Vancouver Food!

[docmsf]

We are very much foodies and are looking for interesting, unique to Vancouver, dining options. We will be in town three evenings pre-cruise 6/25. Any suggestions for anything from famous local dives to fine dining would be helpful. Friends have recommended 'Salt' in Gastown. Others have said we MUST do dim sum? Recommendations? We also love street fair/festival/vendor foods!

[Putterdude]

Salt is probably not one that I would recommend to the mainstream diner but yes a very good choice. The challange with Vancouver is that the Chinese community is no longer contained in the old Chinatown area and is spread through out the area; as a result we have hundreds of Chinese restaurants and every Vancouverite has his or her own favourite. Mine is the Fortune Garden Seafood Restaurant on West Broadway; it offers as good Chinese cusine as you are going to find in the city. Seafood, try Aqua Riva near Canada Place, Carderos down near Weston's Bayshore Inn or the Kettle of Fish in the West End on False Creek. We also have some very fine upscale Italian restaurants opertated buy Umberto Mengi who kind of a touch stone in Italian cusine in Vancouver. However I am sure you are going to get many more suggestions.

[TCF]

I'm glad I'm first up on this one! You will now have one heck of an argument among the locals answering your question...LOL!!!!

Best Dim Sum in town is the Sun Sui Wah on Main Street. A cab drive from the downtown hotels but worth the the cost for the food.

Best Italian eatery is Nick's on Commercial Drive....again a cab ride from downtown hotels...but a 'homey' kind of atmosphere...been in business since I was a kid...and I'm 60 now!

Best local forever drive-in....White Spot. Moved 'upscale' over the years and now have dining rooms...but still offer car service at some locations.Famous locally for their burgers with Triple "O" sauce.

Best burger in town is Moderne Burger on West Broadway....again a cab trip from downtown. It was severely damaged by fire many months ago and is scheduled to re-open any day now...mind you their website has been saying that for months now.

Good steaks...The Keg Steakhouse. There is one downtown but I can't remember where.

Good "West Coast Bistro" style restaurant is Cardero's. it is right on the harbour next to the Westin Bayshore very near downtown. Good creative menu, great harbour view, some think a little pricey but I have found it fair considering the great views.

Vancouver is a cosmopolitan city with a huge variety of very good restaurants and Chefs...as well as international cuisine.

I am sure there will be others along soon with their favourites...one thing about Vancouverites....we love to eat out at our favourite restaurants!!!

[ceilidh1]

If you are willing to go a little out of Downtown, I highly recommend the Pacific Institue of Culinary Arts restaurant http://www.picachef.com/restaurant.html near Granville Island. They have amazing food there (my favorite is the weekend brunch buffet) that is cooked by culinary students. Their seafood buffet is definitely worth checking into! Granville Island itself is a cool place for "food fair" type food. You can take the bus over to the island of the aquabus from the seawall. It's hard to just recommend one place as Vancouver has some outstanding food choices!

[Putterdude]

Best Italian eatery is Nick's on Commercial Drive....again a cab ride from downtown hotels...but a 'homey' kind of atmosphere...been in business since I was a kid...and I'm 60 now!

 

Gosh, I haven't been to Nick's in years. It was where you you used to for dinner before a Canucks game when they used to play at the Pacific Coliseum. However I had to stop going there for a casual business lunches as I would go back to the office and fall asleep. You are right, good pasta for over 50 years now.

[scottbee]

We are very much foodies and are looking for interesting, unique to Vancouver, dining options. We will be in town three evenings pre-cruise 6/25. Any suggestions for anything from famous local dives to fine dining would be helpful. Friends have recommended 'Salt' in Gastown. Others have said we MUST do dim sum? Recommendations? We also love street fair/festival/vendor foods!

 

Dim Sum; I'd have to agree with Sun Sui Wah.

 

Cheap Chinese: Szechuan Chongqing (Commercial Drive @ 12th). easy to get to as it's almost under the Skytrain tracks @ Broadway station.

 

Breakfast; The Elbow room. Served with a side of (fun) attitude

 

Street/Vendor/Festival foods; Asian, two choices. Fri or Saturday night at the Richmond Night Market, (10 miles south of downtown, Viking Way)otherwise the food court at the Crystal Mall (6 miles SE of downtown on Kingsway -- Skytrain nr Patterson Stn) will make you swear you're in asia (90% of the menus are chinese). If you like this sort of thing, definately one or the other is worth a try.

 

Indian: Vij's (Granville and 10th) the place that all the foodies and out of town chefs visit. If you're looking for a little out of the way, Bombay Behl (E.Hastings nr Gilmore) I think is even better (try the cold appetizer sampler plate)

 

Malay: The Banana Leaf (Denman St, or Broadway nr Cambie). Great unusual asian faire without breaking the bank.

Upscale: Parkside (Haro St, nr Denman), West (Granville @ 13th)

 

Italian: Quattro (W4th av @ Trafalgar) is the best, but somewhat pricey. Nick's, Anton's and Anducci's all serve a great heap of pasta, but they're more of a quantity over quality. Of the three others mentioned Anducci's is the best of the bunch (nearest is behind Lougheed Towncentre -- accessible via Skytrain)

 

Sushi: Tojo's (W. Broadway nr Cambie). The man that invented California Rolls (expensive!!!). Other than that there are sushi joints EVERYWHERE.

 

Seafood: The Cannery (commissioner street). My vote as the best seafood in town. C also comes highly recommended.

 

Coffee: You're not going to get decent coffee onboard, so enjoy while you have a chance: Cafe Artigiano (W. Hastings @ Howe & Granville nr Dunsmuir), Mario's (Howe nr Dunsmuir), or Cafe Calabria (Commercial Dr @ 2nd).

WARNING: CAN BE ADDICTIVE (when your office is next door to Artigiano)

 

This should get you going in the right direction. Some of these places are a bit out of the way (google them to get full addresses), and may be easier if you have a car.

 

As you're from Texas, I didn't list anything you can get at home (Mexican: oh wait we don't have any good ones in town, or Southern BBQ: Memphis Blues is great but probably not unusual for you).

[Putterdude]

Scottbee, I had read that the promoter of the Richmond Night Market had decided not to operate this year. Now evidently there is a new promoter who has decided to operate it this year but he has some plumbing issues that need to be resolved so he won't have full food service there until mid to late June.

[Urban trekker]

Here you are talking about food and I haven't had breakfast yet as I have been busy getting the laundry done - it would help if the security company unlocked the laundry room when they are suppose to - and trying to get caught up on overnight events on the net before heading out for a good bike ride and then to an orientation meeting for volunteers for the Dragon Boat races coming up in 3 weeks time.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis