{ Sunday, June 22, 2003 }
Kati had commented on the Things to do in Helsinki list that they wished they had a similar list for Vancouver. I had written this up in an email for Rena, when she and Derek came up for their honeymoon, and so here it is:
EATING & DRINKING:
• Vij's - amazing Indian food. Arrive early or late or be prepared to wait. Have a little of everything, it's divine.
• Mondo Gelato on Denman off of Davie. Gad! Yum! I always have the coffee and chocolate, but I hear the mango is really good, as is the black sesame, which is seasonal
• Guu with Garlic - Japanese non-sushi. Stewart likes the Moontain Plant, whatever that is.
• Ouest (now spelled "West") Tablecloths. Delicious, fairly light west-coast nouvelle.
• Lumiere. Consistently voted the best restaurant in Vancouver, with tasting menus that will keep you at your table for three or four hours. Bring money.
• Bin 941. Very tiny and very loud, with excellent little bitty dishes. Non-traditional tapas.
• Tojo's Japanese sushi place. On 2nd floor of office building, strangely enough. There is more sushi in this town than you will ever be able to eat. Sushi is to Vancouver as Burritos are to San Francisco.
• The Alibi Room for Brunch on Sundays. Get the Apple-Goat Cheese Pancakes. There is also an Alibi Room in Seattle, though I've never been there.
• Also for brunch/breakfast: Siegel's bagels. Montreal-style bagels in Kitsilano. I'm telling you, I can't eat New York bagels anymore.
• Ginger 62 on Granville for drinks
• Don't Show the Elephant in Yaletown for Japanese tea. They have a trick bathroom, where you want to make sure you don't show your elephant.
• Les Amis du Fromage. One of the great things about Canada vs. the US is that you can get really good, unpasteurized cheese here, which is illegal in the States (where they've also apparently outlawed tomatoes with flavor).
Vaneats is a great Vancouver food resource.
SIGHTSEEING & SHOPPING:
• Granville Island is a must, with the Farmer's market, art school gallery and to-and-fro'ing on little ferry boats.
• Get bikes and ride around the sea wall and through Stanley Park to find good smooching spots and have a picnic on the beach. The sea wall is 40km long, and goes all around the west side of the city.
• To get the full Vancouver-is-like-SF- but-with-bad-architecture- and-Tahoe- right-up-next-to-it Experience:If you have a rented car: take a mini-hike in Lynn Canyon. (or for more bigtime hiking, Squamish. On a beautiful day it is so beautiful you'll go blind. Bring lots of water!)
• Commercial Drive. The Telegraph Ave of Vancouver. Clothing, bongs, hemp products, plus lots of coffee. Used to be largely Italian. Magpie has lots of zines/magazines, and there's a good world music store (forget the name) Spank for clothes.
• Robson Ave. Shopping. Go to Lush to get awesome bath stuff, and to Zara for cute clothes you can't get in SF. How can SF not have a Zara?
• Gastown: The best cluster of three bookstores are around Richards/Hastings. MacLeod's and Albion are used bookstores, and Sofia's is new, with lots of foreign language stuff, good magazines, a big Japanese manga section and lots of design books.
• Also in Gastown: good clothes at Dream and Block. Cheap beer and burgers at the Cambie Hotel. Fabulous odd antiques and tchotchkes at Salmagundi.
• Main: Lugz and Soma for coffee, Monsoon and Slickity-Jim's Chat 'n' Chew for brunch. Also some nifty clothing stores and Pulp Fiction, which has excellent used books.
Feel free to post more advice.
LINK | 8:07 PM | TB
goto Ho Tak Kee, on Broadway at Main, for the best wonton and noodles in Vancouver for only 3.75/bowl! Chow mein there rocks as well. BBQ duck is very good too. Also see Mui Garden, on Main at King Edward for the best curried beef or chicken on rice.
Bon apetit...!
john | June 22, 2003 10:51 PMThanks for the VanEats recommendation!
I would also add a plug in for dim sum at Spicy Court near Oakridge (41st and Cambie) and The Boss in Chinatown (for excellent sweet and savoury buns, baked goods and all day Hong Kong Style cafe food such as crispy noodles with beef and black pepper).
Oh and don't forgot the New Town bakery (which is not as sparkling clean as The Boss but has excellent Filipino (bolla bolla aka chicken buns, siaopo, etc.) and Chinese treats!
Roland Tanglao | June 23, 2003 1:49 AMOh, thank you, thank you, thank you!!! :) I am especially excited about the Gastown recommendations... i never really got the feel of the place because my visit was limited to the steam clock and wandering around a bit, but had no luck finding anything interesting to grab my attention.
Kati | June 23, 2003 10:19 AMAnd don't forget about The Eatery on Broadway... it is well worth it. The sushi is eclectic, tasty, and much better than anything in Seattle. :)
Bjorn | June 23, 2003 10:28 AMYou made me homesick for Vancouver -- though I haven't heard about most of the eateries you listed, given that I've been gone 17 years now.
With your list, when I go, it will be like seeing Vancouver for the first time again.
The name of the record store is Highlife (it's right beside Magpie).
For food, I'd highly recommend Habibi's for a great vegetarian meal. It's on Broadway near Oak. Make sure you get the lebneh!
For more ice creamy goodness, I have to recommend La Casa Gelato, which has everything from wasabi to durian (!) to curry. Sample everything before getting a nice double chocolate.
Bill Stilwell | June 23, 2003 1:10 PMThere is an "Irish Pub" in Gastown with a rustic conservatory in the back. I haven't been there for years so I can't remember the name of the pub, but it might be Wilde's? There is something Wilde about it. I read that there are new owners so it may have changed. I hope they haven't scrubbed off the Virgina Creeper or painted the walls. I can't speak for the food, but the conservatory was a treasure.
| June 23, 2003 1:20 PMFor vegetarian fare, I really like the Naam in Kits and the Buddhist Vegetarian Restaurant in Chinatown. I'm not strictly veggie, but these places are still favourite spots of mine. The Buddhist place makes these incredible imitation meats, using only natural ingredients - no MSG! I'm also looking forward to trying Poncho's on Denman (near Robson). They've been recommended as a local spot offering the most authentic Mexican food in the neighbourhood.
Lisa | June 23, 2003 7:13 PMSo ... many ... good restaurants!
I second the emotion about Habibi's. Excellent vegetarian food. Who needs meat when food without it is this good?
Of course, I eat meat too :-) !
Roland Tanglao | June 23, 2003 10:23 PMOh man I miss those apple goat cheese pancakes at the Alibi room...used to live in seattle and we'd go up to vancouver occasionally. THe seattle alibi is more of a night spot- no breakfast - but always good for dinner in that modern comfort food done right way.
Rachel | June 24, 2003 7:40 AMThe pub is called The Irish Heather. Don't mistake it for the bad frat boy bar across the street (The Blarney Stone). And if you pass through the conservatory into the alley, then enter the red door directly across, you'll find the cosiest and most well-stocked scotch bar in town. Also, get the bangers & mash.
daegan | June 24, 2003 9:17 AMthanks again for the fabulous list! we basically spent our visit just working through this compendium, and had a great time.
derek | June 24, 2003 9:22 AMRe: THe Irish Heather...yes it's still there and stocked with a VERY good menu of contemporary takes on traditional Irish fare. And there is good traditional music there on a Tuesday night, a session which has run since 1996, which recorded a CD which was hailed as "the best traditional album to come of out Vancouver" by the Georgia Straight (can you tell I'm on it?..:-) )
And for change of pace, if you're in Vancouver, come over here to Bowen Island for an afternoon. Quaint island community only 40 minutes from downtown.
Derek (a few comments down) had some nice review/links on his site. Most of it was already covered, but he mentions a few that ought to be in this thread as well: Fritz European Fries (on Davie near the corner of Granville -- you can mix the sauces and feta and onion plus parmesean pepper is really good) as well as Wild Rice and Sen5es (which I haven't tried yet).
Raincity Grill (best local ingredients) should also have been on the list.
Stewart | June 24, 2003 12:51 PMSpend at least an hour meditating in Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's classical chinese garden http://www.vancouverchinesegarden.com it's quite peaceful and lovely - a hideaway in the midst of kinda dodgey chinatown.
kiri | June 24, 2003 5:22 PMmmm, all this food talk is making me drool.
i hate the *best* french toast (and I'm not even a big french toast fan) at Cafe Zen in Kits.
and I'm quite partial to Sophie's Cosmic Cafe on w. 4th. and the kitschy decorating is great to look at.
mm, best desserts are at trafalgars at sweet obsession. w. 16th & trafalgars, by the ridge theatre. if you can't decide, try the chocolate hazelnut zuccatto. you won't be sorry.
col | June 30, 2003 1:10 AMhmm, whoops, I made a typo! obviously i meant "had" rather than "hate"
col | June 30, 2003 1:11 AMHey, this makes me think we should do one fore every interesting city and post it on Caterina's site. :)
Haynes
The Elbow Room Cafe for the best breakfast ever. Chinatown for curry buns and great dim sum!!!
Julia | July 7, 2003 4:01 PMHey
I love the Palicesadds! Best place to stay ever!
Love,
GodNo
The best place to have coffee and pastries is "Trees" ,downtown on Granville street. They also have the best cheesecake I have ever tasted. Everything is made on site and the coffee is all organic.
Marc | August 30, 2003 6:56 PMBy far the best muffins and pastries in Vancouver - Trees Organic Coffee, (Granville and Hastings).
All coffee is fair-trade and roasted on site. I should know, I used to be the guy that roasted it!!
Garin | October 9, 2003 3:31 AMBy far the best muffins and pastries in Vancouver - Trees Organic Coffee, (Granville and Hastings).
All coffee is fair-trade and roasted on site. I should know, I used to be the guy that roasted it!!
Garin | October 9, 2003 3:31 AMPlanning on hitting Commercial Drive? Head to Turks (across from Grandview Park) for Commercial Drive ambiance and a great cuppa fair-trade joe!
Anyone know of any other cosy coffee shops?
Megan | December 11, 2003 7:01 PMPlanning on hitting Commercial Drive? Head to Turks (across from Grandview Park) for Commercial Drive ambiance and a great cuppa fair-trade joe!
Anyone know of any other cosy coffee shops?
Megan | December 11, 2003 7:01 PMHas anyone ever tried Cheesecake Etcetera on Granville?
I do believe it is near 6th.
A bit of a jazzy place.
Any kind of cheesecake and stuff.
Gotta try the cinnamon buns at Grounds for Coffee on Alma and West Broadway. Get 4: two with icing, two without.
oo | March 9, 2004 7:14 AMI found this site by typing "Things to do in Vancouver" into Google and hitting "I Feel Lucky." What a great find! We are heading to Vancouver next week and I feel like we don't have enough time to see and do all the great things mentioned on this site alone! Thanks for direction for what could have been a mis-guided spring break!
April | March 19, 2004 10:05 AMfor a cheap and FUN date, go to La Casa Gelato on Venebles near COmmercial drive...something like 130 different flavours...so much fun to try a little bit of everything!
| May 26, 2004 6:26 PMNo trip for me is every complete until I've sat on the deck at the Boathouse at English Bay on a sunny day, drinking Killer Whale Ale, and eating chicken wings and calimari....I lived in Vancouver while in University, and for me, just hanging out, watching joggers and bikers pass by along the beach while enjoying some really good food and drinks is a great way to soak up what makes Vancouver the greatest big city in the world
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where's the best scotch bar in Vancouver?
{ Post a comment }
You can probably find these places and more with the fantastic online VR tour at virtuallyvancouver.com.
I really miss Vancouver.
SF | June 22, 2003 10:39 PM