Light Up Chinatown's Food Fare

BC smoked fish cakes at one of the stalls

Every summer the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation holds Light Up Chinatown! A two-day festival to entice the city's residents to come down and check out the neighbourhood, have some Chinese street food, maybe patronise one or two restaurants, and re-visit some sights, like the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden, the Chinese Canadian Museum, or the Vancouver Chinatown Storytelling Centre.

This year's event started today and I arrived half an hour before it started officially at 11am. Booths were still getting ready so I wandered around and met some people I haven't seen in a while, catching up with them.

Chicken sausage hot dog with pickle cream drink

For me, Light Up Chinatown! is about the food, so at 11am my first stop was at Say Hey Cafe, where the sandwich eatery was doing a collaboration with Dicky's Dumps, best known for their frozen handmade dumplings.

On their menu, the Dumpling Glizzy sounded interesting, where they took their chicken and ginger dumplings but made them into a sausage that was boiled then grilled, and placed in a sesame hotdog bun, with thinly sliced cabbage, mayonnaise and scallion oil on top.

The 'pickle cream' lemonade definitely piqued my interest and I had to try it. If you are a fan of pickles, it's definitely an enjoyable drink, slightly tart, slightly vinegary. Best of all I carried it around with me and the ice cubes took a while to melt so the drink was still cold! I almost went back to get another cup...

Then I headed to Hawkers Lane on Columbia Street where the main festival was held. 

Chicken wings, spring rolls, wontons & fish balls

First up was chef Dez Lo using seafood from EatFish and seasoned with chilli products from Holy Duck Chilli. I had the BC smoked fish cakes that were fantastic -- I could taste the smoked fish flavour and two slices was a good hearty portion with spot prawn chilli oil and spicy mayo.

I was already half full when I made it to Mama in the Kitchen with chef William Lew. They were cooking up a storm with four items to choose from. The HK curry fish balls I've tried before and they are delicious and nostalgic, while I liked the crispy spring rolls choc full of vegetables and dipped in a plum sauce.

New for me to try were the chili chicken wontons in a shrimp garlic chili oil, and the num num chicken wings. The wings were grilled then seasoned with a mala dry spice. The wings were juicy fresh off the grill, and got progressively spicier as you ate them.

Recreating a radio studio in the 1970s

I gave my stomach a break by heading into the new section of the Chinatown Storytelling Centre in the basement. It opened about two months ago and features Chinatown in the 50s, 60s and 70s. There are mini recreations of apothecaries, a mural of the Marco Polo, a supper club that became well-known for its smorgasbord and live entertainment.

The space includes a large screen with objects that float around -- you can touch it and a window pops up with more information about it. Otherwise visitors need to have a tour guide to show them around to explain everything.

My last stop was at Saan Saan Cafe, a few blocks away, but that meant walking along Main Street where numerous people hang out in the Downtown Eastside. It can be daunting to walk along there, but for the most part they are harmless. It's just shocking how the three levels of government cannot come up with a comprehensive plan to help these people get off the streets and rehabilitate. 

HK style milk tea gelato sandwich

The tables at Saan Saan Cafe were almost all occupied when I arrived at 2pm. I got one of their specials for the month -- a Hong Kong style milk tea gelato sandwich. While it looked like a big portion, it was actually delicious. The gelato had a lovely fragrant milk tea flavour with bits of cookie in it for texture in between two slices of firm cake.

Vancouver Chinatown's Largest Restaurant Shutters

Floata has been struggling financially since the pandemic

It was a shock to hear on Monday that Floata Seafood Restaurant in Chinatown was closed.

Maybe it wasn't a surprise after all, since it was either jam packed during Chinese New Year banquets and fundraising dinners for organisations like Vancouver Chinatown Foundation, the Chinese Canadian Museum and Dr Sun Yat-Sen Garden, or it was practically dead.

The 1,000 seat restaurant opened in 1995

There were occasions I have come to Floata for dinner and there were only two tables occupied, or dim sum for lunch and a fraction of the 1,000-seat restaurant occupied. 

Floata was opened in 1995 and was the largest restaurant in Chinatown. A family friend held their wedding banquet here, occupying the entire place. At fundraisers, politicians from three levels of government, and of all stripes came here to "press the flesh" with the Chinese community.

But since the Covid-19 pandemic, Floata has been struggling to pay the rent, apparently owing some $300,000. The space is owned by the City of Vancouver and one wonders why it didn't give the restaurant an opportunity to devise a payment scheme.

As community leader Fred Lee said to me tonight, there will never be another restaurant of this size in Chinatown again; and where are groups in the community going to hold their fundraising dinners now? It would be so odd to go to a restaurant in Richmond...

Place either jam packed or practically empty

Lee also feels sad for the staff who have worked there for so long, wondering what will happen to them. 

While this is another sign that Chinatown is still struggling to bring people back to the neighbourhood, we have to honestly say Floata didn't serve the best Chinese food!

But it was a place that brought people together, and this giant space is gone... unless someone has a brilliant plan to remake it into something new...

Lighting Up Chinatown with Delicious Grub

Delicious curry fish balls and XO siu mai

Today Light Up Chinatown kicked off, just as the epic rainstorm finally ended and the skies turned blue. The Chinatown event is an annual weekend initiative to get people to come visit the neighbourhood, eat some food, patronise some shops and maybe even bump into some friends.

Visitors can get a "passport" and visit specific shops to get a stamp. Get eight stamps, two in each of the four zones made them eligible to put their name into a lucky draw to win prizes like a Lululemon gift card, an Arc'teryx hoodie, and the grand prize of two tickets to see John Legend in concert.

The weather cleared up for Light Up Chinatown

I arrived shortly after the opening ceremonies began, but instead of listening to the speeches, I focused on the food offerings. Along Columbia Street were several stalls and I tried a few of them.

First off was Mama in the Kitchen with chef William Lew, who presented four dishes, and I tried three of them.

The typhoon shelter calamari was a great idea, the calamari tender and a slight crunch to it, and not too spicy. The portion is good to share -- too much for one person. The same could be said of the salted egg yolk pork belly in terms of portion, and while the pork belly was slightly caramelised, the salted egg yolk flavour wasn't pronounced, which was a pity. 

A signature dish for Mama in the Kitchen is the curry fish balls, and this was a portion that can be eaten by one person, with two pieces of siu mai topped with a small shrimp and dressed with XO sauce. It's a good combination of street food with spice.

Typhoon shelter calamari

Torafuku is celebrating its 10th anniversary and made its debut at Light Up Chinatown with its beef rendang taco. It looks like a simple dish, but the beef has been braised for a long time and infused with curry flavour that is then wrapped in a soft tortilla. It's relatively easy to eat, though the oil drips out...

Also supported Holy Duck Chili Oil that collaborated with Ember HK BBQ with a cart noodle concept. Customers can choose one, two or three toppings out of a total of six, and the kind of noodles -- Japanese instant noodles, spaghetti or vermicelli.

I chose peanut satay pork and honey char siu with Japanese instant noodles. After about five minutes my name was called out and it was a decent portion. The char siu was in chunks instead of slices which would have been better in terms of eating it with a plastic fork, while there wasn't much taste of the peanut satay pork. There were quite a lot of noodles that soaked up the sauces though.

By this point I was almost full and was curious about the ice creams by Hype Chocolate. I tried the White Rabbit milk chocolate ice cream and it was creamy and easy to eat with chunks of chocolate on top. However the white rabbit flavour was completely lost in the chocolate ice cream. Perhaps vanilla ice cream would have worked better? 

White Rabbit milk chocolate ice cream

It was good to bump into a few acquaintances and catch up briefly with them, while supporting the event. 

Chinatown Festival Ends with Stabbings

The stabbings occurred near this stage at Keefer and Columbia

"Light Up Chinatown" was meant to be an open invitation for people to come to the neighbourhood and patronise the shops and restaurants in the run up to the Mid-Autumn Festival at the end of this month.

However, just as the two-day event was wrapping up, before 6pm, a 64-year-old man suddenly stabbed three people near the stage at the intersection of Keefer and Columbia streets.

The victims, a couple in their 60s and a young woman in her 20s were given immediate care and sent to hospital, while the police -- who were providing security for the event -- interviewed witnesses for a description of the assailant and soon after arrested the man, Blair Evan Donnelly nearby in the Downtown Eastside.

Police arrested the attacker, no known motive

It turns out he was on a day pass from a local psychiatric facility. In 2006 he had killed his 16-year-old daughter in Kitimat. He was charged with second-degree murder, but was found not guilty in January 2008 because of a mental disorder and was sent to Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam.

Yesterday he was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

It was shocking to hear the news and that the perpetrator has a mental illness. 

Carol Lee, the chair of the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation was around 20 feet away from where the attacks happened and was devastated by the horrific incident.

"I think if you were close by, it's a traumatic thing to see somebody at a community event, just an innocent bystander, getting stabbed," she said.

Lee broke down during the press conference, describing the attacks as feeling "very personal. We've worked very hard to put this festival and the community together to celebrate all the progress that we have made."

Lee in tears during press conference

Revitalising and making Chinatown safe has been a priority for Mayor Ken Sim, who said in a press release that the "senseless violence is heartbreaking."

"We will not allow this senseless act of violence to disrupt celebrations of all that makes our city great, and we will work each and every day to ensure Vancouver is a place where people can live, work, and thrive in a safe environment."

To that end it was a surprise to see a lot of police officers in Chinatown today. At lunchtime, four of them patronised the same cha chaan teng as us, with two police cars parked in front. Afterwards we saw two cops patrolling the streets.

It was reassuring to see them around to give a sense of security... though they need to be around more often to really give people peace of mind and feel safe in the area.

More Money to Revitalise Vancouver's Chinatown

More provincial funding will help revitalise Chinatown

Vancouver's Chinatown's appearance has dramatically improved since the city last month cleared out all the tents where homeless people lived, and stepped up cleaning the streets more often. 

Back alleys which used to be strewn with trash and human waste are practically clear of garbage, and sidewalks are pretty spotless.

And now the province is chipping in C$2.2 million to fix up the neighbourhood, from storefronts to the Chinese Cultural Centre which have been covered in graffiti and damaged by vandals.

Lee (second left), and Eby, (fourth to left)

The announcement was made by BC Premier David Eby, who says the new funding will help Chinatown "realise the clear plan that this community has to revitalise the neighbourhood for residents, for visitors, and for businesses."

The money is going towards the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation of which Carol Lee is the chair. She said the announcement is a "turning point" for the neighbourhood because it creates a catalyst for sustainable economic revitalisation, signalling to visitors that Chinatown is once again "the place to be."

However, while some business owners in the neighbourhood are grateful for the financial injection, they think more needs to be done in terms of safety, as there are still homeless people occupying their storefronts or making visitors feel uneasy and as a result don't want to stay long.

Cruise ship season has started, but these Chinatown business owners say tourists aren't coming to the area, but to Gastown instead, because they have heard of the safety issue in the news or through word of mouth.

Hopefully people's perception of Chinatown will change soon, and there are also other initiatives to bring more people into the area, like parking meters on the street will charge C$2 an hour starting on June 1.

I visit the neighbourhood once a week and the area is grappling with how it should move forward. There is no question that business owners and residents want to keep Chinatown going, but how? There are issues of gentrification, keeping legacy businesses open, and getting the next generation to come down to Chinatown more often and patronise shops.

Tent encampments are gone, some people remain

But first the issue of safety needs to be tackled and that means finding social housing for the homeless -- if they want it, and helping them get treatment if they want to wean themselves off drugs. It's a complicated set of problems, but when six people die per day from drug overdoses, it's an issue that can't be overlooked. 

Sadly successive governments, municipal, provincial and federal have ignored the problem for decades and now here we are. Hopefully this problem will finally be sorted otherwise Chinatown is going to continue to hang by a thread through no fault of its own.