Vegan Practically

Vancouver is a great place to be vegan if you have a way to get around. We rented a car because we are visiting family on New Westminster. I did some research and made a reservation at VietFamily Vegan Restaurant on Commercial Drive. What a good idea that was! Upon landing in Vancouver we picked up our rental car and drove straight to the restaurant (about 30 minutes from the airport, in Little Italy).

It’s a sleek and comfortable space, not exactly upscale but getting there with a simple and elegant style. Lots of wood and earth tones with plants and gentle lighting.

There is so much on the menu that we wanted to try. That’s the great treat about an all-vegan restaurant. I think it would be a fabulous place to go with a group so you could sample more. We ordered the summer rolls, the lemongrass chick’n, and a tofu and veggie dish with rice vermicelli called “A Bowlful.” It was all absolutely delicious, with ample portions that left no space for dessert. It was sad to have to leave some behind (we were staying in a hotel so we couldn’t take our leftovers). I also had a yummy drink called a “Summer Fizz.” Not sure what was in it but it was refreshing and pretty:

We have added VietFamily to our must-do-again list.

That evening we met up with my step-daughter, Ashley, son-in-law, and grandson (so adorable!) and ordered in pizza from Wild Flour Pizza in Burnaby. It’s not a fully vegan restaurant but their vegan margherita is good. Lovely thin crust with red sauce and cashew mozzarella. We were in New Westminster, where the vegan options are much more limited than in downtown Vancouver. It’s not the only pizza place with vegan items, but it’s definitely better than your average pizza.

We were staying at the Inn at the Quay in New Westminster, which is on the water and in the downtown part of the city. Just a stone’s throw from the lobby door is a surprising little café called Craft. There’s a trend in Vancouver that I haven’t noticed in Ontario (which doesn’t mean it’s not here too). It’s that cafés turn into cocktail bars at night.

We went there for breakfast, and the reason I say it was suprising is that they had a number of breakfast options for vegans, including a beyond sausage and vegan cheese breakfast sandwich and a chia mango pudding with coconut. The pudding was especially delicious, with fresh mango and lots of shredded coconut. I had it two mornings in a row (the third morning I made a big batch of blueberry pancakes for everyone).

On Friday late morning, Diane, Ashley and I went to Neverland Tea Salon in Kitsilano. It’s a cute little tea salon where they specialize in what they call “The Mad-Hatter’s High Tea.” It’s that fancy tea where you get a tiered serving plate brought to your table filled with savoury sandwiches, scones and jam, and little desserts. You also get to choose your tea from an extensive menu and can try out different teas throughout your stay.

At Neverland they have four menus for the Madhatter’s tea service: Traditional, Vegetarian, Dairy & Gluten Free, and Vegan & Gluten Free. I guess you can’t be all things to all people, so I appreciate the effort despite that I object to rolling vegan and GF together, as so often happens with baking. If I’d had an option, I would have wanted the vegan sandwiches on regular bread. That said, the GF baking overall wasn’t bad. Here’s what was on the vegan tea menu:

If you think we were full after all that, you’re right. In truth, no one could finish it all. We got take-out boxes to pack it all up but none of it survived the heat in the back of the car while we went to the Bloedel Conservatory (about which I have mixed feelings but that’s for another day) in Queen Elizabeth Park.

That night we decided to eat in and I made vegan pad thai, which everyone loved.

Truly a trip highlight for food, and an absolute must-go-to when you’re in Vancouver, is the Sun Bo Kong Vegetarian Restaurant at 1363 Kingsway. It’s a lively all-vegetarian and mostly vegan Chinese restaurant that has the clatter and chaos of a dim sum hall. They do have dim sum and also an extensive menu of entrées of all kinds. They bring the food when its ready in whatever order it comes up and then check it off on a little chit at your table that shows all the things you ordered. If you go over the lunch hour, which we did, you can order from the regular menu and the dim sum menu. I love this place so much.

There were four adults and a toddler in our party, so we could order a good selection of things. We tried dumplings and steamed buns and shumai. The BBQ pork steamed buns were a huge hit. Fluffy and flavourful, with that particular texture and combination of subtle sweetness with savoury that is unique to the dim sum buns (in my experience anyway — I have not encountered that elsewhere). Also recommended: salt and pepper tofu, kung pao chicken, and for dessert deep-fried sweet potato balls and deep-fried red bean paste sesame balls, both from the dim sum menu.

That kind of maxed us out, so we had to cancel our dinner reservation to East Is East. Too bad because I love it, but there was just no way. It’s a mixed-menu restaurant that has good vegan offerings.

We got hungry quite a bit later after a day trip to Granville Island (never again on a Saturday, but the boat ride up False Creek in the little ferry was wonderful). We had returned to our hotel for the evening and ordered a couple of vegan sushi rolls and some edamame from Sushi Well in New Westminster, known for their pink rice.

It sounds as if all we did during our four days in Vancouver was eat. But that’s not quite true. We spent a lot of time with our little family out there, being the grammas. I am glad I had two occasions to cook for everyone — the pad thai and the pancakes, and lots of time to get down on the ground and play with a wood block train set and read kiddy books to my grandson.

This is by no means an exhaustive account of what is available to vegans in Vancouver. But that’s what we did this time, and I’m sure there will be more adventures there in the future!

Bon Appétit!