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My wife and I will be traveling to Vancouver for 4 days over labor day weekend from Portland. We are completely spoiled by the Portland food scene, but are looking for a good reason to not go back. Vancouver, are you up to the challenge? Any regional or ethnic cuisines are possibilities. What is the best of the best?
Ciaofun
Aug 21, 2007 10:33PM
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Parkside (try their garden patio if it's sunny); Lumiere; Gastropod; West....
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Oh, definitely agree about Vij's, but you should also try Tojo's.
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West, absolutely. Tojo's? NOooooooooo!!! (insert Edvard Munch's The Scream here) A total tool not deserving of a single hound shekel.
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parkside, aurora, vij's, rangoli (small, casual version of vij's), hapa izakaya, guu, kirin...
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If Portland is considered "good" (for ethnic cuisine, at least), then even average Vancouver fare will easily blow you away. This is especially true if you're talking about Indian, Chinese, Thai, or Japanese food.
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Stay away from Mexican food - that's one ethnic cuisine Vancouver (or anywhere in Canada) does NOT do well at all. I don't know why but that's the way it is.
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I'll take a wild stab at this one - perhaps the greater distance from Mexico? ;-)
That's true - I can drive around all day in Vancouver and I can only remember seeing 2 "Mexican" restaurants in the entire city. I hear Toronto is similar in this regard.
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Well there really isn't a huge Mexican population in Vancouver, and perhaps in all of Canada, which might explain things. I mean, Japan is further away from Vancouver than Mexico and yet the Japanese food is spectacular! And small border towns in Washington state make excellent Mexican food, and they're equally as far away from Mexico.
I think it's a cultural thing. Americans expect Mexican restaurants everywhere. Canadians expect to see Chinese, Greek, Italian, etc restaurants everywhere. Every small town in the USA has a Mexican restaurant. Every small town in Canada usually has a Chinese restaurant, a Greek restaurant and an Italian restaurant.
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No worries, Mexican food is best eaten in Mexico. If it makes you feel any better, Australia has an even poorer take on Mexican food--it will make your hair curl.
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We were in Vancouver a number of years ago when Dynasty was still open; we still reminisce about eating there. I have not heard of any place ever stepping in to take its place. Are there any blow your socks off Chinese restaurants of similar ilk? If you don't remember Dynasty, it was a top end place in the downtown area.
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The best latte ever is at Caffe Artigiano all over Vancouver.
I would do Vij's for the best Indian you will have and Lumiere as well.
www.CaffeArtigiano.com
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Feenies....... Dim Sum.........Parkside........
did I say Feenies ????....... I love stumptown, but next to San Francisco, Vancouver is the best on the West Coast
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We were totally blown away by Vij's food and the hospitality of the owner a few weeks ago while we were visiting Vancouver. They don't take reservations so you either need to be there well before the opening time of 5:30 (we were there at 4:55 and were the 12th in line or get there about 1 1/2 hours before you want to eat if it is a nice day and enjoy the bar scene or grab a drink and sit outside. The servers will bring little tidbits to eat. It was by far the best Indian food that I have ever eaten, a good value for the price, and the owner was very happy to discuss food preparation, help you pick out dishes you would like and that would go with whatever other dishes your party ordered. A terrific experience.
We also went to West and Kirin Mandarin. Though both restaurants were excellent as well, particularly the fish preparations at West, they seemed like other top of the line restaurants in other cities with great food and were not nearly as unusual.
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Vij's !! definitely the best ethnic place in Vancouver, if not the best, period. Wonderfully done indian with a modern take, but not precious. In the non ethnic , C is wondeful. for lunch, goFish on Granville Island has excellent seafood for not much money.
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Vancouver has a million sushi bars on every corner, but a huge lot of them are really quite lousy or mediocre. If you are interested in finding fantastic sushi (without making a costly trip to Tojo's), I really recommend Sushi Aoki located on Cypress (by Burrard) & Broadway. Their Gyoza are great, and my favourite roll has to be the (Kabocha)Pumpkin tempura roll.
Also, Zakkushi (a japanese grill restaurant) on 4th and Burrard is incredibly nice.
Last but not least, if you feel like having some tea and a small, home-cooked Japanese lunch, please have a look at Sawa Tea. The owner cooks beautiful, careful little meals and her store has a nice range of teas and also some crafts. This is, I find, the best (Japanese green) tea you will be able to find in all of Vancouver, and in the most charming setting.
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Sawa Tea - sounds interesting. Where is it located?
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On Second Ave just West of Fir St near the entrance to Granville Island
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I'm from Seattle but go to Vancouver frequently. Those who are recommending Vij's aren't just doing it out of local pride. It is unique. I don't believe there's a place in the US like it, possibly the world. He told us once he had thought about opening a branch in Seattle, but decided that quality control was too difficult. Sigh . . . . Highly recommended.
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for "blow your socks off chinese" you cant get any better than Sun Sui Wah, and Imperial. Vij´s is a must, but i would pass on Tojos.
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