Shanghai River Restaurant

Grab a seat overlooking the kitchen window at this cavernous contemporary northern Chinese eatery and you’ll be mesmerized by the intricate handiwork that goes into folding some of the best Vancouver-area dim-sum dumplings. Order plates to share here – one dish per person is the usual ratio – and be careful not to squirt everyone with the delicate but ultra-juicy pork or shrimp dumplings. The braised duck and ham soup is a great winter warmer, too. This place fills up at peak times, when it becomes animated with Chinese chatter. Note: the servers are often not fluent in English, so keep your orders simple.