OT: Huge trip planned to Vancouver - Need Advice!

[Canucks LB]

Hey guys!,

Here is a very different post from me that I usually do, because I need some help here.

I work a ton so I don't have a ton of time going downtown to Vancouver, and My girlfriend is flying from Texas to come see me on october 10th to the 13th, so I need some Advice on Locations to visit, Restaurants to visit, etc.

1 - Where should I go with her? (Stanley Park, Aquarium is what I got so far)
2 - Which restaurants should I go too?
3 - Which Restaurants should I stay AWAY from?
4 - Which Casino is the best around the Surrey - Vancouver Area?
5 - Any really romantic locations I should Visit?
6 - Overall, what are some things I should consider with her coming, trying 2 make sure I ain't missing anything.

(We will have about 500$ to spend for 2 days worth of fun)

Click to read more...

 

[IntangiBo]

1. Not sure why you'd go to the aquarium unless she's 14.
2. What kind of food?
3. Anything not listed in #2.
4. No idea.
5. Stay in your hotel for 2 days if she's only here for 4.
6. Weather dependent and age dependent.

And if you post one single thing here during that time....

 

[ddawg1950]

Don't eat beans.

 

[IntangiBo]

Don't eat beans.

Or asparagus or cabbage, although Bestie is a great place for breakfast and a beer.

 

[Canucks LB]

1. Not sure why you'd go to the aquarium unless she's 14.
2. What kind of food?
3. Anything not listed in #2.
4. No idea.
5. Stay in your hotel for 2 days if she's only here for 4.
6. Weather dependent and age dependent.

1 - She loves the water and fish, she has never been to a aquarium before.
2 - Any Kind of food really, seafood restaurant would be ideal.
3 - Blank
4 - Blank
5 - She is going to be at my place
6 - Good point on the weather, completely forgot about that.

 

[IntangiBo]

Not exactly seafood, but Tacofino should be high on your lunch list.

Alibi Room for a beer.

Kishimoto on the Drive for sushi. Check the hours.

Mezcaleria on the Drive.

Brassneck on Main.

Don't get stuck downtown other than maybe a food truck. Lots to do there, but not exactly a taste of Vancouver.

 

[Kickassguy]

I went through this same thing when my gf used to visit from NY. Some of the things I feel are of note...

1 - Whistler for a night or two. Savor the Sea-to-Sky. Deep Cove kayaking. Wander Downtown a bit. Steveston waterfront. Pick a beach.
2 - Ramen on Denman/Robson (I prefer Kintaro). Izakaya-hopping in the same area (Guu > Kingyo > Zakkushi). Farmer's Apprentice, Cioppino's, if you want to get fancy. Thomas Haas in North Van. Bella Gelateria downtown. Tacofino + Japadog for food truck snacking.

4 - River Rock is serviceable.
5 - Eh. It's Vancouver. Anyplace scenic works. Viewpoints, vistas. Sea-to-sky, Whistler, hell, some locations at UBC fall under this category.

 

[ShouldveDraftedFiala]

If you're down for a fancy romantic dinner, take her to Blue Water Cafe. Otherwise stay away from the boring chains. Although if you have to, Cactus Club is the best of the bunch.

Oh and a good option for lunch one day that I highly recommend is Santouka for the best Ramen you've ever had.

 

[Jimson Hogarth*]

Take her on a guided fishing trip. I've used 'Bon Chovy' before, they run right out of Coal Harbour and are good. In October you can catch Chum, Coho and Chinook salmon right in front of West Vancouver.

When people from out of town visit, I tell them they have to do 3 things to be an official Vancouverite:
1. Coffee shop. You must hit at least two independent roasters, for me its Kafka's on Main or (of course) 49th Parallel on main.
2. Seawall run/walk- be seen and see the beautiful people
3. Eat the sushi. For me its Toshi Sushi on 16th Ave at Main st.
*honourable mention: Yoga, grouse grind, dispensary/weed shop*

I wouldn't take her to any restaurants downtown (at least outside of yaletown), I find for most places their food quality suffers because of higher rents.

 

[lush]

If she likes water, fish and aquarium then granville island has a cool fish market. Take her there to get some stuff and cook it fresh at your place to save a bit of coin

 

[ShouldveDraftedFiala]

If she likes water, fish and aquarium then granville island has a cool fish market. Take her there to get some stuff and cook it fresh at your place to save a bit of coin

Make sure to take the http://theaquabus.com/ to get there

 

[Bam19]

If you're down for a fancy romantic dinner, take her to Blue Water Cafe. Otherwise stay away from the boring chains. Although if you have to, Cactus Club is the best of the bunch.

Oh and a good option for lunch one day that I highly recommend is Santouka for the best Ramen you've ever had.

The blue water cafe is excellent although pricey.

Sushi seems like a must its got to be better here than in Texas.

My advice is don't try to do too much, enjoy the time together and just relax.

 

[Canucks LB]

Great ideas guys, Keep them coming

 

[Callhee]

Seasons in the Park in QE Park has reasonable prices, good food, and the best view of downtown Vancouver or any restaurant. You could also take a stroll through the park before or after dinner.

Ramen on Robson is a great idea; but I would recommend Santouka instead; its consistently ranked in the top 2 in Vancouver. Kintaro has gone downhill in the last 5 years or so. You could also follow that with a dessert at the eccentric Japanese convenience store on Robson called Konbinya; they serve Japanese Crepes and stock all sorts of weird Japanese snacks. Or have a slice of cake at Breka, also on Robson, they serve German pastries.

Granville Island is worth visiting as well; its lively, and full of quality restaurants. There are entertaining buskers there daily. If the weather is nice and you have time; taking a nice little kayak trip in False creek is fun too. Granville island is home to two places you can rent kayaks, but they could be busy, there is always Southeast False Creek Community Centre a little further east on the Seawall where you can rent kayaks as well.

Commercial Street (AKA 'The Strip') is also home to many great italian restaurants, I would recommend Via Tevere on Victoria street for Napolitan pizza, then head down to the nearby 'Strip' for Gelato at Dolce Amore (my favourite gelato place in town.)

 

[ChilliBilly]

if you rent a car, go over to either Lynn Canyon suspension bridge - free, or Capilano suspension bridge if you want a tourist trap that tells u what to do.

Take the skyride to the top of grouse if you want to spend 5 - 6 hours up their, fantastic view but a tad pricey ($42 per person, where u used to be able to ride for $5) - ********.

 

[Canucks LB]

Seasons in the Park in QE Park has reasonable prices, good food, and the best view of downtown Vancouver or any restaurant. You could also take a stroll through the park before or after dinner.

Ramen on Robson is a great idea; but I would recommend Santouka instead; its consistently ranked in the top 2 in Vancouver. Kintaro has gone downhill in the last 5 years or so. You could also follow that with a dessert at the eccentric Japanese convenience store on Robson called Konbinya; they serve Japanese Crepes and stock all sorts of weird Japanese snacks. Or have a slice of cake at Breka, also on Robson, they serve German pastries.

Granville Island is worth visiting as well; its lively, and full of quality restaurants. There are entertaining buskers there daily. If the weather is nice and you have time; taking a nice little kayak trip in False creek is fun too. Granville island is home to two places you can rent kayaks, but they could be busy, there is always Southeast False Creek Community Centre a little further east on the Seawall where you can rent kayaks as well.

Commercial Street (AKA 'The Strip') is also home to many great italian restaurants, I would recommend Via Tevere on Victoria street for Napolitan pizza, then head down to the nearby 'Strip' for Gelato at Dolce Amore (my favourite gelato place in town.)

I completely forgot about commercial street.

 

[Lindgren]

It's a bit of a cliche, but I'd strongly suggest a pre-dinner drink at Cloud Nine, the rotating restaurant/lounge on top of the Sheraton Landmark on Robson (just drinks -- the restaurant is average). Most places of this sort charge a substantial fee just to take a look, but the tremendous view here is free, and the drinks, though not a bargain, aren't any more than the usual hotel lounge.

If your girlfriend is at all the intellectual type, try the Museum of Anthropology out at UBC. She won't see a collection of west-coast native art to compare anywhere else.

More modestly, I second the suggestion of taking the aqua bus to get from downtown to Granville Island. Charming.

 

[IntangiBo]

If you're down for a fancy romantic dinner, take her to Blue Water Cafe. Otherwise stay away from the boring chains. Although if you have to, Cactus Club is the best of the bunch.

Oh and a good option for lunch one day that I highly recommend is Santouka for the best Ramen you've ever had.

Blue Water? First off, he's has a $500, 2 day budget. More importantly though is it's hardly romantic.

 

[IntangiBo]

It's a bit of a cliche, but I'd strongly suggest a pre-dinner drink at Cloud Nine, the rotating restaurant/lounge on top of the Sheraton Landmark on Robson (just drinks -- the restaurant is average). Most places of this sort charge a substantial fee just to take a look, but the tremendous view here is free, and the drinks, though not a bargain, aren't any more than the usual hotel lounge.

If your girlfriend is at all the intellectual type, try the Museum of Anthropology out at UBC. She won't see a collection of west-coast native art to compare anywhere else.

More modestly, I second the suggestion of taking the aqua bus to get from downtown to Granville Island. Charming.

I think Cloud 9 was a cliche 25 years ago. MoA is a great idea.

For a view, better off having drinks at QE Park on the patio.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Hey guys!,

Here is a very different post from me that I usually do, because I need some help here.

I work a ton so I don't have a ton of time going downtown to Vancouver, and My girlfriend is flying from Texas to come see me on october 10th to the 13th, so I need some Advice on Locations to visit, Restaurants to visit, etc.

1 - Where should I go with her? (Stanley Park, Aquarium is what I got so far)
2 - Which restaurants should I go too?
3 - Which Restaurants should I stay AWAY from?
4 - Which Casino is the best around the Surrey - Vancouver Area?
5 - Any really romantic locations I should Visit?
6 - Overall, what are some things I should consider with her coming, trying 2 make sure I ain't missing anything.

(We will have about 500$ to spend for 2 days worth of fun)

1. Do something fun. Take her to PNE Fright Nights.
2. Depends what food she likes. If you want something romantic go up Burnaby Mountain to a place called Horizon. If you drive, that is. It's also a good makeout spot.
3. Depends what she don't like. I highly recommend staying away from No. 5 Orange though. She might not dig it.
4. River Rock! AINEC.
5. See point 2. Lighthouse Park is also a good spot. And Rocky Point in PoMo.
6. Wear a condom.

 

[IntangiBo]

I completely forgot about commercial street.

Drive.

If it's pizza, Nicli Antica in Gastown. If you're going to Dolce Amore, bring cash. I am not sure it's any better than anything else though. Rain or Shine on West 4 for ice cream if you're in that area.

^^^Horizons? Is it 1991 or are you 65 years old?

 

[y2kcanucks]

if you rent a car, go over to either Lynn Canyon suspension bridge - free, or Capilano suspension bridge if you want a tourist trap that tells u what to do.

Take the skyride to the top of grouse if you want to spend 5 - 6 hours up their, fantastic view but a tad pricey ($42 per person, where u used to be able to ride for $5) - ********.

To save money they can hike the grouse grind to the top


Also for seafood, I like Coast, or Joe Fortes.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Drive.

If it's pizza, Nicli Antica in Gastown. If you're going to Dolce Amore, bring cash. I am not sure it's any better than anything else though. Rain or Shine on West 4 for ice cream if you're in that area.

^^^Horizons? Is it 1991 or are you 65 years old?

Good call. They don't do reservations though, but authentic Italian pizza.

 

[IntangiBo]

What exactly is HUGE about this trip?

 

[Ozone]

Just make her loads of incredibly strong crantinis...then you can feed her a bag of potato chips and pop in the second season of Family Guy plus "Blue Harvest". Besides the price of vodka and cranberry juice, it will be the cheapest date ever.