As much as we are fans of Instagram, it isn’t necessarily the best place to get a comprehensive overview of whether or not you should visit a particular restaurant. Because the platform is limited to just 1500 characters and at most a few photos for a post – you won’t get the nitty gritty details (ambiance, prices, service quality, first and overall impressions) most of the time.
That’s why we always recommend going beyond just Instagram and do some extra research, if you are on the fence when deciding between a few new spots to try out. After all, if the choice is to stay in bed (and Netflix) or to head out to a new foreign eatery, we sure as hell want to know whether it is worth getting dressed for it.
So if you’re constantly debating between the two choices above and want to be on the winning side of your food excursions, make sure you follow these 10 Vancouver Restaurant Bloggers to get the detailed scoop of all the unassuming and fancy schmancy spots around the city.
1. Foodology
How did you get started?
[Diana]: I started Foodology back in 2010 when I was in University. Since I ate out almost every single day, I thought it would be fun to share my thoughts of where I was eating with friends in the form of a blog. It was also a creative outlet to balance out the tough finance and accounting classes that I was taking at the time. I’ve always had Foodology as a hobby since I believe good food should be shared, plus we live in such a delicious diverse city.
What can people expect from your blog?
[Diana]: When you get to Foodology.ca, you can expect to find daily reviews on restaurants, products, recipes and events.
Favourite Food?
[Diana]: I am obsessed with Burmese cuisine, but unfortunately, Vancouver does not have that many options. Anytime I can get my hands on Tea Leaf Salad or Mohinga, you’ll find me there.
What is your 2020 goal?
[Diana]: The goal for 2020 is to keep the blog updated regularly as I juggle being a mom, returning back to full-time work, and being a food blogger. Not sure how I’ll do it but that’s the goal.
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Youtube
2. Nosh and Nibble
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How did you get started?
[Hanson]: I noticed on other mediums that the reviews were generally only about the food. For me, the experience of a dine out depends on the food, the restaurant itself, and the service. After all, your experience begins as soon as you walk through the door, so why should you have to start chowing down before formulating an opinion of your dine out?
What can people expect from your blog?
[Hanson]: Let me be your guide to all things food in a city near you. Remember, everyone’s taste buds are different, but I’ll do my best to give comparative examples within the same city to provide some context on what we’re reviewing.
Favourite Food?
[Hanson]: Tacos (right now)
What’s your goal for 2020?
[Hanson]: In addition to the regular restaurant reviews, I’d like to publish more ranked guides around specific foods in the city. I started with bread this year and am hoping to touch more popular food groups (e.g. almond croissants, pho tai gan, caesar cocktails).
Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
3. EatingwithKirby
How did you get started?
[Kirsty]: I read food blogs every single day until I had an epiphany one night and thought, why don’t I just create one of my own?!
What can people expect from your blog?
[Kirsty]: People can expect detailed restaurant reviews from all over the world including Canada, US, Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Korea, and more. In addition to that, I offer many travel tips like hotel reviews and “Top 5 Things to do in ___” that are not related to food!
Favourite Food?
[Kirsty]: Anything noodles in soup!
What is your 2020 goal?
[Kirsty]: My goal for 2020 would be to take more risks with my Instagram feed as well as with my blog. I find that I did things very status quo for a long time because I didn’t want to be ‘weird’ or ‘odd’, but I finally realized that sometimes, that is what people enjoy the most out of my content. Those little moments of quirkiness!
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Youtube
4. Vancouver Coffee Snob
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How did you get started?
[Tom]: I’m a rich descendant of the Nescafe family, but broke away and became the Vancouver Coffee Snob when their instant coffee profits started turning me evil.
Actually, that was clearly a lie. I got started blogging 3 1/2 years ago, because no one was writing what I wanted to read. I’ve always liked writing daft things on the internet and figured it was time Vancouver should be forced to read it too.
What can people expect from your blog?
[Tom]: When you reach my blog the first thing you’ll notice is the abundance of spelling and grammatical errors. These are intentional, to keep you on your toes. Aside from that, you can expect Vancouver coffee shop reviews, news about the local coffee scene and unpaid promotion of amazing coffee people and companies. I try to make my writing as feisty as possible, so you’ll often see a lot of self deprecating humour, sarcasm and swear words.
Favourite Food?
[Tom]: I think the food I come back to over and over again is Ramen. I’ve got Japan firmly in my crosshairs for a visit in the next few years. Also I’m 6ft4 so I want to see what life as an NBA player must be like.
I’ll also answer this from a coffee perspective: Ethiopia is my obsession point for coffee, typically a light roast, natural process coffee. The natural process often brings out amazingly detailed fruity notes in the coffee. It’s not a coffee everyone likes, but it definitely gets me all hot and sweaty.
What is your 2020 goal?
[Tom]: I started Siply, an app that saves you money in Vancouvers best coffee shops, in 2019. It launched even more successfully than I anticipated! We now have 2500 users, 36 coffee shops and have managed to sponsor ten industry events so far! Sadly the podcast goal never happened. I recorded one episode then realised how time intensive editing was. It’s been shelved for the moment and I hope to start it again one day!
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
5. Pickydiner
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How did you get started?
[David]: I started pickydiners in 2014. As a passionate foodie with acute senses for smell, flavour, and texture, as well as the constant curiosity on learning interesting cooking ingredients, I always wanted to share my tasting experience to others. Hence, I started the blog.
What can people expect from your blog?
[David]: I write about food, wine, cocktails, and travel. I am enthusiastic about discovering a great dish at a restaurant, local or in a city that I’m visiting, or sharing a great recipe that I have created. Although most critics’ restaurant reviews are subjective or opinionated, I tend to use my culinary knowledge to analyze the tasting experience and present it to my audience in the most unbiased way. Born in Guangzhou, China, I have an extensive knowledge of Cantonese cuisine and other Chinese regional cuisines, which I am very proud to show on my blog. I am also passionate about keeping up with the food trends and discovering the local seasonal ingredients in any city I live in or travel to.
Favourite Food?
[David]: Cantonese > Japanese > French.
What is your 2020 goal?
[David]: In 2020, I will try to focus more on traveling and world cuisine. And I will post more on my YouTube channel.
Website | Instagram | Facebook
6. Shermanfoodadventures
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How did you get started?
[Sherman]: I started in 2008. The blog started as a suggestion from a friend who wanted to know more about what I ate and any other good suggestions. I really didn’t want to start a blog, but one night I just decided to sign up. Then I noticed people left comments which meant my blog was being read! Well, the rest is history…
What can people expect from your blog?
[Sherman]: I usually post about restaurant experiences in Vancouver and the surrounding suburbs. I don’t actually “rate” restaurants, rather I blog about my experience and what was good and bad about it. I feel that food is very subjective and my experience may not be the same for everyone.
Favourite Food?
[Sherman]: It would have to be Japanese.
What is your 2020 goal?
[Sherman]: My goal is to continue what I have been doing for over 10 years but maybe include more travel. There is so much in the way of interesting and delicious food in the world!
7. Vancouver Pigout
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How did you get started?
[Regina]: I started to post my food adventure on my personal Instagram account. With friends’ encouragement, I decided to start an official account “pigoutyvr” to focus on food reviews in 2016. During that year, I wanted to build a portfolio for distinguish myself from others. Therefore I looked into food blogging. Although it is a niche market, I can be more detailed on describing the dishes and the restaurant itself. So I started by reading other bloggers’ post and learned from them. And now I have been blogging for almost 1.5 years.
What can people expect from your blog?
[Regina]: My blog is filled with detailed reviews with restaurants and cafes in Vancouver. One of my blog highlights is honest review, because I hope my readers can also feel my dining experience in the restaurants. Sometimes, I also include recipes that I tried and was successful.
Favourite Food?
[Regina]: Korean cuisine.
What is your 2020 goal?
[Regina]: In 2020, I want to continuously spread my food adventures with everyone by compiling listicles with my favourite places. And of course, I would not stop writing those blog posts with passion!
8. Vanfoodies
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How did you get started?
[Joyce]: I started out with a personal blog with occasional posts about dining out. Then, friends would come to me for ideas or suggestions for restaurants. In 2009, when food blogs started to gain popularity in Vancouver, I decided to run a dedicated blog, and VanFoodies was born. (Can’t believe its 10th anniversary is coming up later in 2019!)
What can people expect from your blog?
[Joyce]: Dining out, beer & wine, local foodie events and travel. When I write about restaurants, I would also talk about the service or atmosphere, i.e. what a customer would experience at each restaurant. I’m not a food expert, so I’m just sharing my thoughts on my visit.
Favourite Food?
[Joyce]: I like everything! When looking for a new restaurant to try, I must say I tend to be drawn towards French food (think duck confit, escargot, moules frites, etc.). I also enjoy some good sushi, ramen (or any kind of noodles, really), pizza, pasta, HK cafes, brunch, afternoon tea, bubble tea (a new favourite), just to name a few. But then, I would try everything once, so I’m pretty much open to trying anything.
What is your 2020 goal?
[Joyce]: Blog more! The last couple of years I have been posting more on Instagram than on the blog, almost using Instagram as a mini blog. But I want to spend more time on the website in 2020, not just adding more content, but more interesting content. We are on the road a lot but I never had the time to write about our travel so I want to catch up on that as well.
9. Vanfoodster
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How did you get started?
[Richard]: My foray into the food blogging world started quite awhile ago when I co-wrote the book “Vancouver’s Best Espresso Spots” in 1993. I co-wrote a couple of other books afterwards, “Oregon’s Hot Java” in 1994 and “Cafes Vancouver” in 2003. At that time the coffee industry was of interest to me and I created an online guide covering the café scene in 110 cities around the world, from coffee to wine and food, my interests expanded. I then began to focus on social media and blogging in 2009 after friends regularly asked me for restaurant recommendations. After creating the Vancouver Foodster blog in 2009, I then got into radio in 2011 talking about the food scene on a local beer show for a couple of years before joining CKNW as their food reporter for the Best and the Foodiest segment which has been running weekly on the Afternoon show ever since. Back in 2016, I became co-host of the CKNW Food Glorious Food podcast and have been doing a weekly segment ever since. One thing that I realized pretty much from the get go was that asides from reading about my foodie experiences on the blog, the general public should have a chance to experience tastings and such as well, this is how my Tasting Plates series of events began in 2012; part in parcel was the launch of my Food Talks series which I created to provide more of an educational insight into the food and beverage industry.
What can people expect from your blog?
[Richard]: I would hope people would learn about some of the exciting restaurants and dishes that I have written about. I post about a lot of different types of experiences from diner reviews and restaurant openings to afternoon tea, along with interviews with chefs and bartenders, to the latest new menu tastings, along with travel experiences around Vancouver and beyond.
Favourite Food?
[Richard]: I can’t only name one as I love many different cuisines; I love Italian, Thai, Mexican cuisines, and I have always been obsessed with finding the best Mole visiting countless Mexican restaurants in my travels.
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
10. Magmei
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How did you get started?
[Maggi]: An old colleague of my told me I needed a hobby. Apparently I was too high strung when it came to work. He said I needed a better balance of work-life and suggested I start blogging about food, seeing as I already take photos of everything I eat. In hindsight, I guess he was right.
What can people expect from your blog?
[Maggi]: Food fuelled fun! Where to eat and what do to in and around the lower mainland. All with a large emphasis on wine, beer, and cocktails! Life’s a collection of parties and I want to attend each one!
Favourite Food?
[Maggi]: Anything weird or grandiose. What everyone steers away from I will head straight towards. Oversized sundaes, wild game meats, and the occasional bug or two.
What is your 2020 goal?
[Maggi]: I would love to challenge myself in trying more and doing more outside my comfort zone. Ordering foods I don’t naturally gravitate towards, and enjoying flavours I am not familiar with. Followed by reviewing them in a raw and real way. Also, continuing to find my voice and expressing myself in a creative and humorous way on my YouTube channel.
Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Youtube
These 10 local restaurant bloggers will no doubt give you the low down on the delicious spots here in the city. But if you’re looking for something quick, take a peek at the 10 Instagram Foodies you should be following in Vancouver.