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Burnaby’s next great Asian restaurant has people lining up to eat

A flurry of new restaurants has the local food scene heating up.
grand seafood
A dish at the Grand Crystal Seafood Restaurant, which just opened a new eatery at Crystal Mall in Burnaby's Metrotown area – and people are lining up to eat there.

Burnaby is on a roll for great new Asian Restaurants.

The latest is the Grand Crystal Seafood Restaurant, which just opened a new eatery at Crystal Mall in the Metrotown area – and people are lining up to eat there.

Grand Crystal serves authentic Cantonese seafood dishes as well as dim sum items all day. You can also find plenty of vegetarian dishes on the menu.

Many of the dishes are steamed to yumminess in bamboo wrapped that you slice open to reveal a bounty of rice and seafood.

The Metrotown area has another new Asian restaurant.

A Japanese-born global restaurant chain that specializes in "soupless" ramen added Burnaby to its portfolio with the arrival of Kokoro Tokyo Mazesoba in a new space at Station Square in the Metrotown area. The restaurant chain is best known for their loaded noodle bowls that are done in the "dry" or "soupless" ramen style. This "Japanese-style mixed soba" uses thick and chewy house-made multi-grain soba noodles, loaded with your choice of toppings, including a signature spicy iteration with meat and egg yolk, a "Tantan" style, a cheese version, the fully-loaded "Zenbu," a vegan option, and more.

These two follow a recent spate of new restaurant openings.

Jade Palace recently moved into the old Dragon Inn spot at Hastings and Willingdon Avenue in the Heights.

Mui Garden has now opened its third Metro Vancouver location, with a soft opening recently at 4727 Kingsway to go along with its Vancouver and Richmond locations.

I spoke with Ben Mui about this family-run company.

“Mui Garden was first opened on Victoria Drive in Vancouver in 1992, when we immigrated here from Hong Kong,” Mui said.

That location has been operated by the same family since - so it's been 29-plus years.

“We also have a Richmond location that is still in operation since 1996 (again, same ownership). We are Hong Kong-style cafe, and anyone who knows Mui Garden, they know we are known for our Malaysian curry as well as our Hainanese Chicken.”

This is how they describe their Malaysian curry: “With over twenty meticulously blended spices and ingredients, and over two decades of perfection, combined with our unique home style cooking, we are proud to present to you a dish that is a one of a kind. Come try our famous curry with various meats or seafood, and vegetables.”

Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.