Garden Villa Seafood Restaurant

Upstairs in Vancouver’s Chinatown it is not much to write about. Horrible when compared to New York or San Francisco Chinese restaurants.
Atmosphere 70 Old rundown eatery
Service 75 They tried
Food 70 And this is being kind. (avg of 6 people)
Value 70 There must be a better place in town
Skip it if you can.

I like this place for Dim Sum… It’s pretty traditional. Got all the usual things… Steamed rice roll w bar b q pork, shrimp and spinach dumplings, shu Mai, spring tools, spare ribs with black bean sauce, egg tarts etc etc Sorry, but I’m not brave enough to go for some of the more mysterious looking things, so I stick to what I know. No, it’s not the cleanest place in the world, but that’s part of it. It’s what makes it authentic… Go around 11 for the best bet… And always go to China Town for your dim sum when in VanCity!

I ventured out to Chinatown with the family for a dinner at Garden Villa Seafood. The parentals have been talking about this place for a while because of it’s snake soup. Apparently it’s one of the best in town. We ordered the «set dinner» for the six of us for $ 100, after tax but before gratuity.
The large bowl of snake soup came first and there was enough for at least ten bowls. This is really one of the best winter foods since snake is known, in Chinese medicine, to have heating properties. I think it did work since it seemed like they had turned on the air conditioning at the restaurant, but I felt quite warm post-​soup. I don’t think there was that much snake inside the soup actually, but I did enjoy the mix of citrus peel, ham, black fungus, and lime leaves on top.
These looked weird. The fried dumplings (I guess) filled with chive and shrimp seemed quite yellow — I guess it was the from the golden-​ness of it being fried. The wrap was quite, and I thought the shrimp lacked the «bounce» and crunch that it needed.
The fried chicken was not bad, with a decently fried exterior. However, I found many pieces to be quite salty since it appeared that they sprinkled a generous amount of salt over it. Not sure why they also gave us a plate of salt separately.
The lamb in clay pot was pretty good, but not as good as that of Taste Good Wonton House. The lamb here was not as soft and tender (albeit already quite good) and there was a bit less lamb. The sauce wasn’t as rich, but still nevertheless good.
The vegetable dishes, including the stir fried prawn with vegetables and Buddha’s Delight («luo han zhai») were quite oily and greasy. I was not impressed by these, but at least there was black fungus in the latter.
The stir fried glutinous rice was not bad, but I was already quite full from the two or three bowls of soup (right) and lamb. I found it weird that it had scrambled egg inside, but apparently this is the way it’s down on the streets of Hong Kong.
The meal overall was alright. The restaurant itself seemed quite aged and was not fancy. While the snake soup was good, the vegetable dishes were really oily. I feel like most people go to Garden Villa only for the snake soup.

good, standard dim sum.
NOT CARTS. you order and then they bring you the food.

It’s probably an ancient place that most ppl miss as they walk/​drive by, one has to turn in and walk up a few flights of stairs. Pretty traditional exterior setting, which can be a bit nice.
Tried their dim sum, pretty good value and attentive service. Just another choice of venue in Chinatown other than Jade and Floata. Probably not the 1^st choice to bring your out-​of-​town guests but it’s decent.

This place has been there since the day I was born. I go there from time to time as it just reminds me of when I was a kid going there with my family. I do love their food. For Vancouver downtown, it’s the best dim sum (breakfast). People wonder why dim sum a la carte is not available in the evening? It’s like going to McDonald’s and asking for breakfast at Dinner time.
I always like to sit by the window and watch people. My friends and I made a habit of going every Sunday morning for Dim Sum because it’s good food at a great price. I will never stop going there. Love it!!!

This became a one of a favorite place what I can eat dim sum. I just found it by accident when I walked in with my friends. So many customer is in there in spite of I went to there morning time around 9pm. I ordered some dim sum, fried rice, sticky rice, noodle and soup. Taste is really good, especially dim sum and fried rice! and whole menu are inexpensive.
Customer is also really good even they are busy.
I’m totally satisfied this restaurant. I’ll go there again near the future.

Hmm. Not sure how/​why I came here. Shouldn’t listened to my gut when I walked in. Dinner time with only one table filled with white tourists.
The place is kind of dingy with semi-​sticky table covers. We ordered some veggie congee and a few dim sum items. Service took a while (no clue why). Size was not bad, but as Peter S bets puts it left your stomach with a ‘hint of uncertainty’.
I didn’t get sick the next day. I guess that’s a good thing.
Me no return.

This is one of my favourite dim sum places in town. I love the fact that it’s not always overcrowded. And has the feel of a perched vantage point from the second floor location on Pender.
With the love comes the peeves unfortunately. The service is unpredictable. The cart ladies can be very pushy, and we sometimes have to force a stern «NO» out of ourselves when they try to place something on our table. This seems especially prevalent with the ‘lone cold’ items on the cart, so watch yourself when you come in hungry and get offered something immediately. Wait until the fresh carts come out, or order directly from your server. We sometimes have to ask several different servers for simple items such as a place setting, or hot sauce, or the bill.
The good seafood dim sum selection they have makes me overlook the service issues. (And the seemingly dubious health bylaw infractions.)

If I was rating the food alone I would give Garden Villa a three. However, one must take in to account service, ambiance and the level of cleanliness. Unfortunately that is where things get a little shaky. The service is touch and go. Depending on your proximity to the center of the room you are either having food you may not necessarily want thrust upon you or just be lucky to get something moderately warm. Ambiance, well there is a nice view over the street, but the interior is a bit worn out. One might say down right tuckered. As for cleanliness just don’t go to the bathroom until after you have eaten or maybe just go down the street and find another facility. Anyway I have not checked, but I suspect you might find this place has failed a few health inspections over the years.
That said, I really do like the scallop dumplings. Plus, during the Chinese New Year parade, you can usually get a seat as people don’t realize there is a restaurant hidden away on the second floor.

Don’t come after noon — they won’t be pushing the cart around (you will have to order instead), some items will be unavailable, and the wait staff will be near non-​existent.
Bathrooms were very dirty, and the restaurant overall felt dingy.
Good dim sum, though I would hope that there are better options in Vancouver!

In (dim) sum, this place is all right if you’re in the area.
My best friend and I were looking to continue our weekend ritual of shoveling in the dim sum while we were visiting Vancouver. Garden Villa was not far from our hotel on Robson, so we waddled on over.
If you’re not paying much attention, it is very easy to miss this place from the sidewalk — so keep an eye out and follow the signs.
That said, the interior is pretty much what most people would expect of most dim sum places.
The service was pretty bare bones — but got the job done.
The food was «okay» at best. Was pretty bland. We left disappointed. I was somewhat thrown off by the lack of sauces — like peppercorn oil, et al usually found on the table — but that might be a regional thing. The flavor was very mediocre — to the point that I don’t really remember what I ate because it all tasted the same. I’ve had better dim sum in Texas.
But yeah, you won’t be hungry anymore afterward — which is good. But I wouldn’t go here again next time I’m in Van.

Working in the DTES, I like to pop over to Chinatown for lunch some days, and today my colleague and I were craving some dimsum.
I love dimsum, and after amazing experiences in Hong Kong and Singapore I had visions of lovely little pieces of delight dancing in my head when we arrived at this restaurant, located upstairs on Pender St.
It had an authentic feel, that slightly dingy dodgy Hong Kong vibe that really made me feel nostalgic for Asia, and the selection was impressive. However, the first item (Spinach and shrimp dumpling) had a strange, slightly off chalky weird shrimp flavour. Theiy were also REALLY slimy/​glutinous. Unsettling.
Moving on from there were some nice surprises — steamed shrimp dumplings, the shrimp mixed with a dice of water chesnuts, and a deep fried shrimp and scallion spring roll which was excellent. We also ate eggplant and tofu pieces stuffed with a fish sausage and deep fried — unusual and yummy!
The women with the dim sum carts were hilarious and friendly, but it may be a good idea to peruse the menu and stick to your guns — we got a little sidetracked by the various items they foisted upon us (my pal ended up with an extra pork bun she was pressured into.)
All in all, for a pescetarian there were a lot of choices, but the dimsum did seem a bit thrown together and mediocre. I would stay the hell away from those spinach and shrimp dumplings under any circumstances as well!

I’ve heard Vancouver Asians telling me the HK cuisine was better in Vancouver than LA. I wanted to test that out. We were strolling in Chinatown and randomly asked a local where there was dim sum. He pointed to a place across the street. We go through a courtyard entrance and up a flight of stairs to a discreet door. We walk in and notice an old-​school dim sum restaurant. The place was mostly filled with locals at least in their fifties. Luckily my boyfriend knew enough Cantonese to order for us. They were definitely more willing to provide us things that were not on the menu. The food was good. The chicken feet are better than LA. The fun-​wrapped you tiao was delicious! Overall, a hit but definitely cheaper in LA.

I’ve only been here for dim sum.
A classic dim sum place with wheeled cart service.
I’d advise stick to around ‘prime-​time’, ie around 11am — later than that and freshness seems to take a bit of a hit. But service is decent, English is spoken and provided it is fresh, the food’s quite good.
Dim sum’s one of those things where value is dictated by the amount of people in your party (more people = cheaper per capita). We tend to go to Garden Villa on a whim and not in a large group, so I find the bill can tend to be a little on the pricier side.
Still, Garden Villa’s probably my favourite place to take an out of towner. They have lots of ‘safe’ dim sum and on a sunny morning by the window, diners are afforded a colourful view of the hustle and bustle of Chinatown and Pender St below.

OK, I don’t know where the bad reviews are coming from. Or maybe the business has learned from their prior mistakes. Maybe Jordan and Peter aren’t really into dim sum, but I’ve been to dim sum in Portland and in San Francisco and this is on par.
I went with a party of 7 at around 11:30. It wasn’t terribly busy, but it wasn’t empty by any means. They sat us at a round table and instantly brought carts around and tried to sell us thing in the fashion that I have grown accustomed to. Sometimes, their English wasn’t too good, but I speak Mandarin, so that helped at times.
All of the food was great. They had fresh shrimp rolls, the spareribs were great, and nothing we had was cold. Anything that was cold, they took back to the kitchen and resteamed it fresh. We ate for a good 45 minutes. And everything was so good we stashed the lotus paste bun and the sesame balls in our pockets and purses on the way out. They had a pork/​mushroom fried rice-​ball thing that was soooo good we order three.
We had three waitresses and a waiter serving us on and off. It was difficult to get water, and the timing with everything was almost to the extent of fail (just because we were full and stuff came out at different times; it is analogous to ordering sushi and taking it off the conveyor at the same time), but we all walked out of there fat and happy.
For all of us, tax included, it was 77 $: 11 $ each. A screaming deal.
Dim sum works best in large groups for this reason; I’ve spent 20 or 30 $ on dim sum for two or three for just myself, so I recommend a large group. But yeah, nothing was cold unless it sat on our table, and our waitstaff was on it.
And I wasn’t regretting it in a Hot Pocket sort of way later, if you get my drift; and that goes with all 7 in our party. Not one complaint.
If you don’t know what you’re getting at dim sum and you need to know, well, you’re not going to have a good time. But if you’re not picky about having a bunch of meat in your food and do not mind trying new things, this is definitely a good place to hit… and stay full… for the whole day.
I’ll probably skip dinner. And having one 11 $ meal all day is a deal to me anywhere.

Authentic Chinese dim sum… authentic Chinese service and experience (if you know what I mean).
I understand the bi-​polar review given to Garden Villa Seafood Restaurant. There is no «ambiance» or attractive décor. In fact, expect the opposite. The place is clean enough that the table isn’t sticky, and you don’t need to wipe the chopstick and cups with napkin (unless you really want to). If you go, you go for the authentic Cantonese dim sum. And expect the authentic Chinese service (which is minimal… to say the least).
Don’t get me wrong. The waitresses (all old enough to be your mom) are friendly and willing to serve. Unlike most Chinese dim sum places, the food at Garden Villa are wheeled out on little carts. Don’t be shy to stop a cart when it passes you and ask to see what’s there. If they are steamed items (i.e. in individual bamboo steamers), you can ask to open the lids to see what’s inside. Sometimes the food gets cold while sitting on the cart. You can ask to have it re-​heated. The waitresses are more than happy to do that for you.
Another tip is if you don’t see the dim sum that you like, you can order from any one of the servers, even those wheeling the carts. That’s a good way to get hot, fresh dim sum at order!
CWP’s picks:
— Steamed beef balls: minced beef with cilantro
— Deep fried spicy squid (order a small size)
— Siu Mia (steamed pork dumpling)
— Fried noodles & rice dishes (you can order small sizes, just mention when you order)
The servers there might not speak a lot of English but having worked in Chinatown in a multi-​cultural place like Vancouver, they have ample experience serving non-​Chinese speakers so don’t be intimated.
Anyone who calls himself/​herself a foodie should try all food with an open mind. So go, explore! Suck some chicken feet! Devour some cow stomach! You might be surprised that you actually like it. :)

I wouldn’t go so far as saying this place ruined my day… But I definitely left with that not so fresh feeling!
The first clue were the trolleys just sitting around the restaurant all lonely like awaiting our arrival. Second clue was the taste of the Dim Sum, good, but with a hint of uncertainty. Third clue was my tummy telling me to stop what I was doing and pay the bill.
This was not a good experience. I am unlikely to return, especially when I know there are 5 star joints in Richmond.
They are worth the trek south. Plus there’s the Canada line to get you home safe with that full belly can’t walk can’t talk feeling.

When I want Dim Sum I go down to China Town and to the Garden Villa. I missed it allot when for 5 years it was an accountants office but was pleased to see it returned. If you don’t know what’s in the steamer don’t ask (they often don’t speak english) TRY IT you may learn you like chickens feet. They have all the standards and then some.
Be there 12 – 1:30 to not get the end of service dishes. Try the shrimp stuffed eggplant and the little custard tarts.

This is my favorite Dim Sum Restaurant in the entire city, and I always come here for family events, birthdays, and afternoon play-​dates.
It’s located on Pender Street, just West of main and mixed in with all of the Chinatown shops that sell wooden fans, kitsch asian lamp covers, and Hello Kitty pencil kits. The restaurant is located up a flight of stairs, giving the eater a nice view of the place where Chinatown and Cracktown meet, a bustling street full of both culture and mental health issues. The inside of Garden Villa is nice too, with large round tables, tanks of edible sea creatures and huge mirrors that make it look twice as big.
But it’s really the food that makes the place so great. Anyone familiar with Dim Sum knows about the carts that come around and offer small items in steamed wooden bowls, and Garden Villa is no exception. It consistently keeps rolling out the classics like delicious siu mai (pork dumplings), decadent nor mei gai (sticky rice), and perfectly cooked cheung fun (shrimp rolled in flat noodles). The servers are very nice, and the tea is refilled as soon as you flip the lid on the pot once it’s empty. Average price is about $ 10 per person, very reasonable considering the quality and authenticity.