If I want dim sum and just to hang out, then it’s Hon’s, any location, but I prefer Coquitlam then my friend and I go shopping at the mall for the day.

For the big family Sunday tradition, I go to Sun Sui Wah on Main Street in South Granville. White tablecloths, serving staff dressed up, and Sunday shopping on Main afterward.

For upscale dim sum, or a true Chinese dinner it’s got to be Kirin. Many incredible dim sums and dinners there, and the staff are fabulous.

In between those I gotta vote for the good ol’ Pink Pearl on Hastings. You still get the white tablecloth, the dim sum ladies all look so nice in their blouses and vests bringing around the carts of treats and “feets”.

But if someone’s got a choice secret, hole-in-the-wall, mom-and-pop place they love, spill it! I’m just a suburban white girl armed with her own travel chopsticks (seriously, they’re in the carrying case) trying to find the perfect siu mai, BBQ pork buns, and egg tarts, and I have friends who like to eat!

Richmond imo is where you get some good dim sum Hong Kong style.

the one at lansdowne, gineri, is not too expensive, and offers great dim sum at a higher quality and presentation. Their tea, which i believe is just as important as the dim sum, is great and 9/10 times is flavorful.

If you want a decent eat in Burnaby with a more “old style” dim sum taste, there is the one near metro-town, close to the Suzuki dealership.. forgot the name, sorry, but they offer a variety of dim sum traditional style using push carts.

For Vancouverites, Red Star is the one i usually go to. Usually really packed so you gotta be really early or have the patients to wait

Advice for dim sum newbs. GO before 11am, almost ALL dim sum places will offer discounts for any orders before 11am.. Thats why if you do go, usually u see lots of old folks packing in cause they will just sit there for an hour, order 2 dim sum, sit back, and read the Sing Tao or Ming Pao.

I think Sun Sui Mah on Main is doing renos.

There is Great Western Lake or something like that on the SW corner of Victoria and 33rd.

Top Cantonese on Kingsway near Rupert.

Ive said it before and I’ll say it again but I reckon Vancouver just may be the best city for pan Asian food in the world because of the pan-availability and most of all price/value.

Friend of mine just said something similar on FB and i posted my thoughts and another friend said yeah they have had comparable Izakaya in other cities but at 5x the price.

Oh, there is also Top Gun i think in Crystal Mall.

I’m more of an East Side ghetto dim sum king myself.

With friends, our restaurant of choice is Western Lake (34th/Vic Dr.). If that’s super packed, as it usually is, we’ll go up the block to Golden Swan (37th/Vic Dr.) where my aunt is one of the managers there. =0)

Another East Side institution is Dai Tung (Kingsway/Windsor)

And with the family, we’d go to Po King (Kingsway/Elgin) in Burnaby since it’s a central for us and my sister.

As eddy mentioned, most places will offer discounted price, typically ~$2/item before 11am. Well worth it if you’re trying a new place but don’t want to pay full price for it.

Prince restaurant on Great Northern Way (12th) & Rupert is quite good as well. I’ve been there many times and have always had a delicious meal… it does get quite busy at midday

bo kong – veggie dim sum!

I only go to RedStar.

Sun Sui Wah is super overrated imo… Really expensive and not all that good. I live closer to Broadway + Granville and the Szechuan Chong Qing above Simply Computing on Broadway between Fir and Pine is pretty awesome. Waiters know me there and it’s a decent view, plus, no need to make a reservation. It’s about $2.75 a plate. The other place we go sometimes is somewhere on Commercial I believe, not exactly sure where but we’re always the only white folks in the joint and it’s less than $2 a plate iirc.