I came to Cafe D'Lite with a friend after a long absence; might have been when they were in their old location even. We both ordered Hainanese chicken laksa and a curry beef brisket on rice to share. I remember the laksa being spicier which I kind of missed but it still tasted pretty good. The beef dish had similar flavours to the soup and not enough curry for my taste; I think it also used to have a stronger curry flavour.

Perhaps they are watering their dishes down to attract a more west side audience? This is all conjecture on my part but I still enjoyed the food. The service was a little surly to be honest; no smile, no water or tea refills, cutlery in a pile on the side of the table, etc. I don't expect much but at least treat me like a guest that you want to stay for a meal perhaps?

Anyways, I am sure I will be back in another 6 months or so when I get a laksa craving on a rainy day.

Ive been here a few times, and if its not for the great food that they offer, i would not go back. The service is so poor that it makes me think twice about returning. I went here with a few friends, and not one of us was greeted nicely by the waitress. I understand she was busy but a smile would go along way. With that said, IMO they do have the best chicken rice and laksa in vancouver. Portion is abit on the small side but the quality is definitely there. I do reccommend this place if you are craving for a nice bowl of laksa but be warned, service is terrible!

I used to be a frequent customer for the old Cafe D'Lite (Location: A block down from this current store), where it was small and always crowded. Although the new store is more spacious and has more tables, I think they're food quaility and size portions went down. They used to be well-known for their fulfilling portions and excellent quality food at cheaper prices. I have to admit though, they still are the best in Vancouver, but compared to what standard it can reach, it's not at that level anymore. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaning about the price increase, it's understandable in this economy but I don't think I deserve to pay $1 for a plate of chil/green wasabi sauce or pay $4 for a lemon coke. I just wanted to order something a little "extra" like maybe a little more soy sauce (the sauce they use for the hainanese chicken on on rice) and I am required to pay $1 more?!? It's just sauce. Take out orders, I have to pay for the mandatory sauces, and even the soup.

All I know is that this store used to go by their food and not by the prices. Just cause they've moved to another store doesn't mean that they have to bloodsuck your money out of you. I would go there again knowing that eating just a plate of chicken rice or laksa would cost me approxiamately $12-$16/person.

Once again, another business that forgot how they started and the objective to their morals.

the hainanese chicken here is tasty, maybe not the best, but good nonetheless. the mound of chicken rice i got was mushy in the middle, but didn't matter with the tasty chicken. i don't like their puree'd version of the ginger&green onion oil/sauce, but again the chicken stands out. will go back again to try some of the noodle soups.

It's sort of a thing for me to try out all the hainanese chicken whenever it's on the menu and this place certainly serves an almost outstanding dish. It is one of two places (Banana Leaf) that is on my picklist if I have a craving for such. However, the chicken itself is only adequate and half of the merit is given on the serving style (it's all cut up into mouth-size pieces and set around a blob of chicken broth rice like a sunflower.)

Despite what other reviewers say, I find the service good for a cafe/bistro, and the atmosphere is comfortable, again for this genure of establishment.

Friends have rave about the hainanese chicken rice for ages and finally decided to try it earlier this week.

One word: DISAPPOINTING.

I ordered the nasi lemak which was a whopping $8.50 for coconut rice, peanuts, sambal, egg and anchovies. I asked if I could add some curry chicken with it and the additional price was $3. $11.50 for nasi lemak which you can usually get in Malaysia (curry chicken incl) for CAD$2. (I was born and raised in MAlaysia)

I don't mind paying for good food but the nasi lemak was bad. Coconut rice was too mild. Sambal was still cold (straight out of the fridge). Only 3 pieces of curry chicken ($1 a pc!!) which btw, tasted like left over hainanese chicken dipped in curry sauce. Egg was overeasy and badly cooked. Bad Bad.

My sister ordered the infamous hainanese chicken rice. Not bad, but didn't exactly blow me away.

Service... wasnt much of a service. The girl didnt understand me when I wanted to add curry chicken to my nasi lemak, or curry chicken rice but paired with coconut rice instead of regular rice. Kept telling me that the menu is set and the price is different. I told her I didnt mind paying, but she insisted in suggesting that I order the curry chicken rice ($9.50) as well as the nasi lemak ($8.50).

Overall, overpriced for less than mediocre food. Wouldnt go back. Would recommend Mini Malaysia instead.

I guess the name says it all, it is a Cafe and wouldn't expect much more. Good chicken and that's what they are known for, agree a bit on the expensive side but good quality. Noodles are average with the Laksa better than the non Laksa noodles. The veggie selection is a bit slim and the soup quality not very good. Good selection of iced drinks. Overall, a bit pricey for what you would expect to pay.

My friend brought me there the other day as I was craving some Hainenese Chicken. Probably one of the best in Vancouver. Much better than the rest. Laksa was also excellent. Great service with very friendly smiles.

I was really excited to try the Hainanese chicken due to the reviews I've read about its excellency as well as from a recommendation by a friend's friend. Ok, the portion was inadequate to say the least. If you tried to reconstruct it, you _might_ be able to rebuild half of a spring chicken but definitely not "half" of anything else. The skin-to-meat ratio isn't good at all. Lots of fatty skin with very thinly sliced meat, again, suspiciously of spring sized poultry. Also, the fact that they choose not to use quality chicken (free-range or otherwise), it already left it lacking in the Hainanese flavours except the sauces that go with it are pretty good. No chicken-fat coated rice offered along with it nor in the menu is fine--so there's "white rice" (plain) and "yellow rice" (ok, perhaps those are flavourless ginger bits mixed in but it still came off quite bland--just yellow in colour--but what anemic portions. It's fine that they don't include the nicely salt roasted peanuts with the hint of chicken fat that a lot of other places include w/ this dish, but again, it's definitely not worth the price tag. Only positive thing I have to say about this is that having the option of eating deboned chicken is quite appealing but flavour takes priority.

The curry briskets are more fat than flesh and definitely not marinated/cured with the curry as it's lacking flavour & juice that normally takes a lot of straight-up plain boiling to destroy the taste of.

Stay away from the overpriced & disappointing cold/iced specialty drinks like the chendol and especially the $4.25 iced longan drink that seems to use the cheap preserved longan fruit (very few & small at that) overwhelmed by a glass full of malted corn syrup water... oh, with cubes of ice.

It's no wonder they're located where they are as I doubt they'd be able to survive for long in the competitive Asian areas.

First of all, the ambiance is like eating in a large handicapped washroom. Also the food is expensive and not worth it, The chicken is all thigh meat and they still charge you $10 for half a chicken and 1 bowl of hainaise chicken rice. IF you want this kind of food try HUGO on Cambie and 16th!