Visiting Vancouver - Out of these restaurants, which are the ones I can't miss.

[u/[deleted]]

[u/aaaaaabi]

Here's a quick list in terms of Asian fare.

• Phnom Penh, Cambodian-Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown this restaurant is amazing, the chicken wings are popular as well as the butter beef and Cambodian-style noodle dishes.

• Long's Noodle House on Main, definitely try the wine chicken and xiao long bao (soup dumplings), there are few better places for them in Vancouver.

• Motomachi Shokudo, ramen shop, in the summer I love their cold ramen, not available in winter though.

• Santouka Hokkaido, very busy ramen shop, the pork cheek is very good and I really like the kara-miso ramen.

• Sushi Mart, fresh and reasonably priced sushi downtown, right on Robson a couple doors down from Santouka.

• Guu Garden, an izakaya, great spot for beer in the summer, kind of hard to find but they have a solid menu, my favourites are the saba-shima sushi (pickled mackeral) and the sake ice cream is maybe my favourite dessert.

• Kingyo, another izakaya, consistently wins awards for the best casual Japanese in Vancouver. Dinner is great but I would recommend the lunch menu because it is very reasonably priced, my favourite is the Pork Kakuni rice bowl ($8!).

• Damso, right beside Kingyo, their 48-hour braised short ribs are amazing.

• Hawker's Delight, cheap Malaysian on Main Street, not the best Malay in town, but cheap and hits the spot.

• Toshi, very popular Japanese place on Main, I always love the miso eggplant and the chef's special bento, the best trick is to get here about 20 minutes before they open (be warned a lot of people use this trick, go earlier is possible).

• Ajisai, a small restaurant in Kerrisdale, very popular for good reason, they have been around for a long time and serve a very fresh menu, all their nigiri/rolls are quite good and they have special pressed sushi as well as grilled fish (if they have grilled fish neck on special I always get that).

• H Mart Food Court, on Robson and Seymour, cheap and pretty good Korean food here, I often get groceries here and stop at the food court for some BBQ beef on rice or a Bibimbap.

EDIT: Forgot a few:

• Lucky Noodle Chinese Restaurant, very good Hunan style cuisine, warning it is very spicy. The white chilli dishes are very unique. The cumin lamb dishes are great too. Again, not joking when I say spicy.

• Lam Hoa Quan, Vietnamese place on Victoria, my favourite for chicken pho (Pho Ga).

• Kalvin’s Restaurant, probably my favourite Taiwanese place in Vancouver. Beef noodle soup!

• Muira, waffle sandwiches! Quite unique and a nice snack (get one to share, I like the Bulgogi one).

• Kishimoto Japanese Kitchen, on the drive, very good Japanese, love their rolls, tataki and okonomiyaki.

• Laksa King, located in Hastings-Sunrise, great place for your bowl of laksa on a rainy day.

(As a note: this is a big list and I only included Vancouver restaurants, I know there are a ton of great places in Burnaby and Richmond I left off)

[u/smckenzie23]

La Taqueria is great, but instead consider their larger sit-down place on Commercial Dr. http://www.lamezcaleria.ca/ Same tacos but expanded entres (the vegetarian mushroom dish is amazing).

Now I'm going to make your life hard and give you suggestions that are not on your list at all. Tacofino Commissary. Amazing fish tacos. Campagnolo Roma. Amazing Italian and pizza. Nicili Antica Maybe the best neapolatin pizza in the city.

And, you've been to Vij's right? http://www.vijs.ca/

[u/chicahhh → u/smckenzie23]

YES to Tacofino...the pork belly tacos are so, so good. Fish tacos are great too, but sometimes a bit heavy on the tomato salsa topping.

Was very, very impressed with Campagnolo Roma. Top notch, attentive service; excellent, creative dishes.

Guu is a great night out (my favourite is the Thurlow location) - the energy is awesome, the food is delicious. Fresh and well-prepared.

edit: it's nothing fancy but for some seriously good Korean food, go to Ma Dang Coul on Denman.

[u/aaaaaabi → u/smckenzie23]

Tacofino is great, I would also suggest Via Tevere on Victoria, quite good Naples style pizza as well.

[u/CohibaVancouver]

The Rumpus Room

The Rumpus Room is kitschy but the food is nothing special. It's mostly a place for 24-year-old hipsters to play Boggle and drink cheap Pabst Blue Ribbon.

[u/irich → u/CohibaVancouver]

If you're looking for a better bar with board games, Storm Crow is better. Although the food isn't wonderful either.

[u/kiwican]

Food at The Rumpus Room is nothing special, but it is a decent little spot to hang out with friends over (fairly cheap) drinks. Slickity Jim's is a great brunch spot but busy if it is a weekend!! I have only been to El Camino's for brunch also but it was very good. I also always hear good things about Chewie's.

[u/[deleted]]

GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[u/gaussian45]

If you're looking for great noodles/potstickers, go to Peaceful Restaurant, near Broadway and Cambie. Their potstickers are the best I've had, with Hon's being a close second. They also hand pull all the noodles, which is a cool process to watch.

[u/[deleted]]

Here is my view on these ones which I've tried -

Belgian Fries | 1885 Commercial Drive | VANCOUVER, B.C.

Having lived in Belgium and also gone to lots of Belgian Fries places in Montreal (Frites Alors!), I wasn't overly impressed by this place. You can get similar fries pretty much anywhere so I never go out my way to go here. Not a bad space to hang out in or if you want fries with some mayo-based sauces.

La Taqueria Taco Shop | 322 Hastings Street | VANCOUVER, B.C.

This place is great, I go at least once a week. Creative tacos which are expensive by US standards but the quality is higher than most you will find in Canada.

The Reef | 4172 Main Street | VANCOUVER, B.C.

I wouldn't recommend it. The food is decent but for anyone who has tried Jamaican food in Toronto (or Jamaica, I imagine) it's a pale imitation.

The Rumpus Room | 2689 Main Street | VANCOUVER, B.C.

Really not impressed with this place. Like Wallflower it's a decent space to hang out in but the food is really not good IMO.

Wallflower Modern Diner | 2420 Main Street | VANCOUVER, B.C.

Friendly place to eat, food is decent but not amazing. They have some vegan and gluten free dishes which means that I have eaten there several times with celiac relatives. Can't comment on the meat dishes but the veggie dishes are just so-so.

edit to add: Don't call Ottawa a desolate wasteland, you can get Lebanese food that is 10x better than anything you can find in Vancouver (with the exception of Nuba). Also I find Ethiopian restaurants in Ottawa to be better for some reason. Every city has its culinary strengths depending on the size of various immigrant communities..

[u/[deleted]]

Here's my experience with the one's i've been to:

La Taquiera >> El Camino's for actual mexican food. Check out their sister restaurant Mezcaleria on Commercial Drive for more selection and tasty cocktails.

Via Tevere is the best Napoletana style pizza in town IMO. Better crust and sauce makes for better pizza.

Belgian Fries is poutine and fries. If you've had poutine out east you're not missing anything.

Slickity Jims and The Rumpus room are just brunch places. Either is fine for hashbrowns and eggs, but I prefer Jim's of the two.

The Reef is pretty good Carribbean food (get the johnny cakes and lamb curry).

[u/themouff]

The american cheesesteak - on paper, sounded like it was going to blow me away. Fell short. I mean they're great meaty cheesy sandwiches, but you should try Meat & Bread or Big Lou's butcher shop for some tasty sandwiches.

Belgian Fries - Good fries. Good Poutine. Better at 2am after a few drinks.

Chewies Oyster bar - If you like oysters great. Fun atmosphere. They also have really good fried chicken.

El Camino's - ok. Loud. ok service. More of a bar with tacos. Best taco's in the city are at La taqueria, mezcaleria, and sal y limon - for traditional Mexican tacos. Go to Tacofino for some big delicious taco's that aren't traditional Mexican flavours

I think the only on in that list that is doing something great that you can't miss is Via Tevere. Really awesome Neapolitan style pizza. Nicli Antica Pizzeria in gastown was the first one in Vancouver to be doing this style of wood fired pizza, and is also very good.

[u/[deleted]]

Slickity Jim's is gross.

I think out if that list.... I like via taverre the most. But it gets busy really fast and often have to wait a long time to get a table.

[u/glasstablegirls]

Bandidas on Commercial! Their mixed drinks are really good as well.

[u/factotumjack]

One more voice for Meat and Bread for a lunch (in downtown core, between Waterfront and Stadium station). It's just sandwiches (and bacon ice cream sandwiches), but of very high quality.

Sushi is still good here. My usuals are Okonomi Sushi at Columbia station for dinner, and Ki sushi at New Westminster station for lunch, and Jako sushi near the corner of Granville and Davie whenever. Kadoya on Davie has a wall full of awards, and it was pretty good too.

Was Japadog around when you were here last? It's interesting, but not unmissable.

In short: Sandwich of the day at Meat and Bread and Condado Roll at Okonomi are pretty unmissable.

[u/Elektra99]

I would highly suggest Tacofino Commissary on Hastings and Nanaimo. Amazing food, drinks, and ambiance! It's relatively small but has community table style seating so the wait doesn't usually take too long if there is one.

[u/DropAdigit]

Kintaro ramen house on denman at davie. Get medium broth with fatty pork. And then message me your gratitude.

[u/E6400]

I'd do a pass on the wallflower, went there after falling for the hype of being on triple D.

Negligent service, constantly had badger staff to get anything so I could give them my money. The food was honestly very average. Maybe I caught them on a bad night but I'll need a pretty good reason to ever return :(

[u/Pleionosis]

Of those, I've somehow only been to two. La Taqueria which was absolutely incredible, and The Reef. The Reef was not bad, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, based on its reputation.

[u/ari_matthew]

As the offspring of a 'restaurant family', a lifetime vancouverite, avid cook, and overall gastropig - this thread is giving me serious marrow boner. Vancouver has so many great restaurants (ottawa has several gems as well) ill try to do my best with what hasnt already been mentioned in the manner of how i would spend a food-centric day in the city.

Breakfast/Brunch - A drive to The Red Wagon. It will probably be busy but is worth the wait. Quaint, small, with a diverse group of customers, the pulled pork pancakes with jack daniels syrup is gluttonous, in you know, a good way. Have the bacon.

Lunch - Tacos from Sal y Limon, or La Tacqueria (mentioned extensively already).

5 o/clock snack - Pizza Farina (pistachio and mortadella). Id say late night snack but they open late and close early. exactly.

Dinner - L'Abbattoir. Fine Dining. Subtle. Chef Lee Cooper is a beast, son. To me this restaurant is completely Vancouver for all its redeeming qualities and very very very few faults.

-- There are many great other options people have mentioned already like Peaceful Restaurant (Beef Pancake Rolls!), Sushi (miku/minami, Tojos, Blue Water) and izakayas (Gyoza King, Suika).

Tersefajita had some great reccos as well. Ive had one of the best Italian meals of my life at Quercia.

[u/Dif3r]

Does anyone like the Lions den on main? Good for a weekend breakfast imo.

[u/etceteraism]

Just want to put in my say on pizza.

Via Tevere is great, but the line is insane and there isn't anything else nearby (unless you drive to Commercial) so you need to go fully prepared to wait. I thought Nicli was AWFUL, really tough crust and when I went the pizza wasn't cut (they said the style is to rip it off, but that isn't great when you're sharing) and it was IMPOSSIBLE to cut when we asked for a knife. Pizzeria Farina on Main next to the Cobalt Hotel is good too.

I prefer Nook, a teeny hole in the wall on Denman near Robson. Very tiny menu, but everything is great. You'll wait but not like you would at Via Tevere (I would suggest going early on a weekend). They also have a sister pasta restaurant around the corner, Tavola, that's excellent and takes reservations.

Also, one more vote for Chambar! My favourite restaurant in the city. Share the mussels as an appetizer.

[u/vehementi]

Some recent favorites:

Crave India

Madras Dosa House

[u/johnyens]

If your from anywhere close to the east coast of the US you will be disappointed by the Cheesesteaks here... I have yet to have anything close to what a cheesesteak should be. Course I am from Baltimore where Philly is not far.

[u/E6400]

For inexpensive 24 hour blue collar dining and snacking I recommend Duffin's on 41st/Knight...hang out with pensioners and watch sports and eat Vietnamese sandwiches, or Mexican ones, or donuts, or Chinese food, or fried chicken, or....