Few places in Canada put this many restaurants into this little space. Alexandra Road, a three-block strip east of No. 3 Road, has been shorthand for Richmond dining for two decades, and the Golden Village malls around it, Aberdeen Centre, Yaohan, Parker Place, President Plaza, add hundreds more seats in food courts and upstairs dining rooms. Dim sum here is a weekend institution rather than a novelty.
Richmond is not only that corridor, though. Steveston serves the waterfront trade along Bayview and Moncton Streets, Ironwood and Blundell Centre cover the family-dinner end of the market, and the Bridgeport hotels feed airport traffic around the clock. Every listing carries its neighbourhood, so you can search where you actually are.
Shunde-style Cantonese restaurant on Garden City Road, focused on the delicate southern cooking that region is known for: steamed fish, double-boiled soups, stir-fried milk and fresh fish congee. Food-first, not a banquet hall.
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A small family-run Hawaiian spot in the Bayview block near the Steveston waterfront. Plate lunches, kalua pork and loco moco come out fast and cheap, with rice and mac salad on the side. Limited seating, so many orders head out to the boardwalk.
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A small fine-dining Thai room on the Steveston waterfront serving a set menu at fixed seatings, Wednesday through Sunday only. Reservations are essential, and there is a Thai afternoon tea service on weekends. Expect a long, formal, expensive meal.
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A long-running seafood room on the Bayview Pier, one floor below Catch. The kitchen keeps things simple: local fish, chowder and shellfish, with harbour views from most tables. A reliable choice when you want a proper sit-down dinner in the village.
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Breakfast and brunch only, closing by early afternoon. The menu works Asian flavours into diner staples - ube lattes, challah French toast, breakfast ratatouille. No reservations are taken, so expect a wait on weekend mornings.
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Britannia's Steveston taproom sits a block off the waterfront and pairs its own British-leaning ales with a full seafood-forward kitchen. Locals come for a flight alongside chowder or fish and chips, and it opens early enough to serve breakfast on weekends.
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All-day cafe on Moncton Street doing brunch, fusion paellas, eggs benedict and handmade Shanghai dumplings. Fans of Once Upon a Time will recognise the frontage as Granny's Diner. Family-friendly with a kids' menu and a private room for groups.
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Upstairs on the Bayview pier with big windows over Fisherman's Wharf, Catch serves West Coast seafood alongside steaks, burgers and pasta. Locals come for the sunset patio, the halibut and black cod, and a kitchen that runs late on weekend nights.
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Hunan restaurant just off the Alexandra Road strip serving genuinely spicy provincial cooking: chopped chilli fish head, smoked pork, and stir-fries heavy on fresh and pickled peppers. Also known for an oversized youtiao shared around the table.
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Upscale Cantonese seafood house inside Empire Centre on No. 3 Road. Known for elaborate, modern-looking dim sum, live tank seafood and Peking duck. One of the standard Richmond picks for banquets and big weekend family lunches.
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A small Steveston burger-and-beer room on No. 1 Road with seasonal local plates and a busy weekend brunch that runs on a ninety-minute seating limit. Reservations and the waitlist are handled online rather than by phone.
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Vietnamese restaurant on Alderbridge Way named for the Vietnamese word for rice. Broken rice plates, pho and vermicelli bowls served in a bright modern room, within walking distance of Aberdeen Station and the Alexandra Road strip.
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Cantonese seafood and dim sum house in Cambie Plaza on Richmond's east side, well away from the No. 3 Road crush. Roomy, easy parking, and a menu that covers dim sum at lunch plus seafood and banquet sets at dinner.
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A no-frills Moncton Street chip shop that regulars rank against the wharf stands. Halibut, cod and salmon come battered to order with hand-cut fries, plus chowder and burgers. Small dining room, steady takeout trade, and less of a lineup than the waterfront.
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Long-running Cantonese banquet restaurant on the second floor of London Plaza. Big round tables, live seafood tanks and a dim sum service that starts early. Richmond families book it for weddings and birthdays as often as for a regular lunch.
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A big, busy Cantonese dining room on the third floor of Aberdeen Centre, best known for made-to-order dim sum at lunch. Locals queue on weekends for har gow, rice rolls and egg tarts, then shop downstairs. Dinner shifts to seafood and banquet dishes.
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A compact ramen shop on Bayview serving rich broth bowls, gyoza and rice sets. It closes Mondays and splits the day into separate lunch and dinner services, so check the hours before you walk over. Lines build fast on cold, wet afternoons.
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The chip shop at the Garry Point end of the village, frying sustainably sourced fish with hand-cut chips, plus burgers, poutine and salads. Open every day until early evening, which makes it a sensible takeout stop before a walk out to the park.
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Small family-run Cantonese kitchen near Richmond-Brighouse Station that has collected a stack of local dim sum awards. Everything is cooked to order rather than pushed around on carts, so expect a wait and go early, because the room is tiny.
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A Hong Kong style barbecue counter hidden in the parkade below the No. 3 Road Superstore. Roast pork, soy chicken and char siu over rice, sold to a line-up most days. Tiny seating, no atmosphere, and one of Richmond's worst-kept food secrets.
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Steveston's barbecue joint, smoking brisket, ribs and pulled pork in house with Kansas City-style rubs and sauces. Craft beer taps and TVs in the dining room, and it takes reservations seven days a week. Good for a group that does not want fish.
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Steakhouse on Ackroyd Road working with Prime, wagyu and in-house dry-aged cuts, paired with sake and cocktails as well as wine. A quieter, higher-end alternative to the chain steakhouses along the No. 3 Road corridor.
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A quiet, long-established Japanese restaurant on Second Avenue serving sushi, sashimi and cooked dinners. It runs separate lunch and dinner sittings seven days a week, takes reservations by phone only, and has free parking behind the building.
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Cantonese seafood restaurant that moved from Alexandra Road to a larger room on north No. 3 Road. Dim sum runs daily with an early-bird discount before 11am, and dinner leans on live tank fish, crab and roast meats.
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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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