Western Lake Restaurant (map, reviews, 4989 Victoria Drive, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-321-6862) serves some of the best Cantonese-style Chinese food in the city. I can say this on good recommendation from my friend Stephen Pong who is a local “foodie” expert and a food tour guide, taking tourists and residents on culinary tours of Vancouver’s Asian restaurant scene. I was really impressed by this restaurant and highly recommend Stephen’s service (his website is coming soon; email me if you’d like to find out more!).

NancyLand writes on her blog (click here to read review):

I went there for a group family dinner a while back, and everything on the set group menu for six impressed me (you know, the one written only in Chinese.  If you don’t read Chinese, just take a chance and order it.  Make sure they are not giving you a non-Chinese version though.  Not sure if they have that there, but some restaurants have a “western” or “gwai-lo” and a Chinese version of the set menus).  In particular, I remember that the texture of the fried rice was amazing, and may be the best I had ever had. […]

The most awesome dish we had was the Beijing Duck (aka Peking Duck) which was served in two courses. First the duck skin was served with crepes and a garnish of green onion and carrot, with sweet hoi-sin sauce (not pictured). Second was the “lettuce wrap”: wok-fried duck meat, crispy noodles, and vegetables served in pieces of fresh iceburg lettuce (pictured below). The two course Beijing Duck dish was $28.00 which is a very reasonable price for two large courses.

We also ordered the Oysters with Ginger and Green Onion (pictured below, $15.80) which had the biggest, most tender cooked oysters I have tasted in a long time. Other good dishes we tried were the Chicken with Gai Lan (Chinese brocolli), which was $12.80 (also pictured below), and the Honey Moon Fried Rice. The fried rice was presented in the shape of a Yin-yang with cream and prawns on one side, and tomato and chicken on the other side ($12.80, pictured below).

Reservations at this restaurant are an absolute must, as the place was fully booked. If possible try to make your reservations a few days in advance. The restaurant mostly serves large groups (four or more people) and it’s much better to have lots of people so that you can order many dishes, put them in the center of the table, and share them in a Chinese banquet style (as opposed to European style restaurants where everyone gets their own dish). Highly recommended.

Peking Duck (Beijing duck) lettuce wrap from Western Lake Chinese Restaurant in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Oysters with Ginger and Green Onion ($15.80) from Western Lake Chinese Seafood Restaurant in Vancouver.

Chicken with Gai-Lan (Chinese Brocolli) from Western Lake Restaurant in Vancouver ($12.80)

Honey Moon Fried Rice ($12.80), from Western Lake Chinese Seafood Restaurant in Vancouver

Indian Oven (web site, map, reviews, 2006 West 4th Avenue Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone 604-730-5069) is one of my friend’s favorite places to go for Indian food in the Vancouver area. It’s located on the second floor of a building at West 4th and Maple Avenue in Kitsilano, with a great view of the bustling shopping district and the mountains and downtown skyline in the distance.

I was really quite impressed by the quality of the food (we ordered vegetarian selections this time, but the menu has a good selection of non-vegetarian items as well). To start we enjoyed an appetizer of Onion Bhaji ($6.99, pictured below) which were deep fried and crispy, similar to Pekora but without the meat. Hub-uk (click here for their Onion Bhaji recipe) describes what makes up an Onion Bhaji:

The basic recipe consists of onions being chopped and then made into a sort of batter with chickpea or gram flour, spices, and sometimes with herbs, then fried until golden. They have a mild taste and are not hot.

For the main course, we tried the Bombay Aloo ($10.95, pictured below), a tasty dish of diced potatoes cooked with cumin seed & specialty spices, and the Vegetable Korma ($10.95, also pictured below), which is made with carrots, cauliflowers, and broccoli cooked in the restaurant’s own special cream sauce. We also had an order of Pulao Rice ($3.50), and Garlic Naan bread ($2.25), which their menu describes as “white flour leavened bread coated with garlic”. Yum!

nanashi, a reviewer on DineHere.ca (click here to read review) writes:

Being from West Bengal, and growing up on Indian food most of my life I’m always looking for a taste of home. I discovered the Indian Oven last year and have found my self routinely selecting it for take out, over other Indian restaurants in Vancouver. The Indian Oven specializes mostly in North Indian cuisine, which is quite common among Indian restaurants in North America… Tandoori/tikk/kebab specialties of this restaurant are far above most of the other restaurants in west part of Vancouver.

The restaurant also has free delivery within a 5km radius (click here for their take out and delivery menu), and 10% off for pick-up orders.

Indian food from Indian Oven restaurant in Vancouver: Garlic Naan bread ($2.25), Bombay Aloo ($10.95), Vegetable Korma ($10.95)

Onion Bhajis ($6.99, appetizer from Indian Oven restaurant in Vancouver).

Closeup of Vegetable Korma ($10.95) from Indian Oven restaurant in Vancouver.

Garlic Naan bread from Indian Oven restaurant in Vancouver ($2.25)

East Garden Restaurant (map, 2888 Belmont Avenue, Victoria, BC, Canada, phone: 250-598-1232) is a Chinese restaurant hidden away in a residential neighborhood in Victoria, near the Hillside shopping centre.

The restaurant is very popular for take out and is a local favorite. The restaurant has a large, bright and well-kept dining area that would be suitable for large groups, families, or friends looking for casual dining. We ordered the Dinner Combination for Two, which was around $15 each and also included rice and soup (items pictured below).

The waitress kindly allowed us to substitute some dishes in the combination at a small extra price. I thought the food was really tasty, as well as generously portioned. Our total bill before tip (but including tax) was $33.99, which is quite reasonable considering how many dishes were included. We had lots of food left over, almost enough for another whole meal!

(For a photo of the exterior of the restaurant please visit Tourism Mall.)

(above) Won ton soup at East Garden restaurant

(above) Chinese Beef and Broccoli from East Garden restaurant in Victoria.

(above) Chow Mein noodles from East Garden restaurant

(above) Deep fried prawns and pork from East Garden Chinese restaurant

(above) Breaded chicken with peanuts