Vancouver for my 30th! April Edition(13-18)
February 17, 2017 6:48 AM Subscribe
Iam turning an senile old age of 30 and decided Vancouver should my getaway. Will be there from the 13th night to 18th morning. How should I celebrate and what should I see/do?
Hiking places, fav restaurants, breweries are welcome suggestions. Also noticed the Sakura cherry blossom festival will be in town
Best answer: https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/
Tons of info there, beware of a few trolls however.
Breweries: Go for a tasting at Storm Brewing, especially at night, especially on a weekend, trust me.
Hiking: Quarry Rock
Saturday Night: The heart of Saturday night Vancouver is walking Granville Street, it is filthy and fun and is where you will see locals being locals.
Food: No idea what you like, these are not crazy expensive places....
Food Sushi: there are a hundred great places, seriously. My favourite is Kishimoto, there will be a line but add your name and give your phone number then head a block south a have a beer at Cafe Deux Soleils, the restaurant will call when you have a table.
Food Cocktails: The Diamond, The Emerald, The Pourhouse, The Kiefer Bar
Food Italian: Savino Volpe, you will need a reservation
Food French: Les Faux Bourgeois
Food Vietnamese: Mr. Red
Food Coffee: Timbertrain, Revolver
Food Cheap: Hastings Warehouse, everything is $4.99 and the food is fine, place is fun.
Food Bakery: Purebread... I have banned myself from Purebread, too dangerous
posted by Cosine at 8:53 AM on February 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
Tons of info there, beware of a few trolls however.
Breweries: Go for a tasting at Storm Brewing, especially at night, especially on a weekend, trust me.
Hiking: Quarry Rock
Saturday Night: The heart of Saturday night Vancouver is walking Granville Street, it is filthy and fun and is where you will see locals being locals.
Food: No idea what you like, these are not crazy expensive places....
Food Sushi: there are a hundred great places, seriously. My favourite is Kishimoto, there will be a line but add your name and give your phone number then head a block south a have a beer at Cafe Deux Soleils, the restaurant will call when you have a table.
Food Cocktails: The Diamond, The Emerald, The Pourhouse, The Kiefer Bar
Food Italian: Savino Volpe, you will need a reservation
Food French: Les Faux Bourgeois
Food Vietnamese: Mr. Red
Food Coffee: Timbertrain, Revolver
Food Cheap: Hastings Warehouse, everything is $4.99 and the food is fine, place is fun.
Food Bakery: Purebread... I have banned myself from Purebread, too dangerous
posted by Cosine at 8:53 AM on February 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
I will second Japadog. It's fantastic.
There are some great breweries in Vancouver but the place I will recommend going to is 33 Acres. Especially on the weekend because they do brunch and it's superb. Their beer waffles are fantastic and I have never, ever been disappointed with them. Also maybe check out The Shameful Tiki which is my girlfriend and I's favourite place for drinks in the city. Be careful though, two drinks is enough, anything more and you're heading into some dangerous territory.
Eat sushi! There isn't a lot of bad sushi in Vancouver and our mediocre stuff is better than most other cities.
The UBC Endowment Lands are beautiful if you'd like to take a leisurely walk. There's also the Seawall. You can start out at Granville Island and pretty much walk for hours before it ends. (You should also check out Granville Island and especially the market there. There's also a sake maker who makes really great sake and a newish distillery that makes some pretty good stuff.)
posted by Neronomius at 8:53 AM on February 17, 2017
There are some great breweries in Vancouver but the place I will recommend going to is 33 Acres. Especially on the weekend because they do brunch and it's superb. Their beer waffles are fantastic and I have never, ever been disappointed with them. Also maybe check out The Shameful Tiki which is my girlfriend and I's favourite place for drinks in the city. Be careful though, two drinks is enough, anything more and you're heading into some dangerous territory.
Eat sushi! There isn't a lot of bad sushi in Vancouver and our mediocre stuff is better than most other cities.
The UBC Endowment Lands are beautiful if you'd like to take a leisurely walk. There's also the Seawall. You can start out at Granville Island and pretty much walk for hours before it ends. (You should also check out Granville Island and especially the market there. There's also a sake maker who makes really great sake and a newish distillery that makes some pretty good stuff.)
posted by Neronomius at 8:53 AM on February 17, 2017
For a long walk with with stunning views, start at the Granville bridge and walk clockwise all around the edge of the West End (including Stanley Park).
We had great food and cocktails at Bao Bei in Chinatown.
Definitely go to the Museum of Anthropology at UBC.
posted by rtha at 9:21 AM on February 17, 2017
We had great food and cocktails at Bao Bei in Chinatown.
Definitely go to the Museum of Anthropology at UBC.
posted by rtha at 9:21 AM on February 17, 2017
rtha! Yes, I meant to add Bao Bei for modern Chinese, the best steak tartar I have ever had.
posted by Cosine at 9:24 AM on February 17, 2017
posted by Cosine at 9:24 AM on February 17, 2017
The Chinese Garden is a good place for a serenity break.
posted by praemunire at 9:27 AM on February 17, 2017
posted by praemunire at 9:27 AM on February 17, 2017
Best answer: I moved to Vancouver not quite 3 years ago (after visiting in-laws here for years and becoming besotted with the place) and I still pinch myself that I get to live here. Happy to add recommendations via MeMail.
Last year the cherry blossoms were long over by April, but the festival is scheduled then, so. But you can't go wrong with spending time in the beautiful Queen Elizabeth Park and Van Dusen Botanical Gardens to see spring flowers, and the Bloedel Conservatory is a lovely stop too for tropical flowers and birds.
33 Acres, I agree, is a really worthwhile brewery to check out.
My favorite sushi is the tiny Yuji's on Alma Street. A nice thing about Vancouver is that even little neighborhood places have excellent and inexpensive sushi, but Yuji's is quite special and offers all kinds of interesting bites other than sushi items.
If you will have access to a bike, a lovely way to spend a day is to start at the Public Market on Granville Island to pick up picnic items, then take one of the tiny Aquabuses across to the seawall. From there you can bike along English Bay and end up in Stanley Park where you can bike the seawall all the way around and enjoy your picnic.
The Museum of Anthropology is quite remarkable, and in a gorgeous spot that is a perfect launch for investigating the UBC campus. You can also check out the Nitobe Memorial Japanese Garden.
Lots of places to get a nice fancy afternoon tea, if you enjoy that sort of thing.
Happy birthday, and enjoy!
posted by gateau at 9:29 AM on February 17, 2017
Last year the cherry blossoms were long over by April, but the festival is scheduled then, so. But you can't go wrong with spending time in the beautiful Queen Elizabeth Park and Van Dusen Botanical Gardens to see spring flowers, and the Bloedel Conservatory is a lovely stop too for tropical flowers and birds.
33 Acres, I agree, is a really worthwhile brewery to check out.
My favorite sushi is the tiny Yuji's on Alma Street. A nice thing about Vancouver is that even little neighborhood places have excellent and inexpensive sushi, but Yuji's is quite special and offers all kinds of interesting bites other than sushi items.
If you will have access to a bike, a lovely way to spend a day is to start at the Public Market on Granville Island to pick up picnic items, then take one of the tiny Aquabuses across to the seawall. From there you can bike along English Bay and end up in Stanley Park where you can bike the seawall all the way around and enjoy your picnic.
The Museum of Anthropology is quite remarkable, and in a gorgeous spot that is a perfect launch for investigating the UBC campus. You can also check out the Nitobe Memorial Japanese Garden.
Lots of places to get a nice fancy afternoon tea, if you enjoy that sort of thing.
Happy birthday, and enjoy!
posted by gateau at 9:29 AM on February 17, 2017
If you're interested in breweries, here's at least one person's opinion on which are worthwhile: https://justinmcelroy.com/category/brewery-rankings/
Renting a bike and biking around Stanley Park on the seawall is unmissable on a sunny day. Bike rentals are pretty cheap.
posted by lookoutbelow at 4:11 PM on February 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Renting a bike and biking around Stanley Park on the seawall is unmissable on a sunny day. Bike rentals are pretty cheap.
posted by lookoutbelow at 4:11 PM on February 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Some of my favorites:
Yolks for breakfast. The lemon potatoes are amazing
$5 dosas on Monday at House of Dosa
Casa de Gelato for wacky ice cream flavors.
Wander Commercial Drive and Main Street.
The anthropology museum is cool.
posted by vespabelle at 5:24 PM on February 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yolks for breakfast. The lemon potatoes are amazing
$5 dosas on Monday at House of Dosa
Casa de Gelato for wacky ice cream flavors.
Wander Commercial Drive and Main Street.
The anthropology museum is cool.
posted by vespabelle at 5:24 PM on February 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Regarding the Sakura festival, please note that flowers / blooms are about a month late this year. So when you read that last year the blooms were over during the Sakura festival - they might not be, this year. All this to say that these things cannot be planned, Nature has its own schedule.
By the way, if it's a downpour and you are wondering what to do indoors during your visit here, then remember our Museum of Anthropology and the Vancouver Art Gallery. Both superb indoors destinations that are well worth exploring.
And if it's a sunny day - and a cloudless evening - then I recommend taking the Grouse Mountain Gondola and having dinner on top of the mountain, with views of our city from above.
I think that all of these destinations will please you and will be well within the physical means of your newly senile old self.
posted by seawallrunner at 10:07 PM on February 18, 2017 [1 favorite]
By the way, if it's a downpour and you are wondering what to do indoors during your visit here, then remember our Museum of Anthropology and the Vancouver Art Gallery. Both superb indoors destinations that are well worth exploring.
And if it's a sunny day - and a cloudless evening - then I recommend taking the Grouse Mountain Gondola and having dinner on top of the mountain, with views of our city from above.
I think that all of these destinations will please you and will be well within the physical means of your newly senile old self.
posted by seawallrunner at 10:07 PM on February 18, 2017 [1 favorite]
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No kidding. World class food city and I want to go back for another week and just eat hot dogs three meals a day.
posted by dirtdirt at 8:08 AM on February 17, 2017