Vancouver, British Columbia

What to eat in Vancouver?

I found a few gems that I really enjoyed while exploring the city.

Although I stayed in the Chinatown area of the city, the places that I highlight are finds were adjacent to that area. There were a number of authentic Asian style restaurants in the buildings surrounding me, as well as a vegan store and excellent little cafes, but I did not have time to visit most of them. I happened upon a shop, Eat Van Roasters, when I saw coffee bags in their window. Despite having searched virtually for bean to bar chocolate and coffee roasters in the city, this never popped up as a location for me. However, I found that they are a small coffee roaster serving desserts and bean to bar chocolate. This is the fun in wandering on foot around a city!

As usual, I did wander, walking most of the downtown area with my best friend.

The Farmer's Apprentice

House made calabrian style pickled eggplant. What a fun take on the Spanish tapa, typically a sardine!Very nicely pickled in my opinion, and unique for me to see a pickled eggplant.  

Peach and chicory salad with drunken manchego

with anchovy horseradish yogurt, salted cashew praline 

This was a nice salad, everything that you might want with a little sweet, a little salty, some bitter greens, and a little creaminess. I kept going back for another bite. 

smoked baby carrots with brown butter, hazelnut, coffee, and sumac

This sounded so good to me, as I have had smoked carrots in the past, but this was a little bit of a disappointment, as the smokiness was too subtle for my preference, but still a nicely prepared dish with the spice mix unique, but still subtle without overpowering coffee or citrusy sumac.

Green sea urchin, egg yolk, and potato rosti, pickled serrano, maple syrup, and chives 

I really thought this would be a memorable bite. Although it was good, I did not experience this punchiness of ocean flavor that I expect from urchin. I also anticipated a greater saltiness from the egg yolk. The rosti did have a nice crunchy texture and it was a creative dish overall.

sourdough red fife country bread with pumpkin seed asiento 

The bread was lovely classic presentation of sourdough with the spread being addicting. It was creamy and savory, but also with a richness that had an undertone of sweet, bringing the palate alive. 

nixtamilized corn with brown butter and oregano, black bean, red kuri squash, pickled pepper, and pecorino tartufo 

Delicious corn with the richness of brown butter! Further, the saltiness from the pecorino was an excellent contrast to draw together the squash, beans, and corn. Acidity was offered by the pickled pepper, with the restaurant always delivering on balancing salt, acid, and heat in each dish.

The Acorn

I rarely, or never, say this, but I could eat here repeatedly! Everything had unique combinations of ingredients with flavors balanced beautifully. It was a nice marriage of unique and comforting and I left feeling satisfied, but not overly full. The restaurant was entirely vegan, but without the typical ingredients that I tend to avoid, such a lots of soy or artificially created meats with wheat fillers. 

Starting the meal off, I tasted the non-alcoholic drink "Designated Driver" a combination of sumac, lavender, fresh lemon, sparking water, and housemade sage bitters. Wow. what a delightfully refreshing nonalcoholic cocktail!

sourdough with smoked tomato, great northern bean spread, vancouver island sea salt 

The bread had a pleasant and evident sour presence with the smoked tomato a nice addition to the creamy bean spread, all highlighted by amazing sea salt.

Smoke fried warba, tree salt, fir mustard, kelp ketchup, relish 

The fir mustard and kelp ketchup really drew me into trying this plate. Additionally, I learned that warba is a variety of potato. Since I enjoy smoky flavor immensely, this was a dish I happily noshed on, but otherwise it was somewhat comparable to an elevated interpretation of roasted potatoes with quality made sauces. It reminded me of the toppings offered at a ball park for your hotdog!

Fried oyster mushroom, espelette, savory waffle, koji gravy, serrano, pickle 

This was a fantastically memorable dish. The fry on the mushroom was crunchy and highly flavored with spices that were addicting with spice, but cooled with the savory gravy. The waffle had an excellent soft but not mushy texture and the pickle set everything off with acidity to cut through the heaviness from the rest of the plate. I could eat this repeatedly with the same enjoyment. 

squash, cayenne, coriander root nahm Jim, kohlrabi, hazelnut, shallot, mint

Again, this offering was a diversity of textures and flavors that bounced to each corner of my taste buds. It had mild spice, brightness of mint, warmth of hazelnut, and creaminess of the squash.

Du puy lentil pate de campagne, pickles, fir mustard, tree things

The fir mustard sounded more fantastically unique than it tasted, but I really could not resist giving it a try. It was a gentle mustard with a soft mash comparable to a refried bean texture, but without a notable spice profile for me. This plate was enjoyable, but perhaps the least complex in diversity of flavor, although still very tasty with lots of texture variability, making it fun to eat.

Victoria Island

Be Love

This was a vegan restaurant with a great selection of healthy ingredients on the menu and I was hopeful that they had mastered the careful balance of delicious with excellent textures in addition to touting health benefits.

roasted heirloom tomato sandwich with garlic cashew aioli, sprouts, arugula, tomato pepper relish, smoked nut cheese on house made rosemary focaccia

This was a nice tasty sandwich that tasted exactly as you may expect from the list of ingredients. The nut cheese was particularly enjoyable since it had a smoky flavor and added creaminess. This was also complimented by the garlic aioli and rosemary flavors on the plate.

ZLT

zucchini bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado, red onion, sprouts, and honey mustard cashew mayo on house made almond pumpernickel 

This option was another sandwich tasted, but I did not enjoy the textures in the same way as the prior dish. The zucchini "bacon" was a tough texture as was also served with a pumpernickel that was a dry texture without an enticing nor strong flavor to add depth to each bite. The first sandwich was the way to go at this restaurant in my opinion. I also enjoyed Vancouver overall more than Victoria, especially considering it was a day trip to romp there and back taking the ferry ride into account, although the ferry ride did afford beautiful landscape views the entire time!