Little Bird Dim Sum + Craft Beer

Ha gow beside the beer list

Ha gow, siu mai and sticky rice set the first terms; Jonathan Lee works as chef at Little Bird Dim Sum + Craft Beer in Kitsilano, Vancouver, Canada, where the dim sum bench sits beside a B.C. craft beer program rather than the usual tea-first frame. Lee also leads the kitchen at Good Thief, and that split tells you something useful about the work here: he can move between control and ease without treating comfort as a lesser discipline. Shrimp ha gow, siu mai, egg tart and a named Chef Jon Lee Sauce form part of his signature language. At Little Bird, the point is not to displace the familiar shape. It is to keep the wrapper, filling, steam and seasoning in balance while the room around it speaks in a more West Coast register.

Steamed, fried, baked, then poured

The menu works à la carte and small plate by small plate, with dim sum built across steamed, fried and baked preparations. Siu mai carries pork, shrimp, shiitake mushroom and goji berry; shrimp ha gow stays in the classic translucent fold; Shanghai sticky rice brings pork, chicken and goji berries into a denser, more sustaining register. The fried side has its own discipline, from scallop taro puff with taro, scallop, shiitake, mild curry and minced pork to garlic squid and shrimp toast. Lee’s kitchen keeps vegetables in the program as well, including baby gai lan and bean curd rolls with tofu, shiitake, bamboo shoots, carrots and black mushroom. The beverage program makes the house specific. B.C. beer is not an afterthought here: Dreamboat Hazy IPA from Parkside Brewery at 5.3%, Bourbon Orange from Bridge Brewing at 5.5%, a Main St. Brewing pilsner at 5%, and 33 Acres Ocean Pale Ale at 5.3% place the dumpling table inside local brewing rather than outside it. Small batch teas remain on the table, including pu’er, chrysanthemum and jasmine.

Recycled chopsticks in the room

The Kitsilano room carries the same hybrid argument as the menu. Floors, tables and walls are partly made from recycled chopsticks, an industrial gesture that suits a place built for sharing rather than ceremony. The counter and the pass do not ask the food to become formal; they let steam baskets, fried edges, custard pastry and beer glasses do the work in a compact, conversational room. This is not Chinatown banquet pacing moved intact to West 4th Avenue. It is dim sum loosened into a neighborhood rhythm, with the bench still accountable to the forms that made the dishes durable. Michelin has recognized this address with Bib Gourmand status, naming value and cooking together rather than separating them. Lee’s next measure here remains practical and visible: keep the shrimp ha gow, sticky rice and B.C. beer program in tune inside the Kitsilano room.