Phekda Seafood Restaurant

Phekda is a family owned Chinese restaurant and everyone in the family works here. The restaurant was actually going to be one of my regulars last year because the service is always friendly and the food tastes good. However, the only thing is that their cream and butter sauce does not taste very good. I gave the restaurant around seven tries and the sauce always tastes bland with an overwhelming sweet taste. Well, with the usual late night Chinese restaurants I have been going to on Kingsway, I decided to give them another try. BF and I decided to try the cream and butter sauce again to see if they have improved. I will say though, the deep fried spicy salt chilli crab tastes a lot better and is pretty tasty.

The interior of the restaurant looks like a typical Chinese restaurant and is cleaner than most restaurants on Kingsway Street. The restaurant has a homey vibe and is decently sized, with around fifteen tables available.

HOT AND SOUR SOUP, CLAMS IN LEMON GRASS BROTH, SAUTEED GARLIC PEA TIPS, FRIED SHRIMP WITH HOT PEPPER AND SALT, CHICKEN IN SHIAO XING WINE, CREAM AND BUTTER SAUCE CRAB, SPOT PRAWNS, AND TAPIOCA AND SQUASH SOUP.

1/2 SPOT PRAWNS ($20.80/lb). The spot prawns taste fresh, slightly sweet and not overcooked. I never thought I would say this… but lately I have been eating too much spot prawns and am losing interest.

CLAMS IN LEMON GRASS ($7.50). The broth tastes light, not salty and has a strong lemon grass taste. The clams taste fresh but 70% of them are extremely small. The smaller clams are at the very bottom and I feel like they should not have been served (I never say anything like that too!).

FRIED SHRIMP WITH HOT PEPPER AND SALT ($7.50). The prawns are buttered, crisp, tasty and lightly battered. The seasoning has the usual peppery salt taste with a slight spiciness, and I like the added deep fried garlic. These are pretty damn good.

CHICKEN IN SHIAO XING WINE ($7.00). The chicken does not taste dry or juicy and tastes somewhat tender. The chicken has a very faint wine taste which I prefer but is bad news for those who like a heavier wine taste. I like that they pluck the chicken hairs off.

3 3/4  AND BUTTER SAUCE CRAB ($12.80/LB) AND YEE MEIN NOODLES ($6.00). The cream and butter sauce tastes extremely bland with a strong sweet taste. The sauce literally has no taste, like usual. The crab tastes fresh, meaty and not overcooked. For the noodles, the yee mein noodles are cooked perfectly but tastes bland because of the tasteless cream and butter sauce. I do recommend their deep fried peppery salt chilli crab which tastes a LOT better, but pass on the cream and butter sauce. I am sorry to say this but out of my seven to eight visits here, they really cannot make a decent cream and butter sauce.

HOT AND SOUR SOUP WITH BEAN CURD, SHRIMP, AND SHREDDED PORK ($7.50). The soup tastes somewhat average and has sort of a spicy and sour taste going on.. but not quite. The soup almost tastes bland but does have a decent amount of sliced bean curd and a nice thickened consistency. The soup came near the end because it was forgotten.

SAUTEED GARLIC PEA TIPS ($8.00). After we almost finished dinner, we had to ask about the vegetable dish because it was forgotten as well. The pea tips taste fresh, not overly salty or oily, and tastes like sautéed pea tips with a garlic taste.

COMPLIMENTARY TAPIOCA AND SQUASH SOUP. The soup has a perfect thick texture, tastes creamy as well as milky, and has a good amount of squash and tapioca. This is probably one of my all time favourite dessert soups! I felt bad that we had to ask for it but then I felt better since the table beside us only ordered two dishes, and they were given the soup… plus, they also asked for extras.

POSITIVES

- Friendly family owned restaurant

- Peppery salt and chilli dishes are pretty good

- Cooks try to go easy on the salt and oil

- Open late night

- Restaurant is cleaner than most on Kingsway

NEGATIVES

- Cream and butter sauce desperately needs improvement

LITTLE THINGS

- I would come back if I have never been here before

Food: 2.5/5

Service: 3/5