Chinese restaurant recommendation in Vancouver

[mayfieldlodge]

Looking for a recommendation for a good Chinese restaurant whilst staying 1 night in Vancouver. Preferably a Chinese that does curry sauce for my son!. Any other suggestions for places to eat, burgers, fries, nothing too fancy would be great.

[Kamloops50]

Looking for a recommendation for a good Chinese restaurant whilst staying 1 night in Vancouver. Preferably a Chinese that does curry sauce for my son!. Any other suggestions for places to eat, burgers, fries, nothing too fancy would be great.

 

Vancouver has third or second largest Chinese population in North America.

There are many good Chinese places to eat at in Vancouver . Most restaurants have moved out to Richmond which is easily accessed by the Canada Line from Downtown Vancouver.

A local chain restaurant "White Spot" is reasonably priced for burgers , fries etc.

[martincath]

You're going to struggle to find anything close to British-style curry sauce over here... I assume that's what you mean: the yellow, runny kind often served with chips?

 

If your son enjoys other Chinese dishes too, try Hons (branches in both Chinatown and downtown) which has a very broad menu. If he really wants to try for something similar to curry sauce, I'd go Malaysian myself (that sauce originally evolved from Malay & Singaporean food) - Banana Leaf has a few branches around town so one might be convenient for your hotel or a site you're visiting in the afternoon.

 

A sort-of-local specialty is Ginger Beef (more Albertan than BC) - it's basically identical to British 'deep fried shredded beef in hot sauce' except the sauce is sweeter, gingery, and yellow instead of chili/garlic red sauce. Chongqing would be my favourite place for this.

 

Tons of burgers around town - every pub has their own take, as well as many chains. If you check on Yelp and Urbanspoon you'll find a lot of lists of 'best burgers in town' - any place that appears on multiple lists is probably consistently good.

[Urban trekker]

Perhaps if you told us which hotel you are staying at we locals can narrow down some of the non-Chinese food places to recommend.

 

Cheers and hope you enjoy your visit.

 

Dennis

[xlxo]

Looking for a recommendation for a good Chinese restaurant whilst staying 1 night in Vancouver. Preferably a Chinese that does curry sauce for my son!. Any other suggestions for places to eat, burgers, fries, nothing too fancy would be great.

 

Where in Vancouver are you staying? There are hundreds to choose from??? Some come to Vancouver just to eat! Are you there for Alaska? How about a live king crab.... you can forget the frozen stuff they serve in Alaska.... just make sure you family is big as you can't handle the left overs!

• 
  
• http://chineserestaurantawards.com/index.php?section=AwardWinners
  
• http://www.followmefoodie.com/2014/04/dynasty-seafood-restaurant-alaskan-king-crab-dinner-vancouver/
  

If you can't read Chinese menu's, here are some that work hard to accommodate the English clientele with illlustrated menus and/or English translated menus.

• Sea Harbour http://www.seaharbour.com/
  
• Sun Sui Wah http://www.urbanspoon.com/cities/14-vancouver/restaurants/181722-sun-sui-wah/menu
  
• Kirin chain http://www.kirinrestaurants.com/
  
• Pink Pearl http://www.pinkpearlrestaurant.ca/
  
• Floata http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/180637/restaurant/Chinatown/Floata-Seafood-Restaurant-Vancouver
  

Budget Chinese... look at the Congee House. Yes they serve King crab there too! I love their 4 course special.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/180412/restaurant/Mount-Pleasant-Main-Street/Congee-Noodle-House-Vancouver

 

Want something spicy? How about hand made noodles? Love Peaceful.

http://www.peacefulrestaurant.com/

 

Are you looking for dinner or lunch (brunch). The Chinese have a high-tea service called "Dim Sum" that exposes you to a variety of foods. I recommend a lunch/brunch to maximize your exposure!

 

Have you considered extra days to eat your way around Vancouver?

Edited February 13, 2015 by xlxo

[mayfieldlodge]

We are staying at the Blue Horizon on Robson Street. Thanks for the information, my son is a picky eater but Chinese is his favourite, although its usually Chicken Curry!.

[xlxo]

Not sure how authentic Chinese food is in Ireland....

 

One block to the West is Hon's. They have a good fusion of American Chinese with Authentic Chinese.

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Blue+Horizon+Hotel,+Robson+Street,+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&daddr=Hons+Wun-Tun+House,+Robson+Street,+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&hl=en&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=59.249168,101.337891&geocode=FX8N8AId6Tmp-CG6Vk89wu59Aik9BpHJgHGGVDG6Vk89wu59Ag%3BFXYR8AIdrDKp-CEb8YSbhDSMfSm7lH5Ah3GGVDEb8YSbhDSMfQ&oq=hon's&mra=ls&t=m&z=19

 

http://www.hons.ca/hons_english.htm

Looking at their online menu, I see Curry Beef Brisket with rice. Some chefs MAY deviate and make that with chicken if you ask the server. Warning... there are several varieties of curry. The curry in Vancouver may be different than in Ireland.

 

To the North East is the Kirin Mandarin. They would be a good choice to explore brunch Dim Sum

• https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Blue+Horizon+Hotel,+Robson+Street,+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&daddr=Kirin+Restaurant,+Alberni+Street,+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&hl=en&ll=49.286355,-123.126526&spn=0.001513,0.003093&sll=49.287058,-123.127017&sspn=0.001513,0.003093&geocode=FX8N8AId6Tmp-CG6Vk89wu59Aik9BpHJgHGGVDG6Vk89wu59Ag%3BFdcM8AIdlUCp-CGYQhdSU1MIRClVnGzegHGGVDGYQhdSU1MIRA&oq=kirin,+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&dirflg=w&mra=ltm&t=m&z=19
  
• 
  
• http://www.kirinrestaurants.com/index.php5?page=downtown
  

 

Looking at an old menu from my last visit..... the Congee Noodle House DOES offer a Curried Chicken on steam rice for $11. Does he like it spicy? 8 minutes by cab...

• https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Blue+Horizon+Hotel,+Robson+Street,+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&daddr=Congee+Noodle+House,+East+Broadway,+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&hl=en&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=59.249168,101.337891&geocode=FX8N8AId6Tmp-CG6Vk89wu59Aik9BpHJgHGGVDG6Vk89wu59Ag%3BFeCx7wIdUJyp-CGYo-eJIok_yyl7W-O34XOGVDGYo-eJIok_yw&oq=congee+noodle+house&mra=ls&t=m&z=15
  

 

The Peaceful Restaurant also offers a Curried Chicken ride dish for $13... I vote peaceful if you want to try their fresh hand made noodles (I like cumin lamb). 6 minutes by cab from your hotel.

• https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Blue+Horizon+Hotel,+Robson+Street,+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&daddr=Peaceful+Restaurant,+West+Broadway,+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&hl=en&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=58.033539,74.619141&geocode=FX8N8AId6Tmp-CG6Vk89wu59Aik9BpHJgHGGVDG6Vk89wu59Ag%3BFQKy7wIdl2Wp-CGmavquZDcM3SkN1MJt3XOGVDGmavquZDcM3Q&oq=peaceful+res&mra=ls&t=m&z=15
  
• http://www.peacefulrestaurant.com/menu.aspx#cat21
  

 

Just sing it....

[YOUTUBE]wWLhrHVySgA[/YOUTUBE]

Edited February 14, 2015 by xlxo

[mayfieldlodge]

Thanks for your comments, sure we will be spoiled with the choices and some restaurants so close to the hotel as well. Great to receive recommendations. thanks again everyone. :)

[Kamloops50]

Keep in mind that these aren't usually restaurants that local Chinese go to.

[xlxo]

I would say 60% to 90% of the people will be Orientals in the restaurants I suggested. Hon's near the Blue Horizon may have the lowest Asians because of the neighborhood. But the Chinese do frequent Hon's other locations.

 

The only thing different in my suggestions is they offer an English or illustrated menu to help non-Chinese menu readers like me.

 

There are several different regional Chinese cuisines http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_cuisine. Vancouver's main cuisine is Cantonese.

 

I will warn you Vancouver is also known for fusion. At this time of the year, you can even find Haggis wonton's.

http://www.straight.com/food/809356/gung-haggis-fat-choy-rings-year-sheep

 

Please don't expect fortune cookies when in Vancouver Chinese restaurants. There are also the Canadian-chinese/American-chinese fusion options. I'll let others make those suggestions.

Edited February 14, 2015 by xlxo

[lamchops]

I would say 60% to 90% of the people will be Orientals in the restaurants I suggested. Hon's near the Blue Horizon may have the lowest Asians because of the neighborhood. But the Chinese do frequent Hon's other locations.

 

 

The Hon's on Robson is probably the cleanest of all the Hon's and other restaurants listed in this thread. It's clean by western standards and I've been in the biz a long time. I have been going to all Hon's for 35+ years starting with their original "hole in the wall" on Main St in chinatown. Their claim to fame is based on their noodle dishes and their curry beef brisket with rice. I order the curry beef brisket on 75% of my visits while my DW and kid's love the beef with rice noodles. (the wet one) We treat it as an alternative to fast food as you can be in and out from 30 minutes to a hour depending on your order and time of day.

[mayfieldlodge]

do you think they would do a chicken curry if we asked?

[Kamloops50]

You maybe should look for an East Indian restaurant.

[martincath]

do you think they would do a chicken curry if we asked?

It never hurts to ask, but I'd doubt it for two reasons:

the first that non-high-end Vancouver Chinese eateries offer a rather, shall we say, functional rather than solicitous level of service. Certainly in my local Hon's, the Chinatown branch, asking for an off-menu item or modifications gets you nowhere (since my beloved Foos HoHo closed I've been trying to find a close replica of their Egg Foo Yung so I've asked a few places for tweaks to dishes - nobody has been willing to yet);

the second is that even if you catch them on a good day and they're willing, the brisket is the only dish they cook in that particular curry sauce and brisket takes a loooooooong time to cook. The amount of sauce is probably matched very precisely to the amount of brisket - and that's even assuming the sauce goes on at the end rather than being used as a marinade/braising liquid during cooking as I suspect (this curry brisket is a Cantonese version of a Malay beef dish which is cooked in the sauce).

 

His best bet for a close match is a curry chicken dish from a Malaysian restaurant like I suggested further up the thread - or perhaps a Thai Yellow Curry sauce if he likes coconut, as the texture and heat level will be similar just with much more coconut flavour. That thin, radioactive-yellow Chinese Curry that's the norm across the UK isn't popular anywhere else to my knowledge (no loss to me, I was always much more of an Indian curry fan).