Trip Report: Vancouver - The Asian Food Paradise!

Actually to be precise, Vancouver is the Cantonese/Hong Kong food paradise! Back in the early 1990s, residents from Hong Kong were in an immigration frenzy to flee the then British colony that would be revert to the Mainland Chinese rule in 1997. Immigrants of different professions chose Vancouver as their new home, and among them were seasoned and celebrated chefs. As a result, Vancouver became this Cantonese food paradise. While many have returned to Hong Kong since, the Cantonese restaurants in Vancouver manage to uphold the food standard they set for themselves when they first opened, and because of that, visitors to Vancouver like us get to enjoy some of the world class Cantonese cuisine. I have to admit I came here mainly for the Cantonese food.

We started off our trip with a couple of mediocre meals. All I can say is that you are better off not eating dim sum in Chinatown or skipping a visit to Kintaro Ramen. The dim sum in Chinatown is plain old school with nothing unique to offer. As for Kintaro Ramen on 788 Denman Street, I know a lot of people rave about it and there is always a line at the door. But in my opinion it is mediocre at best, especially when compared to the ramen places in NYC. The ramen soup was bland and oily, the noodles really lacked in texture and the chashu (sliced pork) was such a joke. It was a meal wasted since I could have eaten somewhere else.

Fortunately, the meals that followed made up for these two meals, and a majority of these meals took place in Richmond, which is the unofficial Asian suburb of Vancouver. Our favorite meals include the seafood dinners at Kirin Seafood Restaurant (7900 Westminster Highway, Suite 200, Richmond) and San Sui Wah (4940, No 3 Road, Richmond), dim sum at Jade Garden (8511 Alexandra Road, Richmond), lunch at Pho Hoang (3388 Main St, Vancouver) and authentic Taiwanese snacks at Zephyr In The Sky (#100-7911 Alderbridge Way, Richmond) . We also had a good sushi meal at the famous and, if you ask me, overpriced and overrated Japanese restaurant named Tojo's restaurant (1133 W.Broadway, Vancouver).

Kirin Seafood Restaurant is a favorite among many Vancouver residents and visitors and I can understand why. The seafood there was simply fresh and delicious. We loved the crab pot, sauteed geoduck/scallops with snap peas and baby bok choy braised in a slowly simmered soup we ordered there. We also loved the roasted squab and the steamed grouper at San Sui Wah, the dim sum at Jade Garden (especially the mushroom dumplings), Taiwanese street food like Taiwanese style sausage and popcorn chicken at Zephyr In The Sky and the spring rolls and pho at Pho Hoang.

To get to these restaurants, especially those in Richmond, you can take the SkyTrain (the city's new transit system built for the winter Olympics) if you don't have a rental car. It is easy to get around in Vancouver.

Three days and three additional pounds later, Thomas and I were happy to have visited Vancouver and eaten the authentic Cantonese food there. We will definitely be back.