Take-outs @ Saskatoon (VS what 'tapau' means in Malaysia)

I don't very often order for take-outs (apart from Pizzas and fast food) but here are two I've tried so far:

Chef Express 

I was working on my statistics till late one day and decided to try the Groupon voucher that I bought a couple of weeks earlier. Fairly new place on 3rd Ave downtown. Currently, they are most probably trying out the market by offering deliveries / take-outs. They have tables and chairs but looked pretty empty so I don't think they are ready for it just yet. Called to make my order and went to collect 30 minutes later. Still had to wait for 5-10 minutes for food to be ready (to be fair, I think I was there slightly earlier). One thing good is that this place opens till late; not many Asian restaurants open past 10pm. 

Egg roll and spring roll was a little bit oily. The wax paper pocket used is not really a good idea. It makes the whole delivery packet oily as well. 

Set (A) Egg roll, chicken chow mein and fried rice and sweet sour pork ($10.50). I personally thought this was quite acceptable. I have bad experience with these dinner sets ( usually greasy, soak in oil with very little ingredients); this however was one of the better ones. It has the 'wok hei' (flavor/taste by the hot wok frying) and chunks of real chicken meat in both the noodles and rice. It was not too oily as well. Portion is huge. 

Set (C) Vietnamese spring roll, Pad Thai with chicken and shrimp, Thai Yellow Curry with chicken and steamed rice ($12.50). While I thought the curry and rice was good, the Pad Thai was a major disappointment. The noodles didn't taste right and neither did it taste like Pad Thai to me. Although I must say they are quite generous with the chicken and shrimp; the noodles itself was bland and came out from the container as a big lump. 

Overall, food was just ok. Not the best Asian food around and totally meant for take-outs and deliveries for now but at least they open till late night. I heard their Thai curry pizza is good, so maybe I'll try that next. 

Address : 329, 3rd Avenue N, Saskatoon, SK

Website : Chef Express Restaurant

Oceania Inn Restaurant

A more typical look of take-outs (especially Asian eateries) would be like these that I had from Oceania Inn. Not one of the more famous ones in Saskatoon but because it is around my neighbourhood (and the fact that my roommate works part-time there), I must at least try it out once and in fact, I've ordered for take-out quite a couple of times. Once, I had the Special Chow Mein. A little bit messy  for take-outs and I didn't quite like the idea of using polystyrene for hot gravy. Portion is quite big and considering you pay slightly more than the usual kind of chow mein, they are quite generous with the ingredients. However, I thought that the gravy was quite bland. I'm not so sure whether because they modified it to fit the taste buds of the locals but even the chow mein I had in Chinatown, Vancouver was quite similar in taste and 'blandness'. Maybe its just me :P

Special Chow Mein $10.50

I quite like the Szechuan Ginger Chicken (ordered this more than once ;P). It tasted different from those I usually have in Malaysia. Basically they are deep fried pieces of chicken with sweet, sour, spicy and ginger-y sauce. Its is quite spicy though, but tasted good with rice. Portion is quite big as well. 

Szechuan Ginger Chicken $11.50

Overall, food is ok. Price-wise, its slightly on the high side. I've never dine in before so I'm not sure of the ambience nor service. Probably, certain dishes are worth trying out. Parking is easy as well.

Address : 3929 8th St E Saskatoon, SK S7H5M7

Website : Oceania Inn

What is 'tapau' ? 

If you are in Malaysia, probably every Malaysian (Malay, Chinese, Indians) will know what 'tapau' means despite the fact that this term is of a Chinese dialect (@_@). Its similar to take-outs/take away and frequently used in most eateries. Take-outs/take away is generally used more often in the higher-scale westernized restaurants, some non-Chinese restaurants and fast food joints.  

The usual 'tapau'-look in Malaysia. You must be wondering how many people is that amount for ?? lols

A newer, more 'environmental-friendly' version of 'tapau' which I have not seen myself since last 2 years.