Vancouver_Magazine_May_2017

62 VANMAG.COM MAY 2017

CARLO RICCI

Best Food

Tr uck

Tacofino

tacofi no.com

Le Tigre

letigrecuisine.ca

Vij’s Railway Express

vijsrailwayexpress.com

HONOUR ABLE MENTIONS

Chickpea,

Feastro

2

3

Not that long ago we were expecting food

trucks on every block, but the realities of li-

censing, maintenance and having to make

hay, mostly at lunch, mean that our three

winners are the forebears of the business

and all have bricks-and-mortar establish-

ments to help defray the costs of the tr uck.

Taking gold is our paragon of trucks—the

born-in-Tofi no legend that is Tacofi no,

where their take on fi sh tacos continues to

set the standard. Close behind is Le Tigre,

with its Chinese and West Coast mash-up

typifi ed by the legendary crack salad which

hasn’t slipped despite their growth into

a restaurant (Torafuku). Bronze is Vij’s

Railway Express, where the high prices are

off set by attention to detail and high-end

ingredients uncommon on four wheels.

Best

Chain

Cactus Club Cafe

Multiple locations

cactusclub.com

Kirin

Multiple locations

kirinrestaurants.com

Guu

Multiple locations

guu-izakaya.com

HONOUR ABLE MENTIONS

Joey, The Flying Pig

2

3

Our chains are better than their chains. If we

needed any proof of this, look no further than

gold winner Cactus Club Cafe, who spent last

year absolutely schooling our Toronto friends

on how to r un a hopping restaurant in the

heart of the Big Smoke’s downtown. (They’re

opening another T.O. outpost later this year.)

The judges praised the chain’s infallible

consistency, be it at the swank y Coa l Harbour

fl agship or the Kamloops branch. Silver goes

to the too-elegant-to-be-a-chain Kirin, whose

four rooms never fail to disappoint, while

Bronze belongs to the too-fun-to-be-a-chain

team at Guu, who are likewise doing the turn-

ing-Toronto-on-its-head routine with their

new Guu Izakaya location on Queen Street.