This sauerkraut fish dish from Sichuan has been popping up all over Richmond and Too Two Chinese Sauerkruat Fish is one of the famous restaurants which specialize in this dish. I believe this is a chain from China so it was no surprise that the restaurant was extremely busy. Be sure to make reservations in advance as you may still need to wait a little.

The interior is actually quite modern and trendy with black walls and funny cartoons and Chinese words across the walls. Couch seating makes it great for large groups, but also a bit awkward to sit depending on how tall you are. I found it difficult to eat as the table was a bit too high for me given the seats were low and I’m not that tall.

When you are waiting for a seat, you’ll find their “homemade pickled sauerkraut” at the entrance. This is used to make their fish soup which is really delicious!

Many had complained that the menu was all in Chinese, but they seem to have added English on their menu now, so it was no problem to order. If you can read Chinese though, you will find that the names of the dishes are quite hilarious. The prices are definitely not cheap here, but if you have a group of 4 or more, then sharing isn’t too bad.

Shredded Chicken

There are quite a few starters and snacks to choose from. We chose the Shredded Chicken which is perfect if you love spicy. The chicken was tender and served cold but the numbing spice was what caught me off guard. This is definitely the Sichuan style numbing spice so many of us who cannot take too much spice found it too much to take.

House Made Sticky Rice Cake

If you can’t take much spice, then you should definitely order the House Made Sticky Rice Cake as a snack to cool off the numbing. Regardless, this should be a must order as they are absolutely delicious! It’s like deep fried mochi topped with some sweet powder and you can then dip it in the brown sugar sauce. So chewy and perfect for any mochi lovers!

Sauerkraut Fish (3-4 people portion)

And onto the main course which is what we came here for! I actually found it interesting that some people complained online that there were not enough choices for main courses and that everything was too spicy. But shouldn’t they have known this restaurant specializes in this spicy fish so you shouldn’t expect many other dishes? Anyways, you can choose different portions based on the number of people you have from (1-2, 3-4, and 4+ people). We noticed many tables of 2 ordered the 3-4 portion and tables of 4 got the Feaster (4+) portion. Guess it technically isn’t too hard to finish since it’s mostly just fish and soup. The whole fish is put in the soup along with skin, but it’s not hard to pull the fish apart from the bones. I believe the fish they use here is tilapia and the fish is extremely moist and tender. As for the soup, I was worried it would be too spicy, but wow, this was delicious and I could actually drink the soup. It is not really numbing and the sourness from the sauerkraut is very interesting. Definitely flavours I have not tried before but I enjoyed. If you can’t eat too much spice, then just make sure not to eat the seeds of the pepper as those are what give the spice. You can also add toppings in your soup for an additional $3.99 for each topping. We chose the Wide Starch Noodle and Frozen Tofu which I both highly recommend. The Wide Starch Noodle is this wide thinly sliced clear noodle which gives a nice chew. The Frozen Tofu soaks up the sauerkraut soup so is very flavourful. This 3-4 portion size was $59.99 and after adding the different toppings, it comes to almost $70. So definitely not cheap and I’m not sure how it compares to other restaurants which also specialize in this dish. But I really enjoyed it!

Fruit Cube Pudding

To cool the spice off, we ended our meal with some dessert. There are two to choose from and we tried both. First is the Fruit Cube Pudding which features a brown sugar syrup base. There are these clear jelly like cubes in the bowl which are very refreshing along with the watermelon and honeydew. I’ve never tried something like this before but I enjoyed it!

Coco Milk Cube Pudding

The Coco Milk Cube Pudding is essentially the exact same as the above except they use a coconut milk base instead of the brown sugar. Both are very refreshing and delicious to end your spicy meal with!

Overall, I really enjoyed trying this new Sichuan dish and will have to try other restaurants to see how they compare. Definitely come with a Chinese speaking friend as it will be much easier to order. Again, price is not cheap and you’ll end up paying around $40 a person, but definitely worth trying this dish if you haven’t had it before!

Pros:
– Sauerkraut fish is delicious!
– Other snacks and side dishes were well executed

Cons:
– Dishes are not cheap

Price Range: $40-50 per person

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4 Service: 3 Ambiance: 3.5 Parking: Free parking in complex Overall: 4