Kam Wai Dim Sum

5 stars for being a legendary business in Chinatown!

Rating 5 stars to Kam Wai also for staying true to the authentic taste of simple dim sum dishes all these years and for offering many dim sum variety in their frozen section, maintaining the value and joys of enjoying dim sum at home.

I love dim sum and have known Kam Wai as a frozen dim sum shop since the late 90's. To me, it's more than an awesome grocery stop with frozen dim sum items to take home but this name holds a special place in my heart because it brings back childhood memories with my Grandmother. Back in the days when my Grandma hosts weekly dim sum get-together at dim sum restaurants in Chinatown, we would stop by Kam Wai to buy frozen buns to take home or we will buy a lotus leaf wrap or hot steamed bun to eat on the spot. Yes, one can buy and eat more dim sum, even after a dim sum meal because there's alway room for dim sum :)

During the last decade, Kam Wai has updated its look and space, moving to the current location on East Pender Street. They maintain a cute dining area with small round tables and a limited hot foods menu so you may enjoy a bite on site. Kam Wai is famous for their Jumbo Deluxe Bao (aka. Chicken bun 雞球大包 ) and their dumpling and rice dish options offers exceptional value for lunch. Instead of tea, you can buy wonton soup or cold soft drinks in the fridge to complement your meal. For me, Bao's, congee, dumplings, and wonton soup are my comfort foods that always hits the spot and satisfies my dim sum cravings.

#tourist_DineInAlert
Tourists visiting should know that this is a popular dim sum place for locals worth visiting, but not for being a sit down restaurant with hot tea, dim sum carts or table service. It would be the courtesy of diners to clear own tables and throw away empty plates in the big trash bin by the door on the way out.

#frozenVariety
Tho there are often lineups in the store with retail purchases since the store carries so many different types of frozen buns, dumplings, etc., the staff work hard to have efficient cashier service for hot foods order as well. I also find their staff helpful in recommending dishes and explaining a menu item to customers. In fact, on a recent Sunday visit, I was introduced to the mushroom dumpling 三菇餃 by Mark and this is now my new favorite vegan dish option!

I personally wish the government will keep doing more for Vancouver's Chinatown businesses in keeping the area clean and safe for all, both locals and tourists. I believe Chinatown offers an unique aspect of Chinese culture all across North America and Chinatown history holds so many stories that there's a lot more to Chinatown than what meets the eye. (Check out cute duck photo in review )

#DimsumAndDumplings
Dim sum and dumplings can be an everyday staple in my food culture. Therefore, I appreciate good dim sum value and especially when we are faced with these rising food inflations globally after the pandemic.

Kudos to Kam Wai for maintaining reasonable prices and honest business practices!

I saw that this place had decent online ratings and thought I'd give them a try especially since they are in Vancouver's Chinatown. Overall a hit or miss with their food. Pork siu mai and shrimp dumplings were tasty but as you can see in my photos, they were falling apart even before I picked them up with my chopsticks to consume. Flavoring of their pork spare ribs on rice was a-OK and bit bland: I've had better at other dim sum places. Congee was pretty delish and it's hard to mess that up.

Pretty much all of their food is pretty cheap! It's a counter service with three tables and couple stools, so it's best to go there during non peak times if you want to dine in. I def saw far more to go orders.

this family-owned take out and frozen dim sum shop, established in 1991, is a beloved fixture in chinatown, located at 249 east pender street. this little shop is quaint and has a no nonsense atmosphere with a few tables for dine-in customers and several freezers stocked full of a wide variety of frozen buns, and other dim sum items.

when i visited, i picked up an assortment of dim sum along with two sticky rice parcels. the combo pack came with clear steaming instructions: steam the dim sum for ten minutes, while the sticky rice needed a longer steaming time of thirty minutes.

the shop's longevity and continued popularity speak to its quality and the community's appreciation for its offerings. this shop is not just a place to purchase food; it's a culinary destination that brings a piece of chinatown's rich cultural heritage into your home. whether you're a longtime fan or a first-time visitor, this dim sum shop is a good choice for quality, convenience, and authentic taste.

Hearing about the plethora of dim sum options in Vancouver, I wanted to try a variety of sit-down and quick-service dim sum restaurants. Kam Wai Dim Sum came up as a top hit from a Yelp search for a quick-service where you stand in line, order, and pay. Dine in is available, but there's maybe only 3-4 small tables and a counter seat.

I visited on a weekday around 12PM. Most of their steamed items sell at four pieces per order, but they accommodate some mix-and-match options--just ask! Since I was by myself and not on an empty stomach, I wanted variety but no leftovers, so I ordered two pieces each of pork siu mai and ha gow. The pork siu mai was ok, I felt like it should've included some mushroom or roe for different textures and flavors. It was overall bland and really needed soy sauce and hot sauce. And the ha gow was unfortunately worse. The shrimp was mushy and the dumpling skin was too thick. Maybe I dined on an off-day, but my expectations were high and I left disappointed. At least prices were reasonable: CA$4.75 for four pieces. They accept credit card and service was friendly.

I loved finding this place as we wandered around Chinatown. It's no frills - but it is clean and you can pick up a few hot items to eat there, or pick up frozen dumplings and other items to take home to cook. We did both! We had ha gow (shrimp dumplings) and wonton soup there and picked up frozen wonton and potstickers to cook at our apartment. The ha gow wrapper did fall apart easily - but they was forgiven since the taste and texture was good!

I stopped in here on a Tuesday at around 12:30 with my husband after we had lunch, and were still a little hungry. Dim sum was the perfect solution because you could get as much or as little as you want, and we wanted to try Vancouver's dim sum. This was just your typical bakery dim sum though, nothing special. We had the shumai and the beef balls and both were kind of just mid. If you're looking for good dim sum, you won't find it here. But if you're looking for some dim sum that will hold your cravings over until you find real dim sum, then this is a viable option. They have hot dim sum and frozen ones too, so if I lived in Vancouver, I could definitely see myself buying a few packs for my freezer. There are a few tables inside but it seemed most people were getting their orders to go, or just grabbing the packs from the freezer. It's also quick so if you're pressed for time, and you don't want to eat fast food, then this spot would be perfect.

Price was good, but food quality wasn't great. Especially the meat and the shrimp weren't good, not fresh.

Just coming back since I returned today to get more of their onion baos (vegan) and took more pics to share.

Tourist review!
3.5 stars

I stumbled on this place actually because it was close to a coffee shop that I wanted to try, so I stopped in at their opening time.

As an overview, I had heard that the Chinese food in Vancouver is better than Hong Kong because of all the people that have migrated here prior to the handover of Hong Kong back to many years ago, so I have to say perhaps I was expecting a bit more, and in all fairness, I am partial to Hong Kong style dim sum.

They seem to have a lot of frozen to go dim sum which I think is their specialty, and the storefront is a way to offer some of that selection to eat in house. Ithought the Har gow was good but the sui mai wasn't my style and the dumplings were good but unremarkable. The sauces were normal and unremarkable and I have to say I was a bit disappointed that there was no chili oil or hot mustard but that's just me.

Everything we tried here was delicious and fresh. I'm so jealous for the locals because we don't have a place like this around me.

You can pick from so many options so we grabbed a few things including pork shu mai, ha gow, and the tofu wrapped meat (4 pieces each for $4.75) to share and everything from the shu mai to the lotus rice wrap were all good. I wish my stomach had more room to try everything else. We tried a sesame ball at the end and to no surprise, it was delicious.

I love that they have a refrigerated section so you can take stuff to go! Service was nice and they had a few small tables to eat at inside.