Superb Chinese, Sun Sui Wah (Vancouver Elective 2015)

I closed out my Vancouver Elective wanting to uphold my heritage and find the best representation of Chinese cuisine available. And while it was arduous and difficult to find just one restaurant or just one type of Chinese cuisine, I eventually settled on Sun Sui Wah for the numerous posts about their take on banquet style Cantonese cuisine.

A massive complex houses Sun Sui Wah on the corner of West King Edward and East 23rd Avenue. The supermarket sized restaurant takes up the entire second floor of the building and while the exterior is nothing to write home about, the interiors are extraordinarily elegant. A nice combination of traditional touches like authentic Chinese art on the walls are mixed with new modern styles with large TVs and a circular jumbo aquarium holding what seems like an entire ocean's worth of seafood.

The menu is vast and dives into the essence of traditional Cantonese cuisine. As a seafood restaurant, the emphasis lies on their take on the various crustaceans and fresh fish available. Yet if seafood is not your fancy, a host of stir fries, meat and vegetable dishes are also available. A small flipbook of house specials showcases more nuanced dishes like their special free ranged chicken or a few Northern style dishes. Classic banquet style menu that will satisfy anyone.

Dining solo this particular night, I decided to go with a house specialty, Soy Sauce Free Ranged Chicken. The key here is truly in the chicken, thinly sliced and cooked perfectly to showcase the contrast between the marvelously gelatinous skin with the tender meat inside. Finished simply with soy sauce and a touch of oil, the essence of the chicken was truly evident here.

Braised Prawn & Sliced Chicken with Vermicelli Hot Pot was my savoury pick of the day. As a sucker for clay pot style dishes, this was a fantastic version featuring large volumous prawns, thinly sliced chicken all in a szechuan style sweet and spicy sauce. The best part though was the vermicelli adorning the bottom of the dish which was a wonderful starchy element that had soaked up all the flavours and juices from the other ingredients. Marvelous!

Sun Sui Wah is a solid Chinese restaurant featuring traditional banquet style Cantonese cuisine. And while there were few outright surprising dishes, what was offered was cooked perfectly and in a fashion that does Chinese food proud. An easy recommendation for anyone in the area.

And so I fondly finish my Vancouver Elective series up a few pounds but full of memories and delightful meals and while I cannot consider myself an expert on Vancouver's food scene, I have a profound respect for the bevy of options available and vow to return for another taste. And now bake home to Winnipeg!