vancouver
 

My wife and I are going to vancouver for a couple of days..

we like walking around funky neighborhoods, finding hole in the wall places to eat/drink, etc... We are staying on Robson which we've done a number of times. Never been to yaletown or Gastown, etc... any suggestions on great food (seafood, indian, vietnamese, etc.), fun pubs, bars, smaller shop shopping, etc. ?

thx. bl

Amazing that you've been to Vancouver several times and never visited Gastown or Yaletown.

The two areas are fairly different in that Gastown is a touristy historic area while Yaletown is a totally redeveloped high rise residential and high end retail area.

Obviously then Gastown has a lot more to offer in nightlife and funky places but Yaletown has it's share of excellant eateries though it's night life is much lower key. Another unusual thing about both areas is that neither has any really great Asian Restaurants which I've always believed is Vancouver's culinary claim to fame.

But if you like Italian Borgo Antico in Gastown is great while the William Tell still has great fondues. There are a number of very good West Coast cuisine places in both areas but for the best West Coast you should be looking to the West End and False Creek/Granville Island areas.

I think you would like Commercial Drive also. It's hard to say what to get there. Just get on the Drive and start walking. This is a bit "rougher" than Robson Street but that's not a problem.

http://www.thedrive.net/

You might like 4th Avenue (west of Burrard) also.

-or Broadway west of Macdonald. Or Kerrisdale or the Punjabi Market, (49th & Main), or even the Vietnamese arrea on Kingsway betweeen Nanaimo and Victoria. Vancouver is rich in ethnic and eclectic neighbourhood shopping areas. You could spend months exploring them but with only a couple of days I think you have to priorize and if you havn't already explored Gastown and Yaletown you should do that.