Hi All

We have just booked our return visit and cannot wait to eat again at Agro and Simba!

As much as I actually think I could eat all my meals at those two places, if your palate/ atmospheric requirements are similar, where else would you suggest?

We may find ourselves in Kitsilano one afternoon, and maybe commerial drive.

Also, I have scoured the Internet for under $200 rates, but even places mentioned here as inexpensive (Opus, for example) are way over $200/night.

What about something in Coal harbour? Any apartments that rent for the weekend? Westin sold out my dates.

Thanks!

Have you checked the Vancouver Tourism site?
http://www.tourismvancouver.com/visitors/accommodation/

We booked throught them after finding better prices than the hotels own sites.

~Liz

Thank you for that advice. We will try them, definitely.

Have you tried the Sylvia Hotel? We checked the prices in July and they were around $150 or thereabouts. I've never stayed there, but it is often praised highly on this board. It is in a great location.

Thanks, annetti, I'll try it.

Seems ALL the rates for downtown are in the $225 range no matter where we pick...even from the BC list.

I'll give that a try.

We're going to be staying at the Blue Horizon in downtown (mid-September) for $159.

~Liz

If you like Simba, you must like spice. Between Denman Street and Yaletown, on Davie Street, I'd suggest Lolita's South of the Border Cantina (www.lolitasrestaurant.com). Good detail on their website of what to expect.

Thanks- I did check Blue Horizon, but they are sold out one of our two nights.

Thanks also for the food suggestion. We have tons of Mexican where we live in CA, so I think I should have said that what I like about Simba was how different the food was to what we usually have. We do not have any Kenyan/East African cuisine that is not Ethiopian.

We tried a Greek place because it was open, but we have almost no Greek food where we live, so if anyone has a favorite Greek place on Denman, let us know. We may go back because it was very delicious.

Thank you all!

I would never use the words "inexpensive" and "Opus Hotel" in the same sentence.

At Coal Harbour, there are rental apartments near Denman and Georgia Streets: www.lordstanley.com with $199 per night rooms.

For much older (and cheaper) accommodation, although many of the <$100/night rooms have shared bathrooms, there is the Buchan Hotel on Haro Street, West of Denman: www.buchanhotel.com. Unlike the Sylvia Hotel at this time of year, you may actually be able to book a room on the nights you need.

If different food is your thing, a trip to Vij's on South Granville at 11th is in order. They describe themselves as Indian fusion cuisine. To me, that means, in contrast to traditional Indian food which often uses rich flavourful sauces to overcome rather ordinary meat, poultry and seafood, that the balance of all the ingredients is more careful, innovative, and generally lighter on cream and butter. It isn't terribly expensive for its stellar reputation but if you want the café/take-out alternative, there is Vij's Rangoli next door, although I'm not sure the latter is quite worth a special trip.

Hi Leavingsoon: For Greek food you might try the very popular (recommended in our Michelin guide) and very reasonable, Stepho's at 1124 Davies Street. If you go at dinner, the line is out the door, but the line moves quickly and people are friendly while you wait. My husband enjoyed the lamb.

I was REALLY disappointed with Stephos... Heard about the line up. Heard it was a fave among locals. Then heard that the locals lined up like "sheep" because they didn't know any better. Decided to try it for myself ... it was mediocre at best. I wanted to love it, I just couldn't. Not even sure I like it. Lamb was fatty and bland. Potatoes had no taste whatsoever ... Lots of food. Lots of food that just isn't worth it.
Maybe it used to be good and is still riding on their past reputation. Who knows. Maybe it was just a bad night...

No, Stephos is always lined up because it's cheap. Taki's Taverna just down the street has better food, but the best Greek places in Vancouver tend to be on Broadway or 4th.

Wallace_and_gromit: I had to laugh when I read your review of Stepho's. I have to agree with your assessment, but passed on the information from those around me and my husband's enjoyment of the lamb, which he said was good, but lukewarm. I had the shrimp there, and the vegetarian plate. Neither were remarkable in my opinion. I agree the potatoes were tasteless. I think I might have said the same thing earlier on this board, but since I generally eat vegetarian and very occasionally eat fish, I always feel that I am not fair when it comes to judging a meat eating restaurant,because I am not eating their specialities. However, the people around me in line, really loved it, and were returning after frequent visits.

One hopes that the O.P. has and will keep trying Priceline.com.

I stayed on a holiday weekend in early August booking last minute at the Hyatt downtown for a total bill of $123... compared to an internet rate for the same night of $358 plus taxes.

Save lots on rooms and spend the savings on cuisine.

If you are considering Kits for an afternoon, you can try Kerki's on 4th (a couple of blocks off Alma).

Just raising this to thank you all for your suggestions. We are going this weekend and will print and take this and the newer threads along.

Cheers!

leavingsoon, we just returned from a great trip to Vancouver, our first. I intend to write a trip report but know you are leaving soon and I wanted to give you some restaurant recs.

We did not have our cell phone with us but did have our laptop and made most reservations through OpenTable. There were no problems with that.

Our favorites were Parkside in a beautiful residential district and Boneta in Gastown. Both had beautifully presented dishes and good food. I liked Boneta's vibe.

We ate at Raincity Grill on English Bay and it was good as well but the seating was tight which made it not my favorite.

Breakfast at O'Doul's was great and we ate there several times. I usually ordered the Belgian waffle with a pile of fresh fruit on top. We ate our first dinner at O'Doul's as it was a rainy night and the restaurant was near our hotel; it was very nice. We were pleasantly surprised.

Our last meal was at The Chef and the Carpenter, a cosy French restaurant near the end of Robson toward Stanley Park. It was not crowded, which was a good thing, because the server ( the Carpenter?) sometimes was forgetful. We enjoyed it very much and the prix fixe meal was good and very reasonable. It is a sweet restaurant.

We had breakfast one time at Bellaggio which was good but not as comfortable as O'Douls.

We had a couple of lunches ( soup and sandwich) at Inlet's, connected with the Blue Horizon where we stayed.

I hope you have a wonderful time with good food and sunny weather.

Thanks, Judi!