2023

Restaurant Awards 2023: The Best Contemporary Restaurants in Vancouver

Meet the class of 2023: the very first winners of Vanmag's Best Contemporary Restaurant award.

By the Editors /

This category is fresh in every sense of the word. It’s a brand-new addition to the Restaurant Awards, replacing the former “Best West Coast.” And Best Contemporary celebrates modern culinary excellence: chefs that respect tradition, but aren’t beholden to it.

The Best Contemporary Restaurants in Vancouver 2023

Gold: AnnaLena

Earning the first-ever gold in this category is AnnaLena, a restaurant that also nabbed one of Vancouver’s first Michelin stars in 2022. Thanks to world-class tasting menus from chef Michael Robbins—also our Chef of the Year—AnnaLena shines with imaginative, artistic, detailed dishes. (Case in point: BBQ chicken consommé with smoked cod, yam agnolotti and wakame oil.) 

1809 W 1st Ave., Vancouver
annalena.ca 

AnnaLena. Photo: Allison Kuhl.

Silver: L’Abattoir

Silver belongs to L’Abattoir; our judges loved chef Lee Cooper’s sharp French technique and incorporation of distinctive Asian flavour (think steak tartare with bluefin tuna otoro and shiso). “It represents a real Vancouver point of view,” said one judge.

217 Carrall St., Vancouver
labattoir.ca 

Photo: L’Abattoir

Bronze: Burdock and Co

And Burdock and Co (another Michelin winner) bags bronze for chef Andrea Carlson’s carefully crafted, plant-forward dishes (rosemary-smoked potato with black garlic, anyone?) that celebrate the best of local, seasonal ingredients.

2702 Main St., Vancouver 
burdockandco.com 

Photo: Burdock and Co

Honourable Mention: Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar

845 Burrard St., Vancouver
boulevardvancouver.ca 

Looking for more of the best restaurants in Vancouver? See all 70+ restaurants on the list.