Shi Art Chinese Cuisine Ltd - Richmond

Was treated to dimsum on Fathers Day. We had reservations but still had to wait for about half an hour before we got to our table. Food did not disappoint - in fact, felt like we ordered almost half of the items on the menu!

We had been shopping all afternoon at Richmond Centre so when dinner time came it was a simple choice to dine at Shi Art. Apart from the tables being placed too close together everything went well until it came time to settle my tab. After handing my charge card to the server he immediately asked "how much tip" as if I didn't know how to prompt that option myself. The waiter was almost insistent that he must be the individual to enter the amount. I became so irate at his demeanor that he actually received less than I had planned to leave.

We ate at this restaurant on 8/16/16. The place is conveniently located at Richmond Center. We just wanted traditional Chinese food in family style. We wanted steamed fresh fish so waiter suggested a 2 style fish dish that cost $54. It's not a whole fish you get. The fish is a large cod like fish that they sell in chunks to clients. One plate would have sauteed fillet meat and the other would be steamed pieces. The fillet style dish was ok but the steamed one was disgusting. It was steamed in black bean sauce which probably covered any unfreshness of the fish. The pieces cut up in bite size were mostly from the fish head and belly. Barely edible. When I talked to the waiter about it later, he rudely pointed to the small fillet plate and said the fish meat was there. And service went downhill from there. Not that there was good service in the beginning either cause we had to wait like over 10 minutes after sitting at table before we finally flagged someone to take our order. Restaurant was not busy. Rest of the dishes were not up to par either. We ordered peking pork chop, it was more like sweet and sour pork with fatty meats. Fried milk was soggy and tasteless. House soup was ok but not worth the price. Charged us around $30 for small pot of soup of pork stock with corn and carrots. Most Chinese restaurant give this for free. Also, charged us $4.50 for 2 bowls of white rice. This is the first chinese restaurant we ever went to in Canada and US that ever charges rice with dishes ordered. The only positive thing I have to say about this meal was the soy sauce chicken. Was very tasty and decent. We would never go back again and definitely warn others not to when visiting Richmond.

We were trying to go back to our favorite Chinese restaurant in RIchmond, but we weren't patient enough to wait for over an hour to be seated. So, we walked down the street and found Shi-Art. It was a solid choice. Richmond obviously has a lot of good Chinese Food and Shi-Art was also good. Our table of six ordered a mix of sweet and sour pork, pepper prawns, fried rice, a few chicken meals, and a few beef dishes. They were busy, but they were able to get us a table. The food was brought out 1 to 2 dishes at a time. Nothing outstanding for comment, but nothing disappointing either.

On our way into the mall we stopped and looked in to the restaurant and saw it was busy. That's a good sign of good food. We were seated right away and we chose a few dim sum items from the menu. For clarification we asked about some dishes and they were very knowledgable and accommodating. The food was great. The best Asian cuisine this trip. Service was very good and the tea was hot. Great place to eat.