Richmond’s food court scene has seen a TON of changes this year.
And yet again, there is a new stall for locals to check out.
Meeting In Chang’an, a stall dedicated to Xi’an food, quietly soft opened at Empire Centre in Richmond last week.
(note that they will be closed for the next two days and will reopen on Wedneday/Thursday).
We went in anonymously to try it.
A big self-order kiosk sits on the counter, and the menu behind it is deeper than a soft open usually gets.
You’ll find Rou Jia Mo (chinese burger), cold noodles, dumplings, hand-made noodles and soups.
Their speciality is the Rou Jia Mo, aka the Chinese burger. The stall specifically has it plastered in big text on their signage.
The direct translation of Rou Jia Mo is meat in a bun, though the menu here calls it Xi An Pork Pita Bread here.
We took the combo that pairs a hot and sour noodle bowl with one of those burgers for $15.
The kiosk asks you to pick a spice level, and medium is the one it recommends, so medium is what we chose.
One thing to note is that the food did take considerably longer than what you’d expect for a food court stall. But that’s likely due to the kitchen still ironing things out.
When the food finally came out, everything was piping hot.
The burger was packed with shredded pork belly, enough that the bun stopped being the point, and there is a version with green peppers if you want the sharper one.
The noodles were the potato starch kind, slippery and thick, dropped in with tofu puffs that soaked up broth and a few meatballs.
Medium had a real heat to it without wrecking us, and anyone who eats spice properly should go past it.
The chinese burger is actually more filling than it looks so this set combo should be adequate for most people.
The one thing we could not order was the paomo, the classic Northern Chinese dish where you tear flatbread into lamb broth and let it soak until the bread goes soft.
Both the lamb and beef versions were marked sold out on the screen, so that’s gotta be the return trip for another time.
When we covered the build in May, the owner told shared on Red Note that they grew up in Xi’an, moved to Changsha, then landed in Vancouver seven years ago, and called the stall a homesick love letter.
Empire Centre’s food court has turned into a genuinely busy room since One Cafe and ChaDon arrived, with Cloud Nine and Prataman Express holding down the older half.
One Cafe’s One Bolo is still under construction in the same court, so the competition here is not finished growing.
Meeting In Chang’an joins other recently opened Richmond food spots like Teabydo, El Comal Express, and Dimsum Caddy.
For more new and upcoming food spots in Metro Vancouver, take a peek at our tracker here, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.
Address: Unit 1135, 4540 No. 3 Road, Richmond, BC (Empire Centre food court)
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