Hakka cuisine is a traditional rustic cooking style of the Hakka people, China's gypsies and nomads, found mainly in the southeastern Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangxi. Stewed, braised, roast meats, 'texturized' contributions remain central to Hakka cuisine; the cooking style emphasize simple but tasty dishes that focuses on texture.


Hakkasan Bistro is a small but modern looking restaurant found in the industrial area of East Richmond that specializes in Hakka cuisine, in fact they have won several notable mentions and awards for their food and service.

At the end of August, I was invited to a winery tour and dinner media tasting presented by Hakkasan Bistro and Canada Berries Winery. First we were taken to Canada Berries Winery for a wine tasting tour.

The winery is located in Richmond on Blundell Rd., near No. 5 Rd.; I had no idea that there were wineries located so close to the Vancouver! You don't have to travel to the Okanagan for a wine tour! Their staff are super passionate and knowledgeable about their wines. Canada Berries specializes in fruit wines made from BC blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, peach, cranberries and other fruits. All their wine are made from 100% BC grown fruits!

We were lead up stairs where we noshed on finger foods while Canada Berries staff prepared their most popular wines for us to taste.




These grapes were just picked fresh from the Canada Berries' own vineyard! They were very sweet and delicious.


We tasted a few of Canada Berries' most popular wines starting with the least sweet - Gooseberry wine to the sweetest - Black Current. My favourites were definitely the sweeter ones. Black Current and Blue Queen Gold Blueberry Cranberry were definitely my two favourite ones. They were also their two popular wines. They have to keep bottling the Blackcurrent one because they keep selling out! The bottle we tried was only bottled the previous week!

Canada Berries churns out 20 varieties of fruit and blended fruit wines as well as VQA ice wines! I will definitely know where to get wines for a party next time! After the wine tasting, we were driven to Hakkasan Bistro at the northern end of No. 5 Rd. for a gastronomic experience featuring some of the restaurant's specialty items.

We started the night off with a cold appetizer dish consisting of  Jasmine Tea Smoked Mushroom Beancurd Crepes, Balsamic Cloud Ear Mushroom, and a Chef specialty: Honey Roasted BBQ Pork Cheeks. I really loved the BBQ Pork Cheeks - so tender, moist and delicious! Everyone agreed that we'd go back to eat that again.

Next we were in for a special treat - Chef Specialty Double Boiled Pork with Snow Fungus Soup in Young Coconut. This was easily my favourite dish of the night. This is a dish that needs to be ordered in advance as this soup takes over 3 hours to make.

The slow boiling method makes the soup so flavourful and the best part is scraping off the young coconut meat inside that is infused with all the soupy goodness!

Another Chef Specialty is Lobster smothered in Chef’s Secret Garlic served on a bed of Jasmine rice. What is so special about this dish is that the odourless garlic won't have you reaching for your breath mints! Perfect for garlic lovers! I also loved the rice that has soaked up all the lobster juices. I definitely had seconds.


Chef Specialty - Ancient Style Hakka Salt Baked Chicken. The free range chicken is marinated in ten Chinese herbs and spices, wrapped in parchment paper then slowly baked in a clay pot filled with course salt. This technique makes the chicken succulent, tender and flavourful without being salty.



The Country style fish fillet was tender, flaky, and flavourful but pretty ordinary dish.

Hakka Homestyle Steamed Egg, Pork and Duck Yolk. I really liked this dish as well. It is has a very smooth and silky texture and was very tasty! Definitely recommend this for those visiting Hakkasan.

It was nice to have some veggies - Mui Choy Stirfry Seasonal Chinese Greens. Very tasty flavoured with some pork bits.

The last Chef Specialty for the night was Braised Pork Hock. The fatty meat (but not greasy) was super tender but a little salty on its own. Good with rice or this mini flour roll.


We ended the night with Steamed Milk dessert. It was smooth, silky custard like but more light and airy. It wasn't too sweet or heavy. A perfect end to a delicious dinner!

Overall, the dinner was amazing. Hakkasan Bistro has some interesting and delicious food. Their Chef Specialties are worth a try. Thought keep in mind that many of them need to be ordered in advance. I appreciate all the textures and flavours experienced in the dinner. I probably will give them a visit again for lunch!

Thank you Hakkasan Bistro and Canada Berries Winery for a wonderful evening!





Disclosure: The meal was provided free of charge by the restaurant and winery. The opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own and have not been influenced in any other way.