The blog
The archive
The newest guide sits at the top. I go back and rewrite the older ones when something changes on the ground.
Dim sum is the meal I get asked about most, so here is a proper ranking: ten Richmond rooms from Aberdeen Centre to Anderson Road, what I judge them on, what I order every single time, and how to sit down on a Sunday without giving up your whole morning.
Richmond is not a coffee town the way Mount Pleasant is, and pretending otherwise does nobody any good. Here is where I actually drink coffee, from the Steveston bakery counters I use before a dyke ride to the Golden Village cafes that will let you sit for two hours.
I am not going to hand you a top ten of bubble tea brands, because that list is wrong within a year. Instead: how to tell a good tea counter from a bad one before you finish ordering, where the shops actually cluster in Richmond, and the sit-down rooms I keep returning to.
Brunch in Richmond splits three ways: the Steveston rooms with weekend waits, the all-day cafes away from the water, and dim sum, which is what much of the city is actually eating at eleven on a Sunday. Here is where I go, when to arrive, and where to park.
Richmond runs two bakery traditions side by side: the tray-and-tongs counters in the malls off No. 3 Road, and the Steveston bread-and-doughnut shops. I grew up eating both. Here is which one to use for what, plus timing, cash and the parking problem.
Tips and corrections
Somewhere I missed, or something I got wrong?
I read everything that comes in. If a place has closed, changed hands, or is simply better than I gave it credit for, tell me and I'll go back and eat there again.