Home to one of the world's largest urban parks and unbeatable scenic views, it's no surprise that Vancouver has become both a popular tourist and filming destination. And with such a thriving restaurant and hotel scene, there is no better time than the present to visit.
That's why we've rounded up the tastiest MICHELIN Guide spots in town, what to order, and where to stay afterwards. The best part? We've grouped them up conveniently so that they are all within walking distance. And if you want to learn more about Vancouver's growing gastronomic scene, from fifteen cuisines to try in Vancity to chef/owner Mike Robbins of One MICHELIN Star AnnaLena's go-to spots, we've got you covered.
Yaletown
Okeya Kyujiro
Cuisine: Japanese
Hosts dressed in stunning traditional clothing guide you to a dark room, lit only by the faintest glow from votive candles. A black curtain is raised ceremoniously only when the clock strikes the precise minute of your seating. These are the first clues that this is far from your typical omakase. From the premium, hyper-seasonal fish to the demonstration of sasagiri (traditional Japanese bamboo leaf carving), it is a memorable show from start to finish.
Inspector notes: "Highlights include chawanmushi with crab, shatteringly crispy tempura sandbar fish, spicy firefly squid on a bamboo skewer, and a presentation of two uni petals from different Japanese waters served with seaweed jam."
Cioppino's
Cuisine: Italian
When there’s a business deal to close or in-laws to impress, look no further than Cioppino’s. The menu offers a roll call of classic Italian and Mediterranean dishes, from calamari and cannoli to prosciutto and pappardelle; all executed with care and craftmanship using locally sourced and seasonal ingredients.
Inspector notes: "One taste of the deliciously silky and expertly rendered gnocchi cacio e pepe will result in your abandoning any attempts at mastering this Roman classic at home and vowing instead to simply always come to Cioppino’s whenever you fancy it."
Elisa
Cuisine: Steakhouse
Situated in the heart of Yaletown, this stunning steakhouse is 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.
Inspector notes: "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."
Moltaqa
Cuisine: Moroccan
Located in one of Vancouver's hippest dining areas, Moltaqa is where Moroccan hospitality shines. The menu brims with tempting options.
Inspector notes: "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."
Fanny Bay Oyster Bar
Cuisine: Seafood
It doesn't get much more tide to table than Fanny Bay Oyster Bar. This menu features some of the best shellfish and seafood-driven entrees around. Should your shucking skills be slightly rusty, they'll gladly offer a primer.
Inspector notes: "Whether perched at the bar or settled in at a table, raw bar items should be top of mind. Prefer cooked items? The grilled oysters, served hot and bubbly, shellacked with Creole butter and a fresh herb-flavored gremolata, will float your boat."
Stay nearby:
Opus Hotel Vancouver
In a perfect world Vancouver might have a half-dozen hotels like this — but in the real world we’ve got to make do with just one. Opus Hotel Vancouver is, first of all, quite possibly the best-located hotel in town — its Yaletown neighborhood is full of life, packed with hip restaurants, cafés, galleries, and shops, and has a visual character that’s far more appealing than Vancouver’s central business district. And this character includes the Opus itself, a stylish contemporary structure whose brick-fronted facade lends it an extra measure of inviting warmth, a hint at what’s inside.
Book Opus Hotel Vancouver on The MICHELIN Guide →
the DOUGLAS, Autograph Collection
Just to the east of Vancouver’s hip Yaletown district is Parq Vancouver, a mixed-use entertainment and hospitality development right alongside BC Place, the city’s major-league soccer and football stadium. Set in an eye-catching modern glass tower, the Douglas is a luxury hotel with boutique-hotel aspirations, its interiors a mélange of classic modernism and quasi-industrial loft aesthetics. It’s blessed with an expansive spa and fitness center, a generous handful of lively restaurants and bars, and access to the rest of Parq Vancouver, which contains several more restaurants and bars as well as a casino.
Book the DOUGLAS, Autograph Collection on The MICHELIN Guide →
Downtown
Homer St. Cafe
Cuisine: Contemporary
Nestled within a hip neighborhood, Homer St. Cafe entices with its inviting patio, but step inside and and you'll quickly see that this contemporary bistro is no slouch indoors, either. Equal parts trendy and quirky, with chairs doubling as wall hangings, Homer St. Cafe delivers on its promise of comfort food done really well.
Inspector notes: "The rotisserie chicken is the draw, brined in their signature sauce overnight to render tender, flavorful meat. Order it half or whole and then tuck in to the crispy skin doused in gravy or buttermilk ranch. Sided by fluffy, buttery biscuits, it's a stick-to-your-ribs satisfying meal."
per se Social Corner
Cuisine: Italian
They may occupy a corner location, but this well-run establishment deserves center stage. It's the sort of place where you might pop in for a tapa or two one night, then return a few nights later to tuck into a heartier pasta. Service is accommodating and friendly, and the menu is loaded with items that will please many diners.
Inspector notes: "Hummus is sized generously and served with warm, freshly made flatbread. Salads, such as the heritage greens with crispy goat cheese and candied walnuts, are lovingly made. Lobster & crab ravioli in a chipotle coconut milk reduction is a top pick, while come dessert, you'll be debating between the tiramisu or pizza di Nutella."
Café Medina
Cuisine: Contemporary
The clink of glasses, the hissing steam of the cappuccino maker, even the shuffling back and forth to the counter by loyal patrons...Café Medina hums with activity all day long. This casual spot attracts locals who flock here for hearty Mediterranean-style fare. Mornings are especially great here—it's when egg dishes take center stage.
Inspector notes: "Once seated, don't waste any time deciding, as the paella is a must order. Inspired by the Spanish classic, their version is made with orzo flecked with cubes of smoky, spicy chorizo, roasted vegetables, avocado and a textbook-perfect fried egg."
acquafarina
Cuisine: Italian
With lofty ceilings and a business casual dress code, this downtown Italian restaurant has equally lofty ambitions. This wasn’t always the plan: Chef Jefferson Alvarez originally meant to open as a pizzeria, which explains the large wood-burning ovens perched up above the room. But this pivot to fine dining is less severe than it seems.
Inspector notes: "The kitchen shines brightest at more straightforward preparations, like a wonderful, chilled tomato soup with Spanish ham or delicate pasta dressed simply."
Sushi Jin
Cuisine: Japanese
A nondescript facade and a location tucked amidst forgettable neighbors mean you could miss Sushi Jin, but don't. This place is tiny but mighty, with room for just six at the bar, plus two additional tables. It is something of a local secret, but those in the know come here for traditional Japanese served with a distinctive voice.
Inspector notes: "Ankimo in a ponzu bath is brilliantly simple yet luxurious, followed up by miso soup in lobster broth that is far from humdrum. Nigiri, from hirame to anago, balance sweet and salty, but the otoro with Hokkaido uni and white baby prawn is as pretty as it is pleasing."
Bacchus
Cuisine: Contemporary
Bacchus is very special indeed. Cocooned inside the Wedgewood Hotel & Spa, this elegant restaurant is the kind of place where quotidian concerns immediately disappear. Just off the intimate lobby, where stunning flower arrangements, a glittering chandelier and marble reception area exude tasteful luxury, Bacchus transports guests to a more refined era. Of course, it's not all style and no substance; Chef Montgomery Lau turns out classic but memorable dishes.
Inspector notes: "Humble tomato soup is elevated; halibut from Haida Gwaii delivers a clean, sweet flavor complemented by a cool "chopped salad" of shaved apples, anise-sweet roasted fennel, beets and cucumber."
Stay nearby:
Rosewood Hotel Georgia (Two MICHELIN Key)
The film business in Vancouver is booming. Which is why it’s surprising, and a delight, to realize that a landmark hotel like the Rosewood Hotel Georgia — then simply the Hotel Georgia — hosted the likes of Laurence Olivier and John Wayne. Marlene Dietrich showed up at reception with an entourage and forty suitcases. Bing Crosby slept here, as did Elvis, and Nat King Cole, and Frank Sinatra, and the Rolling Stones. Katharine Hepburn, who dined in the privacy of her room and, of course, only wore pants, reportedly introduced the very concept of “room service” to the hotel, and singlehandedly modified the ladies’ dress code.
Book Rosewood Hotel Georgia on The MICHELIN Guide →
Wedgewood Hotel (One MICHELIN Key)
Unlike many of Vancouver’s hotels, the Wedgewood is a privately owned boutique, decorated and still overseen by the daughters of its original founder, a Greek-born Vancouver businesswoman. And in contrast to the city’s modern business hotels, this place is all European-style pomp and old-world elegance, beginning with the antique furnishings, Persian rugs, and carved stone desk of the reception.
Book Wedgewood Hotel on The MICHELIN Guide →
L'Hermitage Hotel
Though like any West Coast city Vancouver is perhaps known for its funky side, its youthful side, its design-happy hipster side, it’s also a city that can do grown-up with the best of them. This is no less true in the hospitality world than it is in any area of life. A case in point is L’Hermitage, an absolutely classic small luxury hotel, right in the middle of downtown.
West End
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.
Inspector notes: "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."
Hawksworth Restaurant
Cuisine: Contemporary
Respected native son Chef David Hawksworth helms this eponymous restaurant nestled inside the posh Rosewood Hotel Georgia. Enter through the lobby or directly from Georgia Street into an elegant bar where guests who look as if they just stepped off a fashion shoot sip well-crafted drinks.
Inspector notes: "Agnolotti with hazelnut & celery foam is almost too pretty to eat, but then you'd miss the earthy umami of the roasted king oyster mushrooms."
Nightingale
Cuisine: Contemporary
A lofty, stylish room and downtown locale attract no shortage of business lunches, but this songbird is also a pitch-perfect fit for relaxed meals among friends. The name references a fable that gives us the proverb “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” and an approachable menu of rustic fare aims to make the most of the season with a bounty of shareable plates.
Inspector notes: "A wood-fired oven leaves its mark on beautifully blistered Roman-style pizzas, as well as imparting a trace of smoke to impeccably sourced local produce, as in roasted carrots with spiced honey, or cauliflower with sunflower seeds and caper raisin vinaigrette."
Carlino
Cuisine: Italian
It’s only fitting that this verdant sanctuary should be tucked away on a terrace of the Shangri-La Hotel, offering a sense of placid elegance. The cuisine is inspired by Friuli, in Northern Italy (as well as neighboring Trentino-Alto Adige and Veneto) and reflects the area’s Slavic and Germanic influences—think braised cabbage agrodolce with pork cutlet Milanese. The menu displays a typically Italian devotion to simplicity, celebrating seasonal produce from local farms.
Inspector notes: "Freshly made pastas are a feature, in particular regional specialties like cjarsons, a half-moon shape that might be filled with creamy beet puree and gilded with poppy seed butter."
Stay nearby:
Shangri-la Hotel, Vancouver (One MICHELIN Key)
The days of the purpose-built luxury hotel just might be behind us. The Shangri-La Vancouver is built, as is increasingly common, on the Asian model — as a part of a mixed-use skyscraper, incorporating offices, retail, dining and residential space in addition to the fifteen hotel floors. The big difference is that unlike, say, Tokyo, where the hotel floors tend to be the topmost, here they’re the bottom ones; in low-slung Vancouver, though, there are still views to be had from the bottom quarter of the building.
Book Shangri-la Hotel, Vancouver on The MICHELIN Guide →
Exchange Hotel Vancouver
Downtown Vancouver’s financial district is no place for funky little boutique hotels — EXchange Hotel Vancouver is pure international urban luxury, set in a skyscraper built atop the 1929 shell of the Vancouver Stock Exchange building. The interiors are contemporary-luxe, with a pronounced Art Deco accent, and they’re glamorous but not excessively racy; the rooms and suites seem equally well suited to a romantic city weekend or a style-conscious work trip. (Business travelers might skip the Martini Rooms, with their in-room self-serve bars, unless they’re submitting their expenses to Sterling Cooper.) The hotel’s restaurant, Hydra, named for the Greek island, serves Mediterranean fare made from local products as well as Greek and Cypriot imports.
Coal Harbour
Sushi Masuda
Cuisine: Japanese
Entering this humble five-seat counter that is tucked in the corner of an unrelated restaurant and through the glass doors of a print shop serves as a pointed reminder not to judge a book by its cover. The plain, spare room is brought to life by the artfully simple, meticulous preparations of Chef Yoji Masuda, whose time spent in a top counter in Tokyo is amply apparent, though his own personality comes through.
Inspector notes: "With the assistance of his wife Akari, who provides a warm, attentive hospitality, the meal proceeds gracefully, from an indulgent savory "pudding" of sweet, pure-tasting monkfish liver to a wonderfully gelatinous beltfish cooked with sake and kombu, before arriving at the impeccable nigiri, which showcase exceptional ingredients alongside a singular delicacy and precision."
Archer
Cuisine: Contemporary
Nestled alongside high-end retailers in the posh shopping district, Archer fits right in. It's sexy and sultry here, where natural materials are abundant, white-washed walls are adorned with contemporary art, and dark wood tables are set with leather-covered chairs. The kitchen gives local and seasonal ingredients the royal treatment in classic preparations like seared sablefish served with snow crab yuzu butter and crab chowder.
Inspector notes: "In addition to offering a prix fixe, à la carte offerings include lush items such as creamy uni and ribbons of lardo atop toasted brioche, and a tenderloin cooked to perfection accompanied by pomme paillasson. Go for broke and add Hokkaido scallop for a luxe touch."
Bacaro
Cuisine: Italian
From its marble-clad entrance to its modern furnishings and bright colors, bacaro bridges cool elegance and simplicity, and blends right in with the upscale lobby of the Fairmont Pacific Rim. The address may be Vancouver, but this spot is decidedly Venetian with its menu leaning toward the art of cicchetti, or small bites enjoyed on the go while quaffing a glass of wine.
Inspector notes: "Some of the best include sardines in saor, and fusilloni, enrobed in a veal and pork ragu with chanterelles and red wine-braised snails, is nothing short of divine."
The Lobby Lounge & RawBar
Cuisine: Japanese
In one of the city's top hotels (Fairmont Pacific Rim), find one of its hottest hangouts, The Lobby Lounge and RawBar. It makes a big impression, and not just because of its expansive space. Snuggle up by the two-sided fireplace, nab a seat by the stage, where nightly live music is performed, or pull up a chair at the marble bar—it's all on offer. The best part? It's not just about good looks and sensational sips.
Inspector notes: "Snack on a variety of sushi, including salmon motoyaki, a signature roll with chopped wild sockeye, steelhead trout, avocado, cucumber and warm motoyaki sauce. Miso soup is a good bet for a cold night, and braised local octopus is a simple delight."
Botanist
Cuisine: Contemporary
Glide through the elegant lobby and up the sweeping staircase of the Fairmont Pacific Rim to arrive at Botanist, where dressing up is de rigueur. Headed by the passionate Chef Hector Laguna, the kitchen takes great pride in sourcing the best local product, whether it's wild, locally caught seafood or produce from the Fraser Valley.
Inspector notes: "Every dish on this modern Canadian menu is delightful, but some of the standouts include hand-cut tagliatelle bathed in a mushroom sauce and crowned with wild mushroom ragout. Pan-seared striploin is perfectly cooked, resting alongside a tender cabbage roulade stuffed with lush beef tongue, Chinese broccoli and spicy XO sauce."
Stay nearby:
Loden Hotel (One MICHELIN Key)
Many hotels in Vancouver can boast breathtaking views — this town is nothing if not topographically gifted. However, the district of Coal Harbour on the north edge of downtown has a slight edge on the rest. Think of it as stadium seating for the panorama that unfolds across the Burrard Inlet. Coal Harbour itself is a tony spot well worth an evening stroll; recently redeveloped with parks and a marina, the neighborhood boasts a sophisticated collection of towers with a level of design not commonly found in North American cities, and in one of these sleek glass towers you’ll find the Loden Hotel.
Book Loden Hotel on The MICHELIN Guide →
Fairmont Pacific Rim
One of the most modern, most stylish, and most luxurious of the Fairmont properties is the Pacific Rim, set on Vancouver’s waterfront, offering extraordinary views of the city skyline, Stanley Park, the Burrard Inlet, and the North Shore mountains. The modern architecture is adorned with plentiful contemporary art, and while the rooms and suites are a touch traditional (in typical Fairmont style) they’re full of high-end comforts, from Stearns & Foster beds to lavish, spa-like marble bathrooms. Along with a vast spa and fitness center it’s got a handful of highly regarded restaurants and bars, including the city’s first fully sustainable sushi bar.
Hero image: Fairmont Pacific Rim
