Kaiyu Lin at the barista barista station.

3 QUARTERS FULL
Room For Cream

Kaiyu Lin is living his dream — a dream of one day owning his own restaurant serving an array of delicious Taiwanese delicacies. In 2016 that dream came true with the opening of 3 Quarters Full in Denman Mall.

Kaiyu came to Canada from Taiwan in 2008 as a Grade 11 student at Churchill Secondary and went on to study economics at UBC. With a family background in the hospitality industry and work experience in cafes and restaurants, he was ready to “create my own brand” when, after a lengthy search, he found the right location in the right neighbourhood and took the plunge.

Real old-timers will remember the venue as the location of a popular restaurant called The Three Greenhorns, so named for three Englishmen who were the first developers in the West End (we’re talking mid to late 1800s) who were called greenhorns by the locals because they’d purchased their property at what was then considered highly inflated prices. If you don’t quite go back that far you may remember the spot as the second home of another popular eatery, Delilah’s.

3 Quarters Full is nothing like either of those predecessors or the several other ventures that followed them. It’s casual, relaxed, and features a menu unlike any other in the West End — and possibly Vancouver.

The name 3 Quarters Full comes from Kaiyu’s preference for leaving a customers’ Americano only 3/4 full so there is always room for milk or cream to the customer’s taste. The name certainly doesn’t reflect the portions of main menu items or deserts, which are ample and filling.

Kaiyu’s parents Ken and Anna keeping it authentic in the kitchen.

An industrial-style space and decor with two-person and communal tables is a great place for solo lunching or parties. The specialty beverages include sea salt coffees, Taipei fogs (a version of the London Fog), wintermelon tea, and many flavours of bubble tea. For espresso-based drinks Kaiyu uses 49th Parallel’s Old School Espresso.

The menu of savoury Taiwanese street food features items such as fresh Gua Baos with pork belly, cilantro, and crushed peanuts, basil popcorn chicken on rice, and the traditional “Hometown Soup” with white radish and a delicious Taiwanese meatball in pork broth.

The Gua Bao on the menu, a traditional steamed bun, are a specialty of the house and part of Kaiyu’s personal mission to educate western tastes on that authentic Taiwanese dish, with in addition to the the pork belly version you’ll find chicken, tofu, and even bacon and egg varieties.

And don’t get us started on the treat-filled dessert menu. Oh, all right, let’s talk about their fine cheesecake, pineapple cake, almond crisp, Taiwanese cake roll, and the Taiwanese buns made in-house in a variety of seasonal flavors like coconut fluffy cream and red bean.

With his parents Ken and Anna busy in the kitchen and Kaiyu and other staff busy out front, the venture has been so successful that they have now gone into the franchise business as well, with a second location in Richmond now offering delivery and due to open fully as soon as all the required permits are in order.

Talk about a dream come true!