Jade Seafood Restaurant - Richmond, BC

What cures a month of sodium and fat-laden meals? More sodium and fat! Dim Sum Round Two! Ding ding!

The Jade Seafood Restaurant has won many awards over the years, including the 2012 Chinese Restaurant Awards Diners' Choice Best Dim Sum Restaurant, 2011 Vancouver Magazine Best Dim Sum Silver and a whole host of others (Jade has so many awards, they have a page titled "Awards & Accolades"). So what's so good about this place?


This! (Steamed Beef Ball - not a favorite of mine but the other piggies LUV it. It's a big ball of meat dipped into Worcestershire Sauce. Take it or leave it.)


And this! (Steamed Prawn Dumpling aka Har Gow - a must eat staple of dim sum)


And this! (Deep Fried Special Tofu - the jalapenos are a nice change to the regular salt and pepper that's usually served)


Don't forget about this! (Steamed Pork Dumpling - another dim sum staple, it is pork mixed with shrimp and topped with prawn roe)


Oh yes this! (Deep Fried Sweet Bun - I was surprised to see this on the menu as we usually eat this at dinner time but I have no qualms with that since it is delicious! The bun is crunchy on the outside, sweet and densely layered on the inside and then dipped into a sweetened condensed milk)


Definitely this! (Beef with Chinese Parsley Rice Roll - the rice rolls are also a staple of dim sum and can come stuffed with prawns, mushrooms, chinese donut, BBQ pork, etc. It's a softer texture so beware those who don't like that!)


Yup, this! (Steamed Phoenix Claws - uh, it's just chicken feet...)


Heck yeah this too! (Deep Fried White Bait - not sure what fish this is and it was disturbing that you can see BOTH of its eyes but once you pop a couple in your mouth, you're addicted! Salty, garlicky and a bit spicy... these would be perfect with a beer... I think beer with dim sum is frowned upon so I think I'll stick to the tea)



T-H-I-S! (Ah, here we go... this is one of those dishes that weren't on the menu and I'm not sure how one comes across items not on the menu but we asked for a BBQ pork pastry and the server kindly said that wasn't served but to try this baby instead - it's basically a BBQ pork bun but instead of white bun, there's this light flaky crust around it with a super crunchy shell. According to our server, it's only served on Saturdays and Sundays and there's only a limited number of them so once they sell out, it's too bad so sad. I cry for those who've missed out on this bad boy because it is GOOD! Where is this secret menu of dishes?????)


Ooh, don't forget about this! (Steamed BBQ Pork Bun - yet another staple)


Mmm, hmm, this! (Deep Fried Glutinous Dumpling - meat in a thick chewy shell... they really need to find better names for some of these dishes)



And so on... (Steamed Sticky Rice Wrapped - Pork, shrimp, duck egg yolk, Chinese sausage, Chinese mushrooms and more wrapped probably with some lard and then steamed in banana leaves)


And so forth... (Mango Pudding - a nice sweet note to end the meal)

Think of dim sum as Chinese tapas - get into a big group, order a whack load of dishes and attack! That way you'll find out what you like, and order it again, or find what you don't like and don't touch it with a ten foot pole. Oh yeah, this stuff is filled with salt and fat but once in a while, you gotta splurge! Bon appetite!

Pros:
Excellent service
English, Mandarin and Cantonese spoken
English menu available
Free parking next door
Some really original dishes are available here and nowhere else (spare ribs with pumpkin, steamed buns with chicken and chantrelle mushrooms, etc)
Reservations accepted
Cash and credit card accepted
20% discount between 9 am and 11 am
Very clean

Cons:
A little bit on the pricier side if you go after 11 am
Expect long wait without reservations
Mystery dishes that are only available by asking or if they happen to pass by you on a tray

Jade can be found at: http://www.jaderestaurant.ca