Dragon River: Walnut Grove's friendly little Chinese spot you've probably driven past
A warm welcome and a really good plate of Cantonese comfort food in The Village at Thunderbird Centre. Hours, what we ate and how to find it.
- Where
- Unit 117, 20159 88 Ave, The Village at Thunderbird Centre, Walnut Grove · 604-371-2668
- Hours
- Tue–Sun 4–9 pm. Closed Monday.
- Cost
- $$, the usual neighbourhood-Chinese price range
- Online
- Facebook page
Some places win you over with the food. Dragon River had us before the food even showed up.
It’s a small Chinese restaurant in The Village at Thunderbird Centre, the plaza at 88 Avenue and 201 Street, and it’s the sort of spot you could pass a hundred times without noticing. Look for the red lettering on the window and the big lit OPEN sign. The people running it are genuinely nice: friendly, easygoing, glad you came in. That counts for a lot.
The food
Then the food arrived, and it was great. We had the classic combo: chicken in a glossy, sticky red sweet-and-sour sauce, a pile of chow mein, and fried rice with peas and little pieces of BBQ pork. Nothing fancy, nothing reinvented, just the Cantonese-Canadian comfort plate done the way you want it done. One word covers it: yummy.
Before you go
It’s dinner only, 4 to 9, and closed Mondays, which is the one thing most likely to trip you up. No website, so the phone number above is the way to order ahead.
Go if you want a friendly, no-fuss Chinese dinner close to home in Walnut Grove. Skip if it’s a Monday, or you’re after something modern and experimental; this is the classics, done well.
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