Prior to today I did not know of any Chinese restaurants in Coquitlam worth driving out for, but I think I may have found one today. With one more week to go we were at yet another restaurant participating in this year’s Taste of Tri-cities, wrapping up March 15th, 2025. This is Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, and Port Moody’s annual food festival encouraging locals and visitors alike to try any of the participating restaurants at a discount with promotions meant to entice a visit.
Legend House Restaurant has been in operation for over 10 years and is a shop that you would expect to find in Richmond, but in Coquitlam. A full-fledged authentic Chinese restaurant. I walked in and instantly smelled the oil from the open kitchen, this was followed by the thought of proper wok hei made me salivate.
The menu is a tomb with pages upon pages of dishes to consider. It covered every casual Chinese dish I have ever had and wanted to order from rice to noodles, beef and lamb dishes, plus dim sum. However they specialize in Sichuan food and even took a page in the menu to offer a history lesson on it. That at the Shanghai soup Dumpling, which I had to also try for this very reason.
“Sichuan is one of the four major cuisines in Chinese cuisine, named after its origin in Sichuan province and characterized by tingling, spicy, savoriness and fragrance” (as per the menu). Spiciness is the most distinctive flavour of the cuisine, but for those who don’t like the heat they have plenty of non-spicy options. Case in point, everything I ordered, and all of it scratch made in-house.
During the Taste of Tri-cities you can get 10% off two of their most popular items. The Legend Boiled Fish in Chilli Oil and the Legend Beef Rolls. You just have to mention “Taste of the Tri-cities” to have the discount applied.
I got the latter and it was one of the best versions of this appetizer item I have ever had. Whereas I typically order this at Taiwanese bubbletea shops as a snack, this was the real deal. This is five-spiced beef rolled in a crispy green onion flat bread with plenty hoisin sauce. Fully loaded this was hefty with enough meat to make it a meal on its own. I just could have used some additional sauce to dip into, based on personal preference.
As I mentioned above, I could not miss out on trying their Shanghai “Xiao long bao” soup dumplings filled with minced pork, ginger, and a savoury sauce. I am still on the hunt for the best and these are a contender based on flavour. This was the perfect one-bite size that you can easily pop into your mouth. A wonderfully starchy shell that was not easy to puncture. At its centre a solid round of pork. I liked the flavour and the classic vinegar and ginger dip that accented it. I would have like more soup for a greater gush of liquid, which is my favourite part of eating a XLB. I bit down and got meat first and the soup merely trickled out.
I was interested in their homemade Chinese crepes, so ordered the Beijing sweet bean sauce pork served on a bed of shredded green onions and cucumber just to have with it. The pancakes are listed on its own on the menu, and when asked what I would have with it, this is what the staff recommeded.
This combo is what I like about Peking duck wraps, but with a more inexpensive protein, and sadly it shows. With the pork you don’t get the smokey flavour that the roasted duck brings. The pork was saucy and tender, but in strips it didn’t feel meaty enough in the mouth. Once again a side of dip would have been nice. Something to customize and add more flavour to what was already coated on the pork. As is this was not enough to carry the wrap, cucumber, and onion. Plus it didn’t have an acidic tang that is also common with duck wraps. I would take the leftovers home and stir in my own hoisin sauce.
In closing, this is just a small portion of what they offer and I would need to try much more to get a better idea of their offerings, which is mostly Sichuan (Szechuan) cuisine and Northern Chinese style dim sum. I can see why they have been serving the community since August 2014.
Legend House
1169 Pacific St #*140, Coquitlam, BC V3B OH9
(604) 475-5222
legendeat.com
