Event: Richmond Foodie Tour
Date attended: July 17, 2010
Location: Alexandra Road, Richmond BC
Foodie tours seem like they’re definitely here to stay! Good thing too. I love seeing this “foodie craze” grow and I’m a strong believer that it’s much more than a temporary trend. As long as people keep eating then I don’t see it every slowing down. So Follow Me Foodie (well in this case Michelle, our host from the Foodie Tour) and let’s continue to eat!
The last foodie tour I attended was the Granville Foodie Tour on Granville Street in downtown, Vancouver. I had a wonderful experience on that tour and was excited when Michelle invited me for the Richmond foodie tour. Our host and founder of Foodie Tour, Michelle Ng, walked us down Alexandra Road as we visited previously selected restaurants to sample some of their specialties and features. Alexandra Street is popularly known to Chinese locals as “eating street” so it’s no surprise that this was the chosen street Foodie Tour decided to highlight. Being it Richmond (mini Hong Kong) it was no doubt, that the restaurants would be all Chinese, which is a good thing because that’s what Richmond is famous for – good authentic Chinese/Asian food.
The Chinese/Asian restaurants on this Richmond Foodie Tour wouldn’t be my personal choice for the best Chinese/Asian restaurants on Alexandra Road, however they did touch upon a few that I do really like. Overall I found the Granville Street Tour much better and it maybe perhaps because I am very familiar with Asian cuisine especially in Richmond. I had also already dined at 3/5 restaurants we visited and tried most of the stuff we had. It was still fun and Michelle was a great host, but I do think $40/person is overpriced for this foodie tour. For a 2.5 hour tour it was about the same price as a family of 4 to a movie. The value just wasn’t there for me, and I feel like $20 would be much more appropriate especially for sampling Asian cuisine. I couldn’t have ordered all the dishes we tried without breaking a $40 budget; but I could have also easily gotten really good Chinese food from 4-6 of my actual favourite Asian restaurants in Richmond with $40. Nonetheless the tour was fully booked with about 20 people; however it is a new launch so we’ll see if the prices will be adjusted to something more reasonable.
The Granville Street foodie tour was only $10/person and that included all food and alcoholic drinks at pretty nice restaurants too. I will highly recommend the Granville Street Foodie Tour to locals and tourists. I recommend the Richmond Foodie Tour to people unfamiliar with Richmond dining scene or for those who just want to be introduced to Asian cuisine. I liked that they do highlight a few Asian cuisines and not just Chinese.
Added note: Since I was invited to attend the Richmond Foodie Tour I won’t highlight the food too much.
Participating Richmond Foodie Tour restaurants: Leisure, Jade Seafood Restaurant, Jang Mo Jib, Michigan Noodle Shop, Soul Robata & Izakaya (4-6 restaurants/tour)
On the table:
Restaurant 1:
Leisure Coffee Shop
Unit 1110 – 8391 Alexandra Road
Richmond, BC
It was my 1st time at Leisure Coffee Shop and I’ve driven down Alexandra Road a million times before and I’ve never noticed it.
Leisure Coffee Shop is one of the many bubble tea Taiwanese restaurants on Alexandra Road. It actually offers a selection of homemade waffles and desserts which came to my surprise. The atmosphere was for an older more traditional demographic compared to the other bubble tea restaurants on Alexandra Road that attract younger late night crowds.
Passion Fruit Green Tea with Pearls
To be honest, bubble tea isn’t that exciting for someone like me who has it at least once a month. However from a tourist perspective, it can’t be missed and I’m glad it was included in the Richmond Foodie Tour. It was cute because one of the participants in the tour had never tried bubble tea so hearing her excitement was more exciting for me.
Taiwanese Chicken – Deep fried boneless pieces of lightly battered dark meat chicken in Chinese 5 spice seasoning.
A very popular Taiwanese snack or appetizer. I’m going to suggest Pearl Castle or Beefy Beef Noodle for Taiwanese Chicken. This wasn’t enough to showcase what Leisure Coffee Shop can do so I actually would go back to make a bigger dent in the menu, although I’m in no rush to do it.
Restaurant 2:
The Jade Seafood Restaurant
8511 Alexandra Road
Richmond, BC
This actually would be a restaurant I would recommend for great authentic Chinese food on Alexandra Road in Richmond. I’ve come here several times for dim sum (see here) and for dinner (see here), so I was happy to see it included in the Richmond Foodie Tour.
It’s actually considered one of Richmond’s higher end Chinese restaurants.
Steamed mushroom dumplings
Inside a steamed mushroom dumpling.
I’ve been here for a dim sum a handful of times and we’ve never ordered this dish before, which is funny because it’s one of their house specialties. Luckily for this Richmond Foodie Tour I wouldn’t have known this fact so I am happy about that and I’m ordering this for dim sum next time.
Grandpa’s Smoked Chicken
This is another famous dish from Jade Seafood Restaurant that I have tried before. It was good for dinner and it was good on the Richmond Foodie Tour.
Restaurant 3:
Jang Mo Jib Korean Restaurant
8320 Alexandra Road
Richmond, BC
I’ve been to Jang Mo Jib Korean Restaurant ages ago, but I haven’t been in a long time. It’s actually a family owned Korean restaurant with Korean owners and they specialize in Korean hot pot, BBQ and food. It’s one of the most popular mainstream Korean restaurants and they have 3 locations in Vancouver, Burnaby, and of course one in Richmond. Out of all the restaurants we visited, Jang Mo Job Korean Restaurant is the restaurant that really spoiled us, and they could afford to do so being as big as they are.
Cold Barley Tea
Jab Che or Jap Chee: Stir-fried sweet potato noodle with assorted vegetables and beef cooked in a house special marinade sauce.
This is how it would be actually served if you ordered it and it would be $18.95. It’s a huge portion of noodles. I really like this dish and I think they did a good job with it here.
Hae Mool Pah Jun or “Haemul Pajeon” – Assorted seafood pancake with green onions and egg, served with house special soy sauce to dip.
Another dish that is served as is if you were to go in and order it. It would be $19.95 and again it’s a massive pancake. The best Korean pancake I’ve had was sadly in Korea… see here. Being that Korea is very far from Vancouver/Richmond, I do like the pajeon from “the Kitchen” in Vancouver, but after coming back from Korea I may feel differently. Another good place for Korean pancake (pajeon) is from Book Kyung Ban Jeom on Robson Street in downtown, Vancouver.
Tohng Gahl Bee – AAA+ Korean Traditional beef short-ribs marinated with House special BBQ sauce, grilled on charcoal BBQ served with salad (non-spicy).
I think this is also how it would be served if you were to order it. It’s $24.95 and of their most popular dishes.
The salad it was served with is probably bigger though if you order it normally though.
Restaurant 4:
Michigan Noodle Shop
Unit #1160 – 8580 Alexandra Road
Richmond, BC
I’ve been to Michigan Noodle Shop and I actually really do like this restaurant as well. It’s a smaller restaurant so I was glad it was on the list of the places on the Richmond Foodie Tour.
Traditional Wonton with Shrimp ($4.80 if ordered normally at restaurant)
I actually did a search for Richmond best wonton and I compared 3 bowls of wontons side by side – the clear winner Neptune Wonton Noodle on #110-8171 Akroyd Road, Richmond.
Shui Gau – Shrimp and Pork Dumpling Soup with wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoot. ($4.80 if ordered normally at restarant)
Inside a Shui Gau.
I liked their shui gau better than their wonton. I actually really liked how our host Michelle told us the history behind the name of the food and a little about the restaurants themselves. I actually didn’t know that translated Shui Gau meant “water clouds” and I know the language… uh oh…
Restaurant 5:
Soul Robata Izakaya
Unit #1015 – 8580 Alexandra Road
Richmond, BC
Soul Robata & Izakaya is a relatively newer restaurant on Alexandra Road that opened earlier this year I think. I noticed it a lot, but the last time I tried coming it was closed so I ended up at Red Fusion Chinese Cuisine also on Alexandra Road in Richmond.
There’s a few Japanese fusion and Izakaya restaurants on Alexandra Street in Richmond, but I also really like Guu Japanese Izakaya Restaurant and Gyo-O Kaisen Shokudo Japanese Restaurant that are not on Alexandra Road, but still in Richmond. The owners of Gyo-O also own Nan Chuu Japanese Izakaya restaurant that is on Alexandra Road.
Sashimi Platter
Flounder, Shimaaji, Hamachi, Murugai, BC scallops, Bora, and Red Snapper.
There isn’t enough for one each so it was luck of the draw… or basically who’s bold enough to call dibs on which one they want when they’re sitting with a table of random strangers.
Takoyaki – grilled ocotpus balls.
I really like Takoyaki and this one is decent, but I like the one at Gyo-O Kaisen Shokudo Japanese Restaurant. It’s been a while though so maybe I’ll do a side by side comparison.
Chicken Wings stuffed with cheese and spinach
Its served with a sweet Thai Chili sauce and chili mayo for dipping.
I really didn’t like that there was chicken cartilage at the very tip of this croquette, but it tastes pretty good.
It’s almost like a bite sized chicken cordon bleu with spinach.
I actually wish we ended the Richmond Foodie Tour with something sweet – even ending at the bubble tea restaurant might have been nice. Chinese and Asian restaurants are not popular for their desserts (I don’t find them very good myself) but it would have been a nice way to end off the Richmond Foodie Tour even if it was with a fortune cookie… actually they should totally do that! That would have been a cute and fun idea.
Mijune,
The sashimi at the Soul Robata looks incredibly fresh and beautiful. Not fond of the Jade, though, as there’s better dim sum in Richmond(i.e. Viva City, Imperial court, etc.,etc.); love the idea of the Foodie Tours and have touted it extensively to everyone as a nice way to find out about different restaurants. Keep up the good work(you know, devouring every luscious calorie, at the expense of your health).
From a value perspective, I will have to agree, $40 seems to be a lot, specially when some didn’t get a chance to taste some of the dishes served (read: sushi). Probably $20? But, then again, these tours aren’t necessarily tailored to me. Hmmmmmm…. I wonder if I should give one of these a try…
I’ve been to the Neptune Seafood restaurant next door which was fairly good for dim sum…, must try this place the next time I’m in town. I’m always searching for the “best” wonton place in any given city. I’ve tried Mak’s noodle restaurant and Tsim Chai noodle restaurant last week – both were very good.
Btw, have you done a review of the best wonton in YVR? I would be very interested to read your reviews on it.
Bow – Interesting… see I like Jade better than Viva City, but then again it depends on what items I am ordering at each. Also thank you for acknowledging my calorie intake!! It was really hard consuming 4 poutines in under 4 hours! I’m way to passionate about this blog though lol
Kim – if $40 looks like it’s worth the pictures you see? It MIGHT be worth it for you because Chinese food is hard to eat unless you have a big group… but then again you can always join a Chinese banquet dinner I usually have!
Simon – Tsim Chai noodle is great wonton, but I compared it to Neptune and Neptune is definitely the best thus far! And yes, this was all part of my search for the best wonton in Richmond, but not the whole Vancouver.
Were you full or somewhat full after the tour? I’m thinking about suggesting Foodie Tour for something I’m planning. $40 may be worth it for the pictures I see, but I don’t want the group to be complaining after. Thoughts? Thanks!
Hi Lucy! I was much more full at the Granville Foodie Tour. I was full at the point where I wasn’t hungry, but I could still eat. I could have gone for drinks, bubble tea or dessert or something afterward… something small. The only place I actually felt really fed at was Jang Mo Jib. If you finish at 4pm, you’ll still be able to have another dinner at 8/8:30pm.
It’s something I would do on my own time or with 1-2 other ppl, but I wouldn’t do it to celebrate any occasion like a birthday or anything. It’s a fun thing to do on a Saturday afternoon, but it is quite expensive and you’re paying more for the experience for me. If your friends would usually spend $40 on dinner without much hesitation then yes, go for it… but if they’re “value” diners AND they’re Asian and familiar with the Asian cuisine then I’d pass.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for your opinion Mijune, definitely helps with my planning 🙂 I love seeing all your pictures from your Texas trip too!
No problem! I’m always happy to help any food “problems” 🙂 and thank YOU for reading & commenting!
thanks for the shortlist! hope it works!