Hello~

Would like some suggestions on good seafood restaurants and brewpubs. Casual, but nice places. We will be there in October staying at the Magnolia in Victoria and Wedgewood in Vancouver.

Thanks for advice~
MLJ

We stayed at the Magnolia too and liked it very much. In Vic we had a good dinner and great music at the Irish Times and a great Indian buffet for $28pp in the Bengal Room of the Empress Hotel.

In Vancouver we stayed at Hotel Le Soleil just down the block from the Wedgewood. Had 2 good dinners at Earls on Hornby, Vij's off South Granville, breakfast/lunch at Sophie's Cosmic Cafe on 4th near Kitsilano Beach.

In Vancouver, I would recommend the Blue Water Cafe in Yaletown, for great seafood. Feenie's on West Broadway is also a great place with good food. If you are into brewpubs, there is a nice one in Vancouver in Gastown, right by the old trainstation, but can't vouch for the food as I haven't tried it.

In Victoria, I highly recommend Spinnakers, nice view of harbour and great food for reasonable prices. I also agree with Vij's if you are into ethnic food, but also the Banana Leaf on Broadway is fantastic. And if you are into sushi, there are plenty of choices in Vancouver.

More casual Victoria dining; good food good value

Canoe Brew Pub ( on the water)
Glo also on the water
Med grill same menu inside Med griill and Glo do 4 courses for $16.97 sun mon and tues
Moxie's great patio
John's for breakfast
Rebar in Bastion Square
Siam

enjoy

Andrewdavid

Andrew

Hi mlj -

For seafood in Victoria my husband and I have thoroughly enjoyed a few dinners at Pescatore's located at the inner harbour. see the link to the restaurant - http://www.pescatores.com/

Not sure what you mean by casual but you can take a look at their menu.

Before trying Vancouver area restaurants try checking the reviews here http://www.dinehere.ca/

Sophie's as mentioned gets very poor reviews

I hadn't seen any reviews of Sophies and I can't remember how we knew about it. I thought the food (I had an omelet) was good but it certainly wasn't a 'fine dining' experience. It's more that the place is kitchy and fun. I walked that whole main street strip and of all the restaurants I saw, I still would have chosen Sophies for lunch, though the others certainly might have had better food. Sophies just seemed to suit our following walk on Kitsilano Beach -- a sort of 'whole day experience'.

wow -- I just read those poor reviews of Sophies and if I'd read them before, I'd never have gone. So I have to say, I'm glad I didn't read them. We must have gone mid-week because we walked in and were seated right away, though the place was pretty full. The service was pleasant and pretty prompt -- of course, we were on holidays so if I had to wait an extra 10 minutes for my lunch I wouldn't have noticed as much as if I'd had to get back to work. As I've only been there the once, I can't say if the food was better or worse, only that I thought it was good, and the prices seemed pretty low.

I agree with Hana for best seafood in Victoria Pescatores. It is more upscale and pricy but wonderful seafood. For more casual dining and good seafood Wharfside Eatery. As mentioned for brew pubs Canoe club and Spinnakers (very casual) Also for brew pub - really good beer Swan's Hotel. The dining there is very casual with OK food. I always recommend the Bengal Room in the Empress as hdm found out - excellent curry buffet in a gorgeous room. If you don't eat there at least go in and look at the room.

The Steamworks Brewing Co restaurant in Gastown is fantastic. We were there in January and had a beer tasting, which consisted of 10 beers that they brew there, for ten bucks. The food was surprisingly fantastic and really resonably priced. I would certainly recommend it

I've never been overly impressed with Sophies - they're sort of a local landmark as they've been there for many years, however the food tends to be average (although I hear the breakfasts are good), the service is somewhat slow, and it's almost always crowded.

A good brewpub in Vancouver is the Yaletown Brewing Co in (you guessed it) Yaletown, and Steamworks in Gastown is also nice; both have reasonably good food and great beer.

If you're into traditional Irish fare, the "Irish Heather" in gastown is pretty good, the highlight is the extensive scotch bar (if you're just going for appies and scotch, go through the restuarant to the "Shabeen" in the back - a stand-alone scotch bar behind the main restaurant that has the (as far as I know) the most extensive scotch selection in Vancouver.

*The* sushi restaurant in Vancouver is Tojo's - Tojo himself is a bit of a local celeb (I think he may have even been on Iron Chef, not 100% sure on that though). Shabusan is also tasty (Burrard at Robson).

Joe Fortes is a good, although moderate to high priced seafood/chop house (on Thurlow at Alberni).

For your basic meat-coma-inducing need to have some beef meal, Samba's Brazilian Steakhouse (again Thurlow and Alberni, downstairs) is excellent - they have all-you-can eat brazillian rotissery (sp?) - last time I was there we counted 10 or 11 different meat options (beef, veal, chicken, ostrich, buffalo, pork...the list goes on). They're served by wandering waiters whom you simply flag down and ask for a slice. Also features a brazilian band and a floor show.

hey there. of course there's all the great places in Van like Vij's (good but expensive!), the Cannery (love their lobster infused oil and bread!), the Boathouse, Tojo's (best sushi ever), Global (sure to see some famous people here) and Feenies (great for brunch!)etc. but if you're on a bit of a budget and want some great food, here's some options:

Banana Leaf on Denman St. near English Bay: good priced malaysian food. the Denman location is way better than the Broadway location.

Hapa Izakaya on Robson St, near Nelson St.: amazing japanese tapas (sushi and sashimi)...order the tuna, the udon noodles, rice, etc, along with at least 8 other tapa dishes to share.

Earl's on corner of Hornby & Smithe ....newest Earl's in Van.....so cool!!! the specialty salads are to die for!!! featured on chef at large

Stephos on Davie St. .....cheap Greek food, not amazing, but there's always a line up.

Elbow room on Davie St......good for breakfast place, hilarious!!! waiters yell at ya.

Cupcakes on Denman St. ......amazing treats!!! even just to look!

Steamrollers, corner of robson and bute.....healthy burritos....the Tommy burrito is the best.

Vera's burger shack . . .great burgers and fries!!! yummy.

Davie street is one of the main strips. Great bread and treats at COBS. Blenz....it's the canadian version of starbucks....get the unsweetened matcha......its awesome.

But the VERY BEST FOR meat-lovers is Memphis Blues!!!! To die for. Order the memphis feast and share with at least 3 people. the pulled pork is amazing.
hope that helps!!