After a recent article in Vancouver Magazine and a press release about the best job ever, I came to the stunning realization that I had completely missed out on the of the best areas in Vancouver to eat. Wen and I have spent the past year exploring the nooks and crannies of the city (witness here and here) but I’d never heard of Richmond’s own Eat Street – Alexandra Road:
Nestled between Aberdeen and Landsdowne sky train stations, it’s an easy place to get to if you’re car free like us.
In fact, the road’s easy to miss; it’s small and you certainly don’t expect it to have one of the highest densities of Asian restaurants outside of, well, Asia. It’s like a portal to Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore, all rolled into one – and without the humidity (And with awkwardly close overhead flights from the nearby airport; you’ll know when a 777 takes off).
You’re greeted with signs like the following:
Almost every single place is a restaurant – although I personally found this sign a little funnier:
So where to eat? There are so many options here that it would take a year to eat through them all (I guess that’s why Richmond’s looking for a food blogger). Some ideas:
- Jade Seafood Restaurant: the best dim sum I’ve had yet in the city – and them’s fighting words as Vancouver’s got great dim sum
- Kam Do Bakery: tried the taro and bean paste with walnut buns; delicieux
- Viva City: it was a toss-up to go here or Jade. Next time, next time
- MaxNoodle House (formerly McNoodle; can’t imagine why they changed it): I’m coming back for a noodle tour and am going to hit this place up
- Cattle Cafe: 2pm and a lineup out the door
- Deer Noodle Soups: $8 noodle soup can’t go wrong
- Nan Chuu Japanese Izakaya: I’m a sucker for Izakayas and this one looked like tasty and boozy fun
There are also a tonne of karaoke bars on the street. At the end, in the cul de sac is what looks like Science World on steroids. I love the notion of “All you can sign” karaoke:
I’m going to be going back frequently; expect more updates. And follow me on Placeling to get all the above-mentioned places and my notes on them on your phone.