Stephen is simply the finest food writer in Vancouver when it comes to bridging the non Chinese speaking world and the Chinese speaking world and explaining and interpreting the magnificence that is Chinese cuisine. Bravo! Please Georgia Straight, more Stephen Wong please! How about a weekly column in the Straight from Stephen? In the meantime, read the whole thing!
The takeout menu at Kwong Chow Congee & Noodle House on Main Street-numbered for your convenience-tops out at 288 dishes. They could probably have gone on, but 288 is an auspicious number (it means "double prosperity"), so they stopped there, presumably for luck.
Though not always quite so prodigious, Chinese restaurants are notorious for huge menus that read more like compendiums of modern Chinese cuisine than what a menu should be: a list of dishes that showcase what their chefs do best with available ingredients. I have no doubt that this shotgun approach is taken with the best of intentions-to provide variety-but too many choices can quickly turn into vexing tyranny even for the most experienced diners.
To help you navigate the vast menu of Chinese food in this city, I humbly offer my personal 10 favourite dishes and where you should seek them out.
