Friend's BBQ Restaurant 老友記燒臘菜館

If you ever find yourself around North Road and Lougheed Hwy, you’ll probably notice the proliferation of Korean restaurants. After having Korean for a number of days in a row, I was getting a bit anxious to try something else so I wound up stopping by Friends BBQ. Friends BBQ is known for their BBQ – in fact, you can see their traditional Chinese butchery setup inside the restaurant, complete with large slabs of hanging meat. However, they also have a fairly extensive menu that includes HK-style dishes. Looking at their menu, I wanted to try some of their BBQ items and ordered their Combo with Roast Pork and Duck $12.50 plus $1.25 for a cold lemon tea. After about 5 minutes, the waitress came back and said that they were all out of duck so I asked for BBQ pork instead. Again, after a few minutes, the waitress came back and said that they were out of BBQ pork! Seriously? I wound up settling on the Roast Pork and Chicken instead. My Cold Lemon Tea and complimentary chicken soup were the first to arrive at my table. I was surprised that it took a while to bring out my order since the roast pork and chicken should have already been cooked and all they needed to do was chop it up and put it on a bed of rice keep in mind that the restaurant wasn’t busy. The siu yuk roast pork was cut on the thinner side I usually prefer a slightly thicker cut. While the skin on top was crispy, I found that I couldn’t get that nice, big, satisfying crunch due to how thin they sliced it. The pork itself was a bit salty but wasn’t too bad. The chicken chopped in the same manner that you would expect to find in a Chinese butchery was bony but the meat pieces were tender and went well with the green onion dipping sauce. While I was quite disappointed that they didn’t have BBQ duck on my first visit, I came back for a revisit the following week. This time, I did see that they had BBQ duck hanging in the display but decided to try one of their western dishes instead. The Baked Seafood on Rice $12.50 + $1.25 for a cold lemon tea again took a while to arrive to my table but I expected this since the rice had to be baked. As is usual with this type of dish, the rice on the bottom of the plate is bit dry but it’s topped with a creamy sauce that you can mix into it. The seafood included plump shrimp, fake crab sticks, squid, and white fish. Overall, a fairly good rendition. On my next revisit, I wound up ordering the Beef Brisket and Veggie Chow Mein $12.50 plus $1.25 for the Cold Lemon Tea. This item also comes with the complimentary soup. I was a bit surprised at how much beef brisket was in this dish but I thought the use of the cheap veggie distracted from my enjoyment. On the plus side, the noodles were nice and crispy but I found the sauce to be a bit too one dimensional. If you’re looking for a hearty serving of carbs and meat, this will do the trick. I decided to make one last visit to this place and ordered the BBQ Duck Noodle Soup with Wontons $8.25 + $4… well, at least I tried to. Unfortunately, they got my order wrong… twice. First, they brought out wonton noodle soup by itself and then brought out a side of BBQ pork. I told them it was supposed to be “BBQ Duck Noodle Soup with Wontons” so they took it back and brought me out a bowl of BBQ duck noodle soup after fishing out the wontons. So I had to flag them down again and they brought out a side of wontons. Seriously… it shouldn’t be this difficult. I’m not sure if it was because of the whole mix-up of the order but I wasn’t really thrilled with this dish. The BBQ duck pieces weren’t very meaty and they seemed to have been odd-shaped cuts of the duck I was expecting the kind of duck pieces that you’d get if you ordered BBQ duck from a Chinese meat store. The wontons and noodles were just meh. Service seems typical of most Chinese restaurants and they only accept credit card if your order is over $20. Note: Apparently, this location has since closed down.

Great food but service was a little faster for Chinese people. We had 3 people, my friends are Chinese lol

Food: Reasonable quality. Small portions. The roast meat is a must try, stir fried vegetables might have sand. We had rice, roasted meat platter, black pepper pork chop, preserved vegetable and duck soup, cold yellow chicken. Service: Friendly Price: Approx $10/person A friend mentioned that it's best to go during non-peak hours as the taste and quality of food goes down during peak hours. Would I recommend? Yes, the roast meat is roasted to perfection. Crispy pork skin with fat that melts in your mouth. Juicy succulent duck meat, and sweet roasted chasiew.

I love this restaurant! It has been my go-to whenever I'm in the lougheed area. It's well catered to families and I find the prices reasonable. The pick-and-choose menu where you get to pick a soup/drink, spaghetti/rice and meat options is a great option. They have great service too. :

Don't speak English and restaurant is dirty. Tried Combo #2, almond chicken had maybe 1 gram of chicken coated in a soggy greasy batter, not fully cooked, and no almond has ever touched it. Fried rice stale. Ordered chef's special chicken balls - not chicken balls at all but skin on pieces of chicken with some bones still in tossed with plain Thai sauce. I nearly choked unsuspecting there would be bones in chicken balls... The waitress didn't take off the 10% for pickup. Don't advertise a discount for pickup if you never give it. This food is going in the garbage. Will Never Go Back.

This place has great food at great prices. It’s reasonable and the portions are great! The seating is nice because people are spread out and unlike some Chinese restaurants you’re not crammed against each other. Their ‘Lai Chai’ is amazing and I fully recommend it, hot or cold. I regret not taking pictures of the food! But I had a great time with my family and we enjoyed the fried rice, fish well picked! and sweet and sour pork. The other entrees were good too but these ones stick out the best. Fish was nice, juicy and tender. Tilapia Fried rice was a good portion to share and was very tasteful. Sweet and sour pork sauce was very tasty. I had to go for seconds. We had bbq pork too, and that was delicious!!! Loved it. Read some negative reviews on this place and checked those people out here on google. Please try to keep a wider perspective when reading those kinds of reviews. Seems like people have a hard time writing constructive criticism and use google to just complain. If service is an issue, which some people find. I can understand it’s difficult when the staff is Chinese, and you don’t speak their language, but it is also reasonable for you to be a little more patient. The service isn’t bad! This place has great comfort food and a great setting for big families who want to get together. I definitely recommend it for anyone who just wants a classic Chinese dinner. That’s exactly what it is and it always hits the spot!

Friends BBQ was a very bad restaurant when we first went there in 2013 when its old restaurant Mui Garden closed. The first dish I had back then was the Sweet And Sour Pork Rice which I have a post tasted too sweet and I didn't really like it. At that time I never returned there. From the third time I went there in 2014, things got improved. The food tasted great and the prices were lowered a bit. They added Western meals at that time and added more dishes to their menu. It was a big change over the years and now and Friends BBQ is now our common place for HK Style/ Chinese Food in this area.

One of our regular HK style Cafes. They had a bit of a rough start when they transitioned from Mui Garden, but now it's a very consistent restaurant. Their mini-lunch specials are reasonably priced and a decent size. The hot drinks they don't skimp on the powder mixes, so drinks are never watery like some places. One our favorites is the "build your own noodle soup". Pick a soup base, type of noodle, and 2 types of meat or veggies. Always fresh, and never any MSG. Parking can sometimes be a zoo. The Dim Sum place next door has TONS of business, and even though some spaces are reserved for Friend's BBQ, often people cheat and park in their spots then go next door. We certainly recommend giving them a try!

Came here at an awkward time 3:30pm. Relatively quiet. Got a bbq pork rice and a French toast. Pretty standard Hong Kong style restaurant. They bbq their own duck/port and it’s largely sold out at 4pm. The bbq pork was somewhat dry but may be cause there were slim pickings by the time I arrived. The French toast is good for snack food. Typical deep fried two layer toast. There isn’t much choice for this kind of food so I’m excited to have found something. Will have to try the different foods though to figure out what’s good vs. What’s not so great. Service is not the quickest. May require an active role in flagging employees’ attention

Best Chinese bbq in Korea town! Classic Cantonese style dishes with lots of variety. Great for kids, lots of room for strollers and high chairs. My favorite is the Japanese style pork chop on rice, it even comes with the signature egg on top!