By Tyler Summers

The 8th Annual Chinese Restaurant Awards celebrated the best Chinese cuisine in Metro Vancouver. Here are the results.

We know you love food. And if you are like us, you also love Chinese food. With so many amazing Chinese restaurants in Vancouver, choosing where to go can be difficult. Rather than go down the Yelp review rabbit hole, or take advice from your self-proclaimed foodie buddies, we have the results gathered from an expert panel of real food critics. You know, people with actual culinary smarts.

Winners of the Critics Choice Signature Dish Awards

Salt and pepper crusted dungeness crab – Landmark Hotpot House – 4023 Cambie Street, Vancouver (604) 872-2868

Sablefish with shredded pork, luffa, pickled vegetables in congee soup – Dynasty Seafood Restaurant – #108-777 West Broadway, Vancouver (604) 876-8388

Steamed egg with clams – Shoom Restaurant – 6555 Fraser Street, Vancouver (604) 568-7797

Charcoal grilled duck – Chef Tony Seafood Restaurant – #101-4600 No.3 Road, Richmond (604) 279-0083

Chicken with sticky rice in claypot – Golden Eats Seafood Restaurant – 2141 Kingsway, Vancouver (604) 336-3389

Lamb hotpot – The Jade Seafood Restaurant – 8511 Alexandra Road, Richmond (604) 249-0082

Lamb in soup – Old Xian’s Food – #2010-8580 Alexandra Road, Richmond (604) 370-3888

Braised winter melon with vegetable and mushroom – Dynasty Seafood Restaurant – #108-777 West Broadway, Vancouver (604) 876-8388

Tofu skin wrapped mushrooms with vegetable – Hoitong Chinese Seafood Restaurant – #155-8191 Westminster Hwy, Richmond (604) 276-9229

Durian egg tart – Yue Delicacy Restaurant – 8077 Alexandra Road, Richmond (604) 233-1219

Winners of the Social Media Choice Awards (new award category this year)

Best Sichuan water-boiled fish – Tian Shi Fu Restaurant – 8151 Alexandra Road, Richmond (604) 273-3388

Best Taiwanese braised pork rice – Corner 23 – 4008 Cambie Street, Vancouver (604) 879-8815

Best Hong Kong-style roast duck – Parker Place (Aberdeen) Meat & BBQ – #1020-4380 No.3 Road, Richmond (604) 233-1138

Best Shanghai-style drunken chicken – Top Shanghai Cuisine Restaurant – #120-5880 No.3 Road, Richmond (604) 278-8790

Best mango sago with pomelo/grapefruit – Doolami Dessert – 8030 Granville Street, Vancouver (778) 737-7123

There you have it. Go out and try the winning selections for yourself and Insta/tweet your culinary experiences at @CRADiningGuide or @ChineseRestaurantAwards or @likevancouver.

By Anya Levykh

The Critics’ Choice winners of the 2016 Chinese Restaurant Awards have been announced. The 15 winning dishes include the salt-and-pepper crusted Dungeness crab at Landmark Hotpot House, steamed egg with clams at Shroom, and the charcoal grilled duck at Chef Tony, among other.

by Yumi Ang

Here are highlights from the Chinese Restaurant Awards at the River Rock Show Theatre in Richmond, BC on Wednesday March 2nd, 2016.

During the gala reception, we also had samplings of four of the 2016 Diners’ Choice Awards and their signature dishes.

BC Geoduck with Dungeness Crab Roe and Yuzi by Dynasty Seafood Restaurant’s Multiple Award Winning Chef Sam Leung

2016 Diners’ Choice Awards – Best Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice by Memory Corner ( I love pickled radishes so much!)

I found my traditional Asian Fruit birthday cake replacement with Saint Germain’s MJ Cake. The MJ Cake is nicely light and fluffy, with Triple Vanilla Bean Mascarpone Cream, Almond Cake and Crispy White Chocolate Wafer.  The White Chocolate Strawberry Cake is a slightly more dense, with White Chocolate Mousse, Strawberry Compote and Chiffon Sponge Cake.

2016 Diners’ Choice Awards Best Bakery Shop by Saint Germain Bakery

It was personally a very heartwarming experience for me for me to watch the many chefs, owners, staff and stakeholders share their triumph onstage during the awards ceremony. Because as my dad was a former cook at many restaurants in Quebec and BC, I remember sneaking a peak in the kitchen seeing how hard he toiled over the many dishes for restaurant diners. Though he always claimed he wasn’t the best cook, people swung by the kitchen to say hi and thanks.

Featured tastings and spirits during the awards – Mission Hill Wines, Heineken Beer, Hennessy Cognac, Memory Corner’s Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice, Peninsula Seafood Restaurant’s Slow Roasted Pork and Mashed Potatoes, Saint Germain Bakery Cakes, and Dynasty Seafood Restaurant’s BC Geoduck.

Acknowledgement and appreciation in all forms, small or large goes a long way for a job well done on the journey to excellence.

BC Hospitality Foundation partners for the Awards Scholarship at Vancouver Community College

Congratulations to all the winners! You can find all of them at ChineseRestaurantAwards.com

by Dee

Well, it looks like there are several places I’ll have to put on my to-eat list!

The Chinese Restaurant Awards announced its winners recently, including winners of the Social Media Choice Awards judged by a couple foodies in town including Sherman (from a lil old blog you may or may not have heard of Sherman’s Food Adventures).

Here are some of the winners of the Critics’ Choice Signature Dish Awards that I’m looking forward to trying soon:

Landmark Hotpot House’s Salt and Pepper Crusted Dungeness Crab
Mostly because I love crab and have not tried it prepared this way.

Golden Eats Seafood Restaurant’s Chicken with Sticky Rice in Claypot
I love a good claypot, but to be awarded best in Vancouver must be a whole ‘nother level.

The Jade Seafood Restaurant’s Lamb Hotpot
Many people are surprised that lamb is part of Chinese cuisine, but if anyone does lamb well, it definitely is us Chinese folk ;).

Yue Delicacy Restaurant’s Durian Eggtart
Durian is delicious and even more delicious in egg tart form!

And the winners of the Social Media Choice Awards:

Corner 23’s Best Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice
I don’t know what this is or why I’m suddenly inclined to have some, but I must.

Parker Place (Aberdeen) Meat & B.B.Q.’s Best Hong Kong-style Roast Duck
I’ve been here previously and I wholeheartedly agree this is THE best.

Doolami Dessert’s Best Mango Sago with Pomelo/Grapefruit
They had me at MANGO SAGO.

For the full list of winners, check out their website here: https://chineserestaurantawards.com/archives/

By Mia Stainsby

By Mia Stainsby

Some consider Vancouver the ‘it’ city for the world’s best Chinese restaurants, given our fantastic ingredients. And yet, we are so oblivious. That’s where the annual The Chinese Restaurant Awards comes in. It shows off one of our best assets — an embarrassment of Chinese restaurant riches.
So here it is — the 2016 Critics’ Choice Awards for Signature Dishes, announced on March 2.
The CRA judges bust a gut on weekends and evenings; they eat, have verbal wrangles, and decide on what’s best. (The judging is objective and no freebies are accepted.) When Rae Kung, project manager for the CRA books tables, she uses a fake name. This year, it was ‘Mary’.
The Critics’ Choice Awards for signature dishes feature different dishes every year, she says. That’s a lot of different dishes to suss out and try. The first year out, enthusiastic critics came up with 25 dishes. This year, there are 10.
Along with the signature dishes, the annual CRA includes an Diners’ Choice Awards (34,000 people voted this year) and this year, a new category, the Social Media Choice Awards, where social media personalities chose “the best iconic and trending dishes.”
Restaurants are thrilled with the exposure and new faces in their restaurants. “I get goosebumps when I hear from them,” says Kung. “Last year, a restaurant won for the best tea-smoked duck award. They have three locations and they sold out of the dish at all of them for the whole week. More diners are discovering restaurants and new dishes.”
Here are the winners of the 2016 Critics’ Choice Awards with some of the judges’ comments.

SALT AND PEPPER CRUSTED DUNGENESS CRAB
Landmark Hotpot House
4023 Cambie Street, Vancouver (604) 872-2868
The underrated kitchen at Landmark treats and prepares their famously high quality seafood with respect and finesse. The light crust provides just the right amount of finger licking spiciness to highlight the clean brininess of this local treat.

SABLEFISH WITH SHREDDED PORK, LUFFA, PICKLED VEGETABLES IN CONGEE SOUP
Dynasty Seafood restaurant
777 West Broadway, Vancouver, 604-876-8388
Dynasty is probably the best restaurant at truly celebrating local ingredients through a Chinese lens while incorporating West Coast influences of lightness. Luxuriantly rich whole sablefish is prepared using a traditional Teochew method of gentle simmering with preserved vegetables and finely shredded pork.

STEAMED EGG WITH CLAMS
Shroom Restaurant
6555 Fraser Street, Vancouver, 604-568-7797
Chinese diners embrace texture like no other dining culture does. Here, a wobbly satiny egg custard melts on the tongue — like a perfectly set savoury panna cotta.

CHEF TONY’S SPECIAL CHARCOAL GRILLED DUCK

Chef Tony Seafood Restaurant
4600 No. 3 Road, Richmond, 604-279-0083
By using a mallard duck rather than the usual Pekin duck — the resulting roast duck has a slightly chewier texture that delivers sweeter gamier flavours. A smoky succulent wildness that is reminiscent of an old fashioned roasted goose.

CHICKEN WITH STICKY RICE IN CLAYPOT
Golden Eats Seafood Restaurant
2141 Kingsway, Vancouver, 604-336-3389
A labour-intensive old fashioned banquet dish that one rarely sees anymore — a whole chicken is deboned and stuffed with sticky rice — the skin flash fried to a golden crispness. As with all Chinese dishes — the secret here is all about balance — crispy skin, while maintaining succulence in the flesh.

LAMB HOTPOT
The Jade Seafood Restaurant
8511 Alexandra Road, Richmond, 604-249-0082
Cooking as refined and subtle as this is found in only the finest of kitchens. Succulent tender lamb shoulder is combined with aromatics like scallions and ginger.

LAMB IN SOUP

Old Xian’s Food
8580 Alexandra Road, Richmond (604) 370-3888
Savoury broth with a real depth of flavour is achieved without shortcuts like MSG. Generous quantities of cloud ear fungus and sliced lamb bob in rich broth, perfect for dipping buns into.

BRAISED WINTER MELON WITH VEGETABLE AND MUSHROOM
Dynasty Seafood restaurant
777 West Broadway, Vancouver, 604-876-8388
Faux bear paw made of succulent braised carved winter melon lays atop expertly sautéed greens. Innovative while being outstandingly delicious.

TOFU SKIN WRAPPED MUSHROOMS WITH VEGETABLES
Hoitong Chinese Seafood Restaurant
8191 Westminster Highway, Richmond 604-276-9229
Proof that while innovation is great, sometimes things become a classic because they are perfect. Slippery and crunchy, savoury and sweet all at the same time.

DURIAN EGG TART
Yue Delicacy Restaurant
8077 Alexandra Road, Richmond, 604-233-1219
Egg tarts are given renewed interest by the pleasant cleverness of the pleasing funk of durian added with a light touch.