Judging the Chinese Restaurant Awards Food Bloggers’ Choice Awards – The Results! – Vanfoodies

by Joyce Lam

As you know, for about 2 months I was out and about eating at many Chinese restaurants in Lower Mainland to help discover the best restaurants for the Chinese Restaurant Awards. If you are following our Twitter and Instagram feed you would see pictures of some of the places I visited, without leaving you a clue of what I thought about the food. Well, it’s secret no more! Together with Sherman, Chloe and Jesse, here are the results of the Food Bloggers’ Choice Awards.

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Food Bloggers’ Choice Winners

Best Har Gow (shrimp dumplings) 蝦餃
Yue Delicacy 鮑粵軒

Shrimp Dumpling, Yue Delicacy

Best Five-spice Beef Wrapped in Pancake 大餅夾牛肉
Long’s Noodle House 小龍記麵家

Five-spice Beef Wrap, Long's Noodle House

Best Tea-smoked Duck 樟茶鴨
Shanghai Elan Restaurant 上海粗菜館

Tea-smoked Duck, Shanghai Elan

Best Three-cup Chicken 三杯雞
Kalvin’s Szechuan Restaurant 松林居餐廳

Three-cup Chicken, Kalvin's Szechuan Restaurant

Best Original Flavoured Egg Waffle 原味雞蛋仔
Bubble Waffle Cafe, Aberdeen Centre 街頭美食(雞蛋仔), 時代坊

Egg Waffle, Bubble Waffle Cafe

My Tasting Journey

What a journey it was! Even though I was up for the challenge, I forgot that we are blessed with so many culinary talents in the region, which ultimately made judging difficult yet interesting. The four of us dined separately, and together, sometimes even went restaurant hopping in one evening/afternoon to make sure we’re covering our grounds. We discussed about what’s considered an authentic way of cooking the dishes, shared our definition/criteria for judging the awards, then had a friendly debate about our experiences at the nominated restaurants. It wasn’t an easy decision when casting my votes, so I can only imagine the challenges faced by the food critics when judging the signature dishes! I truly enjoyed the company and was inspired to continue to improve and be a better food blogger. For some of the restaurants, I will be writing a detailed post soon. Meanwhile, here are just some highlights of my tasting journey:

Some of the dishes sampled

Winners of the Critics’ Choice Signature Dish Awards as well as the Diners’ Choice Awards were also announced. Congratulations to all the winners! You can visit the Chinese Restaurant Awards’ website for the full winner list.

We’re so lucky to be living in this region, having access to all these high-quality Chinese restaurants serving a wide variety of Chinese regional dishes. This whole experience was very inspiring, and I know I’ll continue to go out and discover the stars and hidden gems in Chinese cuisine.