Looking for delicious recommendations from around the country? We asked a local in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal what spots they suggest to hit up.

Temper Chocolate & Pastry Owner and chef, Steven Hodge is a big fish in the culinary world. He has worked at various renown establishments like: Wolfgang Puck’s Spago, Gordon Ramsay’s Royal Hospital Road, Thomas Haas, and Global Group. With a resume like that, it’s clear that he knows his stuff.

We asked him about his favourite spots around Vancouver to grab brunch, dinner, and a drink.

Brunch Spot

My favourite brunch place is at home because we love hosting and making a day out of it.

Breakfast is my favourite meal and I feel like Vancouver’s breakfast places are lacking.

Photo Credit: Steven Hodge

Dinner Spot

My favourite place for dinner is Nook on Denman, because it is delicious, consistent, classic and great cozy atmosphere.

I order the burrata appie and then the salad and a salami pizza. And of course, Italian wine to pair.

Photo credit Nook

Drink Spot

My favourite place to drink is the Feast restaurant West Vancouver, love to go there in the summer and sit on the patio.

I order a white negroni to start and then a dirty martini.

Photo credit: Feast Dining

The amount of food spots in Toronto can be quite overwhelming considering how much bigger the city is compared to Vancouver. If you’re making your way to the 6ix for a short getaway, you’ll want to make sure to hit up the right spots.

We asked popular Toronto food blogger, Foodie.Fob, for his brunch and dinner recommendations.

Photo credit: Foodie.fob

Brunch Spot

Pancake for brunch? Sure.

Japanese Soufflé Pancake? Definitely!

The first Japanese Soufflé Pancake in Canada called Hanabusa Café captured social media attention when it first opened. They are very jiggly fluffy!

I love the fact that Hanabusa provides seasonal flavors like the recent Rose Lychee Pancake for February 2019. My go-to would be the custard pancake. It is like eating Crème Brulee and pancake in one go.

Who said dessert for brunch would be a bad idea!

Dinner Spot

East Coast Canada provides some of the best lobsters.

One restaurant that fully utilizes lobsters at its best would be Fishman Lobster Clubhouse. The Hong Kong “Bay Fung Tong” deep fried lobster featured in many social media is the main attraction and it is garlicky delicious.

Recently we ordered 6 lobsters @ 52lbs shared among 18 foodies and everyone was well fed. Just beware it can be messy.

This restaurant allows BYOB as well.

Drink Spot

There are many bars and restaurants where you can find yourself a drink in Toronto.

The one that I think stands out among the rest is Barchef. I often call it the gastronomy experience or Picasso for cocktails. Owners Breant Vander Veen and Frankie Solarik love to play around with human senses to give you the full drinking experience.

I would go for the Modernist Cocktails such as Essence of Fall or Vanilla Hickory Smoked Manhattan.

What To Do

Toronto being a multicultural city, this is where it shines.

Every summer, Toronto offers many cultural food festivals so that we can learn its culture through food. From Chinese Night Market to Taste of Danforth (Greek) for example, you can feast all day. I attended the Taco Fest back in 2018 when Mexico won the 1st game in the World Cup.

It was a fun day as you can devour many types of tacos, listen to mariachis and drink tequilas.

When you think about Montreal, items like poutine, smoked beef, and killer brunch comes to mind. But that’s not all this city has to offer.

We asked Physicist, food writer and food tour guide, Random Cuisine on his top Montreal food recommendations.

Photo credit: Randomcuisine

Brunch Spot

If you’re looking for an original and creative brunch spot, Le Butterblume is your best bet.

Chefs and owners come from big name restaurants – Olive et Gourmando, Pâtisserie Rhubarbe, Bouillon Bilk and Pullman. Anything that you order is beautifully composed, full of flavours and simply tasty.

My top picks: cauliflower cake with espelette pepper syrup, foie gras mousse toast with lemon & Juniper berries sauce, and German raviolis “maultaschen” with chicken dashi and onion confit.

Dinner Spot

Want a memorable dining experience?

Go to Cantine Teré (previously called Fieldstone).

Chef Chanthy Yen is a creative food science genius. He worked at some of the top 10 restaurants in the world including El Bulli and Mugaritz. Combined with the Mexican roots of his business partner Emiliano Rivera, they blend Mexican and Cambodian influences plus prestigious experience into their food.

Ready to be amazed by their unique flavour combinations and unconventional techniques, and make room for their foie gras ice cream with charcoal meringue shards.

Drink Spot

Forget about store-bought chai, get the true and authentic taste of chai at Bristol Chai.

Here it is brewed for 45 minutes in milk to extract all the flavours of the spices and tea leaves. They have concocted six chai recipes ranging to the classic Masala chai (Arthur), to smokey, to floral.

Every day, 3 chais are on offer infused in different types of milk. Paired your chai with their homemade pastries ranging from cannelés, far breton, scones and more.

What To Do

Curious about Chinese food?

You can book your experience on AirBNB experience with Victor (Taste of Chinatown with a Food Writer).

On his food tour, you will sample food from five regions of China and walk around the largest grocery store to help you familiarize with staple ingredients used in Asian cuisine.