Vancouver Trip – What I Ate

Since I was going to be in a new city I knew I wanted to try as many local restaurants as I could. I always really enjoy trying new things when I’m travelling. Although there wasn’t really any different food on the menus since I was still in western Canada, I definitely made an effort to eat at places that we don’t have here in Calgary.

I’m very grateful that a blog reader recommended Banana Leaf to me. One of their locations was just really close – just a few blocks from my hotel – so I decided to go there for lunch just after I arrived in Vancouver. I ended up deciding on the chicken curry and a side of spring rolls. The curry was amazing! I was expecting it to be spicier than it was, but I’m glad it was on the milder side because that’s what I like. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the spring rolls, but they were huge! I’d never had Malaysian food before, but I’d definitely get it again.

That night for dinner I went to a 50’s diner not far from the hotel called The Templeton. If you’re a Calgarian, it was very similar to Diner Deluxe on Edmonton Trail. I was seated at the Elvis booth, which featured all kinds of Elvis photos on the table.

I ordered a Strongbow cider and a hamburger. While I got a photo of the drink, I forgot to get one of the burger. It was delicious and I thought the bun was really good.

As far as breakfasts went, there wasn’t a whole lot of choice downtown. There were plenty of Tim Horton’s and Starbucks, but I tried to avoid chain restaurants that I could eat at at home as much as I could while I was in Vancouver. I ended up at Twisted Fork Bistro one morning. When I first sat down I was the only one there which made me kind of nervous – why wasn’t anyone else eating there? Luckily within a few minutes there were people at 3 or 4 other tables. I ordered the eggs benedict. It came with beans (which I usually don’t like, but these ones were amazing), a hashbrown, and spinach. It was a great breakfast the kept me full until lunch.

By the time I started thinking about lunch on Thursday I was starting to get tired. I’d been walking all morning and I wanted to find a sit down restaurant. I ended up at Cats Social House on Granville Island. While it was a little more fancier restaurant than I usually eat at, vacation is all about trying new things, right? I ended up ordering a thin crust pizza that was pretty good. The pepperoni on it was spicier than usual so it added an interesting kick to it.

I’d walked past a pub, the Fountainhead, a few times in my wanderings, so I thought I’d check it out for dinner on Thursday. I wanted something relatively quick as I had the U2 concert to go to that night as well. I ordered the fish and chips. The cod was really good and pretty much melted in my mouth.

After visiting the Maritime Museum and the Museum of Vancouver on Friday morning it was time for lunch. I was fairly close to Granville Island, but wanted to try somewhere different to eat. I asked the woman at the front counter of the Museum of Vancouver where I could go. She pointed me to a street about a ten minute walk away that had all kinds of cool restaurants. I ended up at Triple O’s. Apparently they have quite a few locations in British Columbia, but I’d never heard of them before. While their burger and fries weren’t amazing, they weren’t horrible either.

That night was my last in Vancouver. I’d read reviews of an amazing Indian restaurant. The reviews on Yelp said they had the best butter chicken in all of Vancouver. Unfortunately when I walked over I was told that there’d be at least a 20 minute wait to be seated. I was pretty bummed because I love Indian food and it sounded like it was really good there. Because I’d been on my feet all day I decided to find somewhere else to eat instead of waiting for a table. Clearly I was tired and hungry because I ended up getting Subway and taking it back to my hotel room to eat.

To be honest I was a little nervous about eating in Vancouver. I’ve never gone to a sit down restaurant by myself before. Ever. I thought it was going to feel weird being on my own, but it didn’t. I’m glad I pushed myself out of my comfort zone because I had some amazing food while I was in there. And there was definitely a positive to eating out on my own – the food always came out super fast.

What’s the best meal you’ve had while you’ve been on vacation?