You’ve Gotta Try This in May

Your guide to the latest mouth-watering food and drinks in Vancouver this month

Brand new to BCLiving this month, welcome to the first You Gotta Try This, a tasty guide to everything you should be eating and drinking around the city for the next four weeks. From seasonal treats (like spot prawns, pictured above) to new menu items, anticipated openings and must-try drinks, this is your indispensable companion to all that is hot, fresh and freaking delicious in Vancouver right now. Grab a napkin… this might just get messy.

Check out all the new openings

I’m hearing nothing but love for Kissa Tanto, at 263 Pender, the new venture from Bao Bei’s Tannis Ling, Joël Watanabe and Alain Chow. Go and see what Japanese-Italian fusion food is all about… I mean, with those guys, how can it be anything but superb, right?

Victoria’s beloved Jam Cafe has opened a Vancouver outpost at 556 Beaty Street, serving up brunch and all-day breakfast faves, including their Green Eggs and Ham and (yes!) Bourbon Bacon Caesars.

The new Hawksworth restaurant, Nightingale should be opening its doors towards the end of May, and yes, we’ll share so much more about that when they do.

Finally, we may not have an In-N-Out Burger, but their doppelgänger, Caliburger is opening soon at 830 Thurlow just off Robson. I walked past yesterday and I’d say it’s about two weeks from opening (can’t wait to soup up my burger and fries, ‘cali-style’).

Head to SCORE on Davie for a Poke-Ball

When is a pokémon not a pokémon? When it’s a poke-ball, of course. New on the menu for summer at SCORE, this beauty is made with Ocean Wise sashimi-grade tuna and chunks of creamy avocado made bright and herbaceous with a generous dose of cilantro. To my complete delight, it arrived stuffed into a halved deep-fried onion (because who doesn’t love an edible plate)? Add a judicious squish of fresh lime and enjoy your poke heaped high on the wildly addictive plantain chips sliced at just the right thickness with not a hint of greasiness. Voilà! The perfect summer dish for $16.

Try the steak at Pepper Lunch on Cambie

Take a look online at the menu before you hit up newly opened cult Japanese fast-food spot, Pepper Lunch on Cambie, because if you don’t, like me, you may block up the queue at the cash till drooling in a fit of indecision.

A few notches above a typical fast-food joint, Pepper Lunch is a hugely efficient dining experience with friendly service and great food at a terrific price point. I was impressed to discover that the meat served here is 100% certified Canadian Angus beef.

Try the signature Beef Pepper Rice and add egg and cheese; it comes with a sizeable scoop of rice, sweetcorn and scallions and the signature Pepper Sauce, ringed with chopped beef. The serving dish is sizzling hot and that’s where the fun comes in: the meat, egg and cheese cook as you mix them up with your rice.

Make it a fancy lunch and try the steak—they have an excellent wagyu (so juicy and good!) which comes sliced so you can cook it to your exact preference and then rest it on the buttery mashed potato that it comes with.

Desserts of iced mochi are to die for, the mango and green tea are especially good. Open till 11 a.m to 10 p.m., this is your new favourite lunch, dinner and late-night snack spot.

Eat everything at the Richmond Night Market

Friday the 13th will be lucky for foodies in the city as it’s the launch of this year’s Richmond Night Market. Expect all the usual Night Market must-eats from Tornado fries and bubble waffles to Chef James’ famous skewers and everyone’s favourite Dragon Beard candy. This year’s theme moves away from the cute yellow duck and dives into dinosaur territory, so expect plenty of T-Rex-themed photo opps.

May 13 to October 10, 2016
Fridays and Saturdays 7 p.m. to midnight; Sundays and holiday Mondays 7 to 11 p.m.
8351 River Road (nearby Bridgeport Station)
$2.75 (regular admission), kids 10 and under, seniors 60 and up are free

Treat yourself to Water Buffalo Gelato at Bella Gelateria

Gelato genius James Coleridge has been hard at work whipping up something special: Gelato di Bufala made with fresh water buffalo milk from Abbotsford. Apparently more healthy than cow’s milk, boasting more calcium, protein, iron, less cholesterol and sodium, what really excited me was its taste. I tried the fior di latte flavour (it’s also available in lemon, chocolate and white coffee) and the first lick wowed me—it’s so creamy.  There’s a whisper of vanilla but it’s not at all sweet. Imagine a very upmarket kind of McFlurry or, if you’re a Brit—an insanely elevated Mr Whippy cone. You have to try this!

Available at both the Bella Gelateria Yaletown and Coal Harbour locations

Order a prosecco on tap at Reflections Garden Terrace

As soon as there is a sunny day, here is your goal: head to the Rosewood Hotel Georgia’s Reflections Garden Terrace and order up some Prosecco on tap. Yes! Fizzy booze! On tap! How cool is that? Stake your claim on one of the cosy couches surrounded by gorgeous greenery and give in to the taste of early summer, $10 glasses of Italy’s finest Montelvini Prosecco. Cheers!

Savour spot prawn season

It’s spot prawn season this month, and time for every good Vancouverite to get out and enjoy these sweet sustainable seafood treats in as many ways as possible while the season lasts.

Head down to Fisherman’s Wharf to get them fresh off the boat and try one raw (so good!) or pick them up at the Fish Counter on Main to take home (and don’t forget to suck the head, really it’s the best bit).

Celebrate at the Chef’s Table Society of BC’s Spot Prawn festival on May 15th or at the Blackbird’s annual Spot Prawn boil dinner with a new release from Phillips Brewing on May 17.

Restaurants across the city will be throwing spot prawn specials. I like the sound of the Vancouver Fish Company, who will be offering fresh-off-the-boat spot prawn platters and two daily features, and YEW at the Four Seasons will be doing communal table three-course spot prawn boils on May 29th, June 5th and 12th.

Let Justin Taylor serve you at the Cascade Room

Acclaimed VanCity bartender, Justin Taylor has left Boulevard and can now be found at The Cascade Room on Main Street. To celebrate his new role, we asked him what we should be drinking over there this month.

“The West Hook cocktail. This is my signature local version of the Red Hook Cocktail. It features all local products and it’s that perfect “after a long day’s work”  cocktail.

“The drink is a slow-sipping spice bomb. The East Van Vodka is aged and acts like a whisky. In fact, it’s the mellowing agent in this cocktail to tame the intensely powerful Woods Amaro. The Amaro is extremely bitter: think Campari without all that sugar. Okanagan maraschino brings in the sweetness and flavor contrast to balance the cocktail.

“I am a huge supporter of local ingredients and products. The availability and creativity of our artisan spirit makers are allowing us to reinvent the classics. Everything we do in B.C. is just a bit different from everybody else and the flavour combinations we can obtain allows us to be just a little bit different too. Perhaps that’s exactly why the entire beverage industry is exploding here. Everything old is new again.”

Get your greens with asparagus

New season asparagus is sprouting up on menus across the city and damn, it is divine! Over at Bauhaus, superstar chef Stefan Hartmann has white asparagus as a special; I swiped a spear from my dining companion’s plate when I was there recently and had a serious case of diner’s envy.

Forage has a brand-new Textures of Asparagus dish featuring whipped feta; Oru at the PacRim has it for just $16 with greens, almonds, a 62° poached egg, chive cream and brioche; and you can try it at as a feature on the vegetarian tasting menu at Mission in Kits with a sourdough and beer crisp and foraged herbs.

Au Comptoir is ‘serving it with just about everything,’ and Acorn is featuring it on its nightly harvest plates. Or, of course, pick up a bundle at your local Farmer’s Market.

Drink brand new cocktails at Long Table

Celebrate spring with brand new cocktails from Long Table Distillery who were just awarded first place for their London Dry Gin at the Vancouver International Spirits Competition.

Long Table’s Cocktail Lab opens for business each Saturday at the distillery at the bottom of Hornby just by Beach Ave, between 3 and 9 p.m., with a different food truck outside each week. They have a completely new list, and I rather like the sound of the Golden Path which uses their barrel-aged gin, with peach white tea syrup, bitters and grapefruit peel; and the Tech Noir which uses that award-winning London Dry gin with a sage syrup, topped with red wine, soda and a dash of bitters.

Get your sweet fix with a Beta 5 strawberry and olive oil eclair

Oh snap. Beta 5 is knocking it out of the park with their new spring menu. They’re now offering ice cream sundaes every day, and they have a whole new set of fresh cream puff flavours—I’m all about the almond lavender, which is divine. But best of the best has to be the strawberry and oilve oil éclair, bright with a teeny hit of micro-basil, juicy with strawberry gel and a whipped strawberry ganache, and savoury with an olive oil cremeux, get this in your face now.