I’ve been a fan of Dinesty Dumpling House for their good Chinese food that is affordable and generally consistent in terms of quality and taste. They’re one of the largest Chinese restaurant chains in Metro Vancouver with 5 locations.  

Their newest location which opened last winter on Gilbert Road in the Richmond Olympic Oval district. I recently ventured to check out the new location.

Bright and Airy Space

Dinesty’s newest restaurant features a clean, elegant contemporary design with floor-to-ceiling windows. In this bright and airy space, you’ll find charming booth seating, tables for larger groups and smaller dining tables.

There are also two open-concept kitchens: one that appears to be dedicated for making dumplings and the other for preparing fried-type of entrees.

Dinesty Dumpling House Gilbert Menu

The menu and pricing can be found online here. They offer a vast array of dishes including dumplings, delicacies, rice and noodle entrees, soups and so forth.

This Dinesty location is neighbours with YiFang Taiwan Fruit Tea. They have a partnership where you can order YiFang drinks to accompany your meal at Dinesty. It is nice that Dinesty’s YiFang menu is the same price as the regular YiFang menu. See photo below.

What We Tried

We ordered the following for lunch:

• Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings x 2 ($7.95 each)
• Shrimp & Pork Shaomai ($8.50)
• Deep Fried Crab with Basil in Triple Sauce ($16.95)
• Stewed Eggplant with Shredded Pork in Hot Sauce ($13.95)
• Stir-Fried Scallop with Asparagus ($17.95)
• Steamed Red Bean Paste Buns ($4.25)
• YiFang Signature Fruit Tea ($6.50)

Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings

A must-try at Dinesty are their xiao long baos ($7.95 each) (or Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings). These housemade dumplings had thin, delicate wrappers that held together all of the contents. The broth was hot and flavourful and not too salty while the filling was bouncy and tender.

Shrimp & Pork Shaomai

The Shrimp and Pork Shaomai ($8.50) was quite good with a thin wrapper and bouncy filling. I thought the filling had a good proportion of shrimp and pork.

Deep Fried Crab with Basil in Triple Sauce

The Deep Fried Crab ($16.95) had a flavourful savoury sauce but the size of the crab was small (although in line with what you are paying for the dish at $16.95). It takes a lot of patience to work for the meat! I personally would not order this again as it is a bit impractical to enjoy at a restaurant.

Stewed Eggplant with Shredded Pork in Hot Sauce

The Stewed Eggplant ($13.95) was had bold, sweet and sour flavours. I think it would have tasted better if the sweetness was toned down a bit.

Stir-Fried Scallops with Asparagus

The stir-fried scallops ($17.95) were OK with crisp vegetables and tender scallops.

Steamed Red Bean Paste Buns

The Steamed Red Bean Paste Buns ($4.25) were absolutely delicious being light and fluffy and having a red bean filling with a good level of sweetness.

YiFang Signature Fruit Tea

I ordered the Signature YiFang Fruit Tea ($6.50) which has fruit slices (apple, oranges, passionfruit) and pineapple jam. The featured tea is Songbailing jade tea, which supposedly brings out the sweet and sour flavours of the fruits. It’s a super refreshing drink which went well with my meal at Dinesty.

Service

Service at Dinesty was a bit spotty during my visit and I had to flag servers down to take my order and bring the bill. It seems like they don’t have enough servers to cater to the number of diners in the restaurant. My friend and fellow food blogger, David at pickydiners.com, also experienced this during his meal at Dinesty Gilbert (see his post here).

Parking

Underground parking is free for first 90 minutes.

Overall Impression of Dinesty Gilbert

I really enjoyed the modern, clean space at the new Dinesty location on Gilbert Road. I would have the Steamed Pork Soup Dumplings, Shrimp & Pork Shaomai, and Steamed Red Bean Paste Buns again. It was nice to be able to enjoy YiFang Fruit Tea with my meal. The restaurant seemed a bit understaffed. I would still gladly return to try more dishes from their large menu. Rating: 4/5

I came to know about Suhang Restaurant in Richmond as they are recommended in Tourism Richmond’s Dumpling Trail itinerary. Suhang is best known for their xiao long baos also known as pork soup dumplings.

Strip Mall Restaurant with Relaxed Ambiance

Located on in a strip mall on Ackroyd Road, the restaurant doesn’t seem like much from the outside with all the blinds down. On the inside, the restaurant has a modest decor and seems like a cozy, casual place to enjoy a comforting meal.

We came in on a Sunday morning and were seated right away. The restaurant is small but the ambiance was quite nice being not noisy and chaotic.

Suhang Restaurant Menu

Suhang focuses on Shanghai-style cuisine. Their menu features Dim Sum (non-vegetarian and vegetarian), Cold Dishes, Soups, Morning Market Soups, Noodle Dishes, Rice Dishes. Most of their Dim Sum seem to run around $8 – $10. I have put together a pdf of their menu which you can download here (10 MB).

What We Tried

On this particular Sunday morning, we tried a few of their dishes.

Xiao Long Bao (6 pieces for $7.95)

The xiao long baos did not disappoint. The thin, delicate wrappers were on point and held together all of the contents. The broth was hot and flavourful and not too salty while the filling was bouncy and tender. I would love to have this again at Suhang.

Xiao Long Bao with Crab Meat and Pork Filling (6 pieces for $13.95)

For an elevated xiao long bao experience, we ordered ones with crab meat and pork filling. The filling texture is more light fluffy than the classic xiao long bao which suggests that there is a reasonable amount of crab meat incorporated. The filling definitely had a taste of crab in it.

These premium xiao long baos are $6 more than the classic version. While they are good, the classic ones are just as satisfying. You could just order two rounds of the classic for pretty much the same price as one crab and pork one.

Sichuan style pig ear salad ($9.95)

The spicy pig ears had a good spicy kick to them from the Sichuan red oil and peppercorns. I like this delicacy because of the chewy texture from the gristle.

Fried Dumplings with Red Bean Paste (4 pieces for $10.95)

For sweets, we had the deep fried dumplings with red bean paste topped with sugar. I enjoyed the very light, crispy and fluffy texture of the dough but the small amount of red bean paste filling left much to be desired. I would not order this again.

Complimentary Coconut Pudding

We also received complimentary orders (one per person) of coconut pudding at the end of the meal. It had a nice gelatinous texture and good coconut flavour without being too sweet.

Service

I usually don’t expect much in terms of service at Chinese restaurants except places where I pay $$$ (like at Chang’an). However, I was pleasantly surprised at the excellent service at Suhang which was attentive, timely and with a smile.

Overall Impression

I would love to revisit Suhang Restaurant again the future to try more of their dishes and to enjoy their Xiao Long Baos again. Not a super fancy place in terms of decor (like Shiang Restaurant) but I enjoyed the comfortable ambiance. Service was terrific. Rating: 4/5

Su Hang Restaurant
100-8291 Ackroyd Road, Richmond BC
suhang.ca