Noshwellmenu

[rating:3]

Western Lake Chinese Seafood Restaurant is situated in East Vancouver on Victoria Drive. It sits across from a busy Chinese market which can make parking a bit difficult. Despite that, people continue to flock through the hustle and bustle of traffic and pedestrians to Western Lake to enjoy dim sum.

(Clockwise: 1. Beef trip and tendon.  2. Har Gow, Shrimp Dumplings — a dim sum staple.  3. Chicken Feet in special house sauce.)

Tre and I have been here eons ago when it was still On Lok’s Restaurant. We couldn’t recall if it was good or bad, but knew the establishment had changed hands many times since then.

Western Lake is smaller then what we remembered, but has been updated with a modern decor. Red and gold accents warm up the room. The place was already buzzing, even at 9:30 in the morning.

The crowd here seems to lean more towards the older side, doesn’t look like a lot of people under 30 dine here. We check off our order on a menu sheet:  steamed shrimp dumplings, chicken feet in sauce, beef tripe and tendons, steamed rice with pork belly and fish, deep fried pork dumplings, and egg tarts.

(Clockwise: 1. Deep Fried Pork Dumpling 2. Egg Tarts 3. Pork Belly with steamed rice.)

The portions at Western Lake are generous. The steamed shrimp dumplings are filled with huge chunks of shrimps, but the outer skin is thick rather than thin and delicate. The beef tripe and tendons weren’t seasoned evenly, some pieces saltier than others. The deep fried pork dumplings had nice flavours, but was very glutinous with an extra thick skin. And the steam rice with pork and fish was okay. The rice was nice and fluffy but the pork didn’t have much flavour.

The chicken feet, on the other hand, were awesome! Well seasoned with skin falling off the bones. And the egg tarts were well made and flaky. The custard could have been a touch sweeter, though.

Our bill including taxes and tips came to just under $27. The service wasn’t anything special, although we couldn’t understand why our waiter rolled his eyes when we asked for a container to take our egg tart home. Besides that, the food was a little heavy to our liking, but the flavours are decent and the prices reasonable.

Perfect for: A really early morning dim sum break in East Van.

The Details

4989 Victoria Drive, Vancouver
604.321.6862

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