Wondering which restaurants are worth a visit in Vancouver? Look no further!
On my recent vacation in Vancouver I made sure to eat at some of the most popular restaurants and I'm happy to share them with you.
A lot of people will google where to eat before they go to a new city but believe it or not, I’ve only just now become one of those people.
I usually just walk around and find a restaurant to eat at, but this time around my boyfriend and I actually took the time to look up the popular spots. Since we only had a few days in the city, this seemed like the best way to try some of the most delicious food.
Now I’m not exactly a person that spends tons of money on food, so the places in this post are for the most part within the low to medium price range.
If you’ve ever been to Vancouver then you’ve surely heard of the Cactus Club, a very popular casual fine dining restaurant with 7 locations in the downtown area, some locations featuring beautiful patios and stunning ocean views.
Their menu offers a little bit of everything: salads, bowls, finger foods, meats and chicken, seafood as well as vegetarian options. They also serve a wide variety of wines, beers and specialty cocktails.
All Cactus Club locations in Vancouver have a happy hour every day from 2-5 pm and offer late night specials Sunday- Thursday after 9:30pm.
For my first night in Vancouver we had dinner at the Yaletown Club, the second day we enjoyed some afternoon drinks and a light lunch at the English Bay, and on the last night we celebrated with some late night drinks and dessert at Coal Harbour.
All the food and drinks we tried were delicious!!
This awesome brunch spot was recommended to me by a friend before I left on vacation. However after doing some research on brunch places in Vancouver myself, the name “Medina Cafe” came up quite a few times.
It’s a fan favourite to say the least and I wanted to see for myself what the hype is all about. According to them:
“Café Medina is a purveyor of fine Mediterranean-inspired cuisine, connoisseur-savvy coffee and sweet sustenance via the city’s best Belgian waffles.”
Sounds fancy doesn’t it?
Just by looking at their menu you can tell that their ingredients are quite unique like spicy moroccan lamb meatballs, chickpea stew, spiced honey, beef ragu, etc. Those are certainly not your usual brunch dishes.
The restaurant itself looks really nice. It has an open kitchen concept, high ceilings, a small patio and plenty of natural light. They are open every day from 9am-3pm.
ProTip:
→ try to go during the week because this place gets BUSY! The waiting list on the weekend can be very long.
Where are all my taco lovers at??
I’m definitely a taco lover and Tacofino hit the spot! Their tacos, their nachos, their margaritas.. Everything is just delicioso! *insert chefs kiss*
In all honesty though, Tacofino was one of our favourite restaurants, and again was recommended to me by a friend.
The now popular chain restaurant started off as a food truck in Tofino (very clever what they did with the name), a small town on the west coast of Vancouver Island. You will find four trucks and seven restaurants in Vancouver now. Talk about success!
The menu varies at each location, so if you're looking for anything specific, make sure to check out the menus online ahead of time.
Other than the tacos, I highly recommend trying their nachos and their different margaritas- you won’t be disappointed!
They had me at breakfast poutines and specialty egg benny’s!
This brunch place is definitely popular- we were put on a waiting list on a Thursday morning. That’s undeniably an indicator that the food is good!
“On your plate? Familiar classics balanced with unreplicatable fare you simply won’t find anywhere else.”
That’s what they promise and they don’t disappoint!
On their menu you’ll find specialties like ‘Gold Digga’ breakfast poutine, ‘Holy Crab!’ egg benny’s, ‘Huevos In’na Burrito’ breakfast burrito, and of course for your sweet tooth you got the ‘Do Not Even Go There’ french style crepes or the ‘Not So Boring Brioche French Toast', just to name a few.
As you can tell, they don’t only get creative with their recipes, but also the names.
OEB was first opened in Calgary and has since spread to three other cities in Canada (Edmonton, Vancouver, Saskatoon) and one in the US (Scottsdale). So make sure to check it out if you’re ever in any of those cities!
If you like typical Lebanese cuisine you have to try Zaatar w Zeit!
This restaurant is actually part of a very famous and popular franchise that was founded in Lebanon in 1999 and has since expanded to 23 locations in Lebanon, 70 additional ones throughout the Middle East and the newest member recently opened in Vancouver!
They serve your typical breakfast like savoury Manousheh and sweet Kenefeh, as well as a variety of freshly baked wraps, flatbread pizza, typical salads, all day brunch, and traditional Lebanese sweets.
Their food is seriously delicious! We ordered a few things to share- it’s a great way to try a few different items on their menu.
I also really liked the whole look and feel of the restaurant. It felt modern, yet organic and just over-all aesthetically pleasing and bright. I especially liked their big comfy couch seats- highly recommend!
You can’t go to Vancouver and not enjoy some sushi!
There are tons of sushi spots in Vancouver- seriously the city is filled with them.
For this place we actually didn’t do too much research. That night we were already out and about and got hungry and felt like having sushi. So we looked up places nearby and found Hapa Izakaya- great location and great reviews!
In their words:
“Hapa continues to offer a winning combination of Japanese cuisine, fun, and culture, paired with local seasonal and Ocean Wise ™ ingredients.”
All the food we tried was delicious! They offer different salads, hot and cold tapas, rice and noodles, sashimi, sushi and desserts. They also have some specialty drinks that are worth a try.
We sat outside on their patio because it was a beautiful summer night, however if you want more of an ambiance I would recommend sitting inside.
There is only so much food you can consume in a few days, so sadly I wasn’t able to try the famous Japadog.
Japadog is a small chain of street food stands in Vancouver that was started in 2005. They basically serve Japanese style hot dogs. So on yout hot dog you will find things like teriyaki sauce, seaweed, Japanese noodles, miso sauce and more.
They are so popular, they currently have 7 locations in Vancouver, including a sit down restaurant that serves desserts and specialty fries, and two additional locations in the US.
On my next visit to Vancouver, I will definitely try it!
I hope this list of must try restaurants in Vancouver is helpful and hopefully you get to try some yourself.
Have you tried any of these restaurants? I’m curious, let me know in the comments below! And if you have any questions, ask away!
As always, thanks for stopping by :)
-Z
