Vancouver questions

[CRu1853!!]

Hi, sailing on HAL in August from Vancouver. We will be arriving the afternoon before and staying at Pan Pacific which we booked on our own. 1. Looking for ideas for dinner nothing fancy needed,we will be tired traveling from Florida.

2. Is the Gastown area within walking distance? 3.will the Pan Pacific transport our luggage to the ship? Thanks for any answers.

[Essiesmom]

Bellboy at Pan Pacific will pick up your luggage and next time you see it will be in your cabin. If you walk outside the front door of Pan Pacific and head to the right, there is an area with several restaurants, nothing particularly fancy. There is an underground passage from Pan Pacific to a food court type area across the street if you want really casual, or something to carry back to your room. You can ask on the West Coast Departures board, and the Northwest/Canada boards for the latest info, as I haven't been in five years. EM

[frankc98376]

Mahony and Sons at the convention center next to Pan Pacific was very good and reasonable

[Kesstral]

2. Is the Gastown area within walking distance?

It's about a 12-15min walk to Gastown from the Pan Pacific. I can't recommend any where to eat as I don't live in the area but there should be lots of options near by. I second the recommended boards mentioned by CRu1853!!.

[cidymom]

There are quite a few restaurants nearby and the Pan Pacific has a restaurant on the check-in level. Gastown is within walking distance with more eating choices. It caters to tourists so that whole area is open late and you can enjoy a nice walk to and from the Pan Pacific. The elevator of the Pan Pacific goes down to the ground level of Canada Place where you just have to walk a little ways to enter the port area so it's not far. You can check with the Pan Pacific if they have luggage delivery. Enjoy your time in Vancouver!

[shrimpboat123]

Steamworks is a short walk down W Cordova St. Very good food. About a 10 minute walk towards Gastown.

[CRu1853!!]

Thanks for all the great ideas.

[HollDoll]

Love eating at Joe Fortes, walking distance.

[haladdict]

Bellagio's, next to Mahoney and sons is good too. You will be spoilt for choice. It's a beautiful city and we love living in Vancouver.

Sandra

[SilvertoGold]

Joe Fortes, Steamworks (noisy), Old Spaghetti Factory are all good, close and casual.

[Crew News]

Here is a link to my photo review of the Waterfront Mall in the basement of the Fairmont Hotel across the street from the Pan Pacific. The Greek takeout is a cheap breakfast and delicious gyros:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/place/canada/vancouver-bc/waterfront-mall/

 

You can even pay your income taxes at H&R Block.

[CRZR58]

Try Rouge - http://roguewetbar.com/ for close and tasty.

A bit longer walk. A bit more expensive. A lot better food. - Water Street Cafe http://www.waterstreetcafe.ca/

 

Enjoy my favorite city!

[mickrory]

Another vote for Joe Fortes, great restaurant brilliant atmosphere, fab food.

[hhoope01]

Not to hijack this thread from the OP too much. :) But we've never been to Vancouver either and will be staying a night at the Westin Bayshore (no car). What are some good restaurant options within walking distance?

[Bretty]

Not to hijack this thread from the OP too much. :) But we've never been to Vancouver either and will be staying a night at the Westin Bayshore (no car). What are some good restaurant options within walking distance?

Pretty much everything is in walking distance in downtown Vancouver. Some things a little further if you don’t mind a 20 or 30 minute stroll. Lots of eating options too, not knowing your tastes here’s a few of my favourites (I don’t live in Vancouver but it’s one of my favourite places).

Shuraku - Japanese Izakaya (bar with tapas style food) http://shuraku.net/

 

Miku - Japanese https://mikurestaurant.com/

Shabusen - Korean bbq https://www.shabusenyakiniku.com/

Joe Fortes seafood & chophouse http://www.joefortes.ca (bit of a tourist trap but good food and atmosphere)

Keg steakhouse - this one is on Dunsmuir https://www.kegsteakhouse.com/locations/dunsmuir-keg/

 

Glowbal in the TELUS Garden building http://www.glowbalgroup.com/glowbal/

Water Street Cafe http://www.waterstreetcafe.ca/ I love this place

Kirin - Chinese food, very good, not in Chinatown http://www.kirinrestaurants.com/index.php5?page=downtown

 

I’ve eaten at all these places and not been disappointed. Have fun in Van.

[frankc98376]

Elephant and Castle is about 3 blocks away. Casual and reasonable. Great Poutines :-)

[simonaitch]

Not to hijack this thread from the OP too much. :) But we've never been to Vancouver either and will be staying a night at the Westin Bayshore (no car). What are some good restaurant options within walking distance?

You're about 5 mins walk from Denman Street, it has many choices and price levels. Maybe would be to walk along the Seawall, directly outside your hotel there are 2-3 restaurants on the wall including Carderos. If you don't mind walking 15 mind head towards the Olympic flame site couple of gastro pub restaurants there. Finally if you're really tired eat in the casual bar at the Westin, its pretty good.

[CRu1853!!]

Once again to everyone, thanks for all of the ideas.

[martincath]

+1 to Westin's new resto HJUZ (despite the godawful looking name, pronounced 'Hughes' as in Howard, the chef is excellent - I've been a fan since we moved here and have followed him through three restos now).

 

Very close by and not already mentioned is Lift - as good or better views than Carderos and a major uptick in food excellence for very comparable pricing (also an excellent BC Wines by the glass program, and you may enjoy the menus being on iPads - helps with the frequently-changing seasonal produce by not needing to kill lots of trees printing many changes!) The entire chain that Carderos is part of have been resting on their laurels for years - take away their locations, all in parks or on the seawall, and they'd have failed years ago in our very challenging restaurant sector. Not that the food is bad - it's just 5-10 years behind the curve if you're a keen foodie and a few bucks per dish more expensive than the quality justifies (to pay for the views!) To be fair, if you fit HAL's stereotypical demographic then the whole Sequoia chain may be right up your alley;-)

 

Most of the others above I share the opinion they're worth visiting - though as a Brit expat and beer lover I find Elephant & Castle and Mahoneys both painfully bad imitation bars rather than remotely like the real thing! Forcing your waitrons into kilts does not an Irish bar make... Locations are definitely good though - views from Mahoneys and check the photos on the walls of E&C (it's inside one of our best old towers, the Marine Building, and has pics from during construction), but considering Tap & Barrel upstairs has an even bigger patio with even better views, a much better menu, and bigger servings of a wider range of booze for lower prices, Mahoneys is only worth visiting when it's raining (their patio has a huge overhang). Also worth mentioning that while Miku is justifiably well-rated, they are an Aburi Sushi place - if you're not a sushi fan no worries, but if you are then you may share my opinion that this technique is just plain weird and ruins the texture (scorching raw fish with a blowtorch means it's no longer raw...)