Vancouver restaurants

[TCF]

Someone was looking for Italian eateries earlier in the thread I think.

I was born and raised in Vancouver and love Italian Food!!

Here they are, the oldest and the finest.

Nick's...located on Commercial Drive an affordable cab ride from downtown hotels. It is just a really good working class Italian food restaurant. Fair to say it has a 'hole in the wall' atmosphere and very 'family' services. Portions are a good size.

Cippriano's ... located on Main St and 24th Ave this is a restaurant for people with huge...make that HUGE appetites!!! Again, it is basic rustic classic working class Italian family restaurant...nothing fancy...just lots of it. DO NOT order a salad for each person...it comes in bowls easily enough to feed two...three with smaller appetites. Garlic chess bread...to die for...one order will feed three or four easily!!! After 8:00 pm ask Frank to sing for you....he's one of the owners...a local boy who spent some time on the tough boards of Broadway before coming home to Vancouver...it is wonderful!!!

Finally, a little more upscale, Arriva. Again on Commercial Drive, (the heart of the Italian ex-pat community in Vancouver), it is a cab ride from the downtown hotels, but not excessive. The anti pasto plate is to die for....and all meals are very well prepared. You will not get the monster servings of the other two, but they are no slouches either.

I have been eating at all three of these restaurants for as long as I can remember, Nick's since I was a little boy, and I have never had a mediocre meal at any of them!

Enjoy!:)

Tom

[dawnskers]

Top priorities are great seafood, fabulous view and close to downtown area...

Fish House in Stanley Park

Cannery Seafood Restaurant

Heron's at the Fairmont

Vistas Revolving Restaurant at the Renaissance Harbourside

 

Also thinking about the Dockside Brewing Co. for brunch on Sunday- anyone been to their buffet?

[Travel Lover]

I have not taken the time to read all of the restaurants listed here but I saw on Rachel Ray a place I said I would have to try if I go back to Vancouver... It was Noodle House or Noodle something. It looked WONDERFUL. It was a small Chinese place. No idea where in the town. It is worth looking up. It looked great they made all the noodles there. Watching them make it was some of the fun of it too. It was amazing.

[dawnskers]

www.dinehere.ca

A friend sent this to me- also recommended a place called Liligets- Native American gourmet restaurant with incredible ambience!

[Missmiz]

We stayed 4 nights in Vancouver before our Cruise in late July and can't say enough good things about the Vancouver restaurants we experienced. I highly recommend West, Vij's and Aurora Bistro. We also had lunch at Cardero's on the waterfront near the Westin and liked it too.

[Missmiz]

I wanted to post some additional information on the restaurants we tried during our trip to Vancouver before our Celebrity Infinity cruise in late July 2006.

 

Simply Thai in Yaletown (dinner). The weather was clear and mild, so we sat on the patio in front of the restaurant. Overall, the quality of the food and service was very high. Standout dishes included papaya salad, crisp, cool and spicy, cho muang dumplings with chicken (tinted a light purple-hard to describe but delicious!), and tofu stir fry.

 

West in the South Granville area (dinner). West features fresh local BC ingredients and wine in an elegant setting. My starter was a mosaic of marinated Portobello mushroom, peppers, artichokes cheese croquettes and candied eggplant; my spouse had a risotto with baby chanterelles and arugula. His main course was Queen Charlotte halibut with fennel marmalade, eggplant puree and sauce vierge, mine an English pea and asparagus risotto. Our desserts were an intense dark chocolate cheese cake and fresh berries. We chose a crisp but complex BC Pinot Gris to go with the meal. Overall, this dinner lived up to our expectations and then some.

 

Vij’s in the South Granville area (dinner). We had heard about Vij’s first via a write-up in the Sunday New York Times, then on the Chowhound website and Timeout. We got there early-around 5:45 since Vij's is such a popular place and does not take reservations. We were able to get a table immediately, but within minutes it was packed. We soon found out why—the food and atmosphere were fabulous! Vij’s has a very laid-back vibe and very friendly service, include Vij (the owner), who circulated in the room visiting with guests. We had sautéed arugula with paneer cheese and roasted cashews and jackfruit (tastes like artichokes) to start and lamb tenderloin and celery root/bulgur wheat koftas in tomato, garam masala and cream curry. We shared an order of smooth but light kir (rice pudding).

 

Perhaps the culinary highlight of our trip was our dinner at Aurora Bistro, near Main and Broadway area of east Vancouver, a transitional area. Aurora Bistro is a small newer restaurant specializing in fresh locally-sourced foods prepared to a very high level. The service and vibe was friendly but professional. I started with a spinach and duck salad, and my spouse had a special salmon dish. Our main dishes were halibut on a bed of lentils and an onion dish. Desserts were a plate of BC cheeses and cherry ice cream.

 

Obviously, we were imporessed with what Vancouver had to offer on the culinary front!!