Happy Valley Village Restaurant

Very authentic decor, it feels like you’re eating in an old school Chinese village. The restaurant is at the top of a winding staircase free parking lot. The only thing I didn’t like were the cushions on the wooden benches/seats because they were old/dirty and kind of uncomfortable. The chairs/tables are a bit sticky as well, probably because of the accumulation of oils splashing up from the big pot. Staff were really nice, and explained the menu very well. They’re mostly fluent in both Mandarin and English. HUGE piece of fish, and everything is thrown into a gigantic pot of flavourful broth. It is quite salty, but the staff can help dilute it. Well-marinated tofu and pork were also very delicious. It’s pretty worth it just for the gigantic piece of fish itself. I took the leftover broth to-go, and it was still very tasty when I reheated it with plain chicken stock and threw in some noodles and vegetables into it for dinner. Highly recommend their free chili oil – it’s not super spicy, it is just very fragrant and yummy. My order: Spicy House Special Fish $55+

Would definitely recommend the experience! If you’re from northern China it will bring you back memories or your parents but also worth a try if you’ve never had this type of food before. Huge portions for 2! The fish is fresh and loved the corn bread as well. Would recommend large groups to come. Don’t forget to ask waiter to add more water as the broth will become very salty.

Amazing place with unique decor. Love the old school furniture and traditional northeastern dinning style. We ordered half chicken with mushroom hotpot, corn buns, cumin lamb, glass noodle salad, sanxian dumplings, spinach salad, beef brisket. Everything was delicious. We want to go back definitely. Portions are pretty big, we ordered a bit too much. $30/person should be enough. Services were excellent. Staff explained how to cook and eat the hotpot. When the timer is off for cooking the staff attended us right away. Have not rated 5 stars for a while. They deserve it.

We ordered fish, not the cod one. The taste was fine, though the portion was small compared to the price. We ordered the pot for four, over 80 dollars, but it’s not even half a fish. The pork ribs were not cooked well enough and hard to chew. However, the waiter was very friendly and helpful. The decorations were very traditional.

This place is so much fun. It felt like we were transported to northeastern China immediately. The whole ambiance, food and service were so authentic. It’s a great place to bring friends. Make sure to order the baos that stick on the edge of the wok. My favorite is what I call the “corn bread bao”. The texture is amazing, especially when you dip it in the bone broth.

Friends invited me to this authentic northern China cuisine. It is an interesting experience. Worth a try if never been before. The waiter is polite and informative when we asked questions on how things works over there as we never been before.

I have never travelled to Northeast region of China, so I would have assumed the local cuisine is your typical Chinese stirfry and soups. On the contrary, Northeastern China is often known for their hearty iron hotpot stews, and this place in Richmond will give you the authentic experience of this type of good eats! The iron hotpot is unique and delicious flavours of herbal and savoury broths with your choice of pork, chicken, fish, beef, or lamb meats in a steaming iron hotpot with various mushrooms, tofu, vegetables and chewy noodles — quite filling and satisfying! The meat portions are generous and large, and you can add so many more toppings and ingredients so you can enjoy them with the wonderful flavours of the broth. The restaurant also provide you doughs made from wheat lour or corn flour, and while your pot is waiting to boil, the staff stick and spread them the edge of the iron pot to make you grilled and steamed flat bread — how interesting! The decor of the place is also very authentically Chinese the flowerprint cushions, wooden cabinets and stools, humorous heroic style cups and you will be transported to the setting of Chinese Northeastern countryside instantly. For fun and delicious food in a very interesting environment, I would recommend this place. IG: @kumofoodlist

Great for cold weather to warm you up with a hearty hot pot dinner. First time for us, atmosphere was top notch. Food was very rich and filling. We had to order a lot of side dishes to go along with the hot pot for 2, with four ppl eating. We took two bowls of left overs home. I recommend just getting one plain bun to try. The cold mung bean pasta was delicious with a vinegarette sauce, it opens up your palette ready for the rest of the food. Hearty, filling, super rich, one time experience for us was enough, please try it for yourself. Staff very efficient with a free flow of tea, water and limited parking. Super packed during dinner time, recommend to go early or make reservations.

Food was all tasty as expected. I'm visiting from Ottawa and we don't have Northern or Northeastern Chinese cuisine like this back home so it was nice to have something authentic. My friend from Harbin says it is legit. Had to ask the staff three times to get more tea, but it was peak supper hour on a holiday Good Friday, so they were busy. At least three parties waiting for a table. Parking lot was full. Price was reasonable. We paid $100 for 4 dishes, the deep fried yogurt bread twists , and 3 bowls of rice. The jin pai guo bao rou, fried pork slices was so tasty! Nicely coated, fried, and perfectly sweet. That one was my favourite. Kid-friendliness: They have tiny little high chairs to put on the bench seats available. Parking: About 80 spots for 3 restaurants, but we went at peak on a holiday, so very busy time. 6PM on Good Friday. No spots, we drove away to find street parking, realized it was too far to walk with a baby, then drove back and found a spot.

What an amazing Northern China food experience. Hot pot is completely different from other hotpot places that I’ve been. Instead of flavour based soup, their soup is full of different SOLID food like, fish, chicken, beef, star anise and more. Sooo good. The Stew Chicken with Mushroom was AMAZING!!! The House Special Fish was almost very tasty. Even though we ordered mild, it was still too spicy for my liking. Another for their service. They were very attentive and kept coming by to top up our soup. They also spoke English. That helped because part of the menu was in Chinese. The Deep Fried Sweet & Sour Pork is a must try. Never had it so good before. The Quick Fried Pork Intestine was OK. I wouldn’t order it again. Same with the corn bread that they steam on the side of the hotpot. We also had to order extra side dishes because the 2 medium size hotpot was not enough for 7 grown men. Total cost for 7 adults … $350 including tip. Will definitely be back. And highly recommend.