Food Adventures in Richmond

R&H Chinese Food
Address: Lansdown Centre 5300 No 3 Rd Richmond, BC V6X 2X9
Phone: 778-297-5668

Our first meal was really simple.  We made our way to the food court of Lansdowne Centre and found a stall that is listed on the Dumpling Trail called R&H Chinese Food.  Richmond’s Dumpling Trail is a list of local restaurants that are known to have very good dumplings, even if dumplings are not what the restaurant may be most well known for. 

We ordered the xiaolongbao and some pan fried pork and chive dumplings.  The xiaolongbao was served about 10 minutes before the pan fried dumplings so by the time we sat down, the skin of the xiaolongbao had started to stick together which made it a bit difficult to try and keep the soup inside.  Nonetheless, they were delicious and I would definitely order them again. 

The pan fried dumplings were just as good and surprisingly juicy.  There was so much juice inside that it almost felt like a different version of a xiaolongbao.  Overall, a very good first meal.

Richmond Night Market
Address: 8351 River Rd, Richmond, BC V6X 1Y4
Phone: 604-244-8448

In all the years that this market has been in operation, I have never once visited.  I had heard that it is pricy and the food is subpar, and for a city that is known for food, it just never made sense to try this place.  However, since this specific trip was all about food, we decided to make a stop here.

🔹Chickin Cracklin’ $13
Our first stop was to try the flavoured chicken skin at this stall. All of their flavours sounded so good, so we asked them for their most popular one and was told salted egg and soy garlic. We settled on the salted egg and I’m so glad we did. This was my favorite thing that I ate this night. I also loved the travel theme.

🔹Chef James Xinjiang Lamb Bun $7 for 1, $13 for 2 or $15 for 3
There was a board that showed the Top 10 food items purchased at the market in the last month.  The #1 item was the lamb baos from Chef James.  Neither of us are fans of lamb but we figured that since it’s the #1 item, we thought we’d give it a try.  The verdict is that I would not order it again. As with most Xinjiang lamb dishes, cumin is used to mask the gaminess of the lamb, but there was still enough of a lamb flavour that I didn’t really enjoy this.

🔹Roasted Marrow Bones $18
The marrow was covered in a variety of spices and was perfectly complemented by the bread. The only thing was, we ran out of bread pretty quickly. Overall, a decent dish but very expensive for what you’re getting.

🔹Pause n’ Sip $10
After all this food, we were looking for a refreshing drink and the fruit teas here did the trick. The signature fruit tea was exactly what I needed.

🔹Aloha Boys Flying Cup Noodles $16
This is likely the most instagram friendly item at the market. Noodles are propped up by a fork and chopsticks are inserted to give it a flying effect. The shrimp and spam were great and the noodles had a strong soy sauce flavour, but we didn’t realize how much noodle was actually in that cup and unfortunately we were not able to finish it.

Overall, the market was exactly what we expected. It was a fun, lively environment with slightly overpriced, but interesting food choices. One thing that we struggled with was how stingy the vendors were with handing out napkins! We could not seem to get more than one napkin ever!

BlackBall Taiwanese Dessert Food
Address: 8300 Capstan Way Unit 1063 Richmond, BC V6X 4B7
Phone: 604-900-2404

I love little mochi balls in my desserts and when I found out that BlackBall is a dessert shop that specializes in mochi balls, I need I wanted to try this place.

We arrive around 9:30pm on a Sunday night and chose to try the Mini Balls Anni Tofu (小丸子嫩豆腐).  It consisted of tofu dessert surrounded by 4 types of mochi balls – black sesame, matcha, taro and sweet potato.  The black sesame and matcha balls were very flavourful but the taro and sweet potato are much more subtle.  I kind of wished there was more tofu or less mochi balls as the radio seemed a bit off.  The texture of the mochi balls goes really well with the smooth tofu, but there just wasn’t enough tofu to always include some with each bite.

Yuu Japanese Tapas
3779 Sexsmith Rd #1118 Richmond, BC V6X 3Z9
Phone: 604-214-7722

One of the most viral food items of the past few years came out of Yuu Japanese Tapas.  The Beer Ramen became so popular that it is now a permanent item on their menu.

We arrived at the restaurant in the middle of the afternoon and proceeded to order the Beer Ramen with Vegetable Tempura.  However, the waitress told us that there is a minimum charge per person so we would need to order a second item.  Thankfully that second item could be a drink so that is what we did.

The Beer Ramen totally lived up to the hype!  I’m not usually a fan of cold noodles but the broth for this dish was super refreshing and was a fantastic complement to the tempura.  The tempura was really greasy, so the cold bonito broth really helped cut the grease.

Memory Corner
Address: 4651 Garden City Rd #1110 Richmond, BC V6X 2K4
Phone: 604-284-5434

The first time I saw pictures of this restaurant, I was reminded of Jiufen.  The red lanterns and old memorabilia that is used as décor transports you to a different time and place.  I kinda felt like I was dining on the streets of Taiwan in the 50s!

We arrived at 8:30pm on a Wednesday night but this place was still packed and we ended up having to wait for a table.  Thankfully the wait wasn’t long and we were easily occupied by being able to take pictures of the décor. 

This restaurant also had a minimum charge per person so we ended up having to order two things.  We ended up with a beef short rib set and some Taiwanese sausage.  I had really wanted to try the pumpkin hot pot but it was quite late and we were still full from a full day of eating so we’ll just have to come back another time. 

I would definitely come back here again.  Both the food and atmosphere were amazing.

Lido Restaurant
Address: 4231 Hazelbridge Way Richmond, BC V6X 3L7
Phone: 604-231-0055

Lido has long been known as one of the most popular HK style cafes.  They are very famous for their Pineapple Buns with Butter and their egg tarts.  After a 20 minute wait, we were seated and we immediately ordered 2 egg tarts, a pineapple bun and 2 milk teas. 

We were lucky enough to have a fresh batch of pineapple buns come out of the oven soon after we ordered, so within minutes, we were able to enjoy this fresh baked bun.  This was definitely the highlight of the meal as the milk tea and egg tart were only ok for me.  I would definitely come back again for the pineapple bun.