Sofie P.
Yelp
The food is fine, but let me tell you about the experience i had with the Operations Manager, Don Hua.
I emailed about a bad experience I had at the Granville location, as follows:
First, I ordered 2 bowls. I didn't want mushrooms or shallots on mine so my friend said to put them in hers. There was no cutlery that didn't have plastic of some sort, so I found some paper-wrapped chopsticks at another stall. Then, when we went to pick up our food, not only were the containers plastic yet again, but the shallots, mushrooms, and my peanut sauce (which I DID want) were placed in a smaller plastic container instead of directly on the second bowl. When I went back to get the sauce on my bowl instead, the staff used my chopsticks to help pour it, threw them out, and then opened up a pair of theirs so I would have a fresh pair. This kind of behaviour is incredibly wasteful and mindless.
His response?
"As we are a small mom and pops restaurant we try our best to do what we can without breaking the bank and giving our customers food at a reasonable price... We get in 1000 [plastic] bowls at $17.89. Like I said, we would break the bank and be out of business within 6 months of changing over."
I suggested they do it a small piece at a time, because every little change helps. I suggested Chau team up with other stalls at Granville Island market for bulk ordering, since you save the more you buy, and there are several stalls on the island that should be switching over to compostable dishes as well. I was met with excuse after excuse.
So, not worth it to Chau to switch over to more eco-friendly containers. As I stated in my email to him, "Vancouver is supposed to be the Greenest city in Canada by 2020." As an earth-lover and proud Vancouver resident, I would love to choose the mom and pop shops over chains like SMAK and Freshii, but if it's going to make my footprint bigger, I will always choose the more eco friendly restaurant.
Chau even has a claim on its site that they "take initiative in food security, sustainability, consciousness and education", but you can't claim to be truly sustainable when you buy the least eco-friendly option to save a buck.