One-day congee bar pop-up coming to Chinatown this month

Calling all congee fans — a one-day pop-up dedicated to the delicious dish is happening in Vancouver later this month: Chef and The Fishmonger.

On January 30, Fresh Ideas Start Here (FISH) and Top Chef Canada runner-up Deseree Lo are launching this pop-up at Chinatown BBQ, located at 130 E Pender Street.

Jenice Yu and Deseree Lo

Congee flavours with be available with fish or mushroom stock base alongside some afternoon snacks as well.

Attendees can expect varieties including The OLGee (halibut, ling cod, salted wild salmon, octopus, shrimp), The BOUGeeAF (lobster tail, Hokkaido scallops, mussels, clams, octopus, uni, ikura), and The FUNGee (Matsutake stock, locally foraged mushrooms, ginger, garlic, scallions).

FISH, a much-loved purveyor of boat-to-table sustainable seafood, is known for its top-notch congee made with rice simmered in premium BC halibut broth.

“We launched our seasonal seafood congee out of FISH a few years ago and had no idea it would take off the way it did,” says Jenice Yu, CEO and owner of Fresh Ideas Start Here.

“Customers came in droves and told us they would buy a few tubs at a time to stock up and enjoy it over the week. We thought it was time to open a congee pop-up. A day dedicated to the classic Chinese rice porridge so many of us grew up with, especially in Vancouver’s Chinatown, where I used to go often as a child. Chef Dez was the one who created our first congee iteration at FISH. We knew we wanted to do our first pop-up with her.”

Chef and The Fishmonger will be here for a good time, not a long time. Find the event operating one day only from 11 am to 7 pm.

People are encouraged to make a reservation ahead of time, but you can also just drop by day-of, too.

Congees start from $16 and come with a choice of seasoned sweet or spicy soy, fried garlic, green onions, and Lo’s chili oil.

Sides and snacks include a compressed cucumber salad, marinated tofu skin salad, and assorted pickles with Lo’s kimchi, ma-la (spicy) bamboo shoots, and mustard greens.

For sweet stuff, expect Crispy Sweet Black Sesame Rice Balls with peanut powder.

Be sure to mark your calendar and check this out, you don’t want to miss it!

Chef and The Fishmonger

When: January 30 from 11 am to 7 pm
Where: Chinatown BBQ — 130 E Pender Street, Vancouver
Tickets: Make a reservation here