Hope everyone is enjoying their first days of 2015! So on NYE, my family and I decided to drive to downtown to get dinner, and after many suggestions, we settled with Tropika since it has been some what popular on instagram and among my friends. Personally, I really like Malaysian/Singaporean cuisine, especially its unique sweet and spicy taste (ex, laksa).
Sorry I forgot to take pictures of the restaurant, basically it's located beside cactus club, and you will see its bright orange sign once you get there. The restaurant is usually busy, so be expected to wait about 20-30 minutes if you go between 6:00pm-8:30pm.
(Pictures found on google)
First, we ordered 2 Roti Canai ($2.95/each 4.5/5) and 6 Satays ($1.30/each 6minimum) , I think these 2 appetizers would probably be Tropika's signature appetizers, and according to other Vancouver foodies, they are usually consistent. (depends on the location).
The Roti is good with the sauce (sweet&spicy, the kind that i like), it's oily but in a good way. The only reason why I didn't give it a 5 is because of its texture, I've had crispier rotis, this one is nice but it could've been flakier)
Satays are so on point, I think we ordered 2 lamb, 2 beef, 1 pork and 1 chicken. I only had the lamb and the pork. The meat tastes tender and juicy, and the sauce is very unique, it is once again, sweet and spicy, but they added chunks of peanuts to create its rich, creamy & nutty flavour.
Overall, I was very happy with these 2 appetizers, but I've heard that the satays taste worse at its richmond location, and could be inconsistent, but not usually.
Now on to the drinks! it's NYE, We had to order some drinks to accompany the new years vibe, since my sister is allergic to alcohol, we ordered one cocktail and one mocktail.
Bahia ($7.50 4/5) is a drink that tastes ALOT like Pina Colada, it is rum blended with pineapple juice and coconut cream, so it's basically pina colada, but milder.
Ice age ($5.00 4.5/5) is a mix of lychee slush and coconut juice, it has a unique tropical taste, I liked this one better than Bahia.
Chinese people like to order a lot of seafood for special occasions, so my dad ordered the K.L. crab (I think it is $62 or $22/lb) and Sambal Mussels ($14.95). But unfortunately, my sister and I are usually not a huge fan of seafood so we didn't really touch these 2 dishes. The crab didn't taste that well, and its shell got stuck between my teeth, so i wasn't very happy about it, and gave the rest of my crab legs to my dad. I had one mussel, it was okay, but my parents really liked it.
Coconut Seafood Fried Rice ($14.95 3.5/5)
I was debating between this and the pineapple fried rice, but I chose this one instead because I have had the pineapple fried rice at Banana Leaf and wanted to try something new. sighhh, but it tastes bland, this dish is very plain and lacks ingredients, the coconut cream on top tastes nice though.
Desserts
Most of their desserts can be served hot or cold, My mom ordered the hot Pulut Hitam (right)($4.50 4.5/5), if you like black/purple sticky rice, then you will probably like this dessert. I ordered cold Burbur Chacha (left) ($4.50 4.5/5), my dessert has a funny name that's why I ordered it, But it tastes flavourful with coconut milk, and a different variety of yams, I didn't try my mom's dessert, but I have had the same ones before, they usually taste really good, My mom and my sister liked it as well.
Ps. the Burbur Chacha is actually purple since it has purple yam, but the picture was taken before i mixed the dessert so it looks all white and milky.
Overall Experience:
It was a good dining experience at Tropika on Robson, the restaurant has a busy and loud atmosphere, but again, in a good way. The service was great for its category and I really liked our server. I would definitely revisit and use the $5 coupons that they gave us!
