White Rock has some amazing restaurants- Vol au Vent on Marine Drive across from the water. Rain or shine it is a completely unobstructed view. The restaurant is run by an amazing chef from France, real old school. His wife runs the show and describes all the dishes with mouth watering detail. Their paella is bella, but my favorite (if you are lucky) is the vol au vent of the day filled with local mushrooms. The chanterelles in cream sauce served in their namesake vol au vent was earthy, creamy heaven. All the desserts are made in house- you haven’t lived til you tried their tarte tatin!

If you’re ever in North Burnaby, I really enjoyed Da Mario’s on Hastings near Howard. It was relatively inexpensive for the quality of the food and service. It’s not the hippest place in the world but I’ve had some happy meals there.

Le Petit Saigon Restaurant in the Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood (Hastings between Nanaimo and Renfrew). Excellent spring rolls and hearty Vietnamese plates.

Fraser Park Restaurant in south Burnaby (Byrne road, south of the shopping plaza) is always awesome for breakfast or lunch. It’s a family run place and they cure their own meats; you can also take home homemade soups, sausages and baked goods!

Often when I’ve gone on saturdays there’s also been live Jazz too.

Here’s my list of favs:

Hawker’s Delight on Main and 26th – south east asian, so authentic you’ll forget you’re in Vancouver (especially when they don’t have a/c in the summer time)

Au Petit Cafe on Main and 33rd – vietnamese, has 2 dishes that are only available on weekends, subs are always sold out early

Long’s Noodle House on Main and 33rd – right next to the one above, authentic shanghai food, always a line up through their small entrance

Benkei Ramen on Broadway and Trutch – close to UBC, not as busy as its downtown location, but still great especially in the cold

Capers on West 4th – they make the best burritos, surprisingly.

Nice Cafe on Main and E 8 Ave – love having the lazy Sunday breakfast in the tucked away cafe. always a line up but worth it because their breakfast is cheap (hashbrowns are the best in town), and its got an old rugged diner feel which I love.

Blue Water Cafe (Yaletown, but need to mention) – best raw bar ever, drinks are delicious, great location if you’ve got VIP guests in town.

Afghan Horseman Restaurant (above Starbucks outside the entrance of Granville Island) – neat experience if you’ve never tried before. Hard to forget their Pakawra which is fried potato chips but not what you would expect.

Duffin Donuts at 41st & Victoria is an obvious choice. Donuts, fried chicken & chowmain, 24/7.

The industrial parks frequently have some interesting diners and cafes. The Argo Cafe on Ontario, Nathan’s Grill in Burnaby, etc. There’s a sunshine diner with $5 steak and egg breakfast, somewhere in North Burnaby/East Vancouer (IIRC), but I can’t recall exactly where.

Anyway, every industrial park has something, usually something unique and kinda cool. The pita & bagel factory in south Burnaby is certainly one of my favorites.

I’m with you, Raul, I like the mom-and-pop, hole-in-the-wall places. Some of my favourites:

Au Petit Cafe at Main and 33rd, Home of my favourite spring rolls – so crispy. The Vietnamese sandwiches are made with deliciously fresh French bread. The pho and curries are hearty and tasty.

Right next door is Long’s Noodle House, a tiny, Shanghai restaurant. Try the xiao long bao (steamed pork buns), wine chicken, beef roll. If you’re not sure what to order, ask for recommendations. Every time I’ve been, the people at other tables have been happy to talk about their dishes.

Peaceful Restaurant on Broadway near Cambie. Another restaurant where everything is good. Try the beef roll, Szechuan thousand chili chicken and the “cat ear” noodles – they’re like Chinese gnocchi.

Another vote for Au Petit Cafe. You have to have their Vietnamese sandwiches. The French bread they bake is different from other Viet sandwich places. The pho is… okay, but you need to have the sandwich.

Long’s Noodle House gets another vote from me too. Make sure you get the drunken chicken (or is it called wine chicken) and the beef roll.
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If you’re looking for the kind of place where you can go for breakfast and then hang out, drinking coffee til lunch, head for @thetipper at Kingsway & Victoria in #eastvan.

Great food (especially the homemade hashbrowns and green eggs n ham) and great people. My daughter chose to have her special birthday meal there – brunch. They brought out her Nutella french toast with a candle!
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In Port Moody, three places stand out:

Rosa’s may be the smallest Italian place around. The service is so-so, the food is not.

Sango does some clever nouveau sushi.

Heritage House Pizza is impressive food (aspiring to fine dining, despite the name), in a nice venue.

And finally, Charlie’s has reopened, and I want you to pass judgment on its Mexican cuisine.
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The Vault in Cloverdale – it used to be a bank when my mom was a wee one and now it’s a great and affordable restaurant I get to eat at when I visit family

Long’s noodle house on Main and 33rd !!!

Check out Tap Restaurant in South Surrey. It’s a fabulous hidden gem!

Hey Raul!

I can’t see if you’ve checked it out or not, but East is East on Main St. is just so amazing. You must go on a Saturday evening for their live music/flamenco dancing and you MUST try the Feast. Walking in you are immediately greeted with hot (or cold) chai (they have many different flavours). You are also offered several times before ordering samples of their amazing food.

The feast is a huge portion of salad, boulani (I think is what its called! AMAZING), lentil soup, roti and two of their hot options (saag paneer, channa masala etc.) You can keep refilling anything in the feast as many times as you would like which gives you a chance to try everything! It is just so fabulous! (for just $19.50)

They do not serve alcohol but have amazing smoothies, chai and fabulous desserts!

Try if you haven’t yet! This should be top of the list!
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While these few restaurants are in pretty well promoted areas, I feel they’re often overlooked or missed because of their actual location. Definitely should go give them a try. =D

Ajisai Sushi in Kerrisdale – Best sushi in Vancouver (or even the Lower Mainland) imo. While they don’t have a full kitchen, their sushi is awesome. The fish is fresh (I believe their get their shipments in every Monday, and actually are closed for that day to prep all the fish) and of great quality. The sushi chefs really produce some amazing work. Tucked away behind the London Drugs in Kerrsidale Station, this gem is easy to miss, and sometimes is overlooked even when people pass by. It usually gets pretty full, and they don’t take reservations, so if you do go (esp if you go with a group) I’d suggest going earlier to beat the rush (Lunch goes from 11am – 2pm, and Dinner goes from 5pm-9:30pm.)

Su Hang Restaurant – Great Shanghainese food. Located in the little plaza with the Nandos behind the Chapters on No. 3 (Near Dinesty), it’s easy to miss since most people don’t usually go that way. Service is pretty good.

Avenue Grill in Kerrisdale – Little place that’s been there for years next to the flower shop and across the alley from where the Salvation Army Thrift Store used to be on 41st. Good place to have a relaxing lunch/dinner/brunch.

Senova. It’s on 57th or so a few blocks west of Granville. The shopping centre is known as Shannon Station, there’s a Choices there as well.

The restaurant is Portuguese influenced, the service is lovely, it’s a refined little gem. There’s currently construction there so they may be needing all the help they can get.

I can’t seem to zoom in on your map, so I’m not sure if you’ve been to these restaurants:

La Buca, 4025 Macdonald Street: absolutely delicious Italian food. The surroundings are intimate and comfortable, if a little cramped. Just smashing.

La Quercia, 3689 West 4th Avenue: Also absolutely delicious Italian food, with a little more elbow room (and on the 4 and the 7!)

Bon appétit!

Hey Raul,

I’m a Main St junkie, and I know it’s your neighbourhood too.

Here are five great Main St spots:

Kafka’s: (Main & Broadway) wonderful coffee and tea. Very chill place for a meet and greet or to relax with work or a book.

Les Faux Bourgeois: (Kingsway & 15th) Bistro Bistrot style food in a much more synergistic setting (and easier to swallow prices).

Cafeteria: (Main & 11th) Andre Durbach’s newest venture. A chef’s whim restaurant with daily changing menus. Great food, great value. Classy & comfortable. http://ht.ly/3pM8L

Lucy’s Eastside Diner: (Main & 11th) Recreation of a classic diner. Open 24/7. Awesome brunches. http://ht.ly/3pMbN

Foundation: (Main & 7th) Wonderful veggie restaurant. The tacos are unbelievable (and somehow don’t get soggy). Has a grungy feel. I also like that the bathroom options are “Ladies” or “Steve”.

Enjoy. Let me know what you think. twitter @reasonableguy

Thanks all for your suggestions, all!

I think Jordan’s suggestion of 57th and Granville should be the first foodie tweetup for good or something (Foodie Tweetup for Good sounds weird). If a restaurant needs a little boost, maybe bring a lot of foodies to help out?