Eating in Vancouver

[kaboom1]

A few of us from work are off to Vancouver in the new year for the first time. We were wondering where to eat to experience Vancouver best culinary. We will be out there for 6 weeks so as many suggestions as possible would be aprreciated ranging for the best pizza to fine dining. Price and cuisine type is not an issue. Just the best. Thank you for your input.

[fmed]

Hard to know where to start. "Just the best" is a loaded sentence so I will just list a few of the board favourites (most of these were mentioned on this board so you can find the commentary if you perform a Search):

Sushi
Octopus' Garden, Lime, Okada, Tojo's, Ajisai,....and a number of others

Izakaya
(Toronto doesn't have any of these at the moment - though a Guu is set to open in Sept)
Guu with Garlic, Guu Original, Hapa, Kingyo, Zakkushi (more of a kushi bar), and a few others

Ramen
Benkei, Motomachi Shokodu, Kintaro

Pho and other Vietnamese
Hai Phong, Song Huong, Pho Viet (one of my new faves), My Chau

Banh Mi
Au Petit Cafe, Tung Hing, Saigon Garden

Highend
Fuel, Market, La Buca, Campagnolo, Chambar, Lumiere, db Bistro, L'altro Buca, Salt and a few others

Seafood
Bluewater, Joe Fortes, Rodneys, Go Fish

Pizza
(Toronto has better pizza...wait till you get back home...however...)
Rocky Mountain Flatbread, Lombardo's, Scuie (Roman style), Marcello, Firewood Cafe

Chinese
(Toronto has great Chinese as well...)
The whole city of Richmond, Alvin Garden (Hunan), Peaceful (with caveats), Sea Harbour, Long's Noodle House

Cambodian
Phnom Penh

Korean
Norboo, Cho Sun, Insadong (Coquitlam)...

Breakfast/Brunch
Medina, Argo Cafe

Beer and Drinks
Alibi Room, Six Acres, Stella's, Cascade, The Diamond

Dessert
Thomas Haas

Indian
Vij's, Saravanaa Bhavan, House of Dosa

Filipino
Pin Pin

French and Bistro
Cafe Salades de Fruits, Bistro Bistrot, The Smoking Dog, Les Faux Bourgeois

Sandwiches
Japadog, Finch's, La Grotta, The Greedy Pig

Foodie Neighbourhoods
Granville Island, Commercial Drive, Chinatown, Richmond

[grayelf]

Great list fmed, though I just heard a first hand report on Smoking Dog about overcooked salmon, bad frites and tasteless steak which reflects my one and only visit several years ago to a T.

Tell us about Saigon Garden please!

For sandwiches, may I add Mix the Bakery (great soup too) and Coco et Olive both in Kits.

[fmed]

>>"Tell us about Saigon Garden please!"

Oops.....I meant "Golden Garden".

Smoking Dog...It has been a while. Let's strike it off.

[felix the hound]

Good essential and concise list . Just adding a "High Highend" category ($$$$) for West and Lumiere.
And Bishops and Cioppino to "Highend"

[fmed]

Great additions. (There are so many in this category).

[kaboom1]

I thank you for the list. I look forward to checking out as many as these as we can. Much Apreciated.

[kaboom1]

Just returned back from my six weeks in Vancouver. We were there for the Olympics. Thank you for all your suggestions. I had a tremendous time on my culinary tour of the city. Here were some of my favourites.
Cioppino has become my new favourite restauraunt. We ended up here 3 times. Made a new friend in Chef Pino, truly a class act. The first time there we ended up doing a 6 course tasting menu which turned into 9 courses by the end. Loved the food, the ambience, the service and most of all the cannoli, the best you will have including Sicily. A bit pricy but for me worth every penny. Bearfoot Bistro was excellent did another tasting menu. Any place that serves me Caribou is ok with me. Also $$$ but when I get good food i try not to let price be an issue. Honourable mention RainCity Grill, Cin Cin and Re-Fuel (formerly Fuel).
1- Cioppino (Yaletown), Chef Pino Posteraro
2-Bearfoot Bistro (Whistler), Chef Melissa Craig
3-RainCity Grill (West End English Bay)
4-Salathai (Downtown on Burrard)
5-Cin CIn (Robson), Chef de Cuisine Todd Howard
6-Re-Fuel (Formerly Fuel, Kitsilano) Executive Chef Robert Belcham
7- Joe Fortes (Downtown on Thurlow)
8-Gotham Steakhouse (Downtown on Seymour), Chef Jean Claude Douguet
9-Joey Burrard (Downtown) number one choice for casual dining
10- Cactus Club (Downtown on Burrard) number 1a for casual dining

What I didnt like was the Boathouse. Truly disappointed in the seafood.
Regret not getting to Medina Cafe for the fricasse but the one morning I got there I lacked the time to wait for a table. Also missed out on Blue Water Cafe and many others. All in all I enjoyed everything Vancouver had to offer and hope to return.

[Cancuk]

Great list FMED. I would add in:

Highend: Cioppinos, Cibo.

Thai: Maenam

[foodkarma]

Cibo just won Enroute mag's Best New Restaurant in Canada for 2009. I'm looking forward to trying this myself while I'm home in Van for the holidays.

[selena03]

Very good list by Fmed.
4 more to add:
French: Jules Bistro
Highend: Boneta
After dinner drinks: Bacchus
Dessert: Ganache and Notte's Bon Ton Bakery (diplomat cake is a must if you go:)

[cocktailhour]

I just did a weekend in Vancourver and here's my trip report:

Shanghai River for dim sum and XLB. I have never had XLB before but read a lot about them in this board. They were good but did not obsess me--it was Dec. 26 and I can't say if they were a good version or not. Overall, the restaurant was packed. They told me we could not get a table (all booked), but then we got a table in 20 minutes when my Dad asked. Really excellent hot and sour soup. we had several other dumplings that were good, even though there was no sauce offered.

Dinner a Vij's. We showed up around 6ish and waited about an hour. Nice snacks in the bar while waiting. It was lovely to have Indian in a nice atmosphere--we don't have upscale Indian here in Seattle. The lamb popsicles were well prepared. I really liked the curry sauce served with the lamb, but others in my party did not--thought it was fine, but nothing special. We had a pork dish with an excellent sauce with fenugreek. THese were probably my two favorite dishes. For dessert, the gulab jamun was very good, and the chocolates.

Next day Cafe Medina for breakfast. The waffles were wonderful. very creative egg dishes. not cheap. excellent coffee. And then Japadog for a quick lunch. The beef dog and bun were perfect in softness and grilled-ness. I have to admit that the Terimayo, with seaweed, was a little much for me. but without the seaweed I really liked it.

I can't wait to go back--so much more to try.

[fmed]

Thanks for reporting back cocktailhour.