The 38 Essential Vancouver Restaurants

Diners dig into trays of oysters and dips in a sunny spot.
Oysters and snacks at the Parker Rooftop. | Parker Rooftop

Steak at a rooftop bar with stunning view, chashu carnitas tacos at a Mexican Japanese spot, ice cream made with local honey and olive oil from a truck by the beach, and more of Vancouver’s best meals

Ringed by soaring mountains, with gleaming glass skyscrapers reflected in the still waters that surround its downtown core, Vancouver is easy to love. And as the thriving urban hub of British Columbia and a proudly immigrant city, there are plenty of people around to love it. Over 40 percent of Vancouver’s residents were born outside of Canada, and the city is home to robust Chinese, Indian, and Filipino communities, to name a few.

The city’s most beloved and vital dining experiences reflect this blend. Chefs from around the world apply culinary traditions to exceptional produce from the Lower Mainland and superb seafood from the cold, clean waters around Vancouver Island, creating a unique style of West Coast cuisine. Vancouver is especially spoiled for choice when it comes to Asian dining: pan-Asian flavors pair with French techniques at Pidgin and Remi Patisserie; Vietnamese and Cambodian culinary traditions joyfully collide at Phnom Penh; and neighboring Richmond boasts some of the very best Chinese food in the world outside of China. Meanwhile, the city’s signature plant-forward, locavore cuisine thrives at restaurants like Burdock & Co, and sustainable seafood shines at Sashimiya. Add in mushrooming brewery and distillery scenes, globally awarded, fresh fruit-forward wines from the nearby Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys, and a creative cocktail culture that’s second to none, and you’ll see why Vancouver deserves its reputation as one of the world’s best places to eat and drink.

Updated, August 2024:

After news of the devastating Jasper wildfires in Alberta, as well as the near-collapse of Okanagan and Similkameen grape and soft fruit harvests on the heels of a brutal winter, Vancouver’s dining community is focused on supporting local producers as much as possible right now. For visitors, that can be as simple — and as pleasurable — as ordering B.C. wine with a meal.

In spite of the climate chaos, summer in Vancouver still brings plenty of reasons to celebrate, among them late sunsets, fragrant flower-filled days by the beach, Japanese-Mexican chashu carnitas, a rooftop hotel bar with stunning views, and a beloved locavore ice cream truck. Varieties of seasonal salmon are swimming across menus, and if you spot a prized Ivory salmon — a rare, pale version of the gloriously buttery chinook salmon — order it immediately.

Eater updates this list quarterly to make sure it reflects the ever-changing Vancouver dining scene.

Nikki Bayley is an award-winning freelance travel, food, and wine writer whose work has appeared in The Daily Telegraph, BC Living, and Whistler Traveller.



from Eater - All https://ift.tt/xOF1LPJ

Post a Comment

0 Comments