Headed up with my girlfriend for a long weekend and realized she's never had Dim Sum so I figured we'd have some in Vancouver instead of Seattle area. Any recommendations on places to take her? Looking for good variety and decent non-fish or shrimp options. Thanks in advance!

Hmm... a lot of dumplings are usually a variation on shrimp. Dim sum in Vancouver is pretty cheap, when compared to SF or NY, at comparable places. Don't go cheap on food, as you usually get what you pay for - with some exceptions.

IMO, the best in Vancouver is Fisherman's Terrace in Richmond. A ton of Chinese acquaintances seem to be in agreement with this.

Also, IMO, there is nowhere worth going to in downtown. The only half-decent one downtown in the past was Kirin, but they've gone downhill since they started catering to the mainland folks.


Also, have you considered a Japanese izakaya? Pretty sure they don't have those in SEA.

No shrimp/fish would eliminate the majority of dim sum.

^ This is also my choice for meeting up with friends/relatives in YVR. Last visit was 3 months ago; but they have been consistently very good.

It's been many years since I've been to YVR; we tried some places like Floata in Chinatown and Richmond and the various iterations of the place on Gore and Keefer (I think it was called "The Pink Pearl" once upon a time).

We're going back in October; sounds like Fisherman's Terrace is going to be one of our stops! ^

I love dim sum and dislike seafood, so I'm a big fan of Sun Sui Wah:

http://www.sunsuiwah.com/en_dimsum.html

Although, like most Chinese restaurants, they have 'Seafood' in their name, they have many non-water-breather options.

Sun Sui Wah
3888 Main Street @ 23rd Avenue
Vancouver
604.872.8822

Note that they're extremely popular & busy on weekends, so I would get there by 11am.

Never heard of that. Did a quick check on wikipedia and looks interesting. Any recommendations?

We'll be staying at Park Inn (For the Radisson free points promo), so places close to that would be nice.

Address of hotel:
898 West Broadway
V5Z1J8 Vancouver

Thanks for all the other suggestion from everyone. I'm sure this will make for a fun weekend when we get there.

Sun Sui Wah's pretty close to there - About a 7 minute drive:

http://goo.gl/maps/cX7a

Should you wish to burn off your dim sum it's about a 30 minute walk.

For an izakaya, you could go to Suika - which is an offshoot of Kingyo, an excellent izakaya. Good thing about izakayas is that there are a ton of non-fish/shrimp options. Of course, if you're downtown, go to Kingyo.

For dim sum, you could go to Kirin in City Square mall. It's not the best but certainly not the worst. Perhaps above average. It's better and different than the downtown Kirin as it focuses on Cantonese cuisine.

As alternative asian resto options, you could try the Tropika branch on Cambie or Banana Leaf on W Broadway. Both are SE Asian but have flavour profiles guaranteed to make "whities" happy. If you're in the mood for Indian, there's Vij's - which has won a ton of awards.

For Sun Sui Wah, and this is my opinion (collaborated with friends), only the Richmond branch is worth going to. Ever since the Main St branch moved to larger digs (a long time ago), quality took a dive and has never recovered. This has been confirmed throughout the years via various wedding banquets that I was obligated to go to. Of course, that's just an opinion.

Finally, for something completely off topic, if you want very good French food but at a super reasonable price, go to Salade de Fruits. It's located in a facility with a French school but is owned separately. No, it's not Michelin 3 star but it's really good French food for a great price and a very relaxed atmosphere. This is one resto that bucks the whole price/quality relationship.

I have to disagree

I live near Main & 19th and I'm in Sun Sui Wah often - It's excellent, and many on Yelp agree. The Richmond location is good too, but the OP is on Broadway, so it's a bit of a trek. I also find the language barrier at the Richmond location to be frustrating - To order you just point, but getting more water, tea or a beer is just impossible.

Any frequent Dim Sum diner will know to open the lid of the teapot for a refill.

Lid open, pointing, asking "more tea?"

...puzzled looks and shrugs from servers at Richmond joint.

That would be unacceptable and would not warrant a return nor a recommendation.

This correspond with the poor service I heard about SSW in my circle. 10+yrs ago SSW was our "yum cha" joint.

Interesting. I go there often enough and I don't even have to open the lid, they just check it every-so-often and refill it for me. However, they definitely understand the "lid off" signal. All of them know it. Maybe there's another reason... ?

Or, maybe you haven't been there for a while? They've switched to writing on "computer cards" for years now. No need to point to anything.

I was last there two weeks ago (Main Street)

I was referring to pointing to the empty teapot with the lid off... But in the context of ordering, I point then too... In that scenario I'm pointing at items on the Dim Sum menu though.

Went here last month, was incredibly busy and delicious.

Golden Ocean Seafood Restaurant
2046 West 41st Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6M 1Y7, Canada
(604) 263-8886