I took my mum to La Pentola for dinner on Sunday night and we had an amazing meal. From start to finish it was a great experience. We did the 7 course menu, sharing each course, 3 appies, 2 pastas, a meat, and a dessert. The pasta with rabbit ragout was likely our favourite. The service was spot on, the room had a nice warm feel, and I will definitely be going back.

Walked by last night around 7 and the bar was full. This will be a great place to hit in the summer and a wonderful addition to bby heights!

I would say its because you were there at the end of the day. Any time I've been, even 3 or 4 in the afternoon, the bread is fresh and tasty, usually recently out of the oven. Hands down one of my favourite Banh Mi places.

What is the best restaurant to try for 2 people who have never done the king crab feast before? We would be looking for a small-ish crab... I was thinking SSW as they are reputable but definitely open to other suggestions.

Wildwood at the racket club is great for breakfast and brunch but I found dinner a miss. Gone Bakery in the village next to the country grocer has amazing soup and sandwiches for a reasonable price.

Elements on Main St is a good find, tapas dining with a decent wine list. The food at the Brewpub is quite good and the beer is tasty too.

Being from North Van, I can offer a few suggestions. Staying in North Van and sea-bussing back and forth might be the wiser option; you can then have a few drinks at dinner and not worry about driving back over the bridge/hitting a road block etc. The Pinnacle is a really nice hotel; I would stay there over the Quay, it's getting a bit dated. If you stay downtown it's easy to get anywhere, and any of the hotels previously mentioned above are great; Fairmont, Westin etc.

There are lots of lunch options around lower Lonsdale. I recently discovered Sushi Bella at 152 Lonsdale Ave; loved it, great quality, great service, and my #1 judge of a good sushi restaurant: white ginger, not pink. Fishworks is another restaurant in the lower Lonsdale area, it's been open about 2 years now and is doing quite well. Burgoo is a wonderful soup/stew/sandwich place, right across the street from the Pinnacle. I had brunch at the Pinnacle restaurant two years ago and didn't love it, but haven't been back since so can't say if it's improved.

In terms of seafood I, unlike others on the forum apparently, think Vancouver does have great seafood. Bluewater and Yew are top choices. L'Abbatoir or Cork and Fin in Gastown have nice options. Miku sushi on Robson is great. If you want something fun and different, Hapa Izakaya for Japanese tapas.

Well we are getting closer to our trip and have a few things booked. For Melbourne we will be staying in St Kilda and are meeting friends who live there for dinner at Stokehouse one night. It looks great.

The people we are renting our accommodation from recommended Golden Fields. Thoughts? Other than these two places we are fairly open. I know that yum cha is very popular, could anyone recommend a particular restaurant? Is it common for lunch?

In Sydney we have booked in at Fix St James, I like the sound of the place.

We have also booked 2 nights in the Hunter Valley, staying at Hermitage Lodge. Any dining recommendations for that area? I know there is a lot to cover.

Really looking forward to the trip!

Thanks for this, I did have Huxtable on my radar, as well as Cutler and Co. Fitzroy sounds like a great restaurant. I have read Cumulus does wonderful breakfast.

I had read on this forum that Pope Joan was a good lunch place, not too fancy, just good. If not, I'll take other recommendations!

The dinner will be just for the 2 of us. We are more than happy, actually, would prefer, to go to restaurants that locals like, we are not fans of tourist hot spots. I'd rather enjoy the food than the view. Safe is a relative question, I'm not too concerned about that. I love good wine and am quite knowledgeable about it but don't have the budget to drink what I would really like :)

We will be staying in or near Melbourne, one of the neighbouring communities I suspect, but have nothing booked yet. We are open to locations.

Hello, we will be travelling to Australia for 3 weeks in February. We would like to explore a variety of dining options in both Sydney and Melbourne and I have been reading all of the boards extensively. We would like to do one very nice dinner in each city with moderate meals filling out the rest. We also have a birthday dinner when we will be in Melbourne.

So far I have made a reservation at Fix St James for Sydney on our final night. I have been exploring options for Melbourne and am presently looking at Rockpool. My question is; we won't have any very formal clothing as we are traveling light. Would it be acceptable to wear more casual attire if we were to go to the bar as opposed to the main dining room?

The other places I am looking at going are:
-Pope Joan for lunch
-Mamak, possibly for lunch or dinner
-Spice I am
-Half Moon- would this be a good option for the birthday dinner instead of Rockpool?

Any advice or further suggestions following the above would be appreciated.

We are a well travelled food loving couple from Vancouver, Canada, but also have a somewhat restricted budget.

Gyoza King

Jolly Foods in North Van, just over the second narrows bridge near thectransferbstation. It's your one stop Scandinavian food stop. Many flavours and types of herring. They have a web site.

Just over the bridge into North Van is Jolly Foods, a Scandinavian food store with all the kraut you could want. I know it's outside the city but thought I'd throw it out there for you.

With a group of five you might enjoy somewhere larger like Bluewater or Chambar. L'Abbatoir is a great one too, loved my last experience there. I'd say Vijs is worth it as its not your typical "Indian" food perse. Be sure to make reservations where you can, of course.

Cocktails: check out Market at Shangri La. Jay Jones makes the best Manhattan I've ever had and if you like darker spirits you won't be disappointed.

Was at TJ's last week and came home with all sorts of goodies:

-3 kinds of cheese; at nearly a quarter the price it's hard to go wrong.
-pumpkin loaf/muffin mix, yet to try
-jarred marinara sauce
-sweet potato crinkle chips
-coconut milk
-roasted red peppers
-some shampoo that smelled great, yet to try
-a 6 pack of beer

I always declare at the border as Nexus is too valuable to risk. It saved us a nearly 2 hour wait last Sunday. I've never had any customs agent do anything but waive us through after declaring the beer. I've also never filled out that pesky form and never been asked about it either.

Happy shopping!

Agree with L'Abbatoir or Bluewater Cafe has a great bar. Sardine Can might be fun?

I've been once and it was great! Shared a few bites and glasses of wine. We did it as part of a self guided "tour de gas town" and it was perfect.

Bluewater has a great bar and atmosphere, lots of solo diners there.

Hapa Izakaya is another Izakaya option, I prefer them to Guu. Kingyo is great too.

Chambar has a small bar for seating but a good vibe and great food.

Not West side but Gourmet Warehouse at Hastings/Clark

Market at the Shangri La has great classic cocktails and twists on them too. And yes, Vancouver has a huge cocktail scene. Do a little digging through this forum and you will find all your answers!

After years of working Dine Out you could put me in the category of vehemently against it. My boyfriend ( non industry) suggested we try one this year. Having wanted to try L'Abbatoir for some time, we gave it a go. It was incredible! The service, the room, the drinks and the food were all top notch. I barely even remembered that it was a dine out event. If everyone could pull it off the way these guys did, I would be impressed.

Which would be your recommendation for first time dim sum king crabbers? How many people do you need to make the meal worthwhile?

For brunch in Whistler Wildwood at the tennis club is always a favorite, as is Elements but be prepared to wait due to the small space.

In Vancouver Nicli Antica pizza is great and won't break the bank. Izakaya is a great option too.

I second L'Abbatoir.

Hapa Izakaya is great, lots of options for everyone.

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Hapa Izakaya
1516 Yew St, Vancouver, BC V6K3E4, CA

I was just in Portland for the weekend with a similar agenda and made it to quite a few places you have mentioned.

First of all, everyone was raving about Pok Pok and I just didn't love it. I didn't even like it that much actually. We had cocktails and wings at Whiskey Soda Lounge across the street which were all amazing, and I guess I felt let down by the food we had at Pok Pok. Maybe we chose the wrong things, who knows, but it wasn't our favourite. Has anyone else ever criticized this place or am I alone?

The next night we hit up Gruner for a cocktail and appy which was great. We tried the squash dumplings and the charcuterie platter, both were a hit. Interesting cocktail list, very herbal in nature. Following Gruner was Clyde Common which I really enjoyed. Amazing cocktail list except they were out of something that I wanted to try, and the snacks we had were good. Great vibe.

If you are in town on a Saturday the farmers market was amazing, we had breakfast there (tried things from 3 different carts) and it was a great way to spend the morning.

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Clyde Common
1014 SW Stark St, Portland, OR 97205

Pok Pok
3226 SE Division St, Portland, OR

Whiskey Soda Lounge
3131 SE Division St, Portland, OR 97202

If you are looking for sushi and crafted cocktails, you need only walk down the block from your hotel to Bluewater Cafe and Raw Bar. Sit at the bar or the sushi bar and you won't be disappointed.

I enjoy the cocktails at Market very much, Jay Jones is a great bartender and knows his stuff. I have only eaten lunch there, not dinner, and it was great.

Bluewater for sushi, Glowbal for brunch, Lolita's for late night mexican, Hapa Izakaya for great japanese tapas... the list could go on forever.

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Hapa Izakaya
1516 Yew St, Vancouver, BC V6K3E4, CA

Be sure to check out Tacofino (food truck in the strip mall near the Life to Surf shop). They have an amazing fish burrito. Be sure to go on an empty stomach!

Donald's Market (Commercial/7th or Hastings/Nanaimo) has 8 different brands of coconut oil, and in all different sizes. The prices were quite reasonable too compared to Urban Fair/Choices etc.