Goldfish Pacific Kitchen (web site, map, 1118 Mainland Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604 689-8318) is an upscale restaurant in Vancouver’s downtown Yaletown neighborhood, that offers fine dining in a trendy, lively atmosphere.

In a previous dinner time visit, I enjoyed their ling cod ($22). Since then I’ve been back three times for lunch. Goldfish offers daily lunch specials which are $10 plus tax and tip. These specials really showcase the talents of executive chef William Tse.

Flat Iron Steak (on Thursdays) is served with mushrooms, snow pear, and mustard green salad. On Fridays, their special is the seafood fricassée (pictured below), with mussels, fresh fish, thai basil, coconut, and fresh chiles.

The flavors in the fricassée were fantastic, expertly crafted into bringing out the freshness of the seafood, with a rich broth that went with the rice perfectly. The fresh chiles were extremely spicy but our helpful server warned us about them, and thankfully they were served on the side. Another popular lunch choice from our table was the Shanghai Noodles, which can be ordered with beef short rib or chicken.

Many food fanatics (or “foodies” as they are affectionately known) love Vancouver because of the remarkable East-meets-West fusion that happens in the kitchens of our many talented, daring, and masterful chefs. As a port city we are fortunate to have some of the freshest ingredients arriving in our markets from Asia and the Pacific Northwest. Chefs like William Tse and restaurants like Goldfish are setting the stage for Vancouver as a world-class food city.

Please visit the Gold fish restaurant’s web site if you’d like to browse their menu or see some photos of the room’s cool decor.

Seafood Fricasse from Goldfish Pacific Kitchen restaurant in Yaletown, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Amuse bouche, a little complimentary appetizer created by their chef.

I had lunch at Cactus Club Cafe (web site, map, 855 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone 604-682-0933) and enjoyed their Westcoast Pocket ($4.00) and the Prawn and Scallop Spaghettini ($20).

The Westcoast Pocket (shown in video below) is made with wild smoked salmon, avocado, seasoned rice, pea shoots, tofu and tobiko, and is one of my favorite appetizers that Cactus Club serves. For another photo of the Westcoast pocket please view my review of their Yaletown location.

The prawn and scallop spaghettini is a specialty of Cactus Club’s celebrity chef and Iron Chef USA winner, Rob Feenie, and is made with pan seared prawns and scallops, roasted tomato sauce, garlic and parmesan crostini. I was really impressed by the size and taste of the scallops, which were generous in number and hidden throughout the pasta.

I made a little video of the dishes, which you can view by clicking here, or use the player below.

Westcoast Pocket from Cactus Club

The Yaletown Brewing Company (web site, map, 1111 Mainland St., Vancouver BC Canada, phone: 604-681-2739) is one of Vancouver’s most popular Brew Pubs.

producer4000 writes on Dinehere.ca (click here to read review):

You don’t go to a plumber to fix your car, so don’t go to a brewery to eat. Yeah, I know what you’re gonna say. Anyhow, we went at noon on Saturday to sample the important stuff. Of the seven brewed on property, none were bad and three were superb and to my liking. The hefeweisen, Red Truck Ale and India Brown Ale were worth the trip. My beer maid was practically like family and the brewmaster was friendly yet very serious about his brews.

Even though I don’t drink beer at work lunches, the Yaletown Brew Pub is a favorite place for me and my coworkers to visit at lunch. I have been skeptical about the food at YBC having had a very, very greasy pizza there once, and the Macaroni and Cheese at $13.99 seems a bit pricy (but who knows, maybe it’s really good! I wonder how it compares to the Mac and Cheese at the Templeton…)

But the YBC has recently added some affordable Asian-influenced dishes to their menu, such as the Classic Kung Pao Chicken ($9.99, pictured below) which was served with toasted chilies, roasted peanuts, garlic, peppers, and jasmine rice. It was nicely presented and tasted surprisingly good.

I’m not the only one who was surprised! cocoeater writes on Dinehere.ca (click here to read):

Was a bit hesitant on ordering an Asian dish from this brew pub but they do have a lot of Asian noodle dishes on the menu. The Singapore noodles were very good with lots of meat and shrimp. Very surprised.

For more info and another photo please view Part 1. To view their Lunch and Dinner menus, please visit their web site.

Kung Pao Chicken ($9.99) from Yaletown Brewing Company in Vancouver, BC, Canada.