Help! Need specifics on Vancouver Greek restaurants/bakeries, any North Vancouver eating/food shopping tips, and "must do" Surrey Indian restos/markets

[lrsseattle]

Hi Chowhounds;

I'm a Seattle-ite headed to Vancouver next week with hubby and 2 young kids--all of us food lovers and dedicated hole-in-the-wall eaters. Apologies for my wide-ranging query; I've tried searching the board for past posts but haven't found what I'm looking for, which is ....

Any great Greek restaurants or bakeries (Seattle is sadly lacking in both)

North Vancouver eating/specialty food shop tips (we're staying there at a friend's who's out of town and sadly isn't much of a foodie and therefore can't steer us)

Best plan for Surrey Indian restaurants and markets

Your tips for the best Richmond outings--dim sum, top markets, dinner spot (doesn't matter what specialty, whatever your vote is for best in its class.)

I've already downloaded the Chinese restaurant awards--we all absolutely love dim sum. Sounds like Sun Sui Wah is a must-do in that department.

And lastly, does anyone know if you can buy Mamie Nova yogurt anywhere in Vancouver? (It's a French brand we had when we lived overseas--pure heaven.)

Many, many thanks. Happy eating. And happy holidays.

Lynn

[selena03]

For Indian in Surrey, I woud def try Bengali Fish & Curry. My in-laws live out there and they love it. I have heard some really great things from friends and have been meaning to try it myself but don't get out to Surrey very often.

[fmed]

I forgot to answer the Surrey/Indian part of your query:

Mahek
9470-120th St. (aka Scott Road)
Mostly Northern food.

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Mahek Restaurant & Lounge
9470 120 St, Surrey, BC V3V4B9, CA

[anewton]

No love for Le Regalade in West Vancouver? (don't be deceived.by the name...West Vancouver is also "over the bridge" from downtown, just west of North Vancouver.)

[fmed]

I've never been to Le Regalade, sadly. I have heard mixed reviews however.

More in North Van:

Thomas Haas -get the Sparkle Cookies, Double-baked Almond Croissant, Pate de Fruits, chocolates
The Tomahawk - gourmet burgers, breakfasts, etc. An institiustion.
Honey's Donuts

[amelieducroix]

Not a fan of La Regalade. I've been several times in an attempt to convince myself to like it, but no such luck.

[amelieducroix]

North Van... my old stomping grounds....
Tommy's in Lynn Valley is open for breakfast and lunch. It's a tiny hole in the wall across the street from Starbucks.
Raglands on the bottom of Lonsdale is a fun place with good burgers.
Galeria in Edgemont Village makes a mean sandwich but you have to go early or they're sold out (they're good on-the-go lunches for car trips etc)
Mythos on Lonsdale and 19th makes good greek food, as well as Pasparos on 3rd off Lonsdale
The Edge bistro in Edgemont is good for dinner and drinks
Arm's reach in Deep Cove is definitely worth checking out as well
I hope that helps and happy travels!

[fmed]

North Van is known for its large Persian community. Try...

Kashcool - a Persian restaurant that as known for its good food as its inconsistency in food and (gruff) service. I've had good food and service the times I have been (granted - a few years ago now).

Yaas Bazaar - a Persian food store and bakery. http://www.yaas.ca/

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Kashcool Restaurant
222 Pemberton Ave, North Vancouver, BC V7P2R5, CA

[Sam Salmon]

Serano Greek Pastry
3185 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6K 2H2
[phone]‎

I have their Spanakopita for lunch regularly, the whole neighbourhood is jammed with Greek restaurants and the two nearby Deli/Grocery stores-Minerva's and Parthenon have an outstanding variety of Greek/Middle Eastern products.

Parthenon Importers
3080 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC
[phone]

Minerva's Mediterranean Deli
3207 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC V6K 2H5
[phone]

Great reports from Kerkis nearby on W4th Ave
Kerkis Greek Taverna
3605 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC
[phone]
http://www.kerkistaverna.com

The Afghan Horsemen near the entrance to Granville Island is a unique combo of Greek and number of other cuisines.
http://afghanhorsemen.com/

Nuba downtown for hole-in-the-wall
http://nuba.ca/

[phoenikia]

Is Serano the only Greek Bakery/Pastry Shop in Vancouver?

Is Kerkis still open? The link doesn't seem to work.

[grayelf]

Kerkis is still open.

There seem to be fewer and fewer Greek bakeries. My favourite one was replaced by Baguette and Company. I did a quick Google and only found Serano (apparently Broadway Bakery is no longer doing Greek pastries). So I'd like to know of any others too!

[phoenikia]

Thanks for your quick reply, grayelf ;-) Much appreciated!

[grayelf]

No problem. I found another place called the Greek Bakery in Richmond on Shell Road but no answer when I called just now. The search continues.

To continue my pessimistic ramblings as I get over my hideous summer cold. it strikes me that Greek food in Vancouver is disappearing or morphing in general. I like near the former Greek area and the number of restos is dwindling as the quality drops and the prices creep up. I wonder where Greek people go to eat their national food? Maybe they cook it up at home, as do so many cultural groups it seems...

[phoenikia]

My guess is that the many of the people that used to run the Greek restaurants and bakeries are now retiring, and most of their children have chosen other career paths.

For the younger generation of Greek Canadians that choose to work in the restaurant business, there seems to be a lot more money to be made in steakhouses and Italian restaurants than in Greek restaurants. Several of the top steakhouses and Italian restaurants in Toronto are owned or operated by Greek Canadians.

[mbe]

We had a very nice experience at Kashcool, granted we were with an Iranian friend, but the service and food were very good. If you go make sure to try the faludeh (sp?) a frozen vermicelli dessert with lemon juice; interesting and delicious.

Yaas Bazaar is great, if you're a fan of indian style desserts then trying some of the Persian sweets might be up your alley. My favourite is "bamieh", deep fried nuggets of dough that are soaked in syrup. If you know the curly Indian "jelabi" then it's the same concept. The restaurant attached to the store is not fine dining but is quite good value for money, and the food is tasty.

As to the yogurt, I've no clue about the French brand, but if you're in a supermarket it's worth looking for Liberté brand yogurt from Quebec. Their mediterranean style yogurts are higher fat and delicious. I also recently tried their citrus flavoured regular yogurt (called "Agrumes en Folie") and it was fantastic.

[vandan]

double thumbs up on the liberte, best i've ever had

[grayelf]

I found Liberte yogurts in Safeway at Broadway and MacDonald and tried the lemon. Very nice but not quite as creamy and smooth as the Krema I mentioned above (fat content slightly lower at 8% vs 10%).

[vandan]

hey greyelf, was wondering if the krema is really tart or not so much?

[grayelf]

I find it less sweet than most vanilla yogurts but I'm not sure I would call it tart. Let me know what you think of it if you try it. If you're looking for tart, maybe get the unflavoured Krema and add a bit of sugar or vanilla yourself?

[vandan]

will give the plain a go as i cook with it and also am no fan of vanilla, i managed to pick up some pressed yogurt from parthenon as well as some labneh, pretty similar but with subtle diffs

[grayelf]

Love the pressed yogurt from Parthenon -- I sometimes buy and strain my own but so much easier to get it from there :-)

[vandan]

let me preface this by saying NO i don't work for the company,funny story here: so i finally bought some of the Krema, and was having a bowl this morning with honey , berries and ground up peanuts, when out of nowhere my bowl fell out of my lap and upside down onto the carpet , i was freaking a bit and thinking of what a bummer the cleanup was gonna be, so i grabbed the bowl turned it over and was delighted to see that the viscosittyy of the yogurt kept everything in the bowl, no mess at all, and hey it tastes great as well, btw greyelf the fat content is actually 19 %

[fmed]

19%! How could it not be good? The thick Liberte sits at 8% and I find it good and rich.

[vandan]

ha ha true its basically got the texture of labneh/strained yogurt, and from now on it'll be considered the "furniture friendly" dessert

[peter.v]

19%? It's definitely 11% milk fat. There are 19g of fat per 175g serving though...

[bdachow]

Oops, links weren't posting...

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Red Star Seafood Restaurant
8298 Granville St, Vancouver, BC V6P4Z4, CA

Shanghai River Restaurant
7831 Westminster Hwy, Richmond, BC V6X1A4, CA

[bdachow]

Sounds like you'll be quite mobile so I'll throw in Red Star for dim sum, they always have a nice quality and upscale feel, no carts though.

You definitely need to try out xiao loong baos "XLB" (aka soup dumplings) while up here. Not something I think that Seattle has at the same quality. Possibly something to try in place of dim sum. If you search XLB on this board, there's been a previously very comprehensive list and reviews of the different XLB places all around town. I am still particularly fond of Shanghai River in Richmond (you did mention Richmond) but it is ridiculous trying to eat there without a reservation.

I also remember vaguely a discussion about some kind of lunch truck in RIchmond, off of 3 Road but can't remember the exact nature of the truck, just that it was different and tasty (and probably fits in the hole in the wall description). Perhaps the other local hounders can help out?

[grayelf]

I think you're talking about Tenku Bakudanyaki, bdachow... Here's a recentish thread: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/620018

[grayelf]

I don't find Greek to be outstanding here anymore. Maybe try Kalamata on Broadway near Cambie -- a local 'Hound gave it the thumbs up recently. I also routinely hear raves about Apollonia especially for their lamb dishes but I didn't love it.

Savary Pie Co in West Van is worth a drive by -- you could try their tourtiere.

Sea Harbour on Three Road in Richmond is great for higher-end Cantonese but you need at least four people to do it justice. Best dim sum gets argued pretty endlessly -- I gave up on Sun Sui Wah when they got rid of the carts because I don't like their ordering system but I've always had good luck with the quality (others haven't).

I've never seen that yogurt here but now I'll be looking. I've only just discovered Krinos which is as close to the fage I loved in SF...

[grayelf]

Oops, that should say "Krema" not "Krinos" and it is a Greek-style yogurt made by Olympic with some outrageously high fat content, yum yum.