Richmond, BC Day 1-12/26

Departing for Richmond from Seattle at a late 3 pm, we hit the border between Canada and USA at 5 pm. After a short 30 minute drive up highway 99 from the border, my family arrived at Richmond. Looking for restaurants on Westminster Highway and No. 3 Road, we finally decided on Shanghai River on Westminster Highway. Parking can be tough, but there are numerous spots across the street.

Walking in, one is instantly greeted with a chorus of chatter and clashing silverware. The interior is spotless, while the main area contains the kitchen with glass windows where you can see the chefs chop and cook. Service is pretty good, but the glasses of water were left empty and the service from the people did not match the warmth from the inviting environment. Su long bao is a must have, with the juice from the Su long bao being delicious. Su long bao is a dome shaped wrap with meat on the inside. It is more like a circular steamed potsticker with a soup in the middle. The fish was excellent, but the portion was small. Eggplant and chow mein were both big and bursting with flavor, almost too much flavor, but it was still great. Noodle soup was bland to me, not inspiring, and definitely not up to the standards of the other food. For desert we had red bean cake which is red pean paste inside a crispy wrap. Unfortunately, the dish was burnt and small, and not very good.

Environment- 9/10 Bright, warm environment. High ceilings. Glass kitchen. Lost point on sticky bathroom.
Food- 8/10 Mostly excellent, but points lost on red bean cake and noodle soup. Great presentation.
Service- 6/10 Efficient, but lacking genuine warmth. All servers didn't adapt to additional requests or questions about food.
Price- Expensive. But justified expensiveness, as the environment was clean and the food was great.

Full from a satisfying dinner, we hopped to the Radisson hotel. The next day would have me sweating even in the cool weather.