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View of Burrard Bridge from Granville Island in Vancouver BC

Category: Vancouver

Takeout reviews in Vancouver, BC

Masayoshi

Opened in 2015 by Tojo’s alumnus Masayoshi Baba, Masayoshi’s 24-seat restaurant was one of the first to bring a high-end Omakase-only dining experience to Vancouver.  After trying it a few years ago, it’s still memorable as one of the best Japanese restaurants in Vancouver, but one that left me hungry even after spending $100+ person (it’s $160 now).

Due to the lack of value I never returned.  However with the closure of indoor dining and launch of a new takeout menu, it’s interesting to see how a two-seating-per-night fixed-price Omakase restaurant adapts to today’s environment.

Street Auntie Aperitivo House

Street Auntie Aperitivo House is a new Chinese street food-inspired restaurant which opened up in late 2020 during the pandemic.  The use of Aperitivo in its name is a little odd, and briefly got my hopes up that Vancouver was finally bringing over Italy’s glorious tradition of drinks and free pre-dinner (!!!) buffets.

Say Mercy!

Say Mercy! opened during the beginning of 2020 by chef Sean Reeve and his group who also runs the MacKenzie Room.  The opening was highly anticipated and I looked forward to trying their food, before the lockdowns in mid-March forced them to close shortly after.  Fortunately they adapted quickly to the times and offered heat-and-serve meals and a patio-style sandwich bar over the summer.

Sashimiya

Sashimiya is a takeout sushi and sashimi shop opened recently by Takayuki Omi, formerly the executive sushi chef at Fairmont Pacific Rim’s Lobby Lounge RawBar.  While Vancouver seems to have sushi joints every block, there’s a gap in the market for higher quality offerings that don’t break the bank.  I’ve been looking forward to trying Sashimiya since it opened: a successful chef who strikes out on his own to open a no-frills takeout restaurant is the kind of stuff foodie dreams are made of.

Yandoux Patisserie

Yandoux is a patisserie in Olympic Village that offers custom cakes, a selection of individual-portion cakes in their showcase as well as pastries and afternoon tea sets.  I stopped by to grab some dessert to-go while waiting for my pickup order from Boca’O nearby.

Boca’O

Boca’O is a Spanish food truck that specializes in Tapas.  They opened in 2019, but I only recently heard of them while browsing Tock for takeout restaurants.  I had to cancel my trip to Spain last May due to COVID-19, along with the El Celler de Can Roca reservation I managed to snag 11 months in advance.  Needless to say, I was disappointed and have pined for Spanish food ever since.

Miku Waterfront

Miku first opened in 2008 at Hastings and Thurlow, as restaurant group Tora Corporation’s first location outside of Japan.  Since then, Miku has moved to its current waterfront space, opened the near-identical sister restaurant Minami in Yaletown, Gyoza Bar and expanded to locations in Toronto, all under its Aburi Restaurants Canada brand.

Freebird at Home by Maenam

Freebird is an Asian-style chicken shack, one of the newer additions to famed local chef Angus An’s culinary empire.  It opened a few years ago in New Westminster’s River Market, but never seemed as busy and popular as his other ventures, such as Longtail Kitchen which was literally around the corner from Freebird.  It then closed in 2019 and moved into a cafe-like space in Chinatown.  That location closed too this past summer, with Freebird becoming a takeout-only restaurant operating out of Maenam‘s kitchen.

L’Abattoir

L’Abattoir has always been one of my favorite restaurants in Vancouver, offering a level of sophisticated and modern cooking that frankly isn’t very easy to find in our city.  This French-inspired West Coast restaurant opened in 2010 under chef/owner Lee Cooper, who previously trained at The Fat Duck in the UK (a three Michelin star and former “best restaurant in the world” run by molecular gastronomy pioneer Heston Blumenthal).

Outside view of L'Abattoir in Vancouver's Gastown
L'Abattoir in Gastown

L’Abattoir’s delicately plated dishes and unpretentious service was one of the things I missed most during the pandemic, and when I finally dined-in this summer I could tell they haven’t missed a beat.  Little did I realize they also offered takeout!  But does it live up to the expectations?  Read on to find out!

St. Lawrence

Welcome to this blog’s inaugural post!  I visited St. Lawrence for dine-in a couple years ago when they just opened, but it’s their takeout offering that has kept me going back in a COVID-19 world, eagerly awaiting new dishes to discover as their menu changes monthly.  In fact, it’s what inspired the creation of this blog: to show that a properly plated three-course meal at home is possible with takeout.

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