Richmond Night Market - Richmond, BC

Japanese style poutine @ Richmond Night Market

Richmond Night Market is said to be a must see for visitors to Vancouver area. It is said to be the biggest night market in Northern America. We have been visitors for years but never had a chance to actually go there. So finally this weekend we made it there with a couple of friends.

This market started back in 2000 and went through a few changes. Stopped at one point and came back in 2012. Entrance fee was $4.25 per person. Or one could purchase zoom pass which cost $25 and good for 6 and skip the line as well.

The line was pretty long but it moved pretty fast too. I think we only waited less than 10 minutes. Paid for the tickets and in we went to look for food.

Our first stop was the Lao Er stall that specializes in squid. It's pan fried squid with option of squid legs for $11, mix of squid legs and rings for $12 or rings only for $13. We got the $12 and asked for the most spicy. This stall didn't really have a good system. There was a cashier accepting your order but no communication with the preparer. She only pointed you to wait at the other window. So you may not get your order if you just wait there. You have to tell your order to the guy at the pick up window and he'll prepare it for you. Hmm..



The squid though had a bit heat to it was not spiced up with chili. It's more like a combination of cumin and some sort of peppercorn. I guess for $12 we did get a decent amount of squid so no complaint there.

The line to get in at around 8:45pm

After that we moved on to Japanese poutine and ordered the seafood poutin for $10. This place gave an order number after we paid and we waited for our number to be called. There were a few people in front of us so it took about 5 minutes.

The poutine itself consisted of french fries, deep fried okonomiyaki batter (?), mozzarella pieces, drizzled with mayo and finished off with bonito flakes and green onion. Unique ? Yes. Taste wise was just okay. The sauce nor condiments was not hot enough to melt the mozzarella. So it felt like there was a disconnect between the mozzarella and the french fries. Maybe a thick curry would have done better ?

spicy squid at Lao Er stall

We walked back to the aisle we passed through just now to search for the stinky tofu. I have heard the notorious tofu and wanted to find out myself. We found the stall and I ordered a small order of Taiwanese stinky tofu for $9.

It took a few minutes for them to prepare the tofu. They came out piping hot on a paper container with some sweet tangy garlic flavored sauce on the bottom with tofu on top and finished off with pickle veggies. Smelly ? Yes, a bit. Not too strong even when I bit into the tofu and chewed on it. I guess I was expecting worse and it came out pretty mild. I love fried tofu and had not had it for quite a while. So when I bit into this tofu the smell of the fried tofu came first and followed by the smelly part of the fermented tofu. But it didn't quite discourage me from eating.

Okonomi Bites - Japanese style poutine

Seafood okonomi poutine

That was the end of our eating adventure. We then walked around and explored different part of the market where different games were featured with prizes as big as a five year old kid. We didn't feel like it so we were just watching other people participated.

All in all it was a fun night out. Expect to shelf out about $20 per person (not including entrance ticket). We most likely won't be back anytime soon.

Stall for stinky tofu and popcorn chicken

Taiwanese style stinky tofu

Lights decoration

Map - just Google Richmond Night Market