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| - Came here yesterday in a party of 6.
Asked for a recommendation from the wait staff. Was prompted to order from the standard combo meals (printed on a white bonded 8 /12 x 11 inch paper).
The standard dinner combo meals had options A- E to choose from Garlic Vermicelli Lobster (steamed), vancouver crabs, fish and something else I forgot. You can choose one of the options A-E above + two to six of the dishes in the a la carte menu for a prix fixed.
Ordered the standard Combo Meal for 4 for $68 bucks. Got the sesame chicken, fermented tofu friend tong choy, pumpkin pot, and upgraded a steamed tilipia (+$4). Also via recommendation upgraded the standard soup to a 6 person portion herbal tung tong (steamed soup) for $25 bucks. We got the sea coconut chicken soup. I mean, the place is called STEAM KITCHEN so might as well.
I checked out the place while I was waiting for the food. This place had been a home to many failed establishments. They did a nice reno job. Service was very nice. Wait staff is very friendly. Clean as well. Washroom are generously big, but for a big washroom there is only 1 stall and 1 urinal. Plus!!!! The washroom is very very clean. At least they don't store food there like some out restaurants. So the kitchen must be equally as clean so that is a Plus Plus Plus. Hmm.. Anyhow, back to the food.
Soup came first. It was a big turen. First taste: Salty. Very salty. The ingredients are premium though, silky chicken, mature chicken, lots of herbs, soup was clear, but salty. Steamed soup should be enjoyed without MSG and a little salt to taste. This one is clearly overdone.
Then the lobster came. I am not a big lobster fan but my friends seem to enjoy the vermicelli a lot. The lobsters were 1-1/2 pounds each. North American variety so the meat is not that firm. I would not have steamed my lobsters, because it comes out to be very very alkaline taste and I did not like the smell. It could be me. The other place I went to deep fried their lobsters and that removes the smell. Anyway, I ate 1 piece and that was kinda it. We left a few pieces of lobster behind, the vermicelli were all eaten.
Then the chicken came out. This is a deep fried dish. Nicely done. Not too overcooked and the texture is nice. I ate a lot of this. This place was empty at the end of the meal.
Then the pumpkin pot came. It was a very small pot... filled to the brim, but it was underwhelming. I looked at it and there wasn't much steam coming out from the top. I ate it, it was not piping hot... just lukewarm. It taste... salty. My friends took this in a doggy bag home.
Next the vegetables came. Very generous portion. The fermented tofu was generous too. Nicely done. I ate a lot of this one. We left a few pieces at the end of the meal.
Then the fish came. This is one big fish... about 2- 3 pounds.Make the $4 very worth it. It was steamed and the sauce was with fermented beans. Don't really like the fermented beans but I like the sauce. This is the once that actually failed the grade. The fish was uncooked at the deepest part. The scales were not completed removed and there are portions where the fish scales were so thick, I could not continue chewing and had to remove it from my mouth. We sent the fish back, and it came back microwaved. Sigh... we did not continue eating this fish. We left half a fish on the table.
We got a glass of iced tea, and iced coffee. Hong Kong Style, not bad. I would had preferred if they gave me syrup instead of pre-mixing it because it tends to be too sweet when the staff does it.
I particularly liked that they gave puh erh tea for dinner, because the caffeine in that is much less than the green variety which tends to keep me up at night.
The fruit platter was watermelons. My kid liked that a lot. I had a slice, quite good.
All in all, for a place that is called Steam Kitchen, I found their steamed items very tough to accept. The steamed soup was too salty, steam lobsters where too akalinic, and the steamed fish was uncooked. All the other items where quite okay, except they are all very salty. very very very salty. Be prepared to drink lots of water, or order more rice to bring it down. If the place was called something else, I would have added one more star.
The bill was over a $118 bucks, for 6. My advice is to stay away from the herbal soup. The standard soup looked pretty good (it was pork ribs and watercress) and I think we would have enjoyed that more.
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