“Do you speak Cantonese?” the man at the next table asks, setting down his Sing Tao Daily and peering at me over the top of his reading glasses.

I shake my head.

“Then why do you come to a Chinese cafe? Why don’t you eat at Tim Hortons?”

I smile at him. “That would be too boring.”

He smiles back, but quickly turns serious. “Maybe you don’t like this food,” he worries.

I shrug. “But maybe I do.”

It’s 7:30 a.m. in Richmond, British Columbia, the suburb just south of Vancouver.

Along Number 3 Road – the four-lane main street jumbled with Asian malls, restaurants, and new apartment towers – it’s early-morning quiet, except for the whir of the SkyTrains passing overhead.

When I turn down normally bustling Alexandra Road, the shades are still drawn at most of the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean eateries that give this four-block strip its nickname: “Food Street.”

Inside the brightly lit Kam Do Bakery, though, it’s already busy. Plates clatter. Newspapers rustle.

If it weren’t for the glass panels etched with water lilies and jumping koi that separate the plum-vinyl booths, and the conversations I overhear in Cantonese and Mandarin, I could be at Denny’s, instead of in a Hong Kong-Style cafe.

Except at Denny’s, no one would care why I’m here for breakfast.

The older man wearing a dark windbreaker at the table on my opposite side wants to chat, too. He sips his milky coffee and advises that you can ask for as many refills as you want.

He tells me that he moved to Vancouver 25 years ago from Hong Kong, and he just moved again to Richmond, after selling his Vancouver house for $1.5 million.

“If I’d waited and sold this year instead,” he muses, “I’d have made $500,000 more.”

He shakes his head, “But you never know. You never know.”

I turn back to Man #1 and ask if he has a favorite food here. He laughs nervously.

“No, really,” I say. “What would you suggest that I eat?”

There’s a long pause while he thinks.

“Have a bun,” he finally recommends. “Maybe you’ll like the bun.”

Looking across the other tables, I see three types of breakfasts.

Bowls of thin ramen-style noodles in broth, topped with fingers of pink ham or mounds of shredded pork.

Sandwiches on thick pillowy white bread, bright yellow butter oozing from inside, surrounding more pink ham.

And eggs. Served with buns.

I choose the Hong Kong version of bacon and eggs. My perfectly over-medium eggs come with two thin pork chops – a bit chewy but meaty and hot. The bun is soft, golden, and slightly sweet.

“You’re right about the bun,” I tell Man #1. “I do like it.”

Man #2 asks if I’ve been to Hong Kong, and I say I have, several years ago on my way to China. He tells me he still misses Hong Kong, but he has a better life in Canada.

The air is fresh here, he says. There is good opportunity. And life is more free.

He smooths his gray hair, picks up his check, and scoots out of his booth.

“Nice to meet you,” he says. “Remember, more coffee is free, too.”

I can’t leave without sampling the pastries, neatly lined up in the display case out front.

I try a date cake and a red bean cake, but my favorite is the “wife cake” (Lao Po Bing 老婆饼), a flaky golden pastry with a slightly sweet, gelatinous filling made from candied winter melon.

Tim Hortons?

Sorry, but it’s no contest.

If you go…

Kam Do Restaurant & Bakery is at 8391 Alexandra Road, Richmond, BC, 604-231-9216. You can walk from the Canada Line (either Aberdeen or Lansdowne station) in about 15 minutes.

Kam Do has a second bakery-only location near the Richmond-Brighouse SkyTrain station at 6211 No. 3 Road, Richmond, 604-284-5611.

What’s the best advice—food or otherwise—you ever got over breakfast? Please leave a comment and let us know.

And if you’re a food blogger, join the fun! Here’s all you have to do to link your post to WanderFood Wednesday.

Photo credits:
Real estate photo by Roland (flickr)
Coffee cup photo by Odolphie (flickr)
All other photos ©Carolyn B. Heller

The locals know all the hotspots. On a trip to Eugene, Oregon, my wonderful hosts introduced me to Cafe Yumm.

This little restaurant tucked away within  a small shopping area, serves up fresh ingredients, mostly combining grains and vegetables with some out of this world special sauces.

I recently noticed that my local Whole Foods now carries Yumm! Sauce, Yippee! See if your local store carries it.

I doubt that my own version will look as beautiful as the Yumm Bowl pictured above, but I’m sure gonna try!

Life’s Short, Eat Well!