Do you have an all-vegetarian Chinese restaurant you love? What's your go-to for congee, hot pot, or Chinese BBQ? For those passionate about Chinese food in Metro Vancouver, this is a great time of year to shout out your favourites, as voting opens up for the annual Chinese Restaurant Awards Diners' Choice categories.
Now in its 11th year, the Chinese Restaurant Awards aim to celebrate the bounty of Chinese cuisine in Metro Vancouver, and to offer local and visiting diners an approachable way to explore the vast array of dishes, styles, and regional specialties that can be found here.
HK BBQ Master (Lindsay William-Ross/Vancouver Is Awesome)
The Diners' Choice categories give you, the eater, your opportunity to nominate favourite spots, then cast votes to determine the ultimate winners.
Related:
- 21 best Chinese restaurants and dishes in Vancouver
- 10th annual Chinese Restaurant Awards celebrate a decade of dining (2018)
Each year, the Chinese Restaurant Awards add new categories; for 2019 the iconic dishes up for votes include Cantonese-style Crispy Chicken, Tofu Pudding, and Sichuan Chilli Oil Wonton. You can also give props to beloved spots for their desserts, dim sum, bakery, food court stall, Hunan, Shanghaiese, Taiwanese and Bubble Tea, and many more.
At the Aberdeen Centre Food Court in Richmond (Lindsay William-Ross/Vancouver Is Awesome)
The online nomination period runs from Jan. 21 to 27, 2019, with the 20 most nominated of each category moving into the final nominee list of that category. Voting will be open online and WeChat from Jan. 28 to Feb. 24, with the results announced Feb. 25.
In addition to Diners’ Choice, the Chinese Restaurant Awards feature the Critics’ Choice Signature Dish categories, which are decided on by a panel of local food personalities. Those winners will be announced–and everyone honoured–at an event and awards ceremony in April this year at the River Rock Casino & Resort in Richmond.
Vancouver is often singled out for its incredible Chinese restaurant scene, in local, national, and international media coverage. That’s no surprise to Lee Man, one of the esteemed critics who has judged the Chinese Restaurant Awards for all of its ten previous years.
Last year, Man told Vancouver Is Awesome one of the reasons Vancouver is singled out is because of our restaurants' use of high-quality local ingredients paired with skilled preparation.
Perhaps, most importantly, things like the Chinese Restaurant Awards exist to help encourage diners to go out and eat more local Chinese food. And, of course, vote on it.
