Shiang Garden Restaurant

Got excited when I heard the 10 course dinner was to be held at Shiang Garden Seafood Restaurant. The place is well known for its dimsum. So didn’t mind forking out $ 45 for the dinner. 10 people per table. But to my disappointment, the $ 45 spent without alcohol left us still hungry. Why? Cause the dinner was geared like a sampler. Except for the prawns and chicken, the food was served in a limited quantity. i.e. the scallop dish was not enough for 10 people. I think they only put 10 scallops or less on the dish and wasn’t enough for the other people. The platters of food served looked so limited and lonely. You can’t get any 2^nd or 3^rd serving. The imitation shark fins soup was not tasty at all even with the addition of vinegar and hot sauce. The fried rice didn’t taste good either. The steamed Tilapia was lacking something, rice wine maybe? The only tasty items were the prawns and fried noodles. Really disappointing for $ 45, I would expect more. Won’t recommend to anybody.

Having lunch with my parent and we ordered the lobster with thin noodle in ginger and onion and soy sources, and pea tips with crab meat. The lobster was delicious, the noodle was full of rich soy sources and ginger and onion flavour, the lobster was fresh and big, we loved it so much and it good enough to feed three of us. The pea tips tastes good and fresh. Price is reasonable and servers were super friendly, and it provided free daily desert too. It was a great experience for us and we will def come back again.

Shiang Garden Seafood Restaurant 敘香園海鮮酒樓 is a Chinese restaurant that specializes in Cantonese cuisines. Opened for dim sum lunch and dinner menus around live seafood. It is located within Empire Centre.
Shiang Garden itself is located on the 3^rd floor. The entrance is located via the parking lot and other floors are currently under construction.
Chances are, you have probably been here for a wedding or two. Shiang Garden restaurant has a open seating area ideal for large Chinese banquet weddings. There are minimal pillars blocking vision and there is a dance floor in the center. No need to pay extra to add a dance floor!
Prawns Salad with Papaya 木瓜大蝦沙律: Half papaya filled with fruits long with two giant prawns and mayo. It’s been awhile since I’ve had this refreshing appetizer. Slightly savory from the mayo goes well surprisingly with fresh fruits.
Sauteed Mixed Seafood 油泡海中寶: beautifully presented on a bed of snow peas, oranges and cucumbers. The simplicity of this dish just highlights the ingredients. A good variety of prawns, scallops, osmanthus clam (sea cucumber intestines or 貴妃蚌) and tossed with Chinese mushrooms, chives and garlic.
Tremella with Chicken & Crab Meat Soup 蟹肉雞絲銀耳羹: This snow fungus soup topped with tobiko reminds me a lot of what my parents typically orders: crab meat and fish maw soup. The flavors in this soup is a little more robust compared to the light seafood version. I recommend adding a little red vinegar to the soup to enhance the flavors.
Diced Beef Tenderloin in Honey & Pepper 蜜椒牛柳粒: Presentation is everything! Thinly julienne cucumbers were neatly fenced into a heart shaped to hold diced tender beef tenderloin. A good combination of honey and pepper flavors without overpowering.
Steamed Spot Prawns in Garlic 蒜茸開邊蒸蝦: We are at the end of Spot Prawns season and you can tell they were on the smaller side. The prawns were butterflied and made for a great presentation and culinary selfie albeit slightly slightly overcooked.
Lobster in Salted Egg Yolk 黃金焗龍蝦: This is the first time I’ve had salted egg yolk coated lobsters. Typically you will fine this scrumptious egg yolk batter on crab or giant prawns. But salted egg yolk works well with the lobster. I liked that it was dry enough and there were plenty of yolk. The lobster was sweet which was a nice contrast to the saltiness.
Whole Chicken in Abalone Sauce 鮑汁走地雞: The chicken made a peacocking appearance decorated with green vegetables and cherries. The whole chicken well cooked in abalone sauce. A comforting dish that was tender and moist.
BC Dungeness Crab in White Wine Sauce 花雕BC大肉蟹: I find the Chinese white wine sauce too intense regular Dungeness crab. Usually you will find this method with egg whites cooked with king crabs.
Lamb Chop with Honey & Pepper 蜜椒羊架: The lamb was overly tender and flavors resembled a lot of the diced beef tenderloin. The lamb wasn’t gamey and definitely caters more to an Asian audience.
Specialty Layer Pork 東坡醬肉: This piece of pork belly was very rich and fat. I could only have this in moderation. Served with bok choy.
Whole Tilapia in En-​Ping Style 至尊富貴魚: De-​boned fish and served with clear rice rolls underneath. I love fish. I love a fish served whole so I can pick at the bones, the heads and everything. De-​boning is convenient but sort of takes away from the experience. Nonetheless, I delicious dish.
Buddha’s Feast Roll with Cabbage 绍菜羅漢上素卷: A nicely presented vegetarian dish with enoki mushrooms, Chinese mushrooms, bamboo shoots, wood ear, etc. It is a tasty, clean dish.
Baked Durian Pastry 榴槤酥 and Osmanthus Flower Cake Pudding 桂花糕: I liked the clean, fragrant taste of Osmanthus flower. This pudding is one of my favorite desserts in a Chinese restaurant.
I personally do not eat durian. You either love it or hate it. I think it smells and tastes like feet. But each to their own. Others at the table really liked this pastry for the flakiness and richness. This item must be pre-​ordered but is available during dim sum.
Overall the presentation and service at Shiang Garden 敘香園 is on point. There is a great menu selection and specialty items that are well executed.

We returned for another multi-​course Chinese banquet style dinner. We started off with a fairly standard sautéed mixed seafood medley dish after a pleasing prawn salad served in a halved papaya. I really enjoyed the Tremella with chicken and crab meat soup for its tasty broth and light flavour.
The diced beef tenderloin (with honey and peppers) was one of the more well-​served and presented dishes. It was just as tasty to snack on in its hearty chunks as it was attractive to look at.
The BC Dungeness crab (in white wine sauce) was good but mildly underwhelming compared to all the other, more inventive seafood dishes (scroll down). It did the trick and was served well but missed a little bite to it. I’m also usually not much for the combination of seafood and white wine flavouring.
The table really fawned over the intriguing and equally tasty salted egg yolk lobster for its somewhat novel and scrumptious composition. You might be a little more familiar with egg yolk batter served with crab. However, we found it quite complementary with the lobster meat.
The steamed spot prawns (butterflied and drenched in garlic) were quite appealing and delightfully delicious. It tasted pretty much as it looks, lean and full of garlic. For fish, the En-​Ping style whole tilapia was your fairly standard fish dish in soy sauce.
We were a little unimpressed by the lamb chop (with honey and pepper) for being overly tender and lacking the usual lamb kick or flavour. We felt similarly for the specialty layered pork belly and its bland, predictable quality.
I very much liked their version of the staple whole chicken (in abalone sauce) for its simple yet still very comforting, well-​cooked taste.
Overall and over all the many dishes, I was fairly impressed by the variety and different styles of preparation for all the different meats. Shiang Garden has a fairly deep menu of dishes all available to be ordered right off the menu at your table. I recommend a combination of some of the more daring, speciality ones with a few well done Chinese standards.

Came here for a wedding banquet and was thoroughly disappointed. The guest list was probably about 150 people and we were seated in the main floor dining room. Food took a long time to come out and they were split in plated portions when they arrived to the tables. The portions on each plate was ridiculous. I mean, tiny TINY portions. And even worse, food was either bland for some dishes or just plain salty for others. After 11 dishes, everyone at the table was still hungry. Many of us went out to eat right after the wedding banquet elsewhere. And service was immensely lacking. I asked for hot sauce at the beginning of the banquet, requested another two times thereafter, and it never arrived at our table. I know it’s busy with the wedding, but the restaurant should be used to having these kinds of events! Absolutely terrible.

Today, I had the displeasure of dining at this poorly run establishment. As someone who has eaten more than 100 squabs in my lifetime from Hong Kong, China, Toronto, Vancouver, I think I know what is great, good, fair, average, or bad squab. Blood coming out of a squab like a medium rare steak is no no. Fresh Abalone done right should not be fishy at all. Service: when a customer bring up obvious flaws like a dirty knife, stop defending it and just change it. That sort of unprofessional attitude has no place in a well run restaurant. A really good restaurant has plenty of simple offerings that exceeds taste buds’ expectation. A mediocre Chinese restaurant only knows to push for expensive live seafood, which I can get myself at the wholesaler for half or less. Great food need not be about price. Another thing, why do some people consider this high end? Aside from high ceilings, the décor is somewhat lacking and unsophisticated.

Shiang Garden is one of the higher end dim sum/​seafood restaurants in Richmond, and wedding banquets are often held here! They even have a bride changing room beside the women’s washroom haha. The dining room is really spacious, with high ceilings, and iridescent hanging chandeliers. My mom usually doesn’t comment on the décor of restaurants but she said that the décor was too «gaudy» and I have to agree haha. It is a little too nouveau rich for my taste, but that’s just my personal preference! :)
If you go before 11 pm you get 20% off dim sum! Good thing too because their prices are higher than most places! I was expecting the food quality to match their prices, but I was disappointed. We tried out a bunch of their popular dim sum items and most of them turned out to be subpar.
Service was slow and inattentive as well. My guess would be it was due to the volume of customers as the waiters seemed rushed and were struggling to keep up.
I do want to try their seafood menu though to see if it’s better! With all the other awesome dim sum options in Richmond, I personally wouldn’t come back here for dim sum.

Fantastic Dim Sum brunch here.
A friend of ours who speaks the language took us here, and just started ordering food.
Not a bad dish showed up.
Of particular note were the BBQ Pork on Green Onion Pancakes. We couldn’t get enough of those.

We have been regularly going for DimSum there but decided to try Kong Crab dinner the other day. King Crab price was standard at around $ 40 per pound. When you order the King Crab meal its a three corse meal. We also ordered a couple of specials and everything was really delicious. The fried rice in the shell of a King Crab is so so delicious. This place is a gem but can get pretty busy.

Shiang Garden located at Empire Centre in Richmond, it used to upscale Chinese restaurant. However, it goes downward last few years.
I haven’t return to Shiang Garden for ages coz the foods are not good and service getting worst. My gal friends picked it for dim sim last Sat and I got a chance to give them a review.
We made the rsvn at 12 and got the table right the way. When I walked in, I found the entrance area was so dirty and floor so sticky!
The dim sim sheet was pretty informative and showed most popular the dim sims with picture.
The waitress was sucks! I spoke to her in Cantonese to find out the different between few dim sims, she couldn’t understand me then turn around and walk away without a word! Great!
Pan fried rice rolls — we ordered the higher price one which so-​called hand-​made rice roll which real pan fried.
Deep fried squid — very greasy and small portion.
Preserved egg, ginger and shrimp roll — It used to be their signature dish, however, it just ok now.
Steamed Chinese sausage roll — The sausage and bun was a bit hard
Chiu chow style veggie dumplings — Delicious and pretty traditional made chiu chow style taste dumpings. However, too MSG!
Steamed mixed mushroom dumplings — Average good.
Braised Seafood with E-​fu noodles in claypot — good thing wasn’t oily and taste good.
We paid $ 17 per head (tax n tip included), dim sim were not very expensive but definitely not cheap. But, I prefer to have a bit better service for paying such amount per person.

Their dim sum was delicious. I think the food was on par with the best in Richmond, BC. Their service was a bit slow, but I LOVE that we got 20% off because we ordered before 11am.

Where did all the good dim sum in Richmond go? I’m telling you… they do it better back home in Toronto (and HK… duh)! :)
Came here with my family on Chinese New Year weekend…
–There is a total lack of variety of dishes especially by Richmond standards
–The spinach and shrimp steamed dumplings were just ok
–Mushrooms in rice noodles were off. The rice noodles were too thick and pasty.
–The only unique dish was this shrimp roll that was good but it was sweet and I don’t really like my shrimp with sweet sauce.

Decent dim sum, but rude service. We called ahead of time to see whether they had discount dim sum in the morning, and they told us that if we get our order in by 11am it’s 20% off. Sweet deal! So we made our way down to Richmond and got there with 15 minutes to spare.
The hostess sent us up to the third floor, saying the main floor wasn’t opened yet. So we rode the elevator up, and the hostess on the 3^rd floor said they were completely full and sent us back down to the main floor. At this point, we were cutting it pretty close to the 11am cut-​off time. We finally secured a table and put in an order with 5 minutes to spare.
But when our server brought the papers back, it said that the order was entered at 11:03. So we called her over and said «I thought we had submitted this prior to 11, could you please recheck the computer?» and she said «leng jai, the clock on the computer is what we go by, and I can’t change it. I had a bunch of orders to enter before you, so that’s just how it is.»
I should state here, that «leng jai», when typed out, can sound like two different things in Cantonese. Basically, she said «listen boy» in an extremely condescending tone. Completely uncalled for. I was seeing red. Husband took it in stride and said calmly «I don’t think this is very fair. If we submit our order before 11, we should get 20% off. It’s what you said.» I was ready to walk out. She huffed away and while husband and I were debating whether to leave, she came back and said «I can give you 10% off. It’s all I can do, and it’s not that much difference from 20% off». Due to hunger, I decided to stay.
Their food is good. The deep-​fried scallop and taro dumpling is delicious, and the egg yolk bun is totally worth it. I even tipped them a decent amount to show that I wasn’t there just for price. But would I go back? Highly unlikely.

I could give an extra star for the décor, high ceilings, moulding all around, but for the food, a bit overpriced for what you get for. Though to be fair, could be better for dinner/​banquet type of food, that’s what it probably caters to. Lots of staff, and a nice display of Remy Martin & Cognac lol
Went there for dim sum only, and not sure if the $ 29.88/lb Alaskan crab would taste delicious or not, judging by lunch. Surprisingly for a Sunday, wasn’t too busy, ample parkade parking.
The deep fried sesame balls (no bean paste inside) were good, not great or greasy.
The leaf-​wrapped rice was just ok.
Egg noodle shrimp probably was the best dish, nice and sweet soya with a few veggies along the side.
The deep fried white radish tasted good too.

Hmmm. Food is nothing more than average. I’m not even sure if it deserves a capital A for the normalcy of its average-​ness. Its very possible that the ratings for this restaurants comes from the very lavish interior with multiple chandeliers to ice their high ceilings.
Very common to hold high-​end Chinese dinners. (weddings, and fancy occassions), Possibly only because the place is nice, and its pricey. and Asian people who hold really fancy dinners often times like to show just how much they can spend on a set menu.
I’ve never actually paid for a dinner. but I know the set I had for 10 ppl was over $ 800+ tax and tip. Was it worth my dining experience? Ambiance = sure. Food = Sadly no :(:(:(

One cannot have a family reunion without family. Or gluttony.
So for my grandparents’ birthdays, we came to this fancy Chinese restaurant and ordered the whole sh-​bang. All $ 800 dollars worth of sh-​bang.
I want to say we probably had 10 dishes that night. The notable points are that the servers change plates for you very frequently, and teapots were refilled constantly as well. The service was very good.
Some of the low points include the fish was not too fresh… I tasted this tingling sensation on my tongue, kind of like ammonia… am I still alive? Also, while the braised pork belly really melted in my mouth, the dish was still way too greasy, even the bok choy that came with the dish hardly offset the greasiness. Kind of leaves you an icky aftertaste.
Their seafood is decent, nothing *too* spectacular. For $ 800, they better be decent…

Lots of variety and different styles of dim sum that you probably won’t get at other locations. Great venue for weddings. Funny, I had thought I wrote about this palce a few times before. Must’ve been my old age and forgot.
On this occasion we had Dim sum. I called the day ahead to get reservations and we were seated as soon as we got there. No fuss, no muss.
I really should do this more often.
Service was good, we got a nice big table for the 9 of us and we were even able to order something we didn’t find on the menu. Love it when I can do that!
We asked for fresh prawns deep fried crispy so you could eat the shells and all! It wasn’t on the lunch menu, but my father wanted it and we got it.
They have alot of Dimsum specialty set menu’s which is something I’d like to try. Just be prepped to bring a bit of $$ for some of those options.
So is this good or is it gooder or is it best?
Well, today it wsa just gooder. Why? Mom ordered a fish dish and it was all bones. I hate bones.
* all thumbs via I-​phone. Typo’s FOC.

Shiang Garden gets full vote, I have no complaints here.
The venue is grand, elegant and classy. Super high ceilings complimented with artisian wall and panelling. I would hold a wedding here (not) but I would love for SOMEONE to hold a wedding here. There are 2 seperate floors for dim sum, and a VIP area on the main level. All rooms are equally as nice.
They have their own private parking, as they are one complete building on its own, so there is always a place to park (free).
The food quality can vary at times but it never falls past good. Over the years it’s either been good, or extremely good. The seafood tanks are clean, and seafood dishes have always been really fresh. Dimsum has never failed to dissapoint either. (See pictures).
Service is excellent, they are keen on filling up water and teas. Never a long wait for anything at all.
Been coming here since 2006 and I am still impressed with upkeep.

This is our family’s go-​to place for all sorts of family gatherings-​grandparents’ birthdays, wedding anniversaries, Chinese New Year, Mid Autmn Fest… you get the point. Oh, put in regular weekend dim sum days too.
There are 2 floors to this restaurant, and we like to sit on the 2^nd floor because of its high ceilings and all around windows. Plus, we always get the largest table which is in the corner, and there’s windows all around there, so it’s perfect for just looking outside at randoms when dim sum gets boring.
Lots of choices in dim sum here, even some Shanghainese dim sum available. Their dumplings are always good. The ‘Chef’s Specials” are also unique.
We don’t have regular dinner here often; we usually get the banquet style dinners for special occasions. On the first floor, there are private rooms available for booking and there is also a karaōke machine in the rooms! The dinners are very good here, we are never rushed, service is attentive, and the food has been consistent. (We’ve been frequenting this place for at least the past 5 years.)
Consistency is what has kept us coming back. Don’t think we’ve ever had a bad experience here.

Bit of a dilemma when you come here — great food, but don’t be too hungry when you arrive because it can take forever to arrive!
This place has excellent Chinese food. I don’t think I’ve had a bad dish here and presentation is nice. The larger platters are especially pretty. Their lemon chicken is amazing — one of the best ones I’ve had. That being said, everything takes forever to arrive.
Décor and table spacing is nice — it’s on the second floor with the high ceilings and the crystal chandeliers… competes with the higher end Chinese restos in Richmond. I love the food here, but I can’t figure our why it takes so long to actually get to the table even on a slow night.