Sun Sui Wah is renowned for its squab and its live fish. The restaurant's weekend dim sum are just as sophisticated as its dinner fare. For Westerners who want ot dip no more than a toe into shark's fin dishes, shark's fin dumplings are the route. The glutinous shark's fin makes a pleasing contrast to the shrimp and ham in the filling, all encased in a very tender dough...

...And the flavour (for King Crab)? Oh! The legs were as sweet I thought they must have been doused in butter. Nope.They were just steamed in their natural juices and smothered in garlic...

The overall star attraction of Vancouver is Sun Sui Wah Seafood Restaurant, considered by many critics and local chefs to be one of the best Chinese restaurants in North America, especially for sea food and dim-sum. Alaskan king crab, offered two different ways, is one of the specialities.

Sun Sui Wah is famous for its roast squab, and it is astonishing - dark and gamy, sweet and juicy, the skin glazed with subtle spices. It's as good or better than any squab I've ever had at a Michelin three-star restaurant and definitely worth a detour...

...Vancouver rivals New York and San Francisco for the title of best places in North America to eat Chinese food, and Sun Sui Wah sits at the apex of the local Chinese cuisine scene. The aquarium-sized tanks are brimming with air-conitioner-sized Alaskan king crabs that can easily feed a table of six. Sun Sui Wah's dim sum is among the best availabe outside of Asia, and it is the unofficial Chinese restaurant hangout for the local chef community...

...Sun Sui Wah has everything you could possibly want in a grand Hong Kong-style restaurant: fresh geoduck clams and sweet Nova Scotia lobsters steamed with garlic, poached spot prawns and steamed Dungeness crab, and roast squab succulent enought to make you weep. And although Richmond, B.C., a bare, unlovely suburb just south of Vancouver, is home to the most fantasitc concentration of Chinese restaurant in the Western Hemisphere, Sun Sui Wah may be the only one you need.

...Great seafood, as defined by Sun Sui Wah, is just one more of those things we take for granted in this city. But next time you're planning a celebration, this energized and very family-friendly room should be close to, if not at the top of, your list.