Colour See See: Affordable Chinese food and XLB in Burnaby
As someone who doesn’t love cooking, my husband and I end up eating out more often than the average person 😬. For weeknight dinners, we try to find something affordable, yummy, and close to home (i.e. not in downtown Vancouver).
Recently, we checked out Colour See See in Burnaby by Metrotown for dinner. They are quite busy during lunchtimes and serve up a small menu of Chinese food like wonton soup and soup dumplings – perfect for a rainy day.
We came here as a table of 4 adults and ordered almost everything off their menu!
Colour See See
4689 Kingsway, Burnaby, BC V5H 2B3
The vibe
We came here for dinner on a Friday night and was worried there would be a wait but the place was pretty empty around 6:30 pm. Tables did fill up by the time we left at around 7:30 pm.
The inside is pretty small with only a few tables inside. You can see a part of the kitchen where they make the food also.
For our table of 4, it was pretty spacious and the booth seating along the wall had some decent cushion to it. Other chairs are wooden.
The server spoke limited English but they do have an English menu.
Food review
Here is everything we ordered between 4 people. Prices are in CAD and rounded to the nearest dollar for simplicity.
Soy milk ($3)
For a beverage, we actually tried the soy milk drink because we thought it may be good from a restaurant like Colour See See. It comes warm and has a thicker texture than regular milk. I actually quite liked it since it was a chilly day and I felt it warm up my insides. It was a little sweet!
Mini wonton soup ($9) + Wonton soup ($11)
We ordered both the mini wonton soup and regular sized wonton soup because we were curious about the difference.
The mini wonton soup comes with 12 mini wontons, but they are very small and look like a little bag. The soup is also slightly different with some egg shreds, seaweed and parsley.
The regular sized wonton soup comes with only 8 wontons but they are much larger and actually resemble dumplings. The inside is stuffed with meat and veggies and the soup only has green onions and parsley.
The broth is very similar for both (very light and clear) and out of the 2, I prefer the regular wonton soup.
Pumpkin cake ($7)
I don’t really like pumpkin but my husband wanted to try this pumpkin cake so we ordered it. One order comes with 4 mini cakes and they were actually pretty good!
The texture is chewy like mochi and inside they have red bean filling. This tastes like a deep fried dessert.
Xiao long bao ($9-12)
Moving onto the main section of their menu!
For soup dumplings/xiao long bao (XLB), you can choose between 3 different fillings and one order comes with 6 dumplings:
- Pork filling – $9
- Shrimp & pork filling – $10
- Crab & pork filling – $11
We order 2 (12 dumplings in total) and we choose one pork and one crab & pork.
These were pretty tasty and despite having a pretty thin dumpling wrap. They really had some structural integrity to it because my friend dropped one on the table and we expected it to burst but it didn’t 😯. The soup was inside was quite good and hot!
Out of the 2, I did prefer the crab & pork over the pork filling because it had more of a seafood umami taste.
Pan fried buns ($8-16) + Pan fried dumplings ($8-10)
Pan fried buns
I actually prefer these pan-fried buns over XLB and it’s because I like the crispy bottoms of these buns more than a steamed bun. Again, Colour See See offers a range of different fillings for different prices. For the pan fried buns, you can choose between:
- Pork filling – $8
- Shrimp & pork filling – $9
- Crab & pork filling – $10
- Crayfish & pork filling – $16
- Scallop & pork filling – $12
One order comes with 4 buns and they differentiate the filling by the colour of seeds on top of the bun. We ordered 1 pork filling (black seeds) and 1 shrimp & pork filling (beige seeds).
Unlike the XLB, I noticed very little difference between the pork and the shrimp & pork. So I would say looking at the list of fillings and the price variance, the pork filling would be the best value since it is the cheapest and most of the filling is pork anyways.
These pan fried buns are on the smaller side if I compare them to Crystal Mall food court’s Shanghai Dimsum House or Wang’s in Vancouver. But they were also crispy on the bottom with lots of hot soup inside – delicious 👍!
Recommended:
Read my review of Wang’s – a no-frills Shanghainese restaurant in Vancouver, serving up some of the best XLBs.
Read my review of Shanghai Dimsum House inside the Crystal Mall food court in Burnaby. There’s always a line and they have affordable XLB and the best pan-fried pork buns.
Pan fried dumplings
I didn’t have high expectations for the pan fried dumplings because I was really excited for the pan fried buns and the XLB, but this item on the menu actually surprised me the most!
Again, you can choose between different fillings for the dumplings and 1 order comes with 4 pieces:
- Pork filling – $8
- Shrimp & pork filling – $9
- Crab & pork filling – $10
We ordered the shrimp & pork filling and inside was a whole shrimp! One weird thing though was that I did notice the small shrimp still had its little poop vein in the back, but I also feel like most places don’t de-vein a small shrimp so maybe it’s ok 😵?
Anyways, pan fried dumplings had a nice crispy skin and inside there was actually soup that dripped out 😳! Just like the XLB or the pan fried buns! I’ve never eaten a fried dumpling before that had soup in it so I was caught by surprise and I actually really liked it.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
After tax and tip, we spent under $100 for 4 people – this is a pretty affordable place for a meal!
Food came out in a timely manner and everything was delicious. I will definitely come here again for a cheap and easy weeknight meal or when raincouver starts happening since we are entering Fall.
Food items I would get again include the XLB, pork pan fried buns, and the pan fried dumplings. I would just order a shit ton of these 😂 and a glass of soy milk.
Sincerely, Loewe