Martinis and Live Music at Vault Restaurant

Maple Ridge's only room actually on the Fraser: two seasonal patios, a heated covered one for the other nine months, and water from every seat.

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

A brewpub in the middle of an 1860s fishing village, with the longest bar in Ladner and a backyard patio built for slow afternoons.

Yaletown's new 270 seat comfort food operation changes personality three times a day, and every version of it thinks your date deserves a margarita.

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

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

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

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

A Michelin-name Italian on Kingsway where spit-roasted meats, seasonal handmade pasta and wine do more romantic work than you ever had to.

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

Monzo means beef in Italian dialect, so this place is literally named Beef Burger, and that level of confidence extends to the fries.

A South Langley farm cidery with apples literally out back, bone-dry and elderflower flights, brick-oven pizza, and a grassy field built for lingering.

A 1918 Cloverdale heritage house with five intimate dining rooms and a tableside flambé service that treats dessert as theatrical inevitability.

French technique and Gastown cobblestones, with an atrium, award-winning cocktails, and a bar that doesn't rush you out.