Seafood Tour of Vancouver
Vancouver is a bizarrely underrated vacation destination. Part of the gorgeous Pacific North West, it is a vibrant, exciting city surrounded by stunning landscapes, and easily holds its own with its more heralded American neighbours in Seattle and Portland.
While plenty of tourists come to the city on their way to explore the great Canadian outdoors, or as part of a cruise around Vancouver, its wonderful location surrounded on almost all sides by the ocean means that when it comes to dining out on seafood, Vancouver is almost unparalleled. As a culinary destination, seafood lovers should seek out this charming, elegant and gorgeous city, to discover some of the best cuisine that the Pacific NorthWest has to offer. Read on, and we’ll take you on a tour of some of the best and most interesting spots in town to indulge a love of all things seafood.
Salmon
Salmon is a huge deal in British Columbia; for wildlife, for the First Nations, for fishermen, and of course for foodies. Some of the best salmon in the world ends up on the plates of Vancouver’s restaurants, and you should not leave the city without finding the freshest offerings. The Salmon House in West Vancouver is probably the most famous for barbecued Sockeye, while the Beach House Restaurant serves up a wonderful smoked salmon benedict brunch. For something a little more alternative, Fishworks Restaurant offers salmon carpaccio, and a Sockeye salmon wellington, which is out of this world.
Catch of the day
For the absolute freshest fish it is possible to find, head down to the Steveston Public Fish Sales Float or the False Creek Fishermen’s Wharf. Here you’ll find boatloads of local fishermen selling fresh fish directly off their boats. Walk-up restaurants like Go Fish serve up the freshest fare to take away, while snazzier joints like Ancora and The Vancouver Fish Company provide a slightly more sophisticated but just as delicious experience.
Oyster bars
Sometimes there is nothing quite like a fresh oyster straight from the shell, and Vancouver boasts an array of spectacular spots to dine on these delicacies. Rodney’s Oyster House is one of the city’s best, with a superb, celebratory atmosphere matched only by their delectable oysters and top notch wines. Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar offers an haute cuisine take on the humble bivalve, while The Fish Shack and Chewies keep things casual with a far more relaxed ambiance.
Fish and chips
No tour of Vancouver’s seafood eateries would be complete without a visit to a traditional fish and chip shop. A world away from haute cuisine and molecular gastronomy, a classic fish supper is comfort food personified, and just the ticket when the nights close in and the weather is cold. Chef Rob Clark moved from the high end but now closed C to set up The Fish Counter, and has created one of Vancouver’s best spots for fish and chips. Equally superb, and highly rated amongst locals, is the Cockney Kings Fish & Chip Shop in Burnaby. This excellent spot channels true British fish and chips, and will leave you fully satisfied.
Poké
The Hawaiian raw fish salad bowls have become quite the hot trend in recent years, and Vancouver has definitely caught the wave. There are a whole bunch of great poké joints spread across the city, and it is well worth trying if you haven’t already. Poké Time was the first dedicated restaurant, and remains one of the best, but places like The Poké Guy, Pokerrito and West Coast Poké are also local favourites.
Sushi
As you might expect from a diverse, international city with such awesome seafood, Vancouver’s sushi scene is pretty special. Sushi Yama in Mount Pleasant is perfect for those who like to keep things simple, while Bistro Hatzu is a little more upmarket and alternative. For true connoisseurs though, it has to be Miku, where the only thing better than the food is the jaw dropping view of snow-capped mountains through the restaurant’s windows.
Fine dining
Vancouver’s fine dining is peerless, and this is doubly true when it comes to seafood. Everywhere you turn across the city you can find seriously exciting and innovative chefs plying their trade in elegant, sophisticated locations, serving up truly inspirational meals. You can also check brunch Vancouver for more ideas on where to dine. The Mackenzie Room might not be purely dedicated to seafood per se, but its sea urchin pate and squid ink brioche is worth a night there on its own. Other amazing spots include the Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar, where the food looks as good as it tastes, YEW Seafood and Bar, which boasts a buzzy atmosphere and an enormously adaptable menu, and Coast, a seriously high end proposition with showy presentation and a mouth-watering menu.
