Prima Taste Restaurant (map, web site, 570 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-685-7881) serves authentic, modern Singaporean cuisine in an upscale and casual atmosphere. My friend who is from Malaysia says that Prima Taste is his favorite restaurant in the downtown area, and after visiting on two occasions and falling in love with the flavors, I can really understand why. What’s more, prices are quite reasonable: the main courses are in the $9 to $12 range at lunch time, and a tad more for dinner time.

Pictured below is a delicious chicken dish (of which I forgot the name, priced around $11 and  included soup and rice). Also shown below is the Laksa Prawns dish ($9.50). The Laksa Prawns featured some succulent cooked prawns served with inari bean curd, fish cakes, and noodles in a rich broth made with coconut milk(?) and some hot spices. This was a real treat and I finished every last drop!

For some more info and photos, please view Part 1.

(above) Singaporean Chicken dish, also served with rice and soup.

(above) a Singaporean dish, the Laksa Prawns ($9.50)

Tsunami Sushi (map, 238 – 1025 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-687-8744) is a Japanese sushi restaurant located in the heart of downtown Vancouver on the trendy Robson Street shopping strip (near Burrard Street). At Tsunami, there are boats floating around a central “chef island”. The chefs load the boats with a steady stream of tasty sushi rolls and pieces, which you can grab to eat as they float by. It’s not a fixed price for “all you can eat” however: at the end of the meal, they count up how many empty plates you have and charge you based on how much you ate. Nevertheless, this is a cool concept that makes for a fun dining experience. The quality of the sushi is quite high.

kenjisan10, a reviewer on DineHere.ca writes (read review):

I was at Tsunami’s the other night and had a great meal. My wife and I have been regulars for many years and think the sushi tastes very authentic and is reasonably priced. I’m Japanese and have taken my friends from Japan there and they say the same thing… good “aji” or flavor. Hilary Duff and her entourage were right next to us and apparently (according to the staff) always makes a point to eat there when she is in town. Well she may not be a sushi expert but she can certainly afford to go anywhere where wants. I’m impressed she’s a regular.

The price per person is in the $15 to $30 range, depending on how hungry you are. Pictured below are some of the dishes that we ate.

Hon’s Wun-Tun House (1339 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-685-0871) is a large cafeteria-style Chinese restaurant downtown that is very popular with families and casual diners because of the low prices and generous portions.

Hon’s has other locations in Chinatown (288 East Pender Street, Vancouver, 604-681-8842), New Westminister (408 6th St, New Westminster, 604-520-6661), Coquitlam (310 – 3025 Lougheed Hwy, Coquitlam, 604-468-0871), and Richmond (101 – 4600 No. 3 Road, Richmond, 604-273-0871).

Hon’s on Robson has an open kitchen concept, with a totally separate kitchen for Vegetarian dishes as well as a special area where they prepare the potstickers. On Saturday during the day Hon’s serves Chinese Dim Sum, which is always a special treat. We ordered the many Vegetarian Dim Sum items pictured below, and our total bill for two people came to just under $20.

Vegetarian Potstickers ($3.25)

Chinese Vegetarian Siu Mai dim sum ($3.00)

Chinese Vegetarian Sticky Rice ($3.00)

Chinese Vegetarian Bean Curd Roll ($2.75)

Steamed Vegetarian Pork Dumpling ($3.00)

Mango Pudding Cake ($2.50)

Be sure to get your leftovers to go! Hons Chinese food is good for take-out too.