Urban Thai Bistro (map, reviews, website, 1119 Hamilton St., Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-408-7788) is a great place to go for delicious and affordable Thai food in the heart of Yaletown (in downtown Vancouver).

At lunch time, there are some great specials which include a salad, spring roll, a main entree and rice for $8.00 before tax and tip. Service is fast and attentive, and the restaurant’s decor is pleasant and inviting. Urban Thai Bistro also serves a good selection of vegetarian and tofu dishes which make it a regular place to visit for some of my vegetarian friends. Dinner time prices are also reasonable, in the $12 to $18 per person range.

Pictured below is Lunch Special 76S ($8.00), which their menu describes as beef with green curry paste, eggplants, bell peppers, peas, basil leaves and coconut milk. It is also served with a spring roll and a green salad (not pictured).

For more photos and info, please view Part 3, Part 2, and Part 1. Their menu is also available on their website.

Beef with green curry paste, eggplants, bell peppers, peas, basil leaves & coconut milk

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

I made another visit to the popular Japanese restaurant Shabusen (map, web site, 755 Burrard Street, Unit 202, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-669-3883) and enjoyed a sushi buffet dinner. Reservations are a must at this restaurant, as people who did not have a reservation were waiting 45 minutes for a table!

Not only does the restaurant serve a great selection of tasty Japanese sushi, but also included in the price is all-you-can-eat Korean Barbecue that you cook at a grill at your table. Price per person at dinner time (for the all-you-can-eat sushi and BBQ) is $21.95 before tax and tip. Lunch prices are cheaper, around $13.50.

For more photos and info please view Part 1.

Salmon and Tuna sashimi from Shabusen Japanese restaurant in Vancouver (Burrard Street)

Meat for barbecuing (cook at your table), and sushi: Alaska roll, Avocado Roll, and Prawn Tempura roll from Shabusen Restaurant in Vancouver.

Assorted Nigiri Sushi (raw fish on rice) from Shabusen Japanese restaurant in Vancouver.

Gomae Japanese spinach (top left), Sunomono salad (bottom left), Mussels, from Shabusen all you can eat Japanese restaurant in Vancouver.