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Lee Man, founding judge, Chinese Restaurant Awards.

Photo courtesy Lee Man

Photo via richmondnightmarket.com

Richmond’s unique culinary experience

By Joe Leary

Published 11:39 PDT, Fri July 19, 2024

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Richmond has long been acknowledged as a culinary hot spot, not just locally but well beyond. Many consider it the gastronomical capital of Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest.

One thing is certain: when it comes to dining Richmond has well surpassed the old adage of something for everyone. In fact, the Richmond food scene is that of legend, not only around the Lower Mainland but the word is out south of the border as well.

It’s been suggested that you could eat at a different spot in Richmond every day for months without visiting the same place twice.

In fact, at last count, Richmond boasted over 800 restaurants and with roughly 70 percent of the population being of Asian descent, there is simply no better market for Asian cuisine to be found anywhere in North America.

As a restaurant judge with Vancouver Magazine for over 20 years, Lee Man serves as the ultimate expert on the Richmond dining scene, having grown up on the local cuisine.

Man is also the Founding Judge of the Chinese Restaurant Awards created in 2009. It has since gone on to become the world’s longest-running Chinese culinary awards event and recognized as the foremost authority on Chinese and Taiwanese dining.

“The food scene in Richmond is astounding and in particular the Chinese food is amazing,” says Man.

“With the local farmland and access to fresh live fish and seafood, Richmond restaurants very much keep with the Chinese cooking ideals of eating fresh and local—and avoiding frozen foods as much as possible.”

The area is replete with an expansive variety of cuisine and food-related experiences. There’s everything from the hustle and bustle of the Richmond Night Market—which attracts over a million visitors per year and runs from April to October with over 600 international food options and more than 110 retail booths—to the highly-acclaimed Dumpling Trail; which includes 16 locations.

The Dumpling Trail guides diners to 13 eateries that steam, fry and boil up delectable dumplings and were recently showcased on CNN Travel’s 12 of the world’s most enticing food and drink trails.

The city was also recently hailed by a Seattle publication for being home to the best Dim Sum on the continent.

“Richmond is widely-acknowledged across North America as having the best Chinese food outside of Greater China,” he says.

“In addition to the recent publication in the Seattle Times, Richmond has been written up in the New York Times and eater.com

Richmond is so rich with Asian culinary choice that there’s a specific area known as the Golden Village or more locally, ‘Eat Street’.

That, at least, is how locals refer to the stretch along Alexandra Road that is chock full of authentic Asian fare. “Alexandra Road is famous for both locals and visitors who flock there for the huge selection of restaurants.

Diners and restaurateurs alike love the liveliness and community that has been created on ‘Eat Street’.

“You can have a Dim Sum breakfast, noodles for lunch and spicy lamb skewers for dinners all within blocks of each other—it’s fantastic.”

The Golden Village area is a game-changer as the variety of food options in the area is unrivalled and offers without question, the most authentic gastronomical experience found anywhere in North America.

It’s even been suggested that for truly Authentic Asian food, Vancouver’s historic Chinatown isn’t even comparable.

“Whenever people visit Richmond, they want to eat out and have Chinese and Asian food,” says Man.

“Even visitors from China want the local version in Richmond because of the freshness of local ingredients. When I ask my ‘Foodie’ friends in Seattle where they go for the best Dim Sum, they say Richmond, BC and the Richmond Night Market in particular is a huge event for young people who love to eat.”

And given Lee Man’s accreditation as “the source” for Richmond area cuisine, we’d be remiss if we didn’t get a couple of recommendations of ‘must try’, go-to hot spots in Western Canada’s highly-decorated ‘Food-topia’.

“Right now, I love ‘The Fish Man’ on Alexandra Road for the beautiful, local and sustainable seafood cooked with lively and spicy Chinese ingredients,” he says of his personal favourites.

‘Kirin Seafood Restaurant’ is the absolute standard bearer for Dim Sum. Everything is made fresh, by hand, every single day. But with such a well-deserved reputation for being a prime destination for epicurean delights with a heavy focus on Asian food, you may need to plan your visit in advance as the area teams with traditional regular customers along with curious newcomers. “Reservations are a must at both.” chineserestaurantawards.com

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