A new Shanghai dumpling restaurant recently opened doors at the food court of Admiralty Centre on McKim Way.
The new restaurant, named Shanghai Lao wei dao, replaced Long’s Noodle House which moved to the mall in November after its previous store in Vancouver was destroyed in a fire.
The owner of the new restaurant also owns Shanghai Fortune Cuisine, another Shanghai cuisine restaurant in the Crystal Mall food court in Burnaby.
Similar to Long’s Noodle House, Shanghai Lao wei dao sells signature Shanghai cuisine including Xiao Long Bao, handmade dumplings filled with pork and soup and pan-fried buns.
It also has rice dishes such as braised pork chop on rice and meatballs on rice as well as a variety of noodle options on its menu.
“We specialize in Shanghai cuisine and had the opportunity to expand to Richmond, so we took it,” said Sophia Song, owner of Shanghai Lao wei dao.
Song said she has worked in the restaurant business for more than 10 years and has operated Shanghai Fortune Cuisine for seven years.
Dumpling competition in the same mall
The Richmond News reported in November the competition in the Admiralty Centre food court between two restaurants, Long’s Noodle House and Hao Chi Lai, who were selling similar Shanghai cuisine dishes.
Tina Tan, owner of Haochilai, said it didn’t make sense to have two similar restaurants competing with each other in a small food court with limited traffic, which she said was harmful to both businesses.
“The new owner has every right to open her restaurant here but I’m disappointed with the property manager who failed to protect us business owners’ interests,” Tan told the Richmond News.
Since the restaurants are owned by individuals, the property manager has no legal right to tell them what to sell or not. However, the strata council of some shopping malls in Richmond, including Pacific Plaza and President Plaza, negotiate with business owners if they can sell different products to protect existing businesses.
Song said she is not concerned about selling similar items as another restaurant in the same food court.
“There are two Shanghai cuisine restaurants including us in Crystal Mall and there haven't been any issues. We treat each other as friends,” said Song.
“Even though we sell similar food, there are still differences in the dishes we provide and customers can choose the ones they like.”
Got an opinion on this story or any others in Richmond? Send us a letter or email your thoughts or story tips to [email protected]. To stay updated on Richmond news, sign up for our daily headline newsletter.
