Restaurants in Canada
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A
Bin 942
This tiny but exceedingly cozy lounge is a convivial late-night hangout if you fancy a few dishes of food and a bottle or two of wine with chatty friends. Among the best ‘tapatizers’ are sashimi-style ahi tuna and portobello mushroom cutlets, which pair perfectly with a select array of good beers – the Russell Brewing Cream Ale is best – and a compact but well-chosen wine list of Australian, Californian, European and BC tipples. Expect to stay for a few hours if you’re in the mood for a relaxing wind-down.
reviewed
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B
Mildred Pearce
In a former book-binding warehouse in an industrial tumbleweed pocket of West Queen West, Mildred Pearce is an unexpected treasure. Shimmering drapes reach floor-to-ceiling, framing full-wall murals of medieval feasting scenes. Super-courteous staff deliver meaty mains like pan-seared veal liver with bacon-roasted fingerling potatoes, rapini, Roquefort and thyme shallot jus ($26). Wine is served in shimmering balloons polished like diamonds. Who's Mildred? She's the fictional character Joan Crawford played in her 1945 Oscar- winning role.
reviewed
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C
Auberge du Pommier
A culinary college for Toronto's best chefs, graceful Auberge du Pommier is constructed from a pair of 19th-century woodcutters' cottages. Plates of roast lamb loin with olive tapenade and Provençal vegetables ($38), and butter-poached lobster glazed with citrus and tarragon ($40) look like they should be in a gallery (or at least a cookbook). Wine selections focus on French vintages, plus a few Niagara labels. It's a long hike from the city centre north of the intersection of Yonge St and York Mills Rd, opposite William Carson Cres.
reviewed
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D
Blue Water Café
Under the expert eye of chef Frank Pabst, this high-concept seafood restaurant has become Vancouver's best posh oyster bar and the pinnacle of Yaletown fine dining. House music gently percolates through the brick-lined, cobalt-blue interior, while seafood towers, arctic char and BC sablefish grace the tables inside and on the patio outside. If you feel like an adventure, head for the semicircular raw bar and watch the whirling blades prepare delectable sushi and sashimi, served with the restaurant's signature soya-seaweed dipping sauce.
reviewed
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Mazurka
This Polish place has kept generations of students filled with cheap and hearty fare. The menu features pierogy and meat or cheese blintzes (filled pancake rolls), Polish sausage, potato latkes, or the restaurant’s namesake, mazurkas (potato latkes filled with beef goulash). Make sure to wash it all down with one of Poland’s most famous exports, Zubrowka, a vodka flavored with bison grass. The restaurant is a sprawling place, with nearly 200 seats over four levels and paintings from the Old Country on the walls.
reviewed
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Tojo's
Hidekazu Tojo's legendary skill with the sushi knife has created Vancouver's most revered Japanese restaurant, in a city that's probably the best in the world for this particular culinary art form outside Tokyo. Among his exquisite dishes are favorites such as lightly steamed monkfish, sautéed halibut cheeks and fried red tuna wrapped with seaweed and served with plum sauce. It's a sleek and sophisticated room and seats at both the sake bar and omakaze sushi bar can be hard to come by on weekend nights: book ahead by phone.
reviewed
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Stella's Bierstro
More of a sit-down restaurant than its bar-esque older brother on Commercial Dr, this inviting bistro-style room combines a wood-lined interior (dominated by an imposing stag painting) and two street-side patios. The more extensive menu includes excellent maple syrup–glazed pork loin chops, while weekends draw locals looking for brunch of the eggs Benedict and huevos rancheros (ranch-style) variety. Befitting its Belgian-beer background, there's also an outstanding booze menu with continental and Canadian treats a'plenty.
reviewed
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Le Lapin Sauté
If you only splash out once in Québec City, do it at this cozy restaurant specializing in country cooking. Naturally, le lapin (rabbit) lasagna and sausages are available, but so are duck, salmon and chicken, and there's maple syrup crème brûlée for dessert. In good weather you can sit on the flowery patio, overlooking tiny Félix Leclerc park.
reviewed
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Tutto Gelato
There’s a reason people line up halfway out the door at all hours for Tutto Gelato. The creamy, rich, homemade ice cream here is simply too good to pass up. Over two dozen varieties of the Italian-style gelato and nine different sorbets (plus four soy-based varieties for the vegan crowd) vie for attention behind the glass counters. Top picks include fraise des champs (wild strawberries), passion fruit, pistachio, Bacio (milk chocolate and hazelnut) and green tea. Young, efficient staff move things along quickly.
reviewed
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Le Piton de la Fournaise
Le Piton de La Fournaise introduces Montréal to the cuisine of Île de la Réunion (which lies off the east coast of Madagascar). For a taste of the exotic, this bamboo- and flower-filled restaurant is it. The fragrant cuisine (spiced with turmeric, ginger, garlic and red pepper) shows influences of African, French and Indian dishes, though goes easy on the heat. The menu features only seven dishes, all expertly prepared, though shark curry and octopus stew are perennial favorites. BYOB. Reservations recommended.
reviewed
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Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co
If you’ve ever wondered what expensive but decadently gourmet pizza would taste like, now’s your chance to find out. This family-friendly West Coast–looking eatery serves pies created with mostly organic ingredients and absolutely no additives, GMOs or trans-fatty acids. They still taste good, though. Varieties such as ‘rosemary chicken’ and the salmon-and-lobster ‘Meet the Ocean’ prove popular, and there are pastas and salads available to stop you pigging out entirely on pies.
reviewed
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Glowbal Grill Steak & Satay
Casting a wide net that catches the power-lunch, after-work and late-night fashionista crowds, this hip but unpretentious joint has a comfortable, lounge-like feel. Its menu of classy dishes fuses West Coast ingredients with Asian and Mediterranean flourishes – the prawn linguine is ace and the finger-licking array of satay sticks is a recommended starter. Check the glass-walled meat cellar on the counter and choose your desired steak cut, and make sure you head to the back-room Afterglow bar for a nightcap.
reviewed
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Largo Resto-Club
Rich wood tones and exposed brick create a warm ambience at this welcoming restaurant in the heart of St-Roch. The menu is small, featuring simple ingredients, but the preparation is excellent, making for a rewarding dining experience. Tartelette de canard (savory duck pie), seafood linguini and grilled squid with vegetables and polenta are popular selections. Catch live music here Thursday through Saturday nights. The Largo Resto-Club also does gallery duty, showing off the work of local painters and sculptors.
reviewed
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Sandbar
A vast array of West Coast seafood heads the menu at this long-established, high-ceilinged restaurant-with-a-view tucked under the iron arches of Granville Bridge. The fresh oysters are justifiably popular and they're best sampled on the fireplace-warmed rooftop deck – there's also a sushi bar if your raw mood continues. The giant wine list is also something to write home about, but the urban professionals crowding the U-shaped bar on weekends seem more interested in quaffing cocktails. A good romantic dinner spot.
reviewed
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Nyala
While the slow-cooked goat stew and mafe (a spicy Creole-style chicken dish with tomato, ochre and hot chili) are menu mainstays at this 20-year-old city favorite, the recently added vegetarian buffet is making waves among veggies and carnivores alike. Available thrice weekly for dinner ($18.50), it’s a bargain $9.50 lunch (Tuesday to Sunday only) and includes stews, salads, tabbouleh and Ethiopian flat bread. Check out the colorful African décor and the traditional clay pots made by the owner.
reviewed
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Enzo Sushi
One of Québec City’s best (and priciest) sushi restaurants, Enzo receives rave reviews for its mouthwateringly fresh sushi and sashimi. In addition to the classics, house specialties feature inventive sushi combinations like homard grillé (grilled lobster with fish roe, cucumber, lettuce and spicy mayonnaise). There are a few tempura and teriyaki dishes for nonsushi lovers. Start the meal off with a sake martini or a soho martini (vodka and lychee juice) or head straight for the wine list.
reviewed
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Q
Sushi Aoki
It’s hard to believe that such a tiny restaurant would have the kind of extensive menu usually found in places 10 times bigger, but Sushi Aoki is a fancy-free yet recommended nook that knows exactly how to do the business. Using only the freshest fish (it flies in what it can’t source locally), the chefs artfully craft rolls such as the signature shrimp with mayonnaise and apricot sauce and the fab rainbow roll of salmon, clam, tuna and sea bass. Ask for menu recommendations from the friendly owners.
reviewed
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Foundation
This lively vegetarian (mostly vegan) noshery is where artsy students and chin-stroking young intellectuals like to hang. Despite the clientele, it's not at all pretentious (apart from the philosophical quotes adorning the walls) and its mismatched Formica tables are often topped with dishes like the giant, finger-licking Utopian Nachos, spicy black bean burgers or hearty house-made curries – called Revolutionary Rations on the menu. Vancouver's Storm Brewing beers are also served (go for the Scottish Cream Ale).
reviewed
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Planet Veg
The Indian owners of this small and friendly vegetarian café bake rather than fry their samosas and fill them with wholesome ingredients such as spinach and tofu. Their roti rules – try the Katmandu roll, filled with cabbage and mixed veggies and lined with fried noodles and jalapeno cilantro chutney. The hot pots with rice and the tasty veggie burgers, flavored with yam and apple chutney, are good value. All can be packed up and carried around the corner to Vanier Park for a picnic with the birds.
reviewed
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Au Petit Chavignol
Oddly located on a humdrum strip of scruffy neighborhood shops, this exemplary cheese and wine restaurant is the best place in town to indulge your curd addiction. Twinned with the top-notch cheese shop next door, it's a loungey but unpretentious little room where the friendly staffers happily guide you through an eye-popping array of local and international cheese and charcuterie, available per-selection or in 'flights' of three or five. Expert wine accompaniments – Rieslings are favored – are also offered.
reviewed
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Cincin
A favored haunt of Hollywood types, casual yet elegant CinCin is the restaurant where you’re most likely to find yourself standing next to Robin Williams at the urinal. Don’t let that put you off, though. The Tuscan-brushed seasonal menu often includes delectable Salt Spring Island mussels and tender Fraser Valley duck, while gourmet alder-smoked pizzas are another favorite – the wild salmon variety is recommended. There’s also a tempting 800-bottle wine menu to keep you merry.
reviewed
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Explorer's Cafe
This fantastic restaurant features comfort food from all over the globe (including a meatloaf called 'the mattress'). The walls are covered with an incredible range of souvenirs including African tribal masks and photos from Arctic expeditions. Meals range from savory Southeast Asian noodles to spicy Caribbean cuisine, and the menu boasts the largest wine list north of Via Allegro (ie Toronto). Dubbed 'the shack in the back,' the place is set back from King St; if you're a good explorer, you'll find it.
reviewed
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Toqué!
Chef Normand Laprise has earned rave reviews for his innovative recipes based on products sourced from local farms. Even his desserts excite, created around fresh fruit with surprises like basil highlights. The bright, wide-open dining room has high ceilings accented by playful splashes of color, with a glass-enclosed wine cave with suspended bottles looming front and center. The seven-course menu dégustation ($92) is the pinnacle of dining in Montréal – allow three hours for the feast.
reviewed
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W
Laurie Raphaël
This highly respected restaurant features a blend of produits du terroir (local Québec produce), along with international accents. Delectable favorites include giant scallops with coconut milk and exotic fruits, and lamb with mint and anise. Chef Daniel Vézina keeps menu descriptions to the minimum, saying he wants to ‘leave room for imagination and discovery.’ There’s also a spontaneous chef’s menu ($60) ‘for those that like to be surprised.’
reviewed
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X
Stanley's Park Bar & Grill
Overlooking the gardens and the Malkin Bowl outdoor theater, this casual summer-only resto-bar in the Tudor-style pavilion building has the park's biggest outdoor patio, although the view is dense forest rather than rippling seafront. A comfort-food menu that mirrors the Prospect Point Café (they share the same owner) means everything from burgers to steaks as well as a good range of Whistler Brewing beers and cocktail slushies. This is a good spot for a relaxing drink at the end of your park visit.
reviewed