The first thing I do when I arrive in Vancouver is to make my way to Vij’s Restaurant. Vikram Vij is a food hero of mine. He runs one of the most hospitable food establishments ANYWHERE.
My son and I kept busy with visits to Vij’s and lots of bakeries, eateries, and food trucks. Our weekend in this pearl of a city on Canada’s Pacific Rim seemed to sneak up like a rogue wave. Good thing it started hot and spicy.
At Vij’s there’s always a wait for a table. This will change when they move to a bigger spot on Cambie St. I don’t mind. I like the wait. I’ve think of it as part of the experience.
I install myself in the bar in the back and sip on something cool. Chaat float past like genies on flying carpets and always seem to magically appear just when you wish for them. These Indian street food snacks are piping hot and complimentary. Crunchy pakoras (fritters) and spicy cassava fries are favourites. There’s always an exotic mix of people and a chance to mingle.
We order a wide array of food once seated. It changes every time. We just pick whatever the specials are. The lamb popsicles are deservedly famous in their rich fenugreek cream sauce. I have to have the palak paneer because they put WAY MORE ghee than I do in my own version. It makes my mouth water thinking about what richly delicious flavour they achieve.
Getting my Vij’s pilgrimage out of the way, I’m open-minded about everything else we’ll do on a visit to Vancouver. This trip seemed to focus on the “far east” – a side of Vancouver I didn’t know much about.
Gastown, Yaletown, Railtown – Vancouver has swallowed several towns whole. These three towns have now morphed into attractive or “up and coming” walkable Vancouver neighbourhoods. They’re clustered in the east end of town and they’re filled with trendy eateries.
Gastown is where I met my friend Cristina Coloumbe of Club Intrawest. The company is headquartered there. Cristina and I met to talk about an article I was working on for the Club’s Compass magazine. We walked the cobblestone tree-lined streets and she showed me her favourite eateries and food trucks. Bakeries seemed to be everywhere.
Cristina’s current favourite is one that started in Whistler and recently moved to Gastown. It’s called Purebread. Purebread has a vintage appeal in decor and offerings. I enjoyed a lemony olive oil cake. It was dense and moist with a sweet tart toothsome-ness. Down the street was a Brioche specialty bakery.
In Yaletown, I had an early Saturday morning meeting at Small Victory Bakehouse with terrific coffee and croissants. In Railtown, I met a food tour colleague at Cadeaux for late afternoon tea. We also tried one of famous baker/owner Eleanor Chow Waterfall’s famous macarons. In North Vancouver, I had lunch at the very famous Thomas Haas. We worked up an appetite after a Sunday morning hike in Lynn Canyon Park with some North Van friends. Stocking up on his world class baking supplies meant checking my carry on for the flight home. It was worth it. Thomas Haas is in a league of his own but he really needs a bigger place.
Back in Gastown, Cristina’s food truck picks looked drool-worthy. They were busy with a mix of tourists and local lunchtime regulars. Cristina’s favourites are Japadog, Aruturo’s for Mexican, Mom’s Grilled Cheese, Fat Duck and Tacofino.
After a business oriented morning with Cristina, it was time for fun with my son. We had lunch at Olympic Torch Plaza at the Tap and Barrel. They we skipped down the stairs and signed out a couple of bikes from Trevor Linden Fitness. Bikes cost $12/person/hour and we easily cycled the circumference of Stanley Park’s Seawall in that time. They include a 15 minute grace period with no extra charge.
Cycling around Stanley Park is a must for me when I’m in Vancouver. The park, the flower gardens, the ocean, the people watching and the exercise boost my energy for what’s next. My son just loves to be near the float plane terminal on the waterfront.
Another fun thing to do in Vancouver is to splurge on a flight to Victoria for a day. We did that when my son was little. He wanted to be a pilot then and he wants to be one now. Maybe one day, he’ll fly his Mom in one of these amazing planes.
Other things we’ve done in past visits that my son enjoyed were to visit The Vancouver Aquarium and Science World.
Things have changed. Now when we go to Vancouver it is usually a splurge for a concert. We are going to Florence in the Machine in October. We had the delight of being at the World Premier of U2’s Innocence and Experience tour in May.
Staying at the Club Intrawest residences at The Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre is central. We had an easy walk to Granville Island Market on the Saturday morning of our visit.
I love fresh markets. When I’m at Granville Island Market I like to peak into Edible Canada’s shop. It’s fun to see what they’ve scouted in terms of locally made goods. I was impressed they had jams and jellies made by my friends at Joy Road Catering in Penticton. This shows great taste indeed.
Strolling the neighbourhoods around Granville Island, I found Go Fish eatery on a previous visit. Now, I make it a point to catch a fix of fresh fish there at every opportunity. Go Fish is a (intentional) shack of a restaurant right at Fisherman’s Wharf. Fish just doesn’t get fresher than this.
You’d think we’d have been too full to continue eating. But, after we walked the whole way to East Vancouver from Granville Island we built an appetite anew. In East Van’s Railtown district we did a walking and tasting food tour with Off the Eaten Track. It was a fun way to learn more about a part of the city. I would not have gone there on my own. You can find my full review of that experience in this Trip Advisor Review. Here’s a sneak peak of how enticing the eat and treats on this tour were.
Because the rent in this area is not as expensive as “haute Vancouver”, new restaurants can afford to open here. Ask for Luigi had been recently voted the number one place to eat in Vancouver. We actually spotted “The Edge” from U2 dining there with his peeps. Of course, we let him be, nice Canadians that we are.
Sadly, the trip came to an end all too quickly. Happily, I left armed with a long list of top restaurants picked by the Club Intrawest concierge staff. I’ve already short-listed those picks for my next food foray. Life is good and I’m grateful to my friends at Club Intrawest for all the TLC.
Here’s to this shortlist as a way to savour it all when you visit “Van”. I’d also love to hear your favourites so please feel free to leave a comment.
West End
Harvest Vancouver – 1300 Robson St. – Farm to Table
YaleTown or Gastown
Flying Pig – 1168 Hamilton St. or 102 Water St. – Modern French with local emphasis
Chinatown
Chambar – 562 Beatty St. – Belgian – Morrocan – try the lamb tagine
Vancouver is a great place to savour it all.
