My brother and I went to Vancouver for a few days for a little vacation this past week. All in all, Vancouver is an awesome city when it comes to live-ability. We were able to walk or take the sky train anywhere we needed, nature & activity right in the city limits with beaches, bike lanes & hiking, tons of craft beer, and tons of food fusion options. Food in Vancouver, much like the overall history, is straight fusion.
We both typically rely on review websites to help us choose where to eat, no matter what city we are in, home or traveling. Vancouver was no exception. We started to realize, that with using the review websites (TripAdvisor, Google, Yelp, etc), we weren't making good decisions, because there are just TOO many options to choose from. The rabbit hole started to swallow us and when we got to the point of hangry, we made a few hasty decisions.
After 2 mediocre meals, we went back to basics for our final dinner in Vancouver. We decided to come out from behind the 'black mirror' of our phones, and actually ASK people who live in Vancouver where to eat.
Everywhere we went yesterday, the museum of Vancouver, Granville Island, & many breweries, we asked 1 question, "If you had 1 last meal to eat in Vancouver, where would you go?" It's a broad question- we both don't have any dietary restrictions, and if its good, we will eat it (yes... even bacon if its suppose to be THAT good). We didn't have specifications of type of food, no price limit, and were open to traveling anywhere in Vancouver.
After the first few people, we started to notice that people LOVED answering this question and loved talking about their city. Anyone who overheard the conversation, also wanted to drop in their opinion. I realized that in traveling, the way to get people to chat with you, don't ask about the weather, ask about food. Its a topic that doesn't feel like small talk, but more like a connection.. I think it may be because it has a result- where you're going to eat.
In the end, there was 1 restaurant, Ask for Luigi, that was mentioned 4 times and we decided we had to go. This restaurant never came up in any of our internet searches, and we would have never found it if we didn't decide to actually ask the people who know the city best, IRL (you know... in real life). We had an amazing meal, and even better, we got to know some people of Vancouver with our little game along the way.
While traveling, instead of turning to the black hole of the internet for a 'local' option, I am going to turn back to good old human communication. It's better for the soul, and you never know what you might discover. For my brother and I, we discovered amazing pasta... so amazing that we may have ordered another pasta for dessert, but we will never tell.
Peace, Love, and eating in Vancouver,
b
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