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Chinese restuarant on the border of Vancouver and Burnaby.
Ever since International Seafood changed ownership, we've been looking for an alternate casual Chinese restaurant. Fortune Court fits the bill so far by serving up decent Chinese fare at incredibly low prices. The portions are relatively large too.
Food:We ordered a-la-carte: fish maw soup, spicy crab, peking duck (two dishes), squab and pea shoots. The soup was the most flavourful, but unfortunately the duck was lacking in crisp and taste.
Service: Our regular server from International jumped ship to this restaurant so our service was good to great the entire evening. Food came out quickly and dishes were replaced several times. Freebie dessert served to end off the meal.
Value: Sub $100 including tips and tax for a table of 5. Our meal could have been cheaper if we went with the combination dinners, but I really craved peking duck that evening. We took a take out menu for comparison and I noticed that most of their seafood dishes hovered around the $12 range; veggies $9, chow mein $6.75-$8, poultry $9. Seeing the packed house, I could see that others have already discovered the incredible value.
Ambiance: cramped and uncomfortable seating. They need to consider replacing the chairs or at least the pancake flat seat cushions. Bathroom plumbing can be improved. Looks like they repainted the walls but I wish someone had told them that pepto pink is no used in the 21st century. A plan beige would've been much nicer. Nice touch with the lone chandelier hanging.
Based on convenience, value, and adequate food quality, we will definitely not mind coming back for seconds.
We (as a threesome) have been going to the Fortune Court for the dim sum offerings for the past several years, and over that time, have got to know, much-enjoy, and really appreciate the staff and food there. Over the past few weeks, some changes have been implemented to how the dim sum offerings are ordered and presented, along with a few new additions to the dim sum menu. For us, what we have always enjoyed, has only got better. We like the new way of ordering -- pre-selecting items from a menu, rather than waiting for various carts to come by the table -- plus, we have been able to add a few new dim sum items to our favourites list.
We do dim sum at Fortune Court a couple of Saturday or Sunday mornings each month (at minimum), and always tend to select and go for the more 'regular' (ans less-expensive) dim sum menu items, and only very seldom order any of the 'special' (extra-priced) offerings. But ss said, the ordering is now done by pre-selecting what you want from a menu placed on your table. You stroke off what you want (and the quantity) and the food is brought to your table -- no more waiting for dim sum carts to pass by. If you want more, you just stoke off more on the menu ordering sheet, and it's taken away, and the process repeated. It was a bit confusing at first, as we often could not find the precise English descriptions of some of the dishes we wanted, we were offered a 'picture' menu to help!!! We've graduated from those early days now, and find it quite easy to do the selecting without pictures, and find the whole process to work well, and we find it really helps to speed up the ordering and delivery to table process for both customer and owner alike. After some awkward first steps, we've adapted well, and really like the 'new way' there!!!
We always eat well during our visits, and have never felt pressured by the staff to rush, so that our table can be cleared for others who may be waiting. Plus, we have always found the staff to be more than willing to please, when it comes to ordering (like adding more items, or even deleting items already ordered). And we know from our dim sum dining experiences elsewhere, the dim sum offerings are great value!
Here are prices 'ranges' from the current menu: "steamed" (dumplings, wraps, curds, and etc) $3.00 - $3.95, "fried & baked" (deep-fried pastries, dumplings, rolls, and etc.) $2.75 - $3.50, "rice in hot pot" (with pork, chicken, sausage, and etc.) $4.95 - $5.50, "rice flour rolls" (from plain, to meat & vegetarian) $3.00 - $3.50, "sweet dim sum" (custard tarts, pastries, tapioca, and etc.) $2.50 - $3.25, "kitchen specialties" (a long list of various meats, fish, seafoods, veggies, and etc.) $3.50 - $5.95, "chef's specialty fish broth" (rice, noodles, and various fish and seafood broths) $4.50 - $5.95, "congee" (various fish, seafood, meat, chicken, and etc.) $3.25 - $5.95/bowl, or $8.80 - $19.80/casserole. It's a big and varied menu.
The only ill-effects we have ever suffered from dining at Fortune Court is that "full and contented" feeling that comes from eating and enjoying a little too much!!
We enjoy dim sum dining at the small(er) places that cater mostly to a Chinese clientele, and have a few restaurants in and around Vancouver that we enjoy. Fortune Court though, is most-definitely our current favourite!! To us, their dim sum is great value, and a major "yum experience"!!
I find that their dim sum is alright. They have all the standard dim sum you would find in most chinese restaurants, but I do wish they offered more variety. However, I don't frequently this place offen enough to see if they had improved on selection since my last visit there.
Dinner is what I like best about this restaurant. For starters, their dinner combinations are of great value for the amount of food you get. Also, there is an English menu. A major advantage when you do not read Chinese! I find that to be rarity in many chinese restaurants where you do not get the full food selection because you can't read the menu or you have to bring someone who knows what to order/knows how to read the menu.
Food is freshly prepared. The restaurant is always busy on weekends so that is a good sign. They are willing to make changes to dishes when you ask them and they inform us in advance of the extra charges (e.g. changing the veggies to something else).
The service is pretty much what I expect from an average chinese restaurant. They clear your plates about once or twice during the course of the meal. They were quick to bring us ice water when we asked. Great value for the combination dinners. I highly recommend it over a la carte.
Ambiance is okay. Wall color is pink as mentioned in the previous review. The tables are a bit too close to each other and the place is so busy and loud. I would suggest going really early or late for dinner if you do not want to wait too long for your food to come.
I came here for a family dinner 2 weeks ago and was very surprised we've never gone here before. The food is good and very cheap. A normal 10-course meal that would cost about $300/table elsewhere only cost about $150 here. The downside of the cheap meal is that they don't come by to change your plates - they only did so about once through the meal.
Usually packed so parking can sometimes be hard to come by eventhough they have their own lot.
Would definitely recommend this place!
I went to eat dinner there, and my group of 5 were put at a table meant for 4. Then, the food took forever to arrive (probably 45 minutes) after much arguing with the manager. Then the food came, and no rice was given. So we waited another 20 minutes for the rice before we could start eating. By then, our food was cold, and we were sick of this place. Overall, this place is dirty, run down, and has been closed before due to unhygenic reasons. Never coming back and worst chinese dinner ever.
I've been here a few times and it's been the worst restaurant in Vancouver in my view:
FOOD: dim-sum quality is a disgrace to Chinese cuisine. Dinner is even worst. Everything looks stale and thrown together into a wok with any care of how it looks and how it taste.
Service: waiters are impatient and rude. Once you ask for anything more than what the waiters can endure, they'll ignore you and give you a sick look.
Ambiance: Tables are set too close to one another. Some chairs wobble, glass turntable is always sticky, carpet looks like it hasn't been washed since store opening, renovation back in summer of 2007 didn't make any difference. overall, it's not a decent place to enjoy dinner especially considering the high standards we have here in Vancouver for Chinese restaurants (eg, Richmond, downtown, Broadway, etc)
Whatever you do, do not go to this restaurant unless cheap food is what matters most for you. However, if do do decide to give it a try, take Pepto-Bismol before you go. LOL
NOTE: here's a list of restaurants to avoid based on Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (including Fortune Court Seafood Restaurant):
http://www.vch.ca/environmental/docs/food/food_closures04.pdf
| 1. | Golden Lake Seafood Restaurant (0 m) |  |
| 2. | Giuseppe's Bread and Deli, Da Vito (80 m) | |
| 3. | Tim Hortons (80 m) | |
| 4. | Rustic Llama Cafe (198 m) | |
| 5. | Oscars Pub (224 m) |  |
| 6. | La Fontana Caffe (254 m) | |
| 7. | McDonald's (265 m) |  |
| 8. | Silks Restaurant (268 m) | |
| 9. | George Royal Room (268 m) | |
| 10. | Jeromes (268 m) |
