What to get and what to skip at the Richmond Night Market

You jostle through the claustrophobic crowds, smelling cumin and sizzling meats, neon-coloured signs beckoning you to tiny stalls manned by frenetic couples plunging sushi and bao into the sizzling deep fryer oil. You can only be in one place — Richmond Night Market. 

A staple of Vancouver summers, the market at 8351 River Rd. in Richmond is a transitory experience, bursting forth from a barren, dirt-covered parking lot steps away from Bridgeport Station. From nothing to everything as long as the summer survives.

The night market experience here is very different from my visit to Taiwan. Side streets in bustling downtown cores are taken over by stalls hawking quickly-made food, clothing and electronic stands and any sort of stand-up business you can imagine. It’s an experience of tight pathways, boisterous stall owners, families moving back and forth grabbing food and sitting at short tables, slumped over slurping up soup, chewing hot deep fried milk balls and fried meats that would scare off any Westerner. jian

Richmond Night Market is a close facsimile of the experience, with some major differences. Like how Instagram has rewired our brains for what we consider “good” food, the Night Market vendors understand that their stall will live and die by the photos and videos captured on smartphones before they even take a bite. 

After attending the market for my third year, you start to notice different trends. Deep-fried food is always popular, but a sushi hotdog is a new one. Remixing different cultures' foods is common, with this year featuring at least two different sushi taco stands. 

Stand-up markets, giving a space for local food entrepreneurs to experiment, in an easy-walkable area that forces you to abandon your car… We need more of this in Metro Vancouver.

In some ways, sadly I say as a food reviewer, food quality is of secondary importance next to the perfect Instagram shot. A massive stall selling exquisite soup and fall-apart beef is shunted off to the edge of the pavilion, while the deep-fried sushi stall assaults your eyes and ears upon entering. Tempering your food expectations is important.

The price is also a problem. It’s hard to score any decent meal for under $15. A trip to the Night Market is best done with a few people, so you can split costs and try multiple items. It’s sharing plates, but on sticks and paper plates. 

The difference between Taiwan and Richmond’s Night Market is hard to ignore. Overpriced, gimmicky and lacking traditional food — though I was happy to see stinky tofu — it’s hard not to compare. At the same time, I doubt more traditional options at the Taiwanese night market, again stinky tofu, would satisfy Western visitors. 

Luckily there were some traditional eats, which happened to be the most flavourful, beyond the Instagram-curated stalls. Chef James at Xin Jian Man, a staple of the Night Market, is still delivering quality buns, lamb meat fried in front of you, sprinkled with heaping mounds of cumin and salt, and topped with coriander. 

But does it matter? Does anyone really care if it’s not authentic? Do I? I found myself beaming, losing myself in the energy of the crowd, as I ripped through a brown-battered deep-fried sushi roll, formed into a hotdog with a steaming hunk of soft shell crab inside. Or the custard-baked egg-shaped desserts, a little smile on the fried batter staring up at you from the egg carton. 

Whatever reason you have to visit the Night Market, it’s always memorable, even if the food itself can sometimes be more miss than hit. The experience itself, of walking around, mingling, and multiple food stalls within a few metres, is something Canadian cities should strive to achieve. We need more year-round walkable places like this.

As the season dies down, and the stalls eventually disappear, it always leaves me wondering why we can’t have more of these in the region, winter markets, indoor stalls in forgotten venues. It’s something I hope we get more of in the region, even if it means more deep fried sushi hotdogs. 

Here are the rankings of some of the places I tried.

Taiwanese Street Food - 8/10

They claim to have the number one Taiwanese deep-fried cuisine. So how did it stack up?

I purchased the Basil Popcorn Chicken ($13). Freshly fried, with heat radiating from the sizzling meat, it was served with sweet chili and what I think was light mayo garlic.

Was it the best? Who knows. Slathered in sauce, the meat packed a hint of Szechuan peppercorn, a slight tingle in the mouth and lips. Perfectly crispy on the outside, soft juicy meat on the inside, the sweetness of the toppings illustrated how keeping a dish simple works wonders. 

Crêpe Crème Brûlée - 4/10

If you’re going to claim that your dish is a crêpe topped with crème brûlée, it should have equal parts of both, right?

Yet when you bite into the Crêpe Crème Brûlée, you quickly notice a startling absence of signature custard. It’s a thin top layer, a few spoonfuls of the dessert, giving way to some sort of bread underneath and a whole lot of crêpe. Disappointing, to say the least.

Sweet and thick, the crème brûlée was what you’d expect. But there’s so little included, you feel almost cheated. The crêpe itself is unfortunately thick, without much flavour, and can’t make up for the lack of custard. 

Sushi Hot Dog - 7/10

By the time we got our order, the sounds of their sushi hot dog song, repeating high-pitched sing-song words every few seconds, had permanently imprinted itself in my brain. I can still hear the tune a week later.

We ordered the California Soft Shell Crab Sushi Hot Dog. A crispy, fried layer of batter surrounds sushi rice and nori, so the entire thing appears like a hotdog bun. Spilling over the top is a vaguely crab-shaped deep-fried soft-shell crab, covered in what tasted like spicy mayo, with a scattering of edamame, cabbage and other vegetables. 

The result? Not bad! Though hard to bite with the nori refusing to rip apart, the deep-fried rice reminded me of Italian arancini. The soft shell crab was flavourful and all the toppings worked well together. A pleasant surprise! 

But please, for the love of god, share it with a friend. There is no reason one human being should eat that much deep-fried food. 

Sip Bowl La Mian - 8.5/10

Shunted off outside the main food stall area is a simple soup stall that’s worth a visit. Sip Bowl La Main serves up Lanzhou-pulled noodles, from China’s Gansu province in northern China. 

Hunched over a steaming bowl of bowling liquid, two of the people manning the stall lowered heaping stainers of noodles into the vat of boiling water. They knew what they were doing.

My friend and I tucked into the dish after I liberally applied their thickened chili sauce. My watering eyes, cough and throat clearing the entire meal meant I had added too much.

Yet it didn’t take away from the meal. Flavourful rich broth, well-cooked and tense noodles with softened flavourful beef, it was the perfect dish to end the evening.

Were the noodles actually hand-pulled and fresh? Hard to say. I can only report on what I tried.

Those looking for Instagram-worthy food may want to go elsewhere. Those looking for flavour should exit the main area and give the stall a try.

Bao Buns - 5/10

Bao buns? Deep fried? With a heaping serving of ice cream and fruit? What’s not to like!

Unfortunately a bit. In my mind, bao buns work as a vehicle for food, not as the main attraction. Do you really remember the bun versus the perfectly cooked pork belly?

The novelty of the deep-fried bao wears off after a few bites. It pairs nicely with toppings like mango and condensed milk, but like a McDonald's hamburger, the longer you leave it, the tougher the bun gets. The entire dish appears like a remix of baobing, the shaved ice dessert, with a less appealing result. On the bright side, it photographs real well. 

I will caveat this by saying I ate at this place last year, so the quality may have changed.

Eggcellent Waffles - 6.5/10

Little smiling crispy dough encasing Portuguese custard, chocolate or matcha, I don’t really have much to say about these. They were fine? A cute treat with their little faces, but the flavours were very mild, and the Portuguese custard could’ve used more cinnamon.

Mango Yummy - 7.5/10

I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for mango.

We ordered the Mango Tapioca dessert. Layered with tapioca, coconut milk and whipped cream, with chunks of fresh mango, it wasn’t nearly as sweet as I expected. The mangos also didn’t taste as bright as I’d hoped but combined with the other flavours, it all resulted in an easily drinkable dessert that was perfect for sharing.

Dango House - 5/10

Dango House serves up Dango, a Japanese dumpling made with rice flour that is ubiquitous in tourist areas throughout Japan. The texture is reminiscent of mochi, but it is slightly easier to bite.

Unfortunately, the flavours, brown sugar and sweet soy sauce, did not stand out. The sweet soy was cloying, not really in a bad way, but a bit too rich, whereas the brown sugar wasn’t sweet enough. Both flavours immediately disappeared a two bites.

If you like mochi, you may enjoy this more than I did.

Chef James Xin Jiang Man - 9/10

The signature lamb buns by Chef James are a staple of the Night Market. And for good reason.

Watching the man flip, chop and fold lamb meat sizzling on the grill, shaking a mixture of what tasted like cumin and salt, was entrancing. The 15-minute wait flew by.

I was lucky enough to try all three meats — lamb, duck and chicken. Each overflowed the small confines of the bun, cumin-scented juice leaking out onto the plate. The duck had the most distinct flavour, a little pungent and salty, with a meat flavour that was memorable. If you’re looking for something more traditional, the lamb and chicken are both great selections.

• Vegetarians can also enjoy an eggplant version.

They aren’t cheap at $22 for three. But the quality and consistency make up for the price.