02 The story
Richmond’s Asian food and shopping district
Golden Village covers a compact grid of blocks between Sea Island Way to the north, Garden City Road to the east and Alderbridge Way to the south, with No. 3 Road and the Canada Line running through it. The name took hold as Asian-themed malls and restaurants multiplied here from the late 1980s and 1990s, many opened by newcomers from Hong Kong and Taiwan and later from mainland China.
Today the area has one of the highest concentrations of Chinese restaurants outside Asia. You can find Cantonese seafood, Shanghainese dumplings, Sichuan hot pot, Taiwanese bubble tea, Japanese and Korean food, and plenty of bakeries and dessert cafés within a few blocks.
Malls, markets and Food Street
Aberdeen Centre, linked to Aberdeen station by a walkway, is the best-known mall, with a food court, Asian brands and an indoor fountain show. Yaohan Centre nearby has a supermarket and a busy food court. Alexandra Road, nicknamed Food Street, is lined with restaurants in small plazas and is a good place to wander and choose. More plazas sit along Garden City Road and around Cambie Road.
The north end, around Capstan Way, is filling in with new towers, and Capstan station now serves it directly. The neighbourhood suits food lovers, students and young professionals who want to live near transit and keep late hours.
Practical tips: dim sum is most popular on weekend mornings, so arrive before 11 a.m. or expect a wait. Many smaller places are cash-friendly but most take cards. Parking lots fill quickly in the evening; the Canada Line is the easiest way in.
