Eating
Checked September 2026. Restaurants here turn over quickly — phone before you cross town.
Where to aim
| Area | What's there |
|---|---|
| Golden Village, along No. 3 Road | The densest run: dim sum, Shanghainese, Sichuan, hotpot, dessert shops |
| Alexandra Road | A single block with dozens of restaurants. Locals call it Food Street |
| Aberdeen and Yaohan mall food courts | Cheap, fast, and better than any food court has a right to be |
| Steveston | Fish and chips, seafood off the dock, and the queue that comes with both |
What to order if you're new to it
- Dim sum, late morning, ordered from a paper sheet rather than a trolley in most places now. Har gow, siu mai, cheung fun, an egg tart at the end.
- Xiao long bao at a Shanghainese place. Bite the corner first. They are hotter inside than seems physically reasonable.
- Hotpot in winter, booked ahead on weekends.
- Hong Kong style café food — baked pork chop rice, milk tea. Comfort cooking, open late, cheap.
Ordering when the menu isn't in English
Common and not a barrier. Photographs are usually on the wall or the paper menu. Pointing works. Translation apps handle the camera reasonably well now. Nobody minds; this happens all day.
Practical notes
Dim sum stops around two in the afternoon, sometimes three. Many smaller places take cash or debit only. Groups larger than six on a Saturday need booking. Parking at the malls is free and plentiful, which is not true of anywhere comparable in Vancouver.
I don't rank restaurants and I don't name a single best. The turnover here is high enough that a ranked list is wrong within a year, and my taste isn't a reason for you to cross a city.