Described in recent times as the'city of good food', Vancouver has a varied culinary offer. Vancouver's restaurants offer fresh, wholesome food, thanks in part to an initiative by two citizens called'The 100 Mile Diet': fresh local food is promoted, with ingredients produced and grown within 100 miles of your table. Vancouver is also known as one of the best places outside of Asia to enjoy excellent traditional Oriental cuisine.
Let's find out together what are the top 10 things to eat in Vancouver and where. To make your culinary journey more convenient, you may want to stay close to the restaurant district. Through http://www.britishcolumbiahotels.net/en/vancouver-hotels-30519/type/apartments-3/, you can find apartments that are strategically located close to these culinary hotspots. Convenience and gastronomy go hand in hand here!
And if you are interested in getting the bigger picture and inspect other destinations across Canada, be sure to check out Top Hotels at tophotels.com. Here you will find an array of recommendations on the best lodgings in various cities, helping you plan your trip to the fullest and immerse yourself in the rich gastronomical experiences each city has to offer.
1 - Poutine
This is a dish that is counted among the comfort food and is popular all over Canada. It's a pie made up of fries garnished with plenty of curd cheese and gravy, a typical American brown sauce made from meat juice thickened with flour and cornstarch.
Of course, it cannot be said to be a light dish, but it cannot be missed in the discovery of local dishes.
Recommended for: lunch, dinner
Average cost: €8.00
Main ingredients: Chips, gravy, curd cheese
2 - Tourtière
Usually prepared during the Christmas holidays and originating in French Canada, tourtiere is a savoury pie made with meat, usually pork, beef and game, and potatoes. In coastal areas, it can also be filled with salmon and its name comes from the special cake pan where it was originally baked.
As is often the case, there are several versions of it, with different fillings, depending on family recipes and areas of the country. It is often served with peas and wild rice.
Recommended for: lunch, dinner
Average cost: 12.00
Main ingredients: beef, pork, game but also salmon, potatoes
3 - Canadian Bacon
More than a dish, it is a typical ingredient used to complete the typical breakfast of eggs and maple syrup, but also as a filling for sandwiches and burgers.
It is a different variety of bacon from the classic one, as it is produced from boneless pork loins, i.e. a less fatty part than the one from which bacon is usually obtained, i.e. the belly. Sweet and tasty, it is also known as'peameal bacon'.
Recommended for: lunch, dinner, breakfast, snack
Average cost: €9.00/kg
Main ingredients: pork
4 - Nanaimo bar
Photo by Isabelle Boucher. A really tasty, simple but very caloric and energetic dessert that will win everyone over!
It is a square-shaped dessert similar to a cremino made up of 3 layers: at the base there is a wafer crumble, in the middle a layer of cold buttercream, and topping it all off is a drizzle of thick chocolate icing on top.
In Vancouver there is the so-called Nanaimo Bar Trail, a trail of places that sell the dessert.
Recommended for: snacking
Average cost: €3.00
Main ingredients: wafers, buttercream, chocolate
5 - Salmon
Canadian smoked salmon is a very special Canadian product, often bought by tourists as a souvenir to take home, stored in characteristic decorated cedar boxes.
It is the basis of many typical dishes, such as Candy Salmon Nuggets, delicious morsels of salmon caramelised in brown sugar and then salted and spiced. Another particularly popular speciality is Salmon Wellington, or puff pastry crescents filled with salmon fillets flavoured with parsley, onion, mushrooms, shrimp and cream.
Recommended for: lunch, dinner
Average cost: €60.00/kg
Main ingredients: British Columbia salmon
6 - Maple syrup
Also arriving in Europe, maple syrup is a typical Canadian product for the sweet tooth.
A national symbol, maple syrup, of which Canada is the world's largest producer, is the basis of many typical dishes. On Granville Island, there is the Edible Canada shop, which sells everything made with maple syrup, from candies to chocolate to sweetly caramelised fish or meat dishes.
Recommended for: always
Average cost: €8.00 per litre
Main ingredients: maple syrup
7 - Bannock
This is a dish that originated with the indigenous peoples of Canada, also known as the Canadian Aborigines. It is a very simple food that resembles bread, more precisely American 'biscuits', which due to a common translation error are referred to as biscuits but are actually slightly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.
It almost goes without saying that the perfect pairing of these sandwiches, which are also tasty on their own, is with salmon: the famous Salmon n' Bannock is easily found in the so-called'Aboriginal restaurants' scattered all over the city.
Recommended: lunch, dinner, snack
Average cost: €5.00
Main ingredients: flour, salt, water, butter, yeast
8 - JapaDog
Photo by Dan. Canada has the world's sixth largest Japanese community outside of Japan and most of this population resides in Vancouver. This influence is evident in the gastronomy, so much so that a Japanese couple who moved to the city in 2005 revolutionised the local street food scene by perfectly blending the hot dog tradition with Japanese food.
Thus was born the Japadog, which has enjoyed international success and, of course, many imitators. Classic Japanese ingredients are placed on a hot dog, which can be pork, beef, turkey or vegetables. Terimayo is the best seller, topped with nori seaweed, Japanese mayonnaise and teriyaki sauce.
Recommended for: lunch, dinner, snack
Average cost: €12.00
Main ingredients: hot dog, nori seaweed, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, various fillings
9 - Spot Prawns
Spot prawns are the largest shrimp species in the Pacific Northwest. They are not farmed prawns but are caught directly from the sea, are a sustainable food and are prized for their juicy and sweet meat.
To celebrate this local product, which enjoys as much fame as smoked salmon, the Spot Prawn Festival is held annually in Vancouver at the False Creek Fisherman's Wharf. The spot prown season lasts six to eight weeks, from about May to July, so if you're in town during this time stay tuned for events!
Recommended: lunch, dinner
Average cost: €13.00
Main ingredients: Pacific prawns
10 - Beavertails
Photo by BeaverTails. The name of this speciality literally translates as'beaver tails'. Beaver tails are pancakes shaped just like the animal's tail. The creation of this cake, therefore, is a kind of recognition of the beaver, which is one of six symbols of Canada.
Covered in sugar and cinnamon, the pancakes are then brushed with Nutella, maple syrup or any other treat. The dough is similar to that of bannocks.
Recommended for: snacking
Average cost: €8.00
Main ingredients: fried dough, sweet filling of your choice
Where to eat in Vancouver: best restaurants, cafés and street food
In Vancouver, the culinary scene is quite varied, and it is possible to find street food, local food and various other offerings in every corner of the city, thanks also to the various types of cuisine present, such as Asian cuisine.
Locals and tourists alike can satisfy every craving especially at Granville Island, Vancouver's liveliest neighbourhood, full of restaurants and bistros. The typical Canadian dabbles in the kitchen almost exclusively during festive periods, so eating out for lunch and dinner is commonplace, which is why it's easy to mingle with the locals at restaurants.
1 - Absinthe Bistro
Description: French, Francophone and fusion cuisine in an elegant setting, with fixed-price tasting menu
Speciality: salmon with dill oil, cheese mousse and habanero tobiko
Average price: from €30.00 per person
Address: 952 Commercial Dr, Vancouver - Get directions / website
2 - Bishop's
Description: specialising in Canadian cuisine located in the Kitsiliano district, with fish and meat main courses.
Speciality: grilled beef tenderloin
Average price: from €25.00 per person
Address: 2183 W 4th Ave, Vancouver - Get directions/website
3 - Salmon n' Bannock Bistro
Description: loved especially by locals, it's off the beaten track and specialises in salmon and bannock dishes
Speciality: Salmon Gravlax, with salmon topped with cream cheese, capers and red onion
Average price: from €20.00 per person
Address: 1128 W Broadway #7, Vancouver - Get directions/website
4 - St Lawrence Restaurant
Description: French-Canadian cuisine, rustic decor, local fish specialities but also meat specialities
Speciality: salmon and scallop cake
Average price: from €30.00 per person
Address: 269 Powell St, Vancouver - Get directions / website
5 - The Acorn Restaurant
Description: emphasis on using seasonal produce, vegetarian specialities
Speciality: mushroom and courgette velouté with seaweed and nettle glaze
Average price: from €30.00 per person
Address: 3995 Main St, Vancouver - Get directions / website