Thrifty January? You can still dine out at one of these budget-friendly eateries.
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I’m assuming the GST holiday didn’t take the sting out of December spending. And now, you’re practising fiscal restraint. OK, no problem.
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When it comes to good food in Metro Vancouver, there are some places, including a Michelin-recommended restaurant, where you can eat for less than $25 (an amount that these days, constitutes budget dining). With wallet-friendly meals in mind, here are a few local eateries where you can enjoy a great meal without breaking the bank:
A. Bento (READ OUR REVIEW HERE)
Their Taiwanese food is long on flavours and good value, as in the all-day bento with a main, rice, and two sides. You’ll also find easy-to-heat meals in the freezer — like ginger duck for $14.95. Tip: don’t let the Broadway subway project stop you from visiting — there’s parking at the back.
Downlow Chicken Shack (READ OUR REVIEW HERE)
Fresh free-run, hormone-free, non-GMO, antibiotic free, grain-fed chicken from Rossdown Farms makes for delicious crispy-fried chicken, cooked with escalating levels of heat. Served in sandwiches or with sides.
Fat Mao (READ OUR REVIEW HERE)
On pitiless January days, nothing comforts like a steaming bowl of Thai noodle soupat Fat Mao. So much flavour. Such intensity! My favourite is khao soi chicken curry noodles with pickled mustard greens. Or wait! Is it the braised duck noodles in aromatic soy broth?
Just Pizza
A hole-in-the wall so low key, at first I walked right past it. Then, waiting for a friend, watch her walk right past it, too. But the pizzas have big presence, with inventive toppings (fig and prosciutto, noted!) and a lovely crust. The chef has Michelin-star experience, worked at a “renown” sourdough bakery in Norway and won a rising star chef award at the Chinese Restaurant Awards this year.
Kozak (READ OUR REVIEW HERE)
There’s the homey comfort in the perogies, cabbage rolls, goulash and other Ukrainian dishes. But there’s also a detour to gastronomic indulgences in the bakery section with items like the jumbo cube (loaf of?) croissant with pastry cream fillings and, dripping with icing, the chocolate babka.
Lamajoun (READ OUR REVIEW HERE)
Not in the most elegant setting (a semi-industrial complex) but the couple who run it, former engineer and architect, make the best pillowy pide (a boat-shaped flat bread with toppings) as well as other dishes such as jingle bread, kebabs, giant dumplings and borek (puff pastry with fillings).
Longtail Kitchen (READ OUR REVIEW HERE)
I do not like the namesake loud, gassy longtail boats in Thailand but I do love this food spot in Riverside Market at Westminster Quay operated by the savvy Angus An (Maenam, Fat Mao, Sen Pad, and Whistler’s Mekong Thai restaurants). The food, served counter-style, is mouth-wateringly good — salt and pepper squid with eggs on rice, Singaporean noodles, green papaya salad.
Marché St. George
Like Alice, you tumble into a quaint wonderland, something like a Parisienne café on Rue Mouffetard. Sequestered in a residential neighbourhood, this café-grocery store offers quiches, crepes, frittatas, croissant sandwiches.
Monarch Burger (READ OUR REVIEW HERE)
Robert Belcham had a haute period (French Laundry, C restaurant, Aerie Resort, Fuel) but now that culinary history goes into his burgers — there are four on the menu. The allure is in the dry-aged pasture-raised B.C. beef and attention to detail. “I’ve taken what I’ve learned and brought it to the burger, with the starting point of my dad buying me a burger after hockey when I was a kid,” he says.
Mogu Fried Chicken (READ OUR REVIEW HERE)
Its life began as a food truck selling the most delicious chicken karaage. The brick and mortar Mogu expands the menu with other chicken dishes and braised beef shortribs in a hot stone rice bowl.
Mount Pleasant Vintage and Provisions (READ OUR REVIEW HERE)
The decor is retro, campy, early Winnipeg and the food is charred, blistered or smoked. The boss of it all is a Grillworks Infierno wood-fired grill. The owner is an accomplished bartender who worked for Daniel Boulud in New York so cocktails have a huge say here. Pair it with a wood-fired hangar steak or fire-charred al pastor pork torta.
Potluck Hawker Eatery (READ OUR REVIEW HERE)
I’ve voiced my unabashed hots for Longtail Kitchen earlier on this list. Well, the owner-chef of Potluck worked as the chef there and at Maenam restaurant. This menu’s about casual southeast Asian dishes, whammed with flavour, like salted egg popcorn chicken, mee goreng, and salted egg-fried chicken sando.
Sula Indian Restaurant (READ OUR REVIEW HERE)
The South Indian dishes show a lot of love, whether it’s street food, dishes blackened from the tandoor, biryani, or individualized curries. The Commercial Drive and Main Street locations feel of old India whereas the newest, on Davie Street, is modern. The cocktails are by Jeff Savage, one of Vancouver’s best bartenders.
Takenaka
Both a food truck and café. Whether it’s the onigiri “omakase” with assorted fillings, or the sushi or bento box with onigiri and seven appetizers, you will waddle by meal’s end. The freezer offers dishes like ramen, udon and curries to heat at home.
Tamaly Shop (READ OUR REVIEW HERE)
The funky room is inspired by the owner’s grandma’s house, in Crayola-gone-mad hues. The “get” is the made-from-scratch tamales, which aren’t easy to come by because of the toilsome process. Enjoy savoury or sweet tamales as well as other Mexican dishes.
Tayybeh (READ OUR REVIEW HERE)
Tayybeh, in Arabic, can mean kind woman or delicious, a perfect fit for this enterprise, run by women who came to Canada as Syrian refugees. Their successful Syrian catering company morphed into a restaurant serving halal food and lots of hot and cold Middle Eastern appetizers, wraps, savoury flatbreads and pies as well as baking. A set menu brunch costs $25.
Yama Cafe
Along with Japanese rice bowls with various toppings, there’s a Japanese set brunch with fish, miso soup, pickles, appetizer, onsen egg, fruit, and choice of rice or salad for $16.95. There’s also a lunch set with sides added to a rice bowl. If you cross the imaginary $25 budget limit, the chef can cook you a $30 omakase bento or $100 omakase dinner with advance notice.
Zab Bite (READ OUR REVIEW HERE)
You’ll be saying “zab mak mak” upon biting into their curries and Northern Thai food. And when something’s delicious, like the crispy pork toast, or crying tiger or drunken noodle dishes, Thai people say “zab mak mak,” or, very good. Zab Bite holds a Michelin recommendation.