Munchie Adventure: The NorthHouse Restaurant 鄉香小館, Coquitlam

I remember coming here when it first opened and found the food not up to par, so never returned. Came with a friend for dinner a few years after and found some improvement, so here I am, another few years later, giving it another trial run =) This is located right before you enter the Henderson shopping centre parking lot =)

Restaurant: The NorthHouse Restaurant 鄉香小館
Location: 1200-1163 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam
Cuisine: Chinese, Northern Chinese
Price range: <$10 for lunch specials




Date of visit: April 2, 2013
Atmosphere: 3/5
Staff/service: 3.5/5
Food variety: 5/5
Food quality: 3/5
Buck worthy? 4.5/5

After ordering, we were given soup, I guess it's on the house because I don't remember reading anywhere about soups with what we ordered. It was a clear egg white soup with random veggies, not bad to start off our meal with.

The first thing to arrive was their infamous Ground Pork Sauce on Rice ($4.99). Rice was overcooked and the meat was too tough. I expected it to be oily, but because the rice was so soft, the oil didn't coat nicely and ended up being a mess =( Flavors were good though.

The Stick Rice Set ($7.99) was one of their lunch special specials (because it's normally $8.99, but on sale today =D). It included pork hock with beans in braised sauce. There were only three pieces, which worked out for us, but I felt it was too salty on its own. Loaded with beans though!

With the combo there was a soup, and mystery balls (before I found out). I was pleasantly surprised, they were fishballs with pork inside. Pork tasted fresh, fishball wasn't as chewy as I like, but love the idea. Soup base was a light seaweed soup.

I suppose this is the highlight of the set, Sticky Rice! This was by far the best thing in the meal. I loved how they steamed it in the bamboo steamer, the rice was perfectly cooked and seasoned well. I didn't notice a lot of oil either, and the amount of meat in there was perfect. Too bad I couldn't fit more in me!

Their Salty Pepper Chicken ($5.75) was very fresh and not too salty, which we liked. I found the pieces of chicken to be too big, they were all attached to each other in large clusters, which made some parts under-fried and not crispy =( However, nothing different from other stores offering this dish.

I'm glad we gave them a second chance, I will definitely revisit if I have time again, maybe to try their dinner menu =) Some items weren't done as well, but the ones that were well done, were pleasant surprises. I felt bad when I was getting the bill though, since they had just started eating lunch ><" It looks family-run, since there's only one waitress up front =)