Reviews Cctv Chinese Restaurant

Authentic northern Chinese food in White Rock? In a restaurant named after a surveillance camera? Who would've thought!

This is a great place to get a variety of spicy Hunan, Sichuan, and Shandong style dishes, which are quite different than the southern Guangdong style dishes we normally find around Vancouver. It will be a huge difference for those who are accustomed to chop suey, sweet and sour, egg foo yung type of retro Canadianized Chinese food.

We've gone there five times now. The family-run restaurant is packed even on a dead winter day on the White Rock waterfront, where most restaurants along the strip are empty or closed. The atmosphere is cozy and the place smells like the spices (cumin, turmeric) of a northern Chinese restaurant. We had a variety of spicy pork and beef dishes, spicy stringbeans, and braised pork. We went with some vegan friends and it's definitely vegan-friendly. In fact, I think it's got some of the my favourite vegan/vegetarian dishes out there now: the spicy green beans, the cumin potatoes, and the eggplant... deadly.

If you're looking for presentation it's pretty plain for the most part, but the food was always all very delicious and flavourful. This is one restaurant where I'd recommend trying some of the more obscure dishes. They are wonderful and authentic to the northern styles, but is likely not a place where you'd find the best southern dishes.

Outstanding, authentic Chinese food. After living in White Rock since 1995 we were happily surprised to find this gem -newly opened overlooking the pier. My spouse is American-born Chinese and we are accustomed to eating in authentic Chinese restaurants in San Francisco, LA, Toronto, Richmond and Vancouver. CCTV stands with the best and it is particularly unique in its focus on Schezwan cuisine. The service was prompt, expert and gracious. We had prawns in seasoned salt, bok choy in garlic, kung pao chicken, shrimps in saltwater tofu soup, spicey/sour potato shreds(quite a unique dish) and pot stickers. Everything was delicious and served in generous portions. They have added some red lanterns and traditional shrines to the cozy ambience left over from the previous tenants (a Russian bistro and Tracey Cake's tea house). The view of the pier and beach is outstanding. CCTV will be a welcome addition to the White Rock/South Surrey culinary scene for our growing Asian community and other serious foodies. People who are accustomed to "Food Court" and other westernized Chinese food will probably find it too exotic - any reviews from that quarter should be taken with a grain of salt.