MICHELIN Guide Inspectors spend all year on the road uncovering the best restaurants to recommend—and their discoveries are too good to keep secret. With the full 2023 MICHELIN Guide Vancouver selection coming up this autumn, we wanted to spread the news about 6 new additions spread across Vancouver.
Whether it's classics like baked oysters with creamed spinach at Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar or steakhouses with butcher shops (where they also source their meat from) next door, it's clear that Vancouver's gastronomic landscape is getting more delicious every day. So don't miss out on these newest additions, and make sure to come back later this year to see the full selection and distinctions. Bon appétit!
Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar
Cuisine: Seafood
It's large, with several dining spaces bearing distinctive styles, but Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar ties it all together with chic, modern ease. Whether it's the imported hand-painted tile floors and marble-topped bars, the romantic lighting or the buttery leather seating, luxurious details abound. The versatile menu is as instantly likeable as the setting. Discover classics like baked oysters with creamed spinach, garlic bread crumbs and wild oregano. House-made pasta is tucked with a bevy of seafood, including Pacific white prawns, Humboldt squid, clams and mussels, while Calabrian chili bread crumbs deliver an enjoyable kick of heat. Whole cauliflower, roasted in curry leaves with green chutney and coconut turmeric sauce, is a veritable celebration of the vegetable.
Elisa
Cuisine: Steakhouse
Situated in the heart of Yaletown, this stunning steakhouse welcomes guests to an inviting space, where contemporary style blends with serious chops, quite literally. The butcher shop next door isn't just for show—it's a defining principle of this kitchen that sources only the best. Bite into the thoroughly enjoyable Dungeness crab spring roll before considering something from their tartare menu, which runs the gamut from traditional and vegetable-focused to gamey smoked bison from Turtle Valley. Steaks are sourced locally in British Columbia and from the U.S., and there is a selection of Japanese wagyu for deep-pocketed diners. The Vancouver cut, bone-in tenderloin is just perfect, though beef Wellington or Nonna's coniglio brasato are also good choices.
Moltaqa
Cuisine: Moroccan
Located in one of Vancouver's hippest dining areas, Moltaqa is where Moroccan hospitality shines. The space has several nooks and crannies for seating, so even when the house is full, it still feels intimate, and warm service encourages lingering. The menu brims with tempting options. Bite into a flaky chicken pastilla, a dome-shaped phyllo pastry stuffed with shredded chicken and blanched almonds. Dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon, it's the perfect balance of sweet and savory. The vegetarian platter delivers everything from tomato and pepper salad and eggplant filled with walnuts to a hearty, thick split pea soup and harira soup with lentils and chickpeas in a tomato base. To finish, you'll never go wrong with a square of crisp baklava.
Seaport City Seafood
Cuisine: Chinese
Enter off Cambie Street and climb a set of stairs to reach Seaport City Seafood, an elegant dining room where pristine fish tanks entice and enchant. It's an upscale setting that attracts a moneyed crowd, with tables set with white cloths and gleaming chandeliers overhead. It is best known for dim sum, which leans traditional while also delivering a fresh and elevated perspective. Case in point? The black truffle fried wild rice, an exciting and contemporary take on an old favorite. Bubbling congee is the ultimate comfort dish; steamed pork ribs are crispy-creamy with irresistible umami; and baked barbecue pork pastry is a winner. Stir-fried cumin lamb shank is a can't miss meal, and if you still have room left for dessert, choose the durian mochi or sponge cake with taro paste.
Keep an eye if ordering off the menu, since dim sum offers the value at both lunch and dinner.
Tetsu Sushi Bar
Cuisine: Japanese
Omakase is typically an intimate affair, but at Testu Sushi Bar, only three lucky diners are served at once by two young and talented chefs. This isn't a hipster hangout—there's nothing flashy or trendy about this simple yet tasteful spot. While you won't find gold flakes or caviar gilding the lily, you will discover exceptional quality. The meal begins with a quartet of cool openers including poached Spanish mackerel with mountain potato and seawood sauce; coins of tender octopus in soy-dashi; Japanese cherry trout with battera kelp; and firefly squid with creamy miso-vinaigrette. Nigiri is crafted with care, with standouts including aged-smoked goldeneye snapper, bigfin reef squid with yuzu, and creamy cutlass fish.
Wildlight Kitchen + Bar
Cuisine: North American
Wildlight Kitchen + Bar is at the center of the quickly growing community of leləm̓ Village. This light-filled space is enhanced with natural and organic decorative elements, but the relaxed sophistication belies the serious nature of Chef Warren Chow's kitchen, where sourcing is paramount. Begin with a stunning charcuterie board that substitutes seafood for the ubiquitous meat to snack on everything from house-made salmon pastrami, marinated Salt Spring Island mussels, and pickled sea asparagus to tataki of smoked albacore tuna and cod rillette topped with cured ikura. A thick fillet of Gindara sablefish rests over soba noodles with baby bok choy for a main dish that is deeply satisfying. Finally, go for broke and order both the caramelized honey cheesecake with cardamom granola crust and the lemon tart.
Hero image: Leila Kwok/Tetsu Sushi Bar
