I find many Canadians chauvinistic, hostile to anything south of the border, and generally incorrigible. But there are two things no one can deny they do well. One is play hockey. The other is cook. I’m right, eh?

To prove my point, visit any of the places I hit on a recent visit to Vancouver, B.C., an infuriatingly beautiful city that also has the best Asian restaurants in North America. The city is currently basking in its post Olympic glory. Direct flights and cheap tickets (under $300 round trip), are yours to procure.

I love it that you leave Vegas around three in the afternoon and arrive in time for dinner. When you return, you clear US Customs in Canada, a relatively painless procedure. You’ll need a valid US passport, though. If you elect to drive from, say, Seattle, be prepared for a long wait at the border upon your return.

There are several factors as to why the Asian food is so much better. One is more relaxed import restrictions on food products essential to some dishes, which a trip to any Indian or Chinese market will reveal. Another is a number of relatively unassimilated Asian communities. If they served Westernized versions of Asian cuisines, no one would eat.

A natural starting point for any food trip to Vancouver is the Granville Island Public Market, where fruits from around the world, such as the notorious stinky Asian durian, and the delicious Thai mangosteen, are sold fresh, fruits the FDA hasn’t approved for importation.

The Market is a veritable treasure trove of snack stands, butchers shops like Oyama Sausage Co., (which makes Swiss Farmer, a killer snack sausage laced with marjoram,) bread shops such as Siegel’s Bagels for authentic Montreal hand rolled bagels, and the South China Trading Co., which serves hot dim sum. You can get their by water taxi or by hoofing over a long foot bridge. Missing it would be like going to Paris, and not seeing the Eiffel Tower.

Out behind the market is the local’s favorite Go Fish. 1505 West 1st Avenue. (604) 730-5040 Expect a line on sunny days. People wait for an hour to eat fresh beer battered halibut with Kennebec potato fries, panko crusted tuna sandwiches and fresh salmon tacones, with all the trimmings. Simply put, this is the best fish and chips stand I’ve been to on the planet, and I’ve eaten at many of them.

I was lucky to be shown Go Fish by a top Vancouver seafood chef, Robert Clark, Executive Chef at The C Restaurant. 2-1600 Howe St. (604) 681-1164. Later that evening, Clark prepared a glorious dinner at his venue, including wild salmon, Canadian beef, a delicious selection of B.C. wines from the Okanagan Valley, and lots of surprises. Product is so good around here, what you need is a chef who respects the fish and basically leaves it alone. Clark is just such a chef.

Clark is a hale fellow, well met, from the Gaspe Peninsula at the eastern edge of Quebec. Vancouver must seem like Miami does to a New Yorker, in his purview. The day we met, he was pulling a halibut off a fishing trawler. The fish weighed 110 lbs. Clark told me that when the Haida and Tlingit ruled the area the halibut were more like 600 lbs.

We were blessed with decent early spring weather. Locals want you to believe it rains all the time, probably so you won’t be tempted to move up here. But it’s one of those big lies, like computers improve our lives, or the check is in the mail. The forecasted showers materialized while I was asleep. Days were as clear as a bell.

The following morning, I met Clark and his partner, Harry Cambolis, who also owns a place called Rain City Grill, for dim sum at the city’s most celebrated Chinese restaurant, Sun Sui Wah. 3888 Main St. (604) 872-8822.

The dim sum at this place, mainly patronized by Cantonese, is amazing; sticky rice dumplings, ha gow, siu mai, fried rice noodles, five spice spare ribs, steamed chicken with Chinese sausage. But we passed on the house specialty, half soup dumpling, served in a bowl. The dumpling is full of shark’s fin, an outrageous environmental no-no.

From there it was on to Vij, the most famous Indian restaurant in Canada, or rather the sister restaurant right next door, Rangoli. 1480 W. 11^th Ave. (604)736-6664. Neither place takes reservations, and the lines always snake down the block to S. Granville. Owner Vikram Vij doesn’t care who you are. He’d make Gandhi-ji wait on line.

But the irrepressible Vij has a right to be arrogant, because his Indian fusion fare puts him in a class by himself. I don’t know who invented a dish like chickpeas in star anise with date curry on grilled kale, or the Rajastani goat curry with lightly spiced peppers and cabbage, but I do know that the dishes are genius.

Mixed vegetables and red beans done in yellow mustard seed and coconut curry elevates vegetarian cooking far beyond anything I’ve tasted in other Indian restaurants. And I’ve been to India six times.

The following morning, I hightailed it over to Chinatown, to buy a jar of broad beans in chili paste, a Chinese condiment hard to find here, that is on any Chinese market shelf in that city. On the way over, I stopped at Medina Café, 556 Beatty Street (604) 879-3114, for a Belgian waffle. It is said to be the best breakfast place in Vancouver. I can’t argue.

The café belongs to Belgian Nico Scheurmans, who also has a trendy Belgian restaurant, Chambar, next door. The specialty here is waffles, or gaufrettes in Nico’s Canadaspeak, small, buttery, ethereal, and the maple syrup is, annoyingly, $1.50 extra.

There is also a number of egg dishes served in skillets. I opted for cassoulet, a bean and three different sausage casserole topped with two fried eggs. The terrific coffee here, the good buzz, and more long lines on weekends add up to a huge hit. I can only imagine the party  they had during the Olympics.

I barely had room for my Tim Horton’s chocolate donut at the airport, before I caught my homeward flight.

Related Posts

• Tales of the Cocktail, Vancouver BC Feb 12-14th, 2012
• Unicahome hits Vietnam, part 2 by Max Jacobson
• Unicahome hits Philly by Max Jacobson
• Unicahome hits San Francisco by Max Jacobson
• Unicahome hits Vietnam part one by Max Jacobson