Hu Tong

From the outside, it’s a cute little restaurant in Kits. But inside, on a recent Friday night, the place was devoid of people. And now I understand why.
The waitress and chef looked almost annoyed as we walked in and took a seat. Having lived in China before, we could read the menu but had some questions. But when we asked the waitress, she literally had no words.
«Any recommendations?»
Blank stare.
«What do you like to eat?»
Blank stare.
When we finally finished with the ordering, the food came out promptly and wasn’t actually bad… except for a spinach salad that was supposed to be tossed in sesame oil and wasabi. Unfortunately, they forgot to spread the wasabi out so there were chunks of it and when swallowed whole… well, we were all coughing and choking.
When we told them this, the chef yelled at us: «This is how we eat it in Beijing.»
o_​o
My friend, who was dining with us, happens to be born and raised in Beijing.
«I’m from Beijing, and this is inedible. This is not how it’s supposed to be.»
The chef actually continued to yell back at us.
We were just so astonished that they would speak to customers like that.
At the end of the night, my friend (the recent immigrant from Beijing) was so ashamed of the entire experience.
I really wonder how they keep afloat with no business on a Friday night. All I can say is avoid this place.

expensive with disappointed service

The worst Chinese restaurant in Vancouver ever!!! Don’t come in here! Pricy and ingredient is not fresh. I freaking found a string in the noodle dish. When we raised the issue about the overcooked lamb, the chef stormed out arguing that’s how it is supposed to be, like we don’t know how lamb should taste. Very disrespectful!!!

Delicious food. But the portion is a bit small compare to the price they charge. Love the braised pork. The hot spicy seafood mix is good as well. The servants are attentive and nice. May come back later.

I’ve only ever had the spicy hot pot here and it’s solid. If you don’t want to go all the way to Richmond and don’t want to go to the trouble of making hot pot at home, this is a decent option. My only caution is that it is on the greasy side and only has the basic hot pot ingredients.
Even though it is in the middle of Kits, this is *not* western-​style Chinese. This is not the place to bring your friend who only eats chicken with broccoli. However, I’ve always found the people who work here incredibly friendly, so this would be a good place to try hot pot for the first time.

Our server Casey was friendly and informative. She took the time to make recommendations based on our taste and we were happy with the results. This restaurant requires you to have a curiosity about Beijing cuisine and an open mind. If this sounds like you, you will not be disappointed. We had two kinds of dumpling, the special (which was fried chicken) and a spinach and tofu hotpot (good with hotpot spicy sauce). Give it a try!

Came here to try some skewers.
Parking here is available on the side streets.
The funny thing about the cramped storefront is that well, it does look like and feel somewhat like the real deal in Beijing.
They even have the Chinese-​style grill going, just like at the night market. Simply beautiful.
The meat was juicy and covered with that oh-​so-​wonderful cumin, but the pieces were a bit small for the price. Hence the 3 stars instead of 4.
I didn’t try the bubble tea as they looked a bit too fluorescent for my liking.

Love the lamb skewer ! Beijing Style!

Having never been to Beijing I can’t speak to the authenticity of this new restaurant, but the couple of dishes we tried were yummy. There were many items on the menu we had never heard of and had no context for, so we tried some safe things like pan fried dumplings and a variety of BBQ meats on skewers. At the other tables, diners had pots of steaming meat stews and plates of cured meats. We weren’t feeling very adventurous, so we didn’t ordering any.
I give them 3 stars only because we tried very little of the menu items, so I don’t have a true sense of their food. The restaurant décor is hip and artsy, I especially like the big photos of cobblestone streets in China.
I’m super curious about the stews and other dishes, especially when it comes to homestyle Chinese (which is what this restaurant advertises), so I kindly ask other Unilocalers to go and let me know what’s up with Hu Tong.