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BY Nancy Mueller Leave a Comment ON August 15, 2016

Off the Beaten Culinary Path in Richmond, BC

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For aficionados of Asian cuisine, Richmond, BC is a food lover’s paradise.

With over 200 restaurants on Alexandra Road alone, Canada’s multicultural city serves up a variety of flavors – Cantonese, Szechuan, Shanghainese, Northern Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean and Malaysian. While you could start and end your visit on “Food Street,” covering just three short city blocks, Richmond offers an abundance of eateries beyond the city’s Golden Village. So why not wander Richmond’s culinary backroads, watch master chefs in action, and expand your cultural horizons?

Here’s where to find a few of the region’s best discoveries off the beaten culinary path:

Food Courts

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Parker Place, Empire Centre and Landsdowne are among Richmond’s twelve or so food courts offering plenty of places to get your Asian food fix. Whether you have a hankering for BBQ, clay pot rice or pork soup dumplings, stop here to check out local favorites. Stroll through the centers for an overview not only of the food scene, but also for a flavor of Asian decor, trendy fashions and popular art in the speciality stores on site

Our group’s weekend food fest began with lunch take-out from two food stalls at Parker Place Food Court, Lai Taste and Parker Place Meat & BBQ, for tastes of Vietnamese fish subs with a refreshing complement of cucumber and cilantro, succulent roasted bbq pork and duck, and soya chicken.

Parker Place Meat & BBQ

Tip: Arrive early at Parker Place Meat & BBQ. Expect waits of up to 30-minutes or longer at this popular takeout-only venue known for its scrumptious food and friendly service.

Cap off your lunch with the sweet taste of Chinese bubble waffles and dragon beard candy. Like a waffle in reverse, bubble waffles are a Chinese snack with batter inside that can be customized with matcha, Oreos or red bean paste.

Chinese Bubble Waffles

What’s dragon beard candy? “Like a little cloud of sweetness,” the candy is spun sugar made originally with stuffed peanuts, similar to Turkish delight.

Dragon Beard Candy

Still hungry? Head to award-winning James Snacks at Empire Centre Food Court to sample its signature dish, claypot rice, a one-pot dish of meats or chicken and vegetables. Try the Chinese preserved sausage (darker in color than the regular sausage) for a hint of sweetness.

James Snacks Claypot Rice

Tip: Call 30 min. ahead to place your order to allow enough time for the the rice to form a crisp crust and the flavors of the ingredients absorbed into the rice.

At Lansdowne Food Court, be sure to try the juicy pork soup dumplings (Xiao Long Bao) at R & H Chinese Food.

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On any given weekday, you might catch Wang Mei Ling preparing one of the 40-50 baskets she makes daily (80-90 baskets, 6 dumplings per basket, on weekends). She fills the wheat flour wrappers with minced pork and aspic, seasoned with salt and white pepper, sugar, rice wine soy and ginger. One of my favorite finds!

Richmond Public Market

How about some hand-pulled noodles for your Asian food fest?

Xi'An Cuisine

At Xi’An Cuisine on the second floor of the Richmond Public Market, watch the chef as he demonstrates his noodle-stretching technique before you sample one of the many noodle dishes sold here. You can even pick up ingredients for a home-cooked Asian meal at the grocery store or food shops on the first floor if you want to try your own hand at noodle-stretching.

Hole in the Wall Locations

Small, unpretentious, with a focus on family-friendly food fare for the adventurous, these restaurants might otherwise go unnoticed in their tucked away locations were it not for their loyal followings.

Tip: At many hole in the wall restaurants, you can’t make reservations ahead of time. Expect up to 30-minute waits(at least) for seating depending on the time of day.

Here a few favorites from our weekend extravaganza:

Happy Date Restaurant and Bakery

Start your second day in Richmond with breakfast at this Hong Kong style restaurant with a bakery attached. Enjoy a Chinese donut (crispy on the outside, soft on the inside), dipped in soy milk.

Happy Date Bakery

Follow with a bowl of congee with preserved egg and shredded pork, and you’re all set for the day ahead.

Xin Shun Spicy Crab Hot Pot

Put on your plastic gloves and get your hands dirty when you dive into this dish of spicy stir-fried crab mixed with shrimp, vegetables and meats. What fun – and so delicious!

Xin Shun Spicy Crab Hot Pot

Prata Man

For a taste of traditional Hainanese Chicken, Prata Man is the place to go. Just head to the end of a small plaza on Garden City Way and have a seat at one of the dozen or so tables inside. Here the Hainanese chicken is served cold with green onion and ginger, complemented by chicken oil rice and a clear, hot broth.

Prata Man prides itself on having the highest quality of all three ingredients – the broth, chicken and chicken oil rice – to create the best possible traditional dish.

BBQ Meats at HK BBQ Master

Accessed through a parking lot located under a large supermarket, BBQ Meats at HK BBQ Master ranks high for its superb crackling roast pork, thanks to its use of pork belly.

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Crackling is the crispy skin on cooked pork. Not a fan of crackling roast pork? No worries. The moist, flavorful BBQ duck and pork also drew high praise from our group of food explorers.

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Order the choy sum (a Chinese leafy green like gai lan, but softer and sweeter) as a tasty side dish.

Shibuyatei

Travel is all about discovery, and Shibuyatei is a gem. Located next to a car wash, Chef Takeo Sato runs his one-man restaurant with passion. But don’t let the location fool you.

Shibuyatei

Shibuyatei is billed as one of the best places for authentic “larmen” outside Japan where Chef Takeo previously ran a ramen shop. His focus on flavorful ramen, minus MSG, is evident in every delectable bite.

Sushi Hachi

For an intimate, upscale Japanese dining experience, book a reservation at the exclusive Sushi Hachi, open only for dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays. The husband and wife team specialize in serving authentic traditional nigari and sashimi, simply presented.

Sushi Hachi

If you’re not sure what to order, you can’t go wrong saying this magical phrase, “Omakase,” loosely translated as “Chef, I am in your hands.”

Sugarholic Cafe

But wait – Let’s not forget dessert after all our Asian dining! How about a bite of this scrumptious bananas & chocolate honey toast tower from Aberdeen Centre’s Sugarholic Cafe, described as “European high tea meets Japanese sweets.”

Sugarholic Cafe
At least you know what you’re getting here!

After a whirlwind weekend of sampling traditional Asian foods at fourteen favorite eateries in Richmond, BC, it’s time to head home, with visions of yummy Asian dining dancing in my head – and on my palate.

Wander on!

Nancy

Thanks to Visit Richmond BC for showing me a few of the best hole in the wall restaurants the area has to offer! 

What’s your favorite Asian dish, wanderboomers? Please share with us here.

Filed Under: Baby Boomers and Travel, British Columbia, Canada, Food & Dining Tagged With: Asian cuisine, BBQ, Chinese food, claypot rice, food courts, Hainanese chicken, hole in the wall, Richmond BC

BY Nancy Mueller Leave a Comment ON April 18, 2015

Beyond "Gong Xi Fa Cai!" in Richmond, BC

Chinese New Year

Smiling faces and friendly greetings of “Gong Xi Fa Cai!” follow me as I stroll through the bustling Asian shopping extravaganza. Here at Aberdeen Centre, hundreds of Chinese lanterns hang high overhead. Everywhere I look, a sea of red and gold, lucky colors in Chinese culture, light up storefronts in dazzling vendor displays. Packages of red envelopes, gold-foiled candies and small stuffed rams line the tables from end to end. The scent of fresh flowers and fruit fill the market mall. Meanwhile, the promise of exuberant lion dances express the joyous spirit of revelers on the scene. The celebration of China’s longest and most important holiday appears well underway even though the official kickoff is still days away.

Annually the holiday occurs between the end of January and February, with a variable start date, based on the Chinese lunar calendar. Closely connected to the Chinese Zodiac, each year features one of twelve animal signs that rotate in a twelve-year cycle. 2015 celebrates “Year of the Sheep,” or “Goat” or “Ram,” depending on the translation.

Whether you wish another person “Gong Xi Fa Cai” in Mandarin or “Gong Hey Fat Choy” in Cantonese, each expresses the same sentiment: “Wishing you great happiness and prosperity!” Translating the English version, “Happy New Year,” into Chinese becomes, “Xin Nian Kuai Le,” or “New Year Happy.” It’s a time for leaving the old year behind, symbolized in ritual house cleaning, in eager anticipation of new beginnings, a sweeping away of the past for the promise of what lies ahead.

Tastes of Asia in Richmond, BC

On the restaurant scene, delectable dining menus feature “lucky foods,” tokens of good luck, longevity and prosperity: a whole squab for wholeness with family (the head and tail for good beginnings and good endings), fish and dumplings for money, tongue for ease, oysters for good business and long noodles for longevity. But with menu names like “Beautiful Family Happy Days,” often the real adventure lies in discovering exactly what foods comprise the dish. Visits to the Richmond Public Market and Osaka Grocery Store at Yaohan Center shed some of the mystery by offering a peek at Asian meal ingredients and an authentic Asian food court.

Chinese Calligraphy

Sixty percent of the local population in Richmond, British Columbia is of Asian, predominantly Chinese, descent. Little wonder then that Chinese New Year has become a favorite annual festival in this once-sleepy Vancouver suburb. But a visit to Richmond, B.C. reveals the region’s diverse cultural traditions beyond celebrating Asia’s lunar holiday.

Lingyen Mountain Temple

For starters, visit Richmond’s No. 5 road, better known as “Highway to Heaven,” to see how residents of different religious faiths and spiritual practices co-exist peacefully. Mosques, temples and churches encourage visitors for guided tours, special events, lectures, celebrations and art exhibits. Our Richmond stay includes a brief stop at the Buddhist Ling Yen Mountain Temple, home to 10,000 worshippers. Welcomed with a cup of fragrant Asian tea upon arrival, we next tour the Chinese palatial-style temple and hibernating garden grounds while sounds of chanting surround us, creating a calm and peaceful presence on our walk.

Tea Ceremony

To gain further insight into the diverse cultures of local inhabitants, visitors can attend a tea ceremony, explore a traditional Chinese medicine shop or browse the two-dollar Japanese bargain store, Daiso, all at the Aberdeen Centre. And with summer on the horizon, why not extend your cultural explorations at the area’s two Asian Night Markets, a stunning array of vendors serving sweet and savory dishes, together with live entertainment and performances.

For more information, visit:

Tourism Richmond
Four Points by Sheraton Vancouver Airport
Ling Yen Mountain Temple
Golden Paramount Seafood Restaurant
Lulu Island Winery
Bushuair Restaurant
Chef Tony Seafood Restaurant
Richmond Public Market
Yaohan Centre
Aberdeen Centre
Uncle Lu

Many thanks to my host, Tourism Richmond, for this glimpse into the cultural wonders of the region!

Richmond, BC

Wander on!

Nancy

What about you, wanderboomers? What’s your favorite way to discover a new region through its cultural traditions?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Baby Boomers and Travel, British Columbia, Culture, Holidays Tagged With: Chinese New Year, Gong Hey Fat Choy, Gong Xi Fa Cai, Happy New Year, Highway to Heaven, Richmond BC

Hello fellow wanderboomers! I’m a Seattle-based travel journalist, specializing in fun travel adventures for the young at heart. My articles have been featured in Hemispheres, AAA Highroads Magazine and Northwest Travel & Life Magazine where I'm a frequent contributor. When this Wanderboomer isn’t traveling, I help global executives polish their personal and professional brand for long-term results.
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