Our picks: Vancouver

As we mentioned a few months ago, we are always sharing our favorite restaurants from every city we know with the hundreds of customers we meet in Cuca every week in search of the tastiest food around the world. People seem to trust chefs’ favorites when choosing food and since everyone asks our humble opinion, we decided some time ago to start a proper “Our Picks” section where we give you our recommendations on where and what to eat.

We have covered Bali, Madrid and Singapore already and today’s blog entry is about Vancouver.
Vancouver is a very pretty city and those lucky enough to spend a few days always leave with the desire to go back. Western food is good but being Canada a multicultural country, the star options are the ethnic choices on offer. Take time to walk around the sea wall and Stanley Park area to understand why Vancouver is often voted as the best place to live on earth.

Bao Bei
This place serves very good Chinese fusion food. Think clever little dumplings and twists on the classics everyone loves. It gets busy so either book ahead or go off-peak hours.
Price: ***
What to order: Dumplings

Fanny Bay Oyster Bar
This place serves perfect seafood. With their own oyster farm on Vancouver Island, the freshness is unbeatable. Go from 3pm-6pm for happy hour and eat unbelievable freshly shucked oysters for $1.50 each.
Price: ***
What to order: Oysters

St Lawrence
The current star of the Vancouver food scene, this place is basically a brilliant French bistro. A small menu showcases seasonal products at their best. The best meal we had in the city, hands down. Book well ahead.
Price: *****
What to order: The appetizer section is very good. Do order an appetizer followed by a main.

Vijs
Serving in the minds of many the best Indian food in Canada, Vijs is a pilgrimage for deeply delicious comfort food. Only women cook in the kitchen and their love is evident in the result.
Price: ****
What to order: Any curry. Don’t order naan bread as it comes on its own.

Maenam
Every year this place wins best Thai restaurant and it is well deserved. You would be pressed to find better Thai food anywhere on the planet as the cooking is authentic and the ingredients are premium and local, making for one hell of a meal.
Price: ***
What to order: Anything in Penang curry.

Meat & Bread
It’s simple they make sandwiches. Very good ingredients in very good bread is what to expect in an informal way. Go early or late for lunch to avoid the cue and long wait.
Price: *
What to order: The Porchetta is the star.

Japadog
Think all the flavors you love about Japanese food splashed on a hot dog and shoved in a bun. Carts are scattered around town but seem hard to come by so we recommend the small café on Robson street to make sure you succeed or their latest branch at the airport.
Price: *
What to order: Korubuta Terimayo Dog is our top pick.

Beaucoup Bakery
For a perfect idea of what breakfast should be of fresh juice, croissants, and great coffee. The vibe is busy and caféesque with everything on offer hard to fault. Perfect place to people-watch and to grab an early feed before going to Granville Island market.
Price: *
What to order: Classic Croissant

Lebeau
This is where we eat breakfast every single day. Really! The Liege waffles are the best you will ever have. It is a cross between a waffle, a cookie and a cake. It is worth traveling from anywhere to eat. A must!
Price: *
What to order: Apple cinnamon Liege waffle.

Granville Island Market
The city’s most touristic location for all the right reasons. It is a market, a food court and a shopping Mecca where artisans make beautiful things. Wandering around the entire area will take up most of your afternoon and will be a highlight of your trip.
Price: **
What to order: Our tip is to take the water taxi’s over to the market and back making it a really nice way to begin and end the journey.

San Sebastian Gastronomika 2019

A small seaside town in Northern Spain just might be the most delicious place on earth. Bosting more Michelin-starred restaurants per square kilometer than any other place on the planet, it is easy to see why connoisseurs from all over the world make the pilgrimage at one point in life to see for themselves the magic that is San Sebastian. Every October for the last 20 years, those chefs that sculpt gastronomy and push the evolution of everything food, meet for their version of the Olympics. They call it “Gastronomika” and it is considered the most prestigious and important hospitality conference, period.

With more than 13,000 foodies, journalists, culinary groupies and students coming to see what all the hype is about, the festival offers a Disneyland of activities all centered around food, although the real draw to the conference is the chef speakers who present themselves and their cooking over the 4-day event. Dominated by the culinary rock stars and legends of Spain, each year there are a handful of international Chefs that are lucky enough to stand alongside them. Each of their 30-minute presentations must capture the soul of the 1,500 people who sit eagerly listening like a Jedi for life-changing ideas, techniques, ingredients, and the dishes that will set the trends for the year and spark the direction for the future. With a fixed panel of 3 Michelin-starred Spanish chefs/superheroes such as Juan Mari Arzak, Dani García, Joan Roca, Martín Beresategui and Eneko Atxa, other speakers are selected by invitation only with the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory golden ticket system.

We in Cuca are shocked, honored and pee-yourself excited to have received the invitation for this year’s 2019 edition of San Sebastian Gastronomika. The only question left to answer is “If you had 30 min to speak to the best chefs in the world, what would you say?”. 

www.sansebastiangastronomika.com

Our picks: Singapore

As we mentioned a few months ago, we are always sharing our favorite restaurants from every city we know with the hundreds of customers we meet in Cuca every week in search of the tastiest food around the world. People seem to trust chefs’ favorites when choosing food and since everyone asks our humble opinion, we decided some time ago to start a proper “Our Picks” section where we give you our recommendations on where and what to eat.

We have covered Bali and Madrid already and today’s blog entry is about Singapore. Singapore was our home for 4 years and a place we keep close to our hearts and our tummies! The city is full of great restaurants. Some of the best simple tasty dining is done in the “Singapore Hawker Centers”. If you pass by one, just look for the stalls with a queue and get in line. Anybody in line will be happy to tell you what you should order and why. 

The list of restaurants below are our favorites for price and value. Singapore is very expensive, but these ones became our must-eat regular spots. Get hungry and enjoy!

F.O.C.
This place serves great modern Spanish style small plate dining. Hip, funky and delicious. One of our absolute Singapore favorites. It sits beside 28 Hong Kong Street Bar (see below) which makes a great combo of drink and dinner.
Price: ***
What to order: something cooked in their specialty Josper oven.

Tiong Bahru Bakery
With a few locations, this place has outstanding French pastry, bread and café-style food.
Price: *
What to order: Kouign Amann which means “cake butter” and it is ridiculous.

Din Tai Fung
A Taiwanese chain restaurant that always seems to get a Michelin star for their well-made classic dumplings. We find the Din Tai Fung branches in Singapore even better than the original one in Taipei! Lunch is easier than dinner to grab a table and experience what they are famous for.
Price: **
What to order: Xiao Long Bao and seaweed salad. This salad sells out fast so be early!

Garibaldi
This is a top tier “fine dining” Italian restaurant with a very casual and relaxed, unpretentious vibe. With 1 Michelin star, the food is very good. A very well kept secret is they do a weekend brunch that is very good value and very, very delicious. A must!
Price: ****
What to order: Brunch. Despite all the tempting dishes offered at the beginning, save room for the pastas!!

Mustard
This place serves lesser known Indian Bengali and Punjabi dishes. It’s less coconut and more flavorful. The restaurant is very simple but the food is made fresh and tastes delicious.
Price: **
What to order: Choose everything you don’t know and have never had. Meat dishes are better than seafood.

Jade at Fullerton
The place serves a secret unassumingly great weekend dim sum brunch called Jade's Dim Sum Treasures. The venue is an icon and the food is fantastic. Make sure to book ahead. Some of the best classic style Chinese Yum Cha.
Price: ***
What to order: Weekend brunch.

Itacho Sushi
This place is a chain of Japanese sushi style restaurants throughout Asia. It is very cheap but very good. The menu is all photos and what you see is what you get. Great sushi at a ridiculous price for Singapore. Other hot dishes are average so stick to the fish!
Price: *
What to order: The rolled sushi.

Otto
This place is real Italian food with slick service. No frills or gimmicks, they do very little very well. Do reserve as the place is small and order the set lunch for a hard-to-come-by great deal in Singapore.
Price: ***
What to order: Risotto is a specialty

Long Beach@Dempsey
This place serves live seafood, cooked Chinese style. Quality is brilliant and dishes come fast and hot.
Price: ****
What to order: Don’t miss the Chili or Black Pepper crab, they are worth the flight to Singapore alone! Ask what is the largest they have. 1kg size is oceanic caveman comfort food. For a gluttonous seafood feast, add on the razor clams.

28 Hong Kong Street
Don’t judge a book by its cover. This unassuming entrance becomes one of the world’s best classic bars. Go for a pre-dinner drink as later on it gets busy and tables are hard to come by.
Price: **
What to order: Stick to the classics. They are perfect!