I love the Richmond Public market because whenever I'm being indecisive, this is the best place where I can build my own à la carte menu. The atmosphere is pretty crappy but there are so many hidden gems in that mall, plus the price really justifies everything. This place reminds me of the Stephen Chow movie, Kung Fu Hustle, where all these talented Kung Fu masters are hidden in the same ghetto complex. Except that this mall has all these hidden talented chefs!
Okay, so this is the complete guide you need to study before you head over to the Richmond Public Market. The following list contains my favorite stalls in the Richmond public market:
Appetizer:
1.) Hei Hei Rice Roll: it's a new stall and there's this massive hype currently. Expect a long wait so order this first thing first! My favorite pick here is the plain rolls and the shrimp rice rolls. Ask for the peanut sauce and Hoisin sauce for the plain rolls. (I haven't tried the Charsiu filling but would like to try it next time)
Location: 2nd floor
Price: $5.50 - $8.50
Rating: 4/5
Full Review: Here
2.) Xian Cuisine: Everything is made from scratch here. My top pick here is the beef pancake roll and the Chinese burger! The only drawback with the Chinese burger is that the buns are a teeny bit dry, but I like that they use a leaner cut so I feel less guilty when I'm pigging out here. (Another great selection for the Chinese burger is from Yi Pin Yuan Delicious Meat Pie on the same floor - which will be introduced later in this article.)
Location: 2nd floor
Price:
Beef Pancake: $10
Chinese Burger: $10
Pick your main:
1.) Xi'an Cuisine: Continuing with the Xian Cuisine, my other favorite choices here include the cold skin noodle and tan tan noodle. I'm not a big fan of their soup noodles because the noodles get soft quickly in the hot soup. Also, it's noteworthy that there's another place that I discovered that makes great cold skin noodle, which is on the 1st floor at the Tian Jin Bao Xi (introduced later in this article).
Their Potstickers are popular too but I personally would avoid them. The skin is pretty thick. I also don't like their scallion pancakes as they are also pretty thick and bready... omg my dislikes are growing here, but the bottom line is that the tan tan noodle, cold skin noodles, beef pancakes, and Chinese burgers are great. Just stick with those choices.
P.S - Do me a favor and go to Tian Jin Bao Zi to support them if you are craving some cold skin noodles. They make really good noodles and they don't get as many businesses as Xi'an because of their location and they aren't as established. Also, Tian Jin Bao Zi is a dollar cheaper than Xi'An and has more toppings.
2.) Chef Liu Kitchen: According to many reviews I've studied, this stall makes some authentic Taiwanese food. Their most popular dishes are the Deep fried Chicken Nuggets (#30) and steam minced pork on rice (#15) and the beef noodle (#1). I'd skip on the combos if you want to try other things.
I liked their chicken nugget a lot. The inside is tender and juicy, and the outside is slightly crispy. It's quite addicting. The steam minced pork on rice was pretty good too. My only complaint is that there isn't a lot of meat and a heck ton of rice. I probably wouldn't order this rice bowl again. Personally, I prefer dumplings and wraps over rice bowls.
I still have to try the beef noodle, so you'll probably see an update some time next week.
Location: 2nd floor
Price:
Chicken Nuggets $7.50
Stewed minced pork on rice $8.50
Taiwanese Beef Noodle: $12
3.) Tian Jin Bao Zi - Order their cold skin noodle! It's sooo good! Their Goubuli is pretty good too but I personally don't like it as much because it had too much sesame oil added to my liking.
The owner was really tentative too! He kept asking how spicy do I want my noodles to be, and if I would eat them right away. Depending on how fast I will be consuming my noodles, he would pack the sauce separately. I'd give A+ for their customer service (which pretty much is nonexistent from most Chinese restaurants)!
Location: 1st floor
Price:
Cold skin noodle: $10
Goubuli Buns: $2 for 1 or $3 for 2
4.) Yi Pin Yuan Delicious Meat Pie:
Order their Chinese Pork Hamburger!! It's better than Xi An's. The bun is slightly crispy on the exterior and the inside is softer. They also use 100% pork belly so it's very juicy. I also liked the extra crunch from the green pepper bits they added to the meat.
$7 for this delicious burger and they do not shy away from filling the burger with all that delicious meat!
The beef burger is also delicious. They use beef shank so it's less fatty, but it's also very juicy.
Other items I've tried here include the thousand layer beef crepe pie and the chive pork pockets. They aren't bad. My friend really liked the chive pork pockets but I preferred the thousand layer beef crepe pie. The nice thing about these snacks is that they are pan-fried rather than deep fried. So they are pretty healthy!
Location: 2nd floor
Price:
Chinese Pork Burger: $7
Chive Pork Pocket: $9.99
Thousand Layer Meat Pie: $9.99
Desserts and Drinks:
1.) Peanuts: Their Wheel Cakes are THE best I've ever had. I've had countless wheel cakes in Hong Kong too, paying as expensive as $6 for one, and none of them beats this! They are like dirt cheap! Get their taro, coconut, matcha, red bean, and sesame filled wheel cakes! Also, eat it at this sequence too, otherwise, the taro will taste bland if you eat it last.
I don't like drinking sugar drinks so I can't comment which bubble tea store in Vancouver has its best. But Peanuts is the only place I would actually go for their boba drinks. Their tea flavor is quite fragrant and I always like choosing the Oolong milk tea or the Green Tea milk tea with the low cal pearls (Han Tian 寒天), a.k.a Agar.
Expect a 15 minute wait for the drinks and wheel cakes. There's always a line up there and their wheel cakes sell out like hotcakes. On a bright note, you will always have fresh wheel cakes. I promise you it's worth the wait. Just head over to the next stall while you are waiting.
Location: 2nd floor
Price:
Wheel Cakes: $0.85 per piece OR $3. 25 for four pieces
Milk Tea: $3.50 - $3.75
P.S - my favorite wheel cakes are in this order:
Black Sesame Mochi
Matcha
Taro
Coconut
I did not like their red bean because I'm not a fan of red beans. I also did not like their cream - it's a custard filling that tasted like it was made out of artificial sweetener, and it was too sweet for me. I also did not like their chocolate filling (once again, it's too sweet for me).
I have not tried the peanut or any of the savory wheel cakes, and I don't plan on trying the savory wheel cakes. Feel free to comment below to let me know what you think of the savory ones.
2.) Eggette House:
Location: 1st floor
Price: $2.75 - $6.99
Full Review: Here
Their combo is a steal! A cup of bubble tea can easily cost you $7 to $8 these days, and the combo here with their signature Hong Kong style milk tea with the bubble waffle is only $6.99. Their bubble waffle is crispy on the exterior and soft in the interior with some fluff, and it stays crispy for a while too! For the taste, I like that it's aromatic with a subtle custard flavor. It's similar to the ones at Parker place but their texture wins by a mile.
Their milk tea takes your taste buds on a trip to Hong Kong Cha Chan Teng (HK-style cafes)! They have authentic silk smooth milk tea with ice cubes that are also made with milk tea so it doesn't dilute your drink! A+ for effort!
Don't fall for their cube thingy though. Those were bland and dry. It's a trap!
Update: I tried their pork floss + salted egg yolk bubble waffle and it was pretty dry. I think I will just stick with their original flavoured bubble waffle and milk tea here from now on...
3.) Pine House Bakery: Get their taro pastry. The inside is filled with a smooth taro paste and has the perfect sweetness that goes well with the slightly savory and flakey pastry.
Location: 1st floor
Price: $1.50 per piece
Here's a close up:
Final Notes:
I've also tried Afghan Chopman (full review here), and I can't say it's my favorite but it's not bad.
While you are there, you might as well get some groceries there. I love buying the Royal Chicken (貴妃雞), (rose flavor) Soy Sauce Chicken (玫瑰雞) from the BBQ meat store on the first floor (YM FOOD T. Their Roasted Pork (燒肉) and Charsiu (叉燒) are pretty good too, but I prefer making my own. Do ask for a fattier cut if you order their charsius though!
Further to the East from the BBQ meat stall, I also like buying ZongZi (Rice Dumplings) from Ho Mei Dim Sum; and next to it is the produce store where I always buy my fruits from!
One final tip, if you are going with a friend, make sure you bring a pair of scissors ;) Your friends will laugh at you but they will thank you later.
Do you know any more hidden treasures there? Feel free to drop me a message to let me know!!!