Dim Sum Food Tour in Vancouver's Chinatown

Hi...thanks for giving me the opportunity to provide feedback without putting it out on social media. Jordan was a very personable and attentive guide. My review is not about him but about the tour as a whole. I don't think that I would recommend this tour to anyone. My biggest disappointment was standing around a park bench in a very unclean area, eating BBQ Pork. There was food waste and other trash around and it was VERY unappetizing. At this point, I was already prepared to leave the tour and go find somewhere else to eat or just go home. For the cost of the tour I'd have expected something a LITTLE better. Perhaps the BBQ Pork could have been left on the sales counter as we all filed past and took a piece to taste? Jordan was prepared with napkins, wipes, toothpicks and such, but it was a pretty big turn off. What would have been done if it had been raining? I really enjoyed the bakery stop. I tried a number of Chinese baked goods I hadn't tried before and I will try again. Our smaller group learned more from a Chinese tour participant than we did from our tour guide, but do be aware that Jordan was attentive to our questions and always went out of his way to find answers if he could. I hope you give some thought to my feedback. Wishing you all the best.

I certainly learned some stuff and we certainly had a nice day for the tour. But I didn't hear everything and I have forgotten some of the things that we were told. Maybe a handout...

As fans of dim sum from experiences elsewhere in the globe, and as new arrivals to Vancouver, we were excited to explore the city's Chinatown, find out more about the food and culture and of course, sample some tasty treats. So we happily signed up to this "Hidden Gem Dim Sum Tour", promising "a truly unique food tour experience...a look into Chinese culture and cuisine.". Unfortunately, our overall experience was distinctly lacking in all areas. Food - The food that we did try was of a good standard, though not necessarily the finest we have tried in the city so far. Traditional fare like pot stickers, har gow, shumai and xiaolongbao were all served up along with congee and chicken feet. Elsewhere items like BBQ/fried pork could be sampled as well as finishing at a local bakery. I'm not sure where the hidden gems were in this, the only exception being the "coconut bread" right at the end. Tour - Really, this was rather a letdown. While we wandered around the streets of Chinatown, taking in all the sights on offer, I can't say that I felt our guide (Adele) or her trainees really added that much. They were all perfectly pleasant, but so much of what we heard was just read off some sheets of paper she was carrying. There was no real insights into the history of Chinatown, the challenges and success, the heritage and history, just some top line bullet points. When something is called "Hidden Gems Tour" I feel it is reasonable to expect a little depth and local insight. As it was there was little that we learned from the tour that couldn't have simply been replaced by a 3-page leaflet. Organisation - While we were told that the tour had been running for a few weeks, this may as well have been the first night. The Chinese gardens were closed at the start of the tour, a fact that the company could easily have been aware of (times are printed on the gate) and either run the tour earlier or just don't run a Friday evening version. Staring through locked gates at what is no doubt a gorgeous garden and fascinating cultural centre, is not the same as walking around it! Adding to this, the poor time planning of our tour also meant we didn't visit a tea shop because it was closed when we arrived. Finally, when we arrived at the bakery, there had been a clear miscommunication and were not expecting a group of 11 (more like 6) and so portions of food seemed dramatically reduced as they were shared round (a quarter of an egg tart anyone?). It is clear from the other tours on offer that the company can run a slick operation, so why put out such an inferior product? Why not practice a bit more before launching to the public, ensuring you know that everything you want to include in a tour is available?! Value for Money - This is a real issue. $75 is a good amount of money to shell out on a food tour, but not unreasonable. For that though, you would expect a reasonable volume, variety and quality of cuisine, as well as a tour component that leaves you feeling informed and interested. In reality, the food that we had was ok, could be purchased for around about $35pp and our guides, while pleasant, added little. Moreover, as this tour was sold through Dine Out Vancouver, there is a clear expectation of quality that comes with those experiences and doubtless, Canadian Craft Tours benefitted from this association. End result, we feel a little scammed and have felt let down by the experience ever since. There is great potential for a tour like this, but it needs so much more work before it justifies the current price tag, such as interaction with different store/restaurant owners, more anecdotes and sampling of food at a few more locations. Sorry Canadian Craft Tours....this is nothing like the quality we expected and we don't feel like we can confidently recommend you to anyone. Locals beware, you are unlikely to get much from this experience (unless it improves significantly) and tourists, save your dollars for better-established tours. If you would like to discuss any of the points raised in this review further, please feel free to contact us at [email protected] and [email protected] We can see there is potential for this tour in the future but feel it’s inportant to give honest feedback when possible.

Initially we had to call Andrew to confirm where the tour guide was. Adele was at the wrong door. People were arriving at the Cultural Centre and being told they were at the wrong place and sent other directions. When Adele arrived she informed us this was her first tour and she clearly was frustrated and not prepared. We've been on another walking tour in our City and knew information that was not even mentioned. Adele was very polite and doing the best she could in the situation. There was no dialogue or history of Chinatown. The first stop at the Bakery was good, enjoyed the selection and tea. Off to the pork stop, she had to run off to get cash, we all agreed she thought quickly running over to the bank machine, however, she should have known that. As we stood in the rain, eating pork, there still was no insight or history on the area. Then we were off to Dim Sum and since we arrived early they weren't ready for us. The restaurant was nice and clean and the food tasted good, there just wasn't enough. Only 5 items. The event ended at 3:00 and we were told that this tour was running until 4 or 4:30. To summarize, we were embarrassed for the out-of-town people we met as this was a Dine Out Vancouver and Tourism B.C. promotion. We're local and read it in the paper and it was a gift for the other couple we invited. Clearly not good value. The concept is a good one, just feel that the price is way out of line and would not recommend it. It's too bad, because we were thinking of going on the Japanese tour, but, there again we can do it on our own and just read up on any area of the City online.

Considering what was provided, this tour was extremely overpriced and did not meet many expectations for a successful tour. The tour guide was pleasant and friendly enough, but in the end, we sampled approximately 11 different pieces of food (a piece being defined as one dim sum or one toothpick portion of BBQ pork, etc). When considering the total cost of those 11 pieces if we bought those individually independent of a tour (approx 12 dollars) versus the tour cost of 75 dollars, the tour is terribly overvalued. Probably 25-35 dollars would be a fairer price. Plus, the tour did not really enhance any understanding of dim sum -- how they are made, how this food is important to the Chinese culture, how one understands how to order from among the many types, etc -- it simply went to a couple places and served a tiny sample of dim sum/pastry/pork. I would not recommend this tour to anyone unless the subject matter was improved and the cost was more in line with what was provided. And, considering we came a long way specifically to sample dim sum and learn more, this was especially disappointing.

It sounded like it was the first time this tour was offered, and the timing, information and history was less than expected. That being said we have had our fair share of dim sum, and have tried a lot of different types. The ones we tried were standard, and was hoping for some new variations, something we haven't tried before, or maybe an additional stop, more information from the owners about preparation or history etc, or also visiting some smaller or lesser known places. Have done the brewery tour before and have enjoyed it, I like the idea of this one, and the guide was nice, but the tour itself could use some improvement, especially for the high price.