Appropriately, we chose to eat our first meal there at “Raincity Grill,” overlooking the straits, and majestic Stanley Park in West End. What brought us to Vancouver was the province’s compassionate marriage laws – allowing for Morrison and myself to be legally wed after some 15 years together. We looked like a San Franciscan wedding cake, but as one wag aptly quipped “Someone left the cake out in the rain.”

Raincity Grill has been in business since 1992, and last year won the region’s (including Oregon and Washington states) best wine list. It’s a great place to discover unfamiliar Canadian wines, especially as those selected by sommelier Brent Hayman are available by the glass as well as by bottle. The 2001 Tinhorn Creek cabernet franc was delicious (and reasonably priced, too – one to stock up on in the cellar for both daily and special occasions). Chef Sean Cousin’s menu focuses on mod-Can bistro. This was one of the best tasting – or degustation – menus we’ve tried anywhere. Usually, we’re left with a vague, unsatisfied feeling from too little food. But here, generous portions satisfied the palate, with a steady line of dishes from rabbit to squab to halibut and lamb, plus soups and desserts – each culminating in a desire for just a little bit more but without stuffing the gut. While our artichoke veloute soup was a bit thick, and rabbit ravioli a tad dense, standouts included rare squab – firmly textured with no telltale raw flab texture, and fully-flavoured. This dish was a sign of clever shopping -- all too rare in many kitchens these days, especially in this age of corporate chain restaurants -- matched with superb kitchen skills. Not surprising, then to learn that Rain City uses only local ingredients and organic produce. Even better was the most delicious halibut we’ve ever tasted (and we’ve sampled a lot over our portly years!), topped with asparagus cooked in three ways (light tempura, grilled and steamed). Without a doubt, it was our best dining in the city, and worth a special detour for any traveler. This is one young chef to chart on his starlit staircase rise.
Raincity Grill, 1193 Denman Street (604) 685 7337 www.raincitygrill.com

Less successful was trendy Gotham. Their attempt at conservative up-market steaks leaves much to be desired. Our local contact raved about seeing Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman dining ensemble here, but judging from the restaurant’s polyester napkins, they might have felt things amiss as well. The dining room, with its two-storey high vaulted ceilings, is impressive, as are the extremely well-versed wait staff in starched white aprons. But for a steak house – which this indisputably is -- things need to be better. If management can’t source local foodstuffs, its should be because the chef can find something better out-of-town. But here, cut-price seems to be the kitchen’s guiding light. Yet at an average bill of C$100 per person, this is inexcusable. The lobster – both surf and turf lady size, as well as the full 14 oz tail – comes form the Caribbean, and not Canada’s famed Nova Scotia. Their Peter Luger-inspired tomato salad is made from out-of-season beef steak tomatoes -- and hot house Californian, to boot. These days, because of mad cow scare and consequent restriction in meat shipments, the local aged beef comes from British Columbia. Otherwise, the restaurant normally buys American grain –fed beef. Although the restaurant’s own hanging and aging results in less than moist cuts, they are tasty in flavour. (The owners could learn a thing from Gallagher’s in New York’s theatre district. There, the front room looks like a butchery, with a room full of continually rotating, aging porterhouses!) We’ll excuse the dry beef – but at these prices, don’t they raise waygu Kobe-quality in this part of the world? Likewise, we literally fled from boring Hamilton Street Bar & Grill after the indifferent starters on a deathly Sunday night. Save this one for a games night with the boys.
Gotham Steakhouse, 615 Seymour St.. (604) 605 8282 www.gothamsteakhouse.com
Hamilton Street Bar & Grill, 1009 Hamilton St.

Vancouver, British Columbia is one of the truly great settings for a world class city, and without a doubt it trumps the region – not only just in superb Cantonese cuisine. Complimented by the delicious – and reasonably priced – food we had at Sooke Harbour House on Vancouver island on an earlier trip to this part of the world, we will put British Columbia high on our gastronomic sites. Still haven’t found anything to equate in Seattle or Portland, Oregon.

Following our Oregon Coast primer in the last issue, one New Zealand reader wrote back, advising us to head to Vancouver’s Chinese restaurant scene for geoduck (pronounced gooey-duck) clams. These behemoths are so large, the clam “neck “splays casually outside the shell like a frolicking donkey’s appendage. There is absolutely no room for it to recline within the shell. Previously, we only sampled these in classic clam chowder – especially as the clams are notoriously tough, and mincing is often the most expedient cooking process. Their full flavours also makes them a cheap enhancer to canned commercial clam chowder. But Chinese chefs are creatively cooking geoduck these days, such as at Vancouver’s Sun Sui Wah Seafood Restaurant. There, the neck was thinly sliced and steamed, served with a soy and wine dipping sauce. An added bonus were its “innards” fried in a salt and pepper coating, similar to squid or calimari.

Like abalone, geoduck requires either slow and tender cooking, or conversely quick and fast. But once the world catches on, its relatively cheap per lb. price will raise stratospherically like abalone. Those who have read Steinbeck, will recall that abalone was once the poor man’s seafood near the Monterrey’s coast. Even cheaper than oysters. Not so today. Sun Sui Wah Seafood Restaurant, 3888 Main St. (604) 872 8822 www.sunsuiwah.com

Also, while in Vancouver, we breakfasted on the creamiest congee that we’ve encountered anywhere. Like its cousin boiled rice, congee, or rice gruel, is a common breakfast dish throughout Asia. We regularly choose it at hotel spreads in the morning, topping it with anything from salted duck eggs, to chopped coriander leaf or cilantro, to fish- and soy sauce, plus myriad other alternatives. Since before the turnover of Hong Kong back to China, Vancouver has benefited more than any other city in the food stakes. (Sydney comes a distant second.) Although Congee Noodle House offers a full range of congee options, we especially relished their seafood congee full of succulent white fish chunks cooked to perfection. Delicious, and well worth a detour to this most humble of eateries.
Congee Noodle House, 141-143 E. Broadway. (604) 879 8221

It was too short a trip, but local foodie and friend Nathan Fong encourages us to add Cin Cin and Feenie’s on our list the next time we pass through Vancouver.
Feenie’s is probably one of the hippest, loudest and maybe even brashest restaurants in town, but it will be a hard act to follow the cooking prowess of Rain City.