Cafés
A no-frills Hong Kong-style counter in President Plaza turning out milk tea, French toast and rice plates quickly and cheaply. Seating is basic and shared, but a pineapple bun with butter and a hot milk tea is a proper Richmond breakfast.
President Plaza on Cambie Road sits at the north edge of the Golden Village, and it has always been the most everyday of the big three. Aberdeen, Parker Place and President are within a few blocks of each other along Cambie Road and No. 3 Road, each with its own food court and its own regulars, and the differences between them are real once you have spent time in all three. Aberdeen is the showpiece. President is where people go when they are not making an occasion of it.
Hong Kong-style cafe food is one of the things Richmond does better than anywhere else in the country, and the counter version of it is the most honest format in the category. Nobody is dressing it up. You go in, you eat, you leave, and the whole thing takes less time than deciding where to go would have taken.
Aberdeen Station is close if you would rather not drive, which is worth weighing, because the Cambie Road plazas were built for cars at a time when the Canada Line did not exist and the lots have not grown since. This is a counter rather than a destination restaurant, and it is best used the way the neighborhood uses it, which is quickly and without a plan. The area works hardest in the middle of the day and again late in the evening, with a lull in between that is the best window to turn up if you want space to think.
In the Golden Village neighbourhood of Richmond.
Get directions (opens in a new tab)Keep exploring
Other cafés and nearby businesses in the Richmond directory.
A small scratch bakehouse tucked into President Plaza that bakes everything on site using French technique. Croissants are the draw, especially the double-baked salted egg yolk custard one, alongside cream puffs, cakes and matcha or black sesame pastries.
View details
Taiwanese cafe in Continental Centre that works as both a bubble tea stop and a full sit-down meal. Rice and noodle plates, hot pots and popcorn chicken alongside a long drinks list. Open late, which makes it a default after-movie spot.
View details
A busy Hong Kong-style cafe off Hazelbridge Way known for late hours and an enormous menu of rice plates, congee, thick toast and milk tea. The kind of place Richmond families end up at after a movie or a long day of shopping.
View details
A small specialty bar in Empire Centre near Aberdeen Station that takes coffee and matcha equally seriously, with careful pour-overs in a tidy, minimal room. Free mall parking makes it an easy weekday stop for Golden Village office workers.
View details
A Taiwanese cafe on Alexandra Road, family-run since 1987, serving tea and coffee alongside a full menu of rice and noodle plates. Old-school, unhurried and open late, it predates most of the Golden Village restaurant strip around it.
View details
A twenty-year Vancouver Hong Kong-style cafe that finally crossed the bridge to Alexandra Road, doing the full cha chaan teng repertoire of baked pork chop rice, macaroni soup and milk tea. Open past 11pm, which suits the Golden Village crowd.
View details
From the blog
Longer reads from the editor, with the places worth a detour linked inside them.
The Night Market's final season is the loud story. The quieter one: free admission at the Cannery ends Monday, Britannia keeps summer hours through Sunday, and Steveston does sunsets better than anyone.
Read the guide
Nothing on Alexandra Road is a secret. 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.
Read the guide
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.
Read the guide
Keep the directory honest
Own Cha Kee?
Claim the listing to confirm your details, add your hours and photographs, and keep what people find accurate.