The Best Dim Sum Restaurants in Richmond

When you start exploring the dim sum options in Richmond, you’ll soon be struck by the diversity, quality, and innovation of the restaurants and their chefs. Whether you want a nostalgic push-cart experience, or an upscale establishment that offers creative dumplings you’ve never seen before, you can find it in Richmond.

Richmond is home to plenty of great dim sum restaurants. | Photo: Tourism Richmond

So, get set to feast on creative and top-notch dim sum in Richmond! To get you started, we’ve rounded up ten restaurants that offer delicious and varied dim sum experiences. Reservations are highly recommended.

• Fisherman’s Terrace Seafood Restaurant
• Chef Tony Seafood Restaurant
• Fortune Terrace Chinese Cuisine
• Empire Seafood Restaurant
• Yue Restaurant
• Continental Seafood Restaurant
• Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant
• Jade Seafood Restaurant
• Golden Paramount

FISHERMAN’S TERRACE SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

4151 Hazelbridge Way
Located inside Aberdeen Centre, Fisherman’s Terrace Seafood Restaurant has developed a reputation for consistent quality over the years, making it a very popular choice for dim sum connoisseurs. Expect to wait in line for a considerable time, especially on a Saturday or Sunday (a reservation is highly recommended) when families make their weekly pilgrimage. The menu showcases a kitchen that has perfected their dim sum craft—the baked barbecue pork pastries are flaky delights, with rich, saucy filling inside. And their steamed shrimp dumplings with dried scallop and spinach have beautifully translucent wrappers. Each item hits a high note, ensuring that Fisherman’s Terrace will continue to draw discerning crowds.

CHEF TONY SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

#101 – 4600 No. 3 Road
When Chef Tony Seafood Restaurant first opened in 2014, it dazzled Richmond diners with the ambition of its kitchen and the bright stylishness of its décor. Since then, it has become an icon on the dining landscape, winning big at the 2019 Chinese Restaurant Awards; and an innovator that has paved the way for other restaurants to take dim sum to new, more daring levels. One of their strengths is taking tried-and-true dim sum items and making them even more refined. Their black truffle siu mai are one of their signature items, as are the steamed cuttlefish ink shrimp dumplings, a visually striking play on har gow. Other items evidence a more restrained attention to quality, such as a steamed sponge cake with fine texture and brown sugar sweetness. Service is equally as impeccable, so expect to be well taken care of during your tour of their dim sum menu.

FORTUNE TERRACE CHINESE CUISINE

#130 – 6200 River Road
Situated just across from the Richmond Olympic Oval, Fortune Terrace Chinese Cuisine is an opulent space with chandeliers, soaring ceilings, and large decorative image screens. The restaurant won an Honourable Mention for Best Dim Sum at the 2019 Chinese Restaurant Awards, and offers an extensive menu that leans toward the experimentally upscale, with items like truffle yam dumplings and deep fried stuffed prawns with Spanish ham. The rice rolls are elevated by the use of red rice, which gives the rolls a bright decorative hue. They’re then filled with shrimp surrounded by crunchy tempura coating, and truffle topped lobster; the results are two-bite decadence.

Other items are aesthetically whimsical, with deft culinary execution. Take, for example, the Q pig egg young buns with their cute snouts and ears. Break the buns open, and the egg custard filling spills out. The sweet, salty combination is unbeatable after enjoying all of your savoury items.

EMPIRE SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

#200 – 5951 No. 3 Road
Ask most diners in Richmond for a dim sum recommendation, and they’ll direct you to Empire Seafood Restaurant, located on the second floor of the London Plaza. Empire Seafood has become an enduring fixture on the dim sum scene, unfailingly providing a satisfying selection of classic dim sum selections. Some all-time favourites such as har gow, siu mai, and deep-fried minced pork and dried shrimp dumplings (ham sui gok), appear on the menu. Finish with mango pudding or baked egg custard tarts to cap off your amazing dim sum experience.

YUE RESTAURANT

#110 – 8351 Alexandra Road
Service at Yue Restaurant is incredibly attentive, with staff committed to creating a seamless experience for its diners. The room itself, with its warm brown palette, has a refinement to it that matches its service and food quality. Its honourable mention at the 2019 Vancouver Restaurant Awards for Best Dim Sum is well deserved. The kitchen draws upon conventional dim sum items and flavour combinations but spins them slightly to make them deliciously unexpected. Servers particularly recommend the steamed rice rolls, with fillings (such as prawn and chives, BBQ pork, and sweet corn) on the outside versus wrapped inside. The rice rolls themselves have the perfect texture, with slight firmness while still smooth. Steamed dumplings with shrimp, scallop, truffle, and tobiko are elegant, allowing the ingredients to speak for themselves. Overall, it’s an establishment that prides itself on making dim sum a special outing.

CONTINENTAL SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

#150 – 11700 Cambie Road
For those who want to go old school with their dim sum experience, Continental Seafood Restaurant delivers. While traditional cart service has virtually disappeared in favour of à la carte menus, there’s something charming and interactive about hearing the call of servers as they push their carts, and peering into the steamed baskets to inspect the dishes inside. Expect a much less planned, more accessible eating journey. Plus, the restaurant is sizeable, making for a bustling and lively environment to enjoy with family and friends. Continental primarily adheres to the classics when it comes to their dim sum rotation, so it’s the perfect place for satisfying your craving for spareribs with black beans and steamed sticky rice in lotus leaves. Their loyal clientele would agree that tradition can make for a very satisfying meal.

SEA HARBOUR SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

#150 – 8888 River Road
Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant showcases the best that Cantonese food has to offer in a chic, high end-setting. Its location close to the Bridgeport Skytrain Station and the River Rock Casino make it an accessible choice for dim sum. The restaurant boasts an all-picture menu, making it particularly easy for dim sum newbies to navigate the over 90 items available. Even regular dim sum-goers will find something expected on the menu, like pan-fried chicken wings stuffed with sticky rice or a green tea crêpe filled with sugared peanuts. And a dish like stir fried radish cake with XO sauce, beautifully plated, takes standard lo bak go and transforms it into something unique.

JADE SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

#280 – 2811 No. 3 Road
The chandeliers and dark wood accents at Jade Seafood Restaurant give it a sleek modern aesthetic that matches the quality and contemporary innovation of its dim sum. While many traditional items can be found (including steamed beef balls with bean curd, and steamed rice rolls with mixed mushrooms), the kitchen also takes culinary risks, creating culturally hybrid dishes that take dim sum into exciting new flavour dimensions.

Many of these special items are highlighted on the menu as you peruse what to check off the sheet. Turnip cake (lo bak go) is completely reimagined: noodles are wrapped around it, and then the turnip cake is deep fried, and finally drizzled with wasabi mayo; and glutinous rice with wild rice comes baked with cheddar cheese on top. This experimentation is balanced with items that exude simplicity, such as steamed crab meat dumplings or mushroom dumplings.

GOLDEN PARAMOUNT

8111 Anderson Road
For a while, Golden Paramount existed just under the radar, with those in the know quietly spreading the word about a fabulous restaurant with a female chef, May Chau, at its helm. Now with multiple accolades to its name (including Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards for Best Dim Sum 2018 and 2019) and a new location, Golden Paramount is one of the jewels of Richmond’s dining scene. Their dim sum isn’t about flashy showmanship, but more about a simple use of ingredients and expert technique. Case in point is their steamed pork and crab meat dumplings, which feature delicate wrappers and deftly minced filling that also contains bamboo shoots, Chinese mushrooms, shrimp, and cilantro. Other dishes are familiar with slight tweaks to make them Chau’s own creations, such as steamed pork dumplings with fish roe or deep-fried daikon spring rolls. You’re in good hands with such an exacting chef; each dim sum item is a quiet revelation.

Last Updated on November 15, 2023 by Tourism Richmond