Smart N Save Cafe

This place is my go-​to joint whenever I crave authentic hk fast food. It’s definitely a hidden gem and those who visit the café usually work around the area or knew about this place through word of mouth. Some of the must orders on the menu are their drunken chicken, spam and egg sandwich, iced milk tea, and most importantly– their deep fried chicken wings! Price is moderate (don’t expect it to be dirt cheap just because of their location), but the quality of food and cleanliness of the restaurant makes the price worth its while. There is also ample parking! However, one thing that I hope they could expand on is their hours of business. They usually open later in the morning, but I would love to visit during the early hours before work to grab breakfast!

Best unique iced lemon tea anywhere! Great authentic Hong Kong style snacks. Not the cheapest, but worth every penny.

From a customer stand point: Should you want quality food at a reasonable price ANY food court or even the Night market is a viable option. They try to squeeze you for every time in your pocket. Water is not for free. Lipton instant milk tea is for $ 2.50, at the Parker Place food court the most is $ 1.50;
From a business stand point: I believe the owners who opened this café have a Doctorate Degree in Commerce. Rent is cheap since it is not at a busy intersection e.g. #3 Road. They even choose the 2^nd floor to make the rent less expensive. They cut out competition since the area is all office buildings. Had there been another eatery near by, they would have gone out of business in less than 2 days. They need not hire a chef as most of the foods are in plastic wraps, cans or bottles e.g. milk tea, shark fin soup, sesame paste & instant noodles. Foods that cannot sell or nearing the expiry at their Smart N Save market can be transported to Smart N Save Café. Everything on the menu is less then $ 10, but everything adds up incl water. Two adults have lunch can add up to $ 26 very easily (does not even incl. taxes!). Not enough money to break the bank. But given the type of food & quality of food served which can easily be purchased at Smart N Save, is it worth it?! In comparison, dinner at Glowbal would be cheap!

Best fast food place! Portions are great. Must try their iced milk tea & drunken chicken!

Awesome view and their food is very yummy too.
Must try their chicken wing and fake shark’s fin soup. Very good and no MSG. Their pork liver and beef noodles is awesome too. I drank up all the soup.
The service here is very friendly. Also, you can use We Chat to order directly and there is a picture for almost all the items. This is a new experience for me and I quite enjoy it.
I will for sure come again.

Egg Sandwich ⁴⁄₅ $ 3 ⁴⁄₅ — Soft sliced white bread but they were not toasted (at least they didn’t ask me if I want them toasted.) Can I also have the option to add cheese please? The egg wasn’t as thick as what was shown on their Facebook. I would say they used 1.5 eggs instead. I thought it says $ 5 with a hot milk tea but they charged me the original price. (Still haven’t learned the check the bill!) Not sure if it was a take out.
Hot Milk Tea $ 2.5 3.5÷5 — the tea is a little bitter and less evaporated milk than what I like.
Fake Shark’s Fin Soup $ 3 ³⁄₅ — too thick/​gluey with too much cornstarch. It didn’t come with any vinegar, pepper, or sesame oil. I thought they are must haves for the soup. Luckily I could find some, otherwise it was bland. I could Chinese mushrooms and shredded pork in it.
Mozzarella Deep Fried Shrimp Ball $ 4.5 4.5÷5 — I really liked this. Melting cheese in a shrimp ball. It’s also a little pricy for 1 piece at $ 4.5. Can you get them frozen so that I can make them at home?
Iced Lemon Tea $ 3 ⁴⁄₅ — It didn’t come with any sliced lemon but you could definitely taste the lemon in the tea. This is good because the sliced lemon will make the drink taste bitter.
pretty good for a new small business but some advice:
–food is definitely good but in a bad location. I’m sure they will have more business if it is located in the Aberdeen food court of something. I hope they can stay in business.
–they posted their daily lunch menu on their fb page without saying what time it’s being served. Is it an all-​day lunch? They just have one lunch special per day which is smart but adding some more choices would be better if they have enough business.
–They also need to post a copy of the menu on their Facebook page. (
).
–He told my food will be ready in 10 minutes. It wasn’t ready and I had to wait for another 10 minutes. So I had a little chat with one of the people working there. He said it’s pretty quiet after lunch time so they might need to do something to attract business.
–Afternoon tea hours is 2:30−5pm. Maybe extending it to 5:30pm may help. It closes at 6pm.
–Since they are the same owner with the Smart N Save Grocery Store in Landsdowne. They can provide some discount if you come after shopping or something. I’m sure some people will drop by if you promote that at the Grocery store.
–There are more seats than enough so far. Part of the area could be used as a mini grocery store. People working in the area can drop by to grab some biscuits, candies, chips, instant noodles, and etc. There is nothing like this in the area yet (with T&T coming soon).

You have to be either a die-​hard Richmondnite — even the average resident wouldn’t know this place or a Unilocaler to come across this joint. Located in industrial/​semi-​business park facing the airport on the other side of the water, I find River Road is a total secret shortcut from the craziness of No.3 road, but i digress.
Café is located on the upper floor, just one flight of stairs, free parking.
Surprisingly quite clean and bright; a typical HK-​style café but without the variety; in fact, it’s not much to choose from, less than 30 items.
Ordered the spicy laska noodles and deep fried tofu w/​eggplant, above average.
But it does get the extra half-​star for convenience sake for those who work/​live close by Richmond Oval. And loses another half-​star b/​c they don’t simply offer any tea unless you buy the hot/​cold tea/​coffee specialty drinks.
Surprisingly, accept credit cards/​debit.