Today we were at another restaurant participating in the Taste of the Tri-Cities. The website advertised that they were a Vietnamese and Turkish cafe with sandwiches, noodles, drinks, and desserts.
Therefore, I came in wanting a halal donair pho and accompanying banh mi, but was disappointed to discover that they currently only offer dessert drinks.
But let’s rewind. Opened in August 2025, they were hard to find. Located as an annex to a car wash with both automated and self serve options. They are a little shop with limited signs, you have to know they are there to know to go. Walk in traffic is limited to the car wash customers and the students from the school across the street.
Seeing as location is a hurdle, their food has to be special and unique enough to draw a crowd willing to travel in to get it. I mean their original concept online was enough to get me driving 45 minutes out here.
The shop has a patio out front for those who wish to sit in and eat. However, it shares a wall with the car wash tunnel and when it is operational it is loud and disruptive, making it challenging to enjoy the quaint space. The faux flowers and Christmas lights strung up do what they can to perk up the alcove, and the music on the tower speaker attempts to distract. But overall, it doesn’t make for a very nice sit down space.
This is just as well, considering their menu is more attuned to grab and go anyway, and their shop is so small that it only allows one person to enter and order at a time. Or shop from the wall of toys with one shelf inside and one out.
The owner is from Central Vietnam. She use to work at Bamboo, the Vietnamese drink and dessert shop in East Vancouver. She originally brought over their specialty drink menu and then some, with over 6 pages of drink options to flip through. Or read over plastered on their exterior windows, and over their indoor counter.
It is a fairly overwhelming list to sort through. So seeing as we originated from South East Asia, we ordered familiar drinks that we haven’t had in a while. This is after we were disappointed by the lack of savoury options available. Seeing as we drove all the way down, planning to eat lunch. Only to be told that they are out of it all, because no one was ordering any of it; and they have yet to update the menu. Apparently the goal is to scale down significantly, and focus on only their best sellers.
In their defence, their Taste of the Tri-Cities offer is only 10% off signature coffees, bubble tea, desserts, and halal treats; not mentioning any more fulsome meal items. So I mistook what I saw online as factual.
Either way we made the best of the situation and explored their offerings unique to them and the area.
The first was recommended by the owner as something never been seen. This is essentially a spring roll, not filled with savory meat, but kadayif instead. And this is why they say their cuisine is part Turkish.
For those unfamiliar, “kadayıf” is a a traditional Middle Eastern and Balkan dessert made from shredded, crispy phyllo-like dough filled with walnuts, pistachios, or cream; and drenched in sugar syrup. This is what gives the trendy Dubai Chocolate its crispy texture, now transposed into this deep fried spring roll, served with a creamy matcha sauce for dipping. Served room temperature with a film of oil that lingered on the lips. The combined crispy exterior and interior needed the dip for a contrast to balance. Overall, this was an interesting concept, but I would have preferred my spring rolls savoury.
Out of all the dessert drinks, I liked the Halo Halo the most. My guest stated that this was not authentic, but I liked it for taste and texture just the same. It was the most cohesive with all its ingredients: ube ice-cream, pudding, coconut threads, red jelly, red bean, and coconut milk.
Despite being served in a cup with a straw, the mango sago was more dessert than drink. It was thick and easier to eat with a spoon. More chewing than sipping, it was heavy with coconut cream and what appeared to be a 1:1 ratio with sago pearls, topped with mango chunks.
The Vietnamese Che comes with over 20 different options, but the avocado stew was what was recommended. It came out chunky like salsa. Whereas I pictured a churned, more blended smoothie-like texture. In the mix was boba pearls, rainbow jelly, and condense milk. Tasty enough, but it didn’t look all that appetizing.
Not yet on the menu, but a snack item they are toying with is sticky rice stuffed ground chicken, mung bean, and I tasted some pandan. This is all topped with a friend egg omelette drizzled over with kewpie mayo and hot sauce. Maybe I was really hungry, but I liked this and ate it all. It was comforting and I enjoyed the chew.
In short, we liked all that we tried enough, however are skeptical whether the community is looking for something like this in the area. Once again, they will need to bring something truly special to bring the crowds in, instead of just supplying what the customers around maybe want. For those curious the Taste of the Tri-Cities runs until March 15th, 2026 and their menu is 10% off!
Artful Infusion Coffee
1388 Dominion Ave #102, Port Coquitlam, BC V3B 8G7
(604) 754-8998
artfulinfusion.ca
