Smoky Suya and Jollof at VanSuya

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

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

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

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

The Burnaby sleeper locals quietly guard: a 4.6-rated Ethiopian-Eritrean room where regulars insist the food is the best in the province.

Burnaby's licensed Eritrean room where you eat by hand, drink properly, and stay longer than you planned to.

A two-decade Commercial Drive institution where dinner is one shared injera platter you eat by hand, no forks, no rushing.

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

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

Canada's first proper mezcaleria on The Drive, where house-pressed tortillas and small-batch mezcal flights have an excellent working relationship.

One of Vancouver's highest-rated Indian spots on The Drive, where street-food snacks flow into proper cocktails and a room that hums.

Run by the actual Fanny Bay farm, this is Vancouver's only tide-to-table oyster bar, and the marble counter is yours.

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

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