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Nine Dishes Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Chinese Chinese [Edit]
960 KingswayVancouver, BC V5V 3C4
Neighbourhood: Kensington-Cedar Cottage
(778) 282-8699
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 3:30 pm - 12 am
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
13 reviews for Nine Dishes Restaurant
13 reviews in English
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Review from Vincent N.
Vancouver, BC
3/13/2012 1 Check-in Here
Okay so first off...if it was your first time like mine, you were probably wondering what is going on?
I was extremely confused about everything at this restaurant, and so I have to say that
1) If you are expecting service...there really isn't any. And it's not because they're trying to be rude, it's the way the restaurant runs. So they are consistent in the sense that they do this for every table.
2) What I mean by the above is this, rice is self serve. Tea is self serve, go up to the counter and ask. If you want Coke, you go up to the counter and ask for it, and so forth and so forth. It's very relaxed. From a restaurant operations stand point, it saves money?
I think where it was a little weird was that I wasn't explained on how to do things. It would have been nice if they just spent two minutes explaining what to do at our table. But being around Chinese restaurants, nothing surprises me anymore.
The food, the food was well done, and many of the items are priced at a great value for the portions. And the food itself was delicious, and I honestly didn't have one bad dish with all the stuff that we ordered.
I honestly can't remember what I ate exactly, but if someone asked me would I go there again for dinner. I wouldn't hesitate in a heart beat to bring a friend along. As a matter of fact, I think I'll bring my business partner. She would love it! -
Review from Ellen L.
Updated - 3/2/2012 1 Check-in Here
Having been somewhat of a regular the last little while, here's a more comprehensive review of Nine Dishes.
I find myself only really coming here for the $.99 lamb and chicken skewers, accompanied by this refreshing cucumber salad.
Everything else I've tried had been disappointing. Meaning that I no longer have the interest to try anything else from their menu. Grease overkill. All of their spicy food taste the same. And the pesky peppercorns are in everything. EVERYTHING.
Unfortunately, the skewers are so popular that they always seem to run out when I put in another order. I'm not sure if it's really "running out," or the owner is just reserving them for later in the night. They really should manage the supply better to keep up with demand. Cuz I really really really love those lamb skewers!2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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12/16/2011
Bf and I have revisited Nine Dishes a handful of times and I think it's time for my first Yelp… Read more »
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Review from Grace C.
Burnaby, BC
2/23/2012
I've heard a few things about this place, most noticeably, Mia Stainsby article for The Vancouver Sun. From other blogs, it looks as though service is inconsistent, but the food is good, well-priced with portions leaning on the big side. One quirk about this restaurant is that the rice is free...self-serve and free!
The first dish we ordered was the Shredded Tripe with Soy Sauce. Loaded with chillies, peanuts and preserved veggies, this was a great starter. It really stirs up your appetite. There are a lot of dried chillies and but they aren't really that spicy...it's the seeds that truly packs a punch!
Now I know that this dish looks insanely spicy, but amazingly, it's not really that not. It's their signature dish...Boiled fish slices with chilli oil. Again with a generous portion of chillies, the heat is enhanced with more peppercorns. Would you believe this is AFTER they came by with a ladle to scoop out some of the chilies and peppercorn. The fish is really tender, soft and juicy. And yes, huge portion. This fed four of us easily.
One dish on many people's "Must Try" list was their Deep Fried Lotus Root with minced meat, This was reminiscent of Hapa Izakaya's Renkon Gyoza (my post). It's a dumpling of minced meat sandwiched between thin slices of lotus root, the whole package is then battered and deep-fried. The lotus root skin keeps the minced meat moist, but the meat filling was a little bland for my taste.
They also have a lot of skewers, ranging from chicken, eggplant, squid and even lamb tripe. We got their Lamb Kababs and Bean Curd Skewers, I think they were all a dollar each. The lamb is really good, loaded with spices such as cumin and chilli powder. We really liked the bean curd too, very soft and tender on the inside with a light coating of barbecue sauce. This is one of the least spicy dishes on the menu.
I've never tried Steam Buns on a skewer, but it's such a natural, since my favourite burgers are the ones that are made with slightly grilled buns. I found these buns overly spiced with cumin. If you brush off some of the spices, (the same way you'd "de-salt" an overly salted pretzel, then these are good to go.
Needing a bit more seafood to round out the feast, we also tried their Spicy Saucy Shrimp, also available with Crayfish, but that was $20 per order and the shrimp were a bit cheaper. I really like shrimp with the shell on, and these were done very nicely. The flesh still had a bit of of a bite to it, but I found it just a tad too oily.
Because we were with a toddler, we had to get something not spicy, so we went for the Pork Wonton Soup. These were okay, but again, as with the lotus root dumplings, I found the meat a bit lacking in flavour. But then again, I had been dining on the fish in chilli oil, as well as the overly spiced grilled buns, so take my comments with a grain of salt...
And there you have it, our table at a glance. This was enough food for 4.5 people. One interesting thing I did notice...most pictures of the Lotus Root dumpling were in portions of 3. However, we got 4 with our order. Could the order taker really notice that and added another one just for us? Probably not, but I'd like to think so! Oh, and note that they are cash only. -
Review from Edward L.
Oh wow, I don't even know where to begin with this place. If you are looking for authentic Chinese (I'm talking mainland China here), this place takes the cake.
Parking is easily available on the street. There may be spots in the back but I didn't check.
The interior is somewhat modern, but not clean. They really don't bother wiping things down too often here, and you can totally tell. Authentic China right here. Just like the real thing, they put the tables way too close. You're literally back to back against other tables. This isn't too bad until you realize that you have to get your own rice out of this giant industrial-sized cooker in the corner, and 20 people pile past you every few minutes. Speaking of the rice-cooker, the giant rice paddle (it's actually one GIANT plastic fork) for scooping the rice is something you have to see and handle for yourself. Where would you even buy such a thing? Daiso?
When I came here I thought there would be literally only 9 dishes on the menu. This is true.. if you look at 1 menu. We were given 5 menus. Yes, FIVE menus, with completely identical covers. Except each one had 9 DIFFERENT dishes in it, for a whopping 45 items at least (my buddy Vincent N. thought he saw 10 items in 1 of the menus). This was good for a chuckle or two.
At this place, the busboy also doubles as the clean-up guy. Just like in China. Awesome! I felt bad for him. I really did. He looked a little worn down.
Everyone here (every customer outside of our table) and the staff all had thick Chinese accents. Another sign of authenticity was the piles of Wong Lao Ji (red cans of tea) consumed by everyone else. I haven't seen this many in one spot since Tiananmen Square (the place, not the protest).
My buddy Vincent N. had a Coke, which was $1.50. I had a bottle of Yanjing beer, which was.. $1.99. Yes. $2 beers. If this isn't awesome, I don't know what is. You could come here just to drink.
We tried several dishes.
Braised pork pot - covered in a thick layer of grease/oil. Authentic China right here. The meat was actually well done, and came off the bones easily.
Boiled (Sichuan-style) fish - this one was a doozy. Giant chunks of fish, and covered with a layer of diced chili peppers and peppercorns. The non-authentic part was that they used regular oil to drench the dish instead of chili oil. But the kicker? Right after the owner served the dish, he came back with a bowl and ladle and started scooping away most of the peppers.. for reuse! I am not kidding. Vincent and I just sat there and stared. WTF!? We'll be laughing about this for weeks.
Lamb and beef intestine skewers - fresh, and served on metal sticks. Covered with this spicy coating that I haven't had since my China trip a few years back. Forget the Richmond night market. This is the real deal, minus the resulting diarrhea.
Fried lotus root - this was a unique dish. The lotus was battered up like fried chicken. It actually worked well. Of course, the pieces also dripped oil like a bunch of mofos.
Red bean pancake - hard to describe this one except the skin was like Play-doh. Quite good.
Final bill came to $49 before tip for 3 people. Decent value.
Overall I'd give it 3.5 stars. Don't tell me I didn't warn you about the reused peppers.Listed in: 2012 Ed's Picks
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Review from Cecilia L.
Vancouver, BC
1/23/2012
Better to come here as a group and try many dishes.
The food was tasty and served quickly.
Make sure you bring someone who can write Chinese as this is the only way to put an order.
Definitely coming back here. -
Review from GARY B.
Vancouver, BC
11/5/2011
I read about this place in the Vancouver Sun and had to go check it out. I am glad we did. Good fun, good food, good prices.
There were just two of us, so we could not justify getting some of the bigger dishes like the sliced fish or hot pot, but what we had was good. Our favourites were the pork ribs, eggplant skewers, dried tofu and cilantro.
The place was quite busy and we were the only non-Asians there, so in my good eats hunting strategy, that is a good indicator of authenticity. -
Review from Cyndi H.
Vancouver, BC
My new late nite haunt! This charming lil' Kingsway hole in the wall has left me lost for words because I'm smitten!
Here's why:
-Interesting menus (9 items on each of the 4 Menus)
-Great share food, nicely presented
-CHEAP
-Great Asian pop tv shows
-Brightly lit, warm, inviting
-The owner looks like Jonny Mo...in sweat pants and a gangsta hoodie
-Awesome eggplant skewers
-Open past 11 pm
-Clean and bright
-An interesting walkway of plants at the entrance
-The lone sea urchin in the giant fish tank. It pooped when we looked at it. Um...
Love!
Come in a group for some late nite snacks. If you dig Chinese eats, these will hit the spot. -
Review from Julia W.
Vancouver, BC
11/16/2010
This place is the most authentic Beijing restaurant I've been to. My friend suggested it for the $1 skewers but when I got there, I had to try the shui zhu yu (fish in spicy oil with chilis and peppercorn). The fish is SO tender...I'm going to take all my friends there just for that dish. The food is pretty authentic; every time I've been there there have been Chinese exchange students hanging out...it does please the authentic Chinese palette for sure.
The restaurant is very relaxing, which is why some people may complain about poor service. The owner's pretty slow-moving, and his English isn't very good...I would suggest making friends with a Mandarin speaker (I would totally go there with you if you buy me a beer and order the fish in spicy oil in exchange for a translator).
We sat there for over 3 hours without any hint of them trying to rush us out. It has a very old-country Chinese feel to it, where the workers chill out after a long day out in the fields or something. Not that I would really know what that feels like...but it's what I've always imagined!
It's a great place to just hang out with your friends...I saw people playing drinking games...why wouldn't you with $2 beer and no mess to clean up afterward! -
Review from Marc D.
Vancouver, BC
4/8/2010
* A bit confused *
This new spot opened up in an old Co Do location (http://www.yelp.ca/biz...). Co Do used to offer very nice Hue style Vietnamese cuisine. But they closed and turned into another short lived Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Mai which I never got to try before Nine Dishes took over.
This is now a Chinese restaurant. The lunch menu is very simple. It has 10 dishes on it. (Guess they added one after naming it?!?!?!)
It is kind of a random selection of dishes ranging from jiaozi to beef noodle soup to curry. All priced very reasonably at $4.99 each.
The sign outside said something about kebabs as well. But there were none on the lunch menu.
Apparently the dinner menu has a variety of Chinese kebabs (like lamb with cumin, etc.) which may be worth checking out sometime. The dinner menu also has some sort of all you can eat spicy hotpot (perhaps that has 9 dishes of options?).
Anyhoo....When seated I was brought a complimentary appetizer of marinated bean sprouts that had a pleasant sesame oil flavour. They were topped with a sprig of cilantro. Very refreshing.
For the main I had the chili dan dan noodle soup. (Their phrasing, not mine.)
The noodles were the right consistency - nice chew without being overly done. The broth was chili based and medium heat. It was topped with fried ground meat. I hadn't had this type of topping before. Picture taking ground beef and frying it to a crisp (without breading it). So kind of a crumbled fried beef, for lack of a better way to describe it. It provided an interesting texture contrast to the soup and noodles. Overall the dish was tasty.
I'm still hesitant to give 4 stars until they figure out their offerings a bit more. Right now it seems confused. But I'll likely be back to see if they find their place and make a go of it.Listed in: Vancouver Chinese Food, Vanoodle, Engrish
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Review from Mary A. W.
Vancouver, BC
9/5/2010
I'd read a lot of food blogs raving about the food at this place and the friendliness of the server (named If) so my expectations were pretty high.
We must have gotten If on an off night (or maybe they've gotten too popular), because he was in no mood to talk, smile, or help us out at all. Maybe it's because we were a table of 3 women? I noticed most of the tables were entirely or mostly men.
Our table of 4 felt that we were being a nusiance for asking to order basic things like beverages. He actually looked at my spouse like she was insane for asking for soysauce.
Pluses:
+cheap beer - yep. $1.99 each yanjin lager.
+$1 kebabs? check. very seasoned. some were amazing, others overcooked. depended on the batch.
+serve yourself free rice? check. i will ignore the communal germyness of many hands on the same paddle and in the rice, because the concept is nifty.
+the deep fried lotus root stuffed with pork appy is DELICIOUS, but incredibly oily.
if you just get skewers and appies the bill adds up FAST. Since service is not like a typical restaurant (self serve rice, you write down your order on the piece of paper yourself), we weren't sure what we were supposed to do ourselves and what we were supposed to let the one server do! It was actually stressful.
I give the food a 3.5 star - many of the dishes are pretty darned tasty, but consistency is an issue.
I give the service a 1 star. I get that it's a different kind of service at this establishment. I understand that there's only 1 person working, and I know that you shouldn't go there if you are in a rush. but leaving your customers feeling uneasy and troublesome over the course of their meal is not ok.
(I'm only reviewing dinner. I've heard lunch is different so i'd like to go back and give it a gander. The sign advertises $5 for lunch) -
Review from Hanna C.
Vancouver, BC
5/29/2010
this place is good!
you should go. it's open late. it's clean. they believe in serve-yourself-free-rice. good tea. a+ cheesy asian pop music. the owner-dude is really nice.
it has yummy lamb skewers and super fragrant sichuan chili dishes. don't be afraid, the spices only *look* like they want to hurt you, but taste is much mellower ... a dulcet heat, if you will. (=
they have red-bean rice cakes, don't overlook those.
overall, simple goodness. who says sophisticated palate = pricey?
9 dishes refers to the 4 sets of menus -- noodles/soups [all about $6], 'mains' [$10-15], skewers [$1 each!], and 'other' (sides $4-7 ish)
already eager to go back and have one of the cold noodle dishes and the redbean rice cakes.
snuck in right before 12midnight close, but stayed till 1, no problem or irritation. -
Review from jen z.
Maple Ridge, BC
6/23/2010
Very tasty. I don't know Szechuan cuisine well, but to me it was an interesting menu with a nice variety of dishes. Clean, friendly service, descriptive menu.
Most of the dishes on the dinner menu were fairly small (and priced accordingly). This meant that three people could share nine dishes, an unusual luxury. The variety of foods really came into play here - one course was broiled spicy sausage with seaweed salad in sesame seed oil; another was hearty, sticky pork ribs; another was ground lamb spread on slices of lotus root and deep-fried in batter.
Good food, very good value. -
Review from Clifford H.
Vancouver, BC
1/23/2011
This place is amazing. The boiled fish covered in Szechuan peppercorns is one of the stars. Lamb skewers with cumin are nice. Cheap beer and free rice to boot.
