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.
Canada Day in Richmond BC means Steveston, and the Salmon Festival happens to me whether I plan for it or not. Here is what the day actually involves, when the salmon barbecue line forms, why you should not drive into the village, and where to go if crowds are not your thing.
Ten minutes east along the Steveston boardwalk there is a cluster of grey buildings standing on stilts over the Fraser, and it is the best thing in Richmond BC that most people walk right past. What to see at Britannia Shipyards, when to go, why the Murakami house matters, and where to eat after.
Richmond is not a sushi city the way it is a dim sum city, and pretending otherwise does nobody any favours. Here are the two rooms I book, the ramen and izakaya places I go to more often, how to read a strip-mall counter in ten seconds, and where to eat local fish instead.
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.