Reviews James On Hastings Chinese Restaurant

Hello everyone. The menu prices must be years old. Add about $5.00 to each item. The food was good and portions were more than adequate. The only dishes they can do without MSG or Chrystal Glutamates are veggie dishes. I tried !

Open late so my friends and I came in looking for good food. I like their booths and the restaurant itself is nice for a hole in wall joint. Understaffed but still attentive. Food took a bit to come out but it was good. Worth a try, especially if it's past 11 pm.

Wow their award winning curry crab was delicious. We had their late night menu and it was no dissapointment. Many small plate dishes. We had their in house tapioca pudding dessert which takes about 20 minutes to be done, really worth waiting for... Gat dang.

James On Hastings was the venue chosen for lunch, during a recent visit made to the Burnaby 'Heights' and Vancouver 'East Village' areas of Hastings.  We (senior couple and daughter) arrived at the restaurant about 11:20am, and fortunately, were able to find an available parking space within the small strip-mall's lot.

Upon entering the restaurant, we were welcomed by wait staff, took a peak at the seating arrangements, and chose to sit at one of the booths.  Once seated, we were immediately brought mugs of hot tea, table settings, and menus.  After making our food selections and placing our order, our server returned with a large, complimentary bowl of warm chicken stock (with veggies) soup - a nice touch we thought, and enjoyed during our wait for the ordered dishes to be prepared. 

The restaurant has a small footprint outside, but surprisingly, is quite a decent size inside.  The seating arrangements consist of booths along one side, and several small, to rather large, round tables occupying the remaining space.  The place appeared spotlessly clean and neat (and that included the washrooms).

The food - all servings were very generously-large, came to our table piping hot, and the presentations so pleasing to the senses - they sure looked and smelled good!!  We ordered and shared the following dishes:  

--  Fried Noodles (Chow Mein):  'House Special Fried Noodles' - a large 'nest' of fried noodles, topped with selections of meat, seafood, and veggies (slices of bbq pork and beef, pieces of boneless chicken and octopus/squid, prawns, small & large mushrooms, broccoli, and red bell pepper).  A colourful presentation, and the preparation as perfect as anything I could ever have imagined - the noodles dry and crunchy, the veggies el dente - everything so fresh, and crisp.  'The' best chow mein I have seen and tasted in a good long while.                  

--  Curry:  'Curried Mixed Veggies' - a selection of mostly green veggies (broccoli, baby bok choy, whole snap peas, green bell pepper, and celery, and small & large mushrooms), in a rich, thick & creamy, mild-tangy, curry sauce - a true taste delight, and sure a big hit with us!!  

--  Seafood:  'Spicy Garlic Squid' - breaded pieces of squid, with ample doses of salt, (red) pepper, and finely-diced pieces of garlic, onions, and bell peppers.  The squid was very tender, the preparation quite spicy 'hot' - a tasty yum! 

--  Specialty:  'Mongolian Crispy Beef' - dry, tender, pieces of beef, in a tasty, quite tangy sauce, with very thin slices of onion, and red & green bell peppers.  It looked good, and tasted the same, and just spicy-hot enough for our liking - another delight to the senses!

In summary:  the restaurant:  small, 'in-the-neighbourhood' = "our kind" of place.  the service - pleasant, friendly, and accommodating.  the food - very well-prepared and presented.  

We had fun, and really enjoyed our first dining experience at James On Hastings.

It doesn't look like much from the outside, but James is a solid choice for its lunch special and late night hours. If you've got hankering for some soup noodles, congee, or even some typical HK style cafe dishes, James doesn't disappoint. Prices are on point too. A great place to hit up at midnight.

Fantastic service. The curry crab and hot and sour soup some of the best in the city. Bring a lot of friends and have a great time.

Better than Expected. This place always seems to me like one of those nameless, generic Chinese dives along Hastings and Kingsway that you secretly suspect are engaging in Money Laundering in some way. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this place has really decent soups. There is subtlety in both the broth and the meats that show each was cooked in house rather than wholesaled in As a quick lunch bite, this place is totally worth the visit.

Late Night Delight. Good food, good price (~6.95) , nice variety, and free congee.

Though portions can vary depending on the chef.

Foodrebuttal.com Recommendation: order the dry spicy dishes and toss the jalepenos in with the congee.

Great food at a decent price. Love the curry crab! Tasted really fresh!

There is no other place around this hood that opens until 2:00am and serves up authentic late night chinese food! I came here after a not so satisfying dinner to grab some late night grub. I like that this place has a huge selection of mini dishes for late night snacking that will satisfy even the pickiest taste buds. Being not too hungry and just wanted something to munch on, we ordered a bowl of parsley beef congee ($5.95), pan fried mini oyster pancake ($7.95) and deep fried fish ($6.95). The bowl of congee was huge for the price and has a generous portion of sliced beef. I liked that the congee itself was bland and didn't taste salty, there is white pepper on the side for those that need more taste. The portion of oyster pancake was quite massive, the size almost matching a medium 12" pizza. The oysters pieces were far and few but the overall taste of the pancake was still good with the egg mixture. I liked that they had sprinkled a lot of cilantro into the batter to take out the fishy flavour of the oyster. I didn't care too much for the deep fried fish, as these fish were those mini white little fishies with silver eyes, the actual meat of the fish was almost non existent. More or less, I felt I was just eating the deep fried batter more than anything. The garlic and the sliced serrano pepper mix in the idsh was actually the best part and when added into the plain congee was a winning combo. Overall, James is a winner and I will definitely come back to try their dinner!

It's open again!. James on Hastings was closed for three months due to a fire, but now they're back open. Friendly service, great food! The curry-flavoured Dungeness crab was delicious. The red bean dessert soup was amazing. James, the owner, greeted us and we never once had to ask for refills for our tea. I will definitely be going back!