Trinidadian Doubles at Baby Dhal Roti Shop

Off-Fraser corner café, 4.7-rated, with jerk chicken that falls off the bone and oxtail rich enough to end an argument.

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

Surrey's Caribbean lounge where jerk, oxtail and a sorrel drink become your Friday night, especially if there's a DJ.

The Drive's long-loved Jamaican kitchen, where jerk, oxtail and a sunny terrace do the date-night heavy lifting.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

Crispy, forearm-length dosas and midnight filter coffee until 3am, for the night that isn't over yet.

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