Vancouver travel guide

24 Hours in Vancouver: The Best Asian Food Tour We've Ever Done

We only had 24 hours in Vancouver, so we handed the itinerary over to our local friends G and Sanda and let them build a food tour tight enough to prove their case: that Vancouver might have the best collection of Asian food anywhere, and that's coming from two people who live in the San Gabriel Valley.

24 hrs Time on the ground

$53 Hot pot, per person

$61.22 Dim sum for two

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Where we ate.

 Phnom Penh 244 E Georgia St, Vancouver 

Michelin Guide, Cambodian

Get: Beef tartare and the garlic-citrus chicken wings

A Michelin Guide Cambodian spot we'd wanted to try for years, and our first stop for a reason. The beef tartare mixed tableside with fresh herbs, chili, and a citrusy dressing that our friend G called one of the only dishes he'll actually line up for. The chicken wings came out impossibly light and crispy, topped with a citrus-lemon sauce closer to Cantonese-style wings than anything American.

 Le Pho 2503 E Hastings St, Vancouver 

Family-run Vietnamese pho house

Get: Lemongrass chicken pho and the banh mi dac biet

G's favorite pho spot in the city, and it's easy to see why: the broth carries real chicken-essence depth plus extra crispy garlic, deeper than a typical beef pho. The banh mi dac biet came stacked with pork and a crackly, not-too-soft baguette, the kind of balance he called his favorite in town.

 Eggette House 1194 Robson St, Vancouver 

Hong Kong-style egg waffles

Get: The black sesame eggette and a tiramisu bubble waffle

The black sesame one filled with a molten black sesame mochi ball might be our favorite bite of the whole trip; the flavor genuinely bursts when you bite in. The tiramisu bubble waffle was good too, more cocoa-forward than a classic tiramisu, but it doesn't hit quite as hard as the black sesame.

 ChoCho Hot Pot 4361 Kingsway #4A, Burnaby 

All-you-can-eat hot pot

Get: The pork and spicy broths, wooden pot lobster congee, egg tart

On Lisa's list for years. At $53 a person for all-you-can-eat, everything came out fast and shockingly good for a buffet-style spot, right down to a wooden pot lobster congee we didn't expect at an AYCE price point.

 Fisherman's Terrace Seafood Restaurant 4151 Hazelbridge Wy Unit 3580, Richmond 

Traditional dim sum, bamboo carts

Get: Har gao, turnip cake, chicken feet, lo mai gai, and salted-egg sticky rice

Real bamboo steamer carts and authentic service, with a five-minute wait even at 11:30am on a weekend. The har gao and the salted-egg lo mai gai were our favorites; the spare ribs were the one dish we agreed we wouldn't order again, too bony for the payoff.

 Harmony Bakery 4231 Hazelbridge Wy, Richmond 

Chinese rice pudding, a childhood snack

Get: The classic rice pudding

Lisa's favorite childhood snack, and something we straight up can't find back home in LA. Squishy, chewy, and only slightly sweet, the lady running the counter even let us pay in US dollars.

 Nemesis Coffee 555 Great Northern Wy, Vancouver 

Coffee

Get: A black sesame latte and an ube latte

G took us here and both lattes were genuinely good, distinct flavors that didn't taste artificial or one-note.

 Cowdog 1927 W 4th Ave, Vancouver 

Coffee, Kitsilano

Get: An iced coffee

A solid second coffee stop in Kitsilano; Vancouver just seems to do coffee well across the board, rain or shine.

Good to know before you go

Locals G and Sanda built and approved this entire itinerary; if you know people in a city, let them plan the day.

Questions people ask us about Vancouver.

Is Vancouver a good food city?

We came away thinking it might be the best Asian food city we've been to, and we live in the San Gabriel Valley. Cambodian, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Hong Kong-style hot pot are all represented at a very high level.

Where can I get good pho in Vancouver?

Le Pho was our local friend's go-to for years before we ever visited; the lemongrass chicken pho has extra crispy garlic and a deeper broth than a typical beef pho.

Is ChoCho Hot Pot worth it?

At $53 per person for all-you-can-eat, yes. The quality held up across dim sum starters, meats, and even a wooden pot lobster congee, better than we expected from a buffet-style hot pot spot.

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