Potelicious is a Taiwanese food stand that has received the highest ranking among the Taiwanese people. They have gained massive traction in social media marketing. They were closed to develop new items on the menu and recently reopened, so we figure to come give it a try. Potelicious is located relatively close to Peanut’s Bubble Tea and Chef Liu Kitchen on the second-floor food court of Richmond Public Market.
Strength: Large portion food give value. Good Sausage. Juicy Chicken
Weakness: Stale fried batter
Other Taiwanese Establishments
- Chef Liu Kitchen (3 Stars)
- Myst Asian Fusion (4 Stars)
- Micha Asian Fusion Kitchen (3.5 Stars)
- Gokudo Shabu Shabu (4 Stars)
Potelicious in Public Market
The front of the store looks very conventional. It has illuminated sign for store name and menu. Entire store takes on a dark gray shade as primary color to make the vibrant food photos pop.
A view from across the atrium
Looking from across the atrium, Potelicious’ use of color and the line up in front make them stand out from the rest of the storefront.
Convenience table at ordering counter
The cashier counter looks a bit messy, but they are multi-functional. To the right, we have the ordering section. The middle part is the convenience table and you pick up your food from the left. After ordering, you get one of the laminated yellow number ticket from the center of the counter.
The Number Card
The numbering card has been used for a long time, they have de-laminated. They are not very fast in serving the food. My food was ordered when they were calling number 28. I went across the atrium to line up for a cup of bubble tea from Peanut’s Bubble Tea and came back after 5 minutes to hear them call number 29.
Potelicious or Potedlicious Hot Pot?
I’m not sure if Potelicious made a mistake on their hot pot menu by calling them Potedlicious Hot Pot or they mean to say the Pot-Delicious Hot Pot. Regardless, it’s a personal stinky tofu hot pot. Customers can choose from 4 cooking styles like griddle, stewed, braised, and spicy pot, with one choice from 4 between intestine, beef, lamb, or vegetable. This $12 personal hot pot is very cheap considering the pot size.
Spicy Stinky Tofu Hot Pot with Beef
This dish is served with a heat source below. The soup has a subtle flavor with a bit of spicy kick. I think the soup can be made with more flavour, but I appreciate not feeling thirsty from too much additive after this meal. Our sliced beef had decent thickness but stuck together as if it was cooked from one frozen piece. It was a little overcooked and has a tough texture. The pork blood was tender and there were some glass noodle at the bottom which I enjoyed.
Stinky tofu can use some improvement
Due to metro Vancouver health requirements and bacteria related reasons, restaurants cannot serve real stinky tofu. I understand the owner just had intensive research and development on the stinky tofu being served now. But to tell the truth, these stinky tofu lacks flavour and are far from authentic ones. They are just a little sour. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the large porous sealing the soup inside. If you are not used to eating Taiwanese stinky tofu, you can swap them to regular tofu.
Crispy Spicy Chicken With Rice
The $11 crispy spicy chicken with rice meal is cheaper than the hot pot. It has extremely large portion that the rice and chicken has to be placed in separate containers.
Rice with lots of topping
There are lots of toppings on the rice including marinated pork sauce, broccoli, vegetable stew, sausage, and braised egg that made me feel like I really got my money worth.
I find the rice is a little stale in texture. The marinated pork and mushroom sauce adds mild flavour to the rice. Large portion of vegetable stew has a hint of seafood flavor. Their texture is like the broccoli, firm not overcooked.
Chicken has sauce-soaked stale batter exterior
The first thing I’ve noticed about the chicken was its stale crunch. I can see the batter has a thick structure, but it is thin at some parts. Regardless the sauce making the batter stale, they don’t feel too oily. This is likely due to the sauce. It was named spicy chicken but the sour taste is more prominent. This is juicy chicken with mouthwatering acidity from the sauce.
Little Taiwanese sausage
I wondered what this is. I thought it might be a grape tomato at first, upon closer inspection I thought this was a tiny potato. I tried picking it up and the bouncy feedback on my chopsticks caught me off guard. Then I finally realized it’s a tiny Taiwanese sausage.
Interior of the sausage
I appreciate how the store owner did not slice the sausages like how most Taiwanese restaurants serve their sausages. Most of those places serve dried up sausages. Although tiny in size, this sausage retained a firm and bouncy texture. All the juices are locked inside waiting to be released. They burst into my mouth as I bite into them. The flavour profile is made of mouthwatering sweetness with a little bit of spicy kick. You must give this sausage a try.
604 Food Critic Assessment
To be honest, Potelicious’ food tastes mediocre because more than half of the items I’ve ordered lacks flavour. Their spicy sauce are tasty. Most customers probably use condiments to make up for the taste. The sausages are and chicken are tasty and I enjoyed the stinky tofu’s texture. I can understand their popularity based on their low price and large portion. You really can’t get the same food quality elsewhere for the same amount of money you’re paying here. We recommend Potelicious for people who can eat a lot, but don’t have unrealistic high expectation for the taste.
Menu
How to get in touch
- Phone: (236) 833-9666
- Address: 8360 Westminster Hwy, Richmond
- Hours: 11:00 am – 7:00 pm, Closed on Monday & Tuesday
