My Vancouver Eating Itinerary

[Vancouver]

I would 2nd mangez's recommendation of Top Gun for dim sum. Currently my favourite by far. Just be sure to not get lured in by the seemingly random addition of sushi to the menu. Stick to the Chinese dishes.

The Top Gun group also runs a hot pot restaurant in the next building over from Top Gun Dim Sum that is quite good as well. I forget the name of it.

Cheers!

[chocomoo]

^I haven't been to Golden Ocean yet. Is the dim sum good? (Noticed you and Dumpling Girl have been there for dinner...just wondering about the dim sum offerings. Thanks!  )

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Sorry, hopefully you saw my post before it got deleted! No idea what happened... Let's try this again:

Golden Ocean is not bad - not particularly inspired dishes, but dependable. It's really busy during lunchtime. Stand-outs include fry cart items (especially the taro "cake", which is nicely spiced & has a nice crisp on the outside, and the fish "cake" ("yue bang"), which comes with a sweetened red vinegar for dipping), and porcupine buns (deep-fried custard-filled (SE Asian custard?) buns shaped like cute little porcupines).

For a large selection of dim sum dishes, mvpbonds, check out Gala Seafood in Richmond. Cheap dim sum, but not the best quality.

[mvpbonds]

I just got back from my cruise & trip to Vancouver. Thanks again to all for the suggestions! One thing I learned is to always make reservations even for dim sum. On Sunday I tried to make reservations for dinner at Kirin (Richmond), Kirin (Cambie) and Sun Sui Wah (Richmond) and got shut out! Making reservations for Chinese food in LA is almost unheard of. At major restaurants like Ocean Star and NBC in Monterey Park they will not accept reservations.

I was able to get dim sum for 3 of my 4 lunches in Vancouver. First was at Sun Sui Wah (Main Street). I got here at 100PM on Saturday and waited about 20 minutes for a table. There didn’t seem to be much of a selection of food at the time so when we did see carts we pretty much grabbed everything we could. The bill here ended up being the most expensive but probably because we ordered a lot.

On Sunday I got to Kirin (Richmond) at 1130AM and was happy to find a great parking space and the waiting room practically empty. Unfortunately I didn’t have a reservation and was turned away (along with several other parties). I tried driving down No. 3 Road to find another restaurant and saw the sign for Shiang Garden. I pulled into the parking lot and saw the lot was jammed so I made a u-turn and kept driving until I saw Floata. I found a good spot and was able to get a table here immediately. My Dad liked the food here. I liked the Shark’s fin dumpling in soup for $2.50. I think they had a special for “jung” there since I saw many tables ordering this. When we left there were about 15 people waiting for tables. I noticed when I left that Floata has a special for 30% off between the hours of 830AM-1100AM. I also got some good beef jerky from the Singapore jerky place in the mall. Anyone know what happened to “Jimmy’s” beef jerky? I looked for this at the markets but couldn’t find any. FYI for USA visitors…you are not allowed to bring beef jerky from Canada back to the USA due to Mad Cow. Pork and Salmon jerky are OK.

My last dim sum meal in Vancouver was at Kirin (Cambie). This turned out to be the best dim sum of the trip. My favorites were the Siu Mai, Duck Cheung Fun and the deep fried prawns. The jook with pork and preserved eggs was also very good. I was disappointed that they only steam their Loh Bak Goh. I have to have mine pan fried. Kirin was the only restaurant that didn’t charge for tea so we tried two kinds.

The family consensus for dim sum was 1) Kirin 2) Floata 3) Sun Sui Wah

I was able to find a whole goose at Sam Well BBQ (next to T&T market in Richmond). You have to order 1 day in advance and it was worth the $48. The goose had great taste and was not fatty like duck. The owner of Sam Well also gave us a large serving of rice and some soup for an extra $2.

Now to dinner….my first dinner was at Landmark Hot Pot House and I really enjoyed this meal. We ordered the fatty beef, lamb, assorted meat balls (pork, shrimp, squid, fish), tung ho, live shrimp ($19/lb), bean thread noodles and chicken/mushroom rice in a clay pot. The rice is a great deal at $5.50. I thought the service was very good here.

Next dinner was at Koon Bo (Fraser). We had the West Lake soup, crispy chicken, seafood combo. In Taro nest and the honey garlic beef with walnuts. I tried to order a squab but they were all sold out. Service was so-so here but the restaurant was very crowded. I tried to look at what other tables were ordering and the Peking duck and the hand shredded chicken seemed to be popular.

My last dinner in Vancouver was Monday evening at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. Mondays is when they offer the 2 for 1 3 course dinner. This turned out to be the worst of my (3) dinners in Vancouver. The roast pork was overcooked and when I asked my server for more salad dressing, the server gave me the stink eye before replying. I understand the servers are not paid here but these future chefs need to understand how important service is.

I know Tim Horton’s is not that popular on e-gullet but I was addicted to the chocolate Timbits. I also enjoyed the Canadian Maple with custard filling. It didn’t help that there was a Tim’s right next to my hotel. I also got some good egg rolls and meat filled cookies from Tim’s dessert’s in the Aberdeen Centre food court. They had good prices too. It was only $4.50 for a dozen of the meat filled cookies.

I’m looking forward to my next visit to Vancouver!

[canucklehead]

Dude - glad you enjoyed your visit. Too bad about getting turned away due to lack of reso's - pretty standard practice in Vancouver (just in HK).

And you were able to find something that I did know you could get in Vancouver - ROAST GOOSE. I'm going to get me some.

[dimsumfan]

Thanks for the great report, and the tip about making reservations. I'll soon be making a pilgrimage to Richmond for a similar feeding frenzy. For dim sum, I think Kirin is a la carte, but what about Floata? Order off the menu, or service via carts? Would you recommend going early for the discount, or would they not have all items ready at that time?

[mvpbonds]

Thanks for the great report, and the tip about making reservations. I'll soon be making a pilgrimage to Richmond for a similar feeding frenzy. For dim sum, I think Kirin is a la carte, but what about Floata? Order off the menu, or service via carts? Would you recommend going early for the discount, or would they not have all items ready at that time?

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Order off the menu at Floata. I'd go early, 30% off sounds like a good deal to me.

[aaustin]

The reservation tip is huge! thanks. How far, in general, should one make reservations for, say, a weekday lunch?

Also, just wanted to be sure, but are Kirin and the others you mentioned all cart dim sum, instead of ordering off of a menu? we think carts are more fun, but will go to Kirin because of your rec either way.

[canucklehead]

The reservation tip is huge! thanks. How far, in general, should one make reservations for, say, a weekday lunch?

Also, just wanted to be sure, but are Kirin and the others you mentioned all cart dim sum, instead of ordering off of a menu? we think carts are more fun, but will go to Kirin because of your rec either way.

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I think it always helps to make a reservation... but even then - if you reso is for something like 12:30 - don't expect to be seated right away.

Most of the better places are mostly ala carte - but sometime the kitchen will walk out with trays of specials for you try.

Carts Dim Sum

Sun Sui Wah (Main Street)

Imperial Chinese (Downtown)

Floata - I think (Chinatown)

Ala Cart

Kirin (Downtown, Cambie, Richomd)

Victoria (Downtown)

Shaing Garden (Richmond)

Gingeri (Richmond)

Jade (Richmond)

Places like Pink Pearl are also carts - but the quality may not be as high.

[dimsumfan]

My last dinner in Vancouver was Monday evening at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts.  Mondays is when they offer the 2 for 1 3 course dinner.  This turned out to be the worst of my (3) dinners in Vancouver.  The roast pork was overcooked and when I asked my server for more salad dressing, the server gave me the stink eye before replying.  I understand the servers are not paid here but these future chefs need to understand how important service is.

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Any other opinions on eating at PICA? I was disappointed to learn of this disappointing experience.

[bccoati]

Dude - glad you enjoyed your visit.  Too bad about getting turned away due to lack of reso's - pretty standard practice in Vancouver (just in HK).

And you were able to find something that I did know you could get in Vancouver - ROAST GOOSE.  I'm going to get me some.

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Roast goose has been available in several BBQ shops in Chinatown for a while now. No need to order in advance. You can see them hanging along side their duck counterparts. Our favourite is from Dollar Meats. Around $28 each, I think. We find that half a goose is more than enough for two people.