Unique Dining Opportunities in Vancouver
Coming up soon to visit for a week and my buddies and I are really looking forward to some unique culinary opportunities in your fair city... In particular we're looking for experiences that reflect and resonate with what Vancouver has to offer. Case in point, as I had my first experience to Montreal last year, I was very happy to have visited Schwartz's to sample the smoked meat as well as visit another restaurant to try poutine. Does Vancouver have such culinary gems? The recommendations do not necessarily have to be different as long as the foodstuffs in question are ridiculously good.
Cases in point..
If you want to try a truly authentic Mexican Style Taco, in San Diego, with a non traditional filling, you have to visit Tacos El Gordo and get the Suadero which is similiar in texture to Carnitas. Suadero is ultra tender, slow roasted shoulder of beef, which ends up crisping in it's own rendered fat...it's like Mexican taco style - duck confit!!!
There is a ultra tiny little noodle shop on the outskirts of Tsukiji Japan that has some of THEE best shrimp on the planet in their Ebi Tempura Soba. The shrimp we're plucked still kicking from a small tank and transformed into shrimp tempura in a matter of 2 minutes and placed atop a steaming hot bowl of Soba noodles with broth. From that day on, I have been essentially ruined for life in any attempts to eat a fresher shrimp! I was ruined for life eating Soba in the prefecture of Akita...but that's another story...
jmajor
Jun 19, 2008 12:11AM
Hey. I lived in Vancouver for a short time but I will say that Vig's blows (that said I'm from Calgary and we have great Indain food here). Phnom Penh is amazing. I really like the Legendary Noodle House on Main, but there are some threads that claim there are even better places, search them out. There is a lot of great food in Vancouver. There's lots of great cheap food, lots of great high end food. The cheap food is better though. Find some local foodies to help you out. I love Fortune Garden on Braodway a lot for Chinese food. There a lot of little places with nice menus all around.
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JapaDog
The Crystal Mall Food Court in Burnaby(similar to the Main St Food Court in Flushing NY)
Many gastro-tourists like Vij's and rave about it (It doesn't blow me away, but it is unique)
The Izakaya Crawl
Richmond BC for Regional Chinese Food and Dim Sum.
Coffee and Espresso - Vancouver has some of the best you'll have anywhere.
Some pics
http://picasaweb.google.com/gustibus.maximus/CrystalMall
http://picasaweb.google.com/gustibus....
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If you are willing to venture out on a ferry to Vancouver Island - Sooke Harbour House will offer you a unique dining experience for sure. The kitchen sources local seafood and uses herbs from their organic garden in their dishes. The owners are known to go snorkeling for various sea creatures to cook that evening.
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What fmed said plus (bearing in mind I'm not sure what you would consider unique):
Salt for a late afternoon ploughman's moderne snack
Cobre for a pan-Latin dinner
Peaceful for great noodles and dim summy stuff (lunch or dinner)
Patisserie Lebeau for sweet and savoury brekky waffles (go early)
Nuba for healthy but v. tasty Lebanese in a funky setting (two locations)
One of Andrey Durbach's restos (Parkside, La Buca) for muscular Italian
Aurora for locally sourced creative dishes without blowing the bank (great weekend brunch)
Go Fish for super fresh "fish shack" offerings with a twist in a supernatural BC setting (one word: tacones, especially if the cod version is on the specials menu; ask for extra hot sauce on the side instead of the cole slaw)
Green Lettuce for Indian-Chinese food
Rangoli for a taste of Vij's minus the wait (don't know if they'll have crickets on that menu though)
Argo Cafe for a post-modern take on the diner (breakfast and lunch only -- be sure to check out the lunch specials like duck confit or seared tuna for like $12!?)
49th Parallel for coffee (either at their flagship store on 4th Avenue, or at the Edge Cafe with a great breakfast or lunch, or at Cafe Medina with yet another waffle)
One other suggestion: when I discovered Chowhound I reviewed the last year or more of posts on Vancouver. Sounds daunting but was well worth the effort. You will soon figure out which ones pertain to Vancouver specifically, and then you won't miss anything (but then again maybe you're better with the search function than I am :-).
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Adding some links:
4025 MacDonald Street Vancouver BC
110-532 Broadway West Vancouver BC
2420 Main Street Vancouver BC
52 Powell St Vancouver BC
1906 Haro Street Vancouver BC
45 Blood Alley Sq Vancouver BC
1488 11th Avenue West Vancouver BC
1-4191 Main Street Vancouver BC
2819-4500 Kingsway Burnaby BC
244 Georgia Street East Vancouver BC
1475 Broadway West Vancouver BC
838 Thurlow Street Vancouver BC
1698 Robson Street Vancouver BC
105-375 Water Street Vancouver BC
871 Denman Street Vancouver BC
823 Denman Street Vancouver BC
1479 Robson Street Vancouver BC
1728 W 2nd Ave Vancouver BC
322 W. Hastings Vancouver BC
1206 Seymour Street Vancouver BC
1505 1st Avenue West Vancouver BC
1949 Kingsway Vancouver BC
1836 Ontario Street Vancouver BC
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Thank you all for the suggestions, these sound like good place to start...I'll still have to dig deeper though especially with regards to places like of ZEN...my brother fishes for both whelks and lobster...lobster is WAY overrated compared to crab in my opinion the ease of access to the lobster flesh is what makes the price so freaking high really. Unique.....I heard that you guys get Neon Flying Squid up there, Sablefish, Caribou, Muskox??? Things that are really not accessible done here in Sunny San Diego.
Another example of foodstuffs...last summer we traveled up past San Francisco so we could have the opportunity to snorkel in frigid waters for Abalone!!! They make awesome sushi if you know how to prep it!
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I prefer King Crab over Lobser any day.
How about gourmet kayaking? http://www.edible-britishcolumbia.com...
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Sablefish, definitely -- you can get it in most "better" Japanese restos, and at seafoody restaurants like the Fish House. Not too up on the NFS, Caribou or muskox... but I've seen abalone on menus in Chinese places and (?) as sushi (I don't eat it myself -- bivalve issues).
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I have had neon flying squid at various Chinese and Japanese places (usually grilled). Blue Water may have it on the menu. Actually are these NFS, plain ol' big squid or cuttlefish? The images are from a couple meals I had at Hapa and at Sandy's Cuisine.
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Toshi has great sablefish. It's a teeny tiny restaurant so you get to line up outside, just like at Schwartz's!
Spot prawns are local to BC, but the season just ended. Maybe do a crab night? Blue Water has good sized Dungeness crabs. If you're staying wtih friends, a cheaper, messier, and tastier alternative is to go to T&T and buy one and steam/BBQ it at home. Or go to a Chinese restaurant and have it prepared with garlic/ginger/chives, salt/pepper/chili or cream sauce.
It's been a few years since I last ate there, but Bearfoot Bistro in Whistler used to do a good job on game meats - bison, caribou, etc.
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Another recent post here just reminded me of Zen Fine Chinese Cuisine. It's in full-hype mode now after being declared "the best Chinese restaurant outside of China" by NY Times writer Jennifer 8 Lee in Fortune Cookie Chronicles. (I read the book - there is some context to this choice.) But I did go mid-summer last year well before Lee's book came out and I did have a very good meal. He serves a prix fixe that is a unique take on Chinese food: http://zencuisine.ca/
2015-8580 Alexandra Road Richmond BC
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Zen is an experience but I don't agree with Jennifer8 that it's the best chinese food outside of China. For what it's worth, it's good but not exactly a "wow" factor. However, I was impressed with the lobster covered with garlic. To me, Zen is sorta like a Tojo's. Overpriced for what you get. I'm not saying it's not good, just really nothing to rave about.
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I sort of agree...but I don't think it is overpriced. I believe I got a lot for (at the time) $38. The lobster alone probably accounted for most of that. I think that it is definitely hyperbole to call it the best...but it is a unique Chinese dining experience in the GVA.
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Fmed, you do have a point that it is unique compared to other chinese restaurants in the GVA. I was one of those unlucky people who visited this establishment when they first opened and didn't get their new revised pricing menu. We actually paid $98 per person. They had a less expensive menu at the time but it didn't offer the lobster or any seafood. That's probably why I felt so ripped off..............yes I need to get over it =)
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Well now I really think he is underpriced. Make up for overpaying the last time by dining there again. ;)
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I wasn't all that impressed by Jennifer Lee's book, but Vancouver probably does have the best Chinese food outside of China/HK. Chinese in NY, SF or TO just doesn't cut it in terms of diversity, taste, quality and price.
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I may have to disagree with you...in particular about NY....especially if you include Flushing. While I think Vancouver has great Chinese food, the Chinese food in San Gabriel Valley CA may have eclipsed ours over the last few years.
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