Some friends just moved into North Burnaby and asked what the good restaurants are. This is an area of expertise in which I take some pride. It seemed like a good idea to post my list here.
I have opined many times: the food in the suburbs is better than downtown. There is excellent food in both places, but when downtown, a lot of the money you’re paying is going to high rents. In the burbs, the rents are lower, so the money you pay goes to the food, which is where I want it. On the other hand, I also think there are a lot more bad restaurants the farther out you go. If you know the good ones, life is good.
Meta-site: Sherman’s Food Adventures. Sherman blogs daily about a restaurant somewhere in Greater Vancouver. He lives in North Burnaby, so the places around here are pretty well covered.
And my list, in approximately-decreasing order of how exciting I think they are…
Pear Tree: Probably the best example of money going into the food, not the rent. Very nice food made by a very skilled chef, who has carved out a niche in North Burnaby somehow.
Cotto Enoteca: Super good pizza and pasta.
Burgers etc: If not the best burger in the city, it’s close. Good BBQ too. There’s an off-menu pattyless veggie burger that’s awesome.
El Comal: Good Mexican on the Production station side of Burnaby Mountain. Only open for lunch Mon-Sat.
Chez Meme: French bistro food. Also only lunch Mon-Sat.
Chad Thai: Solidly good Thai, getting a lot of blog attention.
Glenburnn Soda Fountain: A cool old-fashioned soda shop (recreation). Excellent dessert after dinner at one of the other places.
Caffé Divano: Excellent coffee shop, where serious coffee geeks make your drinks.
Caffé Artigiano: Good coffee shop, but if we’re honest, their quality has slipped in the last few years.
Chez Christophe: A stupidly-good bakery. Why put such a place out of the way int he suburbs? Who knows.
Saigon Bistro: It struck me as carefully-make Vietnamese food, but I’m no expert.
Domineco’s: Not as well made as the food at Cotto, but good utility Italian. The place to send people that wanted to go to Anton’s. Also cheap for big groups: order 1/2 as many dishes and serve family style.
X-Site: Cheap decent eats, full of students.
Cockney Kings fish and chips: A one-trick-pony, but good at it.
Lotus cafe: A quirky little sandwich place that’s only open for lunch. I always describe them as “Nothing outstanding, but if your mom made you a sandwich for lunch, it would have been the best sandwich you could have hoped for.”
Wah Lun: Decently-good Cantonese. Better Chinese is a notable omission from the neighbourhood.
Sushi Town: Good utility sushi.
Countless little sushi places, that are all reasonable everyday sushi.