Dining before/after VIFF: Vancouver

[grayelf]

In case any of you Van 'Hounds are partaking in the Vancouver International Film Fest, here's a list of accessible restos nearby the three theatres. It is by no means exhaustive and focuses on speedy but tasty eats. Feel free to post other ideas and/or comments on these:

VanCity Theatre 1181 Seymour Street btwn Davie and Helmcken [phone]
Empire Granville 7 855 Granville Street btwn Robson and Smithe [phone]
Pacific Cinematheque 200-1131 Howe Street btwn Davie and Helmcken [phone]

One Saigon Vietnamese 979 Hornby btwn Nelson and Smithe 11-9 closed Sun/hols [phone]; go for “special” or “nem nuong” banh mi (5 blks from VanCity, 3.5 from G7, 2.5 from PacCin)

Viet Sub Vietnamese 542 Robson btwn Seymour and Richards 9-9 every day [phone]; stick to BBQ sub

Uva Wine Bar 900 Seymour at Smithe coffee bar in daytime [phone]‎
Italian tapas in the evening 5 pm-1:45 am (midnite Sun), Italian café in the daytime pouring 49th Parallel 7 am-2pm

Bin 941 Tapas 941 Davie btwn Burrard and Hornby 5 pm-2 am [phone]

Twisted Fork 1147 Granville btwn Davie and Helmcken [phone]‎; 5-12 during VIFF; brunch 10-4 Sat/Sun/hols; confit chicken salad, boeuf bourgignon; gruyere and onion tart, lemon tart, caramel napoleon; no resos

The Refinery 1115 Granville Street btwn Helmcken and Davie [phone] 4 pm-12am – mezes $6-12 tasting menu $39 GM is Lorne

The Templeton 1087 Granville Street btwn Helmcken and Nelson [phone]; breakfast 9 am-3 pm; till 11 weekdays, 1 am weekends

Japadog Burrard and Smithe (4 blks from G7)

El Taco Mexican 738 Davie btwn Granville and Howe 11:30-9 (10 Fri, Sat); 604-806-0300 brunch options too

Fritz 718 Davie btwn Granville and Howe [phone]; decent fries, poutine, steamies; open late

Nuba 1206 Seymour near Davie [phone] 11:30-10 weekdays 12-9 Sat; closed Sun

Alpha Global Japanese Tapas 1099 Richards btwn Helmcken and Nelson [phone] (takes resos) 5 pm to “late”; kabocha croquette!

La Brasserie Franco-German 1091 Davie Street at Thurlow [phone] dinner 7 days 5 pm to midnight. brunch Sundays 10 am to 3 pm. No reservations. suckling pig, mussels, onglet, burger, bratwurst, Parisian gnocchi (!) $15-20 for mains

Goldie’s Rustic Pizza 605 West Pender at Seymour [phone] “Mexicana”; only from G7

Scuie 800 Pender at Howe [phone] pane romano, panini, bennies on Sat 9-3, closed Sun; open till 7 pm, 5 sat; Yaletown location at foot of Davie open Sunday http://www.sciue.ca/menus.php#pane_ro...

La Hacienda Mexican 1075 Howe btwn Helmcken and Nelson [phone] al pastor tacos

[el_lobo_solo]

Shuraku literally beside the Granville 7 is a nice izakaya with one of the better sake selections among izakayas.

Love Goldie's pizza. Don't think it's ever been mentioned on CH. Great list grayelf.

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Shuraku Restaurant
833 Granville Steet, Vancouver, BC V6Z1K7, CA

[grayelf]

Thanks for the confirmation on Shuraku -- I saw it today when we hit The Refinery and was planning to do a search. Will add it most deffo. Also the Goldie's shoutout -- I read about it on a local food blog.

Obviously I haven't tried all the places on the list but I included them because they had received favourable mentions online or I was curious. I'll do a compound post after the Fest to report on what we try. So far The Refinery gets a thumbs up.

[grayelf]

Saw eatrip today -- kind of a Japanese Tableland. Very entertaining and a different perspective on why sustainability matters and what food means beyond nutrients.

Other food related flix: Oxhide II, Cooking with Stella (Cdn), and Cooking History.. catch 'em if you can!

http://www.viff.org/home.html

[el_lobo_solo]

It's great that the drop menu on the VIFF website shows a Food & Farming genre.

I still remember the times when the Ridge did thoughtful double-bills. I won't forget watching Tampopo and Babette's Feast on the same night.

[grayelf]

Posting back very late on nearby VIFF eats I tried:

As mentioned, Refinery was very worthwhile. I've lost track of the receipt but everything we had was tasty, including the cocktails :-). Great, convenient place to kick back before or after a show.
Shuraku was great -- will deffo return next year (popper, enchanted forest roll, back ribs and ebi chili harumaki -- yum).
La Brasserie was also super -- great burger and trout special. Hope to make it there again soon.
Junsei River -- very poor mass produced plasto-Japa food. All my money will go to the bricks and mortar Japadog next year.
Not nearby but ate there on the way to an early weekend matinee: Paul's Place Omelettery
tasty eggs'n' bacon for me, Denver omelette for the SO -- great hot sauce.
Also hit La Taqueria for lunch once (bit of a schlep) and it was good but maybe not quite as good as I've been reading :-). I didn't love the cukes in the taco asada, I found the skirt steak too chewy, and there were two big hunks of fat in the al pastor...
Mangled eggs are as good as ever at the Templeton but I still don't love their home fries. Why are home fries so hard to get right?!
Brunch at Uva was good for a hotel resto but not great. Weird to get just two eggs and nothing else with the eggs benny, even though they warn you. Even a bit of mixed greens would have made it look less lonely... The SO's brekky was good except for the scrambled eggs which were a very strange texture. And here is one place that gets the home fries right (based on my stolen taste).
Tried a banh mi from Viet Sub -- bread was too dry and filling a bit weak. Pass.
Nuba on Seymour is a great standby and super value. We've learned to either go for the pita sandwich or stick to the meze and ask them to hold some of the pita or you are engulfed in bread.

[selena03]

I have a question about Nuba: I am allergic to chickpeas and lentils-do you rec anything on there menu that doesn't contain those ingredients? I would love to try it but always assumed that chickpeas would be in everything....thanks in advance.

[grayelf]

How allergic? I'm pretty sure that the meat items could be made without the legumes/pulses but the kitchen is full of the little beggars :-). You also have to be quite firm with the staff at the Seymour location if you have things you need to avoid -- every time I go with a celiac friend it's a bit of a struggle to get it right, but they manage in the end. FWIW, they have the menu posted on their website on line...

[selena03]

anaphlyaxtic, but I will give it a try when they are not busy....thanks for the info about the on-line menu too:).

[grayelf]

Sorry, selena, I wasn't trying to be nosy. The "how allergic" was meant to be rhetorical :-).

[selena03]

no worries:)!

[grayelf]

So VIFF has come and gone for another year, with its opportunities for downtown chowing. I've got quite a decent list now. Here's a few places I tried in 2010: The Templeton (really bad fish and okay chips), Cafe Joyeaux for more than palatable Vietnamese (bot chien!!), Japadog bricks and mortar (several times, hey it's fast even with a lineup, beware Love Meat, but the plain ice cream in a bun is nice for dessert), Twisted Fork (their vaunted eggs benny was a real disappointment), falafel at Falafel Maison (very tasty and a great value at $4.95 -- be sure to get the turnip pickles, lovely proprietor, nice desserts, apparently they have an outpost at 1385 Kingsway too), the paris brest at Beard Papa's which I preferred to their more famous offeings. Also tried Thai Basil and was very impressed with their pad grapow and pad kee mao. Until next fest...

[grayelf]

Just an FYI that the Falafel Maison on Kingsway is no more, though the Robson one is still there.

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Falafel Maison
, Vancouver, BC V5Y, CA