H-m-m...many good suggestions here... I respect all of the Nova Scotia suggestions,especially The Bicycle Thief in Halifax.

However, IMHO there are not one but 2 restaurants in my home town of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia that are equal to or better than the one that Macleans named. When in Lunenburg check out Trattoria della Nonna or Fleur de Sel for truly superb dining.

We've eaten at 5 of the BC restos listed.

I've dined out on my story of the hilarious evening/dinner we
had at Hawksworth - it was everything you do not want in a
fine dining experience from the staff through the ambience
to the food. I'm sure it was just an 'off' night, but we
were left with no desire to repeat the experience on any
level. Happily, there are many many great restos to enjoy
in Vancouver and BC.

i continue to be amazed by lunenberg ns. i'm fairly sure when i lived there pounding nails in 1970 there were no bistros. was there a pub i can't recall. when i saw "cloudburst" @ VIFF last year i was so sure that where they got married couldn't have been lunenberg( i think i saw a bistro) i asked the guy who wrote it in the Q&A what town was standing in for lunenberg. my mind boggles

AndrewDavid

I totally agree that this list is probably missing some great one. LJ - I agree that NS has some fabulous restaurants-Lunenburg and a lot more in Halifax than mentioned-I love Janes, Brooklyn Warehouse and Chives.

As the article explains, it's not really a list of the 50 best restaurants in Canada (which it says would be mostly well-established fine dining establishments in the three major cities). Rather it aims at "geographical inclusiveness" and "a balance of old and new, cheap and pricey, casual and posh."

Certainly the two listed for Ottawa are not the best restaurants in town, but are good and interesting places to eat.

Irecommend...get to Jane's soon...it is closing next week. The original owner (Jane?) is leaving the restaurant end of the business to her daughter who is taking the locale in a different direction. Halifax, however, remains blessed with an abundance of choices. Thanks for postiong this, BTW. I often think that the excellent food offerings of my 'home and native land' get left out of tourist agendas when they think of Canada. I know we are not Italy, but there is SO much brilliant foodwork being done here.

No! that is so sad about Janes- I will not be to Halifax for a few weeks so I will miss it.
I should once again give a shout out to my favorite breakfast place in Halifax-Coastal Coffee-delicious breakfast dishes!

Well of course Canada has a lot good and we call best restaurants but based on the experience I can say Au Vieux Duluth is one of them.

Au Vieux Duluth is a chain of "greek" food. Not great, in my opinion. Best restaurant in Canada, bar none, is Toqué! in Montréal.

Lots of really wonderful restaurants missing, who made up this list?
But then, I never believe anything that comes out of Macleans magazine anyway.

You've got that right Borealis.

Those who read the article will see clearly that the list was compiled by Jacob Richler.

Maenam in Vancouver? Didn't wow me at all, but L'Abbatoir certainly did.

Always fun tho to read a Best Of list.

LJ We were in Halifax last week and saw Janes still open but didnt get a chance to dine there.
Have you heard what the new concept is and how it measures up to the old Janes?

ir: I have not been to (new) Jane's yet and only read the advance publicity (nothing since it opened). I believe it is to be more of a bar/bistro concept, but that is vague, isn't it? Let me check with my Hali-pals (we live in Lunenburg) and get back to you with the info. LJ

Ir: Nothing on (new) Janes because it remains a concept, not a reality. Original Janes closes December 31st.

Oh thanks LJ for getting the scoop!

I suspect Air Canada's En Route mag is no better than Maclean's (nod to Borealis) but just for kicks, check out their list of Canada's best *new* restaurants for 2012:
http://enroute.aircanada.com/en/articles/canadas-best-new-restaurants-2012-intro