Prince Seafood Restaurant is located in East Van, just off Renfrew St. While looking for a place to have Mother’s Day dim sum with my parents, I suggested this place since we haven’t gone here for many years!

It was quite busy when we first arrived, but that wasn’t a surprise since it was Mother’s Day weekend. We didn’t have to wait long though, maybe about 5 minutes which was nice!

Prince is a bit more upscale than other dim sum places, and the prices reflect that.

Prawn dumpling: When they first arrived, they were a disappointing sight because of how small they were! Taste-wise, they were pretty good though. The prawn was fresh and snappy. There was also some garlic inside that gave it more flavour.

Steamed beef ball: The steamed beef ball came with cilantro and some other vegetables. I didn’t try it but everyone else found it tasty, albeit small.

Steamed meat and dried shrimp dumpling: I didn’t try this either, but no one had complaints about them.

Black truffle and wild mushroom: This was a new dish that I haven’t tried before! This was a vegetarian steamed dumpling, which I quite enjoyed.

The mushrooms instead were soft and creamy. Meanwhile, the truffle made the dumpling very fragrant and exciting. I don’t think this is a standard dim sum dish but I’d definitely order it again if I see it.

Sticky wild rice dry & dry scallop with lotus leaf: Again with the small portion! We were a bit shocked to see how small the portion inside was.

The way that the lotus leaf was wrapped made it seem like there was more. The taste was nothing special, although the wild rice gave it a bit more of a crunchy texture.

Rice roll with fish paste: I didn’t try this, but everyone didn’t have complaints about it. The servers didn’t give any dipping sauce and it was too much hassle to try to waive someone down because it was busy that afternoon.

Rice flour roll with prawns: Once again, the portion size here was smaller which was disappointing. The taste was good, but I would have hoped there was another roll as it usually comes with 4 rolls.

BBQ bun: We weren’t planning on ordering this, but someone was bringing the buns around and advertising that they were freshly baked, so my dad got a plate! I sound like a broken record now about the small portion size, but that’s the truth! I didn’t have any, but no one had any complaints about the taste.

It seemed like the reoccurring theme of dim sum that afternoon was the small portions. For that reason, Prince wouldn’t be my top pick because I didn’t find the sizing worth the price.

Especially in a city like Vancouver where dim sum is very popular, I’d rather go somewhere else with bigger portion sizes. However, the quality is there and the unique truffle mushroom is a must try!

During the Easter long weekend, my dad and I went out for dim sum ourselves seeing that my mom and the boyfriend had work. We didn’t know where to go, but he suggested Happy Valley which was fine with me! I’ve been here once a few months ago with the boyfriend’s family for dinner. I remember it being pretty decent for dinner.

Happy Valley is located in a random spot, with not many other restaurants near by. There is a huge parking lot and free street parking, but during peak hours it can still be hard to find a spot!

Beef omasum with ginger & onion: I was surprisingly impressed with the beef omasum here! Usually, I find this dish to be quite oily, heavy and the omasum to be not fresh tasting. However, this was not the case at all!

The omasum here was delicious. There was not much oil in it, so perfect for me. In addition, it was garlicky and gingery which I loved.

Shrimp rice flour roll: No complaints about the rice flour roll here. It was yummy and a good portion.

Sticky rice wrap: I wasn’t a big fan of the sticky rice wrap here. They use a different type of leaf, which is harder. My dad told me the name of this leaf, but I forgot it now.

Anyways, since the leaf is thicker, I find that the leaf flavour doesn’t fully absorb into the sticky rice. I like the thinner, more fragile leaves which give the rice a more fragrant flavour.

Steamed spareribs: I’ve never been a big fan of spareribs, but everyone else seems to like them. Spareribs usually come with a black bean sauce. Here, they were served with a garlicky sauce with some peppers.

Overall, I’m glad that my dad and I tried Happy Valley for dim sum. I wouldn’t mind coming back here in the future!

If you grew up in Vancouver and you are Chinese, chances are, you’ve been to Sun Sui Wah for a wedding/baby celebration/any celebration etc. At least I have been multiple times throughout the years!

Chinese food is one of the hardest cuisines for me to eat now with my digestive issues because most food is very oily. But I didn’t want to miss out on a family gathering so I came along. I was mostly just there for socializing but was able to eat a couple of dishes.

Special thanks to Maki, Nigiri and the boyfriend for describing the food taste to me!

Roasted squab: We started out with a roasted squab, which is a family favourite! However, the meat was quite dry so it was disappointing.

Jellyfish: The jellyfish was also disappointing as well. There wasn’t much flavour to it. The boyfriend ended up adding some salt from the squab dish, which helped.

Sauteed prawn and vegetable: A safe dish for me! After the first 2 disappointing dishes, this one was enjoyable. The prawns were very snappy and had a nice flavour from the wok (aka wok-hei or wok-air). The garlic was tasty as well.

Soya sauce chicken: We weren’t planning on ordering this, but the waitress recommended it and said it was one of their best dishes. Well, she was right and we all enjoyed it! The chicken was well marinated, very tender and juicy. I was able to eat the chicken breast part and enjoyed it a lot.

Spicy eggplant in clay pot: Another favourite dish. This usually contains tofu, which is delicious because it gets marinated in the sauce. However, there wasn’t any tofu in here which was a bit disappointing.

Honey garlic spare ribs: No one had any complaints about this dish!

Scallop egg white fried rice: A simple, carb dish to end our meal. The fried rice surprisingly wasn’t that oily which was nice.

Tapioca pudding: Tapioca pudding is so good! Sadly, I couldn’t have some since it contained dairy and I didn’t bring my Lactaid pills (although those don’t work sometimes either). Everyone enjoyed it a lot and said it wasn’t super sweet.

Wah Lun Chinese Restaurant has been one of my go-tos for dim sum for many years. They changed their name to Ryan’s Chinese Restaurant a few years ago, but also still go by Wah Lun as well.

I wrote about Wah Lun 5 years ago so it’s time for an updated post!

Due to my stomach problems, it’s been awhile since I’ve been here or have had dim sum – at least a year? The boyfriend and I came here with my parents one afternoon when my stomach was feeling okay. It was good to be back!

Specialty BBQ pork buns: If there’s one thing you must get here, it is their BBQ pork buns! They have the best BBQ pork buns ever. The bun is coated in a sugary egg yolk thing, and is always fresh and fluffy.

The BBQ pork inside is juicy, flavourful and delicious too. They often bring these out fresh and you they smell sooo good.

Sticky rice wrap: The sticky rice wrap was fragrant and flavourful.

Radish cake: I didn’t have any of these, but everyone else enjoyed it. The radish cake here is cut into cube sized pieces and deep fried. Each piece was seasoned well and had a slightly crunchy exterior.

Shrimp rice roll: I love shrimp rice rolls! The one here was decent, no complaints about it.

Steamed prawn dumpling: The shrimp dumplings were fresh and had a good dumpling to shrimp ratio. There was a fresh snap to the prawns.

Bean curd wrap: The boyfriend quite enjoyed the bean curd wrap. It is one of his must orders at dim sum! This one did not disappoint unlike the bean curd wrap at Fraser Court.