Sandy La Seafood Restaurant

The food here is EXTREMELY oily. I used to go here before I switched to a plant based diet, and at that time, I really did not enjoy the food here.
My family loves it here because of the generous portions and decent «wok hei», but other than that the food is mediocre.
Sandy La is usually jam packed, especially during regular dinner times. Be prepared to wait if you don’t have a reservation.
However, there is one upside to this place. I don’t know if they allow this for others (they probably do?), but the owner knows my family pretty well as my family is a regular, so they allow us to request ways to cook fish that we caught ourselves. Basically, they’ll prepare our freshly caught fish! Even though I don’t eat it anymore, my family praises the soup they make with the fish, though I’m sure when I had it, it was filled with MSG.

I used to like this place. I don’t know if they changed chefs, but this place is sub-​par now. I just ordered lemon chicken and got lemon batter instead. I would’ve gotten more actual protein from a couple of McNuggets. I’m not exaggerating.

Okay so… This resto advertises that they deliver food. At the time my vehicle was in the shop for repair so I phoned them for delivery. The lady took my order THEN tells me to hold on so she can ask the delivery guy if he will deliver to my address. The guy starts to LAUGH and says that my address is very far and he does not want to drive. According to google map and Unilocal,I am a SIX MINUTE DRIVE away. My order was over $ 50 which is above their minimum amount for delivery. I could NOT believe it.
I forgot to mention this order took place around 1 am. My friend was over and we were hungry and casual drinking. This was the only Chinese resto open for delivery and the food isn’t even that great anyways but we still caved in and decided, «ok I guess we will order from sandy la.».
the only time I eat from this restaurant is when my boyfriend orders take out from here at night time when everything else is closed besides fast food.
Anyways, if any of the staff read this review which I HIGHLY doubt, DO NOT ADVERTISE DELIVERY IF YOU ARE TOO LAZY TO DELIVER!

My friend took me here and I have to say it wasn’t bad. You can order their late night meal and you get one free refill on congee if you spend over $ 20. Prices is cheap. Place is quite busy. Took my parents here for dinner a couple of times. I did notice one thing is that everytime my dad have their desert at the end he would get a diarrhea. I am not sure if they are not clean or something. We went there about 3 times and each time my dad got sick. Another time my grandpa ate and he didn’t feel well. For myself, I was fine. Not sure if I could tolerate bacteria.
As well, I did notice after eating there I am super thirsty. Maybe too much MSG or food is just too salty.
I stop going after that.
But I have to say portion size is quite big. Yes its cash only!

Sandy La is a Chinese seafood restaurant that looks outdated and ghetto from the outside, but it serves delicious, quality Chinese food at affordable prices. It is dinner only but opens late until 3am, so it is the perfect place to go for late night eating and drinking. I have been here a few times and will keep coming back to eat. Must eat: Golden Sand Crab!

My tea tasted soapy… Beware. Also, you might have some «explosive» experiences with this place… on the toilet.
I did not finish any leftovers.

Vary poor service staff are rude push you out of way and don’t say anything, food is cheap and poor quality. If you order food they tell you come in 15mins and you end up waiting an additional 20mins every time! They don’t take credit or debit staff are undertrained and don’t speak English and obviously getting paid under the table this place should be reported

First thing CASH ONLY! We ordered from here and were not informed. The delivery lady started opening our dishes to decide what to return. WTF! I promptly shut that down and went to borrow money from the neighbour. I even offered to go back and stop at the restaurant to pay it but she said they don’t take interact or credit there either. Seems pretty strange but who knows? Despite that the delivery was pretty quick, the food still warm and very tasty. I would order from there again.

There were at least 4 – 5 waitresses for this smaller sized restaurant though they were nearly impossible to flag down… The food itself was a bit on the «pass» side. Some of the deep fried dishes like the cod and corn sauce and chicken wings were awesome but everything else was pretty mediocre. As well, the portions seem to be on the smaller side.

Small place, usually busy. Will throw in a free lobster dish if your bill is big enough. I have been there a few times as it is a favourite place of a friend. Not memorable for me.

Say what you will on Unilocal,but I actually like this place.
Prices are extremely affordable and the food is consistently good. I don’t feel there is a lot of MSG in their meat dishes but this is Chinese food for you.
Service is a hit-​or-​miss. Parking in the small plaza is brutal during peak hours.
The restaurant itself is small and the décor is bland. Would not want to celebrate any special occasions here but I see a lot of people doing so. That is why I normally get take-​out items such as honey garlic spareribs, sweet and sour pork chop, and the tofu/​veggie bowl.
It is open till late and perfect for late night snacks such as spicy crispy silver fish or deep fried squid. There is usually a line up out the door during the dinner rush so eat earlier or later. Your choice.

A nice little gem in the middle of a quiet stretch of Victoria.
Parking is available in the small lot next to the building, as well as the side streets.
This place fills up. The best part is that they’re open until 0300, which gives another option for late night munchies.
The interior is a bit dated — the owners didn’t renovate when they took over from the previous ones. 1990s-​style wood trim, and bare walls with posters stuck all over. The waiting area is woefully tiny, and the front door doesn’t close properly. Every time someone walks in, the entrance area freezes. The waiting area got so full that we had a crowd of 6 – 8 people standing literally behind our chairs for 30 minutes or so as we were eating.
Staff are a bit slow, but that’s because the place is so busy it’s a war zone.
The best deal seems to be the combination dinner. It comes with soup and dessert as well.
Vegetable soup — a bit salty, but good flavour.
Salty peppery lobster — actually quite well done. Nice and flavourful, thanks to the jalapenos.
Deep-​fried prawns in soy sauce — not too salty. Actually works well. Surprisingly not too greasy, even though they’re deep fried.
Garlic pea shoots — nice light flavour.
Crispy chicken — prawn chips were not as crisp as I would’ve liked (similar feel to Styrofoam). But the chicken was very well done.
Seafood and tofu hot pot — special mention. Most hot pots at other places are a mush of sauce, but the ingredients on this one are nice and fluffy. Normally I try to avoid such dishes, but this one won me over.
Tapioca dessert — served lukewarm. Good flavour, and not too sweet.
The food here is very reasonably priced. The bill was only $ 70 for all of the items listed.
I will definitely be back. Be sure to make a reservation, or you too will be watching others eat for a while.

Went here with a group of five co-​workers for a special dinner. We arrived early at 5pm and got a corner table. By the time we left at 6:45, the place was packed and had a line!
We got the combination special, which included 4 dishes that was picked by our host, plus a steamed lobster with garlic and ginger paste on it. I don’t know the full names, but we got 4 dishes with pork, chicken, and seafood/​tofu.
The best with the spare ribs, deep fried and covered with honey garlic sauce. Super sweet and i’m sure why I’m bound to get diabetes in the next few years!
Everything else was fine, and by being fine it becomes forgettable.
Quick tip: Beers are $ 2.50 = cheap!

I enjoyed this restaurant the very first time I went there but it’s going downhill. Food is mediocre and service sucks. Not sure why it’s so busy here. Line ups are long and parking sucks. Must be the portion sizes and prices. Cheapest beer in town though-​$ 2.50.

[MSG Overload]
I’m not the biggest fan of multi-​course chinese dinners simply because I come out feeling like a beached whale ready to die of thirst. The only time I do this is for the occasional family gathering.

The restaurant is medium-​sized as far as chinese restaurants go with seating for 60 or so. The elder relatives tend to do all the ordering so the dishes are usually a surprise. (They also tend to grab the bill which I have no issues with) This time, we had an 8-​course meal which consisted of a chicken broth soup to start, bitter melon beef, bok choy and squid, black bean clams, creamy lobster noodles, fried squab, pot roasted beef and daikon, and a red bean soup for dessert. The lobster-​topped noodles was the winner of the bunch. Most of the dishes were quite tasty and flavorful but also very greasy and salty (as expected).
Service was quick and efficient — pretty much on par with similar chinese restaurants. Dishes averaged $ 20 apiece and was sized for sharing. Like most of their competitors, they offer 8 or 10 dish combos resulting in one of them being free. Sandy provides an average chinese restaurant experience with decent value but the food, ambience or service didn’t really stand out.

I will never eat at this place again! While the food was edible and prices are average it was so cramped inside! They stuffed as many people as they could so it felt like a can of sardines.
My family and I went there early and sat down shortly after 530pm. We ordered salt and pepper spareribs, garlic gailan, clams, beef hot pot, egg tofu and sweet and sour pork. Like I said, food was average. Nothing special. I still prefer Rose Garden.
By 630pm we had just about finished and my dad asked for some containers which the staff brought and immediatley started clearing our table. they also brought the swweet soup and bill right away before we even asked for it. We were rushed out of there like a herd of cattle. They children didnt even finish eating and were scared of them so they didnt speak up. They have a 2 hour seating limit and we were there for 1 hour! If theres one thing I hate at a Chinese restaurant its being rushed. I will never ever go back to this place nor recommend it to anyone I know. Sorry Sandy La but you missed the mark on all levels. if I have to eat at a restaurant in that area I would rather go to South Lake.

After renaming the restaurant from Nancy’s Wonton House to Sandy La, their quality has improved. I am not sure what happened, might be a new chef.
This place here isn’t a place where you expect have good Chinese food. I find this place to be more for the midnight crowd, where you want a cheap beer ($ 2.50 per bottle), and to quell your munchies late into the night, as they do close at 3am.
I will not recommend dinner here, but the late night menu, I do recommend. For prices like $ 4.50 — $ 7.00 bucks, each dish is giant. For these kind of restaurants that cater to late night munchies fans, you really have to know what to order. You cannot just go blindly ordering whatever. Take an HK friend with you if you do not know what to order.
Here are my recommendations: the Lamb pot, deep fried soft-​shell crab, pigs ear, steamed oysters, the pan fried pig intestines, deep fried eggplant, and much more. Yes, while the translation may make it seem disgusting, they taste great. You just have to experiment what’s right for you there.
It has really become one of my favorite places for late night.

The honey garlic spareribs actually were better than that, it’s just the service that was poor; last night wasn’t overly busy, yet my tea wasn’t filled once until i asked.
I vaguely remember this when it was nancy’s but sure it’s a lot nicer now, with its yellow table linen on the fewer, larger round tables. of course i chose the booth seating along the window but no eye candy to look thru b/​c of its frosty glass.
For $ 6.50, not a bad deal and left satisfied and likely will come back for those late-​nite cravings.
Its parking lot a bit tight as it’s shared w/​a few other business but plenty on Victoria Dr. if you’re a great parallel parker like me ;)

The old Nancy’s, recycled into Sandy La
Formerly Nancy’s Wonton House who then sold their business to the new current owners. Everything inside is pretty much recycles from the old restaurant except for the staff. Sandy La is currently only open for dinner, 5−3AM and is more gears towards family dining.
I’ve been hearing that this place is similar to Kwan Luck (
) so naturally I wanted to try.
My ladyfriend and I came in here for dinner one day and we orderd the Peashoots with Enoki Mushrooms, Salt & Pepper Squid, Lotus Root with Bead Curd Sauce. Ok, I don’t remember the actual names on the menu, but this is pretty much the best why I can describe it.
We really liked the lotus root dish with the fermented bean curd. Oh how I love bean curd! The server warned us that we might not like it cause it’s the flavour for the old schools, but I used to eat this crap with just rice and a large cube of it. Come on, I know I’m not the only one now! The lotus root was cut really thin and didn’t have that stringy texture that’s odd about this root.
The Peashoots were also quite enjoyable too. They don’t normally come with enoki mushroom though, it was because we subbed it. I believe they are suppose to come with the canned stuff.
The only dog in our pick was the squid. It wasn’t that crispy, chewy, and yet a bit doughy.
Server was nice to us and helpful in picking our dishes. We asked for her suggestions that weren’t westernized, typical, however really good and she suggested the lotus root one for us.
Not better than Kwan Luck, but really not bad. A cleaner look, but features more typical Chinese dishes here than Kwan Luck.

I was distraught at the closing of Nancy’s Wonton House (formerly at this same location.) Putting venom aside, I went to try this new upstart restaurant with an open mind. I am now even more upset that Nancy’s is no longer there.
The new owners/​staff have generally recycled the equipment from Nancy’s; but the difference is: this place is aimed at the slightly more formal dinner crowd. Meaning larger family sized tables, and tablecloths.
Not in the mood for formal food, but instead for the standard congee-​noodle-​rice meu, I tested this restaurant with my personal quality test: wonton noodle soup ($ 4.50.)
The slop they put in front of my looked foul. The soup was grey, and tasted like msg and old soy sauce and boiled meat. The noodles were some sort of thin, chewy egg noodle. And the wontons were over boiled (meaning mushy and falling apart) and looked like it came out of a freezer.
I also ordered a plate of black pepper & honey garlic wings (~$ 6.00.) This came out ok, but honestly chicken wings are hard to screw up. (I know since everyone asks me for my chicken wings recipe and I’m too proud/​ashamed to tell them its whatever I can lay my hands on in my kitchen condiment rack.)
Having said this, it does appear to be aimed towards the family dinner crowd (instead of the late night fast food crowd.) I scoped out the other tables that had the ‘fancier’ dishes, and wasn’t too impressed, but obviously didn’t get a taste.
I may give it one more try after 6 months to see if they improved, but I’m not hopeful.
Anyone know what happened/​where did Nancy’s go?