The Deluxe Chinese Restaurant — Restaurant in Richmond

The Deluxe Chinese Restaurant lives up to their name. This modern looking restaurant is located in Richmond on the corner of Browngate and No. 3 Road. The ultra tall ceilings, well-appointed interior, and multi-panel large screen tv are the first things that hit you when you enter. Arriving around 10:30am on a Sunday, there were a moderate number of diners here but we managed to secure a table (there was a lineup by the time we left).

Some common themes that you see here that you don’t find at most other dim sum restaurants includes glass teapots which are kept warm by tealight candles, individual serving chopsticks for each diner, and western-style tea cups with handles. The dim sum menu has pictures for most of the dishes but I found that the photos for some items varied quite a lot from what we actually received on the table.

The Three Kinds of Dumplings ($7.99) looked like an interesting dish (they didn’t provide an English description of what type of dumplings they were) and came with har gow (shrimp dumpling), a green dumpling filled with shrimp and topped with a large scallop, and a yellow dumpling filled with aromatic mushrooms. As there were 2 pieces each, we were able to try each so this is a good choice you have a small party and you want to try a bunch of different items.

The Deep-Fried Garlic Prawn Spring Rolls ($6.99) were one of the dishes that didn’t resemble the picture in the menu. These were fairly basic… nicely fried and crisp on the outside with shrimp filling on the inside.

Next up was the Bean Curd Wraps in Abalone Sauce ($6.99). The filling was actually pretty good in these.

I was a bit disappointed with the Pan-Fried Pork Buns ($6.99). They lacked the noticeable darkened bottom from pan-frying process and the filling on the inside was a bit sparse and dry (no soupy goodness).

Another dish which varied from their menu picture was their Beef Rice Rolls ($6.99). The rice rolls were pretty good but seemed a bit on the expensive side (especially when compared to what we were expecting from the menu picture).

The Stewed Vermicelli with BBQ Duck and Salted Veggies ($18.99) arrived in a large bowl and there was plenty of vermicelli in the dish. I found the thinly sliced duck was a bit on the sparse side and you have to make sure you stir up this dish to get all of the sauce on the bottom of the bowl to mix in with the noodles.

The last dish to arrive at our table was the Clams in Black Bean Sauce ($13.99). The clams turned out to be a good dish… the clam meat was plump and mostly large while the black bean sauce had a spicy kick to it.

Overall, some pretty good dishes here but I wish their menu pictures were more reflective of what they served. Prices, as expected in a deluxe-type restaurant, trended on the higher side.

Update - March 2025: It's been about 6 years since we last visited The Deluxe but things are still pretty deluxe here.

They don't have a lot of small tables so they wound up giving us a large table complete with a lazy susan. The country-style fried rice noodle with preserved meats and fried shrimp ($30.99) was quite good with plenty of toppings mixed on with the noodles.

We also ordered the dumplings with pork and peanuts ($10.99 L) which was similar to a compact and plump chiu chow dumpling. We really liked the abalone sauce that came with the bean curd wraps with fresh prawns ($10.99 L). Normally, we have this with a minced pork filling but the prawn filling was good.

We weren't sure what the yellow mustard seafood tarts ($11.99 SP) would be like but they turned out to be very flaky pastry tarts. The mustard had a spicy kick and there were mushrooms under the shrimp and scallop.

The pan fried dumplings with chive ($10.99 L) looked different than on the menu but they were still good.

We liked the coconut passionfruit jello ($9.99 M) as you could taste the passionfruit and it had...

A memorable, exquisite, lucious and exorbitant farewell dinner!

It is commonly acknowledged by most locals that ‘ Deluxe ‘ is amongst the top few elite and prestigious high-end Chinese dining establishments in all of Vancouver. Tonight, on the cusp of our departure tomorrow, my wife’s best friend of 50+ years insisted on treating us to a farewell dinner at this gastronomic institution.

With the help and input from chefs and management, a pre-arranged menu was conceived ahead of time. All we had to do upon arrival was to sit and wait for the onslaught of yummy fare to be delivered to our table! And man! What a delightful feast it turned out to be! Our meal started off with a most interesting and unexpected amuse bouche - a huge plate of unassuming, lip smacking, gorgeously pickled sweet and savory Turnip cubes. How can something that simple be so addictive and delectable?!

Next came a crispy skin, ‘ double step preparation, hand-held oil poached ‘ free range chicken dish. Prepared in two stages, the well seasoned bird, using a blend of exotic herbs and spices was first par-fried using regular boiling hot oil then finished off with a dose of hot Truffle Oil! An Intriguing combination of East meet West aroma and flavor!

To follow up was one of Rosy’s favorite Cantonese dishes - “ Deep fried whole LIVE Thai Goby fish in premium top soya sauce accented with julienne ginger and scallions “. Whilst the ladies concentrated on the light, sweet and delicate flesh, my laser focus aim was on all the crispy crunchy parts….head ( with glorious pieces of huge cheeks ), fins and tails! So f#%&&ing good!! Next came another of the stars of the evening. A new chef’s creation of “ Baked LIVE Dungeness Crab with a creamy, honey mustard topping “! Wow! What a stunning dish! The umami sweet crab meat and tamale of this 3 pound+ monster paired perfectly with the charming, mildly tangy and sweet sauce. A match made in heaven, land, ocean or whatever?! A winner that will no doubt portrait regularly on their menu.

To test out the ‘ wok-hay ‘ skill of the kitchen, our hostess specially ordered two dishes. First, a simple yet out-of-this-world killer dish of “Stirred fry BC Clams in black bean sauce and hot chili “! Last time I tasted a clam dish that darn good was years ago at an outdoor Hong Kong ‘ Dai-Pai-Dong ‘! The bi-valves prepared in a huge wok over a propane burner that sounded like the Concorde taking off! Next came a ‘ Stirred fry flowering chives with house cured salted pork belly ‘ dish. Humble yet flavorful, the dish exudes a wonderful smoky aroma and the meat, appealing chewy texture! Another winner!

Last of all, amongst fan-fare came our evening’s signature, creme de la creme dish. A hot pot casserole featuring priced ingredients that included Fish Maw, Sea Cucumber, Deer tendons, giant Shitake mushroom and white leeks braised long and slow in house-made Abalone sauce. Wow! What a heavenly, impressive and tasty dish!

Though it was nobody's birthday, for fun, our host ordered some fluffy, light and spongy Chinese Birthday ‘bao‘ with red bean paste filling to go with the complimentary house dessert of ‘ Black sesame filled Mochi dessert soup ‘!

Super-contented, happy and full! Apart from thanking our hostess for her kind hospitality, I wanted to yell out…….” I don’t want to go back...

Merely Deluxe prices…

Last couple of times here was way back, forgot when, think I am losing my memory lol. Anyways having my car serviced at the bmer place so decided to drop by here for some dim sum.

This place is located right beside Aberdeen Center on No.3 Road, its parking lot is at the back. Inside is decently spacious and bright, a somewhat typical Chinese seafood restaurant style which I wouldn’t go as far as grand or exquisite. And it’s far from fine dining standards as it describes itself.

Here were the food I ordered this time around;

Chrysanthemum tea (tea is $3/person). Came in 2 glass pots, 1 on top of a little flame underneath to keep it hot. Dried oyster and shredded dried scallop congee. Pretty flavourful and congee was smooth. Steamed chicken feet with special sauce. Special sauce? (Roll eyes) pretty basic like most dim sum places. Steamed spareribs with black bean sauce. Another basic dim sum dish but could cut the ribs in smaller pieces instead of huge chunks. Steamed beef tripes and tendons. Once again, smaller pieces so easier to eat and not looking so messy. Steamed crabmeat with egg white dumplings. Not a fan of imitation crabmeat in cooked asian dishes. Beef and egg rice rolls. Too thick, missing that silky smooth texture and the beef and egg were fused together poorly. Best rice rolls are from Guangdong and you are a Guangdong restaurant?!? Beef teriyaki with eggplant. The beef cubes were too big and tough to eat, need to tenderize the meat or start using tenderloin like most higher end dim sum places do. Steamed sponge cake. Pretty basic, just wanted a bit of sweetness in my mouth from all the msg lol.

This place is one of the many options in the Richmond area for dim sum or Chinese food, after all it’s called little Hong Kong for a reason but it should change its nickname to Little China now. However the reality is, actual Chinese food is still way better in China or Hong Kong and the service there are unparalleled compared to here.

The service here is just like another typical family Chinese restaurant, nothing fine dining or wow to. You sit down, tea served, serve your food, pay your bill and out the door you go (hahaha), maybe just maybe by accident you get a thank you or bye.

As for the food, everything was pretty average or subpar and definitely for the price you can get better food at other places or better food for cheaper per dish. Overall, $165 for 2 people, merely just paying DELUXE prices for subpar to average food...