Chinois Chinese restaurant opens in Yaletown

There’s a new Chinese restaurant open in Yaletown, and, as you would expect in this tony neighbourhood, it’s all about dining in style.

Chinois, located at 1035 Mainland Street, has the pulsing, modern décor common to many restaurants in this area. It’s owned by Peter Girges, who is also behind Opus Hotel’s pop-up restaurant 100 Days (which then became 100 Nights, and is now Cento Notti, an Italian restaurant). Girges also just opened Pierre’s Champagne Lounge, a member’s-only club that’s hidden past the kitchen of Chinois and accessible only via a barely-marked entrance on Hamilton Street.

Chinois features a glassed-off kitchen where the house-made roast duck hangs. Executive chef Ryan Mah, formerly of Goldfish Seafood & Chop House, is at the helm. Mah is a Dubrulle culinary school grad who spent time in Hong Kong, did a stage at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant in the U.K., and worked at Chinatown’s Wild Rice. Chambar alum Wendy McGuinness put together the cocktail list.

Bar at Chinois with glass kitchen at back.

Typical of Chinese restaurants, the menu is designed for sharing. Most of the dishes are remarkably old-school for Vancouver: sweet-and-sour chicken, Kung Pao Chicken, beef and broccoli, and crispy prawn wontons. However, there is an emphasis on good ingredients, such as free-range chicken, and vegetarian and spicy dishes are clearly marked on the menu. (The restaurant is peanut-free.) Seafood dishes include sweet-and-sour ling cod, jumbo prawns, and whole Dungeness crab.

The roast duck and barbecue pork belly and shoulder on Chinois' barbecue platter is made in-house.

Prices match the neighbourhood, with small plates like veggie spring rolls running $9 to $14 and beef and chicken dishes running $19 to $28. Seafood dishes cost $19 to $59. A platter of barbecued duck and pork is $45. The house chow mein is $22, and chicken-and-prawn fried rice with X.O. sauce is $24.

Chinois is open every day from 5 p.m. to midnight, and the bar keeps going to 1 a.m. on weekends.

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