Tonight we were at Yuan’s Garden in Richmond to check out their Lunar New Year menu. This is a 9 course dinner meant for 10; and like most Chinese menus, the description said little about the dish in English. So bear with me as I describe my way through this post.
The restaurant specializes in Shanghainese cuisine. Like most, I typically think of dumplings and noodles when I think food from Shanghai, so this was a nice way to learn that the cuisine is more than just that.
We began with the first course of cold appetizers that was actually 5 small plates. They didn’t all necessarily go together, but made for great nibbles as you got seated, waited for your entire party to arrive, and allowed the kitchen to cook to order everything else that came after.
I was one of the above mentioned late people, but thankfully my friend was kind enough to scoop me a little bit of each on to one plate, so that I would not miss out.
The cold cubes of ham threw me off. As is they were salty and dense, and I wanted to have it with something else, as to off set this. For that I turned to the the chopped up bits of green vegetable. This was a little bitter and not to my textural preference, so the cold cut like meat helped distract. My favourite was the jellyfish with cucumber for the equal parts refreshing and fun to eat texture. Similarly, I liked the wood ear mushroom and tofu soaked in sauce for that same reason. And the fish reminded me of candied salmon, but as a white fish where the flesh is still soft, the coating sweet, and there was the need to watch out for tiny bones.
I really enjoyed the Sea Cucumber & Fish Soup, it had a similar thick and syrupy gumminess that you get from fish maw soup. So this was familiar texture with a new taste. This one came with a dark vinegar, but was flavourful enough not to need it. I could have done with some additional white pepper though. You got some in the soup as is, but I just like more for my tastes.
I have never seen a plate with so much shrimp like this, and for it to be all shrimp. Stir-Fired Shrimp like the ones you get in shrimp fried rice, each with a juice and bouncy texture. The table figured the chef must be confident to present such a dish with no filler vegetables. You never get to eat so much shrimp, let alone have just a spoonful of it. We we all impressed by this and appreciated the detailed garnish it came with. A phoenix carved from a carrot, perched atop of a potato rock with leaves sticking out from it gave the plate some colour and visual interest. It was so enchanting that I took it home like a prize.
The Chicken w/ Ginger & Onlon was served cold and lean in a soy bath. This was on the bland side comparatively.
The Pork Belly w/Sea Cucumber had us ordering bowls of rice. There was so much saucy gravy smothering the chunks that we needed something to have with it. I avoided the choy, but enjoyed the gelatinous chew of the sea cucumber, the lush fatty chunks of pork belly, and all the juices the slices of mushroom held.
The BC Crab had a wonderful savouriness and felt like a full meal with the edamame and saucy fish cake accompaniments. As a fan of not getting my hands dirty during dinner, I appreciated how easy it was to crack the crab legs, most of it already pre-shattered so we need only peel it apart.
Another showstopper was the Sweet & Sour Whole Fish. This was a technical dish that is known to be hard to execute and this was done so well. The chef even took the additional steps of slicing up all the pieces, frying each individually, then rearranging them back to form the body of the fish, for presentation sake. This also made it easier to eat.
I passed on the Pea Sprout w/ Garlic as I vehemently dislike the texture of wilted greens in my mouth, holding it, and/or having it touch me. However, the rest of the table loved it and ate it all up.
How this set menu differs from other Chinese banquet dinners is that it does not include a finishing rice or noodle dish.
For dessert it was Pan Fried Red Bean Cake, where everyone got a few slices on their own individual plate. This was like Chinese green onion pancake, with a similar crispy shell, but with sweet red bean paste substituting fragrant savoury green onion.
As a bonus we also got to try their rice wine chrysanthemum dessert soup with eggs, goji berries, and giant black sesame paste filled mochi balls. This was like nothing I have ever had and such a delight. You get the fragrance of the rice wine in the soup and the fantastic flavour of the black sesame as a pop of flavour. I would come back just to have this again.
In short, this was both a great way to discover the restaurant and celebrate the season, with a large group of friends or family.
Yuan’s Garden Restaurant Richmond
8077 Alexandra Rd #101, Richmond, BC V6X 3A6
(778) 297-6098
yuansgardenrestaurant.com
