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8 restaurants get coveted star in 1st Vancouver Michelin Guide

Here is the complete list of Vancouver Michelin-rated restaurants.

12 other restaurants earn Bib Gourmand designation for excellent value, 40 more recommended

Lien Yeung · CBC News ·
Eight people in white jackets holding glasses of champagne and a white star symbolizing their entry into the Michelin Guide for restaurants stand on a red-carpeted stage flanked by a woman in a silver dress and a man in a suit.
Representatives of the first Vancouver restaurants to receive a star in the renowned Michelin Guide toast their success at the Vancouver Convention Centre on Thursday. (Arrthy Thayaparan/CBC )

Vancouver has joined the ranks of international culinary destinations after the Michelin Guide awarded eight local restaurants with a coveted star.

Invited guests made up of food lovers, chefs and restaurateurs gathered at the Vancouver Convention Centre West building for the inaugural ceremonial reveal Thursday night.

The famed but sometimes controversial dining guide revealed the names of eight establishments deemed worthy of one star out of a possible three.

They are:

  • AnnaLena 
  • Barbara
  • Burdock & Co.
  • iDen & QuanJuDe Beijing Duck House
  • Kissa Tanto
  • Masayoshi
  • Published on Main
  • St. Lawrence
A smiling man in a white jacket holds a glass of champagne and a white star symbolizing his restaurant's entry to the Michelin Guide.
Masayoshi Baba of Masayoshi restaurant on Fraser Street, Vancouver, toasts his award of a Michelin star on Thursday. (Arrthy Thayaparan/CBC)

No Vancouver restaurants achieved more than a single star. At the inaugural Michelin event in Toronto last month, only one restaurant — Sushi Masaki Saito — received two stars. 

Twelve other restaurants earned a Bib Gourmand designation, which recognizes great quality among outlets that offer two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for less than $60. The locations ranged from beloved Chinatown Cambodian restaurant Phnom Penh to celebrity chef Vikram Vij's namesake Indian restaurant, Vij's.

"Our teams of inspectors genuinely savoured their dining experiences in Vancouver," said Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guides.

Anonymous inspectors fly into cities to visit restaurants over the span of several weeks to determine their list of recommendations.

Poullennec says in Vancouver, inspectors were impressed by the city's diverse offerings, and all its recommended restaurants were appealing "in their own authentic DNA."

In the past, Michelin has been criticized for focusing on fine dining experiences and cuisines like French, Italian and Japanese over others.

The guidebooks, which were first published in France more than a century ago, award stars annually to restaurants that exhibit culinary excellence.

A group of eight people stand on a red-carpeted stage.
Chinatown's Kissa Tanto was recognized by the Michelin Guide for chef Joel Watanabe’s (fourth from right) blend of Italian and Japanese cuisine. (Arrthy Thayaparan/CBC)

Michelin's arrival in Canada is thanks in part to a multi-year funding deal with tourism boards to help promote travel decimated by the pandemic, but Gwendal Poullennec, the guide's international director, said the selection process remains independent.

Michelin inspectors base their reviews on five criteria: quality products, harmony of flavours, mastery of cooking techniques, the personality of the chef in the cuisine, and consistency across each visit — as each restaurant is inspected several times a year.

Here is a complete list of the Vancouver Michelin Guide selections for the Bib Gourmand, along with the 40 other restaurants it recommends:

Bib Gourmand

  • Anh and Chi
  • Chupito
  • Fable Kitchen
  • Fiorino, Italian Street Food
  • Kin Kao Song
  • Little Bird Dim Sum + Craft Beer
  • Lunch Lady
  • Nightshade
  • Oca Pastificio
  • Phnom Penh
  • Say Mercy!
  • Vij's
A group of nine people celebrate at the Michelin Guide awards, with one of them hugging a person dressed as the Michelin Man.
Anh and Chi, led by chef Ly Nguyen (front centre), was awarded a Bib Gourmand by the Michelin Guide. (Arrthy Thayaparan/CBC)

Recommended

  • ¿CóMO? Taperia
  • Acquafarina
  • Arike
  • Ask for Luigi
  • Bacaro
  • Bacchus
  • Bar Gobo
  • Bar Susu
  • Bonjour Vietnam Bistro
  • Botanist
  • Café Medina
  • Carlino
  • Chang'An
  • Chef's Choice Chinese Cuisine
  • Cioppino's
  • Delara
  • Dynasty Seafood
  • Elephant
  • Fanny Bay Oyster Bar
  • Hawksworth Restaurant
  • Homer St. Cafe
  • L'Abattoir
  • Lobby Lounge & RawBar
  • Maenam
  • Miku
  • Nammos Estiatorio
  • Neptune Palace Seafood Restaurant
  • New Mandarin Seafood Restaurant
  • Nightingale
  • Ophelía
  • Osteria Savio Volpe
  • per se Social Corner
  • PiDGiN
  • Riley's Fish & Steak
  • Sushi Bar Maumi
  • The Acorn
  • The Mackenzie Room
  • Torafuku
  • Ubuntu Canteen
  • Yuwa

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lien Yeung

@LienYeung

Lien Yeung is a host and reporter with CBC Vancouver News. She has covered stories locally and nationally from Halifax to Victoria on television, radio and online. Find her on Instagram or Twitter @LienYeung or via email at [email protected].

    With files from CBC Toronto and The Canadian Press

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