Izakaya Night at Kingyo

Robson St Korean with tabletop grills, banchan aplenty, and the universal icebreaker of shouting 'is that done yet?'

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

Downtown's chocolaterie-patisserie on Alberni: thick drinking chocolate, a macaron case that looks like jewellery, and cheap enough to be completely spontaneous.

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

The only dinner where eating with your hands from the same plate is not just allowed, it's the whole point.

A dim, jazz-soaked 1960s Tokyo cafe in Chinatown, where tajarin with uni is just how dinner starts.

The plant-filled Main Street room that makes a first date feel like it's going well before a word is spoken.

The Fraser St bistro that locals call FauxBo, guard jealously, and can't stop recommending despite the notoriously tough reservation.

Vancouver Foodie Tours runs a two hour progressive meal through the market: cheese, charcuterie, candied salmon, chocolate truffles and a honey-dip donut finish.

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

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

Chef J-C Poirier's Michelin-starred Railtown room where Québécois comfort food arrives in quantities your willpower simply won't survive.

An actual world-champion gelatiere turning out four-litre artisan batches a block from English Bay, ideal after a seawall stroll.

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