Chef’s Recs | Vancouver, BC
Ingredients from South China SeasTrading Company | Croissant at Thomas Haas
Photographs courtesy of South China Seas Trading Company | Thomas Haas
Find | Asian Ingredients
Punjab Food Center
It's very ethnic and shows the cultural diversity of the city. It’s not that the people create it that way, it just happened that way. It's a great place to go to a part of Punjabi, Indian traditional style of Indian food.
6635 Main Street, Vancouver, BC V5X 3H3, Canada
T: 604.322.5502
www.punjabfoodcenter.com
South China Seas Trading Company
They do a lot of Asian stuff. They bring in little kaffir lime leaves, green peppercorns and Asian spices that you don’t get anywhere.
1689 Johnston Street, Vancouver, BC V6H 3R9, Canada
T: 604.681.5402
www.southchinaseas.ca
Find | Pastries
Thomas Haas
Unbelievably great croissants. It's a great, great pastry shop!
www.thomashaas.com
2539 West Broadway Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6K 2E9, Canada
T: 604.736.1848
998 Harbourside Drive, North Vancouver, BC V7P 3T2, Canada
T: 604.924.1847
Sticky Rice Cake at Bao Bei
Photo Credit: Find. Eat. Drink.
Eat | Restaurants
Bao Bei
Chef Jöel Watanabe is taking his food to a different level. He understands spices and flavor. It’s almost like what Vij’s has done with Indian food, modernizing it. It’s a cool room, the space is beautiful and the cocktails are really funky and unique. They do a great job of showcasing the modernness of the food. I like his fried rice and definitely love it late at night with the eggs on it - called Kick Ass House Fried Rice with a toban jian egg.
163 Keefer Street, Vancouver, BC V6A 1X3, Canada
T:604.688.0876
www.bao-bei.ca
Dosa at Saravanaa Bhavan
Photo Credit: mlinksva [flickr]
Saravanaa Bhavan
It’s a South Indian chain that does really good Dosa (giant, rice crispy crepes), Sambar (spicy Lentil soup) and Idli (steamed rice cakes). It's really complex South Indian food and I think they do a fantastic job.
955 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1K3, Canada
T: 604.732.7700
www.saravanaabhavan.ca
Atithi
Photograph courtesy of Atithi
Atithi
The chef is from Calcutta and he's been true to his region. I like their style of cooking, because they haven’t played around with the spices or the style of it. He was a chef in India and then they became an Indian restaurant here, so it’s a little bit more traditional. I’m a big fan of the Dosas, the Sambar, and Idli. He also does really good fish curries with local seafood and rice. His wife works the floor and he is in the kitchen cooking.
2445 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6J 3J3, Canada
T: 604.731.0221 (make a reservation)
www.atithi.ca
Coffee at 49th Parallel
Photograph courtesy of 49th Parallel
Drink | Coffee
49th Parallel
The owner of 49th Parallel, Vince Piccolo, started Caffe Artigiano. 49th Parallel is delicious. They have hand-style baristas making coffee. The pastries are really great. His butter croissants are so rich and delicious.
www.49thparallelroasters.com
2902 Main Street, Vancouver, BC V5T 3G3, Canada
2152 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6K 4S2, Canada
T: 604.420.4900
Drink | Wine
Uva Wine Bar
It's located in the Moda Hotel and I go here quite a bit. The service is really good and the wine list is really focused. If you want to have one little cocktail, a glass of wine or two, something simple and very flavorful, it's perfect for that. It's great if I just want to hang out with a friend and talk. It’s not too loud, since it's more loungy and it's not a total public scene, which I like, especially after I’ve been socializing for six hours already.
900 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 3L9, Canada
T: 604.632.9560
www.uvawinebar.ca
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