Zachary’s on Robson (web site, 121 Robson St., phone 604.605.1472) is located in the Hampton Inn & Suites hotel which is on the south-east end of Robson Street downtown, right next to BC Place Stadium. Their lunch menu is reasonably priced with most items around $11.00, and I found the quality of food to be far better than I’d expect of a restaurant in a hotel. I enjoyed the Halibut pasta special ($11.99, pictured below), which had generous chunks of tender halibut in a tomato-based sauce with mushrooms and artichokes. The spinach salad (also pictured below, around $7) was quite large and tasted really fresh!

Sonomama Japanese Restaurant (web site, 980 Granville St., Vancouver, phone 604-662-3770) is a relatively new addition to downtown’s Granville Street strip, amidst the nightclubs and fast food restaurants near the corner of Granville and Nelson. A lot of care has obviously gone into the design and decor of this restaurant: it’s an ultra-modern and stylish room with huge vaulted ceilings, a glowing wrap-around sushi bar, tables and a few comfortable booths. For best value, be sure to try items from the combination menu, such as one of the sushi combinations ($10 to $13) or the Chirashi and Udon combo ($12.95). Chirashi-don (pictured below) is a bowl filled with rice and topped with fresh seafood, and the combo also came with a bowl of hot udon-noodle soup.

Update (Jan 1, 2008): Sonomama has closed and there is a new Indian restaurant there now.

The Hamilton Street Grill (web site, 1009 Hamilton Street, Vancouver, phone 604.331.1511) is a popular steakhouse in Vancouver’s trendy Yaletown neighborhood. For lunch, enjoy a burger, steak, sandwich, or pasta, or be adventurous and try one of the tapas such as the crab cake, mussels Diablo, or wrapped prawns. I’ve found the food quality to be consistently high at this restaurant, and my Fresh Grilled BC Salmon (pictured below) was no exception. The Hamilton Street Grill also hosts wine tasting events: be sure to ask your server if you are interested.