DEER GARDEN SIGNATURES, RICHMOND

Beefballs, Ham and ramen noodles in Fish Broth.  6/6      All this for just $7.50 (soup base, noodles, toppings and drink)!


Fried fish with tartar sauce (sidedish for extra $1.50) when you order the above soup combo.




Dandan noodles with sliced brisket and fish slices.  6/6

Tender, thin slices of brisket and plenty of white fish slices, tons of siu choy and a rich, deep peanutty dan dan broth.  This really hit the spot!  I like how you can choose whatever you want for meats and veggies.  The variations are endless.  Don’t like cilantro? you can check it off the paper order menu that each person gets.  Each bowl can be customized to the individual’s preferences.

The true test of the restaurant’s broth is the fish broth.  Because it is so rich and flavourful and not even a tad fishy at all, you get a good idea at the quality of the ingredients. 

The  Deer Garden Signatures menu is a tad different from Cattle Cafe, which is located downstairs.  The differences are negligible.  Most offerings are the same.  The quality is pretty  much the same with slight nuances.  I’d say the Deer Garden Signatures ordering system is perhaps more efficient.  Each diner gets his/her own sheet to order their bowl of soup and though you can verbally do the same downstairs at Cattle Cafe, there is less chance of a screw-up this way. 

The service is not as good at Deer Garden perhaps because it is jam-packed full of people and generally has a lineup out the door.  The servers look harried and run around with huge bowls of hot soup and other mini meals.  Sometimes drinks arrive well after the kitchen has delivered the soups to our table. 

Stomach at one meal ordered a rice dish.  He loved it but found it so huge he had to pack some home.  That’s saying a lot.

The menu offerings are varied:  with steamed rice combos, curry combos, sandwiches, appies, fish soups and mini meals.  Prices are very reasonable and portions are huge.  Flavours, quality are offerings are very similar to Cattle Cafe.   Deer Garden also offers the usual HK drinks like milk tea and they offer Bubble Tea as well.

Here’s a link to the MENU. 

I would say the service is not as efficient as Cattle Cafe because of the dozen times we have been to both, we have had some difficulties at Deer Garden and not many with Cattle Cafe.  Both restaurants are always packed though and that coupled with the desire to speed diners through may have something to do with the service.  Cattle Cafe has some waiters and waitresses that have some personality though and that’s always nice.  Deer Garden seems an edge newer and shinier.  It is definitely a larger space and can accommodate more diners. My MIL insists that the fish soups have more noodles downstairs in Cattle Cafe, but I don’t know as they both were quite huge. 

For my post on Cattle Cafe, click HERE.

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