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Boba pearl milk tea (right) and stinky tofu with kimchi (centre) are among Pearl Castle Café’s offerings.

Photo courtesy Tommy Lim

Restaurant brings Taiwanese cuisine to Richmond

By Samuel Cheng

Published 10:16 PDT, Fri April 29, 2022

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In the fifth part of a series on Richmond’s business roots, we share the story of Pearl Castle Café.

Pearl Castle Café, which opened in 1996, is one of the earliest pioneers of Taiwanese cuisine in Richmond.

Founder Jimmy Chen is from Taichung, Taiwan. He planted the roots and opened up the very first Pearl Castle Café in Parker Place, which later expanded and moved to the nearby Continental Plaza in 2000.

Pearl Castle’s Mandarin name is “Yuan Xiang.” The word “yuan” means round or circular, which symbolizes balance and harmony. The word “xiang” translates to fragrance and aroma, which represents the mouth-watering food and flavourful drinks.

Chen initially started his business because he wanted to share an all-time favourite Taiwanese drink—bubble tea—and one-of-a-kind Taiwanese cuisine.

“Pearl Castle’s goal is to continue to serve delicious, quality Taiwanese food and beverages to the people in the Greater Vancouver area, those who are homesick and want a bite of their hometown food, or those who haven’t tried Taiwanese food and drinks,” says Chen.

Pearl Castle Café offers a wide variety of catering options, ranging from three spice chicken to beef noodle soup. Over the past couple of years, the restaurant has also added other Asian dishes to its menu, including mala hot pot, rice vermicelli with pig intestines, and more. It also has drinks ranging from milk teas to frappés.

Pearl Castle Café aims to use top-class ingredients and ships most beverage-related ingredients, including tea and Boba pearls, straight from Taiwan.

“We always pride ourselves on using fresh, quality ingredients. Our beef stock and chicken stock are all boiled in house,” says Chen.

Chen credits the success of his business to its hardworking and amazing employees, especially the ones who have stood by his side over decades of blood, sweat, and tears.

Keeping up with inflation and rent have proven to be some of the business’s biggest challenges. The pandemic has only made matters worse.

Despite numerous hardships, Pearl Castle Café has shifted its business model and discovered new, innovative strategies. Partnering with online food delivery companies such as Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Fantuan has proven to be an effective alternative approach.

“We also shut down the restaurant for three months,” says Chen. “During those times it was definitely scary but we’re glad that we’re able to adapt to the current restrictions and open up for dine-in again.”

Chen is also planning to introduce advanced, futuristic robots and artificial intelligence systems to his restaurants.

Winning the “Best Taiwanese Restaurant/Bubble Tea Café” category in the Chinese Restaurant Diners’ Choice Awards for four consecutive years from 2010 to 2013 is one of Chen’s proudest business moments.