped us order a variety of dishes that customers frequently order. if we didn’t have raymond, we would probably order hainanese chicken rice only because it was their specialty.

raymond was very generous as he served us each a cup of pearl barley tea without charging us. also, our individual plates were filled with vibrant colors while the other customers were serve with only white plates.

food served are in chronological order …

prata bread with curry chicken – CAN$6.95

i could smell the aroma of the curry chicken from far away. it is  something you would not miss out ! even though the curry sauce was  not spicy enough, it is very flavorful. the prata was also well done as it was not too crispy or soft. the two combined together was simply divine !! i couldn’t stop mixing the curry chicken with the prata. it was because of this that i didn’t get a piece of the bak kut teh. serves me right for being so greedy and slow.

rating: 4/5★

bak kut teh – CAN$6.25

i did not get a bite of this. it was edwin’s request to order. even though raymond already warned us that the bak kut teh is not their specialty, edwin decided to continue ordering it. from his point of view, it is not as authentic as the one in singapore. on the other hand, my other friends who have yet to try bak kut teh said that the bak kut teh tasted very good.

HOT FAVORITE – hainanese chicken rice – CAN$6.25

coco hut definitely lives up to its name for its hainanese chicken rice. the chicken was tender and i couldn’t stop consuming it. the rice tasted authentic. i’ve always visited cafe d’ lite for its chicken rice as i thought that it serves the best hainanese chicken rice. coco hut serves better in my opinion. well, i guess i know where i can go if i have cravings for chicken rice the next time !

rating: 5/5★

kang kong

did not have much of an impression of kang kong because i usually have spicy ones. this complements all the other dishes we have though so it was essential to our order.

rating: 2.8/5★

BBQ satay skewers: half dozen – CAN$7.95

the bbq skewers we had are either pork, chicken or beef. i had the pork and chicken one only. i prefer the chicken bbq skewers to the pork skewers. this was a good refreshing appetizer to welcome me back to singapore as it gave me a feeling of being closer to home with it’s slight authenticity.

rating: 3.5/5★

char kway teow

on our second visit to cocohut, mike ordered char kway teow and it didn’t turn out to be what we expected. it was really bland and i was a disappointed. hawker’s delight’s char kway teow taste tonnes better. i think more sauce are needed for this dish.

rating: 2/5★

[EDITED] LAST UPDATED: OCT 6TH 2010

i brought mike, fae and jason on my second visit to cocohut. we were the first customer for the evening but the restaurant was flooded with people there after. well, still loving the curry prata i ordered but i was pretty disappointed with the mee goreng and char kway teow jason and mike had respectively.

mee goreng

if you have tasted the authentic mee goreng from singapore/indonesia, please do not try this for fear that you will be disappointed. more spices and sauces are needed to give flavor to the food. the tofu is too hard for my liking.

rating: 1.5/5★

even though raymond wasn’t there, he called jason to give us a 10% discount for our meals so i was a rather satisfied customer. i’ll continue patronizing cocohut and give my true opinions on new dishes i try.

[/EDITED]

behind the scenes

raymond was eating with us and even though we exceeded the time for dining (as it was closing), i got a tour to the kitchen and washing areas of the restaurant and i got to give credit to raymond’s parents for keeping the area so clean. i would be at ease coming back for more singaporean cuisines since i already know that i will NOT vomit a bathtub after consuming my meal there. the best thing is i gotta know raymond’s parents, raymond himself and the restaurant’s sever, jason.

your official ambassadors

we, hereby promote ” coco hut ” to everyone !! anyone that goes to the restaurant with me will get a 10% discount

PAYMENT METHOD: CASH ONLY
CANADA LINE TO ABERDEEN & WALK 7 MINUTES TO UNION SQUARE
DELIVERY AVAILABLE
PLENTY OF PARKING SPACES

my overall ratings are as follows:

ambiance: 9/10 (spacious seating arrangements and nice place to hang out until closing)
service: 10/10 (100% ATTENTION, FREE BEVERAGES, DISCOUNTS ON TOTAL BILL)
food (taste & appearance): 6.27/10 (homecooked food feel)
value: 7.5/10 (so much cheaper than other restaurants that serve singaporean/malaysian food – think tropica & banana leaf)

total: 8.19/10★

in conclusion, i strongly recommend coco hut for people who are craving singaporean food, especially hainanese chicken rice, curry prata and bbq skewers ^^

i have been to seattle twice within this month and i have so many reviews to write about it. i can’t wait to share it with you guys so till then !

swisscheese*

Tags: bak kut teh, bbq satay skewers, coco hut, kang kong, laksa, pearl barley tea, prata bread with curry chicken, singapore fried vermicelli, singaporean cuisines in vancouver