Chinese New Year Western Style

The dragon winding its way through the crowd

Last night I was invited to a Chinese New Year party held at a popular restaurant in downtown Vancouver. When I got there after 6pm it was already heaving with people and I barely knew anyone.

Nevertheless it was fascinating to people-watch during the hour that I was there.

Many women took advantage of the theme to wear cheongsams with heels, warmed by the mobile heaters, or something red, from sweaters to slip dresses and one woman even wore a body-hugging hooded floor-length red dress, something Grace Jones would wear with shades.

Two acrobats posed on spinning hoops

Some men wore Chinese jackets, mostly the tacky satin embroidered kind found in Chinatown.

The music was definitely not Chinese, but it was pumping dance music with a strong beat from a DJ and so I was surprised to see a Chinese woman carrying a one-year-old boy around and then later some girls, five to seven years old with red decorations in their hair looking up to see a scantily-clad acrobat twirling around from a hoop suspended from the ceiling.

What were these kids doing here on a school night?

Perhaps their parents are regulars at this restaurant? These people congregated in groups and had already commandeered tables where they had plates of food and glasses of wine -- red of course.

Ah yes the food. We were in a restaurant, after all.

But this is a Western restaurant and nothing Chinese about the food, with queues for every thing to eat and drink.

There were freshly-shucked briny oysters -- and amazingly I didn't get sick -- as well as tons of sushi, and two stations where giant parmesan cheese wheels were melted to coat penne pasta. There was also a queue for roast beef and mini Yorkshire pudding complete with three different mustards to choose from and gravy poured from a teapot.

Freshly shucked and briny oysters

And then there were glasses that from a distance looked like dessert. When I got one, it was under a heat lamp and when I dug my spoon into it I soon realised it wasn't sweet -- it was beef stew topped with mashed potato.

However the Peking duck spring roll was good, stuffed with meat and vermicelli, while dessert of mandarin mousse in what looked like a mini mandarin orange was a nice finish.

I felt badly for the servers who had to hold heavy trays with one hand and put their other arms around glasses and plates to prevent people from knocking them over. What a tough night.

Just after 7pm the drumming and clashing of the cymbals began and there was actually a glow-in-the-dark dragon weaving around the crowded restaurant. Quite appropriate since it was pretty dark in the place and the dancers had to try and wind their way around people and food. 

An hour was enough time spent there to take in the revelry and see Vancouverites turn out for a Chinese New Year party. Next time wear red red red! And heels heels heels!