Dine Out Vancouver Lunch Options: 10 Diverse Places to Experience
Dine Out Vancouver Festival 2025 began on January 22 and is now in full swing until February 9.
The annual event, sponsored by FortisBC, Hullo Ferries, Downtown Van, Evo, Vancouver Hotel Destination Association (VHDA)/Stay Vancouver Hotels, Air Canada, and The Westin Bayshore, provides the chance to try establishments that are new to you. Over 400 different restaurants are participating, offering special prix fixe menus ($20-$35, $35-$50, $50-$65, and $100 for MICHELIN-starred restaurants) for breakfast/brunch, lunch, dinner, and takeout.
While an evening meal is always a lovely option, a Dine Out lunch is a particularly affordable way to get to know a restaurant. Plus, you’ll have time before and after the meal to explore the surrounding neighbourhood during the day.
Below are ten place to try for lunch across the city:
Located in Chinatown, Addah specializes in Himalayan food, with a commitment to local and sustainable ingredients. Their Dine Out lunch ($35) allows for an extensive and delectable overview of their cultural offerings through a five-course set menu. It begins with churu (Tibetan cheese) soup with erma (plant/spice) and beef, followed by fumbi (steamed mung bean cake) tossed in Kalimpong spices and crisp noodles, jasha maroo (Bhutan-style braised chicken) with a steamed bun, and mohi (fermented churned buttermilk) with herbs and hibiscus honey. The fifth course is Darjeeling tea as a contemplative, floral conclusion to your lunch.
If you haven’t tried AFURI, it’s well worth a visit—who doesn’t love cosseting ramen on a wintry day. The lunch menu ($35) first gives you a choice between crispy pork gyoza, tori (chicken) karaage, or a tempura shrimp roll. And of course, they’re offering three different types of ramen next. You’ll have a hard time deciding between niniku shoyu (garlic soy), tonkotsu shio, or a spicy yuzu rantan. Savour yuzu curd with ice cream before moving on to the rest of your delightful day in Mount Pleasant.
Along with its spectacular views of False Creek, Ancora also features unique Peruvian/Japanese cuisine, with a sustainability commitment to match its waterfront location. Their lunch menu ($39) showcases both of their culinary influences, commencing with miso roasted butternut squash soup with cilantro, jalapeno, and lemongrass; or tuna tataki with seared albacore tuna, yuzu kosho, and green onion. Your main is either a chirashi donburi with albacore tuna, sockeye salmon, prawns, wakame salad, edamame, and yuzu tobiko; or a Peruvian-style paella with sablefish croquettes, chorizo, corn, and baby shrimp. You can add seafood, like Hokkaido scallops and prawns, to dishes for an additional charge. Dessert is a daily sorbet or picarones (a type of doughnut) with pecans, spiced syrup, and lucuma ice cream.
Cazba is a long-running restaurant, with a location on Davie Street in Vancouver’s West End. Lunch ($24) is a good deal, and bound to fill you up with delicious Persian food, commencing with a choice between a soup of the day, dolmades served with traditional Persian bread, or mast o mosir (shallot yogurt with Persian bread). Then, you have three options: chicken thigh kebab with saffron rice and grilled tomato; whole lamb shank with dill rice; or ground beef kebabs on Persian bread. Dessert is either saffron rice pudding or Persian sweets.
For an elegant lunch—perhaps in between shopping at CF Pacific Centre—drop by Dahlia in the AZUR Legacy Collection Hotel. This Art Deco-esque spot serves French/Italian cuisine, sourcing local, sustainable ingredients. Their lunch ($45) is sure to satisfy, with first either parsnip velouté with toasted hazelnuts, hazelnut oil, sage, and crème fraiche; or tuna Niçoise salad with heirloom tomatoes, albacore tuna, beans, egg, baby gem lettuce, olives, potato, and shallot dressing. Mains are sumptuous: mushroom (maitake, shimeji, porcini) and truffle risotto; pappardelle with merguez, lemon, mint, and olives; or a burger with a sesame brioche bun, caramelized onion, taleggio, and Dijon aioli, served with sea salted fries. Irish cream tiramisu ends your meal.
Located in the heart of downtown at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia, Hawksworth has a gorgeous room that matches the kitchen’s expert, contemporary treatment of local (and global) ingredients. Led by Chef David Hawksworth, Executive Chef Sylvain Assie, and Pastry Chef Marissa Gonzalez, the restaurant has received a MICHELIN-recommendation for good reason. Lunch ($36) is a more relaxed and well-priced way to try the restaurant, beginning with a mushroom and beef consommé with caramelized onion and croutons. You’ll then have a choice between wild mushroom and barley risotto with squash, coppa, argula, chive, and parmesan (can be made vegetarian); or chicken schnitzel with North Arm Farm potato salad and dill. Dessert is einkorn and brown butter cake with tonka bean mousse, caramelized pear, and crispy pecans.
Yaletown’s Minami is featuring lunch ($52) exclusively for Dine Out this year. Part of Aburi Restaurants Canada (e.g., Miku), Minami has developed a reputation not only for its flame-seared dishes, but also for its innovation in Japanese cuisine, as well as its focus on sustainability. Their lunch consists of five courses: hiyayakko (chilled tofu with seaweed, umami goma rayu, and ikura); soy braised short rib sukiyaki with an onsen egg and nanohana; saikyo miso-marinated aburi steelhead with Japanese eggplant (with side dishes of daikon tsukemono and miso soup); a sushi course with an aburi oshi trio, champagne roll, hamachi nigiri, and ebi nigiri; and finally a deconstructed yuzu tart with aburi meringue, matcha cream, aka miso crumble, and shiso berry compote.
South Granville is a charming neighbourhood, with great opportunities for browsing its many boutiques (primarily clothing, houseware, and furniture), in addition to boutique art galleries. They have a thriving dining scene, which includes Saba Foods, which spotlights Middle Eastern, particularly Yemeni cooking. All meat is halal. Lunch is a tasty entry point into the cuisine, with three options, a AAA striploin steak, with eggs and a side salad ($33); a falafel platter served with a cucumber lime fizz mocktail ($28); and a charred AAA beef benny served with Yemeni spiced milk tea. The restaurant occupies the former location of West Restaurant, with refined and upscale décor.
One of the new hot spots in town is The Saigonville, located in East Van and operated by Chef Kevin Nguyen, formerly cooking at the famed Lunch Lady. The restaurant celebrates the cuisine of Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon. Their lunch ($25) would be a great fuel up before exploring nearby neighbourhoods, such as the surrounding Hastings-Sunrise and Commercial Drive. Appetizers include a pork spring roll, vegan spring roll, or a refreshing mango and papaya salad. Then, warm up with a bowl of pho (beef, pork, or vegan); lemongrass chicken, beef, or a pork chop on rice; or vermicelli with lemongrass chicken, beef, or a pork chop. Dessert is either vanilla or mixed chocolate ice cream.
Fans of tamaly should head to the Tamaly Shop on Main Street in Mount Pleasant. This ode to Mexican/Mesoamerican cuisine is full of heart. Their lunch menu ($24.50) begins with a lovingly made bowl of chicken soup with pico de gallo; black bean soup with crema and cilantro, served with crispy tortilla chips; or sopa Azteca, a tortilla soup with queso fresco, sour cream, and pickled red onion. Then come the tamales with a variety of fillings to select from (e.g., chicken mole, pork and tomatillo, tofu with mole, mushroom with salsa verde). You’re served concha (a buttery sweet bread) as your dessert.
A full list of restaurants offering lunch during Dine Out Vancouver Festival can be found here.