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Golden Swan Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Chinese Dim Sum Dim Sum [Edit]
5380 Victoria DrVancouver, BC V5P 3V7
Neighbourhood: Kensington-Cedar Cottage
(604) 321-6621
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 9 am - 3 pm
Mon-Sun 5 pm - 10:30 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Very Loud
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
26 reviews for Golden Swan Restaurant
Review Highlights
"Must have: Sweet and Sour Pork, Crispy Chicken (best in..."
(in 3 reviews)
"Make reservations and bring a group."
(in 2 reviews)
"Chive dumplings."
(in 4 reviews)
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26 reviews in English
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Review from Rich E.
Vancouver, BC
8/28/2011
Great place to take out-of-towners to!
Being a CBC, my parents and my aunt n' uncle from Calgary ordered for us. The quality and portions for dinner are decent and the prices, too. The restaurant is fairly clean but the tea service was a bit lacking. My relatives gave this place 5 stars.
There's a bit of parking in the front and lots around the neighbourhood. -
Review from Herman E.
11/26/2011
I've know about this place for the longest time but never been to it until recent. It turned out to be pretty decent. I came here for dinner and the usual standard stuff was good, steamed fish, crispy skin chicken, etc, etc.
No complaints. -
Review from Giovanni A.
Vancouver, BC
11/11/2011
So I've been going here for dim sum for a couple of years. I like it because of the carts. The downside is that the carts can be a hassle as well. i.e. slow, same items over again etc.
In short if your looking for a solid dim sum experience without too much of a wait it'll do. It won't wow you but its reasonable and decent. -
Review from Darcy D.
5/2/2011
One of the rare restaurants that still has dimsum cart service. We visited at 10:00 am Saturday morning and were lucky to get a seat quickly. Only 15 minutes later there was a line of at least 40 guests.
The servers were very helpful and the dishes we had were tasty, low priced and generously portioned. We particularly enjoyed the shrimp-filled spring rolls and the curry squid. The rice and pork wrapped in leaves was also excellent.
We can't wait to come again. -
Review from Gina I.
6/15/2011 1 Check-in Here
Golden Swan was my first real dimsum experience. I don't know dimsum etiquette too much, but what I did eat was damn good. Spicy squid? Brilliant.. Lots of different shrimp things (I wish I knew all of the names).. I finally tasted siu mai! Yum.
One of my favourites was a sweet pastry coated in honey and syrup with a coconut flavour. I could have eaten 3 plates of them.
My disappointment came with .. the same dishes presented over and over again. It was a lot of waiting for something you want to pay for and eat. And not just waste money on just to try.
I will give it a second try though, and maybe be a bit more adventurous. My biggest pet peeve, and I find that this happens in most chinese restaurants is asking for water. I understand that everyone drinks tea, but I need water for all that salty food! Ahhh! -
Review from Wendy C.
West Vancouver, BC
11/14/2011
Came here cause of yelp reviews. Dim sum was just ending so they didn't have a lot of our favorite dim sum dishes. But we did get 10% off. The food was pretty good! Typical dim sum food! The only thing I didn't like was how the waitresses kept talking to me in Cantonese even though I told them I don't speak it. Thank goodness for my friend who ended up being the translator!
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Review from Larry L.
1/10/2011 1 Check-in Here
It was the day before Christmas when we came here, but the reviews were glowing and the tables were all filled up with busy diners and carts of food passing by.
Luckily we had a reservation, in the back between two other tables recently emptied but yet to be cleaned.
Our table was quickly tidied up and the food started flowing as more people of our party dropped in to dine.
Dim sum fare was pretty decent. I have to admit, it was one of the better joints that I've been to in awhile.
Food solid 4,
Service, 4
Table next to us that never got cleaned up. 1.
but hey, to be fair, it was the day before Christmas. -
Review from David L.
Updated - 4/15/2011
We decided to go to Golden Swan because the very popular Western Lake was all booked. Apparently, there Golden Swan has new management and I could see that the interior looked updated.
We ordered steamed free run chicken, fried fish with corn sauce, beef hotpot, sweet and sour pork which came with deep fried milk and steamed fish with eggplant.
The steamed free run chicken just tasted clean and fresh. As with most free run chicken, there wasn't a lot of meat.
The sweet and sour pork dish with fried milk was quite nice. Flavours were really light so it wasn't either too sweet or too sour. The meat did have a bit too much fat for my liking. I really liked the deep fried milk which came with the dish. It looked like a twinkie and it was deep fried to a similiar colour as a twinkie too. It tasted milky and it was lightly sweetened. More salty than sweet.
The beef hotpot was nicely done because it wasn't too salty. However, there wasn't a lot of beef and it had more green onions than anything else.
The fried basa fish with corn sauce was a favourite. It was lightly fried and there was a side dish which one has to add the thick corn sauce. The fried fish didn't taste greasy which was great.
The steamed cod and eggplant dish looked great. It was a piece of eggplant with a slice of cod on top with some green onions and chives. Unfortunately, the dish tasted too salty. However, the ingredients tasted fresh which was a plus.
The dessert wasn't the typical red bean soup, but it was a soup with small chunks of peaches with some egg whites.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/11/2010
This is one of the oldest Chinese restaurant at its original location in East Vancouver. It's been… Read more »
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Review from Edward L.
This place isn't the world's cheapest, but you can't go wrong with the dim sum. Golden Swan is a staple for my friends and I. There is ample parking in the surrounding area (their in-house parking lot is way insufficient), and the place is never completely overcrowded.
Showed up for our reservation (they take reservations here, yay!), and immediately started going at it. The carts here came quite often and were well-stocked with plenty of items.
Items eaten included siu mai, shrimp in rice rolls, egg tarts, shrimp dumplings, and most other typical dim sum fare. The food wasn't especially greasy, and tasted decent.
One item that stuck out a bit (in a good way) was the baked tapioca dessert. This place puts some read bean paste in the bottom of the bowl, which is a nice touch for sure.
My only complaint is that it took them a while to refill our teapots, but they were able to do it right at our table with a Thermos.
Would this place come to mind every time I had a dim sum craving? No. However, if you want a no-frills authentic experience, make a reservation and indulge. -
Review from Frank N.
Vancouver, BC
This is one these restaurants, where a "Westerner" can go an dip his toes into original Chinese food. It feels more like a restaurant than other places on Victoria drive.
We were for Dim Sum and as we where only two people we have got pretty quick a table. The food was very good, but some help from the servers would have been nice - the first impact with Dim Sum can be overwhelming.
Prices are fair and we will definitely come back to try some other dishes. -
Review from Mike S.
Vancouver, BC
4/2/2011
I've been here a few times but havent been there in a long time.
Rumour has it that it changed hands a while ago and is under new management.
Anyway, I went there for a birthday dinner and the service was so slow. it took 40 mins to get the first dish (duck skin wraps).
The manager was called over and he apologized, but thats all he did. He could have at least comped the 2 cokes we ordered or given a discount.
We were about to leave after the duck wraps becuase another 30 mins had passed. We actually called another place to see if we could get a reservation (Western Lake).
All in all the food was pretty good, but the service was meh
Try the King Crab!! -
Review from Jeanne L.
Vancouver, BC
5/3/2010
A family favorite restaurant for dinner where quality of food is exceptional and cost doesn't break the bank. Seating is spacious (where you don't need to ease-drop on neighboring tables). Have licensed bar for typical beer and wine.
Must have: Sweet and Sour Pork, Crispy Chicken (best in lower mainland) and Seafood Dishes (always fresh). Food comes fairly quickly.
I would suggest to make reservations. Credit Cards accepted. Establishment air conditioned. -
Review from Shawn T.
Vancouver, BC
5/28/2011
Love it and not just because its in the hood. Busy for a reason, but the line-up always moves fast.
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Review from Vivian Y.
3/1/2009
Wow, serious improvements since I came here about 4 years ago. The food was AWESOME! Get ready to eat some MAMMOTH sized dim sum! I'm typically turned off by such large dim sum pieces, but they didn't skimp on quality despite the quantity!
I saw the sesame rolls roll by and they were the size of mini footballs. The fried calamari didn't look good - so we didn't order it (it was a heavy dough rather than a light dusting of flour then fried).
Recommend their steamed scallop dim sum, fried bean curd roll, EXCELLENT turnip cakes (really, probably the best I have ever had!)
I highly recommend this place for DIM SUM baby yea!
This is more of a 4.5 star but worth the visit. Parking is horrendous in their lot. -
Review from Jonas T.
9/30/2008
Everything is huge, but maybe that's common in Canada since I'm from America. I've never seen hagao and siumai that big before! Rice rolls were okay. Overall, this is a solid dim sum restaurant.
JONASAPPROVED! -
Review from Nina H.
10/4/2009
This place has REALLY good dim sum. The wait time was ridiculously long though =( I think I always just go to the best restaurants at the worst times. Our party of four waited about half an hour to get seated. But the food was worth it... I think.
The parking lot is really small so I would suggest people parking in the neighborhoods near by. Parking wasn't really a big deal for us anyway.
The weird part of dining here was that they don't give soy sauce!!! What the heck? Which Chinese restaurant doesn't have soy sauce at the tables? And we kept trying to ask for soy sauce and Chinese mustard but NO ONE would give it to us!!! It was very frustrating but I guess the food was tasty enough without dipping soy sauce.
My favorite was the shredded pork and thousand year old congee. That was so good, I devoured it. The siu mai was really big and tasty as well. I love huge portions!!! What else... oh yeah and the sticky rice, that was very delicious as well.
I would say that this place was the most memorable restaurant that I've had dim sum in Vancouver. The food was exceptional but the wait was not. -
Review from Johnson C.
Vancouver, BC
12/7/2009 1 Check-in Here
Being my grandpa's favourite dim sum place (well, since he lives close by) and having being extremely visible in the same location for so many years, I am one of the many frequent patrons of Golden Swan. It is by far my most oft-visited dim sum restaurant and stands as my measure for all dim sum.
As far as I'm concerned - long waits, hellish parking, dim sum carts and noisy atmosphere are integral parts of the dim sum experience and Golden Swan delivers this is spades.
Golden Swan is a must if you insist on dim sum pushcarts (rather than ordering off a sheet) and you have a large group is there are many large round tables with lazy susans. The only problem being the tiny parking lot - but you can often find street parking within a few blocks.
As for the food, it's pretty standard dim sum fare. Other reviews seem to note the large portions and some tasty standouts - but it seems pretty normal to me. Then again, as I said, maybe it's just familiarity breeding contempt.
Overall, a solid choice for dim sum and kudos to Golden Swan with keeping it real with the dim sum carts. -
Review from Faye X.
Vancouver, BC
5/1/2011
We showed up and the place was packed. So I thought to myself, this is a good sign. But it went down hill from there on. I was there for king crab, but they stopped serving them last week since the season was over. We ended up picking a special mother's day set menu. We also added a Peking Duck course.
Peking Duck course 1 - duck skin wrap was ok. but definitely had better
Peking Duck course 2 - minced duck lettuce wrap was not great. The lettuce was not fresh and had reds spots on them.
Seafood Tofu soup - very bland. All I tasted was salt.
Bok Choy with Tofu skin - again very bland.
Honey spare rib - very sweet. basically ribs dipped in honey
Fish stomach, clam and vegetable stirfry - Not a big fan of the fish stomach, very fishy. Clam and veggie were edible.
Rice - the rice didn't arrive until at the end of the meal. So didn't do us a lot of good
Ginger and green onion lobster - this was the best part of the meal. it was the only dish that had some flavour to it.
dessert - sweet gluten black rice soup - was actually pretty good. I would order it again.
We had to order another meat dish since there were not much meat in the set menu. Sweet and sour pork chop with fried milk. The milk was good, but took the waitress 10 minutes to get us the sugar.
Overall, the food was pretty shitty. The service as expected from a Chinese Restaurant: shitty. -
Review from Raymond O.
Vancouver, BC
Okay, so after the hype of trying a new dim sum place has worn off, I might as well reflect it's true rating. Don't get me wrong, I do still enjoy this place. The service especially for a typical dim sum restaurant is very good and at times pleasant. They try to help communicate the ingredients of the dish. And I guess this helps due to the mixed Asian and Caucasian patrons.
The problem is that quality is inconsistent. The dishes I ordered last time were freshly cooked, while today some were cold and others were not as crispy.
The dim sum dishes are large, but the wrapper is also thick. The more expensive dim sum dishes categorised under the "large" pricing scheme are the more flavourful including one with scallops and shrimp as well as another with corn kernelsk and shrimp.
I like the taste of their Zongzi (sticky rice with pork then wrapped usually in bamboo leaves). I should take a note to try their Jah Leung next time, but I won't remember if I don't see it from the roving carts.
Overall pricing is very decent and will definitely not break any bank. Well, any piggy bank. After ordering 8 dishes and still wanting more, I had to give up looking, ask for the bill, and then take home almost half of what was still on the table. Note to self: go with a large group next time.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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12/27/2009
I enjoyed this dim sum place with it's dying tradition of roving carts that bring you freshly… Read more »
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Review from Joe L.
Vancouver, BC
10/18/2009
Continuing with my nostalgic quest, we paid a visit to Golden Swan for dim sum for our Sunday brunch.
Golden Swan used to be my family's usual spot for dim sum back in mid to late '80s when we first moved to Vancouver from Regina. With the opening of new Chinese restaurants all over Vancouver and Richmond during the '90s with gourmet Chinese cuisine chefs from Hong Kong, we slowly forgot about the Golden Swan despite the fact there we always see a long line outside the restaurant on Saturdays and Sundays.
We were looking for a neighbourhood place for dim sum this morning and decided to give Golden Swan a try after a 20-year absence. We both LOVED it. The dum sum dishes were hot and delicious; and the variety was abundant. We ordered:
- deep fried soy bean sheet roll
- princess bun
- Tripes
- Pork dumplings
- Chive dumplings
- "Salt water" dumplings ( a deep fried crunchy dough with pork and dried shrimp fillings.
Our favourite was with princess bun. It is a light sugared coated doughnut filled with BBQ pork. We love the sweet and savoury combination as well as the doughnut texture unlike the usual the BBQ pork bun.
You need to get in before 10am. Otherwise, expect a long line and long wait.
The only drawback of the restaurant is that they still push carts vs letting patrons order from a menu. Instead of relaxing to enjoy the food, you need to constantly perk up your ears to listen to the waitresses revealing the dishes to the tables next to you so you are ready to order (or decline) when they come to your table. The other downside of ordering from carts is you don't know what's coming so you would order as they come along because you are hungry. Finally, when your favourite dish appears, you're either too full or force yourself to order it even though you're full.
Despite the cart pushing, I think Golden Swan will re-appear on our list of dim sum restaurants to patronize regularly. Price is great. Our bill came to $27 including tea. -
Review from Albert C.
2/15/2009
We went here for lunch after my grandmother's funeral, as this was one of her favorite restaurants. While people were having dim sum, we had ordered a set menu, with some really great items on the menu.
I was particularly impressed with the braised fresh tofu with golden mushroom, as I think I ate half the plate. The sauteed prawns with vegetables were very juicy and succulent, as well as the tender servings of roast pork as our appetizer. I know we had been here for dim sum before years ago, but I can't remember it at the moment to judge it. -
Review from Richard U.
7/19/2009
What's with all the Dim Sum Places in Vancouver abandoning the much beloved Dim Sum Carts? During my most recent visit to this splendid city my buddy and I were looking forward to getting some great Dim Sum. However, we quickly realized that many if not most Dim Sum places no longer have cart service. Even some of the Richmond Dim Sum places didn't have cart service. Maybe I am overly sentimental but Dim Sum just doesn't seem right unless you have this key part of the experience. Its a package deal in my mind! My memories of growing up driving to the closest Chinatown (back in Detroit we would drive to Toronto) just to get good dumplings are still vivid in my mind. Ahhh..the smell of fish and produce all mingled together on the streets. Having lychee pit fights with my two brothers afterwards...such sweet memories! I thought my heart would be broken until we found the Golden Swan. A bit further out from the downtown area but well worth it (at least a monorail ride w/ bus ride). The place was packed with my fellow chinese comrades and the familiar carts were plying their way between the crowded tables! And the dumplings....ohh...the rapture! Big, tasty and plentiful. The pace of freshly stocked carts was also very good. We were stuffed in the first 15 minutes (a clear tactical error). Next time we will be more patient and pace ourselves. The price was very reasonable.
This is message goes to all other Dim Sum joints out there
"Save our Dim Sum carts"! You will be sure to find me there if you do.Listed in: Vancouver Highlights
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Review from Jeff M.
Vancouver, BC
6/20/2010
Agree totally with David L. The quality of this place has been pretty up and down over the years. In the 80s it one of the top chinese restaurants in Vancouver. Now a days, it's above average, but nothing special.
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Review from Michael C.
Vancouver, BC
10/3/2009 1 Check-in Here
This is my usual place for Dim Sum. Good quality dumplings and I love their congee very flavorful. Mahli goh ( steam sponge cake is good too). There is Wu gok a deep fried taro dumpling. If you have 4 or more in your party you can phone in and make a reservation too. Home made chilli sauce. I never had dinner since my cousin had their wedding reception here but from what I recalled was good. They have their own parking lot but usually full. Lots of free parking in the area.
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Review from Odette C.
Vancouver, BC
8/17/2009
Just working on dinner now @ this classic Chinese restaurant. I had fond memories of their crispy fried chicken with fried shrimp chips. Portions here are Huge so try not to overorder. Taste is nothing to write home about but this restaurant is more about good value for decent food. Nothing outstanding but price is ok
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Review from Southern C.
Richmond, BC
3/24/2010
We come here quite often for big family dinners. Their food is excellent and made with care. This is seriously amazing Chinese food. The pumpkin and cod dish is a staple in our ordering! Make reservations and bring a group!
