Black Tuna Japanese Tapas Bistro (web site, #202 – 1184 Denman Street, downtown Vancouver, phone: 604-408-7557) is quite a find for exceptional food quality, an upscale atmosphere with aesthetically pleasing decor and a great view of the English bay beach from the window. It’s an intimate dining room located on the second floor of the commercial building on Denman Street, very close to the Davie intersection. We tried the Chef’s Special Dinner Box ($29.95) which in my opinion was really worth it (some of the items are pictured below). And to accompany the food I really liked the restaurant’s choice of laid-back jazz background music.

[update Oct 14 2008: Black Tuna has closed and there is another Japanese restaurant there now.]

Glowbal Grill and Satay Bar (web site, 1079 Mainland Street, Vancouver, phone 604-602-0835) is a trendy, upscale place to enjoy “Westcoast regional” cuisine – a kind of food rooted in the western tradition with influences from other cultures. Their signature dish is Spaghetti with Kobe Beef Meatballs, which I must say is not your ordinary spaghetti and meatballs. The spaghetti is done in a light cream sauce with black truffle shavings on top. The meatballs are liberally garnished with fresh herbs and spices that make them simply irresistible. ($25, pictured below)  We also tried the Satay Platter ($23, pictured below) which included a big selection of little delicious grilled items such as the lamb, octopus, chicken, beef, salmon, and prawns.

Characters Taverna (web site, 1103 Davie Street, Vancouver, phone 604-685-9607) offers traditional Greek and Indian dishes with some creative fusion dishes as well. Below is a picture of my pasta special which was curry beef with fettucini (around $12). This is an unusual combination that actually worked really well.