Restaurant Review: What8ver Cafe

By Sherman Chan,
Special to The Post

If you haven't figured this out by now, I'm pretty good friends with Mijune (aka Follow Me Foodie). But with her success as a foodie master, it is increasingly hard to track her down and meet up. Maybe she is trying to ignore me? I guess I do not take a hint very well.  What8ver the case (no, that is not a spelling mistake, just read on...), I was able to meet her at What8ver Cafe for some drinks and snacks (on a night that she had already consumed 3 dinners...).
With all the “toast” craze these days, I wonder if people actually realize that toast is not something new especially with Taiwanese cuisine (and HK-style cafes). On that note, I tried the Pizza Toast topped with real mozzarella, cheddar and dry Italian spice mix. They didn't skimp with the cheese (which was not greasy). It was a nice compliment to the crispy toast. We also got the Strawberry Macaron Toast Box. It was topped with strawberry ice cream, strawberries, a strawberry macaron, whipped cream and came with honey. The surprising part was the macaron as it was crispy and light with a soft chewy centre.
For my beverage, I got the Mango Slush with coconut jelly with less sugar, which was a prudent decision. Served in a large jar with a considerable amount of jelly, it had the right with a very mild mango essence. On our second visit to this café, we kept to the theme of toast by getting the Toast with Condensed Milk. This version was appreciably more crispy and firm on the outside while still soft on the inside. Since condensed milk can be super sweet, there wasn't too much which made the sugar level bearable.
Even during our second visit, they didn't have a few things available including the omelette. We settled for some Shaved Ice with mango pearls, lemon jelly and pudding. As much as the individual ingredients were quite bland, the drizzle of condensed milk was too aggressive. Hence, the ice was super sugary and we actually need more ice to balance it out. From the items we did get to try, they were serviceable. The toast box was probably the most memorable of the bunch. Unlike most internet reviews, we didn't find the service bad.

Sherman Chan is the #1 ranked food blogger on the Vancouver portal of Urbanspoon.com. Read more of his reviews at www.shermansfoodadventures.com.

1108 – 8328 Capstan Way, Richmond, BC
Tel: 604-689-0073

The Good:
• Decent stuff
• Open late
• Decent service for us

The Bad:
• Some items run out way too early
• Not a whole lot of seats