King’s Chinese Cuisine

Reviews

• PennyandRusty P.

  star star star star star_border 11 June 2026

  Despite never eating at King's Chinese Cuisine before, our visit was a bit of a throwback for me... mainly because this place really kicks things old school.
  
  From the outside, this restaurant located on Main Street in Vancouver seems a bit nondescript and like it has seen better days. The interior is no different. They still use white plastic table covers here. I suppose it goes back to a time when things were more efficient at Chinese restaurants. No need to bother changing a fabric tablecloth if it gets dirty, just peel off the top plastic sheet and the next clean sheet is all ready to go.
  
  While they don't have push carts here, before we even had a chance to look at the menu, a man came by carrying a tray of freshly fried Ham Sui Gok. These football-shaped dumplings turned out quite well with a crisp outer shell which encased a meaty and savory filling. The thing that I've always liked about this dim sum dish is the chewy texture of the glutinous rice flour that they use.
  
  After we placed our order, it was probably another 20 minutes before the rest of our dishes arrived (mostly at the same time).
  
  Given the hole-in-the-wall vibe I was getting here, I was a bit concerned but the food turned out pretty well like the Steamed Spareribs.
  
  The Siu Mai here were huge. This classic Cantonese dim sum dish has always been one of my favourites.
  
  Like the most of the other dishes, I was pleased with how the Eggplant with Shrimp Paste turned out as the eggplant was quite tender.
  
  The Steamed Beef Rice Rolls and the Chinese Donut Rice Rolls were the only weak points here. Served on the same 70's ceramic plates that most Chinese families had in their kitchen cupboard (seriously... I totally recognize that pattern), the Chinese donut rice roll didn't come with the familiar hoisin/peanut sauce that you get in most Chinese restaurants.
  
  Last up for our meal was the Singapore-Style Vermicelli Noodles which is prepared with the characteristic yellow curry giving the noodles a pleasant golden hue.
  
  Overall, most dishes were pretty good. If you're not looking for anything fancy or showy, King's Chinese Cuisine is an adequate dim sum restaurant in the Riley Park area. They didn't take away any of our empty dishes during our meal... they just waited until we were done and then wrapped up all of the dirty dishes in the top plastic sheet and they were good to go with a new plastic sheet underneath.

• Hey Y.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 1 June 2026

  This place is been a staple of the neighbourhood, decor & cleanliness not withstanding, it's always been on the low-end of the family dining experience.  Food was always good enough for a last minute get together, mostly dim sum. Had a craving for Chinese, so did my first (&last) take out here.  Had to look beyond a pile of photocopied dim sum placemats to find the take-out menu. Being 7:30, the lady was trying to rush me to my order while hauling dirty dishes on a plastic tablecloth. I  appreciate efficiency but how about letting me take my time to read the menu? Secret to their current operation? Take $.99 worth of peppers and onions, chop it up, toss half a dozen shrimps, sprinkle with chilli flakes, call it "Szechuan Style Sautéed Shrimp" & charge $16.95! Want more?  Green bean chicken and blackbean sauce at $13.50. Take two drumsticks, remove meat in large chunks, throw in some green beans, Sauté in black bean sauce, charge $13.50. Really? You didn't even bother to chop the chicken into bite-size pieces.  I know it is a tough food market in this city. The staff looks like they're in their 60s, exhausted, and cranky but when you are paying these prices for takeout, you're not getting ambiance, you're not giving cleanliness, you're not getting value, you at least want flavour!  So when you're not doing a decent dish, the only thing you're really paying for is their rent! I'll be surprised if they're here a year from now.

• Jon L.

  star star star star star_border 31 May 2026

  wanting to do something out of the ordinary and defy tradition , our family decided to hold thanksgiving dinner at Kings.
  Being my dad's all-time favourite, he was very happy about this decision and decided that dinner was on him.
  
  we ordered the King of kings...Alaskan King crab weighing in at around 13lbs...monster of a crab if you ask me. served 4 ways, 2 huge plates of steamed legs, 1 plate the body chopped and tossed in salt and  pepper , and crab curry rice cooked and packed in the crab shell! (bonus: noodles on the side soak up the crab juices from the steamed dish)
  
  side dishes were crispy chicken, salt/pepper shrimps, and braised cod with tofu and soup!
  
  the crab cooked 4 ways was simply wow! cooked from live, the freshness was all there. steamed with lots of garlic, it was so amazing. the salt and pepper tossed crab was served pipping hot. crab portion was meaty and tossed nicely with fried peppers too. the crab rice was exquisite as well. nice curry sauce and crab meat packed into the crab head and cooked to perfection. rice was moist and so flavourful, aromatically accentuated by the crab essence and the curry sauce.
  
  the crispy chicken was tender and moist. skin was crispy. portions were chopped so perfectly. sakt and pepper shrimps were huge. perfectly seasoned. plump and juicy. cooked from fresh not frozen. the braised cod in pot was average. the tofu was cooked well but the cod wad a bit soggy. fish tasted cooked from frozen. the soup was a other hit. so good and packed with flavour. you can tell prime ingredients and lots of time was invested in carefully brewing and boiling this soup to bring out its full flavour.
  
  it was the service which caused then to lose a star in this review.
  
  knowing full well that its thanksgivings night, the owners did not prepare and hire extra staff. they decided to wing it and see what happens. the owner and probably her sis or cousin were seating people, taking orders, bringing tea, serving tables, bringing orders out, clearing tables and dishes, etc.
  the hubby was sorta clearing tables but helping out in kitchen. granny was in the kitchen cooking away with 2 helpers, and they were bringing out orders too.
  
  so naturally , there was quite a long wait for extra napkins, water, tea pot refills, requests for extra plate etc. i had to  some stuff on my own lol.
  
  anyhow, still a family fav so already made plans to go dimsum...lol!
  
  cheers! happy eating!!

• Karen L.

  star star star star_border star_border 26 May 2026

  (Migrating old reviews from my account on another review site to here)
  
  Great budget dim sum, but the decor is lacking and a little dingy. I also wish the staff was more attentive, since we had to flag them down multiple times to get their attention. I ended up just going up to the counter to give them our dim sum sheet or grab my own hot sauce from the area near their kitchen.

• Danielle K.

  star star star star_border star_border 19 May 2026

  Came here for dim sum a few days ago. The restaurant decor was rather dated, but the tables and utensils were clean.
  
  Ordering was a breeze with their menu sheet. There were Chinese and English names of all the items, so we simply had to mark off which items we wanted.
  
  Food was decent in both taste and portion size. I would recommend the Steamed Pork Shiu Mai Dumplings (#5), the 'Special' XO Pan Fried Turnip Cake, and the Baked Egg Custard Tarts (#42).
  
  Although it wasn't too busy, the food still took quite a while to arrive. We waited for a really long time for 1 particular item, and even asked the servers about it 3 times. It was only after the 3rd time that they told us, without any apology for making us wait needlessly, that that item was sold out for the day. This was long after we had finished all our other food.
  
  Aside from that service hiccup, the overall experience was alright.