This article is a part of a new information to Vancouver from FT Globetrotter
Walking into Landmark Hotpot, I can see the patina of wear and tear and tear: the full-service china is a bit scuffed, the tables haven’t modified for the reason that Eighties and the faux-marble paintwork may do with a touch-up. Around the eating room, boisterous with keen clients, workers put on formal uniforms and supply thrives of old-school service requirements. It seems like a scene in a Wes Anderson movie.
But behind the quirky appeal lies an understated confidence, one which comes from a long time of being cherished for its give attention to top-notch, native components, superbly crafted with Cantonese culinary approach. Servers present mild steering, and programs are served in a development somewhat than to provide every dish respiratory room — and plates are modified all through the meal. It’s old-fashioned, Hong Kong hotel-style service that also finds full expression in Vancouver.
As outposts of the previous British empire, Vancouver and Hong Kong have lengthy been linked, from reverse sides of the Pacific Ocean. Canada’s west coast metropolis was the logical alternative for my household once we immigrated to the nation within the Sixties.
Our Cantonese meals traditions translated remarkably simply to Vancouver. The metropolis sits on the fertile Fraser River delta, mirroring the wealthy farmland of Guangzhou’s Pearl River delta. When I used to be rising up, meals featured steamed Pacific rock cod caught by my late father, or stir-fried watercress foraged from an area stream. Summer tenting journeys meant pots of smoky congee, cooked over a fireplace, wealthy with native clams.
The 1997 handover led to a surge of emigration from Hong Kong to Vancouver of each folks and businesses. The experience to create upscale Hong Kong delicacies — and the delicate palates that demanded it — arrived within the metropolis on the similar time, ushering in a golden age of Hong Kong-style Cantonese eating within the Canadian metropolis. A novel Vancouver sub-genre of Cantonese meals emerged, celebrating native, seasonal components; British Columbia spot prawns, Asian poultry breeds from close by farms and reside fish function prominently on menus.
But in recent years, the movement of kitchen expertise from Hong Kong has slowed to a trickle. At most of Vancouver’s Cantonese eating places, head cooks at the moment are effectively into their 60s and 70s. Formal Hong Kong cooking requires rigorous prep work and approach — and with out a new era keen to tackle intense apprenticeships, our golden age could also be coming into its twilight.
And but the excessive notes of Cantonese cooking in Vancouver stay sensational. Below are among the greatest eating places to expertise the native style, chosen as a result of they serve dishes with readability, refinement and ease, in characterful environment.
Chef’s Choice Chinese Cuisine
955 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1K3
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Good for: Exploring long-forgotten basic Hong Kong dishes
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Not so good for: If you need large brash flavours, this place is all about subtlety
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FYI: If you’re going to splurge on king crab, do it right here. The crab shell full of Portuguese-style curried rice is past dreamy
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Opening instances: Monday–Friday, 10.30am–3pm and 5pm–9.30pm; Saturday–Sunday, 10am–3pm and 5pm–9.30pm
It’s straightforward to walk by the doorway of Chef’s Choice and never discover it. Colours are muted and the blinds are at all times drawn. Though the inside feels a bit like a members’ membership, it’s additionally lit with high-wattage brightness to dispel any hint of gloominess, a pet peeve of Hong Kong diners. And for what it could lack in pure mild, it greater than makes up for with flavour.
Being an everyday at Chef’s Choice has change into a delicate signifier of excellent style amongst Vancouver’s gourmets. Chef Tommy Pang has been working in eating places since he was 13 years old, first by a succession of high-end eating places in Hong Kong, the place he developed a basic repertoire by statement and hands-on cooking, and in Vancouver since 1981. He’s now in his 70s, and his encyclopedic information of Cantonese delicacies is astonishing.
Diners adore Pang’s time-tested methods that refine home-cooked flavours, such because the auspiciously named roasted Gold Coin rooster: fatty slices of pork stomach sandwiching rooster livers (that are hung in chains, like Chinese cash, in old Hong Kong barbecue retailers) — succulent and wealthy, and packing a mineral punch. Dim sum options large minced pork and seafood soup dumplings, with whisper-thin wrappers that collapse with a delicate prod of chopsticks. (They are so liable to bursting that no different restaurant in Vancouver serves these correctly free-form, as a substitute delivering them in porcelain ramekins.) At almost each desk you’ll see Pang’s signature dish: fried sticky rice rooster, for which an entire rooster is rigorously deboned, layered with rice studded with dried scallops, shiitake, and Chinese sausage and wok-fried to a luscious crispness.
Dynasty Seafood Restaurant
108-777 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4J7
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Good for: Big, showy exuberant dishes that can elicit oohs and aahs
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Not so good for: Anyone on the lookout for a quiet spot for a romantic dinner for 2. There is not any hiding from different diners’ stares, or the paparazzi if that’s a priority
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FYI: If you give them sufficient advance discover, they’ll work round most critical meals allergy symptoms
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Opening instances: Daily, 10am–3pm and 5pm–10pm
Dynasty Seafood specialises in Hong Kong banquet-style dishes executed with exuberant vigour by govt chef Cao Can Hui — who, at 54, is taken into account a young buck in Vancouver’s Chinese cooking circles.
While meat and seafood are aplenty, Dynasty actually shines with its vegetarian dishes, cooked with a west coast perspective. Napa cabbage is full of Buddha’s Feast (a mixture of shiitake mushrooms, bean curd and different veggie components) till it’s overflowing (meant to sign prosperity), then braised entire to a young sweetness, and carved tableside (it have to be ordered forward of time). Sliced Chinese eggplant steamed with preserved greens and dressed with a candy soy sauce and scorching oil is a vegetarian tackle the basic flavours of Cantonese steamed cod. And the sautéed Buddha’s Feast with shiitake mushrooms, wooden ear fungus and cabbage is imbued with energetic wok hei immediacy.
However, one in all Dynasty’s hottest dishes — and probably essentially the most Instagrammed Chinese dish in Vancouver — is the deliriously satisfying spicy hurricane crab: fried Dungeness crab, showered with spicy garlic chips, crisped breadcrumbs and chopped contemporary chillies, served on a towering column of sticky rice. Dim sum gems embody the baked pork pies, redolent of floral black peppercorns, and steamed mushroom dumplings.
With gorgeous views of Vancouver’s skyline, Dynasty’s hovering eating room pulses with vibrant yeet nau power (which means “hot loudness”), and the service crew’s ease with each Chinese and non-Chinese clients has earned it a loyal following. On any given night, you might even see a desk of moneyed Chinese women having fun with delicately braised abalone, a bunch of golf buddies digging into an enormous king-crab feast and a household celebrating a baby’s birthday with a Peking duck particular. It represents the range of Vancouver introduced collectively by scrumptious meals.
Golden Paramount
8111 Anderson Road, Richmond, BC V6Y 3Z8
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Good for: Experiencing meticulous crafted dim sum and a kitchen that excels at respiratory magic into the only dishes (the meat gai lan shouldn’t be ignored)
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Not so good for: If restaurant decor is essential to you, you’ll seemingly hold your eyes closed throughout your meal
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FYI: Ask for a desk within the second room behind the host’s podium. The entrance foyer eating room is to be prevented if doable
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Opening instances: Wednesday–Monday, 10.30am–3pm and 5pm–9pm
Chef May Chau, a uncommon feminine Chinese-restaurant proprietor and dim sum chef, is on the helm of Golden Paramount, some of the revered Cantonese eateries within the Greater Vancouver space. She grew up within the Sixties and ’70s kitchen of her household’s full-service restaurant in Hong Kong, studying the fragile artwork of dim sum and the robust self-discipline of operating a business.
Golden Paramount is devoid of showy shortcuts; Chau’s flawless execution of basic dishes are the true luxurious right here. Her crab and pork dumplings, steamed in a fragile, translucent, sticky mochi pores and skin, put chopstick expertise to the ultimate check. Mindful of a dim sum meal’s narrative, the dumplings are at all times served first, when the diner’s palate is most capable of recognize the fragile flavours and textures, earlier than the extra assertive dishes are served.
The daikon spring roll is gorgeous in its readability — crackling crisp, and stuffed with earthy candy matchsticks of braised radish — and a dish of supreme confidence, with almost nothing between you and a single ingredient enhanced with delicate notes of superior inventory and white pepper.
Contrary to its fast-food connotations, basic candy and bitter pork is taken into account a litmus check of a Hong Kong’s chef’s ability, and Golden Paramount’s model is arguably the most effective round. Hawthorn juice offers vigorous depth to the sauce, thickened frivolously so it clings to just-fried items of pork for contemporary immediacy.
Max Noodle House
8291 Alexandra Road, Richmond, BC V6X 1C3
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Good for: Experiencing one in all Hong Kong’s quintessential dishes at its best
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Not so good for: If your urge for food is big, plan on having two or three bowls of noodles. The servings are authentically diminutive, as you’ll discover in Hong Kong.
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FYI: Wonton-house diners are inclined to order and eat rapidly. It’s thought-about good manners to depart as quickly as you might be completed in order that ready diners may be seated
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Opening instances: Wednesday–Monday, 11am–8pm
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No web site; Directions
It’s arduous to overstate how a lot Hongkongers love wonton noodles, although it’s on par with the Japanese ramen obsession or an Italian’s dogmatic ardour for pasta. A humble bowl of noodles, the place every element is straightforward however executed with care and a focus, speaks to the soul of Hong Kong’s historical past as a tiny fishing village.
For greater than 30 years, Max Noodle House has been a culinary cornerstone for Vancouverites. It’s the primary cease many make after touchdown on the close by airport from journeys overseas for a style of home.
The superbly clear broth at Max resonates with smoky umami from dried flounder, rounded by touches of white chives and sesame oil. Silky wontons are rigorously stuffed with candy bouncy prawns, highlighting high quality over amount. The delicate, buoyant egg noodles supply the proper tensile snap and chew; they’re served raised on a big soup spoon to keep away from sitting in sizzling broth and dropping their chunk. The noodles can be topped with a shredded braised-pork sauce that thrums with dried tangerine peel, or fall-apart star anise-braised pork hocks.
Classic wonton home snacks are exemplary right here. Deep-fried rooster wings zing with notes of Chinese wine, blanched beef slices with slivers of ginger and inexperienced onion are extremely tender and the crispy deep-fried tofu is almost custardy inside.
The thoughtfulness of each dish right here is especially appreciated by older diners who can not journey again to Hong Kong, reminiscent of my elderly mom. Seated in a snug sales space with a bowl of wontons slicked with pink vinegar for brightness, with the chatter of the bossy waitresses within the background, she says every little thing simply feels proper.
Landmark Hotpot House
4023 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC V5Z 2X9
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Good for: Enjoying the best native seafood on the absolute peak of freshness. The late-night menu options very good Chiuchow da lang dishes reminiscent of oyster omelettes and stir-fried clams
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Not so good for: Your pockets. Be ready to spend
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FYI: Parking is a Herculean job, and also you’ll threat the wrath of native residents should you accomplish that within the improper spots. A taxi is your greatest buddy right here
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Opening instances: Daily, 5pm–2am
Dining at Landmark is a little bit of sensory overload, tables piled excessive with plates of lovely seafood, meats, and greens for communal cooking in large pots of effervescent broth. First opened in 1989, the room retains a light nightclub-like glamour; again then it was rumoured that Asian gangsters generally sat close to the entrance doorways and stored an eye fixed out for potential hazard. These days, the best hazard will not be getting an area within the car parking zone filled with luxurious automobiles.
Chef David Li, who has been helming eating places for half a century (the vast majority of these a long time spent at Landmark), is thought for his obsessive consideration to element and uncompromising requirements. At 80 years old, he nonetheless arrives on the restaurant each morning at 7am to examine the arrival of components, and stays till 1am to supervise the ultimate hours of service. (He does, nonetheless, go home for a brief nap within the afternoon.) The hotpot shares are made every day — slow-cooked and skimmed over a interval of eight to 10 hours, gently extracting deep flavour from pork bones, dried seafood, and aromatics.
By using basic Chinese knifework, which goals to deliver out the most effective textures and flavours (and deepen diners’ appreciation for high quality components), Landmark upended how Vancouver Cantonese eating places served reside seafood. (The chopping station is probably essentially the most important element of a basic Chinese kitchen — akin to the saucier in a French restaurant.) And though tabletop cooking seems like a country throwback, Landmark could also be Vancouver’s most secret, luxurious Chinese eating expertise. Its sourcing is known; no different native restaurant so willingly competes with deep-pocketed offshore Asian consumers to bid on the most effective components. A plate of translucent, thinly sliced geoduck clams can run into the a whole bunch of {dollars} at Landmark, and they’re definitely well worth the splurge.
Most diners finish their meal with a bowl of Landmark’s exemplary sticky rice, studded with dried seafood and cured Chinese meats. The rice is first rinsed and soaked for 5 hours, steamed with the rendered fats of the cured meats and stir-fried to order, leading to resounding flavour and texture.
When I dine at Landmark, I wish to suppose my father would immediately recognise its magic — the artwork of sharing and cooking the most effective native seafood and greens. This restaurant will most likely by no means land on worldwide “best of” lists, defying the standardised measures of most eating guides. But the communal appreciation and delight of very good components, as skilled right here, lies on the coronary heart of the most effective Hong Kong eating. It’s to not be missed.
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