The 2014 Richmond Night Market Food Post #1

A few weeks back I did a post for the International Summer Night Market with a promise of venturing to its doppelgänger. Today I am delivering on that promise.

This post actually came from the opening weekend, and I just got around to posting these photos now. Sorry for the delay folks.

What I can note about this market is that it is easier to get to than the International Summer Night Market, because it’s right beside Bridgeport Station on the Canada Line. However if you are driving, parking can be a bit of a mess. Expect a lineup at times, and some pretty hectic traffic if you are coming earlier in the evening.

There are normally some staples of the Night Market, such as skewers, or spiral potatoes, or takoyaki. One such staple is the dim sum that is served at numerous stands.

My friend grabbed some siu mai, which is always a great pick. However there was more food to be eaten throughout the night.

These folks were offering savoury Japanese crepes on a stick. It reminded me of okonomiyaki with how the middle was a tad bit doughy and the outside was crispy. They were offering two pieces for $10, so my friend and I split the costs.

My friend grabbed the crab. It was good, but the crab did not do much to add to the flavour or the texture of the crepe.

I grabbed the crispy ramen option. I quite enjoyed this one mainly for the texture. The crispy ramen pieces meshed well with the doughy interior of the crepe to create an interesting interplay of crispy and soft.

I had not gone to a bubble tea cafe for a while to have fried chicken nugget, so I was having a pretty bad nugget craving. Thus I was delighted to find this place. Hopefully I’ll build up the courage to try out the stinky tofu on the menu.

This was the surprise of the night. Firstly, when I was served the nuggets, I was asked if I wanted any toppings. I asked for some mayo and siracha, but the folks misheard me because of the craziness ensuing in the food section of the night market. So, they threw some cilantro instead of siracha on top, but I clarified with them, and so had all three toppings. All three toppings added to the nuggets, my friend liked them, and I was even asked by some folks where I got these little delights.

Lastly, there was dessert, and thankfully they had my favourite dessert stand this year!

If I post more night market photos, you’ll probably see more of these. However the mango tapioca is always something I look forward to eating at the night market! My apologies for the repetition in advance.

Now, go eat and be merry at the Richmond Night Market! I hope I’ve given you some ideas of where to eat. I will be sure to post more photos as I go more times throughout the season.

Cheers,
D

The 2014 International Summer Night Market Food Post #1

Summers in Metro Vancouver are marked by a number of things like the Celebration of Lights, trips to the PNE, occasional biking, and late nights spent with good people. Since high school, some of my favourite places to visit during the summer are the various night markets around the metro area.

The Vancouver Chinatown Night Market was in decline for a number of years, and has finally been shut down. During its decline, focus largely shifted to the two night markets in Richmond. There’s the one out by the River Rock Casino and the Bridgeport Canada Line Station, and then there’s the one out on Vulcan Way near the Richmond Ikea. Today, we will be venturing into the latter of the two, which just started its season this past weekend.

I’ll be hitting up both night markets in Richmond this year, and I’ll be making numerous food posts on the various things I have eaten and have yet to eat. Thus, this will be the first of many glorious food posts over the span of this summer.

For those of you not familiar with the location, it’s in the loading zone for a warehouse. You have to walk to the back of the building, and then you’ll see a bunch of lights, booths, and Asian people. That’s how you’ll know you are at the Night Market.

Previously this night market charged $4 for parking, but had free admission. This was the opposite of its counterpart, which, due to its accessibility to the Canada Line and free parking, charged for admission. This year it seems like they’ve both opted to not charge for parking, but slam you with an entrance fee. I preferred the charge for parking, considering that this location is harder to get to by bus, so the parking charge felt more justified. However they have to make money, so who am I to comment?

My friend and I decided to first try some fusion food. I’ve heard of the karaage taco from places like Tacofino, but I’ve never had a chance to try one. Kotako instantly caught my eye, so I decided to grab a taco, and my friend also caved into the temptation.

I had the chicken karaage taco. The karaage and veggies gave it a crunchiness, and the guacamole was creamier than most guacamoles. Thus the taco was creamy, warm, and crunchy all in one bite! Plus, it was spicy because I threw some siracha on half of the taco for good measure.

My friend grabbed the terimayo taco. Think of it like a chicken terimayo bowl, minus the bowl, and wrapped in a tortilla. My friend loved how well the elements worked together, and how fresh the taco tasted!

For our second round we decided to go the way of the old school night market by hitting up a Taiwanese stand. Our idea of a night market in Vancouver has been influenced by different styles of street food as Vancouver’s numerous Asian (and some non-Asian) cultures have begun to display common street dishes. However the larger textbook night markets hail from Taiwan.

My friend grabbed a Taiwanese noodle soup, which was quite a tasty bowl of noodles. The noodles themselves were quite thin, but the consistency of the soup and noodles together were thicker than it looked in the photo.

I grabbed a hot dog. However this was not just the regular ballpark frank. This is actually a hotdog inside of a hotdog. I know, it sounds kind of weird, but follow what I’m about to say. The “bun” is actually a hotdog casing that’s been stuffed with rice and grilled. Once the “bun” is cooked, it’s split open and the meat-filled hotdog is stuffed inside. The meat-filed hotdog is somewhere between a regular hotdog and one of those shrivelled Chinese sausages you get at the Asian supermarket.

I always loved these, because as a Filipino child I would often eat hotdogs, spam, bacon, corned beef, and other forms of preserved meat with rice. This totally brought me back to my childhood, but it also let me eat my memories in the form of a hotdog with a bun.

What about dessert? Don’t worry we got you covered.

I grabbed a cup of mango tapioca. It’s basically shaved ice, milk, mango juice, and mango cubes. They also serve this one at the other Richmond night market; and normally I’ll do this thing where I run over to Bubble Queen, grab a mango cube bubble tea, drink it, go to a night market, eat a bunch of skewers, and then have one of these. It’s mango-on-mango action!

Definitely go to a night market during the summer, and try the food. They also have things like cheap cell phone cases and chargers if you need that kind of stuff. However there is a concentration of good food, so bring some cash, and be ready to eat multiple dishes in one evening.

With the coming of the summer, be ready for more night market posts. Don’t worry, I’ll try to mix things up and eat different things. Perhaps a skewer themed post would be a good theme for another night market adventure!

Cheers,
D

Seeing the Summer off at the Night Market

Summer is coming to an end, and Autumn is inching closer as the days roll by. Today I wanted to give a bit of a farewell to the long days, carelessness, and memories that summer gave. I could not think of a greater way to see the summer off than by going to one of my favorite summer hangouts. When I think summer, I think the Richmond Night Market.

This is the Richmond Night Market, which is the one by the River Rock Casino (we also refer to this one as ‘the new Night Market’ or ‘the one you have to pay for’). I was not able to do a post on the Richmond Summer Night Market (‘the old Night Market’), but there is always next year!

The Night Market has always had an abundance of great food. I remember going to Night Markets in high school to grab takoyaki, assorted dim sum, and other random food. However I’m gonna be sharing some of my favourites from this year on this post.

The first is sort of an anomaly for the local food scene. In a market that models something seen in Asia, that’s in a suburb that is 70% Chinese, and is contained in a metro area that is predominantly Asian we have a Mexican taco stand!

On the left, we have a beef taco; in the centre, we have a pork pastor taco; and on the right there is a prawn taco. Behind all of this is a tasty serving of homemade guacamole. It’s hard to get tacos like these, and even harder to get guacamole like this in Vancouver.

This is probably my favorite place to get skewers at the Richmond Night Market. They are more expensive than the other skewer stands, but I think they’re totally worth it.

This picture is of assorted skewers that were being grilled, but I ordered some lamb and chicken skewers. The chicken was good, but it was not unique to this stand. The lamb was what set this stand apart for me. It was juicy, flavorful, and properly seasoned. However, if you are at the Richmond Summer Night Market (‘the old Night Market’), then you might want to try the Halal stand’s lamb skewer.

Now we move onto the desserts. This place actually has a storefront in Crystal Mall (as well as another Chinese mall, but I can’t recall which one). This place is known for the giant mango shaved ice bowls they serve. I normally prefer something different.

I got the mango ice tapioca. This yummy treat contains shaved ice, tapioca balls, condensed milk and mango chunks. It was a tasty way to end the evening.

If you want to go to the Richmond Night Market, you only have a few weeks left, so go there soon!

Address:
8351 River Rd
Richmond, BC

Richmondnightmarket.com

Cheers,
D