Opinion
Barry Artiste, Now Public Contributor
In the World of Foodies, wanna be chefs like myself who religiously watch Food Netowrk and Iron Chef are always looking for new and interesting foods created by others, I eat out several times a week, everything from Greek to Chinese, like myself and many others most discover great restaurants by word or mouth or by sight, sight being a drive along  a city street and seeing a  restaurant sign and wonder, interesting, perhaps I will try that place one day. 

Zen’s Fine (Chinese) Cuisine in Richmond location in a non descript Mall on the second floor, high above all the ground floor restaurants dotting the city of Richmond may just have a problem with location, location, location.  Most hungry diners on the fly will most likely stop at the first place that catches their eye or stomach.  What ever possessed him to locate out of the public’s view certainly doesn’t help his failing business.  Zen Fine Cuisine, has done everything to get people in to fill those seat, including half price dinners to no avail.  Since I have never had fine chinese cuisine outside of Chinatown, I will give it a try and visit it this weekend.  Why?, well last weekend, driving along the Kingsway and Knight street, my girlfriend mentioned a great  South Asian Dosa restaurant, touted by CBC and foodies alike as the best Dosa in Vancouver.    As we drove by, I noticed this not too particularly nice looking restaurant, which certainly belies good food if you know what I mean, first impressions count, I thought it to be a shabby place, hence shabby subpar food.  Anyways, the food was awesome, so judging a menu by it’s cover certainly is a mistake as proof is in the tasting.  So that is why I will go to this place and see if this Chef’s claims as the best like most wanna be Iron Chefs tout as the best in the west from the east will put my optimism to rest.
 

Book could change fading restaurant’s fateMia Stainsby,
Vancouver SunPublished: Thursday, March 06, 2008

Lately, Sam Lau has been crying the blues over how the Chinese restaurant business, and his in particular, is deep in the doldrums. He had only one booking for Thursday night.

He’d slashed prices by more than a half some time ago and wondered how much longer he could survive. His restaurant, Zen Fine Chinese Cuisine in Richmond, hasn’t turned a profit since last year.

“I’m dying,” is how he described his business.

Avocado and crab dish from Zen Fine Chinese Cuisine in Richmond, a struggling restaurant that could get a boost from a new book lauding it.Vancouver Sun
But things might be looking up. A New York Times reporter has written a book about Chinese food and in it, she calls Zen Fine Chinese Cuisine “the world’s greatest Chinese restaurant outside China.”

 

Source: canada.com via Barry Artiste