8 New Vancouver Restaurants to Add Some Thrill to Your Boring, Boring Life

Buck up, pal, or eat a PB & J oyster (that's a threat).

I don’t want to be dramatic or anything, but the one time a week I allow myself to get take-out is truly the only thing keeping my life from becoming an endless void of Zoom calls, washing and rewashing fabric face masks, and heatedly arguing with my partner about who is more famous, Tom Felton or Tom Holland. There’s no shortage of great takeout (and dine-in, if you’re that kinda guy) in this city, and new spots to eat keep popping up—here’s a few Vancouver restaurants that just opened or will be opening soon.

1. B House

Now open

This Asian fusion restaurant just opened officially on Monday, and you can snag 20-percent off chicken wings until October 25. Chef and owner Hung Nguyen spearheads the menu with his twist on traditional dishes: sockeye salmon stuffed with artichokes, a garlic-soy-glazed tofu bowl, and the aforementioned chicken wings (coated in garlic, chili flakes and jalapeno) included. And—bless the COVID-era gods—there’s a patio.

2270 Commercial Dr.
bhouse.ca

2. Superflux

Now open

The local brewery’s new lounge opened earlier this month for folks looking to get your hops and hotdogs on. The open-concept space has a (reduced, classic) capacity of max 40 guests and serves up some pretty cool handhelds: think spicy crab, egg salad, and mortadella hot dogs. There’s also salad (eat your veggies) and, of course, beer (drink your veggies).

505 Clark Dr.
superfluxbeer.com

3. Bar Gobo

Now open

Burdock and Co.’s wine pop-up is all grown up and moved out (only a six minute drive from mom’s house, though). Bar Gobo offers a curated wine list and tasty sharables like lamb neck gnocchi and radicchio caesar salad.

237 Union St.
bargobo.com

4. Bells and Whistles

Now open

The new Dunbar location of Bells and Whistles doesn’t have all the… well… bells and whistles of the Fraser St. location, but bar games in pandemic times don’t seem like a great idea, anyway. What they do have is a menu of cozy comforts including pretzel buns, poutine, popcorn shrimp, burgers and sandwiches.

4497 Dunbar St.
bellsandwhistlesyvr.ca

5. Mila

Now open

Red Seal chef Jim Vesal crafts the menu at Mila, Chinatown’s newest vegan spot for pasta, burgers, and sushi (rather than focus on one culture or cuisine, the restaurant makes whatever plant-based foods are the most yummy). The cocktails list looks tasty, too: the Smoky MILA Sour has bourbon, cane syrup, vegan foamer and an Ardbeg float and the Orange Crush combines pale ale, gin, cane syrup and blood orange soda. There’s craft beer and cider too, if you’re boring.

185 Keefer St.
milaplantbased.com

6. Sashimiya

Now open

Sashimiya isn’t really a restaurant restaurant, but grab-and-go food is just what the doctor ordered. Okay, we haven’t actually asked Dr. Henry’s opinion, but we’re pretty sure that she would approve of this Japanese seafood specialty shop—they’ve got sashimi-grade seafood, made-to-order sushi, and a bunch of Japanese pantry items. Chef Takayuki Omi steers this seafood ship, and if you’re not quite ready to get on-board yet, there’s an online store opening soon.

1348 Hornby St.
sashimiya.ca

7. ShuckShuck

Now open

Now’s the time to take risks, right? Life is short, the future is unknowable. Perhaps you will like peanut butter and jelly oysters or any of the other extremely weird but intriguing saltwater-bivalve-molluscs-with-toppings on the menu at ShuckShuck. The “Canadiana” has maple syrup, extreme beans (what are those?), ketchup chips and bacon dust. Oh, Canada.

227 E Pender St.
shuckshuck.com

8. Thierry

Opening November 2020

It’s treat season, and Thierry’s second location in Mount Pleasant is opening just in time. You can expect more fancy-pants chocolates, macarons and petits four from their new bakery slated to open next month.

101-221 E10th Ave.
thierrychocolates.com