Vancouver: LA hound requesting specific help

[Das Ubergeek]

Greetings Western Canadian Hounds!

My wife, (2-year-old) daughter and I took advantage of Allegiant Air's ridiculous sales to snag $30 round trips from LAX to Bellingham and are going to be headed to Vancouver for a few days in mid-May.

We're staying with friends in Port Coquitlam, which is not especially near the happening parts of Vancouver, and I have some specific questions I'm hoping you can help with -- I did browse some of the threads and they seem to be very Kitsilano-West End centric. While I don't mind driving, I'm wondering about other places (and don't really have a good sense of how long it would take to get to places from, say, the Pitt River Bridge).

Any help is appreciated, and if you ever make a trip down to Disneyland and need suggestions for escaping the ghastly chains of the Anaheim Resort (which is where I live), please come post on the LA board!

Specifically:

1. Really, really awesome coffee. We do have Kean Coffee here, but it's a bit like having one great pastrami place and then going to New York, or having one great deep-dish pizza place and going to Chicago. This is a morning thing so honestly the closer to PoCo the better -- cannot live without coffee.

2. Really awesome Asian food -- and if you know offhand what eating Asian in LA and Orange County means, I'd love to find things that are harder to get here. I suspect that, since I work in Little Saigon, that Vietnamese is probably not necessary (but if so, let me know!), we have not one but three Korean centres of population, and we have lots of Taiwanese, Shanghainese/Huaiyang, Cantonese, etc. -- but maybe Sichuan, Chiu Chow, western Chinese, Fujianese? We do have some excellent izakaya here, but I hear that it's even more amazing in Vancouver. Same with sushi. If it helps, I speak reasonable Mandarin and acceptable food Vietnamese and food Korean. Not much Japanese language fluency though, and no Thai or Cambodian fluency at all.

3. Local specialities. One thing we do NOT do well (which is really, really stupid) is restaurants dedicated local seasonal ingredients. This trip is Mrs Ubergeek's and my 7th wedding anniversary and I'd love to find a place where we can have a nice dinner (though remember we have a 2-year-old. She is amazingly well-behaved and has a palate well beyond chicken strips and hot dogs, but some places I would feel uncomfortable having her in) with local products. Fancy is really not necessary and I wouldn't want to spend more than CDN$50 a head for food (the Mrs. does not drink wine, so a wine list by the glass -- sigh -- would be best). Also, forgive me, but we don't do a lot with dress codes here, though I grew up eating in New York, so I'm no stranger -- let me know if anyplace needs anything fancier for men than chino-type trousers and a button-down shirt. If it involves seafood, so much the better...

4. A farmers' market, preferably a Sunday morning farmers' market. I promised to cook for our hosts and I would love to find a farmers' market with locally-grown, perhaps organic vegetables, fantastic bread and -- especially -- seafood. You are blessed with some of the very best seafood in the world and I would love to delve into it.

5. Any exceptional dessert type places? We love us some dessert... just no cupcakes, please. I don't know if that particular fad has died out in Vancouver but I'm so tired of $4 cupcakes I could make at home. (This one is particularly for Mrs Ubergeek -- if it were up to me, honestly I'd eat blueberry fritters from Timmy Ho Ho's until they had to cart me away in an ambulance, because they're like crack.)

6. I know liquor regulations are stricter in Canada than in California, but which place (ideally closest to PoCo) has the best local beer selection? I had -- and LOVED -- BC beer the last time I was up there and am hankering for more. Also, any pointers on what kind? I'm a brown beer kind of guy.

I know this is a long list -- thank you in advance for your time! And I mean it about the Happiest Place on Earth -- most visitors don't know that just outside of the tourist zone lurks some of the finest ethnic food in Southern California -- come post and we'll help you out!

[grayelf]

Nice query post DU! I'll have a bash with peter_v's help:

1. Check out peter's spiffy coffeehaus list here http://www.chow.com/lists/1466?tag=post-content-4608126;post_4608126_content -- all killer, no filler. The only one I'd add if you are in Kits is Dolcetto (Broadway just west of Bayswater), serving 49th Parallel with a better "pull" for my money than at the flagship op on 4th.

2. Since you're in PoCo, you'll be relatively close to Alvin Garden, a quality Hunan restaurant in Burnaby. I'll let some of the other experts chime in on this place but suffice to say it is worth your time if you enjoy Hunan cuisine. (Drat, no place link but check out our recent Chowdown there on this link http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/602883?tag=search_results;results_list

)

3. I always used to recommend Aurora but it is no more alas. Maybe Fuel but early?

4. The farmer's markets don't seem to run year round here but you may be able to catch the first Trout Lake one. This is my favourite of the ones I've been to but it is only on Saturdays. Check this link for more info http://www.eatlocal.org/markets.html

5. Again with a Kits-centric recco but I enjoy Sweet Obsessions on 16th and you could definitely take the wee girl with you. Their lemon dacquoise (or anything else with crunchy meringue like the chocolate concorde ) is most excellent. Their "sister" bistro two doors west is called Trafalgars and might work for an early dinner with the sprog (you can still try the SOb desserts there).

6. To quote again from peter (who knows his suds as well or better than he knows his caffeine) "If you like beer, I have one recommendation for you: the Alibi Room. This place has 19 taps and a 3-4 beer cask engine. All but one of the offerings comes from BC. This is the only place in the world to try the varied offerings of our world class breweries and brewpubs. All in a great setting in historical Gastown too." This place also happens to be across from a fun and tasty new diner called Deacon's Corner that is worth checking out if you're in that neck of the woods during the day (only open from 7-3 weekdays, 10-3 weekends). Don't miss their house-made biscuits if you go.

PS no worries about not getting decked out. Like San Francisco, there are very few restaurants that you can't get away with nice jeans and a sweater/shirt, and none of them will be on my list :-).

-----
Sweet Obsession Cakes & Pastries Ltd
2611 West 16th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6K3C2, CA

Dolcetto Cafe Ltd
2967 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6K, CA

Alibi Room
157 Alexander St, Vancouver, BC V6A1B8, CA

Trafalgars Bistro
2603 West 16th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6K 3C2, CA

[fmed]

Das Ubergeek...

Nice to see your handle around these boards. I've spent much time in LA in the past, though it's been a couple of years since I've been down. I have a zillion relatives scattered all over that area (including the Westminster area).

It's hard to think of anything that Vancouver does better than LA....especially in the ethic categories. Your instincts regarding localvore restaurants may be right on the money. Fuel (grayelf's rec) is the reigning leader in this department with Robert Belcham at the helm. There are others (Chow, Bishops, etc.)

Perhaps seafood is another angle - LA has great seafood...perhaps our local waters will provide you fresher provenance for oysters, uni, and the like...Blue Water is my rec for local seafood here...along with Go Fish (a fish fry shack outside of Granville Island).

Coffee is another scene that Vancouver may be doing better than LA...look for 49th Parallel, Artigiano, Elysian, Wicked and a few other shops.

Another may be Indian - Vij's is a polarizing rec here. Have a search on these boards for comments about Vij's. Rangoli, Vij's cafe style sister restaurant next door is another option (they have a great selection of frozen/boil-in-a-bag dishes to go as well).

Speaking of Granville Island...that is a "must" for a gastro-tourist. It isn't so unique now, but it really did start a trend decades ago when it combine arts, crafts, and food in a pedestrian-friendly reclaimed industrial area.

I almost never venture out to PoCo so I can't really give you specific recs. However, I do know that there is good (...but probably not LA-good) Korean out there. Insadong is in Coquitlam (South West of PoCo). Over at Henderson place is a decent Korean bakery whose name escapes me....and also one of the Kirin Chinese restaurant chain. There is a serviceable Korean BBQ in that mall called Koreana (which I believe is part of a US-based chain, if I'm not mistaken).

Alvin Garden (recommened by grayelf) is another place. It is hard to find authentic Hunan anywhere...even in LA.

Desserts - one of my favourite spots is Thomas Haas in North Vancouver.

Izakaya - LA has great izakaya but the scene is spread out. Here the best izakaya are within walking distance from each other...the Guu's, Hapa, Kingyo, Gyoza King, and a number of others are within minutes by foot.

On Chinese regional - There are Swatow/Chiu Chow restaurants in Richmond...however, the closest one to you is VIP in North Vancouver. I have not been, but I hear from reliable sources that it is very good. If you want Chinese regional cuisine (inlcuding excellent HK-Canto/dim sum)- Richmond is your destination. The dim sum here could be better than LA's.

An aside about Vietnamese food....LA's Vietnamese scene is a full generation ahead of Vancouver's. Vancouver Vietnamese food is still pretty much about Pho, Banh Mi, etc with the odd place (eg Phnom Penh - VIetnamese-Cambodian) that ventures outside that box. We are just starting to see signs of new Vietnamese here (where the next, younger generation are opening restaurants following their parents' footsteps). We still don't have any Colonial Vietnamese. I've had Pho in Westminster (can't recall the name of the places...but one is something like Pho 888?? or some other set of digits), and I would say that Vancouver's Pho compares well.

[PolarBear]

>>>It's hard to think of anything that Vancouver does better than LA....especially in the ethic categories.<<<

Given our recent history over the past eight years in so many areas, I must assume that the letter "n" was omitted describing categories? ; >P

[Neecies]

Speaking of seafood/Chinese/ethnic/can't-get-it-in-L.A.: the better Chinese seafood restaurants in Vancouver (Kirwan, San Sui Wah, etc) will all have geoduck and Alaskan King Crab in their tanks--can't do these in L.A. And if you've never had FRESH King Crab, believe me, nothing you've been taught by the frozen/shipped stuff prepares you for this pleasure.

Another thing you can get in Vancouver that you can't get in L.A. (I lived there most of my life before moving to Bellignham five years ago)--great French fries. I mean GREAT. Fried two or three times to get the perfect crisp outside and creamy exterior. My favorite? Pastis Bistro on 4th in Kits (I know, I know, another Kits recco). Order them with the steak tartare--my oh my--or mussels.

[Das Ubergeek]

Well, food-wise it wasn't quite the trip we expected -- we ended up being somewhat homebodies. We did go to Granville Island (the market reminded me a lot of LA's permanent farmers' market), and I did partake of the truly excellent salmon available.

I will say this: while I wasn't able to hit the coffeehouses in Kitsilano, the average coffee in Vancouver is light years better than the average coffee in Los Angeles. Even the coffee in the tent at the Children's Festival was really damn tasty.

The one place that will be on my mind is Kisoya Sushi on Prairie and Coast Meridian in PoCo. $88 and four of us (plus a toddler) ate a shameful amount of really, really good sushi. The (sockeye) salmon sashimi, cut in enormous pieces, was the stuff of dreams -- and did I mention that four adults with big appetites ate our fill for $88??

We ended up having our "local" dinner (sort of) at Boundary Bay in Bellingham the last night of our trip. It was pretty decent but not fancy. The beer was good but the pour was terrible, it was like they had the junior apprentice on the taps -- no head whatsoever.

I'm sorry we didn't follow the recs -- we meant to, and the days sort of got away from us -- but we will be back and we will keep this thread for next time! Thanks for all your help.

[fmed]

Well next time then Das U.

I haven't indulged in LA coffee in a couple of years, but I have to agree with you. In a town that has excellent food across the board - why such mediocre coffee?

[Neecies]

Thanks for reporting back--always makes people glad they took the time to help out. And I appreciate this sushi recco--but explain the name, please. Kisoya Sushi is the name, Prairie and Coast Meridian are the streets, and its in Port Coquitlam?

Oops about Boundary Bay. Could have sent you to better places. The beer's usually good but the grub leans toward politically correct tree hugger (as does a lot in Bellingham) and flavor suffers.

[Das Ubergeek]

Kisoya Sushi is the name, it is on the NE corner of Prairie Ave and Coast Meridian Road in Port Coquitlam, about 4-5 blocks north of Lougheed Highway and across from a BC Liquor Store.

Get the salmon sashimi. Oh. My. God.