Fortune Express

Do Not Eat here. They will change prices on you while paying and when asked why. Prices are higher today?!?

For a food court venue, Fortune Express is a decent place to get a fix of Chinese food. They have the usual selection of western style items such as sweet and sour pork, as well as Asian favorites such as stewed beef brisket and daikon.
The beef stir fried rice noodles has the right amount of «wok flavor» which is the sign of an experienced cook. More importantly, they also do squid right. Properly breaded, seasoned, and deep fried… it’s hard for me to diversify because I give in to the squid every time. Sometimes the squid is a bit on the chewy side but I figure it’s the best one can do in a food court setting.
The meals are pricey for a food court, but this is downtown and the portions are filling. I like coming here when I crave greasy spoon fare.

The dry garlic pork is my new favorite food on this planet, and this particular location has the sweetest staff ever. Showing up right near closing, and they offered to make it fresh while we wait. The hours the mall gives them makes it hard to visit, but I gladly go on my lunch break 2 hours into a full shift just to experience this wonderful place.

If I could rate this a «No star» I would, but unfortunately this is not an option. I’ve held off writing this review because I was hoping the health department would have addressed this problem by now; but sadly, it appears as though, they have not. Hence the reason for writing this, because I see it as a matter of health and safety.
I have been a patron of this fast food establishment for many years having worked in the area since the mid 90’s. It was always consistently good (albeit Western style) Chinese food, that satisfyingly filled the gap so to speak during a quick, crazy lunch break. However, there was a change in ownership about a year or so ago and things have not been the same. The food, while not a whole lot different in my opinion, the quality of the food has changed dramatically.
I went there last January 15^th for what was the very last time. I had Beef Chow Fun (flat rice noodles with beef) and Dry Garlic Pork (sans S&S sauce). I ate at about 11 am. I did not eat or drink anything after lunch. By 4:10 pm started feeling flush and nauseus. By 4:30 pm began vomiting and continued to do so all night long until I feel asleep at 10 pm. It was all dry heaving since I had nothing in my stomach. The symptoms suggest emetic bacillus cereus, which I found simply by doing a quick Google search of my symptoms. It is a bacteria that grows on food stored at unsafe temperatures for extended periods of time, and is most commonly associated with buffet style starchy foods such as rice and pasta.
Once I discovered this, I thought it might be interesting to look up past Vancouver Coastal Health inspection reports for Fortune Express and noticed they are repeat offenders for improperly storing food at unsafe temperatures for too long, amongst a host of other infractions. It would seem Fortune Express is not heeding the warnings by VCH.
I could not fathom how a food establishment could be this non-​compliant, yet no substantive consequences ensue. I thought, perhaps if the health authorities were aware their improper practices have now gotten to the point where people are getting sick, they would do something more substantive to protect the public. So I made a formal complaint to VCH. They e-​mailed me back within 20 minutes with some questions and said they would notify the «district inspector for further action». This was on January 17, 2013.
I have since walked by Fortune Express almost daily and they have not appeared to have skipped a beat. They were never shut down or had their operations suspended for any length of time, and there has not been a new food inspection report since my complaint. Nor have I heard any further follow up or response to my complaint from VCH.
When I see people in the lineup every day, all I can think of is, Russian Roulette. Which poor sap is going to get sick this time? I often think it would be a good idea for restaurant health inspection reports to be rated much like a school report card and that they be prominently displayed at the front of each establishment for full disclosure. Then let the public decide whether or not to eat there. I wish I had the benefit of such a system when I ate at Fortune Express last. Because after my experience, and after reading their past inspection reports, I would have given it a wide berth had I known better.

Your typical garden variety Chinese foodcourt lol.
Just in the mood for sweet and sour pork, once in awhile, that msg hits the right spot instead of McDonalds. Surprisingly, the batter was better than i expected, or that i simply haven’t eaten this kind of food for awhile…