Elbow Room Cafe

For a greasy spoon brunch experience, complete with long wait, shoddy service and servers with attitude, Elbow Room Cafe is the place in Vancouver. A plaque on the wall proudly boasts: "Reader's Choice, Best of Vancouver: Best Place for Surly & Indifferent Service." And yet people don't seem to be deterred - during the weekend, waits are mandatory. Perhaps it's the humongous portions of tasty breakfast fare that keeps them coming back for more.

Consider yourself warned

Mauna Kea: a fruit omelet stuffed with kiwi, bananas, pineapple and apples. Usually topped with mozzarella and pecans, but I had them hold the mozzarella and make mine with egg whites.

The New Yorker: Two poached eggs with mushrooms, onion, tomato, bacon and pepperoni in a spicy tomato-BBQ sauce, served over a croissant and topped with hollandaise sauce. I think it should be renamed the "Heart Attack"

Food rating: ***
Bang for buck rating: 3

The essentials:
www.theelbowroomcafe.com
Location: 560 Davie Street, Vancouver, Canada
Average price of meal for two: $35

Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar

The Vancouver Port is the largest port in not only Canada, but the entire west coast of North America - it's no wonder the seafood in Vancouver is so amazingly fresh. Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar is a great place to try some of Vancouver's seafood. We ordered the Petite Plateux de Mer and a plate of oysters - a perfect meal for two. The seafood was so fresh, so sweet, so delicious!

Delicious cocktails

Various fruits de mer - oysters, scallops, shrimp, mussels, ceviche, seared tuna, smoked salmon

Our "petite plateux" came with two tiers - good thing, so we could each have our own!

Food rating: ****
Bang for buck rating: 4

The essentials:
http://www.bluewatercafe.net/
Location: 1095 Hamilton Street, Vancouver, Canada
Average price of meal for two: $100

Japadog

Vancouver is one of my favorite cities in the world - not only does it have a friendly laid-back vibe, international population and proximity to sea and mountains, it has some of the best food in North America, including the best hot dog I've ever had.

Japadog, a hotdog stand in downtown Vancouver, is home of Japanese-influenced hot dogs, including an Okonomi hot dog that mimics flavors of okonomiyaki: a kurobuta pork link topped with fried cabbage, dried bonito flakes, mayonnaise and special okonomi sauce. My favorite was the Oroshi hot dog, a bratwurst topped with grated Japanese daikon, green onions and a special soy sauce - absolutely fantastic!

Japadog!

Oroshi Hotdog - bratwurst topped with grated daikon, green onions and special soy sauce

Miso mayo hotdog (smoked turkey link topped with radish sprouts, miso sesame sauce and Japanese mayo) and Okonomi hotdog (kurobuta pork link topped with fried cabbage, dried bonito flakes, mayo and okonimi sauce)

Food rating: ****
Bang for buck rating: 4

The essentials:
http://www.japadog.com/
Location: 899 Burrard Street, Vancouver, Canada
Average price of meal for two: $15