Hong Far Cafe vs Dickens Cafe at Richlane

Dickens Cafe: Chicken steak lunch special (very tender)

Hong Far Hong Kong Cafe
Phone: (905)-770-9236

Dickens Cafe
Phone: (905) 237-4726   

Located at Richlane Mall
9425 Leslie St, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3N7

I've been eating at a lot of HK Style Cafes recently, two of the most recent ones (they've been around for awhile though) were located in the same mall or building; Richlane Mall at Hwy 16 and Leslie.  One was called Hong Far and the other Dickens.  They are definitely 2 different styles of HK Cafes so I can see both doing well and given their number of years of operation, I think they have a loyal customer base.

Dickens is your upscale HK cafe that serves some typical cafe dishes like baked rice but also has steak dishes with sets that include garlic bread and a soup.  Hong Far is the more Chinese fast food/noodle and rice bowl cafe type establishment.

I actually like both places as each establishment has their own character and really depends on your mood.

Dickens is noticeably more pricey but the dishes are presented in a nicer fashion and it did taste a little better than other cafes.  I ordered a baked fish dish (a standard for me) and it was covered with a spinach mushroom sauce which was quite good.  You often don't get mushrooms in these places so i was surprised.

Dickens Cafe: Baked fish on rice with spinach and mushroom cream sauce (afternoon tea special)

The unfortunate part is the service near the end was lacking.  In this western style HK cafe, they serve the accompanying coffee/tea drink after the meal, very much like an English establishment would do.  They don't tell you this.  We waited for someone to ask us what we'd like but no one did and then it took a while to get someone's attention to put in our drink order.  It's also pricier to upgrade your drink to cold here.

Hong Far is definitely friendlier and the one reason I'd give it an extra star is because they offer a little bit of veggies with their dishes.  I ordered a fried pork chop with fried fish skin udon noodle soup.  Most other similar HK restaurants will serve you a bowl of noodles, without any greens except for a few bits of green onion, if that.  But here, I have a small amount which was really appreciated.  The pork chop was also tender and the amount of noodles was decent.

Hong Far Cafe: Pork chop with fried fish skin udon noodle

 

Hong Far Cafe: Hainan Chicken Rice (rice is actually fried rice)

Hong Far Cafe: Left- Hot milk tea, Right- Iced lemon tea (extra charge for iced drinks)

The beverages were okay.  If you get a hot beverage it comes in the classic HK cafe cup and saucer that you see often, definitely cute if you're into nostalgic tableware.

 

I'd definitely go back to both.