Eat Here: Dock Lunch

Dock Lunch is the kind of enigmatic little neighbourhood haunt everyone wants to have in their back pocket for those days when what you’re really craving is atmosphere—some place heartfelt and cosy to duck into for a bite, where the china’s mismatched and the proprietor knows your name.

By the end of our first visit, sprite-like owner Elizabeth Bryan knew ours. Open since 2014, Dock Lunch does little in the way of self-promotion; an Instagram feed posts the daily special, which is whatever the kitchen happened to feel like making that day, all umbrella-ed under the soul-food genre. Sometimes it’s pickle-brined-and-fried chicken, sometimes it’s a tiered devil’s food cake with strawberry cream (we had a seared cod taco, homemade ginger beer and a rosewater shortbread cookie; it was perfect). A genuine warmth imbues the entire (cosy) space, which served as Bryan’s home for 15 years until she moved out and saw the building (constructed in 1912) pass 10 requisite health inspections before securing a restaurant licence.

Cute and character-driven, it’s one of Vancouver’s most idiosyncratic dining gems. —Adrienne Matei

Dock Lunch, 152 E 11th Ave., Vancouver, 604-879-3625, instagram.com/docklunch_offmain