Mei Shan Dong Po Restaurant - Vancouver

First time to try this place. We went there with a Groupon dinner offer for 2 people. When we got there at around 6 PM, there were no other diners and they had a Closed sign on the door. We waved at the staff inside and she let us in and she turned over the Closed sign. My Groupon offer has expired but I was glad that they still accepted it. It was a set menu and we already knew what we wanted so we gave our order right away. The food we ordered arrived one a time. The spring rolls were OK. The hot and sour soup wasn't spicy at all for a Szechuan restaurant. The spinach and peanut took a while to arrive. Overall, I was not too thrilled with the food served. If I go back there, I will order something that I didn't order.

In a city flooded with Chinese food, there is very little that falls outside the rubric of Cantonese or proto-Cantonese food. Sure, we have Szechuan restaurants, but Mei Shan Dong Po brings the experience to a whole new level, largely due to the quality and authenticity of the food, presenting regional specialties that would otherwise never reach the light of day here. The food is quite amazing, bursting in heat and spicing, as exotic as any Asian food I have had in the city. This is a stellar find!

One dish we found particularly nice was the pork belly for $16, the pea tips at $18, the spicy tofu for $12 and hot and sour soup for just $8 (and white rice of course) rounded up our dinner.

We went there with a Groupon dinner offer for 4 people.We had:An order of Spring Rolls came with 3 rolls that were cut in half. They were OK, but could have had the oil soaked out a little bit longer.The Potato Roll was really good. I'd recommend this for sure.Sweet corn and chicken soup was OK. There was little flavour, and not much chicken. It would have been nice to have some soy sauce or vinegar to add to it.Spinach and peanut, which came at the very end of the meal after I had to remind them. I'm not sure why it took so long to prepare this appetizer dish. We were full by this time and we were expecting it to be more like a Gommae.The Wood Ear Mushroom Salad was nice and refreshing. They were crisp and crunchy and had a light covering of soy and vinegar. Double cooked pork belly was good, but the had a lot of sauce.Ma Po tofu is usually a good choice at any restaurant. I didnt like this dish because they used a fragrant type of soft tofu. I prefer my tofu to be plain and either medium or firm.We arrived shortly after they had opened for Saturday lunch. Dont expect good service, but the staff try to please you and you might have to clarify your order a few times due to the language barrier. Be patient with the older staff, as they seem to be traditional Chinese. Although the younger staff were not very attentive.You will have to find pay parking along the streets. Since you're there, spend some time walking along the Cambie Street corridor and visiting the shops.

I arrived at 12:10pm. There was a table of 3 already eating and a table of 6 ordering. I was alone. After the waitress took the table of 6 order, she took my order which didn't necessitate to open the menu as I knew what I wanted: a Dan Dan noodle soup.10 minute later arrived a table of 3. The table of 6 got 1 dish. Then 5 minutes later another one. I was looking at the time as I had to be back at work at 1pm. I started to be irritated when the table of 3 received their first dish ! I calmed down myself because it was a salad, and I was telling myself that it was quickly prepared. But when 5mn later they received their second dish, then I was upset. I looked at the waitress, who was waiting in front of the kitchen opening and she nodded at my request. But when 5 minutes later the table of 3 received their 3rd dish, I got up, put my coat on and started to leave. An older woman, who seemed the owner or the manager arrived from outside just at that moment. When the waitress saw me leaving she came close to me and I told her that it was 34mn I was waiting for a soup and that the table of 3 who arrived after me was already served three dishes. Not her nor the manager said even sorry".I went back to work with anger in my stomach.