Dim Sum Cart Date at Yan's House

Chinatown's buzziest small-plates room, where shao bing and cocktails you can't pronounce will do the talking for you.

Richmond's best Cantonese dim sum means har gow, siu mai and a 90-minute deadline that focuses the mind wonderfully.

Steps from Metrotown SkyTrain, a food court where the yellow-sign dumpling stall beats Din Tai Fung for half the money.

Crispy chilli paneer, wok-charred Hakka noodles and a cold drink to put out the fire, in Surrey's Newton neighbourhood.

A thirty-year Dundarave corner bakery where the butter smell hits before the door, and the cinnamon buns sell out before noon.

Lantern-lit West End izakaya where the sake list rewards bravery and stone-grilled beef keeps arriving until you've forgotten your plans.

Chilli paneer, gobi Manchurian and Hakka noodles in Richmond's warm Indo-Chinese room, plus handcrafted pizza if you need it.

PoCo's smokehouse and brewhouse on one address: ribs, pulled pork, craft beer and a gin list that no one saw coming.

Six or eight tables, Ethiopian art, and a tradition called gursha where you hand-feed each other, which is romantic on purpose.

The Vietnamese street food that made Anthony Bourdain misty on television now has a permanent home on The Drive.

Wok smoke, dry chilli chicken, enormous portions and an owner who genuinely lights up talking about Calcutta-style Hakka cooking.

Butter chicken poutine, paneer tacos and spiced cocktails in Surrey's slickest Indian lounge, open until 3am.

New West's Ethiopian-Eritrean spot where dinner is a shared platter you eat by hand and ends with a traditional coffee ceremony.

Ethiopian stews by hand, a live Friday band, and the kind of injera-sharing that requires getting very comfortable very quickly.