Dine the Canada Line Series: opening day eats
5 Comments
Karen Hamilton
August 27, 2009
When the Canada Line opened its doors on August 17, 2009, I wasted no time in taking my first train ride to Richmond, a city whose culinary delights have been, until now, rarely featured in my Lower Mainland eating schedule.
Now that this newest Skytrain line has subverted the irritations of driving and bridge congestion, I will be hopping on a Richmond-bound train as often as I can, reporting on Skytrain-friendly eats between now and the wrap-up of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Today’s report: where we ate on Opening Day
Our adventure began at 4 o’clock around Yaletown Station. The Canada Line had been up and running for 3 hours, but the line was still hundreds of people deep. Our wait began near the entrance of Rodney’s Oyster House, moving at a thankfully rapid pace considering the crush of commuters. I grabbed a passionfruit iced lemonade at the Starbucks across from the main entrance while we waited. Others passed the time chatting with neighbours about the traffic found at other stations: Waterfront’s queue was 2-3 hours and the estimate for the airport was similar.
For us, the snaking line took 45 minutes to get through before we witnessed our first train at the platform. We hopped onto one of the two already packed cars and hoped to high heaven that my brother would be able to jump onto the correct car from where he waited at Broadway – City Hall Station.
Thanks in large part to the cellular signal that was meant to be available even underground, we managed to connect with my brother with little difficulty. It petered out between Oakridge – 41st Ave Station and Marine Drive Station, but otherwise was stable throughout the rest of the trip.
This line is the least visually entertaining as a Skytrain tourist, understandably – the commute is mostly underground until Marine Drive Station, just in time to glimpse a bit of the Fraser River as one approaches Bridgeport Station on the other end. I comforted myself with the fact that this line opens more doors to shopping than the others do: 5 malls and 3 shopping districts connected to 8 stations. Food-wise, I cannot wait to explore the lunchtime cafes around Broadway – City Hall Station, the Asian delights around the Golden Village off of Aberdeen Station, and the seafood of Steveston Village, which will be connected via Richmond – Brighouse Station by September 7th. I will, however, have to remember to downplay the proximity of Bridgeport Station to River Rock Casino from my Vegas-loving husband.
Since the line-up at the airport was hours long, we decided to stop instead at Aberdeen Station and reacquaint ourselves with the food of the mall of the same name. Our threesome indulged in savoury buns from Saint Germain Bakery and a New York cheesecake Qoolala from Qoola’s second location before touring the food court at the topmost level.
You may scoff at the idea of being interested in food court stalls…but my dear readers, the food to be had in a Golden Village mall is nothing like the McDonald’s and the Burger Kings of your typical food court. We didn’t have time to linger despite our curiosity about the chicken wings at Wo Fung Dessert and my brother’s googly eyes at Beard Papa’s. I had a prenatal class to return to in the city while my brother wandered off to try a nearby Taiwanese restaurant (his girlfriend claims that Richmond houses the best Taiwanese food to be found in Greater Vancouver). But don’t fret. I’ll be back very soon to give you a much better report of the eats around Aberdeen Station. I hear there’s a great restaurant close by called Shanghai Wonderful whose soup dumplings are not to be missed.
Join us in dining across the Canada Line
As we jump aboard this newest of Skytrain lines leading up to the 2010 Winter Olympics, we’ll report the good food and sightseeing to be found in our journeys. Reporting style will be a little different for this series: we’ll add new content to existing posts, so that one can bookmark the article about, say, Richmond – Brighouse and have all the recommended eateries laid out for you in one spot.
Expect the next such article in a few weeks, which will give you a much better idea of Aberdeen Station and the eats that surround.
Want to come along for the ride? Have Canada Line food stops to recommend? Comment here or contact us and we’ll try to organize a field trip!
Categories: Food, Restaurants, Richmond
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Great article! really really helpful, especially for someone like me who rarely ventured into richmond (even though I live just over the bridge) but now I wil be riding the line there more often!
Good work Karen. I’m looking forward to your Richmond Canada Line food adventures. I actually live in Richmond and the Canada line for me opens the way to the eateries in Yaletown.
[...] decided to check out at least one restaurant along the Canada Line together before her departure. She has a soft spot for Taiwanese food by way of her mother’s [...]
[...] a fabulous Vancouver food blog! Check her site out: she’s already doing a terrific Dine the Canada Line series. [...]
Reading backwards through your blog…
LOVED the Birthday Cakes of Immortality. I’m excited to hear what ideas people come up with.
Too bad you didn’t have time to stick around Aberdeen. Those chicken wings at Wo Fung are definitely worth the wait. There’s a hint of ginger in the batter and the meat is perfectly juicy. They make them fresh so they’re sizzling hot!