Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Van visit again


Endy'

Recommended Posts

I'll be in Van for about a week at the end of September. Hoping to get some recs for and updates about the Van dining scene. Here's what I have so far:

-Fuel

-Metro Hop for Korean fried chicken

-Granville Island day (Go Fish, Oyama, sake, etc.)

-Kingyo

-Japadog (are they still out that time of year?)

other possibilities:

-Ganache

-Chocolate Arts

-49th Parallel and/or Elysian Room

-Richmond Night Market?

-Ocean 6 Seventeen for brunch (anyone been recently?)

-Blue Water Cafe?

-Salt, Greedy Pig, So.Cial?

would like recs for:

-ramen (I liked Kintaro a lot in 2007, but in 08 it was pretty bad and Motomachi was way better -- what's the scene now?)

-interesting regional Chinese -- non-Cantonese, non-Northern, non-Shanghai

-anything else currently interesting that I might be missing

I'm particularly sad about the loss of Rare -- where I had my best meals of 2007 and 2008 -- really too bad I won't get to go anymore. If I recall, Gastropod changed to something else? Is Pear Tree still around? Any thoughts on that place in the Shangri-La (is it Market or something like that?)?

looking forward to hearing suggestions -- thanks in advance!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome back!

-Metro Hop for Korean fried chicken

You mean Happy Day Metro House? Yup, still the best fried chicken -- Korean or otherwise -- in town. They have some new items on the menu, including a very nicely done fried egg dish. I also like their seafood jajangmyun and sashimi rice.

-Ocean 6 Seventeen for brunch (anyone been recently?)

Sadly, since closed. Some of the staff might be found at So.Cial, where a new chef recently replaced Romy Prasad of Cin Cin and Savory Coast fame.

The casual, simple and elegant style that I liked so much about Ocean (and for a while, So.Cial) can be found at Twisted Fork. Dinner at TF is heavenly and the weekend brunch, which serves, among other things, a banana French toast made with homemade brioche bread, is even more so.

-ramen (I liked Kintaro a lot in 2007, but in 08 it was pretty bad and Motomachi was way better -- what's the scene now?)

Please check out the other thread on Ramen. Motomachi is all right, but the purist in me prefers Nippon Deli.

-interesting regional Chinese -- non-Cantonese, non-Northern, non-Shanghai

If you like Sichuan, give Yum Yum in North Vancouver a try. The service is awful, but the food is good.

Are you sure you don't want genuine, out-of-this-world traditional Cantonese? If you change your mind, please let me know.

-anything else currently interesting that I might be missing

Fuel's sister restaurant, Campagnolo is serving some rather interesting and nicely-done Italian dishes and cured meat. A good selection of grappa too.

Parkside, the popular French restaurant, has also gone Italiano, in the form of l'Atro Buca, which is very respectable, cozy and memorable.

If I recall, Gastropod changed to something else?  Is Pear Tree still around?  Any thoughts on that place in the Shangri-La (is it Market or something like that?)?

Gastropod has turned into Maenam, for the worse, in my humble opinion. Pear Tree is still around and is highly rated. "Market" is Chef Jean Georges' Vancouver outpost.

Enjoy your trip!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Korean Chicken - I hear good things about Mexican Chicken Hof in Coquitlam - I haven't been.

Regional Chinese - Alvin Garden in Burnaby for Hunan, Golden Spring in Richmond for Sichuan

Ramen - Motomachi Shokudo

fmed

de gustibus non est disputandum

Link to comment
Share on other sites

nondual1 -- thanks for the update about O617. Too bad. Twisted Fork unfortunately only does weekend brunches and I won't be there over a weekend. I'll add Campagnolo to my list on the strength of Fuel (and, you said the magic word grappa). I'd also received a rec for (the original, I guess) La Buca in previous years so I will read up on those restaurants. Will consider the Pear Tree depending on my desired mix of casual to more upscale.

fmed -- thanks! I think there was a thread in here previously with a group of eGers doing Alvin Garden -- may check that out.

gingerpeachy -- do the menus differ for the Japadogs? On the seawall in Stanley Park or over around where all the condos and hotels are (sorry, I'm not really familiar with the terminology for the seawall and that area)?

Chef Fowke -- will PM you separately. Thanks for the heads up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Think your choices for Fuel and Kingyo are good. Japadogis charming - but really not a huge culinary pit stop. The condiments are clever - but the hot dogs are relatively standard.

Ganache has some incredible cakes - very well done. And Chocolate Arts is fanatical about freshness and technique. If you need to pick up small gifts for your return trip - I think its a great place to do so.

I think Blue Water has a very good raw bar - one of the most underrated sushi bars in the city.

Salt is still the best of it's ilk in my books. And if you add in the Diamond and Boneta - you can have a pretty good time bar hopping in Gastown.

GastroPod is now Maenam. Chef Angus Ang worked with David Thompson of London's Nahm fame. Though I think Thai tends to be a little sweet - the room and food are fresh and modern.

I think Market is a great space, tremendous service - with solid high end hotel style food. That's sounds like it might be slight - but I don't mean it to be. Great value for money right now. Make sure you are seated in the Dining room - not the cafe.

L'Atro Buca in the West End of downtown is tremendous. The menu is smart and sophisticated and you can gauge your price point accordingly. Always great specials - and the room is the prefect fall venue - warm and cozy.

Now that the Canada Line is open - trips to Richmond are ridicoulously easy (in fact - you should take into Vancouver from the Airport). My current favorite Cantonese dinner right now is Jade Seafood. Crab in 'Golden' duck egg sauce, 'great grandfather's' smoked chicken. veggies in fish stock with tofu skins, and pork with lotus root and preserved veggies are exemplary.

Fmed is right about Alvin's Garden . Super punchy Hunan heat if you want it. More importanly - their cooking is focused and clean. The flavor profile is very different from Cantonese. Their smoked duck is one of the best I've had.

Have you been to Chambar? After 5 years of operations - still a great place for dinner. The cooking is imaginative - mixing Morrocan spices with western technique and local ingredients. If you are looking for a lunch/brunch spot - Medina (which is right be beside Chambar) is my favorite breakfast place in the city. Fantastic beglian waffles (the honey fig marmalade is killer) and a range of Moorish inflected breakfast and lunch treats.

Hope this helps - how many days are on in town for?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks canucklehead;

I arrive on a Monday afternoon and leave Saturday morning -- so less than a week of dining and, unfortunately, no weekend days. Makes brunch tough -- not the most thorough trip ever :/

thanks for corroborating Alvin's Garden and l'Atro Buca. I'm going to avoid Cantonese on this trip though. And thanks for adding a morning option -- my list is so far dinner-heavy.

Salt sounds good, but I can't tell from the website how I should approach it. Lunch destination? Afternoon-grazing-with-wine? After-dinner munchies?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks!

now for a bit of a change of pace...does anyone know of a store (preferably downtown) that sells shipping containers for wine? The sort of thing I'm thinking about is a cardboard container with styrofoam inserts that will hold X bottles of wine. I'm thinking about bringing home some stuff from the GI sake maker...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks!

now for a bit of a change of pace...does anyone know of a store (preferably downtown) that sells shipping containers for wine? The sort of thing I'm thinking about is a cardboard container with styrofoam inserts that will hold X bottles of wine. I'm thinking about bringing home some stuff from the GI sake maker...

Try e-mailing the sake maker to see if he carries them.

FWIW, I try bring my wine carrier (the one like you describe) with me when I think I'm going to buy stuff like that. Very cheap at BevMo. Another option is to get a box from a liquor store in Vancouver (one that still has the cardboard inserts that separate the wine). Put your bottles in the middle section, then fill the rest with crumpled newspaper or something similar. I had to do that last summer, and it did a very good job of protecting my bottles (of bbq sauce :smile: ). The only problem was that since it was a box that once carried wine, I think it encouraged the Department of Transportation (or whatever it's called in the US0 to inspect it in transit. Nothing was taken since, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...