A Guide to Eating and Drinking in Vancouver

  Seafood in Vancouver!

As you’d expect from a vibrant city of over two million inhabitants, Vancouver has a fantastic range of eating and drinking options. Like the city’s booming nightlife as a whole, new scenes are constantly springing up in different parts of town.

Fresh fish, particularly, features prominently on the city’s menus; ask any (admittedly biased) local and they'll tell you that the salmon from British Columbia is the best in the world.

The Downtown area is largely defined by a glamorous dining scene that keeps going until late. Yaletown, a little to the south, and the West End (particularly around Denman St) also boast some of the city’s smarter restaurants.

But what really makes eating and drinking in Vancouver so notable – at least, from the point of view of the budget traveler – is the range and quality of places that lie towards the cheaper end of the scale.

And this is particularly the case with the various ethnic eating options provided by Vancouver’s large Asian community. The city’s Chinatown, one of the busiest and most vibrant Chinese centers in the world, dominates budget eating alternatives.

Located out to the east of the city, countless excellent (and affordable) restaurants cluster on and around Pender St and Keefer St. Here, too, the shops and colorful urban activity provide a fascinatingly vivid backdrop to an evening out.

With all the fish that’s swimming about, it seems natural that Vancouver is often said to offer the best sushi outside Tokyo. But as well as traditional sushi, the city is also home to a number of reasonable, canteen-style ‘izakayas’ (most notably downtown on Robson St).

Beyond Chinatown, the Little Italy quarter centers on Commercial Drive (which runs south from Hastings St). In addition to the fashionable (but still reassuringly cheap) Italian cafés and restaurants, a handful of other international cuisines are now represented.

There are numerous cafés and bars down by the beaches and parks. Cornwall Avenue, which runs along Kitsilano Beach, has a couple of great fast-food places, while Stanley Park, out by the university campus, also has some cheap and cheerful options.

To the north of the city, Lonsdale Quay Market is bursting with food stalls and the market on Granville Island is similarly well-endowed with places to pick up produce for a picnic, as well as some of the best views.

Unlike some big cities where reasonably priced food is limited to a couple of areas, it's easy to find a well-priced and delicious meal right across Vancouver; which is just one more thing that makes the city such a breath of fresh air on the budget travel map.

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