Cafe 28

Reviewed Location:
10 East Wilmot Street
Richmond Hill, ON

This restaurant is one of those places that serves chinese-style western cuisine. It's run entirely by chinese people, as are most of the customers that come here. The place is actually quite small, but the ambience of dimmed lights and elevator music makes it kind of comfy. While the menu is mainly dominated by western style items, they also have several chinese dishes like baked casseroles and fried rice. We decided to order a mixture of both styles of cuisine.

The western dishes came in set dinners, served with garlic bread, soup or salad, drink, and dessert. They ran out of garlic bread so we this potato patty instead.

Left: Salad with Fruit, Right: Clam Chowder

It's hard to see from the picture since the soup was unstirred, but it actually came with a lot of clams. The soup was the right consistency, but didn't taste creamy. Most likely thickened with cornstarch. The salad was your regular bagged salad with some fresh grapes, diced melon, and strawberries. The dressing was the most interesting part. It was a tangy strawberry dressing.

Left: Lemon tea + Egg Custard Pudding, Right: Potato Patties

Not much to comment here. Everything tastes exactly as it probably looks. Everything standard.

Top: Baked Pork Chop Rice, Left: 8 ounce steak, Right: Rack of Lamb

Though the plate used to serve the baked pork chop rice was very hot when it was served, it didn't taste like it was baked at all. It was no different than sauce over rice. The sauce itself was very salty, and the pork chops were slightly dry. Definitely did not enjoy this dish. The two grilled meat dishes however, were much better. You could tell the meat isn't top notch quality, but it was cooked perfectly to our "medium rare" order. I actually really enjoyed the mash potatoes that came with both these dishes. They were these partially mashed red skinned potatoes with a garlicky butter sauce. They were so good that I opted to eat the potatoes instead of the meat near the end of the meal when I was getting full. I think that says a lot considering I grew up being taught that you should always eat the most expensive stuff (ie. the meat) when you start getting full.

I actually quite enjoyed this place. The prices were actually rather inexpensive given the food quality and service. It's no classy hotel meal experience, but I'd say its definitely on the higher end of the moderate price range restaurants.