Vancouver, Canada Restaurant Reviews

Reviewer: Foodnut.com

Dynasty Seafood Restaurant

Dynasty Seafood Restaurant is a popular Cantonese restaurant in Vancouver. We selected it from the vast array of choices due to its solid reviews and proximity to our hotel.
Rated 4.2 on Google with over 2100 reviews.  The restaurant is not big. Calling in for reservations is wise during peak hours and days.  Dynasty is listed in the Michelin guide.

Dim Sum Menu was only 2 pages long during lunch.  Pretty traditional fare without a lot of innovation or Instagrammable focus. Several larger dishes were also available. Icons are next to signature dishes.  Prices are not cheap, but considering how busy it was – reasonable for this type of spot. They do not have roast meats like roast duck or char siu.

The food was made with precision and food quality was very good.  A notch below San Francisco area’s best HL Peninsula and of course Hong Kong.

Service was very good with servers trying hard and being very courteous, not like most Chinese spots back home.

Steamed Shrimp Dumplings (12.38 Cdn for 4) are the reference dish to judge dim sum.  Construction was flawless with perfect wrapper and evenness.  No falling apart when lifted.  Shrimp quality was not the best, one notch below it. This costs less back home at HL Peninsula. 9/10

Steamed Black Truffle dumpling (11.88) is perfect for vegetarians or omnivores.  Also had a perfect wrapper. 10/10

Deep Fried Glutinous Dumpling with minced pork (11.68) was hot out of the fryer and of medium size. Very good and beautiful but not the best. 8.5/10

Deep Fried Sesame Ball (9.88) was similar to the ham Sui gok.  Perfectly constructed but not as good as the best. 8.5/10

Parker Place Aberdeen Fresh Meat & BBQ

Parker Place Aberdeen Fresh Meat & BBQ was our Chinese BBQ destination while in Richmond. HK BBQ Master was closed. This spot is in the Parker Place mall, a more casual spot than the nearby Aberdeen mall. We can late in the afternoon and there was a line. They ran out of roast duck, so we had to settle. 4.1 Yelp. We took public transit and found it easy to get to on the Canada line.

Menu is on the wall and consists of meats or rice plates. CASH only. They took our US dollars.

The food was better than expected. Next time we’ll come earlier or dine at HK BBQ Master.

Service was less brusque than we thought. Guy was accommodating of us tourists.

Down the hall is an area with tables where you can eat. There is also a really good Hong Kong Cafe there. Their HK milk tea and Red Bean ice were great.

Aberdeen centre is a block away. The food court on the 3rd floor is an Asian person’s dream. Definitely go there hungry.

Food Review:
Char Siu Roast Pork – Pork belly Rice (17 Cdn) was a huge portion of meat and rice. The pork belly skin was nice and crisp. We asked for less fatty roast pork. Char siu was solid version, tender and flavorful. 8.5/10

Mott 32 Vancouver

Mott 32 is a high end Chinese restaurant in Vancouvers financial area.
They have locations in major cities worldwide, including Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Singapore, Dubai, Toronto, Bangkok, Seoul and Cebu with Los Angeles, Bali, Riyadh, Manila, Mumbai and Scottsdale in development. Reminds of what Hakkasan tried to become.

Beautiful interior and patio. We can for lunch. Dinner is probably a better time to visit. Come with 2-4 people so you can order the Peking duck.

Menu has a short list of popular dim sum items. Gluten free and vegetarian menus are available.

The food was better than expected.

Service was precise with a friendly and knowledgeable waiter.

Food Review:
Jasmine Cooler (12 Cdn) was pretty light and not sweet. 7/10

Roast Pork belly (35) had ample quantity of delicate crispy skinned pork belly. Tender meat. 8.5/10

Prawn Har Now (22 for 4) were carefully made and on the small side. Shrimp quality was okay. 8.5/10

Mushroom dumplings (21 for 3) are also precisely made and perfect for vegetarians. 8.5/10

Veggie Fried Rice (38) had short grain rice with various chopped veggies. A good way to fill up for less. 8/10

Soy Sauce ice cream (20) was really fun, sorta like salted carmel but with a light soy sauce after taste. 10/10

PiDGiN Restaurant

PiDGiN serves creative, French-influenced takes on Asian cuisine plus craft cocktails in Vancouvers Gastown area. They are listed in the Michelin guide.

Menu is packed with small bites, many of which can be shared.

The food was a mish mash of dishes. Hard to find a common thread with them.

Service was very good with a very knowledgeable waiter and no worries at all.

Food Review:
oyster ($7) kalamansi, tobiko, pangrattato are on the half shell with some nice accompaniments. 8.5/10

ox tongue skewers ($13) sweet chili sambal were the weakest of the skewers. 7/10

chicken inasal skewers ($13) nam jim sauce were fine. 8/10

eggplant skewers ($9) tamarind glaze, typhoon shelter crumb were the best of the skewers. 8.5/10

foie gras rice bowl ($39) chestnuts, daikon, unagi glaze was our favorite of the night. Rich foie with some nice twists. 9/10

hokkaido scallop ($25) ‘kinilaw’, coconut kalamansi, nori jam was in a nice sauce, but the scallops were very thin and not impressive. 7/10

papaya salad ($15) tomatoes, beans, coconut ‘fish’ sauce caramel had wide cut papaya making this different that the traditional Thai salad. 8/10

lamb pressé ($45) yellow curry, pickled daikon had a nice curry (They suggested we order rice). The lamb was fairly thin and cooked in an interesting style. 7.5/10

Chef’s Choice Seafood Restaurant

Chef’s Choice Restaurant is a small but popular Cantonese restaurant in Vancouver. We selected it from the array of choices due to its solid reviews and proximity to our hotel. Three dim sum places in 3 days!
Rated 4.2 on Google with over 560 reviews. Calling in for reservations is wise during peak hours and days. Chef’s Choice is listed in the Michelin guide.

Dim Sum Menu was several pages long during lunch. Pretty traditional fare without a lot of innovation. Several larger dishes were also available. Prices are not cheap – reasonable for this type of spot. They do not have roast meats like roast duck or char siu.

The food was not as precisly made as Dynasty or Mott 32, but the quality was better.. A notch below San Francisco area’s best HL Peninsula and of course Hong Kong.

Service was very good with our server trying hard and being very courteous, not like most Chinese spots back home.

Food Review:
Steamed Shrimp Dumplings (12.80 Cdn for 4) are the reference dish to judge dim sum. Construction had some lose seams and was hard to pickup. Shrimp quality was very good. This costs less back home at HL Peninsula. 9/10

Steamed Black Truffle dumpling (12.80) is perfect for vegetarians or omnivores. Not perfectly made but great flavor. 10/10

Rice rolls with mixed wild mushroom (14.80) was also a great vegetarian dish. Lots of flavor in their mushrooms. 9.5/10

Steamed sticky wild rice in lotus leaf (14.80) had 3 good sized ones filled with meat, lap cheung, and egg. Very good rendition. 9/10

Poached chicken with black truffle sauce (23.80) is a cold appetizer that sounded good. Very boney but great flavors from the truffle, onions, and more. Even better as left overs after flavor seeped in. 9.5/10

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