Richmond, British Columbia has one of the most diverse populations in the province, with nearly 50 percent of the city’s population being of Chinese descent. This means a city with a population of 200,000 people boasts more than 800 restaurants ranging from Japanese Izakaya spots to upscale Cantonese restaurants, and everything in between. Any time of day, this compact suburb of Vancouver is worth a culinary detour, but for a daytime dim sum stop it can’t be beat.
Most of the places below are within the “Golden Village” district of Richmond, clustered near and along the main thoroughfares of Westminster Highway and No. 3 Road. While dim sum carts are less common (most restaurants found that customers order less when ordering off of carts), the dim sum scene is still bustling on weekend mornings, with some places requiring a short wait time just to get a table. There are dozens of dim sum options within a couple of miles of each other, these are just a few of my favorites.
Golden Paramount
Inside the doors of this diminutive restaurant, the atmosphere is more subdued than some of the other popular dim sum spots. The excitement comes when the food hits your table however. Har gow (steamed shrimp dumplings) are delicate and sweet, steamed dumplings with crab are packed with Dungeness crab meat, crispy spring rolls filled with daikon, tripe in a tangy ginger sauce, golden brown potstickers, and my favorite – oysters that are first air-dried, then fried. The flavors here are clean and bright, and while some say the prices are a little higher compared with other restaurants in the area, the quality of the food is tremendous.
Top Shanghai
Don’t be discouraged by the exterior—like most of the best dim sum stops in Richmond, Top Shanghai is located in a strip mall. The magic is inside, where once seated you can peruse the menu through the large photos hanging around the walls of the room. We were here for the xiao long bao (XLB)—the famous soup dumplings. These steamed dumplings are filled with a combination of group pork and pork gelatin which, once steamed, dissolve into a soupy filling. Approach these carefully, as the filling can be very hot. We also ordered pan-fried steamed buns filled with a similar juicy pork filling. If anything can top XLB for porky deliciousness, it’s these doughy delights.
Neptune Seafood
Located right in the heart of the action on No. 3 Road, Neptune Seafood offers several steamed dumplings, like the classic shrimp dumplings—har gow, and steamed mushroom dumplings, plus rice rolls with shrimp, lobster, pea shoots, and other assorted fillings, steamed cuttlefish in a yellow curry broth, crispy turnip cakes, lobster congee, and more. There are crispy shrimp spring rolls, steamed buns filled with everything from egg yolk to pork, and some durian pastries on the menu as well, for those feeling brave. This pungent fruit with the distinctive spiny shell is definitely an acquired taste. Neptune offers dim sum discounts for diners before 11 a.m.
