Good—often great—Chinese dining has been changing Vancouver’s culinary landscape for some years now.
Head to Richmond for specialties such as Alaskan King Crab: a lure for sure... Tim Pawsey photo
However, for many people the very notion of heading out for Dim Sum or Peking Duck remains a mystery unexplored, or perhaps too much of a challenge.
That’s in part because for years the Chinese restaurant and dining community seemed very much a ‘distinct society’.
Part of the problem was that too few rooms had the foresight (or inclination) to make catering to a non-Chinese-speaking clientele a priority. Although some—such as the highly successful Sun Sui Wah restaurants—did. And benefitted from the attention accordingly.
The vortex of Chinese dining shifted from Vancouver’s Chinatown to Richmond well over a decade ago, or more. However, now the arrival of the Canada Line has once again brought superb Chinese food within easy reach of downtown Vancouverites. And while Richmond can sometimes feel more like Kowloon (which is not a bad thing, at all), chances are even if your Mandarin skills are limited to just saying ‘Xie Xie’ (‘Thank You’), these days you will get a genuine welcome, good service to match—and a menu in both ‘official’ languages.
You can board Canada Line at Burrard or The Roundhouse and be in Richmond’s Aberdeen Centre in about half an hour. Max. A bargain at $2.50.
The challenge is: just where to go for the best congee, barbequed pork, Shanghai noodles or dumplings?
Last year’s greatly expanded HSBC Chinese Restaurant Awards—now HSBC Diners’ Choice Awards— and the Critics’ Choice Signature Dish Awards shone the spotlight on a wealth of superb tastes from 2010’s worthy winners, including:
• Sublime, tender spare ribes, crackling pork and roast duck (plus green onion and ginger garnish) from BBQ master—try a $48 platter to go. (Gold, HK BBQ Master, 145-4651 No. 3 Rd, 604-272-6568);
• Impossibly thin, mushroom filled tofu dumplings, and sesame peanut glass noodles at Northern Delicacy (silver, ambiance, 4511 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond, 604-233-7050.
St. Germain Bakery owner-chef Mickey Zhao lifts the lid on a chocolate surprise, Tim Pawsey photo
• Exquisitely executed desserts of every kind (but especially the chocolate ‘surprise’ with macaroons, from St. Germain Bakery (gold, bakery, Unit 1428, Aberdeen Centre, 4151 Hazelbridge Way, 604-276-2381).
No time like the present to grab a carriage-full of friends and hop on the Canada Line to Aberdeen or Landsdowne, where, within a few minutes walk, you can be enjoying a veritable smorgasbord of Mandarin, Cantonese, Szechuan specialties and more.
For an idea of where to go, head over to www.votedinerschoice.com, where the Top 20 Diners’ Choice picks for 2011 are listed by category. Then, when you’re back, until November 12th, you can vote for your favourite find—and second guess the critics.
More info at www.chineserestaurantawards.com