Asian food in Vancouver

[joyvan]

Hi there --

I will be travelling to Vancouver in May (I'm from NYC) and will be in town for several days. I keep hearing that Vancouver is the place for all kinds of Asian cuisines. Any advice on places to check out? Any range from cheap to expensive is fine. Is there an area of town where there's a concentration of Asian restaurants?

Thanks so much in advance for your help!

Joy

[*Deborah*]

I you look through the Vancouver forum a bit, you'll see that even our free weekly entertainment paper's reader's choice awards have four or five categories for Asian...so yes there are lots of them!

Cantonese

Szechuan

Japanese

Sushi

Hapa (fusion)

Thai

Malay

Vietnamese

I'm missing a lot of styles, no doubt; I don't even eat Asian that often. There is a Chinatown, but there are good restaurants scattered all over downtown and beyond.

Maybe you could narrow it down a little? are you staying downtown? will you have a car? Richmond has the biggest Asian community and more Chinese restaurants than you can shake a stick at (and several that have hearty eGullet recommendations) but you don't want to take the bus out there. There's doubtless lots of good food within walking distance of your hotel, or at least a reasonable cab fare away though.

Is there a particular style of food you like? or something you really want to try? Something many of us are eating right now is this Japanese fusion style of food: Shiru-Bay Chopstick Café in Yaletown is one place that offers it, and Hapa Izakaya on Robson Street is another, even more popular amongst eGulleters. Tojo's Restaurant is a place I have never been but very famous...I will let others talk about it.

When are you coming to town?

[Peter Rodgers]

I you look through the Vancouver forum a bit, you'll see that even our free weekly entertainment paper's reader's choice awards have four or five categories for Asian...so yes there are lots of them!

Cantonese

Szechuan

Japanese

Sushi

Hapa (fusion)

Thai

Malay

Vietnamese

I'm missing a lot of styles, no doubt; I don't even eat Asian that often. There is a Chinatown, but there are good restaurants scattered all over downtown and beyond.

Maybe you could narrow it down a little? are you staying downtown? will you have a car? Richmond has the biggest Asian community and more Chinese restaurants than you can shake a stick at (and several that have hearty eGullet recommendations) but you don't want to take the bus out there. There's doubtless lots of good food within walking distance of your hotel, or at least a reasonable cab fare away though.

Is there a particular style of food you like? or something you really want to try? Something many of us are eating right now is this Japanese fusion style of food: Shiru-Bay Chopstick Café in Yaletown is one place that offers it, and Hapa Izakaya on Robson Street is another, even more popular amongst eGulleters. Tojo's Restaurant is a place I have never been but very famous...I will let others talk about it.

When are you coming to town?

←

[Peter Rodgers]

Echoing Deborah's view, the best prospects for Chinese are in Richmond, but you would need a car. If you have one, consider the Sun Sui Wah, the Jade, Kirin Richmond and the Fisherman's Terrace (in the Aberdeen Shopping Center near Cambie and No. 3 Road. Dim sum is especially good at Jade. Avoid the restaurants in Vancouver's Chinatown. Instead, try one of the Kirin branches downtown (Alberni Steet and Cambie at 12th); the Sun Sui Wah on Main is also worth a visit. For Japanese, the best is still Tojo's, although Guu is getting rave reviews here.

[Mooshmouse]

Avoid the restaurants in Vancouver's Chinatown.

←

Make an exception for Phnom Penh, located in Chinatown at 244 East Georgia Street, for the best Cambodian food in the city. Their garlic squid alone is worth the trip.

The West Broadway location of Banana Leaf for excellent Malaysian food. Their sambal green beans and crab in kum heong sauce are two of my picks.

Also Yuji's Japanese Tapas on West 4th Avenue in Kitsilano. You can find their regular menu here, but don't overlook their specials sheet. Sweet potato tempura fries and their maguro avocado crepe are a couple of menu items that immediately jump out from my long list of favourites.

My two cents' worth and the previous suggestions only scratch the surface of Vancouver's many excellent Asian restaurants. I'd post more, but I've gotta run!

[joyvan]

Sounds great -- I'll be there in the second week of May. I will have a car, and will definitely check out Richmond. I'll check the forums for more recommendations for sure. I'd love to hear more about anyone's particular favorites for southeast asian and for hot and spicy dishes.

Thanks again for all your help!

[Vancouver]

For very casual Malaysian food I'd strongly recommend Kedah House. Located at 5750 Fraser Street 604-325-9771.

Many of egulleter's favorites can also be found in this thread: Best Dining Values in Western Canada.

Have fun!

[Ducky]

If you want to cover south Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia), and eat spicy food, my three suggestions for spicy dishes would be:

1. Kedah House at 41st and Fraser: (Malaysian) Try their Mee Mamak and a side of spicy rendang.

2. Cafe Delite at Broadway and MacDonald:(Singaporean) Try their spicy seafood Laksa

3. The Spice Islands at 41st & Dunbar: (Indonesian) Try just about anything on the menu. The Sambal Buncis for example, or their Chili Chicken.

[Ducky]

PS: If someone knows of a really good South Indian curry house that does very hot fishhead curries and the like - I would be very interested in hearing about it.

[Vancouver]

Some more popped to mind shortly after my last post:

South Ocean Seafood in Richmond for dim sum; Long's Noodle House on Main for Shanghai cuisine; BeGaNe in Burnaby for 11 course pre-fixe Korean (they have 3 menu levels to choose from); the foodcourts at Yaohan centre and Aberdeen centre are worth browsing around as well to see if anything floats your boat.

Cheers!

[SBonner]

We usually eat Sunday Dim Sum at Imperial in the Marine building... great service. For Indian try Royal India, Vij's and Rangoli. For a twist

on Asian try Wild Rice with their modern interpretation of Asian cuisine. For all out Japanese; a seat at Tojo's never fails.

Cheers,

Stephen Bonner