Here’s Where to Really Eat in Vancouver
Guide by Amber Gibson
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Here’s Where to Really Eat in Vancouver
By Amber Gibson
I can easily say that Vancouver is one of the best food cities in North America - and I've lived in Los Angeles and Chicago. Vancouver’s proximity to incredible local seafood and produce certainly helps, as does the city's multicultural population. The city received a Michelin guide for the first time in October 2022, but I'm skipping anything on that list and focusing on my favorite, semi-unknown gems.
Ubuntu Canteen: After servers and sommeliers at multiple Michelin-starred restaurants recommended this casual all-day cafe, I knew I had to check it out. It doesn't take reservations during the day and weekend brunch service gets busy, but you can try the pastries while you wait for a table. The vibe here is super inclusive and down-to-earth, but the chefs are serving dishes like pork belly confit with poached eggs over sourdough pancakes. If you can't decide what to order, walk up to the pass where you can watch chefs plating and see what catches your eye. Ubuntu's bread subscription – all baked with organic heirloom grains – is popular with locals, and you can take a loaf home too. Sesame oat sourdough is my favorite.
Nemesis Coffee: Nemesis has three locations around town and it's a go-to for top-notch coffee and pastries. Vancouver has a handful of artisan bakeries (Beaucoup Bakery, Small Victory, Little Fox Bakehouse) serving croissants as good as you'll find in France, but the filled croissants at Nemesis are the absolute best. Coffee purists will appreciate the single-origin pour-overs, and you can watch bakers at work through the window at the Polygon Gallery location in North Vancouver to whet your appetite as you inch closer to the bountiful pastry case. They are always experimenting with fanciful new flavors, like Fruit Loops cruffins, but the tiramisu croissant filled with espresso cream and topped with mascarpone chiboust (crème pâtissière and egg whites) and cocoa powder never gets old. If you're craving something savory, the breakfast sandwich is a home run, too.
Salmon n’ Bannock: Vancouver's only Indigenous-owned and -operated restaurant is worth seeking out to try sage-smoked wild sockeye salmon burgers, bannock bread (quick bread, sometimes fried) tacos, and candied salmon. It recently opened a second location in the international terminal at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and it's by far the best food court option. The slow-braised bison pot roast is a hearty meal before a long flight and the Ojibwe wild rice pudding with vanilla custard is a delicious takeaway treat that isn't too sweet.
Archer: This is the best new fine dining restaurant in Vancouver, helmed by Taiwanese Canadian chef Sandy Chen. The dishes here are colorful, complex, and beautifully plated. Archer is definitely a place you'll want to bring friends and share so you can try everything. Chen often accents dishes with Asian ingredients, like sweet and sour glaze on pork ribs, and yuzu kosho aioli with fries, but she also uses heaps of butter, which she says is her secret ingredient.
Bar Susu: Wines from the Okanagan Valley and Vancouver Island are jaw-droppingly good, and come in a wide range of varietals. (It's a shame we can't find many of these wines in the United States.) Susu’s chalkboard menu of wines by the glass is hard to read, and ever changing, but it's all good juice. The best way to order is getting recommendations from the friendly and knowledgeable servers. And the food here is not your typical bar food: smoked steelhead trout with wasabi ice cream and chicken liver rosettes, for starters. No surprise considering this is a sister restaurant to “Canada's best restaurant,” Published on Main.
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