Best Downtown 2015

Best Downtown Restaurant winners of Vancouver Magazine’s 26th Annual Restaurant Awards

• Gold: Cactus Club Cafe Coal Harbour
• Silver: Café Medina
• Bronze: Tableau Bar Bistro
• Honourable Mentions: Kirin, BaoQi

 Its postcard-perfect views would grant it an unfair advantage no matter the food quality, but Cactus Club Cafe Coal Harbour (Gold) doesn’t take its privileged podium for granted. A sprawling “design marvel,” the largest and busiest of the chain’s growing number of locations is a “clever showcase for the magical ideas of executive chef Rob Feenie,” from burgers and pizzas to signature items such as Thai red curry to Pacific ling cod that’s “arguably the best in the city.” Breakfast and brunch mecca Café Medina (Silver) relocated to larger digs but maintained both its lofty standards and long lineups; the likely wait is worth it, however, when your patience is rewarded with chef Jonathan Chovancek’s “otherworldly” egg dishes, crisp Liège waffles with to-die-for milk chocolate/lavender sauce, and coffee good enough to make you linger despite the new room’s frenzied din. The Loden Hotel’s Tableau Bar Bistro (Bronze) feels just removed enough from the downtown core to mollify the workday’s stresses; a cheese-and-charcuterie plate and a generously poured cocktail at this Best French Casual spot will send you on your way a happier person than when you walked in. Honourable Mentions: Kirin, BaoQi (closed)