Eat the city: Vancouver

Long before Michelin bestowed eight of its restaurants with those coveted stars last October, Vancouver has been a dining hotspot, and one of the culinary world’s best-kept secrets – thanks in no small part to Canada’s bountiful local produce. Here’s a selection of gems to explore.

St Lawrence

Chef-owner Jean-Christophe Poirier used his formative years in Québec as inspiration for his Michelin-starred Vancouver restaurant . His precise award-winning cooking is a combination of French and Québécois: there’s an exquisite pâté en croûte, a hearty venison loin and a beguiling maple-cured sablefish, as well as some fun items like crispy fried pork rinds tumbling out of a maple syrup can. Want a ringside seat? Request a bar table overlooking the open kitchen. 

Burdock & Co

Chef and owner Andrea Carlson brings modern Pacific Northwest cuisine to the west coast food scene at Burdock & Co , which highlights produce from local farmers and foragers. The locally sourced menu features dishes like lamb collar with fermented Jerusalem artichoke and sala berry; savoury profiteroles with goat camembert mousse; Northern Divine caviar from British Columbia; and lemon parfait with salted biscuit and malt caramel. 

Linh Café

Linh Café doesn’t take reservations for smaller parties, so come early or at odd hours to get a table in this high-ceilinged restaurant started by chef-owner Tai Nguyen. Rich and authentic flavours come with a modern twist, from the foie gras parfait and freshly shucked oysters to black truffle risotto, lobster Benedict, fried frogs’ legs and pho bo served with braised beef brisket, with optional additional toppings like bone marrow to pile on extra flavour.

Elisa

Steak lovers flock to Elisa for its fire-grilled Canadian meat, fuelled by birch, apple and alder woods. Be sure to try the smoked bison steak tartare, or splurge on a seafood tower. For the main event, the wagyu flat iron steak comes highly recommended, along with the 30oz bone-in rib-eye – medium rare, of course.

Northern Café and Grill

This greasy spoon diner is in a lesser-touristed location right by the Fraser River, but die-hard fans love this place for its unpretentious food at reasonable prices. The Chinese Canadian Mah family took over the joint in 2008, and serve up classic comfort food such as corned beef hash, eggs Benedict, hamburgers and sandwiches – plus some Chinese Canadian standards, such as wonton egg noodle soup, chow mein and homemade potsticker dumplings.

The Acorn

This Michelin-recommended plant-based restaurant celebrates the best of locally produced and foraged ingredients in a casual but refined space. Head chef Devon Latte’s vegetarian dishes make the most of what’s seasonal: such as shiitake with sugar dumpling squash, ginger, kelp and lemongrass; or beets with apple, elderflower, elderberry red wine jus, winter herb and horseradish with goat cheese. Vegan options are also available, and meals can be paired with British Columbian bottles from its extensive wine list. 

Salmon N' Bannock

Vancouver’s only indigenous-owned and -operated restaurant is named after Bannock, a flatbread that the nation’s Indigenous people learned to make from Scottish fur traders in the 18th century – it’s the restaurant’s signature dish. Other menu items include candied salmon, melt-in-your-mouth bison pot roast, and wild sockeye salmon with Ojibway wild rice and brown butter sauce. Save room for the boozy sundae spiked with maple whisky.

Novella

Elevated breakfast options are the order of the day at Novella . This coffee bar offers classed-up fare like airy French omelettes, steel-cut oats topped with poached egg and mushrooms, and the “Turbo” sandwich, stuffed full of hash browns, sausage, cheese and egg. After the sun goes down, the place transitions into Vignette, where guests can either indulge in the tasting menu or order à la carte. Dishes include foie gras baklava, anchovy beef with marinated wood ear mushrooms, and rum baba. 

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