A friend recommended an authentic Korean restaurant (1638 Robson Street, Vancouver, phone 604-689-3898) called Book Kyung Ban Jeoun Korean & Chinese Restaurant, located on Robson Street downtown between Bidwell Street and Cardero Street.

As is customary with most Korean restaurants, a few small accompaniments were provided with our meal such as the Kimchi (pictured below), onion, pickle, and a sweet sauce. The dish which I ordered was the Black Bean Noodle with Seafood, which comes in two bowls: a bowl of plain noodles, and a bowl with a thick rich sauce made with black beans, onion, and assorted seafood (pictured below, approximately $9.00). The very dark black bean sauce looks quite different from anything you might encounter at a Western-style restaurant, but I assure you it was very tasty!

Bo Kong Vegetarian Restaurant (visitor reviews, 3068 Main Street, Vancouver, phone 604-876-3088) is a Buddhist Chinese restaurant that serves a large selection of tofu and gluten vegetarian dishes. You won’t miss the meat, even in dishes like the wonton soup (pictured below) or the pineapple sweet and sour delight (also pictured below). This restaurant is very popular among vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. Dinner for two with soup, rice, and two dishes came to around $30.

Tinseltown is a relatively new (and still sparsely occupied) shopping mall with a large movie theatre complex located on the border between downtown Vancouver and the downtown East Side / Chinatown area. This is an area of town that is in transition, with many fancy new condos being constructed, but still is one of Vancouver’s more graphic parts of town (88 W Pender, Vancouver 604-806-0799). Tinseltown and its food court are easily accessible by Skytrain, just steps away from the Stadium station and GM Place Stadium. The food court is cash only and some really good deals can be found here, such as a heaping plate of Thai fast food for only $5.00 (pictured below). Also check out the salad rolls made fresh to order from the Vina Vietnamese restaurant (served with peanut sauce – yum!).