Yopo Cafe (web site, 1122 Homer Street, Vancouver, BC, phone: 604-609-9676) is a tiny, bright, well kept Chinese restaurant in the upscale Yaletown shopping/restaurant district in downtown Vancouver. Lunch specials such as the lemon chicken on rice with shredded pork chow mein (pictured below) are served with soup, and are a reasonable $7.00 (or $6.45 if you get just one of the items). This restaurant is very popular for take out, and the kitchen is quite fast. They also offer an extensive Chinese food menu with over 100 items, which is pretty amazing considering their tiny kitchen. And what’s more, they provide free Chinese Food delivery to the Vancouver area for orders $20 and up, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.

Shabusen Japanese Yakiniku House (web site, 755 Burrard Street, Unit 202, Vancouver, phone 604-669-3883) is an immensely popular all-you-can-eat Japanese Sushi and Korean BBQ restaurant conveniently located on Burrard Street near the trendy downtown Robson shopping strip, and near the Burrard skytrain station. At lunch you can enjoy an all-you-can-eat sushi meal (pictured below) for $13.50, which on weekends and holidays also includes all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ. (Korean BBQ is where you are given bowls of your favorite marinated meats and you cook the meat yourself at a grill set into your table.) Dinner prices are around $23.

The decor at this restaurant is worth noting too: above the sushi bar is some wild florescent lighting, and some of the larger tables are set inside wooden boats complete with sails. This restaurant is a definite must for visitors who want to experience something that truly speaks of Vancouver, where surprisingly good food quality and quantity combine at a meeting of western and Asian cultures. Reservations are recommended.

Chicken Teriyaki

Japanese Sunomono Salad (cold rice noodles in a sweet vinegar broth with a few vegetables)

Tamago sushi (egg) and Salmon Sushi

Moxie’s Classic Grill (web site, address: 180 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, phone 604-684-8434) is a contemporary chain restaurant that serves Canadian style food. Moxie’s has a large and varied menu, ranging from affordable entrees such as burgers, sandwiches, and rice bowls, to more upscale and expensive choices such as the “Land Sea Grill” – a plate that includes a 4 oz steak, a skewer of prawns, and a fillet of salmon, as well as your choice of mashed potatoes, stuffed baked potato, or fries, and a seasonal vegetable, all for $22.99 (pictured below). In my experience, Moxie’s has served our large office groups quite well in the past, but during the busy lunch rush, it is best to make a reservation if you have a large group.