Our family goes for Chinese cuisine quite often I would say but this time, we went to try Chiu Chow cuisine, different style than the Cantonese style we were used to. Top Chui Chow Cuisine is located in Richmond, on the edge of Union Square, right behind Canadian Tire on No. 3. Parking is was really hard to find, everyone seemed to be waiting for a spot.


The restaurant is cosy and nicely decorated.


Some pickled veggies and flash fried peanuts were given to us to snack on prior to ordering.




We started off with some whole pepper, pickled vegetable and pork stomach soup ($18.80). This was very spicy because of the pepper, I had to take a break in between for the burning in my mouth to subside. Despite the spiciness, I quite enjoyed the soup.


We ordered this appetizer dish where you can mix and match the contents that comprises the plate. Here we have Chiu Chow specialty duck (lo sui duck), lo sui tofu, lo sui egg, and pork intestine (total $20.80). Chui Chow sure do like pig innards. lol It tasted ok. My favourite was the duck, which was very tender and tasty (the large pieces at the front).

Foods cooked in 'lo sui' or 'marinated cooking water' is what Chiu Chow is known for. It's some kind of sauce that sauce once it is made in a pot, it never gets replaced, only replenished. The sauce apparently only gets more tastier with age.


Here we have Chiu Chow style deep fried shrimp ball ($8.80) and crab meat cubes ($9.80). It came with a sweet sauce.  Nothing remarkable here.


This pan fried oyster omelette ($16.80) was definitely the table's favourite. It was gone within minutes! I didn't even get to eat very much. =(


Pan fried Gai Lan (Chinese broccoli) with dried sole ($14.80). The vegetables were oily but it's probably due to the style of cooking more than anything. I loved the little pieces of dried sole. They were very crispy and yummy!


Chui Chow styled panfried chicken breast on top a bed of fried gai lag leaves ($16.80). The leaves were crispy and see through. They almost tasted like seaweed. I liked the taste of them very much. The chicken was ok, nothing special.


Chui Chow is also known for their congee but it isn't the thick porridge we are used to. Instead, it is more of broth with rice in it. (Left over rice congee my dad described it as)


The type we ordered contained dried sole (YUM), chopped oysters and ground pork ($18.80). I really liked it. It was very flavourful.


For dessert, we were given a plate of sweet watermelon.


And a bowl of sweet dessert with green beans and some kind of chewy, starch cubes that doesn't have any taste themselves. The waiter told us that these cubes start out white and become clear when cooked. I didn't really like this dessert. The hard green beans seemed out of place, it would probably have been better if they were softer but maybe that's the way Chiu Chow people cook it. I'm not sure. The starchy things were just chewy, kind of like bubble tea pearls but without the taste and a little more firm.

If you want to experience authentic Chiu Chow cuisine, I'd recommend trying this place out but I also strongly suggest bringing someone who is fluent in Chinese (Cantonese) along.