Kongee Dinesty

A bit shy of 4 stars. Ordering congees at Kongee Dinesty is a no-​brainer and pairing them with chinese pastry (牛脷酥) makes the experience even more scrumptious. Definitely a top 5 congee place in Richmond.

Couldn’t resist to share my first review. It’s gotta be one of the best congees I’ve ever had! Good thing is that they open early, it’s not that common that you can find a good Chinese restaurant that opens as early in Richmond area.
What surprised me most is their Chinese donuts (油炸鬼)! So crunchy… And not oily at all!!! I wonder how they made it!

Tried to order take out and lady could not speak English and was unable to take my order.
Screw this place.

The best congee I’ve had in a long time. Must try: fish congee with free chinese donut that they made there. They also have their homemade spicy sauce… so good! Their service was fast and friendly :)

Best congee in Vancouver! Breakfast menu is much cheaper than lunch! Dinner menu is on the pricy side but it is so worth it!!! Their specialty is «nin-​go prawns»!!!

Came back again to try the breakfast set and it has now become one of my top places for congee. It is not very cheap at $ 9 per bowl but if you go before 11 am, they offer a breakfast set that comes with a side dish.
We got both the salted pork and preserved egg congee as well as the fish fillet and beef slices congee. Of the two, i preferred the fish fillet one because the flavour was toned down a bit and I felt that the salted pork was REALLY salty. The base for the congee is nice and thick but not heavily seasoned. Other stars of the breakfast included their steamed rice rolls with green onion and steamed rice rolls with shrimp which were nice and smooth, clearly housemade. Finally, their sweet chinese donuts were probably my favourite part. They were quite dense in the middle making it filling but did not feel heavy or greasy at all! They were lightly sweet and tasted like perfection when dipped in the congee. DEFINITELY RECOMMEND!

Very solid 3.85 stars, especially if you’re into congee. Though if one were to compare to Double D for congee straight up for taste & value, DD tips the scale.
But here it’s much nicer décor, probably because of a formal dinner menu. After all even the lunch has white table cloth linen.
Peanuts in congee good and lots of pork goodies.
One standout was the sweet Chinese donuts: not oily at all and the crunchy stuff on BoTH sides! Top and bottom.
For the dim sum, stay away from the Chinese donut wrapped with rice roll, as per pic. Even the peanut sauce had no flavour.
Tea’s great here.
Great service by Chinese standards. Theyre quick here lol

Kongee Dinesty has one of the best congee (rice porridge) in town. Their menu is kept simple, which allows them to keep consistent with the quality of their food and service. I have been back to Kongee Dinesty half a dozen times for brunch and lunch and still have not been disappointed. I have found their menu somewhat unappealing for dinner items however, hence I never came here for dinner.
One of my favourites is the build-​your-​own congee option from their lunch menu (from 11am — 2pm). You can pick and choose the contents of your congee and side dish to your likely — very much like the many build-​your-​own noodle dishes at places like Deer Garden and Cattle Café.
I have referred several friends to Kongee Dinesty and they share in my opinion that this place is worth a visit when you want a taste of your mom’s homemade congee in a relaxed setting (with plenty of parking too).

Hey everyone!
I hardly go for congee unless I’m sick but I came across this place with Phil and thought it was a great breakfast option if you live in Richmond. You can customize your choice of congee for $ 8.95 a bowl with two toppings.
For base, they either have plain, seasoned or black peppered base. My friend tried the plain before and told me it literally had no flavor, therefore when I came here, I knew automatically I am getting the seasoned base. For toppings, they have a good variety of options, I went for Chicken and Salted Egg. You can also choose whichever garnish you would like on your congee. I really like how they had this option for you and you can choose as many garnishes you would like. I went for Green onion, pickled radish & preserved vegetables.
We went on a weekend and when you order a congee, they’ll throw in a free soy milk drink at no extra cost. So I decided to get the hot soy milk.
The portion you get was HUGE! definitely worth coming here for breakfast. the congee can be shared among two people and order a side dish of chinese donuts! that is more than enough for two peoples breakfasts!
considering breakfast nowadays can easily be over $ 10.00 per person, i think this is a great place to eat a full filling, delicious breakfast meal at the cost of under $ 20.00 total for two people.
Read more and see more photos by visiting
thanks!
–Jess from domoiscraving

I was first introduced to this Congee place by my coworker. We went here for lunch and I was impressed by how beautiful the inside looked and the options of customizing your own congee. We order the sampan congee which was nice and pillowy. The soy chow mein & vermicelli was really good. Perhaps the best stir-​fry vermicelli I’ve had since I always prefer chow mein over vermicelli. We also order the shrimp rice roll and the rice sheet was made thin and see-​through. Their tea has a special taste to it. Our server told us it was Taiwanese early grey (?). Absolute 5-​star experience!
As always, the 2^nd time can never beat the first. I was raving about this place to my friend so I had to bring him here. Came around 9:30am on a Sunday morning and it had a fair amount of early birds.
We quickly ordered the sampan congee with soy chow mein, the chinese salty donut and the pork liver rice roll. After a 5 to 10 minutes or so, the restaurant started to fill up and there was a line-​up. Thank God we came a few minutes earlier! Our dishes came out in a weird order and the waiting time between each dish took forever. We first got the donut which we decided to wait for the congee but then the chow mein came out and we wait a bit more and when we realized it won’t be coming soon any time soon, we started eating. If anything, cold chow mein is disgusting due to the amount of oil they use to make this dish tasty. Our congee finally came and we dug in. However our pork liver was still MIA when we were half way done with our meal. I rushed our server to check and still we had to wait 10 mins. I’d say the congee was just as good as previously. The donut was delicious. The chow mein was lacking in flavor and they missed out on the green onions. The pork liver was good but not worth the price ($ 5.25). The service was way too slow even though we came before the massive flock.

Choose your own adventure with congee.
Bilingual form where you choose congee flavour base (unsalted, salted, pepper), toppings (like cilantro or peanuts) and 2/​more items (shrimp, lettuce, fish, etc).
Comes with a drink and has side dishes you can order. On top of that, there’s a focused menu of items you may find in a typical Chinese restaurant. The dinner menu is different. This review is based on the lunch menu.
The BBQ pork rice wraps are lightly covered in soya sauce and the pork was cut in small pieces. This was actually my least favorite dish. I found the rice noodles themselves dry. No accolades here.
The pork/​bean sprout noodles was a sufficient portion for 3 and it was perfectly cooked. There was a fine balance between noodle, sauce, sprout and pork. No complaints. Just nicely executed.
The black sesame drink which I ordered was sweet and a little bitter. I felt it didn’t pair well with the congee. Dang, shoulda went for the soy drink. Saving grace: free with the congee!
The congee itself was thick and balanced. I actually hate congee. Probably an odd restaurant choice for me to begin with. Anyways, it was good. There’s about 3 large shrimp and filets of fish. Right amount of meat and the congee is filling. This is a meal in itself and a pretty fair price at around $ 9. Well done.
The staff are trained and tentative — they pour your tea which maybe something you might expect in a higher end restaurant. The décor was fancy. There’s a lot of aspects that would suggest this is top of its tier. Except they’re cash only. Until that changes, I can’t give you 5 stars.

Pretty good place for Congee. Price is decent. Line can be long. Cash only.
You can make your own congee or order their specialty congees. I always get sampan congee so thats what I got. It was what I expected. If you’re ordering other things, its best that you share it since the bowl is pretty big.
The Chinese donut wrapped with rice roll was good too. The Chinese donut wasn’t too greasy. I would come back.

We stopped by on an early weekend morning, and the place was starting to fill up. It is a little off the beaten path from No. 3 Road in Richmond, but there was ample parking. The space itself looks relatively modern and new. After looking at the breakfast menu, we decided to order to combo congee meals and some additional dishes (over-​ordering is a curse when visiting from the States I guess):
Fish ball and lettuce congee: the congee itself was good, but the fish balls were a total miss for me (texture was too mushy).
Sliced fish and pork congee: I liked this one much more than the fish ball version, though not a lot of toppings.
Radish cake: again, mushy texture yet a little burnt on the outside.
Shrimp rice roll: this was good, and was my favorite dish of the day.
Chinese donut (came with the combo): this was good, not greasy.
Chinese pancake (came with the combo): it was a little plain for me, but my wife liked it.
Maybe I am not a big fan of congee, but I wasn’t that impressed with the food here. I guess that I will stick to the dim sum and dumplings for a late breakfast/​early lunch in Richmond in the future.

This place allows you to customize your congee, with 3 different categories: congee base, toppings (2 included, extras cost more), & garnish.
I tried the seasoned base with chicken & preserved eggs, garnished with peanuts. The pot was large, probably enough for 3 people to share. Ingredients were generous & very fresh tasting. Congee was very smooth.
The House Special Chow Mein had the perfect balance of crispy vs. wet noodles. The ingredients were again, plentiful & very fresh.
Overall, great food quality, but only so-​so service (especially if you can’t speak Cantonese /​Mandarin).

Kongee Dinesty will be my favour place for breakfast and lunch restaurant. Since they opened, I have been there 5 times. I would say they’re the best congee place in Greater Vancouver coz the quality of congee and least MSG in the food.
I like their congee combo (lunch menu sheet only) $ 8.95 for 2 toppings of ingredients of congee and free soya or black soya milk.
My hubby liked the pig liver and sliced beef congee, it had full ingredients and congee so thick. It didn’t go watery even though it finished.
I tried other congees (sliced fish and dace fish balls, HK style sampan congee), it’s light, refreshing and smooth.
Cow tongue fired dough was great! Not many places make ox-​tongue pastry in Vancouver. It’s slight sweet but very good dip with soya milk.
Chinese Donuts was perfectly fried and not too greasy.
Stir fried Noodle, it was great and tasty.
They serve great tea and good service. I believe they will be very busy soon and popular place for congee in Richmond.

I agree with a lot of the reviewers that this place has some excellent customer service. Very attentive, efficient and quick. The place is also very clean with a simple minimalist décor. This is pretty refreshing considering some Chinese restaurants which have photos of their food on every surface imaginable.
The check sheet provided as also very easy to understand and order from which is important for those who can’t read Chinese. Also the concept of made to order congee just blows me away. We ended up getting a combination of the fish and preserved egg in our congee.
The food is pretty tasty here and the portions are decent sized (not dim sum sized as we found out very quickly). It is important to note that when you order a plain congee, it really is a PLAIN congee. Which isn’t a bad thing if that is what you are looking for.
Overall, I really like the place, and am definitely looking to come back to try some more variations!

Impressed
I read good reviews on this place before I came, and I was still impressed. It’s very clean, and the flatwares are very nice. Most Chinese restaurants are pretty barebones when it comes to that, so this is definitely a bonus. The staffs are non-​pushy, again, rare. Food is good, I would have given them 5 stars if the food tastes better.

Kongee Dynasty specializes in congee and other fine treats that are breakfast like. The restaurant recently opened beside Manzo on Captsan Way. Renovation are clean, bright and service is friendly. On a typical weekday, Kongee Dynasty is jam packed. So it is best to make reservations. I feel a little guilty reporting how good the congee here is, because I don’t want this place to get too overly crowded.
I like their congee being fresh with a good consistency. There is no msg in the food unlike Double Double.
The black soya milk here is tasty and fragrant and comes part of a congee combo.
Pig Liver and Beef Slices Congee: plenty of ingredients for a tasty, rich congee that isn’t too watery.
Dace Fish Balls with Fish Slices Congee: A light congee that is refreshing and soothing.
Chinese Donuts: perfectly fried without being too hard or too greasy
Salted Chinese Pancakes (aka Ox-​tongue pastry or cow tongue fried dough): fried bun with a salted minced pork floss center
Rice Rolls with Chinese Donuts: a nice rice roll covered Chines donut topped with sweet soya sauce.
Pan Fried Soya Noodle: Dry and not too greasy.
XO Sauce Pan Fried Rice Rolls: I like the tiny shallots, dried scallops and sprouts on top.
The portions are decent and we were quite full after this. It’s hard your eyes opened after consuming so much carbs.
Too bad, items on the lunch menu are not available at night for dinner. Dinner menu consists of large share dishes suitable for a large format family style.

I came here for a light lunch over Easter long weekend. Though the line up looked scary long, in actuality it moved rather fast.
My dining buddy and I were quickly seated after a 10 minute wait during prime lunch rush. We ordered steamed rice rolls with chopped spring onions & dried shrimp bits and a lunch congee special. We ordered original congee base with peanuts, julienne ginger, and preserved pickle. Our two toppings were peppered pork stomach and salty duck eggs. We selected hot black sesame soy milk as our beverage.
The lunch special is $ 8.95 which comes with two toppings ($ 1.25/per additional topping)
1) you choose your congee base (original/​plain, seasoned, or peppered)
2) pick any garnish (cilantro, peanuts, ginger, onions, preserved daikon etc)
3) pick your toppings (pork, beef, fish, clam, shrimp balls, chicken, mushroom, liver, century egg, preserved salty duck egg, lettuce, peppered pork stomach etc)
4) a complimentary soy milk (plain, light, black sesame soy milk)
The food didn’t take long to arrive yet there was enough time to leisurely sip Earl Grey (yes, not Asian tea) while surveying our fellow neighbors what dishes were ordered. The wok-​fried vermicelli, Chinese donuts, deep-​fried fish with soy sauce all looked absolutely delicious). These mental notes were driving me even more hungry. Aside from surveying our neighbors, we also watched the chefs skillfully tossed contents in the wok with ease and breathtaking speed behind the large glass window separating themselves from the diners. About 10 minutes later, our food came.
The rice rolls had a good flavor. They were good, but in terms of texture, it wasn’t as smooth and silky as the ones from Double Double. Also, I think this place steamed theirs just a little bit too long so the rice rolls lacked «bounce». Having said that, overall it’s not bad. The MSG-​free congee, which is the specialty, did not disappoint.
The congee had a thick consistency but still soft and velvety. I can’t recall too many restaurants that offer thick congee in Vancouver. Nonetheless I like the congee here. Some people may call it plain and bland but I found the taste clean and pure. There was something very fulfilling and comforting about the congee at this particular establishment unlike thick congee I had else where which could be glue-​y. The peppered pork stomach was cooked to perfection. They give you decent size and amount of pork stomach which were cleaned thoroughly (no offal smell). The minced salty duck eggs added sporadic surprises of deep savory-​ness.
The service was attentive, fast, and polite. The décor is clean and bright. The seats were comfortable.
The total damage came just under $ 15 before tips. I can’t wait to come back and try their dinner and would definitely return for more congee. In fact, I can use one right now at this very moment.

Contemporary design. Bright. Clean. Enthusiastic. Comfy. Tasty. Choices…
Like: Delicious food, service, free parkings
Dislike: Prices, not accept credit cards