Prata Man Restaurant, where have you been hiding all this time? I love Malaysian food so of course I was ecstatic to try out this Richmond spot.
It’s located in the Oaks Plaza which houses a couple of other restaurants (Pho Han, Manzo Japanese Restaurant, TTOB and Kongee Dinesty).
Hours.
Cash only but you already knew that right?
I’ve been twice now; both times were for dinner. Service is no frills but they do bring you out tea and water.
I’m actually surprised that their chalkboard specials menu changes (slightly).
The menu is short and sweet with a total of 28 items. Love it. There’s also a small drink menu.
A takeout menu is available that has slightly cheaper prices (you save ~$1.00 per dish).
Trip #1
We dropped in on a Friday evening (around 7:30pm) and the place was packed. We put our name on the waiting list but didn’t have to wait long for a table to open up.
Hainanese chicken (#1) ($19.00 for half)
It comes with three bowls of chicken oil rice, ginger soup and two sauces (chili sour sauce and ginger green onion sauce).
Chicken oil rice is bomb. I could eat two of these solo.
The chicken was tender and moist. Really good.
Pretty sure 99% of the people put in an order and for good reason.
BBQ satay (#4) ($10.00 for half dozen)
You can choose which meats you want but we tried all three (pork, beef and chicken).
The skewers are minuscule but still tasty and tender.
Dip into the peanut sauce and repeat.
Prata bread with curry beef (#11) ($10.50)
Beef was succulent and tender while still having a good bite.
The prata bread is perfect to dip into the curry sauce.
There’s also a couple pieces of potatoes floating around.
Mee goreng (#22) ($9.50)
This almost looked like spaghetti to me when they dropped it off. The sauce is sweet (pretty sure from using ketchup).
Noodles had a good bite to them but this was my least favourite dish.
Trip #2
Second time, I came with a group of 5. Not busy on a Sunday evening (around 7:45pm).
Free range Hainanese chicken (#2) ($32.00 whole)
We got the last order for their chicken.
This one is the fancier/baller option of the two and came with 5 bowls of rice. Delicious.
Sauces are delicious accompaniments.
The ginger soup was full of ginger flavour. Give me another bowl please.
Curry fish ball & fish maw (#10) ($6.25)
It’s more of an appetizer dish but good. Five pieces of fish balls and maw (mainly a texture thing).
Roti with curry sauce (#12) ($6.25)
Roti was hot, crispy and fluffy. Perfect dipped in their curry sauce.
Always get an order!
Baku teh (#15) ($9.50)
Another staple that I love but their baku teh wasn’t memorable. You only get two small portions of ribs and a bowl of steamed rice.
Broth was medicinal but not in a flavourful way.
Laksa (#16) ($9.50)
This is why I wanted to come for a second visit. It came with a hard boiled egg, chicken, bean sprouts, tofu puffs and noodles. Laksa is my favourite but this one was different; broth wasn’t that tasty and lacked in depth and complexity. The hunt for good laksa continues.
Mee goreng (#21) ($9.50)
Someone at our table wanted this. Again, my least favourite dish of the night.
Finally found a solid Malaysian spot! Stick with their Hainanese chicken. Cash only.
Prata Man Restaurant
http://restaurantwebexpert.com/PrataMan/
#180, 9020 Capstan Way
Richmond, BC
(604) 278-1348