Hey … let’s help out Patti here. She sent Suanne and I an email with the following:
Hi Suanne,
A group of us are coming to Vancouver – Wahoo! I have been following the Chow Times blog. We will be in Vancouver for 4 days: so what are the top 4 must go restaurants? I heard there was a all you can place on Sundays for Chinese that was fabulous – no one here knows the name or location…………….any clue? We are mainly looking for Asian/Chinese or Japanese – homy cooking – not fancy, and most importantly economical (Cheap!)
thanks for your help
Patti
San Francisco, California
Suanne and I replied with the following:
Hi Patti:Here are some ideas for you and are some of our favourites. These are the kind of places we bring visitors to and if you like Asian food you will not be disappointed. With the great USD to CAD exchange rate, eating out will be cheap.
- Long’s Noodle House: We just blogged about it two days ago. It is an awesome, smallish place but you MUST make reservations and be there ON TIME! This is a cheap to moderate kind of place.
- Song Huong: I think you will enjoy the seven course of beef. Not a fancy restaurant but fun to eat this. Cheap place. This one is Vietnamese.
- Au Petit: Their Vietnamese baguette is to die for. Grab one from them to-go. You must go early because they often sell out just after lunch time. Very nice and you will love it.
- Phnom Penh: Cambodian restaurant in Chinatown. You should make reservation here too. The must order item is their fried chicken wings.
- Popular Chinese Cuisine: Our personal favourite Shanghainese. Home cooking, little known. Talk to the chef and ask them for their recommendation. Also their Xiao Long Bao is our favourite.
- The Place: Awesome place, also Shanghainese home cooking. Good prices and good quantity.
- Kintaro Ramen: Japanese Ramen in downtown Vancouver. They are one of the top Ramen places in the world, so they say.
- Ninkazu: All You Can Eat Japanese. It is our favourite AYCE Japanese joint.
- Well Tea: For Taiwanese, you will not go wrong with Well Tea. Try their hotpots.
There are more … but let me know if you want more recommendations!All these places are cheap eats.So much too eat … so little time!
Let’s all go ahead and confuse Patti, shall we? Just comment and give Patti your recommendations too. I can see she will seriously think of extending her trip to Vancouver. LOL!
~Ben
I agree with the suggestions of Au Petit and Phnom Pehn. Here are some of my picks:
For sushi, I like Toshi’s on 16th off of Main, even if there’s a big line up. For all you can eat sushi, I like Toyama which is relatively new and on Seymour st downtown. It’s 18.95 which is not a bad price for AYCE. You can also upgrade for $5 more and get wild salmon, plus some different kinds of sashimi.
For chinese, I have a soft spot in my heart for Congee Noodle House on Broadway & Main.
To that list, I would add Cafe Gloucester on Cambie especially for lunch or late night after some evening’s festivities.
For AYCE, you forgot to mention Shabusen for that availability of Japanese and Korean, or BC Sushi for possibly the largest selection at an AYCE. Posh is really cheap and you get Japanese hot pot, which is quite novel in the city, and the environment is nice for Asian. We love to go for Chinese hot pot AYCE in Richmond at Sun Tung Kee but have started to go to Top Gun in Crystal Mall – you get to stroll through a Chinese mall with lots of bakery selection beforehand or after dinner.
Oh… Taiwanese beef noodles and the Taiwanese cuisine at No. 1 Beef Noodle in Burnaby, and Menya on Cambie for ramen.
Hey Colene and “WYN”,
Thanks for the additional suggestions. Having travelled extensively to Taiwan and other parts of Asia for over 20+ years, ohhhhh, how I miss Taiwanese food! Especially in the markets! I will add these restaurants to the list with comments attached. Thanks again!
– Patti
fantastic list! I have friends coming in July and I’m headaching over where to take them as they’re only going to be here for 2-3 days! this is perfect though, so thanks for posting this!