The Noodle Box (web site, map, 1-1867 4th Avenue West, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-734-1310) is a South East Asian noodle bar (near Burrard and 4th) that is popular with the young, hip student crowd for casual dining and drinks. The restaurant is cafeteria style in that there is no table service: you order and pay first, and then find a table yourself. When your food is ready one of the chefs will call out your name. The atmosphere is high-energy and lively, making this a great place for hanging out with friends and people watching. Prices for entrees are in the $10 to $14 range, such as the Thai Green Curry (pictured below, around $12), which I ordered with a chicken and prawns combination. Thai spices were simmered in coconut milk and lime juice, served with rice noodles, Asian greens, mushrooms, sprouts, and herbs. Yum!

The Noodle Box also has two locations in Victoria: Chinatown (626 Fisgard, Victoria, BC, Canada, phone: 250-360-1312) and downtown (818 Douglas, Victoria, BC, Canada, phone: 250-384-1314).

Thai Green Curry from the Noodle Box restaurant in Vancouver

Taking the ferry over to Victoria is a popular day trip for tourists to Vancouver. And for some people, a ride on BC Ferries is inevitable, whether it is to attend school at UVic, visit family, or simply return home. In my case I was going over for a vacation, which also involved performing in a piano concert (click here for free recording of my performance in the concert).

Naturally, during the 1.5 hour ferry trip, I got hungry. There are several food options available on BC Ferries, one of which is the Pacific Buffet, which BC Ferries describes as offering “elegant ocean-view dining on sailings from Vancouver to Victoria and features a wide selection of hot and cold items”. The buffet costs $16 to $21 depending on the time of day.

The line up for the buffet seemed long, so I headed over to the main cafeteria, which is branded as “White Spot”, a popular chain restaurant with several locations in Vancouver. The ocean-going version of White Spot has a simpler menu, but still has some attractive choices, such as the Roast Chicken with fries or Caesar salad, various burgers, salads, or their signature entree, the baked maple-glazed salmon ($11.99, pictured below).

The salmon was surprisingly good, and unlike some restaurants where the actual product looks a lot different from the picture in the menu, my salmon looked very similar to the enticing poster-sized photograph at the cafeteria entrance. My only problem was that I was really hungry, and I could have easily eaten two orders of scrumptious salmon. Maybe next time I’ll try the Pacific Buffet!

(above) BC Ferries Salmon Entree ($11.99)

Samurai Sushi Japanese Restaurant (web site, map, 1108 Davie Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-609-0078) is a good choice for decent quality, affordable sushi in the downtown West End neighborhood. The restaurant is fairly small and does not take reservations, so if you go during peak times you might have to wait a few minutes to get a table. But a policy of no reservations seems to be the norm for some of the more popular and reasonably priced restaurants in the area, such as the Greek restaurant Stepho’s, just a few doors down Davie. Pictured below are some of the items we ate, including the Tuna and Salmon sashimi ($9.95), the Toro Sashimi ($10.50), half order of House Roll sushi ($5.25), chopped scallop roll ($3.90), and some nigiri sushi pieces ($0.99 cents a piece for Inari and Saba, and $1.95 per piece of Ikura salmon roe).

cvancouver writes (click here for their review):

Every sushi roll is over sized and jam packed. Party trays (from $20-$35) are enough to feed 4 average person. Compared to many eat-in restaurants, I find Sashimi to be quite the “bang for your buck.”

For more photos please view Part 3, Part 2, or Part 1.

(above) Tuna and salmon sashimi at Samurai Sushi in Vancouver, $9.95

(above) Toro Sashimi, full order, $10.50, from Samurai Japanese Restaurant

(above) Half order of House Roll Sushi ($5.25) from Samurai Sushi

(above) Ikura sushi ($1.95 each) and chopped scallop roll ($3.90)

(above) Saba nigiri sushi (Mackerel, $0.99 each), Inari sushi (sweet bean curd wrapper, $0.99) and Ikura sushi from Samurai Japanese Sushi restaurant.