Chinatown | Luis P Reyes

JangMojib used to be Hons Won Ton House, a Chinese restaurant that goes back a long way. It is a sign of how things have changed over time. I remember Hons from the 70s when I was just starting out on my career and it was just a small hole in the wall with less than six tables. I only went there for either the won ton noodle soup or the brisket of beef in noodle soup. I can’t even remember if they had other dishes. After almost 20 years in Dhahran we returned to live in Vancouver and one of the first restaurants we went to was Hons. But this time the little hole in the wall was no more, to be replaced by far larger restaurants with a larger variety of dishes. Our favorite was in Richmond and besides the one on Robson and Chinatown there were others in the neighboring cities. Like a few of the Chinese businesses, they had expanded to bigger and more successful businesses. Unfortunately in 2008 that financial crash also took down Hons as they apparently played with the stock market and crashed with it. And all of a sudden the Hons we knew was gone. The one in Richmond closed down while others were taken over by other people who kept the name. Now that this location (Chinatown) is gone, the Robson restaurant is the only one left. Not really knowing where else to go we went inside this new restaurant which had tranformed into a Korean/Chinese menu. There are still some of the old fares but half have been replaced by Korean dishes. It wasn’t bad at all and may go back again. Interestingly enough although some cosmetic changes to the decor were made, the staff and kitchen appear the same.

Chinatown is in the process of gentrification and while some resist the change it appears that it is only a matter of time. Some of the old establishments are still there.