Date: End of October 2009

I am back from a quick visit to Vancouver. I have been going regularly to Vancouver since 1990. My last visit was 2 years ago.

I have always stayed at various hotels in the West End between Stanley Park and English Bay. My favourite hotels are Coast Plaza and Sylvia. The former is a 4* hotel complete with swimming pool in the basement whilst the latter is more like a 3*hotel.

The restaurant scenes have not changed greatly (see reviews over the next few days) but I have noticed that there is a gradual take over of small restaurants along Damen and Robson by Oriental Restaurants. The most intriguing aspect is the new wave of Japanese and Korean restaurants differentiated by their style of cooking. For example, there are different styles of sushi e.g. maki is a regional style. The new wave is a “tapas” style of small dishes as well as “yoshoku”. “Yoshoku” is western cooking adapted to Japanese taste! For example, you schnitzel will be pork covered in penko bread crumbs and served with a sweet brown sauce based on soya.

The Old timers (20 years +/- that I have ‘eaten in’) are still there on Damen. Honourable mentions go to:

Café de Paris – still serving old fashioned “French” cooking.

True Confections – desert and cake only café.

Vina – a Vietnamese restaurant.

Raincity Grill – Canadian? Frenchified American is the best way to describe it. Probably the best restaurant on Damen

Ukrainian Village Restaurant – one that I wanted to try but never got round to it.

Montreal Roast – roast chicken and potato but no piri piri.

Olympus Taverna – Greek but not as we know it. It’s basically, pizza and grills with spanakopita thrown in.

The most interesting ones are the new wave of Japanese restaurants on Damen – North side of Robson.

Another one worth mentioning is the Dover Inn where it’s a European and Japanese Café and is open from dawn till dusk. You can get a cooked breakfast for under C$5.oo (exchange rate at the moment is $1.68= £1). Its always busy at meal times.

MARKETS

In terms of markets, I visited three – Robson, Longsdale Quay (N Vancouver) and Granville Island.

The worst is Robson, its now down to a single butcher, bread shop, fish monger and greengrocer. The products still look good but the range is infinitely smaller than when I first went there 20 years ago. Maybe it’s because there is now a new Safeway’s and a very good organic shop (Capers) across the road.

Longsdale Quay is still about the same – full of interesting shops and eateries. You can get all sorts of fresh fish etc there and there are wine shops and a Mexican takeaway. If you are in Vancouver, go. You can get there by driving over the bridge or take the Seabus – it’s next to the ferry terminal. The other thing to note is that the multi-story car park is free on a Sunday but you are still charged in the open air opposite the market. There is also an “English” restaurant – The Cheshire Cheese that I have to try.

Granville Island is about the same – a mixture of shops, restaurants, market, businesses and university. Beware, parking is not easy but if you drive around, you will eventually find a space. I was glad that the Granville Island Brewery is still there – well they have a few pieces of kit, a shop and a bar – the main brewery has moved. I tried the “Fall special” – pumpkin ale. It’s all right but it’s very difficult to describe the taste. It was not fruity, ale like with a good after taste. Granville Island beers are now generally available in Vancouver and at the airport. You must try it if you are there but be aware, its not ales or larger as we know it. It’s more like Anchor Steam beer from San Francisco.

Inside the market, you can get all the usual stuff – oil, deli, veg, meat, fish but I was disappointed with the spice market, it was very basic – you get a better range at the Grand Central Station Market on 42 St in New York. However, it’s still a good market to go to and try the locally cured meat and cheese.

On the whole, Vancouver is still an interesting place to vist – you will still find restaurants that serves food that you cannot find in the UK – it’s also cheap. C$20 per head – less than £15 will get you a decent meal. The Asian (minus curries) are all very interesting and good. The typical “Canadian” up market restaurant serves a big piece of grilled meat or fish – very fresh!

Other than icewine (sweet), I would stay off Canadian wine although some of the cabernet sauvignon are ok.

Eddie@bottlesandcooks.com

Click here to comment on this post