Monday, August 18, 2008

Western Lake Chinese Restaurant

If you're looking for a Chinese restaurant in Vancouver with very good quality food, check out Western Lake Chinese Restaurant (4989 Victoria Drive between 33rd and 34th Ave, 604-321-6862).  I went there for a group family dinner a while back, and everything on the set group menu for six impressed me (you know, the one written only in Chinese.  If you don't read Chinese, just take a chance and order it.  Make sure they are not giving you a non-Chinese version though.  Not sure if they have that there, but some restaurants have a "western" or "gwai-lo" and a Chinese version of the set menus).  In particular, I remember that the texture of the fried rice was amazing, and may be the best I had ever had.  I realized I must be doing something wrong at home when I make it.  It's been a while since I went, but since finding a good Chinese restaurant can be somewhat less accessible to people, I wanted to make mention of this one.  Portions were generous and prices were good.  The place was absolutely packed with people, and there were lots of large groups.  If you have a large group meal coming up, consider making a reservation here.  They have daily dim sum here too, but I haven't had a chance to try it yet. 

1 comment:

LotusRapper said...

Glad you had a good experience there. There are SO many good Chinese restaurants in Greater Vancouver unknown to the broader public it's a shame. And if you look at publications like Georgia Straight, Vancouver Magazine etc, they always list the same places year after year as if those are the only good ones in town (I doubt they even return to re-review those restaurants in the first place).

But the language barrier and "hidden" menus are a big setback, almost discriminatory. I understand their reasoning but don't agree with it.

So happens my family & relatives made a rare outing to Richmond last night for dinner at the Lucky Fortune Restaurant (within Union Square on Capstan Way/Sexsmith) and had an amazing set menu. The humungous crabs were fresh from the tanks ($6/lb) and the lobsters were only $14.99/lb prepared (any Chinese foodie worth his/her soy sauce would know that is unbelievable bargain). To top it off, we asked for all the dishes to be made sans MSG and the food tasted way better.

Happy Eating !