17 of the best things we ate in Vancouver last month

Another month has gone by, and it has us feeling nostalgic.

While we’ve been fortunate enough to eat some great meals at many Vancouver restaurants, some dishes stood out more than others. So, we decided to compile a list of some of our favourites so you know what you have to order next time you’re eating in and around Vancouver.

From saucy mussels to what could be the best smash burger in the city, these are 17 of the best things we ate in and around Vancouver last month.

These sexy sliders

We didn’t know what we were missing until we stopped by Nomo Nomo, and wow, did it not disappoint. Basically every dish was a highlight, but the one bite we reminisce the most over is these Wagyu Sliders. These bad boys are served on soft King’s Hawaiian rolls with melt-in-your-mouth Carrara wagyu tsukune and Nomo Nomo’s “secret sauce.”

Address: 1268 Commercial Dr., Vancouver

Our latest pastry obsession

The Queen is the pastry for all lovers of salty and sweet. We enjoyed this one during a recent visit to Dope Bakehouse, but you can also snag this sweet treat at Nemesis.

Address: 650 Mountain Hwy., North Vancouver

A sampler of dishes made with divers-caught seafood

For $10, Chef Dez Lo, Holy Duck Chili, and the Dive Fisheries of British Columbia were serving up this trio of dishes featuring divers-caught seafood outside of the False Creek Crab Fest. This included a geoduck crudo, sea cucumber kinilaw, and a uni soba we are still thinking about, all topped with condiments courtesy of Holy Duck Chili.

A stuffed flatbread with morsels of morels

In what might be the best deal for a tasting menu in the city, Vancouver restaurant Sula is offering a seven-course meal for $48 per person at its Davie location. Among the bites we had, our favourite was the Butter Bhuna Guchhi Mini Kulcha — a flatbread stuffed with morels and served with buttery bhuna masala on the side for dipping.

Address: Multiple locations across Vancouver (tasting menu only available at Sula Davie)

Saucy mussels (that rivaled our own muscles)

When a dish is served with a side of bread for dipping, we know we’re in for a good time, especially when that dish comes from the team behind the Vancouver restaurant Selene Aegean Bistro. These Mussels are cooked in an irresistibly spicy loukaniko butter with fennel, served alongside Selene’s green olive focaccia.

Address: 360 Penticton St., Vancouver

The ultimate fish tacos

The Pescado a la Talla from Chupito is one of those dishes that, when it’s brought to the table, everyone shuts up and takes their phones out to snap a picture before diving in. We delighted in fighting over the tastiest morsels of fish and stuffing them into the provided corn tortillas loaded with plenty of lime and habanero mayo.

Address: 2450 Yukon St., Vancouver

Maybe the best burger in the city?

When we saw that Between 2 Buns had a Bicol Express Smash Burger as their feature earlier last month (which has since come and gone), we knew we needed to try it. This handheld featured two smashed beef patties, American cheese, lettuce, pickles, chicharon crumbs, crispy onions, house-made Bicol jam, and coconut mayo.

Address: 105 E. Pender St., Vancouver

Address: 4245 Fraser St., Vancouver

“Spunge” pasta

“OH MY GOODNESS LOOK AT THAT SPUNGE LOOKING PASTA!” is what one of our Instagram followers wrote when we posted about our recent trip to Dovetail. We’re not entirely sure what spunge-looking pasta means, but we can get on board with the enthusiasm for this dish. While Dovetail’s “Carbonara” is not traditional by any means, radiatore is our favourite pasta shape in any dish, so we’re not complaining.

Address: 1079 Mainland St., Vancouver

The whole enchilada — and then some

In search of lunch close to the office, we stumbled into Sombrero’s to see what all the buzz was about. We ordered the enchilada platter, served with Mexican rice and beans, and have been going back for lunch ever since.

Address: 1151 Homer St., Vancouver

One of the best deals in the city (available only for this weekend)

Available now until Aug. 3, Juke Fried Chicken has brought back its OG Jukebox for its original price of $15. For that price, you’ll get two pieces of buttermilk-fried chicken, three ribs, and all-dressed fries (plus it’s all oh so delicious).

Address: 182 Keefer St., Vancouver

So. much. crab.

A little rainy weather couldn’t stop us from enjoying one of our favourite events of the year: False Creek Crab Fest. As part of the festivities, the team was serving plenty of crab alongside rolls, potatoes, corn, and salad (plus four drink tickets with each entry ticket). Plus, the team behind Anh and Chi had brought their sweet soy sauce for dipping.

A first course consisting of ten different delicious bites

Noah’s is serving up one heck of an omakase. Specifically, the first course consists of anywhere between nine and twelve signature tapas. During our visit, this included bites like Miso Duck with strawberry jus, Soy Smoked Quail Eggs, Truffle Brussels Sprouts, Scallop Motoyaki, and so so so much more.

Address: 1096 Denman St., Vancouver

A grilled pork tamahawk that had us question if it’s polite to gnaw on the bone

Ong Ba recently made the move from its 16-seat Denman location to a new outpost in Coquitlam that has a whopping 200 seats. The menu has also gotten a bit of an upgrade. While we gorged ourselves on mussels served in a coconut curry and truffle duck pate, the star of the meal was Ba’s Caramelized Pork Tomahawk. This 12oz Johnston Farm pork tomahawk was served with thịt kho caramel sauce and scallion oil along with a side of mango cucumber salad and sticky rice.

Address: 976 Denman St., Vancouver

An apple fritter showered in cheese

Les Faux Bourgeois recently went under new ownership, joining the Gaia House family of restaurants alongside the likes of Selene Aegean Bistro, AMA Raw Bar, and Nammos Estiatorio, and we snuck in earlier last month to see what the team was cooking up. Among the many dishes we enjoyed, the Beignet au Pommes was a favourite. Consider this a formal request for more restaurants to put cheese on their desserts.

Address: 663 E. 15th Ave., Vancouver

The grilled onigiri of our dreams

Okay, we promise this is the last time we’ll mention False Creek Crab Fest on this list, but it’s not our fault that there was so much good food to be had—namely, these Hot Smoked B.C. Salmon Yaki Onigiri were an ideal way to fight off the rainy day blues.

Har gow with… mustard?

Don’t knock it until you try it, but we were quite fond of the Har Gow from The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant served with a side of Chinese mustard.

Address: 1535 Johnston St. Creekhouse #102, Vancouver

Who doesn’t love deep-fried cheese?

I mean, how can you not love this ooey-gooey cheesy meal from Saku? The Cheese Katsu is a dish made with mozzarella wrapped in thinly sliced pork loin and deep-fried, which already sounds good on its own, but is made even better with the side of cabbage that we topped with a generous portion of its addictive sesame dressing.

Address: Multiple locations across Metro Vancouver