Vancouver Dim Sum: Why Metro Vancouver Loves Yum Cha

Metro Vancouver's reputation for dim sum grew from more than a century of Cantonese settlement and, above all, from the wave of immigration from Hong Kong in the 1980s and 1990s, which brought experienced chefs and a large, demanding audience to the region. The result is a place where weekend yum cha is less a special outing than a habit, shared by grandparents, their children and grandchildren, and a growing number of friends who did not grow up with it.

A Cantonese city from the start

Chinese communities have been part of British Columbia since the 19th century, when migrants, many of them from the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong, came for the gold rushes and to build the railway. Vancouver's Chinatown grew into one of the oldest and largest in Canada, and with it came Cantonese food, Cantonese language and, eventually, Cantonese teahouse habits.

Generations of Vancouver families can trace their first yum cha to Chinatown dining rooms, where grandparents ordered in Cantonese and children learned the names of dishes before they could read the menu. That long history matters. When later generations of immigrants arrived, they found shops, temples, family associations and restaurants already speaking their language. Dim sum had a home here long before it became fashionable.

The Hong Kong years

The decisive chapter came in the 1980s and 1990s. In the years leading up to Hong Kong's handover to China in 1997, many Hong Kong families chose to emigrate, and Canada, and Metro Vancouver in particular, was among the most popular destinations.

They brought expectations shaped by one of the world's great dim sum cities. They knew what a properly pleated har gow should look like and how thin its wrapper should be. Alongside them came cooks and restaurant professionals who had trained in Hong Kong kitchens. Large, ambitious Cantonese restaurants opened to serve them, with banquet halls for weddings at night and dim sum rooms by day, and the standard rose to meet a very knowledgeable crowd.

Richmond and the spread across the region

Much of that new community settled in Richmond, just south of Vancouver, which over the following decades became one of the centres of Chinese-Canadian life in the country. Shopping malls, supermarkets, bakeries and restaurants followed, and Richmond became a byword for Cantonese and other regional Chinese food.

Over time, dim sum spread well beyond any one neighbourhood. Today you will find yum cha in Vancouver's south side, in Burnaby, Coquitlam, Surrey and beyond, often in places where families live and shop rather than in a single dining district. A new generation of chefs keeps the classics while adding new shapes, new fillings and playful desserts, and the menus reflect the region's mix: Cantonese at the core, with touches from elsewhere in China.

How locals do weekend dim sum

If you want to yum cha like a local, a few habits help.

• Go on a weekend, late morning. This is the classic time and the busiest. Some families arrive soon after opening to beat the rush; others book a table.
• Bring the whole family. Three generations at one round table is entirely normal. Grandparents often do the ordering; grandchildren head straight for the egg tarts.
• Order in rounds. Start with steamed classics, then add pan-fried dishes and desserts.
• Mark the big days. Mother's Day, Lunar New Year and family birthdays are popular dim sum occasions, and tables fill early.
• Let the tea set the pace. No one rushes. Refill, talk, order another basket.

For newcomers, our guide to how to yum cha covers ordering, tick sheets and how many dishes to choose.

Dim sum by SkyTrain

One pleasure of dim sum in Metro Vancouver is how easy it can be to reach without a car. Both Neptune Palace locations sit beside a SkyTrain station.

• Vancouver (Marine Gateway). We are on the second floor of Marine Gateway, steps from Marine Drive station on the Canada Line, which links downtown Vancouver with Richmond and the airport.
• Burnaby (Brentwood). We are on the upper level of The Amazing Brentwood, beside Brentwood Town Centre station on the Millennium Line.

That makes a weekend yum cha easy to combine with shopping, a walk or a visit to family across the region. It also lets a group coming from different corners of the region, from downtown, Richmond or the Tri-Cities, meet in the middle without worrying about parking on a busy Saturday morning.

Weekend dim sum at Neptune Palace

Neptune Palace brings Cantonese yum cha culture to two neighbourhoods. Our Vancouver location is listed in the MICHELIN Guide, and our Burnaby location opened at Brentwood in January 2023. At both, dim sum is house-made and steamed to order, served daily from the morning until 3pm, with dinner from 5pm.

Start with Neptune Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gow) and Shrimp & Pork Siu Mai with Flying Fish Roe, add a basket of Spareribs with Pumpkin in Black Bean Sauce, and finish with Freshly Baked Egg Tarts. Weekend late mornings are our busiest hours. To book, call (604) 423-3386 for Vancouver or (604) 566-0897 for Burnaby. Bring the family, and make it a weekend habit.

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