I have an announcement to make. I have a new favorite dim sum place.
I seem to be getting farther and farther out of town for dim sum, which is as it should be, and this one I had to actually rent a car for, so I had high expectations. Happy Valley Seafood Restaurant is way out on Broadway (for me), but so worth the trek.
There is no cart service, so I read off the list of delicacies to my dining companions and there was some consternation about the amount of food we were ordering, but we pushed on, confident in our appetite and stretchy pants.
We had ordered several of the traditional dim sum dishes; BBQ pork buns, crispy deep fried squid, sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves and beef balls (below) and as we started sampling there were happy sounds all around.
The deep-fried squid was particularly good here, as was another favorite of mine, the braised eggplant with pureed shrimp paste. The huge portions of siu mai disappeared quickly, tasty and not too greasy. They were near perfect.
I passed on the green onion pancake and spring rolls because I wanted to save room for some of the more non-traditional items like clams in black bean sauce and har gow (shrimp dumplings) with dried shredded scallop on top (pictured top), pork cheek with tofu, beef shortrib with pumpkin and taro paste in bird’s nest.
And with the exception of the bland tasting taro paste, I was not disappointed. I’ve not had clams at dim sum before, but they were exquisite (if somewhat difficult to pry from their shells with chopsticks) in their black bean sauce and I had far too many of them than was good for me.
Actually, I had way more of everything than was good for me and then I had to go home and have a nap. But it was so very good and ended up only being only $15 each for 5 VERY stuffed people.
The place was bustling on a Saturday lunch, but the service was still decent. As soon as my pants fit again, I’ll be back.
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Happy Valley Seafood Restaurant
3432 East Broadway, Vancouver
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I’m embarrassed to say I’ve only had dim sum twice in my life. Is it only a lunch thing, or can you have it for dinner?
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I got really excited when I thought there was a good local-to-me dim sum place – but at the same time I was really confused because I don’t remember seeing it and my area isn’t really known to be a dim sum hot spot… Then I realised it’s probably 3432 E Broadway not W despite Google’s insistent suggestion to the contrary. (It has major issues with E & W Broadway – and if you believe it you’re more likely to get a haircut than dim sum).
Regardless of what the challenged Map Overlord says, I’ll definitely venture East and try it out sometime soon. It’s been ages since I’ve gone for dim sum and really wouldn’t know where to begin. But now I do. Thanks!
it`s definitely east van…out by Rupert, although I admit I had the same reaction when I looked at map. I`ve just updated the address with East so hopefully that will help get you there. It`s definitely worth it even if it`s a bit of a trek.
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