Grocery shopping is a genuinely different exercise here. The large Asian supermarkets anchored in and around the Golden Village malls, along with the big stores at Lansdowne and President Plaza, carry live tanks, whole fish, a produce section stocked for daily rather than weekly cooking, and imported goods the Western chains do not touch.
Those Western chains are here too, in the Ironwood, Blundell, Seafair and Terra Nova plazas, and most households use both. Beyond the stores, the farmland along the eastern and southern edges of the island puts real farm-gate produce within a ten-minute drive: blueberries through the summer, cranberries in October, greenhouse vegetables most of the year.
The Vancouver chain's largest store, about 19,000 square feet on Garden City Road and open 8:30am to 10pm daily. Straightforward Chinese-Canadian grocery shopping: fresh meat and seafood counters, stacked produce, bulk dry goods and sauces.
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A West Cambie Japanese grocer that stocks the specific things other stores skip: baking and cooking ingredients, wagyu and sashimi-grade fish, regional snacks, and hot food to take away. Staff move between Japanese and English without any fuss.
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A big, cheap Asian supermarket off Sexsmith Road that stays open until midnight every night of the year. Locals go for aggressive produce and seafood pricing, a busy barbecue and hot-food counter, and restocking that makes late shopping worthwhile.
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Over 10,000 square feet of Japanese goods on Alderbridge Way, most of it imported directly. Bento, sushi and hot food made in-house each morning, plus frozen fish, seasonings, cosmetics and kitchenware. It closes at 6pm, so go earlier than you think.
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A busy Chinese supermarket in the plaza on No. 3 Road, popular for a well-stocked produce floor, a barbecue counter locals rate for leaner char siu, and bulk dace fish paste. Cashiers work fast; finding a parking spot is the only hard part.
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A mid-size Asian supermarket on Odlin Road in West Cambie, quieter than the No. 3 Road giants. Rice in every format, sauces, frozen dim sum, and a produce section priced for people cooking Chinese food at home most nights of the week.
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A working family farm on Steveston Highway with a market attached: potatoes, corn, berries and squash grown on site, plus other BC fruit and preserves. The seasonal sunflower festival and pumpkin patch draw crowds, and the market closes over winter.
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A family-run butcher in Seafair Centre, trading since the early 1980s and one of very few shops in the area that dry-ages its own beef. European-style cuts, house sausage, cured meats, local poultry and lamb, and custom orders taken over the phone.
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A long-running Eastern and Central European grocer in Steveston, entered from the back of the building on Second Avenue. Imported sausage and smoked meats, rye breads, pickles, preserves and the candy people grew up with in Poland and Ukraine.
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Off-the-boat seafood sold at Steveston's Fisherman's Wharf, open Thursday to Sunday mornings only and often sold out before closing time. Spot prawns in season plus whatever landed that day. Bring cash, or pre-order online and collect at the dock.
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An older, no-frills Park Road supermarket that has outlasted flashier neighbours. Free parking, narrow aisles, and a genuinely pan-Asian shelf mix, with Chinese, Filipino, Malaysian and Indonesian pantry items sitting side by side at fair prices.
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From the blog
Guides and roundups written for Richmond, with the businesses linked inline.
Nothing on Alexandra Road is a hidden gem. It is just in a strip mall with bad signage and no patio, which is why visitors never find it. Here is how I actually use Richmond's plazas and food courts, which specialists are worth the drive, and when not to bother.
The West Dyke Trail is about five and a half kilometres of flat gravel between Terra Nova Rural Park and Garry Point, and I ride it most mornings. Here is what is actually at the north end, which way to walk so the wind is on your side, and why winter is the better season for it.
I live four blocks off Moncton Street, so this is the Steveston I actually use: where to park before the Bayview lots fill, how to buy fish straight off the boats at the wharf, the honest answer to the Pajo's versus Dave's question, and why the history here is not decoration.
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