An International Escape: Where to Eat, Drink, and Stay in Vancouver

There's something about the water in Vancouver. It touches every aspect of life. Besides keeping the city from falling victim to urban sprawl, the harbor beckons immigrants from across the globe. Its waves produce an abundance of seafood—oysters, scallops, fish, and crab—and along with a moderate climate, the bay and fjords call city dwellers from their high-rises to the outdoors. Like other Northwest ports of call, Vancouver is an outdoorsy city where people live for life, not work. And an emerging culinary culture has given Vancouverites something more to live for: great food.

The chef community here has a deep respect for Pacific Northwest product—there's not a menu we tasted from that didn’t boast Pacific-caught fish, local vegetables, or meat from down the street—but Vancouver chefs have a knack for blending local product with imported spices and techniques to form an East-meets-West cuisine that’s at once global and distinctively Vancouver. Restaurants with a more classically Western approach celebrate product and diversity with equal measure—we tasted with French, Austrian, German, British, and (honorary) Italian chefs.

Add to that our Indian, Chinese, Thai, and Malaysian tastings, and you may as well cue up "It’s a Small World" before service. Small or not, Vancouver is a city with exciting flavors and travel-worthy cuisine.