Vancouver is most definitely foodie-central. As soon as we rolled into town we were hungry for lunch and so we stopped at a Vietnamese food restaurant, Cafe Mai Mai. Boasting four-and-a-half stars on Yelp we were excited to check it out.The city is a hub for Asian food restaurants and so we had no shortage of choices. JD ordered the beef Pho, which was yummy, but not better than my favorite Pho place in Seattle. I went out on a limb and ordered a lemon grass chicken Vietnamese sub, which is what the restaurant was rated so highly for. It was fantastic. The combination of Vietnamese mayo, pate, cilantro, pickled carrots, and daikon on a baguette made for an amazingly fresh and satisfying meal.
At the top of my list of places to try was the famous, JAPADOG. I've had friends rave about the Asian-inspired hot dog stands in Vancouver, and so we had to check it out for ourselves. Not to mention all of the press they get and their slogan - "MAKING THE WORLD HAPPY AND ALIVE THROUGH HOTDOGS." It was an easy sell.
I ordered the popular, Terimayo pork hot dog with their signature teriyaki sauce, mayo and seaweed, and let me tell you it was delicious. I ordered the spicy garlic fries and I was a happy girl. JD ordered the Yakiniku rice with BBQ style beef on top of an arabiki sausage.
The real show stopper,
though was what they call AGE ICE. Which is basically ice cream served
in a deep fried hot dog bun with sugar sprinkled on top (aka a donut).
It was SO good, though we had to share one between the four of us
because it was possibly one of the unhealthiest meals I've ever
consumed.
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There are several stands scattered throughout the city, but we stopped at the "restaurant" in downtown, which had limited seating. If you are going to take a trip to Vancouver (and you are ok with sacrificing your body's well-being) -- you must try Japadog!
As I mentioned, Gastown is the place to go for late night bites. We stopped at Six Acres later that evening for drinks and the consensus was that it was the perfect last stop for the day. My Adoxa (lillet blanc, maraschino, dry vermouth, lemon) was expertly balanced and refreshing. My husband and our friend Matt had great things to say about their Stout and Cider and Sam was generous to share her cheese board with us that had a smattering of delicious cheeses, jams, and nuts. I would definitely recommend this spot if you are looking to munch on something post-dinner.
I'm not sure if it was just because of the holiday weekend, or if it is normally like this, but finding a brunch spot on Sunday was exhausting. After a failed attempt to eat at Provence, (though we hope to make it back and try it) we wandered around for a while hitting one obstacle after another. We finally settled on The Templeton which ended up being a good place to land -- nothing fancy, just good ol' diner food. They did have great ratings on Yelp.
Because I'm a lady, I ordered the Trucker's breakfast and had no complaints. The turkey sausage is made in-house and was really yummy. The coffee was very much "diner coffee" though. Don't be tempted to get it, no matter how long you've been roaming around the city and how desperate you are for caffeine :)
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Another couple of quick stops during the day on Saturday landed us at Coffee Bar where I was happy with my Spanish latte (and had had way to much caffeine and sugar in my system at that point).
We also grabbed some apps at The Flying Pig, which I wish we had been able to go back to for a proper meal, because the food coming out of that kitchen looked GOOD. We were still happy with our crispy brussels sprouts with lemon, capers, and Parmesan, though.
Our fanciest (and most expensive) meal by far was our date night at Lupo. I know Canada is supposed to be known for its French food and seafood blah blah blah... but there are two main issues with that in my mind: I am allergic to fish. AND I have yet to have an amazing French food experience. So instead, we went with the fail safe, highly rated Italian food restaurant. The service there was exceptional. The wait staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. In order to get a little taste of Canadian seafood (which lets be honest is probably the same quality as Seattle seafood), I ordered the shrimp + prawns linguini with zucchini and a citrus cream sauce. JD ordered the Tagliatelle with chicken, peas, prosciutto and a black truffle sauce. To be honest, I liked my husband's better. The truffles in the sauce were heavenly. We both enjoyed white wines with our meal and JD's Chardonnay was fantastic. It is located in the city center and the owners set up the restaurant in a refurbished house. The setting was very romantic and relaxing. We had a great time. Especially since we rounded out the meal with their seasonal fruit crisp and vanilla ice cream. So good.
Besides stopping at a local burger place on the way out, that was the extent of our food adventures.
Stay tuned for the third and final part of this travel tip series.
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