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Fisherman's Terrace Seafood Restaurant
Categories: Restaurants Seafood Restaurants Chinese Dim Sum Seafood, Dim Sum [Edit]
3580 - 4151 Hazelbridge WyRichmond, BC V6X 4J7
Neighbourhood: Golden Village
(604) 303-9739
- Hours:
Mon-Wed, Sun 11 am - 7 pm
Thu-Sat 11 am - 9 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Brunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
87 reviews for Fisherman's Terrace Seafood Restaurant
Review Highlights
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"...this place as cheaper and better than Kirin and Sun Sui Wah." In 6 reviews -
"I'll be back next time i'm in Vancouver." In 25 reviews -
"...were incredibly generous with the shrimp in the har gow." In 9 reviews
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87 reviews in English
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Review from Marje B.
Burnaby, BC
HOT!!! FRESH !!!DELISH!!!! DIM SUM!!!
Awesome place for dimsum... and at a great price!!!!!
I can talk about it but I say just try for yourself!! (=
Make reservations on the weekend and holidays! -
Review from Melody M.
5/17/2012
Went here for dim sum with my mom and sister and loved it---- I now understand why they keep coming back. The place is on the second floor inside Aberdeen Centre, it's huge and spaces with lots of seating.
The waiters are nice and friendly. Dim sum was fast and yummy. They have your standard selection of shrimp dumplings, sticky rice, congee, spare ribs etc. But, the also have some new items like the smoked salmon salad and the sweet dumplings for dessert. Oh yeah, even the tea was flavourful.
I will come back, just for those sweet dumplings again :) -
Review from Meana k.
4/16/2012 1 Check-in Here
Came for dim sum with a party of 9 -- we had made advanced reservations but most of our party was nearly 15 minutes late. No problem, thankfully they let us take our table regardless. The place was packed. The customers were mostly Chinese -- great sign.
No food carts here, they offer a single menu and a single a la carte order form for the table. It admittedly is difficult to figure out some of the items just by name without pictures or description. So much is lost in translation.
Still, they have some standard dishes, some unique ones, and a few that surprisingly were either missing or just not well represented on the menu. Just one type of congee. Steamed greens didn't seem to be on the menu but they were available when we ordered them.
Some of the best items (sorry, going by memory so the names won't match the menu):
spicy fried squid -- these were salty and spicy, and not overcooked.
shredded chicken salad -- one of my favorite items. so simple, so good.
steamed veggie dumplings -- loved this. full of vegetables and flavor.
shrimp rice roll -- these were fantastic.
Other stuff we tried:
chicken feet with gluten -- best I've had, but that still doesn't make me a fan.
beef tripe and tendon -- the tripe was good, I skipped the tendon.
steamed pork dumplings with quail egg -- overcooked, a little disappointing.
steamed shrimp dumplings -- okay.
steamed greens -- the gailon was standard but needed with such a heavy meal.
shrimp stuffed eggplant -- pretty good, but would have loved some hot sauce on this.
beef ball -- not overly flavorful but great to dip into some hot sauce.
Service is as friendly as you'd expect at a dim sum joint. -
Review from Maria G.
3/26/2012
Very good dim sum!
3.5 star.
Not very English speaking friendly. Their menu is in Chinese so it wasn't too easy to order for my friends and me. They don't push carts around so we wouldn't know which plates look more appealing than others. Sometimes I do not know the names of the dishes and would just order it if I see something look appealing.
We ordered a lot of stuff and they all tasted very fresh. It was super crowded on a weekend. The mall and restaurant do not open until 11am but when we got there right at 10:59am, the restaurant was already full of people and we had to wait for 5 - 10 minutes. How did that happen? -
Review from Anita H.
4/1/2012
After an unfortunately terrible dim sum experience in my hometown, I was so thrilled that Fisherman's Terrace reminded me what REAL dim sum is about. My family always stop by this place when we visit Richmond, BC. It's located in the Aberdeen Center and serves up some amazing dim sum dishes. The variety is more than adequate and the dim sum dishes comes out in delicate, fragrant portions rather than the gargantuan American portions. The lo mei gai was so tasty and comes out in three smaller wrapped leaves. The shrimp cheong fun was silky and slippery. YUM. It was only two of us so we were limited to what we could order. Overall, great dim sum experience!
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Review from Alvin L.
Vancouver, BC
12/30/2011 9 photos
Now, if you asked 10 Chinese people in Vancouver where the best dim sum place was in the city, it is very possible you would get 10 different answers. There are several dozen dim sum restaurants in Vancouver, many of which of quite reputatable distinction. That said, everybody has their own favorite restaurant due to personal taste and I am no different. In my humble opinion, some of the best quality dim sum in Vancouver can be had at the Fisherman's Terrace Seafood Restaurant in Aberdeen Centre Mall in Richmond.
One of my favorite dishes to order when I go 'dim sum' are baby prawn spring rolls. It should be noted quickly that you never go to eat dim sum alone. Ideally, dim sum is best enjoyed in a group of 4 or more adults. Going with only 1 or 2 other people would make it difficult to order a wide variety of dishes as you would all get very full, very quickly. Spring rolls are a great way to start things off as they are hot, deliciously deep fried and filled with fresh, perfectly cooked prawn meat. Dipping your piece into the slightly sour vinegar based sauce will accentuate the flavors even more.
If you are planning to order quite a few fried items like spring rolls, fried wontons etc. it is usually a good idea to order one or two bowls of congee. Congee will be a good cleanse for your palette to lighten the heaviness of the fried dishes and make digestion smoother. There are many different types of congee so you can either go conservative (chicken, fish etc.) or adventurous (tripe, thousand year egg etc.) Personally, I like simple congees best with chicken, fish, boiled peanuts etc.
When people think of dim sum, one of the first dishes that come to mind are dumplings. Among the very best you will find a pork based dumpling called "siew mai" and a prawn dumpling called "har gow." Dipped lightly in 'la jiao' or chili oil, the steamed dumplings are simply delicious. -
Review from Derek T.
5/16/2012
house special crabs, as good as those in singapore
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Review from Theresa W.
Vancouver, BC
10/28/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Yelp has never steered me wrong with food suggestions. Especially when you type "dim sum" near "Richmond". It's like looking for the gummi de milo at a candy convention, you know what I mean?
I think Yelp's a little outdated on the info for this place. It said it opened at 11am, but when we got there at 11:10 the place was bustlin'! There's no way all these old people could've been lining up for some lunchtime dim sum! Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to ask them what time they REALLY opened, but for those who are bargain hunting, don't bother - this place doesn't have early morning discount dim sum. Why? Because this is POSH.
It's no joke, the dim sum here is probably a dollar or two more a dish than other places in the Richmond area. But (did you see this coming?) it's totally worth it, especially if you choose your dim sum wisely. After reading a few reviews, we went with some of the people's choices: spring rolls (stuffed full with shrimp) and mango pudding for dessert (fantastic). The mushroom rice roll was good but the skin seemed a bit on the thick side. The shrimp and spinach roll was good as well, though I don't care much for little bits of water chestnut. The larger dishes of fried rice or noodles came out as a big HEAP on the plate, so it looked pretty amazing.
Overall, $38 for 6 dishes for two people is an decent price, and the quality of food definitely above standard. The service here is great and they don't rush you out. Make a reservation unless you're okay with waiting for a really long time.
As a side note:
Oh ho Yelp, I almost fell off the 30-day review wagon today! My day has been non-stop action, but luckily for me I saw a news article in today's Vancouver Sun about restaurants, and a light-bulb went off in my head.great option.Listed in: 30 Day Review Challenge, Richmond!, Dim Sum!, 2011 Best Of
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Review from Alex H.
12/22/2011
Fresh. Original.
Fisherman's Terrace sets the standard for what dim sum should taste like. All of their dumplings/shui mai tasted fresh and hand made and were filled with large shrimp.
The honeycomb and tendon were some of the most flavorful and fresh tasting I've had. very important when eating honeycomb.
Also, delicious egg tarts to finish your secondbreakfast. -
Review from Herman E.
11/25/2011
3.5 for dim sum.
I was pleasantly surprised with this place. The food was not bad at all. I guess I was expecting worse. Everything was the usual standard stuff and I had no complaints.
One item that stood out was a deep fried bitter melon ball with a sweet runny sesame paste. I ordered it, but only one order because I thought that it would taste well....bitter. It wasn't and I was impressed because it was actually quite good.
Definitely one my list of places to visit for dim sum. -
Review from Stephen Y.
Richmond, BC
6/21/2011 2 Check-ins Here
You remember the Seinfeld episode about being able to take a reservation, but not being able to hold one? This place will remind you of it. I'm pretty sure that when you make a reservation here, they just write down your name, but don't assign you a table...somewhat pointless, but luckily I called days ahead for Father's Day and we only had to wait 10 minutes.
However, once seated and eating, all is forgiven. The dim sum is pretty awesome here. The shrimp dumplings were large and the skin wasn't too sticky. Beef rice roll was slow to come though, but once it did, was quite delish, full of beef and thin rice noodle. The deep fried taro was so good, that I had to order a second one to sastify mean. Love the crunchy exterior with the warm soft taro to offset it. The bean curd with ginko and pea shoots was a nice change to the other rich foods around us. The other staples of pork dumplings, chicken and fish stomach in red date broth was also ordered and equally yummy.
Service was meh, but oh well, was a packed Father's Day. We all left happy and stuffed though. -
Review from Mitchell F.
12/25/2011
This is my new favorite dim sum restaurant in Vancouver BC as of today!
Typically when I go to Vancouver, my family and I would go to some smaller restaurant in Historic Chinatown, but over the last couple of years, that place has gone downhill, exponentially!
For Christmas, I decided to look for a new place to eat as our old favorite location was just getting upsetting. I looked on Yelp, for a new place and found the Fisherman's Terrace and I must say, it was just as every other Yelper described.
I went with my mom and sister and we were expecting your typical dim sum fare, but we were extremely surprised. About 90% of the menu seemed new to me and I was just as curious to try something new. Since my mom knew more about the food, we let her order, with exception that I get my fix for ha-gow and black sesame balls.
We ordered about 7 plates and including tip, we paid about $43.00 which is more pricey than we are used to but we were still happy regardless of the price tag. For one, once we got there, we were notified that we needed a reservation but since we got there somewhat early, we were first on their list for a table and got it in about 5 minutes rather than the 15 they promised. As soon as we sat down, we were given tea that had already started to brew and was actually strong. Unlike most restaurants they put very little tea leaves and the tea is just water rather than tea. That was the first thing we noticed and was quite impressed despite how extremely they were busy. Ordering here is just like any other restaurants in Vancouver where they give you a scantron like sheet and you just fill in the quantity of the dish you like. (This was truly new to my mom as she was used to traditional push carts and women yelling out the dishes in the carts)
The food was a little on the bland side for me, for my taste, but was on the spot for the dish that we ordered. One thing that caught our attention was definitely the quality of the dishes we ordered and how fast we received them once we ordered them. Im not sure but one of the dishes that we ordered apparently had real shark fin inside, but Im still skeptical, but very impressed with the quality of food, as it should be. -
Review from Mary L.
4/2/2012
Well worth the train trip to Richmond. Dozens of dim sum to chose. No carts here. You get to order what you want. Pork dumplings included shrimp. Very good. Eggplants stuffed with shrimp one of best ever. Three kinds of mushrooms in rice noodles good. Tofu skins with chicken good. Almost all Asian crowd is a good sign.
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Review from Ken T.
Vancouver, BC
9/17/2011
Went here with parents the other day and the food still does not disappoint. Service is quick and amazingly polite for a dim sum place. Dumplings were huge and juicy, pan fried rice rolls were guilty-pleasure greasy, and the egg tarts were fresh and warm. Great place for food.
Down a star just cuz of the rude people that are waiting to put thier name down who just go in front of you and bark out thier name but hey, its a dim sum place! -
Review from Jackie O.
5/8/2011
I gave an average of both trips. Went for lunch and dinner in one day.
Lunch. We came here for lunch where we ordered all types of dim sum. Quality was high. They were incredibly generous with the shrimp in the har gow. We ordered chow mein and fried rice. Both were delicious.
On our way back to the States, we decided to give Fisherman's a try for dinner. Major regret. The food was overpriced at dinnertime and the food was outright disgusting. I'm talking about flavorless food that took an immense amount of time to arrive at our table. What happened?! Was the chef new or were we expecting too much? I ate a piece of tripe and literally spat it right back out because it was so bland and full of water. Chef, I'm a terrible cook and I think even I cook better than you!
Needless to say, we left very disappointed. We didn't even pack the leftovers because the food was so terrible. Next time we're going for lunch and only lunch. Dinner? Never again.
Lunch is definitely recommended. Save your money for dinner elsewhere. -
Review from Annie M.
Vancouver, BC
They used to be so busy and got a long line up even the reservation made, still need to wait for 1/2 to an hour.
I didn't come here for dim sim for awhile, coz I found their dim sim were not good anymore. But, my friend decided to give it a try again.
Anyway, we only waited for 15 mins and got the table. The service was slow and poor. The dim sim was ok but quite MSG coz both of us kept drinking tea when we eating.
Beef ball was quite bland and tasteless.
Steamed veggie dumpling was very tasty coz of MSG.
Steamed mushrooms rice roll was ok. -
Review from Julia K.
7/9/2011
Three friends and I rolled in here at 10:30am for the dim sum. At first we were skeptical that it was open because their Yelp page says they open at 11am, but we were super hungry so we decided just to check it out. Good thing we followed our stomachs since it just opened and there were still plenty of tables to be seated.
Unfortunately, this place doesn't have the cart to cart service, you just order from a piece of paper and your food comes out. Nonetheless, the restaurant was clean and looked nice. The servers were also pretty cool - probably nicer to us since we spoke Chinese.
Our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs because we were full after only about half our food came out. We were forced to take the rest back to our hotel room which luckily had a fridge. That food saved us later on in the day when we were starving.
Anyway, it was definitely a good find for dim sum. I'd definitely come back here again when, if ever, I visit Vancouver in the future. -
Review from Chelsea W.
6/23/2011
Big pieces of fresh, plump and delicately flavored dim sum. Memorable were the tripe (a thick and savory sauce to accompany), steamed beef balls (surprisingly light consistency), har gow, and lo mai gai (smaller portion with a perfect "sticky" consistency, filling well-flavored).
Everything we ordered was at least if not better than standard and overall it was an excellent busy, Sunday dim sum meal.
The atmosphere is a large and open traditional dim sum restaurant. The reservations were honored precisely on time and the service was spot on. As soon as a dirty plate was empty, a new clean plate was brought over. Tea was prompt and the food came not all at once but in perfectly timed sequences. In fact, the service if anything was overly attentive, just the way a dim sum place should be. -
Review from Emily W.
1/9/2011
Umm...I came all the way to Canada for this? I thought Richmond/Vancouver was famous for dim sum. Don't get me wrong, the food here is good, but I could get the same quality (if not, better) in Houston Chinatown...and pay less.
Likes: Hands down biggest stuffed ha gao (shrimp dumpling) I've ever eaten. Beef tripe was well flavored and even came with a steamed yam of some sort. Chicken feet was decent and tender.
Disikes: Their fried noodles were bland. No radish/turnip cake (lo bo gao), only taro cake. No white sweet sponge cake. ALSO, no soy sauce or vinegar at any of the tables. What's up with that? Service is spotty too.
Maybe the next time I trek up to Canada, I'll try out Sun Sui Wah. That was my second choice. -
Review from Dayna P.
Vancouver, BC
10/19/2011
This is one of my favourite places for dim sum when I crave it. Although I don't care for dim sum that much, this place serves the best best dim sum by far, and Sun Sui Wa on Main street being a close second.
They have a fairly standard dim sum menu, with the exception of a few special fusion items such as the smoked salmon fruit salad in a shrimp cracker... I forgot what its actually called, haha. But if you're new to dim sum, or trying to decide where to have lunch in Richmond, I highly recommend trying it here. I can guarantee that you will leave full, for under $30 dollars, for two people, and pack a few things home for lunch the next day!!! -
Review from Vincci L.
1/12/2011 1 Check-in Here
Been here many times, but have always been turned off by the long waits to even want to write a review for this place. This time when I came, it was early morning, and they were able to give us a table immediately.
They have some unique dishes. A pork bone congee-the only kind of congee available-but it was delicious. A cold chicken salad with cucumbers and sweet ginger,and stuffed eggplants that was perfect and didn't have the slab of sauce that other places do. The XO sauce stir fried with radish cake was delicious as well. Siu mai was large in size and very good (no filler meat at all.)
Service was ok, but very rushed. Tea was frequently filled. Overall, a good place to go, if there's no wait.Listed in: Exploring Aberdeen.
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Review from Adrian V.
Richmond, BC
4/25/2011
Dim sum is one of my favorite types of meals. Coupled with great company, it could turn out to be a really memorable time. What I love about this place is that being in a Chinese mall in Richmond (which means they are almost always open, even for holidays) I can go to great dim sum which takes credit cards (most are cash only) and the food is actually delicious.
From the wide variety of things we've ordered during my visits, I only remember the ones that stood out to me. The deep fried taro does not look attractive (because it kinda looks like a deep fried mini sea urchin), but once you bite into it: absolute yumminess. The custard buns are sweet and tasty. They are small little puffs with a sweet filling. The steamed shrimp dumplings are simple but could be and quite heavy (because of the outside layering, I don't know what to call it). The spring rolls are crunchy and (I love deep fried food) and also has shrimp (I LOVE shrimp). There was also a dish that consisted of beef folded in some sort of a steamed pastry which is also tasty. There was some sort of sauce drizzled on top, which made it quite a savory dish. I also tried a little egg custard in some sort of pastry; light and sweet, it is perfect for the end of the meal.
My absolute favorite: the deep fried shrimp balls. Crunchy and loaded with shrimp, it is so yummy alone or dipped in the spicy sweet sauce.
I've never had dinner here before, and I'm reading mixed reviews on both dim sum and dinner. Based on my experience, dim sum is good! Service is quite fast and the servers are nice and friendly. The huge restaurant can be loud at times, but seeing as its dim sum that is a given. The bathrooms could be cleaner, but it's not really dirty. Just a little messy. I love the huge mirrors in there though.
Would I come back? Definitely. Although I think it's a little pricey. But I would recommend this place to my friends and family. -
Review from Olivia L.
1/21/2011 1 Check-in Here
Came here for dinner before a few years back and was not impressed.
Decided to try their dim sum out - and it is off the hook !!!!
I am from NY and LOVED the giant shrimp dumplings. Also delicious and unique were the baby squids in satay sauce, and the deep fried bitter melon sesame ball. Still thinking about that ! -
Review from Jonas T.
10/25/2010 19 photos
Big, fresh, well-made dim sum items, and a lot to choose from. Good service too. To give you an idea of the price range here, we ordered 9 dishes and the total was about $51 before tip.
JONASAPPROVED! -
Review from Kymberli C.
We came here at 11:15am thinking it wouldn't be THAT busy but it was... we waited about 30 minutes for a table. The dim sum here is really good and the portions are big but it is very pricey. Prices range at about $4 CAD for smaller dishes and the special dishes are about $6. I don't think I've ever paid that much per dish! But the size of the dim sum is GINORMOUS... the hagow was the size of at least two. They have unique dishes too. You order by marking off on a list what you want and they print you out a print out of the things you check marked. They also had lobster congee here for $20. I left filled to the rim.
Listed in: Vancouver in 1.5 days...
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Review from Miss H.
3/2/2011
I've always felt that the Cantonese food in Canada is far superior than the States and whenever we come up to the Great White North, we always make time for dim sum and other Cantonese bites.
This place was an extreme disappointment. Not worth the trip or time spent there. The food was mediocre and usual basic dim sum items were poorly executed; the shrimp tasted off and had way too much pepper (to mask the unfresh shrimp perhaps?) and the steamed tripe was mushy and also overpeppered. We ate a 1/4 of what we ordered and left behind half of our order untouched. Of what we took with us, we ended up dumping in the garbage; not worth the calories.
Overall, this place is overrated, expensive ($60 for two), and has poor service. Oh yeah, the scantrons are inaccurate, so make sure to check your order. -
Review from Flora C.
3/27/2011
Dim Sum: Ok, nothing too special.
Dinner: Much better -
Review from Calvin Y.
8/26/2009 6 photos
I have four words for you: DEEP FRIED CHICKEN KNEES.
How many chickens had to die for a small dish of chicken knees? The answer is... NOT ENOUGH.
This dish is so good that every time I come up to British Columbia, I make a point to stop off for dim sum here (around 11AM since that's when they start serving it) because the chicken knees are fried to perfect crispiness. The fried garlic and the peppers are just flawlessly spiced. It tastes just like popcorn chicken - without the meat and more cartilage! My poor friend (a dim sum virgin) tried the chicken knees, but was too freaked out by it - so she spit out the cartilage - the best part of the dish!!
As a Seattle native, it's hard to find good dim sum. So what do we Seattleites do? We head up north to Canada. Fisherman's Terrace in Richmond's Aberdeen Center is better than any dim sum restaurant in Seattle. Besides variety (such as the fried chicken knees), Fisherman's Terrace trumps Seattle in terms of taste and quality in every single dim sum dish except the Pan Fried Taro Cake (do not get it!). Since it's inside the Aberdeen Center, it allows for easy parking in the garage and provides much needed cardio exercise (in the form of shopping) afterwards to work off the calories!Listed in: C-A-N-A-D-A
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Review from Ken N.
11/4/2010
Don't believe the hype. Especially if you're from the San Francisco Bay Area. We have way better dim sum. If you're too lazy to read below, I can sum this up in 1 word. BLAND!
Doesn't matter where I go. There's always one day I crave some kind of Asian dish. This time it was dim sum and with these reviews, I hopped on the train from downtown into Richmond. Even before coming to Vancouver, everyone kept raving about the Chinese food here.
Seriously?! First off, the line was ridiculous! Luckily we only had 2 people so even arriving at 12PM, we were seated in about 10 minutes. People were getting waitlisted non-stop.
No sauces or anything at the table. You have to ask for it because it doesn't even come out with the orders. No carts so everything is ordered off the menu. Each dish pretty much came out 1 by 1 so I couldn't even eat a variety of things at once if I wanted to.
We didn't order much... 5 dishes.
- Shrimp dumplings: Huge I admit but bland. No flavor
- Chicken feet: Very tender meat but bland.
- Congee: Bland
- Sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf: Just OK.
- Deep fried shrimp balls: OK
- Pork dumplings: Took over 30 minutes for this to come out so we cancelled it.
What a huge disappointment.Listed in: VanCity!
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Review from Tim L.
12/12/2008
Whenever people ask me for a recommendation on a good Dim Sum from the world class fare offered here in Vancouver, this one always tops my list. It can certainly give Sun Sui Wah a run for its money.
In addition to dim sum, they host weddings and other banquets and the food is equally as amazing. Fresh food, well prepared and the taste is just superb.
Any competitors will have a hard time catching up and offering something as on par or better.
The decor is bright and vibrant and is a typical representation of rich Asian colours like red and gold.
The only thing odd about this is the restrooms are located out in the hallway to nowhere. It's basically behind all the store fronts. Other than that service is excellent, menus are in English and Chinese as well as the check.
For those that can't read Chinese this is great, you don't have to wonder what all those lines, squares, circles and triangles are. That's $5 for the spareribs and not some odd geometric shapes on your receipt. -
Review from Robby C.
6/29/2010 1 Check-in Here
It used to be that if you lived in Seattle, amazing Chinese food meant going up to British Columbia for the weekend, but it seems that has changed quite a bit in the last few years. Now, the lower rating is less about the food and more about the arrangement of the dining area and the lack of attentive service especially if you are stuck at one of the tables away from the main travel routes through the restaurant. Tables are arranged rather tightly and at times it is possible to reach over and grab food off of other tables. In addition, perhaps it is a personal preference of mine, but the lack of dim sum carts travelling through the restaurant causes me a bit of uneasiness. The way you order at the restaurant is off a checklist with odd Chinese and English translations and at times it is difficult to decipher some of the dishes you intend to order.
The food itself is fair and is comparable to that of Jade Garden in Seattle with perhaps a bit smaller portions. Usual har gow, shrimp dumplings in a rice noodle shell, and siu mai, dumplings filled with pork topped with fish roe, were both up to standard and there are no real complaints about the food. Now, some of the other reviewers make a note about the lack of flavor, but trust me, this is exactly how good Chinese food is supposed to taste.
As a last note, the green chopsticks are the community chopsticks; please use them as such. -
Review from Raymond O.
Vancouver, BC
10/25/2009 4 photos
Ever look up your Bookmark list, stare at it blankly, and well, decide to skip those for next time? Fisherman's Terrace has been on my list for the longest time, and today, I set to finally remove it off my bookmarks. Why did I wait this long?!
Nope, this is not your typical dimsum dive. I consider this now one of my favorites, at par with Kirin, couple notches higher than Sun Sui Wah or Gingeri. Service was impeccable, I especially like my dirty plate replaced halfway through my meal. Servers are not typical of Chinese restos, they're friendly here and seem happy to serve. Interior is very clean, well lit and very inviting.
You're given the option of an English or Chinese dimsum menu, and more choices become available beginning 11am featuring the kitchen specialties. Tick off your chosen items from the list and food comes steaming fresh and delicious!
Got to sample the char siu bao, both baked and steamed, wrapped sticky rice, siu mai, fried har gow, egg tarts and fried black sesame balls. Taste and flavours of most dishes were spot on! Would have been soaring with five stars if not for the soggy fried doughnut wrapped in rice roll. Too bad as this is my favorite item and it didn't deliver as expected.
Nonetheless, stellar service and food quality will get me back the door. Highly recommended to show off what Vancouver dimsum is all about.
And, oh yes... bookmark it!Listed in: When in Richmond
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Review from Kevin C.
8/2/2009 2 photos
By far the freshest and most delicious dim sum I have ever had.
We had heard many stories from various sources about the legendary dim sum in Vancouver/Richmond B.C. Imagine yourself at the lower floor of the Westfield Shopping center in San Francisco where the food court is and multiply that 20 times...that's how many restaurants there were for us to choose from.
Fortunately, we made a stop at the HSBC in Parker Palace to get some Canadian dollars which we later used to get some Mangosteens and Dragon fruits. We then asked our teller for a recommendation for dim sum venue and she suggested FTSR. We are forever grateful that she did.
FTSR does not push carts around. Instead you mark how many orders of an item you want on the menu and they bring the food right out of the kitchen hence the freshness.
We ordered their har gow (shrimp dumpling), siu mai (pork dumpling), ha churn (shrimp rolls), fong jaio (chicken feet), and spicy salt and pepper blue crab. Their ha churn had 3 large shrimps in each roll. Through the entire meal we couldn't stop drawing comparisons to the dim sum we had in the bay area and concluded that this was the best dim sum we have ever had. -
Review from Jando S.
8/14/2008
Fisherman's Terrace is quite possibly some of the best Dim Sum I've had and also some of the most expensive I've seen. They've somehow managed to turn simple dishes into a high end product, complete with excellent taste and presentation. As a result, this place can feature a wait on any day of the week and without question the place is packed on the weekends.
Decor makes this place a clear winner with excellent interior design, combining sophistication with a classic contemporary feel. Since its spacious, clean, and group friendly, Fisherman's is an ideal place to hold a large party or even a wedding banquet. On a whole, service has been patient, attentive, and organized. I can see why people pay a premium for this type of experience.
Though I haven't been here for dinner, I can only imagine how good it could be. I have heard through the grapevine the chef (Shi Fu) had left to start his own restaurant, but I haven't noticed any decline in quality just yet. Because of places like this, it is without a doubt Richmond BC is the Dim Sum capital of North America. -
Review from Katie F.
11/8/2009
[Woohoo - my 200th yelp review!! I totally deserve kudos for helping to stimulate the economy ;) ]
Mmmmm - one of my favorite traditions from childhood... Cantonese-style dim sum on weekends!
This is a great dim sum spot located on the 3rd floor of Aberdeen Centre. Lots of parking in the mall parkade. Nice, bright and clean. Service is very good at this restaurant - I've noticed the Aberdeen Centre restaurants are all quite good for service compared to most. For non-Chinese speakers, the staff here are good with English so no problems making your needs known.
English and Chinese menus available. Selection is OK - they're missing a few of my favorite dim sum dishes but there's still about 50 items to choose from. There's also some additional kitchen dishes that are not part of the dim sum menu but available to order.
Food quality is very good. Kirin is still the best in town but this is a solid 4*. Har gow (shrimp dumplings) have a skin that is a bit too thick and sticky. Sticky rice is average. Egg tarts are excellent - love the flaky crust! Cuttlefish and BBQ pork buns are well done.
Prices are a touch higher than some of my other favorites in town... the quality and service supports it but Kirin still beats it in those areas and I'm partial to the bigger selection of my classics at Sun Sui Wah, so Fisherman's Terrace is a 4* for me. -
Review from Lorrie M.
11/9/2009
Nom nom nom nom cheap! This was such a surprise for me that it was so good and so cheap that I came back again on my second visit to Vancouver area giving my one precious lunch spot to a place I've already visited before (so un-Yelp like!)
I always end up ordering way too much food here and never being able to finish it and having the bill come out to be around $40-50 Canadian even after tips. There is usually quite a hefty wait for this place and their soft shell crab is MORE than worth your money but once you past the wait, you get a small slip of paper and you're in.
Food comes out fast and you can ask for repeat slips if you want (but for the most part I end up ordering way too much the first time around to be ordering anymore) and their tea is not bad either. Highly recommended if you love dim sum or even if you remotely like it! -
Review from Owlburt L.
2/22/2009
Went here for the 2nd time last week. It's still the best Dim Sum I've ever had and that's saying alot. I grew up in the Monterey Park/San Gabriel area in So Cal and until I went here that was the best I've had but this is by far much better.
We went here for the first time about 6 months ago after going to Sun Sui Wah the day prior and were disappointed. We were starting to think that Dim Sum in Vancouver was getting bad but FT made sure to squash those thoughts.
We tried going for dinner but it was packed again and with a Wedding. If you plan on going here on the weekend, make sure you call for reservation or you will be waiting for at least an hour with a hungry, pissed off mob outside the restaurant.
And if you forget to make a reservation, just wait, it's worth it. -
Review from Peter W.
Vancouver, BC
10/2/2011
We ordered fish maw soup (the waiter look down on us and said "a typical order"), guy lan with beef, honey garlic pork and oyster hotpot - yes these dishes were typical oily - so we asked the waiter to request kitchen for minimal oil and salt - holy, the guy lan was soaked in oil, honey pork was just pieces of fat pork chops, and the rest of services were poor. A whopping $80 before tax for eating poor quality food here. Yes, the restrooms were dirty too!
We should have complained at the spot ! well not eating again at this place with its poor services and quality ..... (we did have better meals here before in previous years.)
One star for ambient, one star for easy parking - the rest, you decide. -
Review from Amary N.
7/16/2009
I have high expectations from this place..
Location: Aberdeen Centerl, 3rd Floor. Come after 11am, get ready to fight for parking. And deal with lousy female drivers.
Food: Har Gau skin was a bit sticky. The shrimp needs a bit of salt. I like the pork knuckles, BBQ pork bun and congee. The rest of the other dim sum were just average. I mean, it taste like any other dim sum places that I've been. They use the same BBQ pork for their steamed buns and "char siu sow"
This place, you mark what you want on the menu. They have one in Chinese and English. You can also order noodles, and their specialty. Don't expect dim sum push out carts.
Service: It was okay. Some were nice, some were lay back.
Not that I don't mind paying for good dim sum. I certainly expected spectacular not average. It came out $3.75 per plate. -
Review from Rachael T.
Toronto, ON
5/4/2010
Went to Richmond to meet my relatives in Richmond... trust me I was sooooo excited! it's not like it's hard to get to... but still.. you have to hop on the skytrain, sit for 30 minutes, and then decide what to eat... but when my cousin picks the restaurant for me to go and meet her at... it just makes these decisions so much easier.
On a Sunday afternoon, we had made reservations... not that it really mattered. I don't get it with Chinese Dim sum restaurants. It's not like other restaurants where you order an appy, main and dessert. People like to take their time, order more, read their newspapers, drink more tea.. maybe order another plate of noodles... there's no telling how long they can last... so I really don't think reservations are ideal.
we made reservations for 9 people at 12:30..... the restaurant is huge... so you would expect turnover would be frequent enough. I sat beside the hostess the whole time she called names... table for 2, 4, 5, 3, 7, etc.... never did she say NINE.
and when we finally checked at around 1 (30 minutes later), she said she had called us but no one answer.... that is a load of bull. Good thing a large table was available and there was no way I was going to let her give it to someone else.
Once we sat down.. all we cared about was food! and although the menu was all in chinese, there was a separate menu listing everything in english !
There were a tonne of selection - i had a gelatine black sesame roll which was very tasty... and some enoki/shrimp/tofu dished wrapped in seeweed. Their radish cake was okay, and although their bean curd was a little greasy, I still enjoyed it. Their fried dough rice roll wasn't crispy enough so that was a bit of a downer.
Their siu mai were HUGE!!!!!!!! oh my, I was so happy because it is my dim sum staple, and I think they fit 5 in dish.
At the end of the day 7 people all full and it was $13 a person... I think it's worth the wait but I do expect respect and common courtesy.
