The Bon Vivant Blog

So – the old Rich Ocean Seafood Restaurant has re-opened. Apparently, the story was that Rich Ocean used to be Cantonese food (I had eaten here before), and then changed to be Pekingese/Northern Chinese food (my apologies if I have categorized this wrong, but it was a person from China who told me this, and I am using his words verbatim), and now it has re-opened as Cantonese, and is now called the “Dynasty Seafood Restaurant”.

And – the good news, is – the Cantonese food is just as good, if not better, and it is much nicer inside.

Saturday morning for Dim Sum – out with the family. As always, with pretty much every Chinese restaurant, this restaurant is very kid-friendly. The food starts coming immediately, and lo mai gai (sticky rice in lotus leaf) is first to come out. The food starts coming so fast and furious, that I barely have time to take pictures before it is snatched away and devoured. We had a combination of hungry people and good food, and we actually ate every single piece of every dish that came out – which isn’t something that always happens.

There were shaomai (shrimp/pork dumplings), har gow (shrimp dumplings), seafood crispy noodles, law bok gow (turnip cake), beef balls, char siu bow (bbq pork inside steamed buns), fish balls – and more. It was all delicious. I’ve been told (again, by a person from China) that in Vancouver there are central companies who make the dim sum and deliver it to the Chinese restaurants, and so not a whole lot of variety is expected at Dim Sum – instead, people mainly choose dim sum restaurants on other factors like price, service, wait times, parking, cleanliness, etc. Please let me know if I am mistaken – I do know that there certainly are restaurants that make their own dim sum, like Lai Wah Heen in Toronto – and our recent very good experience at Bing Sheng both come to mind.

As far as this all goes – I would say that the food is definitely good, and there were no problems at all with any of the dim sum – all tasty, all served hot, and all high-quality. Inside is much nicer since the renovations – they got rid of a previously pretty nasty fish tank, re-did the interior, and the bathrooms have been re-done. There is no huge television playing CCTV to distract, and the overall experience is very pleasant. Big windows flank the north side of the restaurant, with views of false creek and downtown – and the location on Broadway is super-convenient. There is free parking downstairs (access via back alleyway) – just remember your stall number and tell the maitre d’ when you come in to the restaurant – they take care of your parking.

I would come here any time for Dim Sum – the food is great, the restaurant is clean and super-fast, and very nice inside. The improvements have made it a step up from many Dim Sum restaurants, and the food is great. What more could I want?

Dynasty Seafood Restaurant
108-777 Broadway West,
Vancouver, BC V5Z 4J7
Tel: (604) 876-8388

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