Discover Home: Chinatown

Chinatown shakes your senses awake. With so much to see, do and, of course, eat, here’s how we suggest you take on the neighbourhood. 

eat: Kim Saigon’s banh-mi are available to order right at the front-of-house cashier: perfect baguettes, crispy tofu, house-pickled veg with cilantro and sliced chilis, $4 a pop but, to meet the debit minimum, snag a can of lychee juice, too (if you chose to eat in, their pho is just the trick on a rainy day). The world’s best bao are at Newtown Bakery, though Dunlevy Snack Bar offers a solid Tuesday beer and bao special (and boasts DJ sets and walls stacked with contemporary Vancouver art). In the evenings go to Bao Bei, especially if you’re in a sexy mood and like fried rice (listed on the menu as “kickass”). Sate your sweet tooth at local grocers like East Georgia’s Tone Ren Hong Enterprises Ltd., where handfuls of Chinese mango gummies, coconut hard candy and wrapped salted plums are a cheap, awesome departure from sour keys. Or hit The Pie Shoppe: a cute hole in the wall with some of the city’s best pie. Flavours announced daily via Tweets that read like short-form poems (“Apple. Cherry Buttermilk. Salted Honey.”).

shop: Stock up on bitters, shakers and Pok Pok Som Thai Basil drinking vinegar at The Modern Bartender (the folk who work there don’t all have handlebar mustaches and arm-garters, but they should). Beijing Trading Company is a must for tea—think great green and jasmine for a buck, plus jars of ‘shrooms and fish cartilage (just ask) and our favourite Prince of Peace Instant Ginger Honey Crystals (stops colds in their tracks). Clothing-wise, hit El Kartel for street-cool, Blim for creative prints (sushi pants!), Charlie & Lee for the impossibly chic art-girl look and The Board of Trade for Hansel From Basel socks, which are expensive but the coolest freakin’ socks ever.  

do: Lead yourself on a quick art tour of the neighbourhood, starting at Centre A (the centre for contemporary Asian art, with a well-stocked reading room). Then hit East Georgia and tick off Access Gallery, 221A and Publication Studio (an artist bookshop and micro-publishing house) before looping around to Unit/Pitt, the-actually-in-an Apartment and Rennie Collection on Pender. Exhibitions are ever-changing, with many special evening events and performances you can stay abreast of by subscribing to Vancouver Instant Coffee (welcome to being in the know). All gallery hours are Tues. to Sat., 12 to 5 p.m., with the Rennie Collection by appointment only.

When evening falls and the neon glows, hit The Keefer Bar for drinks and Thursday night burlesuqe, Bestie for late snacks and Fortune Sound Club for Hip Hop Karaoke one (rotating) Monday of each month (we’ve done it, have you?).

—Adrienne Matei