Best Restaurants in Greater Vancouver

[Necromancer]

Continuing on my Richmond thread, and because lots of people are visiting Vancouver this time of year, why don't we share restaurant tips?

I'll start off. First of all you will like the restaurants I recommend if you are interested in good quality food, as opposed to atmosphere or just volume/price. People have different tastes -- mine is sort of Cantonese / Kansai Japanese as I like "lightly" flavoured stuff.

Also, I'm including "local" places that I like to go to, not necessarily places I'd take guests from out of town, or the more famous ones that you'd see written up in any guidebook...

Here we go...


SINGAPOREAN
Hawker's Delight
Main and King Ed.

If this noodle stand were in the Bay Area, they'd be charging twice as much and be four times as crowded. They have incredibly flavourful noodles and other dishes -- Laksa, Lontong, and Satay are recommended.

For out of town guests, I usually take them to Banana Leaf on Broadway (NOT any of the Tropikas!!!). Yes I know this is not Singaporean. Close enough.


SUSHI
Kiyo Sushi
No. 5 Road in Richmond

The people who run this place are from Kyoto, a place with thousands of years of food history and a distinctive "light" taste. They have "regular" selections for the masses, and "good" stuff if you ask for it and are willing to pay a little more. Examples: albacore tuna versus ahi (red) tuna. Atlantic versus sockeye salmon. Frozen amaebi versus fresh, LIVE amaebi (in season). Saba battera (pressed sushi, just like they used to do 1500 years ago) -- frozen or FRESH.

Tojo's ... what can I say about Tojo's. Tojo is a maverick, and so is his food. It's extremely good, extremely expensive, and extremely non-traditional. I have been there *once*.


IZAKAYA (Japanese tapas)
Gyoza King
Robson St.

I don't care much for the more "fusion" oriented izakaya restaurants that have been popping up everywhere lately. Guu, Happa, Shiru Bay -- this place beats them all when it comes to the basics, ODEN in winter and various small dishes all year round. I even like the ramen here best in town, even more than Kintaro (but then again I'm not much of a fan of the tonkotsu thick pork soup style -- you may feel differently).

For guests from out of town, I usually take them to the Guu in Gastown, though.



DOWNTOWN LUNCH
Canadian Maple Delights
700 block Hornby St. across from the Art Gallery

If you just walked by this place, you might think it's just some touristy maple gift shop. But the owners are real Quebecois, and they know how to cook with Canada's national ingredient. Everything except the soups are unique -- good sandwiches made with Terra Breads, maple infused salads, and nice French-style desserts.


CANTONESE
Wonton Noodles Restaurant
Cambie and King Ed.

Suggested by an i-club member when I first came to Vancouver, and still one of my favourites when I have a craving for "wo choy" (course dinner, including that soup-du-jour that takes days to make). Generous portions and good prices.


MANDARIN
Jing Yuan
Rumble St. and Royal Oak in Burnaby

The food here has touches of quality that you'd expect from a much bigger, more expensive restaurant. It's no big secret either -- things get crazy crowded on weekends, so you either have to reserve or go take-out. I like the plum sauce eggplant, and amazingly, the pork hock that can be ordered 24 hours in advance is a real treat.


CREPES
Creperie La Bretagne
Cardero St. just off Robson

Forget the mass market crap at Cafe Crepe and other shops. This is the real deal, run by a couple from Brittany. They seem to have hired help recently so the quality suffers a bit when they are not running the shop, but this is still the place to go for real crepes that are hot, fresh, crunchy and chewy at the same time, and just great. The French Onion soup here is also the best in town. Try the buckwheat savoury crepes for a change of pace.



SOUP AND SANDWICH
Terra Breads
4th Ave, Kitsilano

Still the best place for sandwiches, not just because of the bread (which makes a HUGE difference), but also because of some pretty gourmet ingredients like wild salmon and dill mayo, and lamb and mint. Soups are always home made.


BAGELS, CHICKEN SOUP
Solly's Bagels
Main and King Ed, and other places

I grew up in a town filled with Jewish people, and most of the bagels in Vancouver just don't cut it. Solly's are the real deal, BOILED before baking (which creates a chewier texture and is much, much harder to mass produce). The sandwiches are good, and if you need chicken soup, this is the place to get it, with a big matzo ball in the middle.


SHANDONG STYLE HAND-PULLED NOODLES
Legendary Noodle
Main and King Ed (yes I love that neighbourhood)

Forget the over-hyped Sha-lin Noodles on Broadway, which is always filled with out of towners. Legendary Noodle ("Flying" something in Chinese) tastes better and costs less. I haven't been there recently but in the past it's been a good hole-in-the-wall for Northern Chinese goodies.


DIM SUM
Still looking for a good one here. For everyday eats, I like a place on Fraser just south of Kingsway (might be closed - see bender's post below). For guests from out of town, I usually take them to Shiang Garden in Richmond but the service there can be hit or miss. Ask for the XO Sauce if you go to Shiang Garden.


KOREAN
I do not pretend to be an expert on Korean food, but for gam ja tang (pork spine soup -- tastes better than it sounds) I still like Spice Alley on Robson. There is a Tofu Pot place on Broadway that used to have rice cooked in individual stone pots, which gets toasted and delicious (like "soccarat" in Spanish Paella). However, the last few times I went they only seemed to serve it to "special" customers, and I'm too shy to ask, so I stopped going. For white bone soup (sul lung tang), try Jang Mo Jib, various locations including Robson and Denman.


MEXCIAN
Still looking... There used to be a decent taqueria on Hastings near Seymour, but they finally closed down. Darn, that was the only place in town with a decent Horchata.

ITALIAN
Still looking ... please don't tell me to go to Anton's. Roma Ristorante, a little hole in the wall on Kingsay near Joyce, could be a candidate, but I've only been there twice...


INDIAN (general)
Saffron
Kingsway near Willingdon

The food here has like twice as much flavour as the typical Indian restaurant. Expensive, but worth it since I only crave Indian food very occasionally.


SOUTHERN INDIAN / SRI LANKAN -- DOSAS
House of Dosas
Kingsway near Knight

Do you ever crave dosas and idli? Ok maybe not, but seriously, try this place for light Southern Indian eats. I think Monday is $5.95 dosa night.



SHANGHAINESE
Northern Delicacy
Aberdeen Centre, Richmond

This is surely going to be controversial, because this restaurant serves "Cantonesified" Shanghainese food. Whatever, I like the clean taste of the food there. The menu is also accessible to those who speak English or Japanese, service is good, and you get a nifty view of the people making dumplings. Good place to go for Shanghainese style brunch, with the soy bean milk, donuts, dumplings, noodles, the whole nine yards.



VEGETARIAN
Veggie Bunch Buffet
Richmond Public Market

30+ dishes at once, all Chinese vegetarian, mostly delicious and colourful, and no ordering so it's easy to eat. This place used to be the best deal in town but the prices have slowly ratcheted up, although at $8.99 I think for dinner it's still not bad. Haven't been there in a few months though.


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OK that's about it for now...

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[Ricewagon]

Mexican
I prefer Pepitas. Their dishes are more authentic than places like Los Margaritas
Denman & Davie or Burrard & W 4th

[bender]

did you read this somewhere, or have you try them all yourself??

ps: I believe that dim sum place on Fraser has close down, the late time I drove by.

[Picard]

Originally Posted by Necromancer

ITALIAN
Still looking ... please don't tell me to go to Anton's. Roma Ristorante, a little hole in the wall on Kingsay near Joyce, could be a candidate, but I've only been there twice...

My vote for ITALIAN:
Lombardo's Ristorante and Pizzeria
Located in Il Mercato Mall at 1st Ave and Commercial.
They've got the best pasta I've ever had (and I've had a lot of pasta ).

[Necromancer]

I am a regular at each and every one of these places and yes I wrote all that. I go to them so often that I need some new places to check out, which is why I'm starting this thread.

No family in town + living alone = lots of incentive to go out to eat at inexpensive restaurants instead of cooking for one.

Picard -- thanks for the Italian suggestion. I'll go check it out, probably this week.

[tora]

Sunrise Sushi - SQUAMTON!! Great sushi for a small town! Good for a stop on the way to Whistler.

Guu - despite Joe's disline I love the food there.

Kintaro - smokin' hot in there but great Ramen.

Handi Indian in West Vancouver - great deck overlooking Ambleside, reasonable prices and good solid Indian food...also right next to the cop shop so you know no-one will break into your car (and you know how dangerous West Van can be).

Cannery - down by the docks - amazing seafood.

Coast - good West Coast and some Fusion food, in Yaletown.

Blue Water - fantastic food, fantastic service, fantastic winelist AND they have good sushi (not a Japanese restaurant). This would have to be my favorite "nicer" restaurant.

[grimbeaver]

L'emotion in West Van (Marine Dr.) is an excellent French place.

Cafe D'light is a Malaysian place on West Broadway (close to the Big-O tire near UBC). If you guys know 'Hainan chicken', they got the best i have ever eaten there.

There's also this Shaolin Noodle place on W Broadway and Cambie, across from where Fairchild Plaza used to be. Small-ish place but really good noodles and dumplings too.

[Necromancer]

Yay, Tora weighs in!
Kintaro and Guu are good and popular, just a bit "garlicky" and "meaty" for my taste...
Thanks for the reminder about Indian -- added my picks above. And I think I'll go try Blue Water for a post-graduation celebration.

[tora]

Yeah Joe, it's a great place, at least I have had very good meals there. As long as you are not on a budget it's terrific! I've been a number of times now and never get bored. I have a friend who is a bit of a foodie and picks some great restaurants...I'll try to think of some more.

Section 8 is a good place to go for Cas food and a funky New York atmosphere. It used to be called Nero's until DeNero's "people" got wind of it and forced them to change the name. Now the old sign says Nerd.

[GlobalWaste]

That broadway noodle house is a favourite of mine...

But I've yet to try 'legendary noodle', good idea with the list by the way

[lummer shawn]

Although Tora says the canary for seafood, and I agree it is good. I prefer the boathouse.


as for the rest

Mongolian - The Great Wall Monogolian BBQ on Denman (and roughly georgia?) - mmmmmm I could eat there every day if it wasnt such a drive.

Pitas Sandwiches - Pita Pit (I like the one by Brentwood mall)

Mexican - Los Margaritas on W.4th

Portugese - Adegas on Main just down from 1st ave

[Splinter]

Ive always liked The Templeton, I think its on the 1100 block of Granville..

Good food, great portions, reasonable prices. Hardly the classiest joint in town, but lots of fun.

[Ricewagon]

Cheapest breakfast - Bonn's off Broadway, heaping portions. Good food for hangovers.

[banman]

Yuji's on 4th for Japanese & Japanese "fusion" (like tuna/mango rolls)

[andys]

cheapest breakfast is the skylight at parker and commercial. 2.75 and goooood.
++ for lombados. what a surprising place.
++ for legandary noodle. awesome.
some place on fraser and 25th for dosas.

[fujiwara_yingyu]

uchiyama sushi & Grill
Genuine and authentic japanese food
19973 96ave, langley, bc
a waiter drives a scooby

[alexs001]

Malaysian: Banana Leaf...great food...only been to the older one on Broadway.
http://bananaleaf-vancouver.com/

I miss the great eating opportunities of Vancouver...

[ChrisF]

I'll have to go with:

Cardero
Great atmostphere, views, food, hostesses.

Diva at the Met
Expensive but possibly one of the best meals I ever ate

Memphis Blues BBQ on Commercial
Great Memphis style bbq with huge portions

Tojo's
I know a lot of folk think it's overpriced, but I still think it rocks

So many more, so little per diem

[snow111]

Japanese :

Zest on W 16TH + Macdonald- Moderate to Expensive but authentic Japanese food. Good BBQ Black Cod

Toshi's Main + E. 16th. 181 E 16, Vancouver Tel: (604) 874-5173
Excellent inexpensive sushi, try the calamari fries!

Diner food:
Diner in Yaletown 1269 Hamilton Street 604-444-4855 Good comfort American Food. I had the bucket of fried chicken, comes with 2 pcs fried (yes really fried, not pressure cooked KFC), deconstructed potato salad and a slice aof watermelon. Humorous in a way, as it's supposed to be a picnic.
Leave room for dessert

[asherbo]

+1 for Banana Leaf

[lummer shawn]

Originally Posted by alexs001

I miss the great eating opportunities of Vancouver...

you do have a Ric's Grill up in Ktown though
if you havent been there yet, check it out!

[Lantec]

Dunno if other people think it's good but we usually go to Kirin in Coquitlam and Hon Sushi in PoCo cause it's close and I love their deep-fried soft shelled crab.

For Sichuan food, if you like spicy food, there's the Golden Chilli in Coquitlam near Burquitlam Plaza.

[veightkiller]

for japanese i always go down to Oysi-Oysi at alberni great food down there.

[Picard]

My wife is Japanese-Canadian and her parents used to own a fish store in West Van so I trust their opinion. Their Japanese restaurant of choice was Nishiki on Marine Drive in W. Van. It was very good quality.

[butter]

im a bit of a yaletown whore nowadays, so my pix are:

Izakya: Shiru bay - hamilton & davie:
- sauteed scallops and squid, red dragon and vegeta sushi, vege gyoza, and smoked black cod are must haves...seafood yakisoba if you want more of a meal.

Sushi: Bistro Sakana - mainland, between davie and hemlecken:
- malibu roll, and vege roll are standouts, as well as a solid mix of regulars and unique items. By far the best in Yaletown.

Seafood: Coast or Blue water Cafe - both on Hamilton between davie and nelson:
- Coast has the best appy scallops in town, and a solid menu. They have a community table in the center, where the chef cooks up whatever you like right in front of you.
- Blue water has yaletowns best seafood menu, and a killer seafood platter. They also have a sushi bar that is apparently rather good (the only one i haven't tried yet in yaletown)

-The Cannery gets a definite thumbs up too. The location kind of sucks (view is great, but a pain to get to), but the food is always top notch. Also have a great seafood platter to share, and the lobster infused oil/balsamic on the bread is worth the trip alone.

Italian: Cioppino's - hamilton between davie and hemlecken:
- technically, i haven't been there yet (am going this weekend), but everyone i know has given it rave reviews. A little on the pricy side though, so don't expect to come out under $100 for 2.

Chinese: Wonton Noodles - Hastings and something or other.
- not sure if it's the same one necro listed, but it has a little yellow awning outside it. Great food for cheap, and open 24 hours.

-Also like Hon's or Number 9 for more cafeteria type food.

Vietnamese: Pho 99 - Kingsway and something or other
- i think it's closed now, but they were always a step above pho hoa in my mind. Salad rolls and soup for the win

Sandwiches: Epicurean Deli - 1st and Cypress in kits:
- amazing selection of italian meats, cheeses, breads, and vegis.

Indian: Bhombay Bhel - Hastings (beside Anton's):
- Big, clean restaurant, with frickin ridiculous curries. Goan seafood curry, tikka masala, pakora..your choice of rice or naan (regular or garlic). For something a little different, try the Dhavi poorhi (sp? ) appy: Crispy wonton type shell, chickpeas, hot sauce, yogurt...YUM.

Indian runner-up: mehek (sp? ) on scott rd and 96th in delta
- killer everything...they catered a few of my friends weddings and the food was awesome...never been in the actual restaurant, but i hear it gets busy.

Single best food item ever: Sobo - in a trailer in tofino:
- Sobo's fish taco is the single finest thing ever created. I haven't had it in 2 years, and I crave it daily. When i was in tofino last, I was eating 2-3 of these a day, every day, and dreamed about them at night. Steaming hot halibut and salmon on the bottom, fresh fruit salso on top. SO GOOD. For anyone who hasn't been there, it's an odd little joint too: basically you've got the best chef in Tofino (ex CIA student and chef at the Long Beach Lodge) running a lunch truck, and serving the freshest local ingredients. you have to get there early, as the popular items sell out quick.

As for the restaurants others have mentioned:

Lombardo's: italian is awesome, and has one of the best pizzas around.

Section 8: good dessert and the food is okay...much better off spending your food money elsewhere in yaletown and hitting it up after for drinks, but if you are there already, the food will definitely not disappoint. For a similar atmosphere, i find glowbal and bin 941 have better food.