It was a foodie’s delight on Wednesday, as the Lower Mainland’s top Chinese restaurant chefs gathered at River Rock Casino Resort to celebrate culinary excellence.

And if you weren’t hungry headed into the showcase—which featured a live cooking demonstration by Richmond’s Jade Seafood Restaurant’s 2011 Chinese chef of the year Tony Luk—the mouth-watering samples and unique fragrances of Asian cuisine no doubt triggered some stomach grumbling.

Hosted by Breakfast TV’s Dawn Chubai and Omni TV’s Catherine Chan, Wednesday’s fourth-annual Chinese Restaurant Awards were the culmination of thousands of votes from restaurant-goers, and hours of hard work by chefs, organizers and a panel of eight professional food critics.

“The road to success has not always been straight, but after seeing how the Chinese restaurants, tourism industry, and diners have benefited from the (awards) programs makes all the hard work worthwhile,” said Craig Stowe, founding director of the restaurant awards.

New for the 2012 awards was a Signature Dish Dining Festival, which launched in November of 2011 and encouraged members of the public to visit 18 restaurants in Richmond, Burnaby and Vancouver.

More than 12,500 diners voted online and selected Richmond’s Jade Seafood Restaurant as the best festival restaurant overall.

The festival drew more than 8,000 people and generated $240,000 in revenues.

This year’s participating chefs were asked to design menus that featured B.C. seafood, Alberta beef and pork, and Amoy sauces.

Among this year’s crop of winners, Richmond’s Shiang Garden Seafood Restaurant came away with two of the 2012 Critics’ Choice Signature Dish awards for best Alberta pork and best Amoy Sauce dishes. Shiang received a $2,500 supply credit from the producers of Alberta Pork for their winning entry.

The Richmond Review was the event's media sponsor.

Best of Signature Dish Dining

•Best Alberta beef dish: Stewed Alberta Ox-tail with red wine—Golden Swan Seafood Restaurant

•Best Alberta pork dish: Dongpo Style Braised Alberta Pork with Amoy Sauce—Shiang Garden Seafood Restaurant

•Best Amoy Sauce dish: Fried Lobster with Green Onions and Amoy Premium Sauce—Shiang Garden Seafood Restaurant

Gold Awards with Distinction

•Fried Squab—Richmond’s Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant

•Pan-fried Prawns with Soy—Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant

•Pork Stomach & Gingko Long-boiled Soup—Richmond’s Bamboo Grove

•Sauteed Buddha’s Feast—Vancouver’s Dynasty Seafood Restaurant

•Stir-fried Glutinous Rice— Vancouver’s Landmark Hotpot House

New Award-winning dishes

•Bitter Melon Omelette—Richmond’s Hoi Tong Chinese Seafood Restaurant

•Braised Chayote with Minced Pork & Preserved Vegetable— Richmond’s Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant

•Braised Duck with Plums and Taro Root Cakes—Richmond’s Golden Paramount Seafood Restaurant

•Championship Beef Shank with Noodle in Spicy Soup—Richmond’s Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodle

•Daliang Fried Milk—Richmond’s Hoi Tong Chinese Seafood Restaurant

•Deep Fried Pork in Red Fermented Sauce—Vancouver’s Kalvin’s Restaurant Ltd.

•Double Boiled Pig’s Shank with Honey Melon Soup—Richmond’s Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant

•Dry Fried Curry Dungeness Crab—Vancouver’s James on Hastings Chinese Restaurant

•Pan-fried Dungeness Crab with Salted Egg Yolk—Richmond’s Big Chef Restaurant

• Pan-fried Fresh Oyster with Soya Sauce—Richmond’s Golden Paramount Seafood Restaurant

• Flash Wok Fried BC Geoduck—Vancouver’s Landmark Hotpot House

• Hot Pot Soya Sauce Chicken—Richmond’s Big Chef Restaurant

• Pan-fried Spike Sea Cucumber with Green Scallion—Richmond’s Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant

• Pork Belly with Pickled Vegetables and Soy Beans—Richmond’s Hoi Tong Chinese Seafood Restaurant

• Sauteed BC Dungeness Crabs & Mixed Mushrooms with Amoy Premium Soy Sauce—Richmond’s Jade Seafood Restaurant

• Steamed Ginger Milk—Vancouver’s Landmark Hotpot House

• Stir-fried Garlic Bolt with Hunan Smoke Pork—Burnaby’s Alvin Garden

• Stir-fried Tiger Prawns with Minced Pork and Eggplant—Richmond’s Bamboo Grove

• Sweet and Sour Pork with Fresh Fruit—Richmond’s Golden Paramount Seafood Restaurant

• Tea Smoked Duck—Vancouver’s Landmark Hotpot House

Diners’ Choice Awards

• Best Signature Dish Dining Restaurant—Richmond’s Jade Seafood Restaurant

• Best Service—Richmond’s Rainflower Seafood Restaurant

• Best Dining Environment—Burnaby’s Grand Dynasty Seafood Restaurant

• Most Innovative—Burnaby’s Fortune House Seafood Restaurant

New Awards

• Best Xiao Long Bao—Richmond’s Dinesty Chinese Restaurant

• Best King Crab Dish—Richmond’s Excelsior Restaurant

• Best New Restaurant—Burnaby’s Grand Dynasty Seafood Restaurant

• Best Fine Dining Restaurant—Richmond’s Kirin Restaurant

• Best Dim Sum Restaurant—Richmond’s Jade Seafood Restaurant

• Best Northern China/Shanghainese Restaurant—Richmond’s Northern Delicacy

• Best Szechaun/Hunan Restaurant—Richmond’s Golden Szechuan Restaurant

• Best Taiwanese Restaurant/BBT Cafe—Richmond’s Pearl Castle

• Best Hot Pot Restaurant—Vancouver’s Fatty Cow Seafood Hot Pot

• Best Congee and Noodle Restaurant—Vancouver’s Congee Noodle House

• Best Vegetarian Restaurant—Richmond’s Spicy Vegetarian Cuisine

• Best Hong Kong-style Cafe—Richmond’s Cattle Cafe

• Best Bakery—Richmond’s Maxim’s

• Best BBQ Shop—Richmond’s HK BBQ Master

• Best Food Court Stall—Richmond’s Mambo Cafe at Aberdeen Centre

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