Vancouver Chinatown Night Market

Time for an update!
I came back up for a visit exactly one year after my first visit. For those who haven’t heard of the night market, it is held every Friday-​Sunday 6 PM-​11 PM during the duration of the summer.
There has been some changes to the market. Compared to my visit last year, there are a lot more interesting vendors. There were some small start ups that were selling art or homemade dried seaweed (which was tasty). I even scored a cute pair of kimchi blue pumps for $ 15 from a lady that was trying to make room in her wardrobe. There is another vendor that I really regretted not buying stuff from… she sold cute jewelry at very reasonable prices.
The food vendors, for the most part were still the same but my beloved skewer vendor was not there. Overall, the food’s tasty although I don’t recommend the steak skewers from the dim sum vendor. The meat was tough but the pork skewer was really good.
I personally think its worth a visit.

I had heard they had vamped up the Chinatown night market this year with entertainment, food carts, and crafty vendors. After last night’s visit I was sadly disappointed.
Went on a Sunday night… no food carts. Scarce selection of food. I was looking for an iPad cover for my mom and only 2 vendors sold them. As for the entertainment, there were some dragons dancing to Gangnam style. Not sure how I felt about that.
An hour later, I wished I had made the trek out to Richmond to one of the other night markets.

I kinda expected this night market to be like the ones in Asia but it’s more like those street fairs/​flea markets. Lots of cheap goods and food stalls. I was hoping for good street food but there was nothing interesting.

I went to both the chinatown and the Richmond night market while visiting (already reviewed Richmond). While the chinatown one is smaller, I like the variety of things better there. It is more than just cell phone covers first of all. I mean it is all kind of nick nacky sort of odds and ends, but reminded more of a night market in Hong Kong I went to, just smaller. Food was more interesting and there was more than just 8 stalls sells squid like at Richmond. Prices were more reasonable as well. But in the end nothing too exciting so three stars.
Plus, check out the patio/​street dinning of Bao Bei, when the night market runs! An excellent spot to people watch form and have some really good food.

So, where is this night market revamping? I was quite disappointed to witness that the Chinatown night market has the same underwhelming sex appeal as previous years. Granted, it gets points for less crowds compared to the Richmond night market– but, dammit, I want to hear some bad musical covers of Aerosmith like at Richmond NM. I’ve been deprived for too long.
So long Chinatown night market.

Because of the two duelling International Summer and Richmond Night Market’s, Chinatown’s original version lost much of its lustre over the past few years. So this year, new organizers have reguvinated the affair with a whole new entertainment program and vendors to appeal to the young, affluent, hipster crowd.
Ping pong playaz assembled at the open, free-​for-​all, outdoor table tennis tournament played parking lot style with strung up lights. Look out for the Mahjong Social, outdoor cinema, hip-​hop karaōke, Street Fighter II tournament, and much more in the coming weeks.
The city block between Columbia and Main on Keefer Street was packed with market goers checking out the vendors (10 panties for $ 10). Tons of folks hit the streets for their official grand opening night after a couple weeks of testing out the kinks with a soft launch.
Chinatown’s version of the night market craze is a smaller, more intimate affair, packing the big crowds on a long city block around food trucks, a main stage, and various vendors. Be sure to check out the new Rain City Chronicles storytelling series on June 8^th and August 23^rd, as well as their weekly program of events on all summer long.

I was very underwhelmed by the market to be honest. Thankfully it was a nice day and I was with awesome company, however, generally speaking it wasn’t all that it was talked up to be. The stalls had your run of the mill cheap stuff that you can get at any Asian store anytime. The food stalls were nothing really to flip over other than the deep friend Oreo which was so wrong it was right (yes it was that good). The market was supposed to start at 6 pm, however, no one was even set or half way completed until 6:30 pm or later. My friend and I finished the market in less than 30 minutes. It wasn’t bad, however, it wasn’t as eventful as people talk it up to be.

I love the idea of markets. I love people offering the one, possibly two things that they know how to produce well and then selling it. Or alternatively, people of all walks of life getting together to sell second-​hand goods.
The Marché de Montreuil in Paris is a dream. The Piazza dell Mercato in Florence is amazing. The Chinatown Night Market in Vancouver? Not even close to being any of those.
This market doesn’t do any of the aforementioned, nor does it try too. I guess Vancouver does not seem like a market town (with the exception of farmers markets, and some pop-​up markets of sorts)…so I understand that there is only a niche population who would come to a market, if we had one all year-​round (but I would be part of this niche market).
With that aside, what you will find here is some ugly panties (thongs included), socks, quintessential iphone cases, surprisingly some cute jewelry (much of it is overpriced though) and other unneeded accoutrements.
I heard a Korean singer singing, and I didn’t see any food options because I didn’t venture that far west on Keefer. Within 10 minutes, my friend and I had left.
3 stars because it brightens up a generally sketchy place at night, and goes on all summer, every summer if you want to check it out. Even though these night markets aren’t really my scene, I would head over to any of the two in Richmond, if you are looking to get your fix as they are much more plentiful (food and «stuff» wise). But if you are a tourist and you do decide to come here, be warned that if you walk up to Main & Hastings, its quite possibly the seediest part of Vancouver – the people around there generally won’t bother you, but might make you feel uncomfortable.

I attended the Night Market and was SO UTTERLY LET DOWN. There were maybe 7 tents on a long, closed street and they were right next to one another. No special «eats» or hot tea sampling. No dancing dragons, no fire or music!!! I kid you not had it not been for the vendor selling the jade Chinese astrology pieces my husband and I would have been there no more than 3 minutes.
I am not sure what I expected, maybe a Andrew Zimmern or Anthony Bourdain experience where I walked from booth to booth sampeling the areas delicassies and the occassional «odd» item. Nope.
Maybe it was a bad night, not sure.

This night market is pretty bo-​jack. There’s not really much to it, and the performers are pretty boring. There’s not very many tables, and not much to see, although I did try some yummy donut wheel thing with chocolate nutella in the middle that was pretty delish.
I think if this was bigger it would be better — I mean, why should Richmond get two nightmarkets and Vancouver only one? I’m glad there was no fee to get in like there is at the new night market in Richmond, cuz I would have demanded a refund after visting this.

Not a mega market by any means this honest street celebration has come a long way since last I was here a few years ago-​more vendors and more food variety.
Of course the goods on offer are mostly useless crap the food is anything but gourmet and the entertainment laughably bad but that’s part of the charm.
I note how friendly and approachable the food vendors I interacted with were-​this is Very Important to the future of the market.

For me the Vancouver Chinatown Night Market is a little slice of nostalgia and my childhood. It’s an oldie but a goodie. However, I’d have to agree with other reviewers that in recent years with the Richmond competition it’s definitely a become a shadow of it’s former self.
If you visit, just know that it is ALOT smaller than the Richmond ones — therefore less food options, less «trinket stalls,» and generally just less to see. The crowd is also different — less asian teenagers driving their parent-​funded luxury rice rockets and more anicient chinatown grandparents that still live in the area with their next generation kids/grandkids/etc…for me that in itself is a walk down memory lane and provides a uniquely authentic experience of sorts.
The location is hard to beat and makes for an easy stop if you’re headed down to the gastown area for drinks or a night out. So on the nights when facing with the roads/​drivers in Richmond is just not an option, but I still feel like buying some knock off sunglasses while partaking in some greasy food & bubble tea… you’ll know where to find me.

I like that Chinatown Night Market has been sectioned off to just Keefer — it seemed a little too sprawled out in previous years. That said, there are still not a hell of a lot of options food or clothing-​wise here. Takoyaki, yes; those weird tornado potatoes, yes; random knock-​off plastic toys and iPhone cases, hell yes… but that’s about it, really.
It’s a nice way to see a bit of this part of the city at night, and I love the vibrancy it brings to the summer scene, but I’d probably be a lot more stoked on it if the options were a bit more… entertaining?
Whatever though, who am I kidding? I love cheesy Kanye sunglasses and fake silk gowns and weirdo undergarments and old Chinese men singing karaōke. I mean, who wouldn’t?

I’ve never been to the Richmond night market (I know wtf is wrong with me), so this review may be 1 star too generous.
Being small enough to be a drive-​by market, you can walk through it in a minute easily. You got your selection of random Chinese crap to put it nicely. But hey if you’re looking for sexy pair of granny panties you’re in luck!
I tried some bbq stuff which was ok, but memorable discovery was wheel cakes. Specially nutella filled wheel cakes. $ 1 doesn’t buy you much these days (except for McD’s ice coffees), but when you eat these fresh off the wheel, you’ll be happy. At least I was.

«So maybe I’ll see you there
We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares
So go Chinatown, things’ll be great when you’re
Chinatown — don’t wait a minute for
Chinatown — everything’s waiting for you»
Chinatown Night Market. Woof.
Don’t come here expecting the food options or the vibe you get Richmond Night Market. It’s one city block fair. Kinda sad because it used to be a 4-​block grid at it’s peak and killing it. Chinatown lost to Richmond in the night market wars. Motherfucking Richmond, Seriously.
The good:
— much easier to find free/​cheap parking nearby
— less claustrophobic and no lines
— no crossing any bridges/​tunnels to go to Chinatown
— you can find more ‘authentic’ (in my view anyways) Chinese night market wares here — cell phone accessories? Check. Shitty plastic toys? Check. Semi knockoff wallets? Check. Nonsense Engrish shirts, airbrushed wolf shirts and random hoodies from Colorado U? Motherfuckin’ check!
The bad:
— much fewer food options and turnover is much slower. A dead street food stall is pretty much food poisoning waiting to happen.
— crowd is pretty much Chinese grandmas and grandpas trying to entertain themselves until the sweet embrace of death.
— not ‘yeet lau’ enough — you Cantonese speakers know what I mean.
Overall, seems like you only come here if the Richmond night market crowds scare you or you can’t be bothered to drag your ass to Richmond and fight the crowds and parking.

I actually thought the Chinatown Night Market was a lot more pleasant than the Richmond one. It is small, only about one block long… but it has everything the Richmond one had in a nutshell! It wasn’t crowded at all and there were no lines for the food.

We heard all about the street food here so it was on!
The Vancouver Chinatown Night Market had a number of food vendors that served up some good lookin’ and interesting Asian delights for cheap. In addition, this place was like a flea market of sorts. Some booths offered discounted leather goods, toys, jewelry, clothes and others sold unique products and so on.
Even though there were no tables and chairs around, we hit the sidewalk and indulged in some dim sum, chow mein, fishballs and barbecued lamb, chicken and pork on a stick yummy!
We also got 5 for 20 dollar t-​shirts and even a snazzy little doggie outfit for April for just five bucks.
I’ve been to Los Angeles and of course San Francisco’s Chinatown. I’m so happy to add Vancouver’s C-​Town to my visited list.
Xie Xie…

As an entire block of novelty items and one of a kind street fare food, the chinatown night market will entertain you for at least half an hour.
Shirts that go bump in the night, knock off converse that shine in light, LED strobe Kanye frames, wooden puzzles, poorly translated board games? All here, and more. Bad talent shows, weird donuts, old DVDs, assorted electronics, hilariously ugly coin purse wallets made of little beads…
You’ll have fun if you like shopping for knick knacks. You’ll be disappointed if you assume this is going to be a magical street market where you’ll find anything actually useful… except for those spiffy electric fly swatters. Woo

Gosh, I didn’t know the Chinatown in Vancouver was the largest in North America after San Francisco’s. That should be reason enough to come to this small-​scale summer night market in this neighborhood, but the event is frankly quite skimpy compared to the expansive night market in nearby Richmond. And yet it still has certain charms that make it a worthwhile stop for a passing tourist with a love for Asiatic tschotsckes, preferably the plastic kind.
Running on Keefer Street between Main and Columbia Streets, it’s your usual array of street food and flea market wares amid the crowds that course along the central roadway. It ends in Chinatown Plaza where you can take in quite an amateur talent show complete with offkey singing, bouquets of congratulatory flowers, and rivers of tears… mostly from the enraptured audience. Someday I’ll be up there… someday.
However, if you’re in the mood for tornado potatoes or red bean custard cakes, you’re in luck. Bobbleheads and tabletop fountains? No problem as they are easy to buy as well. Oh wait, it’s time for me to sing «Slow Boat to China». Hey, why is everyone booing me? See my photos in the gallery to get a real flavor of this weekend event, and make sure to bring some earplugs. Darling, I’d love to get you… on a slow boat to China… all to myself alone.

Wow, this market’s tiny!
I don’t trek into Chinatown that often since I think the best Chinese has migrated to Richmond. Ended up here this weekend since it was well after hours and all the bakeries were closed, but my out-​of-​town friend was totally craving some sort of Chinese dessert… my dessert cravings equal chocolate, so the night market was the only place I could think of that might fix the craving in this area.
As mentioned, this one is tiny. A variety of food places with some warm dough type things, grilled corn and meats, dim sum type items interspersed with music and clothing and accessories in tents.
I wouldn’t make a trip to come out to see this one (if this is what you want to do, definitely make the trip to Richmond instead — downside to that one is the $ 5 parking fee whereas this one has tons of free street parking after 8pm).
A-​OK but nothing to write home about… only to write on Unilocal about ;)