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March trip to Van

Endy'

By Endy'
in Western Canada: Dining

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Mooshmouse

Mooshmouse

Posted
Posted
Have a donut or two from Lee's, if you go to Granville Island.

Their honey-dip doughnuts are nirvana when still warm out of the oven. It'll be tough to stop at just two! ;)

Joie Alvaro Kent

"I like rice. Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2,000 of something." ~ Mitch Hedberg

wildebeest

wildebeest

Posted
Posted
If I can throw in my 2 cents, I would recommend Rare, Parkside and Aurora. All three are representative are what Vancouver does well.

Kirin is good- you really should try to fit in some Chinese- Richmond Chinese food is truly outstanding.

I agree with all of the above. Rare (great quality and value $65 tasting menu), Aurora (local products and the chef was runnr up for chef of the year) and Parkside (solid choice) are great. Try Fuel as well on 4th and Cypress, new restaurant that will be among the best of 2007 IMHO.

lauraf

lauraf

Posted
Posted
Have a donut or two from Lee's, if you go to Granville Island.

Their honey-dip doughnuts are nirvana when still warm out of the oven. It'll be tough to stop at just two! ;)

Even better, the chocolate glazed chocolate doughnuts! Highly recommended.

Laura Fauman

Vancouver Magazine

stovetop

stovetop

Posted
Posted

Sidebar! .... :blink: If you are in Vancouver you need to go to kits and do the walk!

Go have a burger and sit on the deck...shit it is winter!

Jericho beach is a great place in the summer to eat and have a beer and see the great view.

^%%*&% the food... the view is why you are on the west coast...... Toronto you can get the best of any thing.

If you are in the ethnic mode; maybe Van can give little bit of a angle, but Toronto has three China towns so how can you beat that.... shear population!!!

Vancouver has more Korean and better Japanese food; the Vietnamese scene is better too... Toronto though has some great Pilipino food.

The view>>>>

Steve

Cook To Live; Live To Cook
Endy'

Endy'

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
^%%*&% the food... the view is why you are on the west coast...... Toronto you can get the best of any thing.

with all due respect to the (no doubt) lovely view in Vancouver, the view is NOT why I'm going to Van. I'm going there to eat. Seeing things is what I will be doing while I'm waiting to get hungry again (barolo, annanstee, Quarki, thank you for your suggestions -- I am definitely not sporty but I'll probably check out some of the gardens and museums mentioned).

still writing down suggestions. I wish I'd booked more vacation time...

Endy'

Endy'

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
Rare (great quality and value $65 tasting menu), Aurora (local products and the chef was runnr up for chef of the year)  and Parkside (solid choice) are great.

thanks to everyone who made these 3 recs. Out of the 3 Rare seems the most interesting to me.

I'm also going to try to fit in a lunch at Vij's, since several have mentioned it...

Daddy-A

Daddy-A

Posted
Posted
I'm also going to try to fit in a lunch at Vij's, since several have mentioned it...

Don't believe Vij's does lunch ... but Rangoli is right next door and is owned by Vikram as well. Not exactly the same thing, but a very good substitute.

A.

Quarki

Quarki

Posted
Posted
Sidebar! .... :blink:  If you are in Vancouver you need to go to kits and do the walk!

Go have a burger and sit on the deck...shit it is winter!

Jericho beach is a great place in the summer to eat and have a beer and see the great view.

^%%*&% the food... the view is why you are on the west coast...... Toronto you can get the best of any thing.

If you are in the ethnic mode; maybe Van can give little bit of a angle, but Toronto has three China towns so how can you beat that.... shear population!!!

Vancouver has more Korean and better Japanese food; the Vietnamese scene is better too... Toronto though has some great Pilipino food.

The view>>>>

Steve

Does Vancouver really have better Korean food? I really liked the Korean food in Toronto. I know you can get _NICE_ Korean food in Greater Vancouver (like the fancy stuff). I've been to Insadong a few times and they don't disappoint too much (except maybe a bigger hole in a student's pocket). They also serve different types of seafood there. My friends ate raw beef their. It was very interesting. If you want the menu, I took pictures of it, just ask and I shall upload.

Endy'

Endy'

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
Does Vancouver really have better Korean food?  I really liked the Korean food in Toronto.  I know you can get _NICE_ Korean food in Greater Vancouver (like the fancy stuff).  I've been to Insadong a few times and they don't disappoint too much (except maybe a bigger hole in a student's pocket).  They also serve different types of seafood there.  My friends ate raw beef their.  It was very interesting.  If you want the menu, I took pictures of it, just ask and I shall upload.

there's a lot of Korean food in Toronto, but I had to do a LOT of work to find restaurants I liked. From what a friend in Vancouver has told me, Korean restaurants are more consistent there. Here you have to pick through the ones run by Chinese, and the places that aren't really sure if they're sushi restaurants or Korean restaurants.

annanstee

annanstee

Posted
Posted

Stovetop is the first person who I have ever heard saying that Chinese in Toronto is better than Vancouver. Is that true?

The sea was angry that day my friends... like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli.

George Costanza

Panda

Panda

Posted
Posted
Stovetop is the first person who I have ever heard saying that Chinese in Toronto is better than Vancouver. Is that true?

Not sure, a friend of mine who's in TO for school says that the Chinese here is better. Actually she says everything in Van is better :raz:.

SushiCat

SushiCat

Posted
Posted
Stovetop is the first person who I have ever heard saying that Chinese in Toronto is better than Vancouver. Is that true?

Not sure, a friend of mine who's in TO for school says that the Chinese here is better. Actually she says everything in Van is better :raz:.

For the most part Chinese in Vancouver / Richmond is much MUCH better than in Toronto / Markham. However there are some good spots in that area as well - harder to find, one must know the spots, and tends to be higher end. In our neck of the woods, we have a very wide variety of Chinese spots, specialists in many different regional dishes from various areas / provinces / cities in China. We are lucky to live in this area for such a variety! See the Chinese in Vancouver thread for many specifics.

What is better in Toronto (in my opinion of course!) is the Indian food. They have a much wider variety of regional dishes and many spots that cook very authentic dishes and that is the cuisine I miss from Toronto.

  • 2 weeks later...
Quarki

Quarki

Posted
Posted

there's a lot of Korean food in Toronto, but I had to do a LOT of work to find restaurants I liked.  From what a friend in Vancouver has told me, Korean restaurants are more consistent there.  Here you have to pick through the ones run by Chinese, and the places that aren't really sure if they're sushi restaurants or Korean restaurants.

I live in one of Greater Vancouver's K-town... so I don't go to the ones owned by Chinese. Koreans have been opening sushi restaurants before Korean restaurants were popular here.

Korean food by Koreans: Robson near Denman, Kingsway near Metrotown, North Road and Clarke Road by the border of Burnaby and Coquitlam.

  • 1 month later...
Endy'

Endy'

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted (edited)

I've been back for just over a week and have finally got the pics up on Flickr.

I want to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. I had a really great time in Van and some excellent meals. I wanted to specifically thank everyone who suggested Ocean 6 Seventeen and ESPECIALLY Rare, places I wouldn't have known about were it not for this thread. I had excellent meals at both (Rare in particular was absolutely incredible).

the final list of what I managed to hit looks something like: Korean food on Robson, Guu, Kintaro, Tojo's, Feenie's, Granville Island market, Rare, Vera's Burgers, Lumiere, Ocean 6 Seventeen, La Grotta on Commercial, Rangoli, Mondo Gelato, Kirin, Sun Sui Wah. I did go see Coal Harbour/Stanley Park, UBC, SFU, Gastown, and Kits, but regrettably not many of the other good suggestions here. Also, I thought Blenz was pretty cool :), and I'm jealous that soju and many good Unibroue beers are easily available at BC liquor stores :)

places I missed and do want to hit next trip (which there certainly will be) are Vij's and many of the dessert places mentioned in this thread (just didn't have the energy/time/stomach this time).

thanks again to everyone for helping make my trip enjoyable and full of food :)

photos on Flickr

Edited by Endy' (log)
annanstee

annanstee

Posted
Posted

Yes great photos! Glad you enjoyed yourself.

The sea was angry that day my friends... like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli.

George Costanza

mkjr

mkjr

Posted
Posted
...Sun Sui Wah. 

Looks like you went to the Sun Sui Wah in Richmond. Never been to that one...actually I always thought that the only one was the one on Main. Nice photos.

officially left egullet....

Endy'

Endy'

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
Looks like you went to the Sun Sui Wah in Richmond.  Never been to that one...actually I always thought that the only one was the one on Main.  Nice photos.

sorry that I can't offer any comparison. But my informant who originally directed me to Sun Sui Wah says she likes the Richmond location better *shrug*.

canucklehead

canucklehead

Posted
Posted
Looks like you went to the Sun Sui Wah in Richmond.  Never been to that one...actually I always thought that the only one was the one on Main.  Nice photos.

sorry that I can't offer any comparison. But my informant who originally directed me to Sun Sui Wah says she likes the Richmond location better *shrug*.

It is markedly better. Good choice

fud

fud

Posted
Posted
Not sure, a friend of mine who's in TO for school says that the Chinese here is better. Actually she says everything in Van is better  :raz:.

All my family in Toronto agree. Vancouver Chinese food is better. Hands down.

But shopping in TO is certainly better :biggrin:

"There are two things every chef needs in the kitchen: fish sauce and duck fat" - Tony Minichiello

annanstee

annanstee

Posted
Posted (edited)

It is markedly better.  Good choice

In your opinion.

Well, clearly, or he wouldn't have said it.

:blink:

Edited by annanstee (log)

The sea was angry that day my friends... like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli.

George Costanza

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