HQ BBQ Master - Richmond

We arrived 15 minutes before store open for take out. Entrance is from Parking garage. Ordered Bbq pork, Soya chicken, Roast Pork. All foods are tasty especially Soya chicken. The meat is juicy and tender. They only accept cash. Service is great and quick.

This restaurant is one of several restaurants located in the garage structure of the Real Canadian Superstore on No. 3 Road. Our group visited this place and got seated within 10 minutes (note: the crazy long line is for takeout; just go towards the door and sign your name on the sheet for dine-in). The place is small and the seating is tight, so for larger groups it may not be the most comfortable. But the food makes up for the cramped quarters. Just make sure you know what you want to order, as everything afterwards happens blazingly fast: from the time your order is taken to the food arrival to the cleanup once you are done. Our group ordered several rice plates to share: piles of bbq roast pork, bbq pork (aka char-siu), soy sauce chicken, and roast duck. Surprisingly, the best item was the soy sauce chicken; it was cooked perfectly, very soft and tender, and very flavorful. The roast pork had the crispy skin, but the meat was a tad dry. The roast duck was a hit-and-miss, as some plates the roast duck was good and the skin was light and had the right amount of fat, while the other plates the roast duck was dry and the skin was dark and had little fat. This was a bit of a bummer, since the rice plates with roast duck cost an extra few bucks (due to the supposed duck shortage resulting from covid supply chain issues). The kids liked the char-siu, and it was definitely better than the average char-siu, but it was missing some sweetness to it that really good char-siu has. The soup-of-the-day was good (on that day it was lean pork shank with pear and white snow fungus), and came in a good sized bowl that was shareable with another person. Also another surprise was that the rice plates do not come with a side of veggies (needs to be ordered separately). The veggies are the typical Chinese greens, but it was a welcome supplement to the heaps of meat. Be sure you eat what you want off your plate, the servers are very quick and will take your dish away if you stop for more than 20 seconds. Overall, a decent and satisfying meal. Don’t expect a gastronomic revelation (as some Youtube/Netflix shows/reviews have made this place to be), treat it instead as a very competent and authentic place to eat good Cantonese bbq, and you won’t be disappointed. Parking is plentiful (rarity in Richmond BC strip malls) and is covered so you don’t have to venture out in the BC rain.

Today's New Year's Eve , I lined up at ten o'clock in the morning to buy roast pork. There were around 40+ people in the lineup, I thought it was not too bad, it should be ready within an hour, but I was fooled, because the store has so many dine-in and take-out, and they were given priority, so I waited for almost two hours, and I will not go again in the future, other BBQ places in Richmond don't have this problem, or it's not so outrageous that way this place treated those in the lineup for take-out. The BBQ stuff is average, nothing like other reviews' high praise.

The first 5 mins upon getting your order, that is when the meats tasted heavenly! Roast pork, duck, chicken and especially bbq pork all breaks up so easily in your mouth. After that initial 5 minutes though, once food has turned ‘cold’, the meats become harder to break. With the huge chunks of meats served, each bite becomes somewhat laborious. Same goes for the soup really tasty initially but loses its wow after 5 minutes or so. By then you’d be starting on your mains and have to abandon the soup. Perhaps the meats should not be cut up into such huge chunks? That could help you eat more comfortably once the food is cold but you would miss out on the first 5 minutes when the huge chunks feels satisfying. I reached this restaurant at 5pm and saw a queue forming up. I went to queue but 10 minutes later, was told that queue was meant for takeaways (order to go). Fortunately there wasn’t a queue for the dine in area so I could get a table as I walked in. Waited less than 10minutes for the order to arrive. Everything tasted good there chicken, duck, roast pork, bbq pork, veg, soup and even the dark soy sauce (in a bottle) is a winner. Unfortunately, as I’ve mentioned earlier, past 5 minutes and when the food is cold, the magic isn’t there anymore. By then, I will say I’ve tasted better roast meats in other countries. Portion is quite large for an average Asian. Perhaps consider getting a plate with all the meats and then share with two persons? Of course, need to supplement with a plate of veg and maybe share a bowl of soup if possible. Of the meats, my favourite is the bbq pork. I can imagine some people preferring the duck and the chicken. The only nice part of the roast pork is the crispy crackly skin.

This the BEST tasting BBQ you will find anywhere on this planet bar none. The service extremely quick and efficient. I travel often from Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island just for this experience. Do give this cuisine a try as you work through your bucket list. Thank you Owners and keep up the good work! I hope to meet you folks one day.