Chinese Restaurant Awards Expands Across Canada and Asia

Winners of the Chinese Restaurant Awards in Canada

Last night the 16th Chinese Restaurant Awards handed out 69 awards, not only celebrating top restaurants in Metro Vancouver, but for the first time also across Canada, and in Asia.

Held at the prestigious Vancouver Club, the awards aim to shine a spotlight on chefs focused on Chinese cuisine, not only those preserving the heritage, but also those keen on modernising dishes through produce and cooking techniques.

There was a lot of excitement in the ballroom as the names were read out, lots of clapping for chefs who are usually in their kitchens working, and rarely praised in such a high profile manner.

Chef Garley Leung of Dynasty

Four top awards were given out, three of which were to chefs:

Rising Star Chef of the Year to Andersen Lee of Oncle Lee and Oncle Lee Kao in Montreal

Dim Sum Chef of the Year to Garley Leung of Dynasty Seafood Restaurant in Vancouver

Master Chef of the Year to Samuel Su of Flavourful House in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

The Cultural Ambassador of the Year was awarded to Carol Lee of Vancouver Chinatown Foundation, who started Chinatown BBQ and has had a big hand in reviving the neighbourhood.

When it comes to the Elite 30 restaurants across Canada, Dynasty Seafood Restaurant took top spot, followed by Chang'An, also in Vancouver. Landmark Hotpot House came in fourth, followed by Mott 32, and Sea Harbour Restaurant, which is across from River Rock Casino in Richmond. Rounding out the top 10 at No. 9 is The Fish Man, focused on seafood.

1. Dynasty Seafood Restaurant – Vancouver, B.C. | Cantonese 
2. Chang’ An – Vancouver, B.C. | Shaanxi / Northern Chinese
3. Flavourful House – Richmond Hill, Ontario | Cantonese
4. Landmark Hotpot House – Vancouver, B.C. | Hong Kong Style Hotpot
5. MOTT 32 – Vancouver, B.C.  & Toronto, Ontario | Peking Duck / Modern Chinese
6. Sea Harbour Restaurant – Richmond, B.C. | Cantonese
7. Jumbo Lobster Restaurant – Richmond Hill, Ontario | Cantonese Seafood
8. Bamboo Grove Restaurant – Richmond, B.C. | Cantonese
9. The Fish Man – Richmond, B.C. | Sichuan / Cantonese Seafood
10. aKin – Toronto, Ontario | Modern Asian
11. Jiangnan Wok – Richmond, B.C. | Jiangnan
12. Mimi Chinese – Toronto, Ontario | Modern Chinese
13. R&D – Toronto, Ontario | Modern Canadian Asian
14. Golden Paramount Seafood Restaurant – Richmond, B.C. | Cantonese / Shunde
15. iDen & Quan Ju De Beijing Duck House – Vancouver, B.C. | Peking Duck / Northern Chinese
16. Fishman Lobster Clubhouse Restaurant – Scarborough, Ontario | Cantonese Seafood
17. Miss Qu Barbecue & Restaurant – Markham / Scarborough, Ontario | Sichuan
18. Din Tai Fung – Vancouver, B.C. | Taiwanese / Shanghainese Dim Sum
19. Osmanthus Chinese Fusion Restaurant – Richmond, B.C. | Jiangnan
20. Max Noodle House – Richmond, B.C. | Cantonese Noodles & Congee
21. Lanxuan Restaurant – Richmond, B.C. | Cantonese
22. The Jade Seafood Restaurant – Richmond, B.C. | Cantonese
23. Nian Yi Kuai Zi – Markham / Scarborough, Ontario | Sichuan
24. Oncle Lee Kǎo – Montreal, Quebec | Modern Chinese
25. Kalvin’s Szechuan Restaurant – Vancouver, B.C. | Taiwanese / Sichuan
26. Loon Fong Hot Pot – Richmond Hill, Ontario | Hong Kong Style Hotpot
27. Xi’An Flavour – Richmond, B.C. | Shaanxi / Xi’an
28. Chinatown BBQ – Vancouver, B.C. | Cantonese BBQ
29. HK BBQ Master – Richmond, B.C. | Cantonese BBQ
30. Nouilles de Lan Zhou – Montreal, Quebec | Lanzhou Beef Noodles

Across the Pacific, there were awards for restaurants in Asia, which can be difficult to decide and rank since there are so many outstanding places in cities like Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing.

Chef Tang of Man Ho Chinese Restaurant

Rising Star Chef of the Year went to Jayson Tang of Man Ho Chinese Restaurant in the JW Marriott Hong Kong and Henry Zhang of Drunken Fish in Macau

Dim Sum Chef of the Year was Zeng Xianxin of De Chu in Guangzhou.

Master Chef of the Year was Fu Yue Liang of Ru Yuan in Hangzhou

Probably not surprising that The Chairman in Hong Kong took top spot in the Elite 15 Asia Awards, followed by Wing Restaurant. 

1.          The Chairman — Hong Kong ｜ Modern Cantonese

2.          WING Restaurant — Hong Kong ｜ Modern Chinese

3.          Ru Yuan — Hangzhou ｜ Hangzhou (Hangbang Cai)

4.          Meet the Bund — Shanghai ｜ Min Cai

5.          Seventh Son Restaurant — Hong Kong ｜ Cantonese

6.          102 House — Shanghai ｜ Refined Cantonese Banquet Cuisine

7.          Lingnan House — Guangzhou ｜ Cantonese

8.          Xin Rong Ji — Hong Kong ｜ Taizhou

9.          Yong Fu — Hong Kong ｜ Ningbo

10.       Chef Tam's Season — Macau ｜ Cantonese

11.       1996 Si Chuan Cuisine — Beijing ｜ Modern Si Chuanese

12.       Jie Xiang Lou — Hangzhou ｜ Jiangnan

13.       Man Ho Chinese Restaurant — Hong Kong ｜ Cantonese

14.       The House of Dynasties — Beijing ｜ Imperial court, Cantonese

15.       Silks House — Taipei ｜ Cantonese

The famous flower crab dish at The Chairman

Hongkongers Flock to Warehouse Stores in Shenzhen

Hongkongers are joining tours that take them to Sam's Club

For Hongkongers, visiting Costco in North America is a wide-eye opening experience. 

The members-only warehouse store sells everything from milk to laptops, refrigerators and roast chickens at very good prices. Hongkongers look in wonder at products stacked on pallets and items sold in bulk or in giant containers that would take a while to use up.

There is no Costco in Hong Kong otherwise Park 'n' Shop and Wellcome would be up-in-arms if that kind of rivalry elbowed its way into the city. People would need bigger flats too to store all this stuff in bulk. 

Everything here is much cheaper than in HK

However, there is competition south of the border, as Hong Kong residents eagerly sign up for shopping tours to Shenzhen, where one stop on the itinerary is at Sam's Club, a warehouse store operated by Walmart, and named after Sam Walton, the founder. 

There are 44 Sam's Clubs in 25 cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, Hangzhou, Xianmen, Chengdu, Shenyang and Ningbo.

As part of the tour, visitors can get a one-year membership for two people for 260 yuan (US$37), which can easily be made back from buying everything from food to giant-screen TVs.

The tours are especially popular with young people who are eager to find deals, as well as products they can only find on the mainland. 

They can snap up fresh seafood, frozen dumplings, Godiva chocolates, Ippudo instant noodles, and even fresh hairy crabs.

Wandering the warehouse store is eye-popping

Who knew young Hongkongers would be so keen to shop in Shenzhen?

But with inflation soaring in the city, it's become a novelty to discover bargains galore in warehouse stores.

Pent-Up Demand to Travel

Chinese residents are eager to travel abroad from January 8

Soon after Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the border between Hong Kong and China would be lifted by mid-January, it was confirmed the date would be January 8, and this would include international flights.

Thirty minutes after this announcement, the number of enquiries on travel website Ctrip.com surged 500 percent. Who can blame them after being isolated from the rest of the world for almost three years?

And the top 10 destinations Chinese residents are looking to travel to?

Top places are Macau, Hong Kong and Japan

Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and United Kingdom.

Queries for flights to the mainland also shot up after it was announced travellers coming into China would not need to do nucleic acid tests or quarantine, though a PCR test would be needed 48 hours before flying. 

The government also promises to make it easier for for business travellers and foreigners working in China to get visas more easily. During the pandemic overseas travellers could only enter China if they had a valid residency permit or obtained a relevant visa.

With this news, flights from Hong Kong to Shanghai increased by 1,039 percent, while searches for trips to Beijing and Hangzhou rose by 718 percent and 662 percent respectively.

Hongkongers looking to cross the border must do so at the Shenzhen Bay checkpoint, where there is a daily quota of 3,500.

Hongkongers can cross border at Shenzhen Bay

Perhaps most interesting is from January 8, Beijing is downgrading Covid-19 from a top-tier infectious disease into a second-tier one, putting it in the same category as HIV, viral hepatitis, and H7N9 bird flu.

These sudden changes are a lot to take in after years of Beijing scaring people about Covid-19.

Nevertheless this latest announcement not only allows international business to resume -- if there is any left -- but more importantly for family reunions to finally take place after years of being apart.

But still -- with the number of cases surging and not enough people vaccinated in the country, is now the best time to open up China to the world?