If there is one thing Vancouver does well, its Chinese food. Some say the best outside of Asia. I have been eating Chinese food all my life so why does this blog contain so few reviews? One reason may be that unless its absolutely horrible (think mall food), Chinese food in Vancouver is always good…enough. You could probably choose one at random and it will be ok. Also, I tend to go to places where my family has been going for a long time so I never really put much thought into exploring other places. Until now.
The usual places we go to downtown have deteriorated – service and food quality wise. Enter Dynasty Seafood which is just outside of downtown. Its phenomenal. I never usually think of Chinese food this way, its a staple for me; but this place you have to try and here is what you should order.
Crab fried in salty duck egg. If you have had the Irwin’s duck egg potato chips then you know what I am talking about.
Black cod hot pot with black bean and green onion. The cod is so buttery and full of aromas from the green onion. The texture is slightly crunchy on the outside. A PERFECT bite.
Short rib with black truffle sauce. I’m not sure if black truffle is used in traditional Chinese cooking or not, but this beef is so tender and the sauce is so good, you will be in heaven eating this.
(another beef dish not picture that you have to try is the beef shank in sweet sauce; the beef is perfectly tender and fatty; the sauce incredible)
Chicken salted fish fried rice – reminds me of childhood. This fried rice is done right. You will be able to taste the seasoning from the wok. A lot of fried rice these days lacks this wok seasoning taste.
There were a couple of other dishes we had too, but they were just ok. The above are outstanding. The best part about this place is the service. It is unusually VERY good which is rare in many Chinese restaurants. The servers will talk proudly about the food and it shows. Needless to say, I will be back often.
thanks for this FFT! went here with in laws and simply showed the waiter your blog. excellent choices, makes me wish I had three stomachs. in laws wanted noodles and we got veggie cantonese crispy chow mein, this turned out to be our least favourite dish, collective opinion, no surprise. the breadth of the dish selection was very satisfying, with each dish that arrived mind-blowing in its own way. as we compared, we could not determine which dish was favourite, all were outstanding. your recommendations left my group in a delirious lurch. we were first presented with a 3 & 1/4 lb dungeness crab, live and fighting to climb out of a plastic bin. 5 min later, the crab was brought out similar to your blog pic, chopped into pieces that an individual could gnaw on. sweet crab meat balanced by creamy savoury egg yolk bits, so good the thin flash fried egg skin on the shell was part of the delight. next came the black cod, bite sized chunks of butter soft fish flesh countered by the bite of chopped green onion. for the cod, the texture was the key, the hot pot produced a slightly crispy exterior and skin, with bright white flesh enclosed. next came the truffle short rib, the truffle flavour with the beef was kind of over-the-top, given the beef rib was simply outstanding in its own tender chewy greatness, but this made sense given we had the crab and black cod and the contrast of the dishes was part of the experience. it was actually shocking how good these three dishes were, in the order presented. i will not comment on the noodles. but the rice, in its own assertive way being able to carry flavours, textures and colours like a salad, was a huge hit with my mother in law – she could not stop eating the rice, and she went so far as to ask several staff what the “secret” flavour was. I suggested, as fft has educated, the smoky deep exquisite flavour is likely from a well seasoned wok. mother in law ignored me, and was looking for a specific additive seasoning. I am accustomed to being ignored, but contentedly knew that I was right. when I told her she could not stop eating because the dish was abundant with umami, she simply said “hey, that is your name”
you should call this the FFT Prix Fixe! thanks for sharing your Dynasty playlist!
Thank you for your feedback and I am glad you enjoyed it!