Chong Lee Market — Local services in Vancouver

I have been going to Chong Lee Market (Rupert & E. 22nd Ave) since 1993. I enjoy dropping by their new store and am happy they came back as an anchor store. The new store is slightly smaller than their former store.

Parkade: Entrance is in the alley. You need to register your vehicle at the kiosk in the underground parkade (next to elevator). After entering your licence plate, select "option 1" for free 2 hour parking. You can wheel the shopping carts into the parkade. There is an elevator at street level on Rupert.

Take Out Hot food (starts at 10:30 am) - For the hot take out foods, they have installed a numbering system so you must get a number from the red ticket dispenser located at the right corner of the counter. The staff reads the digital display on the wall (it only has 2 digits). Sometimes the ticket dispenser issues tickets with 3 numbers on ticket, just refer to the last 2 numbers on ticket. This helps keep everyone happy in the line up. I often buy their take out food - You can buy hot items separately (small (medium?) or large) or buy the combo which includes a staple item such as (rice, fried rice, flat noodles, chow mein or Singapore chow mein (has a yellow color) + 2 other hot food items. Usually I get the combo (currently priced at $10.95) ...it's a good price as all their hot items on display are the same price for the combo.

You can also buy party trays of these foods. You might need to pre-order. I suggest you ask the customer service counter located by the front door how to order party trays.

Vietnamese Take out Counter: I also recently started checking out their Vietnamese take out stand because I like their spicy pork ear salad and cooked clams. They have other hot foods, some dim sum as well besides banh mi, so do check out the Vietnamese counter. If you buy an order of the marinated spicy pork ear salad, it cost $12.

BBQ Meats - Their bbq meats are as good as before. I also noticed they supply their bbq meats to the Chinese restaurant across the street. So it must be good. If you want to order a smaller piece of bbq pork..just tell the guy you want 1/2 of a piece. You can buy it by the pound or tell them the size (use hand gesture to show size). They will ask if you want it sliced ..he'll ask "cut" ? or "jam" (Cantonese)" if you want it cut, just say "cut" or "jam". Use hand gesture for cutting ...he'll get it (LOL) Tip: BBQ pork tastes better with a little fat. Look at the pieces first. Decide on a piece or if you are not sure, point to the bbq pork and say "siu siu fay" (means 'little fat'). Or if you don't want fat, ask for a skinny piece "sow cha siu" (pronounced like 'cow') means skinny bbq pork. Hopefully he'll get it (LOL)

Marinated lemon grass chicken & pork - They have a smaller open cold food storage across from the butcher counter selling marinated lemon grass chicken and pork. Great for bbq or home cooking.

Vegetables - The vegetable section is very organized (though smaller than former store).

Groceries - The shelves are organized (much more so than old store).

Seafood. I have not really looked into the seafood as much as I used to when they had the old store. However, everything does look fresh. With any whole fish, they will clean and gut it for you.

Staff - Good staff, efficient, friendly. If you are not getting served right away, just say "hello" and wave at the person to get his/her attention. If you don't speak Cantonese, that's not a problem....they can understand English. I think the staff serving hot foods and cashiers understand and speak English. The staff are likely from Hong Kong, so have an English speaking background. Except for the older male staff (eg bbq, butcher and seafood ) they may only have limited English so might be a bit awkward to deal with. The owners are Chinese/Vietnamese (it's family business currently run by the second generation adult children who were either born and/or raised...

Great new build market at same site as the old market. Signage seems small so I think many dont even know it is there. I am told there is underground parking but I parked on the street for my first visit to the new site. I did not know about the underground parking so the parking situation scared me as I took my mother for a haircut across the street.

I paid the lowest price around for my really fresh produce (cabbage at a dollar a pound which this week is much less expensive compared to all big box stores posting at the lowest 130 per pound having gone up from late harvest prices only a week or two ago )and got a smoking hot deal on hot pot soup base (paid 1 dollar per bag when I usually pay around 4-6 dollars per bag but this had to be a special promotion or clearance - I cleared them out since I use this everyday).

Not very busy inside which was great for me getting in and out twice to carry my 40-50 pound boxes of purchases to my car (will park underground next time) but not so good for the owner. I am sure it is just a matter of time before the old customers come back to the new store. It is really clean and brand new which is totally different than the old kinda run down store it used to be before the rebuild.

Based on my shop today - I will have to go back often. I wish they put up a website with all the store products online so I can compare in the comfort of my home. The current website is somewhat limited...

Before moving into its new building, this market was in an appalling state. It was filthy, disorganized, and overrun with scavenging crows, which could often be seen carrying discarded raw pork through the air. After witnessing this, I never dared to shop there, despite living only a three-minute walk away.

Now housed in a new, modern building, it may look presentable, but I have no doubt that the management’s habits remain unchanged. A fresh coat of paint does not alter a fundamental disregard for hygiene, order, or responsibility.

I have personally witnessed the reckless behavior of the delivery trucks servicing this market. Drivers demonstrate shockingly poor skills, parking dangerously close to neighbors’ fences, causing damage, and then simply driving away as if nothing had happened. There is no concern for the community, no accountability for their actions.

This location is entirely unsuitable for a supermarket of this scale, even a mid-sized one. There is neither adequate space for large delivery vehicles to load and unload safely nor sufficient parking for customers. The market’s presence creates ongoing risks for both property and personal safety.

Today, it was a fence that was damaged. Tomorrow, it could be someone’s elderly...