Binchotan Yakitori at Sumu

Seventeen seats, one sitting, Edo-style nigiri piece by piece, and your phone face-down all night. Michelin-recommended and books out fast.

Flame-kissed aburi sushi by Burrard Inlet, where the salmon oshi arrives, gets photographed, and makes the table go silent.

A 38-seat binchotan counter where the chef hands the roll straight across, still warm, and the nori is still crackling.

All-you-can-eat yakiniku where you grill prime beef together on a two-hour clock, and 13,000 reviewers agree it was worth the lineup.

The Broadway institution where chef Hidekazu Tojo, credited with inventing the California Roll, runs a legendary seasonal omakase counter.

Fukuoka-style tonkotsu you customize on a little order sheet, plus a queue that counts as your best first-date warmup.

A calm Newport Village sushi room with soft jazz and private curtained tables you can pull closed and slip your shoes off at.

West Broadway's papier-mache-and-neon sushi institution since 1983, with 50-plus rolls that have never once cared about tradition.

The Kitsilano sushi counter whose omakase regulars guard like state secrets, and whose uni and bluefin prove them right.

Twelve seats. Chef Satoshi Makise. Edomae nigiri shaped right in front of you, delivered with the quiet instruction to eat now.

A restored downtown heritage atrium where soaring marble makes charred octopus feel like a civic event.

Chef Hector Laguna's plant-draped Coal Harbour room, where the world-ranked cocktails alone justify the good shirt.

Chef Hawksworth's two-storey heritage hall for wood-fired pizza, buttermilk fried chicken, and the share-everything format that actually works.

Coal Harbour, Stanley Park and the North Shore mountains through floor-to-ceiling glass, with a Canadian Culinary Champion kitchen to match.