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Yan Yan is a small Chinese restaurant with an extensive menu and very friendly owners.
While the Lower Mainland may have hundreds of small east asian restaurants, most are unheralded and few are reviewed. In my experience, most serve adequate or passable food but few transcend the level of background sustanance (not that there's anything wrong with sustanance). Yan Yan is an expception to the rule. It is typical insofar as it is small and physically nondescript, but it excels with its food and service. The hostess / owner is very sociable and just a little bit of a smart ass. The cook / owner's name is Yan Yan and he stays in the background. They serve live crab: all the crabs, I was told, are also named Yan Yan. Speaking of crabs... this seems to be the house specialty. Served 5 different ways, a 2 lb crab costs $14.80. I tried the ginger - onion style and have nothing but praise for its preparation. If crab isn't your cup of tea, try one of the other 215 items on the menu. That's right, 215. These people know how to cook! And cheap as borscht too. Enjoy.
This is not the establishment one would willingly choose. If you happen to stumble upon it, please reconsider your choice and get a Subway sandwich or buck-a-slice pizza. Why this "restaurant" is still in business is beyond me. It's dirty, as evidenced by the full hefty bag the cook/hostess led me to sit beside, and the full view of the baby's highchair with congealed food morsels attached to its side.
There are bathrooms cleaner than the dining area.
When the food arrived I was disgusted by the sight, let alone the taste. The wonton soup looks like ditch water, and the main course was not only visually horrible, but probably tasted like the contents of the garbage bag I was originally seated beside. I should know because I was so hungry I actually ate it. Well, at least most of it. Heat up a frozen dinner before choosing this place, please. Save yourself the disgust and potential food poisoning. I hope this place abandons ship and lets a decent establishment take its place.
When accompanying a mobility-impaired senior to New West for medical appointments, food logistics can be a bit of a hassle. Ordering in Chinese food seemed be a good strategy and I collected a Yan Yan menu from the desk.
Alas, either we made a poor selection of dishes or the cook had an off night or this restaurant has gone seriously downhill. This was not only the worst Chinese meal I've had in my life but one of the most vile meals I have ever eaten or tried to eat period.
How can you mess up wonton soup? Well the broth was a scummy gray colour, it was heavily flavoured with salt, possibly to mask the taste of the soup. The wonton filling tasted like it was mostly gristle and dubious bits of meat. The chicken dish had greyish swollen chicken bits that tasted as though they had been soaked in starch a long time and a few lonely bits of pineapple and pepper were floating in a disgusting brown sauce that tasted as though it was composed of various leftovers. The Chinese broccoli was a refreshing bright green. Although I love crisp veggies I could hardly eat the tree trunk like stems.
On the plus side, delivery was quick, it didn't cost a lot and the delivery person seemed like a nice guy.
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