Tonight, I was at downtown contemporary Chinese restaurant Heritage Eatery. A bistro focused on serving quick and easy, traditional Chinese food. Whereas Chinese restaurants offering similar fare are often noisy and bright, Heritage paints a more calming scene with neon lights and patterned prints. Funky and fun they make for a lively after work bar spot offering dim sum, noodles, and Chinese barbecue as sides.
To celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year they are offering a “lucky” Feast available from February 5th to the 23rd. Six dishes including rice for $88.88. Enough food to feed 4 people, for dine in or take out with preorders starting today February 1st, 2024.
Majority of the items are also available on their regular a la carte menu, minus the Roasted Pork, a special only available on this set menu. Large chunks of pork with crispy skin and a good amount of fat that keeps the meat tender. I was surprised to see mustard on the side as a dip, but went with it and was not disappointed. It reminded me of pork hoc and I enjoyed both together as is.
Whereas the Salt-baked chicken with a ginger scallion sauce needed rice as its base. A beautiful golden baked skin hiding juicy dark meat. Be warned, as the name suggests the skin was fairly salty, and it did permeate through to the meat on bone. The fragrant oil and clean rice did help to cut into some of the saltiness, as well as pairing it with the vegetable side below. Regardless I enjoyed it as my favourite item of the Lunar New Year set menu.
Ideal as a starter was the Truffle siu mai, which comes in a bamboo steamer. These were dense and meaty thick dumplings. Packed so tight that I found the amount of pork equivalent to 2 servings. I liked it with a little chilli sauce for varied depth.
The Heritage spring rolls were some of the best I have had to date. A double walled crispy shell wrapping whole shrimp, bits of BBQ pork, and mixed vegetables. I was impressed by how many ingredients there was in the filling, and how they had a flavour all their own. Although found they shone best with a dip in the sweet and sour sauce on the side.
No Chinese menu is complete without a vegetable dish. This is a plate of firm Gai lan, lightly seasoned with crispy garlic. They offered a break in all the punchy flavours and made for a great side with the meat.
And for dessert we had Black sesame balls served warm. A crispy shell of fragrant roasted seeds, a gooey coating of mochi-like dough, and a centre of runny black sesame lava. A wonderful end to a solid menu and one of the few desserts I like and recommend. If you love black sesame this is a great one for you to try.
Truly, a great set of deliciously comforting plates, sure to impress your friends and family this Lunar New Year season. Be sure to take advantage of the limited time only dish and pricing before February 23rd, 2024.
Heritage Asian Eatery
1108 W Pender St, Vancouver, BC V6E 4J6
(778) 737-1108
eatheritage.ca
