Vancouver

[wendalah]

DH and I are thinking about taking a trip to Canada this summer, specifically B.C.--does anyone have any recommendations for a nice hotel in Vancouver, and some nice places to eat?

I haven't been since I was 18, and I went specifically for skiing--so any activities to recommend are welcome too.

TIA~!

[ejs]

We just got back a few weeks ago! Here is a list of things a wonderful CCer (Sare79) shared with me.

My must-do's/see's are Granville Island, Lynn Canyon or Capilano Suspension Bridge, Chinatown, and Stanley Park.
- Granville Island is a good place to eat as well. There are various shops to see and browse and great little kiosks of food vendors. It takes a few hours to see everything there and if you went in the late afternoon, you could catch a play or some improv at one of the stages for an early show.
- Lynn Canyon is a beautiful place for a hike or a walk, and if you're feeling adventurous, taking a walk over the suspension bridge is cool, although perhaps a bit pricey for what it is.
- Chinatown is a fun place to wander around, but beware the weekends, it can get very busy.
- Stanley Park is a beautiful place for a walk or to take a picnic lunch- most places near there offer takeout. If you start in an area called English Bay, you can browse the shops, grab an ice cream and walk along the water/beach. The whole thing takes a few hours to walk around, but worth it if you have the energy.

I like wandering shops and one of my favourite things in Vancouver is an area called Kitsilano. It has interesing shops to see and a really diverse yoga/Indian/yuppie/eldery population. Other prominent shopping areas are Yaletown, Robson Street and Commercial Drive.

Science World and the Space museum are fun, but mostly if you have small kids with you.

Restaurants:
Best Italian food: Cin Cin, Cioppino's, Anton's
Chinese: Hon's Wontun House(very affordable) or Floata Seafood Restaurant in Chinatown
Japanese: Shabusen (all you can eat), Kobe (high-end Japenese steakhouse), Tsunami Sushi
Burgers: Vera's burgers on Davie Street makes awesome burgers and you can take them to the beach. Fatburger is by the beach on Denman, and White Spot is a BC chain with yummy burgers.
Pizza: Nat's New York Pizza by the Beach is great for a quick meal
Seafood: Cardero's is beautiful and yummy for Seafood, as is the Cannery, and for high-end Blue Water Café cannot be beat. It is amazing.Bridges is on Granville Island and it is very fresh. The Boathouse has a chain and there is one in English Bay with a great view and it is moderately priced.
Steaks: Morton's. Fresh, delicious, and classy. Kobe is amazing for steak as well. The Keg is a chain of a good moderately priced steak.

Here are some hotels that were suggested:
http://www.vancouver.suttonplace.com/
http://opushotel.com/
http://www.lesoleilhotel.com/
http://www.fairmont.com/hotelvancouver/
http://www.sylviahotel.com/
http://www.wedgewoodhotel.com/
http://www.fairmont.com/waterfront/

What we experienced on our trip:
We stayed at the Hotel Vancouver and really liked it. Our first room sucked, but we switched on day 2 to a better, quieter room. The hotel has a Yellow Lab mascot you can take for walks. If you stay here and eat at Griffins in the hotel, you MUST have the chicken pot pie. It's the best I've ever had.

Our best meal was at a nice resturant called West. http://www.westrestaurant.com/westrestaurant/index.html

One thing we learned about ground beef in BC. We were told that it is a law that it must be cooked well-done. So if you're hoping for a nice, juicy, medium-rare burger, it's not going to happen. You can get steaks prepared to order, but not ground beef.

[maplekitty]

wow...I was going to answer your question, but really ejs about covered everything :D

and LOL at the hamburger thing, because when I was in LA and ordered a burger they asked me how I wanted it done. Never been asked this question before I said "Uuuummmm....cooked?!?". The thought of under-done ground beef seriously grosses me out! :p

[ejs]

wow...I was going to answer your question, but really ejs about covered everything :D

and LOL at the hamburger thing, because when I was in LA and ordered a burger they asked me how I wanted it done. Never been asked this question before I said "Uuuummmm....cooked?!?". The thought of under-done ground beef seriously grosses me out! :p

LOL.

We went to Vera's and had burgers. We thought they were good but we both agreed that they were overdone. We were getting burgers at another restaurant and asked for them medium-rare and the guy said he couldn't do that. We didn't understand. Then he told us about the law.

In California, many restaurants won't cook meat less than medium, mainly for legal reasons. But we'd never been anywhere where the ground beef had to be well-done!

Maplekitty: how do you get your steaks done?

[maplekitty]

LOL.

We went to Vera's and had burgers. We thought they were good but we both agreed that they were overdone. We were getting burgers at another restaurant and asked for them medium-rare and the guy said he couldn't do that. We didn't understand. Then he told us about the law.

In California, many restaurants won't cook meat less than medium, mainly for legal reasons. But we'd never been anywhere where the ground beef had to be well-done!

Maplekitty: how do you get your steaks done?

Oh steaks I like medium rare :D
But the thing about ground beef is that because *all* parts of the meat have had the chance to be touched by someone or other, and/or e-coli is all mixed in it, cooking it under-done gives you a greater chance of getting sick. Steaks however can't be touched or contaminated on the inside, and so any bacteria is essentially "cooked-off" on the outside - thus safer to eat under-cooked.

There was that big Jack-in-The-Box lawsuit years ago about someone getting sick from e-coli from under-cooked burgers. Funny that it happened in the states, yet it's Canada that has the laws about it :confused:

eta: anywho...glad you had a good trip here...was that recently? I remember you asking us for reccomendations on the Canada thread. You sure saw lots, were you here long?

[ejs]

At fast-food restaurants, you can't specify how you want your burger cooked. So they are definitely cooked all the way through. But it's fine other places.

I have to say, though, that the places we went could still have the burger be moist even though it was well-done. So it wasn't that bad, just different.

Sorry for the slight detour, wendalah.

eta: We were there in mid-to-late May. We were there for 5-6 days and then went to Victoria for 5 days. We were able to do a lot. We never made it to the top of Grouse Mountain because it was rainy/cloudy every day. We were pretty disappointed about that. We saw the Capilano Bridge, Granville Island, Stanley Park, the various Vancouver neighborhoods, hung out with a friend in West Vancouver, rode the little boats in the river(? - right off Granville Island), went for a lot of walks. We were really impressed with the public transportation.

[maplekitty]

rode the little boats in the river(? - right off Granville Island)

kayaks?

[wendalah]

No prob on the detour--DH and I are vegetarians btw :D

But, we like to get restaurant recs for "meat" places too, since we always can find something on the menu. My husband is actually a big steakhouse fan because he loves the sides and salads.

Thank you for all the great recommendations! This helps a lot.

[ejs]

kayaks?
No, those boats that look like little tug boats. They'll take you to Granville Island and back across the river and down to the science center. They each hold about a dozen people. Why can't I think of what they're called??

[GoCougs]

No, those boats that look like little tug boats. They'll take you to Granville Island and back across the river and down to the science center. They each hold about a dozen people. Why can't I think of what they're called??

Water taxis?

[ejs]

The Aquabus!

http://www.theaquabus.com/aboutus.htm

[maplekitty]

No prob on the detour--DH and I are vegetarians btw :D

But, we like to get restaurant recs for "meat" places too, since we always can find something on the menu. My husband is actually a big steakhouse fan because he loves the sides and salads.

Thank you for all the great recommendations! This helps a lot.

There are some great veggie retuarant in Vancouver. One specifically is The Naam: http://www.vancouverplus.ca/portal/profile.do?profileID=391002

[dh5678]

There was a Vancouver, BC thread a few months back. I'll see if I can find it and bump it up.

We've stayed at the Fairmont Vancouver and Sutton Place before. I liked Sutton Place a little better. :)

I'd also add Vij's (http://www.vijs.ca/) to the restaurant list. Good Indian food with a pretty good vegetarian selection. It's in the South Granville area.

[Sare79]

If you are a vegetarian, you need to go to the Foundation on Main and 7th- they have delicious all vegetarian food. Ooh, and Habibi's on Broadway and Cafe Deux Soleil on Commercial! Lumiere on Broadway has good veggie options as does DV8 on Davie.

As far as the post that ejs made, that was tailored to exactly what she asked for as far as hotel pricing and kinds of food she liked, so if you want something different, please don't hesitate to ask. I work in the film industry locally so I have to be a walking yellow pages of reccommendations of what is good in the city.

[wendalah]

Thank you all: I was lazy and didn't search!

Sare: My husband is a film production designer in L.A. so I understand just how well you need to know the area's hot spots :D. I will review ejs's thread and be sure to ask you if I have any specific questions! Thanks!

[Sare79]

I had a producer last week say exactly this to me:
"Sare, I need to know where I can get a good wax (male), a good massage, a bar I can meet a hot chick, a funky hotel room and the best breakfast place in town."

Hmmm... :D It was easy for me to spout off the answers, but it was funny how he asked me.
For the record- Evropa Spa, Absolout Spa, Ginger 62 or Crush, Opus hotel and Sophie's Cosmic cafe. :)

[wendalah]

If you ever come to Los Angeles, let us know and we'll hook you up in return! LOL. I work in the music industry so I have to be on top of things myself.