0 Followers
Vancouver
We googled around and it seems that Vancouver has a dearth of Michelin Star restaurants. As my boyfriend puts it, it almost seems as if the reviewers decided to skip Vancouver altogether!
But no worries, there is plenty of good food around Vancouver, most of which are fairly decently (if not cheaply) priced too!
Who cares about the snotty star when you have Yelp? :D
- 363
- 1790
- Elite ’24
13 Places
-
Christina’s 5-star review: Wow. Food cart with more than 600 reviews. Of course it was the first thing I had to check out in Vancouver! :P Okay fine, that was only partially true. I bookmarked Japadog some time ago, and I happened to walk past the food cart today on my way out from the airbnb apartment that I was staying in... so it became my first dinner in Vancouver :) I was originally a little skeptical. For such a popular food truck, shouldnt the line be super long? There was only 1 person at the cart and for a moment I thought it must be one of those fake ones! It turns out that Japadog is no longer just a food truck, they have set up restaurants all over, so it is more like a chain now. I guess that has probably dispersed the crowds. I picked the kurobuta terimayo since it was supposedly their #1 japadog. OMG. IT WAS SO GOOD. I think the key was that the bun was slightly toasted, it has a soft crunch when you take your first bite, but not hard or totally crunchy. The pork sausage itself was savory, and the onion was a nice addition. I'm usually okay with teriyaki sauce (not a huge fan), but terimayo (teriyaki + mayo) is sooooo good! Top that off with some seaweed. AHHHHHOMGGGG. I'm at a loss for words, damn, I need an emoticon for this. You will NOT be disappointed by Japadog. Definitely do give this a try!! Sidenote: I'm not sure if it tasted so good because I was starving, so I'm gonna go back tomorrow and try again, maybe a different flavor. Great excuse for another Japadog! ;) -
Christina’s 4-star review: Newly opened Teppanyaki restaurant. We were planning to go to the Japanese grocery store nearby, but walked past kan pai and decided to have our lunch here. Our chef was a Taiwanese who is in Vancouver on a working holiday visa. He was extremely friendly and chatted with us while he cooked. Lunch combo set - Salmon steak and garlic shrimp. Both salmon and shrimp were nicely cooked. The shrimp was sauteed with salt and pepper, but goes very well with their home made sauce. They were also pretty generous with their salmon portions. 3 thick slices, definitely good for 2 people to share! Foie gras - Extremely well done. Slightly crispy outside, soft inside, and comes with a slice of toast. Yumm. Honestly, I was a little worried that they might not cook this well, but I was pleasantly surprised. Definitely two thumbs up! Shitake Mushrooms - Yummyyy. Omu Rice - We were too full to really enjoy this and had to pack most of this home. The chef was pretty skilled in wrapping the rice in the egg, and he even taught us how to do it at home :) Definitely worth a visit if you're around the area for lunch! -
Christina’s 4-star review: Found this restaurant through Yelp when we were deciding on a place for lunch. The restaurant is pretty small, and the entrance is right next to another Japanese sushi restaurant, so make sure you enter the right door! :) On first impression, the menu looked like they offered a "way too healthy" selection of food, with all their brown rice, organic greens, no msg, gluten free and vegetarian options. I ordered the ocean quartet salad with organic miso dressing ($10.95). I must say, they are VERY generous with their serving. Mixed greens was fresh and delightful, but the seafood toppings were definitely the highlight. Both the sockeye salmon and albacore tuna sashimi were thickly sliced and generously portioned. The spot prawn and crab were both super fresh. It actually made me feel healthy (and good, of course) eating this! My boyfriend had their sushi and udon lunch combo ($9.45). He was a little disappointed that they didnt serve tempura udon (they served chicken/ beef/ vegetable udon and tempura as a separate ala carte item though). They also served dynamite and wild salmon roll, both with brown rice. It was our first time trying brown rice sushi, and it was definitely a pleasant surprise that the fragrance of the brown rice went very well with the sweet salmon. Recommended :) -
Christina’s 5-star review: Food - 5 stars Price - 5 stars Atmosphere - 3 stars Service - 3 stars We read all about Guu and were lucky that it was just around the corner from our Airbnb apartment. We went in around 9+pm, and didnt have to wait long before getting a table at the bar. Like what other Yelpers have mentioned, it was pretty noisy since customers were constantly entering and leaving, and everytime that happened, the staff would yell something equivalent to "Welcome" or "Thank You, please come again!". The restaurant itself seems pretty small, add that to a large crowd, and the noise is enough to make you yearn for some ear buds :P Service is also terribly slow, but we have been warned by other Yelpers so we didnt have high expectations anyway. Now all the cons aside, lets talk about FOOD. Having tried many izakayas back in the bay area in California, I have to say that Guu is definitely the best in terms of value for money. Not to say that the food is bad, the food is actually superbly great... and the price? EVEN BETTER! Kakimayo (baked oyster) $5.20 - Super creamy and good. Love the mayo cream sauce with the layer of cheese on top. Not too creamy such that you'd get sick of it after a few mouthfuls. Definitely recommended :) Beef tataki ($6.20) - Not that great. Ok to pass. Grilled pork cheek ($6.50) - Crunchy on the first bite, and then you feel the oil oozing out and savor the next bites. Heavenly. MUST ORDER. Grilled beef tongue ($5.20) - I've eaten lots of beef tongues, and this is definitely one of the best. Not too oily, sufficiently thin and chewy. MUST ORDER. Kakuni (Stewed pork belly with daikon and egg) - For $6.80, this is such a deal! The pork belly itself was nicely braised, tender and sweet from the stew sauce. The daikon was a nice addition as it helped to lighten the overly fatty pork cheek. The egg was an awesome bonus addition. This is so good you can order more than 1 portion! :P MUST ORDER. Sashimi sampler (3 kinds/ $15) - The sahimi slices were omgwtf thick and huge. Gosh. We were honestly so surprised to see how HUGE the slices are. Gosh, each piece takes us about 3-4 bites to finish. Value for money? Check. Freshness? Check. Actually, the sashimi was so fat and thick that we honestly thought we'd have enjoyed it more if it was sliced thinner and smaller :X BBQ Eel + Seasonal mushroom rice gratin ($8.20) - This was okay, but we were too full by the end to really enjoy this. It was slightly too salty because of the cheese, and we decided to pack this home instead. If we were to return again, we'd skip on the beef tataki, the sashimi sampler and the bbq eel rice gratin. Instead, we might order an ochazuke. The meal would probably come up to less than $50 in total for 2 people with this optimised order, enough to make you full and feel extremely satisfied! -
Christina’s 5-star review: Came here for dinner with my boyfriend. I must say, I'm wow-ed by the selection of Oysters they have! We ordered a dozen oysters (2 of each of the 6 types of oysters they had for the day). We are both huge fans of the Kumamoto oysters from Washington, but they didnt have it for the day :( The waiter recommended for us to try Kusshi oysters from BC instead, and they were iindeed very similar and almost as good :) The malpeque from the East Coast were my second favorite for the mild taste, followed by the Sawmill from BC with the deep cup oyster :) The shigoku from Washington deserves a mention. We didnt quite enjoy the reed island and satori though :( Appetisers We decided to try their "BC tasting for Two" at $17.50 per person. - Scallop ceviche - love the softness of the scallop and the additional zest of citrus orange. Very well done ceviche! - Dungeness crab salad - the crab and shrimp salad itself was pretty strong in flavor, and they tried to lighten it with the side of sprouts and radish, which balanced out the flavor. I appreciate what they were trying to do, but unfortunately I'm not a fan of raw radish, so I ended up eating the very flavorful crab salad on its own. This is more a personal palette though :) - Albacore tuna tartare - Yummy! - Smoked sockeye salmon terrine - We weren't sure what to think of this at first, since it felt like a mix of sashimi and fishcake. However, it was really good if you eat it together with the side of nuts and golden caviar. Mmm. Strong flavor, so leave this to the last! We also ordered their daily special appetizer: - Surgeon liver pate with a side of picked mushrooms - I've had different types of meat pate, but this was the first time we tried fish liver pate. The flavor is much lighter compared to meat pate, but it was very smooth and went very well with the cracker toast (no idea what it is called). It was so good we asked for more cracker, since they were very generous with their pate serving. Main We decided to share a main instead since we were sure we'd be full from the appetizers. We shared the ling cod, and ordered a side of seared scallops each. They took the initiative to do a split order so we each had our own plate with fish and scallop :) The scallop was beautifully done, seared outside, soft inside, but not too undercooked :) The fish was also nicely cooked outside, but extremely soft inside. It went especially well with the chorizo sausage, eggplant, chickpeas and roasted red pepper, giving it a slightly mexican/ south-western feel. The overall bill came out to be about $131 (before tips) which I thought was a fair price for the amount of food we had, the quality of the dishes, and the level of service (impeccable, I must say). We didnt order any wine though, which is probably why the bill didnt skyrocket. Still, I must say that it was indeed a very good experience, and we had a great evening :) -
Christina’s 5-star review: Read all the wonderful reviews of this place on Yelp and decided that it is worth the trip to Chinatown. Vancouver seems to be the city for oysters, and being huge oysters fan, of course we weren't going to miss this! I wasnt really sure what to expect when I realised that this place was in Chinatown. I was intrigued, and all the stereotypical notions of a restaurant in Chinatown came flooding. It turned out that this place was not run by Chinese, which made it a little odd to be situated at the corner of Chinatown. We had a pleasant experience here - Service was great, and the oysters even better! We came specially for the happy hour buck-a-shuck oysters. The oyster of the day was okeover, and we had two dozens of it (you're limited to a dozen per person). It has a little briny taste, but fresh nonetheless. We also ordered 2 kumamotos each, our favorite oysters for the sweet, buttery finish. The oysters were cleanly shucked, and they provided buckets for the oyster shells. They have homemade cocktail sauce and red wine vinaigrette sauce as topping for the oysters. They also provided lemon slices, tobasco (not homemade, duh), and freshly grated horseradish. We found that the horseradish and cocktail sauce made a great combination for the Okeovers, as the red wine vinaigrette was a little too bland/ light/ weak. As for the kumamotos, we opted to have them plain since they were so flavorful on their own. Yum, so good! You gotta try it on your own since I'm pretty sure this review isnt doing it enough justice. What was cool was that there was a birthday girl in the house, and they served up a tray of shucked oysters on ice, with a birthday candle. An oyster cake! How cool is that?? ;) We also ordered a side of yam (sweet potato) fries, as well as steamed mussels (thanks to yelp recommendations) to go along. The fries were so good, I couldnt stop until I was done. The steamed mussels were decent too, flavorful from the white wine sauce, soft and not too chewy. They also provided a side of toast to dip into the sauce. mmm. The bill came out to be around $80 for 2 people, but we did have a pretty good amount of food (28 oysters, yam fries, steamed mussels, a glass of wine and an ice tea)! PS. I read lots of other reviews which say the oysters here are cheap. Just to clarify, only the buck-a-shuck oysters are cheap. The rest of the oysters they have on the menu (they have a large variety) seem to be market priced (between $2.50 to $3.75 each), so it isnt really all that cheap! -
Christina’s 4-star review: My Canadian friend brought me here, and told me that this place is the best Korean food in Vancouver. I cant quite comment if it is the best, since I haven't tried others, but it is pretty authentic, according to my boyfriend who had Korean food in Korea :p The banchan selection was very decent, and this is the first place I've been that served congee as banchan. Seafood pancake was one of the best I've ever had. Crispy, thick, but not too oily. Goes very well with the dip! Note though, there is more flour than seafood in this pancake, which is pretty standard korean style, so dont be too disappointed about the lack of seafood! Galbi short ribs - Yum yum, really good. The beef was well marinated and soft, and went very well with rice. Bulgogi stew/ hot pot - We ordered something like a stew/ hot pot dish (I forgot the name!) with Bulgogi, tofu, and a mix of different vegetables. It was super yummy. They also set up a portable gas stove to keep the stew warm. The boss came over to our table a few times to help us cook the meat since he seemed to think we were pretty noob about it (which we were). Service was excellent, and we were so stuffed by the end we had to takeout half the stew and pancake. -
Christina’s 5-star review: Wow Yaohan. I remember this chain in Singapore (where I'm from) 20 years ago, and I used to visit it a lot with my family. However, they have withdrawn from the Singapore market, and hearing this name in Richmond definitely made me super excited. Yaohan is somewhat like an Asian supermarket, and we had a great time grocery shopping. Similar to Ranch99 chain in California, but much cleaner, larger, and brighter. Wow, I love Yaohan! Two thumbs up, and definitely way better than H-Mart as an Asian grocery store! -
Christina’s 5-star review: My Canadian friend says this place has the best froyo in Vancouver. I was doubtful at first... and then I bit into the warm waffle cone. O... M.... G..... It was SO GOOD. I was a little surprised that it was warm because most cones are typically cool/ room temperature. I think the warm cone gave it the wow factor. I ordered the rum raisin flavor... honestly could not tell that it was froyo. It tasted too much like ice cream! Love love loved it! Highly recommended! :) -
Christina’s 5-star review: My boyfriend and I came here for dinner since I was craving foie gras really badly. It was the best decision we made, since we had the best dinner of the week of our stay in Vancouver here. We called for a reservation at 815pm and had our coats checked shortly after we walked in. The restaurant was pretty crowded, but we had a nice little sofa seat near a corner, which was nice. We started out with an amuse bouch - a tart of some sort with a custard-y filling with dungeness crab and some other ingredients that have escaped my mind. In short, it was heaven in a bite. The bread basket was a little disappointing though, just white bread and a multigrain bread with sunflower seed, and regular butter. Would have expected something a little more special! Appetizers - Terrine de Foie-Gras et Crème Brûlée au Foie-Gras (Duo of Foie-Gras Tasting, Foie-Gras Terrine, Foie-Gras Créme Brulée, Icewine Gelée, Toast) $28 -- This is definitely the hands down the best dish of the night and of the week. The foie gras terrine (something like a pate) was light but flavorful, and the icewine jelly was a wonderful pairing which accentuated the taste of the foie. The Creme Brulee totally blew my mind. It was a sweet contrast to the savory terrine, very light and airy in flavor. Not too sweet, and not too strong in foie gras flavor. Gosh, I'm never having a normal creme brulee ever again! - Filet de Boeuf Tartare préparé à la minute (Beef Tenderloin Steak Tartar) $16 -- This steak tartare was beautifully presented with a cracked quail egg on top. It was nicely seasoned, and went very well with the sauce that lined the plate. Wow. - Bisque de Homard parfumée au Cognac (Lobster Bisque served with Fresh Cream and Cognac) $14.50+ -- We paid a little more for a split order so each of us could get a little more soup. Honestly, I felt that the soup was a little too watery (I like my lobster bisque thick and creamy). It also had a little too much cognac and I felt that I was drinking more alcohol than soup. Nonetheless, it brought out flavor of the lobster really nicely. My boyfriend (who doesnt like creamy soups) loved this though! Entrees - Magret de Canard et Foie Gras Poêlés, Réduction au Cidre de Pommes (Roasted Fraser Valley Duck Breast served with Pan-Seared Foie Gras and an Apple Cider Reduction) $40 -- Wow wow wow. This dish is definitely worth ordering. The duck breast, cooked to medium rare (or medium by California standards) was soft and tender. It paired very well with the pan seared foie gras which had a stronger flavor. The diced apple also added a soft crunch, and accentuated the flavor of both. They served this with a separate side of vegetable medley which I felt was a little "off", but I guess they couldnt find a way to fit it all on the same plate and still make it look nice. Maybe the vegetable isnt necessary ;) - Nouilles Fraîches au Homard et Crevettes Grillées, Brunoise de Légumes (Fresh Fettuccine with Lobster Meat and Grilled Tiger Prawns, served with a Brunoise of Vegetables, Olive Oil and Fresh Basil) $29 -- I LOVE fresh pasta, and this fettuccine was VERY good. The shrimp and lobster were both so fresh that their sweetness brought out the flavor of the fresh pasta very well. I did think that the vegetables in the sauce weren't that great though :( I probably would got for a different pasta sauce next time! Dessert - Panache de Sorbet aux Fruits Frais (Sorbet selection) $10.50 -- 5 single scoops of sorbet, Coconut, Mango, Passion fruit, grape, and green apple if I remember correctly :/ The coconut sorbet was definitely the best, followed by passion fruit. Great way to end of a wonderful dinner :) - Grand marnier soufflé - This is not in the menu but a special. It was heavenly. The souffle comes served in a small ramekin, and the waiter went ahead to poke a small hole in the souffle and poured the grand marnier cream into it to cool it down. Mm. I love how light the souffle is, which went very well with the tinge of the orange flavor from the grand marnier. Definitely order this! Service The waiter's service started out pretty lukewarm, but improved greatly after our appetizers were served. We ordered a beef tartare as one of our dishes, and she snottily asked, "do you even know what is it?", which came much as a shocker to us both due to the tone and the way the question was phrased. She read off a long list of specials which were not on the menu, and when asked to repeat it again, she sounded impatient :( However, she later warmed up to us quite a bit, especially after I asked her to slow down our food after our first two appetizers were served. I love the wonderful pairings of the food that was served. The bill came up to be around $160 (after taxes, before tips) which is a VERY good price. I'm pretty sure the bill would have been near $250 or more if this was a meal in San Francisco. Loved our dinner here so much. Definitely would be back here again if I'm ever back in Vancouver again! -
Christina’s 4-star review: Dinner with the boyfriend again :) The menu is pretty simple, and we couldnt pick between what to order, so we decided to try out the tasting menu, which seemed to contain all the dishes we wanted anyway. $55 for the tasting menu and $90 with wine pairing. We decided to go for the wine paring for both of us. We started out with a glass of champagne and an amuse bouche of salmon ice (?) cream. Wow. Definitely a very good start! They also served us breadsticks and a basket of bread with butter topped with a brown butter powder. 1) Salmon tataki with pickled vegetables, sorrel, watermelon radish - The salmon was nicely cooked and it still had the gleaming glaze when it was served. The salmon was sweet and slightly seared outside while tender inside. Mm. 2) Pan seared foie gras with yuzu marmalade, membrillo, apple, brioche - The ingredients were plated in a way which separated all of them, which felt a little weird at first. The most wow thing on this plate wasnt so much the foie gras (oh it was still good though!), but the foie powder/ butter thing which had a powdery texture but melts like butter. We asked the waiter how it was made, and apparently it went through some very complicated process of boiling, freezing and then getting it back to room temperature for the powdery texture D: !! 3) Smoked black cod with olives, tomato, capers, almond - The highlight of the dish was definitely the pairing of the cod with the tomatoes at the bottom and the olive puree. The tomato was sweet, which neutralised the slightly acidic taste of the olive puree. Both added a bang to the fresh cod which was perfectly seared. So good I can eat more! 4) Prime beef tenderloin with braised root vegetable fricassee, red beet root jus - This dish was okay. The beef was supposed to be medium rare, but more to medium by California standards. It wasnt too dry, but still tender inside. The red beet sauce was okay, but not wow. The root vegetables though, were a nice touch. 5) Cheese cake - We read about the cheese cake on Yelp reviews, and asked to swap one of the dessert in our tasting menu to a cheesecake. It was a good choice because the cheese cake is excellent! It was slightly thicker and creamier, but very very good :) 6) Torn spice cake with crème fraîche ice cream & pumpkin marmalade - This was supposed to be their regular desert on the tasting menu, but unfortunately the spice cake and pumpkin marmalade didnt work for me :( What a pity though, I wish the meal ended more with a bang. We had at least 5 glasses of wine (including the champagne) by the end of dinner and were honestly feeling quite tipsy midway. The pairing was good, but a little too much. Probably would not do the pairing if we were to come back again. For $55 without the pairing, I'd say the price is pretty fair. However, if I compared this to our dinner at Le Crocodile, it definitely paled much in comparison. For $90 with the pairing... I'd probably go for Le Crocodile instead. -
Christina’s 5-star review: Located inside the Granville island public market, Seafood City sells a great amount of fresh seafood at very affordable prices. We were just shopping around the market, when we saw their oyster tank with Kusshi and Kumamoto oysters. The Kusshis were going at around $15-$17 per dozen, while the kumamotos were going for about $19-$20 per dozen. The prices were pretty fair, and definitely on the cheaper side since we had to bring it home to shuck it ourselves. They packed the oysters nicely with a bag of ice to prevent them from spoiling. Service was fast and great. The oysters turned out very fresh and definitely well worth the price. If only we had more days in Vancouver, we'll definitely go back there again! -
Christina’s 4-star review: My boyfriend and I visited the Granville Island Public Market, and found it very similar to the Queen Victoria market in Melbourne, Australia. We enjoyed shopping around the many local produce stores. Cheese, Fresh pasta, bacon, pate, desserts, salad, soup, fish and chips, fresh seafood, fresh fruits, local handicrafts, etc. It was a treat just walking around seeing the selection of produce available! We especially enjoyed the cheese and pate selection. We also bought some fresh oysters which we brought back to our apartment and shucked ourselves. If we had a more well equipped kitchen, we probably would have bought the fresh pasta, soup, and more seafood too!
About
Discover
Languages
Countries
Copyright © 2004–2024 Yelp Inc. Yelp, 
, 
and related marks are registered trademarks of Yelp.