Little Karp owners run a seafood business and knows high-end service.

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Little Karp

Where: 8631 Alexandra Rd., Richmond

When: Brunch and happy hour daily. Dinner, Thursday to Sunday.

Info: 604-866-5586. littlekarp.com

Sometimes, your best is just too good. Last April, when Sam Wong and Fanfan Cheng opened Little Karp restaurant in Richmond, their elevated management background at the Excelsior, Ritz-Carlton and chic Mira Moon hotels in Hong Kong kicked in.

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“It was all about anticipation, doing things before guests asked and there was a standard of procedure for every single thing,” says Cheng. “Everything had to be consistent.”

The couple quickly noted Vancouver was different. “Sam and I went to restaurants in Vancouver and found the West Coast is more casual, so we tweaked,” says Cheng. “We even changed our uniforms from semi-formal to casual.”

The name Little Karp reflects the owners’ overachieving personalities. As well as the restaurant, they own and operate a wholesale seafood company. In Chinese legend, a carp that swims up a strong current and leaps over a waterfall, or Dragon Gate, and becomes a dragon.

“For us, we work 10 to 12 hours a day,” says Cheng. “It’s the normal thing, the usual thing. We both need self-actualization.

“Sam and I are 100 per cent foodies. The main reason we worked in hotels was to get free accommodations when we travelled to try different cuisines. We plan around food, not sightseeing,” says Cheng.

At Little Karp, they’re able to pounce on great seafood thanks to their seafood business “We want to share good food and drinks. It’s really our passion. It’s western-style cuisine with Asian twists,” she says of their menu. “Sometimes, it’s with technique, sometimes, with ingredients,” she says. Cheng works closely developing and tasting recipes with the chef, Leon Zhou.

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During the day, a ladies-who-brunch crowd gathers, at least during the school year with moms coming in after making school drop offs, drawn especially to the fresh crab and lobster benedicts. “We get them live,” says Cheng. “You can taste the difference. It’s juicy and sweet.”

I haven’t had brunch at Little Karp but dishes like the seafood melt with crab, lobster and prawns, the chicken waffle, and the Hainanese chicken rice sound tempting.

On the dinner menu, which I did try, seafood plays starring roles, with cameos from meat and poultry. The seafood tower with lobster, crab, clams, oysters, prawns, and mussels ($68) is a big seller, with products from their seafood business, Aqua King, as fresh as could be. Accompaniments are ponzu, seafood soy sauce, and cocktail sauces.

The Nova Scotia lobster ceviche ($22) was another lovely dish, thanks to the product and the bright marinade. The beer-battered local oysters ($26 for six pieces) came with Sriracha mayonnaise and truffle powder made with dried truffles. Lobster bisque ($20) is boldly lobstery. The fish fumet is made with the lobster heads that were removed to make other dishes.

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Marbled sockeye salmon ($22) is a mosaic of salmon hues, separated by squid ink lines. It had lively flavour notes of orange, passion fruit and a herb sauce. Salmon wellington ($38) was wrapped in a thin sheet of puff pastry had a second layer of salmon mousse touched with a hint of Indian curry spicing. “Every time I ate a wellington dish, it reminded me of a samosa, so we added curry and I really liked it,” says Cheng.

The seasonal fish dish ($33) was sablefish, a lovely product but rather bluntly presented over dense mashed potatoes and roughly cut grilled vegetables.

Desserts are simple — a chocolate cake and two seasonal ice creams.

The modest wine list focuses on seafood friendly whites, Rosés and sparklers and every wine is also available by the glass. Wong, who is responsible for the wines, completed the WSET, Level 3 wine course in Hong Kong but didn’t get a chance to do the exam before moving to Canada.

Many of the cocktails are available as alcohol-free mocktails. I enjoyed the Aurora with its pretty colours from violet syrup and butterfly pea flower tea. Other cocktails feature Asian ingredients such as matcha, yuzu and Mao Tai Chinese liquor.

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