Welcome to Canada!
This is Vancouver, a gorgeous city
on the west coast of my home country.
A city where nature is always within easy reach.
The mountains,
the ocean,
the beach - it's all here.
And the quick access to outdoor activities is very welcome
when you're eating your way around the city as we do in this video.
I'm going to show you what I ate in Vancouver as well as some of my other favourite spots.
But first, I just have to show you the mountains to work up an appetite.
Weekend hiking is definitely a thing in Vancouver
so we headed to the Dog Mountain trail in North Vancouver with our friends.
The hike is 5km round trip located on Mount Seymour,
one of the mountains that keeps watch over Vancouver.
This particular trail is a tangle of tree roots
stretching out from the deep green forest around you.
This was a picture perfect day
with the sun even sparkling on the little pond we passed.
Once you reach the look out point, you have an incredible view looking south over Vancouver.
Marc and I had a moment of Canadian pride and just pure joy,
breathing in the mountain air and taking in such a beautiful scene.
When you get down from the mountain,
you can have brunch with the scores of other Vancouverites
who are either fuelling up pre hike or maybe winding down post hike.
I suggest heading to 33 Acres.
It started as a brewery in 2013
and you can now find delicious food and coffee here too.
It's bright and minimalist inside
and you can feel the hum of happy weekend energy vibrating off of everyone.
There's not a ton of seating, but we snagged a table
and tucked into coffee and brunch.
Marc had the ‘beer’ waffles which are different every week.
His particular dish was macerated strawberries, mint, white chocolate chunks,
whipped cream, and a dark chocolate drizzle.
The rest of us got the Avocado Smash:
avocado, of course, along with feta, radish, cherry tomatoes, and pea shoots on sourdough toast.
It's all topped with a soft boiled egg
where the yolk is exactly the right amount of runny.
So satisfying.
The sourdough bread is locally made in the historic Gastown neighbourhood
at a cafe called Nelson the Seagull,
so named for Nelson Mandela as the cafe's owners originally hail from South Africa.
Sourdough and Nelson the Seagull are synonymous in Vancouver
and this is one of my favourite spots to sit.
The tall ceilings, long wooden tables, and marked up floors
give it a kind of lived in elegance I love.
This is where you find good looking people
eating good looking food.
There are lots of baked goodies on offer,
but Marc and I kept it classic and shared an order of avocado on toast
and poached eggs on buttered sourdough.
This is definitely a firm favourite.
A new Vancouver favourite is called Federal Store
where they also bake their own sourdough.
It's a repurposed convenience store that's come back full circle
because it actually began as a bakeshop in 1922.
It was constructed by architect John Coville
who built a lot of the homes in this Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.
The Coville Bakeshop was run by his wife, Hannah, until 1964
when it became a convenience store called Federal Store,
named for a federal building across the street.
The current owners kept the name and the sign
as well as all of those can't-be-bought touches of charm and collective neighbourhood memory.
You can feel the good energy here,
like the building has exhaled and is happy to have reclaimed its identity.
I had the coconut granola and yogurt with candied ginger and honey
and Marc had a buttery breakfast biscuit
that comes with bacon or feta, egg, avocado, and garlic-tomato butter.
Federal Store isn't too far from the relaxed neighbourhood of Kitsilano -
a must visit whenever I'm in Vancouver.
The local beach - known as Kits - is one of the city's most popular.
It's full of people sun bathing and relaxing,
swimming, and doing other water activities.
It feels decadent to be able to look up at mountains
while wriggling your toes in the sand and ocean water.
If Kits puts you in a beachy state of mind,
there's a place called Hoké Poké close by
where, as you might guess, poké bowls fill the menu.
Originally from Hawaii, these fresh seafood bowls have moved to the mainland
and they’re especially popular on the west coast.
All the bowls at Hoké Poké - I just want to say this name as many times as possible -
come with a scoop of crab salad, seaweed salad, and ginger
and you can pick a base of either rice or greens.
I got the Ohana which includes sweet shoyu dressing,
sweet onion, green onion, cucumber and a dry Japanese seasoning.
For the fish, I went for two scoops of salmon.
Marc had the Ala Moana with chipotle, cilantro, pico de gallo, and fish eggs called masago.
New favourite thing, new favourite dance: hoké poké.
I’m going to be dancin’ that all day.
If you're craving a post-poké coffee,
head down the street to Their There.
It's a cafe dug out below the sidewalk
which seriously ups the cozy factor
and makes for perfect people watching through the huge windows.
The vibe here is Scandi minimalist
with concrete floors,
upcycled milk crate stools,
feathery plants,
and stone tabletops.
They have a selection of baked treats
along with buttermilk fried chicken sandwiches and Cubanos.
The food sounded tempting but we opted for lattes
and just enjoyed sipping on our drinks and soaking in the calm atmosphere.
One of my favourite Vancouver ice cream parlours is also nearby in Kitsilano: Rain or Shine.
They use good quality, local ingredients
and I love the story of how the owners started experimenting with a home ice cream maker in 2011,
which led them to eventually opening their own shop.
They have seasonal offerings like Berry White
and Pink Peppercorn Lemon Thyme Sorbet
and a year round menu with stand outs like London Fog and Blueberry Balsamic.
They have vegan options,
gluten free cones,
and pints you can take home so everybody's happy!
I got honey lavender and their most popular flavour: malted milk chocolate honeycomb.
I personally love my ice cream with lots of bits in it and this delivers.
You guys.
This is good ice cream.
Ah it just dripped on your shirt.
Aww man.
Marc’s having some difficulty with the melting situation.
A lot of problems.
I got the meltiest ice cream they have.
A stone's throw away is Sophie's Cosmic Cafe,
a beloved neighbourhood fixture since 1988.
If the Roots store next door doesn't give you the Canadian warm and fuzzies
then the antlers, Canadian flags, and super friendly staff will.
Here you get exactly what you want at a diner brunch:
big comfy booths to slide into,
a bottomless cup of coffee,
and the clatter of cutlery and chit chat.
The sign outside says: ‘This is a good place to start your diet.
This is a good place to end your diet.’
And that pretty much sums it up.
When you look at the specials board and see the words 'guacamole' and 'benny' together,
you order that.
So Marc and I both had the guacamole and tomato benny.
His came with home fries and mine with fruit.
Another neighbourhood spot is Cafe Zen.
Just follow the sea breeze back towards Kits Beach.
The cheerful yellow awning
and small light-filled patio beckon from the street
and the feeling inside is relaxed and casual.
Marc had his brunch favourite - huevos rancheros -
and I had the eggs benny with BC smoked salmon.
Ordering a benny is always a nice treat
and having fresh salmon when in British Columbia is a no brainer.
The portions are also generous for the price which feels like good value.
Another beach that's a little further west from Kitsilano is Spanish Banks.
It's a great spot to gather
and offers a beautiful look back at the Vancouver skyline.
You can also see the opposite view of the Mount Seymour hike lookout point.
Pretty cool to see the mountains from the beach
and the beach from the mountains.
That is Vancouver.
Spanish Banks is located at one end of the Seawall
also known as the world's longest uninterrupted waterfront path.
Construction on the Seawall began in 1917
and this walking and cycle path is now 28 kilometres long.
You can start at Spanish Banks and take the Seawall back downtown
seeing the amazing city views,
marinas,
wildlife,
and birds along the way.
If you follow the path back towards downtown,
head to Café Medina for Belgian waffles and lavender lattes.
Liberally apply chocolate sauce, obviously.
Even though the waffle’s not warm, it’s still really good.
But the sauce is the best part.
There are lots of great places to eat,
drink,
hike,
and relax in Vancouver.
Of course, this is just a taste.
But it's been really fun to show you around this corner of Canada.
Check out our other videos for lots more foods around the world.
I hope you enjoyed this video!
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Thanks for watching!