Dinner in Vancouver

We are staying a night before our cruise in downtown Vancouver, about three blocks or so from Canada Place, and are looking for some recommendations for restaurants. We would like to stay in the general area of our hotel. Anything will help!

We are staying a night before our cruise in downtown Vancouver, about three blocks or so from Canada Place, and are looking for some recommendations for restaurants. We would like to stay in the general area of our hotel. Anything will help!

If literally anything will help, then here are some of my favourite places in that ballpark area:

Hawksworth - hands-down the finest service in the city, and in probably every category except fish the finest cooking.

Diva at the Met - best value tasting menu of the 'fancy' downtown hotels.

The Railway Club - simple, cheap pub grub in limited hours only, but a very character-filled pub with some of the best live music in town. Check the sched for who's playing when you're in town to see if you like the sound of them.

Cactus Club Cafe - local chain of affordable relatively fine-dining restos. Several branches - nearest to you may be Bentall 5, Robson or Coal Harbour. I'd recommend the last of these as you get a nice view of the North Shore while dining for the same price.

Assuming your traveling party has some preferences of price & style of cuisine that the above don't happen to fall into the sweet pot of, repost with more info and I'll be happy to reflect that in further recos.

If literally anything will help, then here are some of my favourite places in that ballpark area:

 

Hawksworth - hands-down the finest service in the city, and in probably every category except fish the finest cooking.

 

Diva at the Met - best value tasting menu of the 'fancy' downtown hotels.

 

The Railway Club - simple, cheap pub grub in limited hours only, but a very character-filled pub with some of the best live music in town. Check the sched for who's playing when you're in town to see if you like the sound of them.

 

Cactus Club Cafe - local chain of affordable relatively fine-dining restos. Several branches - nearest to you may be Bentall 5, Robson or Coal Harbour. I'd recommend the last of these as you get a nice view of the North Shore while dining for the same price.

 

Assuming your traveling party has some preferences of price & style of cuisine that the above don't happen to fall into the sweet pot of, repost with more info and I'll be happy to reflect that in further recos.

Thanks for the many recommendations. We are staying around the area of Coal Harbor and aren't really set on any type of food. Might be nice to have a view of the water. Cactus Club looks nice and near our hotel.

Cardero's and the "Lift" are close by but not cheap.

http://www.vancouverdine.com/carderos

http://liftbarandgrill.com/

Vancouver has a large ethnic Chinese community and many superb restaurants. Within your stated price range you could have a true feast and a unique dining experience.

I appreciate the sophistication and cultural diversity of Vancouver. It is a great city with world-class dining opportunities. Save the mass market chain restaurants for another trip where there aren't better choices.

Any one have suggestions for a really good chinese restaurant. Eating in Hawksworth 1 night. Coming off cruise and will have done a lot of eating.

Arl

Any one have suggestions for a really good chinese restaurant. Eating in Hawksworth 1 night. Coming off cruise and will have done a lot of eating.

 

Arl

Assuming you want to stay reasonably close to downtown there are some very good options, but most of the local foodies concur that in general the best Chinese food is out in Richmond - I rarely get out that way myself, but I'm sure some other posters will be along with recos. Since you mentioned Hawksworth I'll start with the fancier joints...

A consistently-awarded, high-end dim sum and banquet menu can be had in Dynasty on Broadway. Kirin (a small chain of high-falutin' Chinese restos) has a branch in the heart of downtown. Both of these places will work best for a family meal rather than just a couple IMO, as would Sun Sui Wah a little further out on Main Street - I've had excellent group meals at all, but the portions for 'regular food' dishes were just too big to have much variety when it's just me & the missus. Dynasty is well worth going as a twosome for dim sum though.

Bao Bei (Chinatown) and Bambudda (Gastown) are both very different beasts from the more old-school places - they offer a 'Cocktail Bar-Tapas-regional Chinese' experience, with Bao Bei focused on Shanghai/Szechuan/Taiwan style cuisine and Bambudda on Hong Kong/Cantonese. Both offer great custom cocktails with a lot of asian ingredients, small plates of nibbles and larger 'to share' portions, and constantly-changing menus with a lot of locally-sourced ingredients, but far from a traditional Chinese restaurant experience. No white glove service, but educated & passionate servers in a fairly typical Bistro type environment. These are ideal venues for 1 or 2 people to sample a variety of items.

If you don't mind slumming it a bit, you can also have some fabulously good food at a couple of hole-in-the-walls - Foo's Ho Ho makes what I think is the best egg fu yung anywhere. It's just soooooo light & fluffy, and the flavour of the gravy is awesome. Service is patchy - it's not a large operation and things can be a bit random on the timing front.

If you can be persuaded away from Chinese, then Phnom Penh (Vietnamese-Cambodian) is a local institution - the butter beef and the chicken wings are the dishes absolutely everyone seems to love (well, except vegantarians...). Service is... well, your food arrives and I've never seen anyone spill anything, but they are ferociously busy and appreciate customers who choose quickly, eat, and leave without lingering. Expect to share a table - not the spot for a romantic candlelit affair!

You could probably stuff yourselves stupid in both of the last two restos and have change left from one dinner in Hawksworth, so there are advantages to the lack of decor & service... ;-)

Assuming you want to stay reasonably close to downtown there are some very good options, but most of the local foodies concur that in general the best Chinese food is out in Richmond - I rarely get out that way myself, but I'm sure some other posters will be along with recos. Since you mentioned Hawksworth I'll start with the fancier joints...

 

A consistently-awarded, high-end dim sum and banquet menu can be had in Dynasty on Broadway. Kirin (a small chain of high-falutin' Chinese restos) has a branch in the heart of downtown. Both of these places will work best for a family meal rather than just a couple IMO, as would Sun Sui Wah a little further out on Main Street - I've had excellent group meals at all, but the portions for 'regular food' dishes were just too big to have much variety when it's just me & the missus. Dynasty is well worth going as a twosome for dim sum though.

 

Bao Bei (Chinatown) and Bambudda (Gastown) are both very different beasts from the more old-school places - they offer a 'Cocktail Bar-Tapas-regional Chinese' experience, with Bao Bei focused on Shanghai/Szechuan/Taiwan style cuisine and Bambudda on Hong Kong/Cantonese. Both offer great custom cocktails with a lot of asian ingredients, small plates of nibbles and larger 'to share' portions, and constantly-changing menus with a lot of locally-sourced ingredients, but far from a traditional Chinese restaurant experience. No white glove service, but educated & passionate servers in a fairly typical Bistro type environment. These are ideal venues for 1 or 2 people to sample a variety of items.

 

If you don't mind slumming it a bit, you can also have some fabulously good food at a couple of hole-in-the-walls - Foo's Ho Ho makes what I think is the best egg fu yung anywhere. It's just soooooo light & fluffy, and the flavour of the gravy is awesome. Service is patchy - it's not a large operation and things can be a bit random on the timing front.

 

If you can be persuaded away from Chinese, then Phnom Penh (Vietnamese-Cambodian) is a local institution - the butter beef and the chicken wings are the dishes absolutely everyone seems to love (well, except vegantarians...). Service is... well, your food arrives and I've never seen anyone spill anything, but they are ferociously busy and appreciate customers who choose quickly, eat, and leave without lingering. Expect to share a table - not the spot for a romantic candlelit affair!

 

You could probably stuff yourselves stupid in both of the last two restos and have change left from one dinner in Hawksworth, so there are advantages to the lack of decor & service... ;-)

All excellent suggestions, and I would add the very humble, but excellent "Peaceful" on W.Broadway (Canada Line to Broadway/City Hall, 1 block walk). Think of it as the best Chinese diner, ever.

All excellent suggestions, and I would add the very humble, but excellent "Peaceful" on W.Broadway (Canada Line to Broadway/City Hall, 1 block walk). Think of it as the best Chinese diner, ever.

Agreed.

Just to reiterate Martincath's comments about Bao Bei; this is not your usual Chinese restaurant. Yes, it's fusion, but also very trendy, busy and can get quite noisy. You won't see many Asian faces. If that's not your thing, then be forewarned. - Not a knock on Bao Bei, just an observation.

wow --great response --will take a while to decide-

afterall this is a major decision -

THXS

If you like pubs, Elephant and. Castle is near Canada Place. ( I believe they have more than one location in Vancouver). Food was really good, menu with lots of options and staff was very nice. Just google it, they have a website.

Agreed.

 

Just to reiterate Martincath's comments about Bao Bei; this is not your usual Chinese restaurant. Yes, it's fusion, but also very trendy, busy and can get quite noisy. You won't see many Asian faces. If that's not your thing, then be forewarned. - Not a knock on Bao Bei, just an observation.

I concur. It is trendy and not a 'regular' Chinese restaurant but does serve up some very interesting dishes.

Banana Leaf - scrumptious Malaysian cuisine.

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Culinary Vancouver - Asian fusion with west coast sensability:

Both Robson street and Denman street have a lot of great restaurants my favorite cheap sushi is hanafubuki on robson street http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/16730...ushi-Vancouver

Pho (a hearty Vietnamese beef soup with rice noodles and thinly sliced rare beef) is also somewhat of a local specialty - if you're feeling adventureous. Order PhoTai ( the most basic version - no tripe etc.) and salad rolls http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/14378...tral-Vancouver If you don't want soup, have Bahn Mi - the vietnamese take on a french baguette sandwich - delicious!

If you've never had poutine (sort of our unofficial national dish) head on over to La Belle Patate http://labellepatate.com/.

If you've never had dim sum, my favorite dim sum place in Chinatown is floata: http://www.floata.com/locations.html (on the second floor of Chinatown Plaza) it's near Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden (The garden has a free side and a pay side - both are fairly similar).

Japadog is a vancouver original (Japanese hot dogs!) http://www.japadog.com/ This is a food cart which are the newest rage in Vancouver!

If you prefer Middle Eastern food, the babylon cafe does a lovely wrap http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/14144...Cafe-Vancouver

A great lunch spot is the Art Gallery Café located above the lobby of the Art Gallery which is at Georgia & Hornby.

A Vancouver tradition is the White Spot chain of family restaurants and their specialty is their Big O burger… you will find White Spot Restaurants dotted all over the city.

A Canadian Tradition is the Tim Horton’s Coffee Shops and they are on nearly every corner. Great for a light breakfast or a coffee break anytime.

A favorite evening dining spot is the “Stone Grill” located at 1661 Granville Street on the shore of False Creek. http://www.stonegrill.com

For a lovely evening and new comers to Vancouver try the Top of Vancouver restaurant which is a revolving restaurant located on top of the Harbour Centre.

Chinese Cuisine – try “Kirin Restaurant” award winner of Vancouver’s best Dim Sum for 6 consecutive years. Location 1172 Alberni Street in the heart of Vancouver – http://www.kirinrestaurants.com

“Market” by Jean-Georges is a French inspired west coast restaurant located at 1115 Alberni Street – http://www.marketbyjgvancouver.com

Italian cuisine try the “Italian Kitchen” for authentic Italian regional dishes located at 1037 Alberni Street – http://www.glowbalgroup.com

Italian Cuisine – “Cioppino’s” for Italian dishes with Mediterranean and west coast influences located at 1133 Hamilton Street

Desert - Fabulous Gelato then head for “Bella Gelateria” but be prepared to wait in a long line – definitely worth the wait! Located at 1001 W Cordova Street – http://www.bellagelateria.com

Desert – “Thierry Chocolates” featuring Macaroons, Liquid Chocolate, Almond butter cookies, wine located at 1059 Alberni Street (and open till midnight)

Japanese cuisine – “Miku Restaurant” for flame seared sushi, aburi salmon oshi sushi, tofu salad, green tea ice cream located at 70 – 200 Granville Street

Japanese cuisine – “ShuRaku Sake Are & Bistro” award winning isakaya, spicy salmon tartar located at 833 Granville Street

Japanese cuisine – “ Kintaro Ramen” is a hole in the wall with authentic Japanese ramen in a creamy rich broth (cash only) located at 788 Denman Street

French Cuisine – “Twisted Fork” located at 1147 Granville Street

Indian Cuisine – “Viji’s” located at 1480 W 11th Avenue

Middle Eastern Cuisine – “Nuba” located at 207 W Hastings St

Belgian Cuisine – “Chambar” located at 562 Beatty Street

Seafood – Cardero’s on Coal harbor

Seafood – Joe Fortes

Vancouver has a bunch of hop-on hop-off buses

http://www.vancouverpinkbustours.com/

This thread was almost a year closed before Sabesh raised it BCHG - although that's a nice wide range of restos that will probably be useful to a lot of folks.

You may want to update your records on some of the ones you haven't been to for a while though - e.g. Stone Grill stopped trading 2 or 3 years ago, Chambar moved last summer (fortunately just around the corner, easily seen from old site) and none of your urbanspoon links work (you need to cut the length of what's displayed, just highlighting the name of the resto and inserting the link 'behind' that works with the existing CC tools without needing to use shortening websites or anything).

Woops, my bad. I didn't realize that this thread was a year old, hah. Anyways, I'll be visiting Vancouver shortly, and was researching good places to eat.

I see that Tojo wasn't mentioned. Is Miku a better option than Tojo?

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Woops, my bad. I didn't realize that this thread was a year old, hah. Anyways, I'll be visiting Vancouver shortly, and was researching good places to eat.

 

I see that Tojo wasn't mentioned. Is Miku a better option than Tojo?

 

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If you're talking sheer quality, rather than price, the phrase 'hell to the no' springs to mind. Tojos is THE old-school sushi destination in the city - heck, in western Canada. The only place you'll find any significant opinion about the sushi being better is at Blue water's Raw Bar, and it's stylistically very different. Tojos is rarely mentioned because it ain't cheap, unless someone specifies they're looking for top-end food and have a high budget there's not much point mentioning it.

Word of warning if you do go to Tojos - if you sit at the bar (for Omakase) you will very likely be fed by the man himself and he sometimes forms quick and firm opinions about his customers. There's nothing sweeter than watching as a douchey customer gets treated like crap by the man himself - outright refusal of service is not unheard of, crappy portions and 'running out' of nicer cuts that suddenly reappear when asked about by a nicer customer more common. Be polite!!!

If you're talking sheer quality, rather than price, the phrase 'hell to the no' springs to mind. Tojos is THE old-school sushi destination in the city - heck, in western Canada. The only place you'll find any significant opinion about the sushi being better is at Blue water's Raw Bar, and it's stylistically very different. Tojos is rarely mentioned because it ain't cheap, unless someone specifies they're looking for top-end food and have a high budget there's not much point mentioning it.

 

Word of warning if you do go to Tojos - if you sit at the bar (for Omakase) you will very likely be fed by the man himself and he sometimes forms quick and firm opinions about his customers. There's nothing sweeter than watching as a douchey customer gets treated like crap by the man himself - outright refusal of service is not unheard of, crappy portions and 'running out' of nicer cuts that suddenly reappear when asked about by a nicer customer more common. Be polite!!!

Thanks for the info. I'll skip Tojo as I don't want to be harassed when I ask for a fork, lol (never could master chopsticks). Is Blue water less snooty? Thx.

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Thanks for the info. I'll skip Tojo as I don't want to be harassed when I ask for a fork, lol (never could master chopsticks). Is Blue water less snooty? Thx.

 

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If you're willing to go a bit out of the city core for Japanese restaurant, I quite like Kishimoto on Commercial Drive and Zipang Provisions on Main Street. They both have interesting menus and unique dishes. They're neighbourhood-style places, so no snooty-ness factor!

Kishimoto doesn't take reservations, so go early when they open or be prepared to wait. Commercial Drive has some interesting shops for browsing, so shouldn't be too hard to pass the time. Beautiful, inventive dishes.

If you're willing to go a bit out of the city core for Japanese restaurant, I quite like Kishimoto on Commercial Drive and Zipang Provisions on Main Street. They both have interesting menus and unique dishes. They're neighbourhood-style places, so no snooty-ness factor!

 

Kishimoto doesn't take reservations, so go early when they open or be prepared to wait. Commercial Drive has some interesting shops for browsing, so shouldn't be too hard to pass the time. Beautiful, inventive dishes.

Thx much! I'll keep these in mind. I've made reservations for Blue Water Cafe and Miku thus far. The Sable fish dish @ Blue Water looks delicious, hah.

Thanks for the info. I'll skip Tojo as I don't want to be harassed when I ask for a fork, lol (never could master chopsticks). Is Blue water less snooty? Thx.

 

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Actually Blue Water is snootier IMO - I obviously gave the wrong impression of what Tojo finds offensive. Snotty punks burning daddy's credit cards, loud braggarts whose conversations can be heard by the whole restaurant - these are the sort whose uppance might come. Simply follow Wheaton's Law and you won't have a problem...

Actually Blue Water is snootier IMO - I obviously gave the wrong impression of what Tojo finds offensive. Snotty punks burning daddy's credit cards, loud braggarts whose conversations can be heard by the whole restaurant - these are the sort whose uppance might come. Simply follow Wheaton's Law and you won't have a problem...

Oh, gotcha. Anyways, I looked into Blue Water since you mentioned it, and I've decided to pass up Tojo. Blue Water's sable fish fish looks delicious! I'll get my Sushi fix at Miku for lunch (I'm there for only one lunch and one dinner).

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Blue Water was pretty good. Not too snooty. Lots of high end working ladies were about the restaurant, adding to the ambiance :) The mains were very good.

Blue Water was pretty good. Not too snooty. Lots of high end working ladies were about the restaurant, adding to the ambiance :) The mains were very good.

Glad you enjoyed. The food is always topnotch in BW - with a corresponding price-point.

As to the 'ambience' - 'granddaughter or hooker' replaces 'headset or headcase' as our people-watching game of choice when we walk through the doors of this or the handful of other 'places to be seen at' restos in town;-)