Located just a few blocks west of Coquitlam Centre, M Cafe has its take out service elevated to a science! I was totally impressed! Upon arrival, I was promptly greeted and advised as to my order status (having previously ordered by telephone). Three or so of the staff were operating the nerve centre at a table just inside the door. They had all the bags, implements, condiments all organized for quick packing of your food as it arrived already in take out containers from the kitchen where gloved and masked cooks worked their magic. I was in and out of their space in a flash.
We got home and began carefully assembling separately packaged ingredients into dishes. The first that we figured out (and devoured) was a soup combination with sate beef, fish ball and ramen noodles in Laksa. This frankly inspired combination was delicious. Its been a while since we had laksa and this was coconutty and rich!
Next up was the considerably less confusing, Lotus Leaf Wrap with sticky rice and assorted Chinese sausage and meats. I love the slightly tobacco flavour that the leaf imparts. I'm not sure why I don't pack my work lunch this way.
Black Pepper Shredded Beef with Pan Fried Noodles was another tasty dish. The black pepper sauce was very good with just a bit of bite. There was lots of beef and even more of the noodles. These were of the crispy sort which I wasn't expecting but they soaked up the sauce and made this into a wonderful thing.
Finally, we had one of their lunchtime stone hot pot specials. This was Sliced Lamb Szechuan Spices with Spicy Szechuan Sauce on the side. It came over rice with a fried egg which fared well considering that it was first transported then eased into our serving bowl. More importantly, this was also very tasty. Just a nice hit of spice but not the peppercorn thing that we were sort of hoping for. Somehow, we had three dishes that came with drinks and I had not checked the options properly. Remember to do that if you decide to get take out from here. The menu has a myriad of possibilities.
Another sad, empty but comfortable looking dining room. I can't imagine that we won't be back someday to dine in. BTW, all this food came to less than $50 and Marie and I were fed for lunch and dinner.
For what it's worth, we give M Cafe 4 1/2 out of 5.
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