Vancouver just discovered the restaurants that make up its first MICHELIN Guide selection

Vancouver Michelin Guide is officially here as eight restaurants earned one-MICHELIN-Star distinction and twelve received Bib Gourmands. The full selection, including Recommended eateries, totals sixty restaurants. Our coverage on the announcement of the incoming guide is HERE.

“Our teams of inspectors genuinely savored their dining experiences in Vancouver,” said Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the MICHELIN Guides. “They were very impressed with the city’s gastronomic dynamism. The selection – from Stars to Bib Gourmands to the Recommended spots – are all appealing in their own authentic DNA, and very diverse offers. They all can be very proud of their entry in the MICHELIN Guide family, as we’re pleased to highlight them to our community of foodies and travelers.”

Here are the MICHELIN-Starred restaurants, with inspector notes from each (inspector comments in full on the Vancouver MICHELIN Guide website and mobile app):

AnnaLena (Contemporary cuisine)
Don’t be fooled by AnnaLena’s unassuming atmosphere, as dining at Chef Mike Robbins’ restaurant is a polished experience from top to bottom. Beginning with the graceful service and carrying through to the impeccably prepared dishes, this is a restaurant that aims to impress — sans the fuss.

Barbara (Contemporary cuisine)    
Chef Patrick Hennessy spent time at many top spots, including Eleven Madison Park in New York, but he is clearly at home at Barbara. The kitchen feels like a stage, with guests perched at the L-shaped bar watching with bated breath as he performs culinary magic.

Burdock & Co (Contemporary cuisine)
This Mount Pleasant charmer straddles a corner of Main Street in an area rich with top spots, but Burdock & Co stands out with its rustic appeal and Chef Andrea Carlson’s farm-to-table cooking. The concise menu highlights the best of the season.

iDen & QuanJuDe Beijing Duck House (Chinese cuisine)
It has a pedigree that traces back to Beijing from 1864, but the latest outpost in Vancouver proves that QuanJuDe hasn’t lost any of its luster. It is best known for its superlatively crispy and juicy duck. Delicious as the signature fowl may be, there is plenty more from Chef Allen Ren: A bevy of other delicacies are on offer, including bird’s nest, sea cucumber and even a whole king crab if you’re up for a splurge.

Kissa Tanto (Japanese cuisine)
Inspired by the jazz cafes of 1960s Tokyo, Kissa Tanto seduces with a moody vibe complete with white mosaic floors, antique Japanese panels and steely colored walls loaded with artwork and photos. There is a definitive laid-back vibe here, but Chef Joël Watanabe’s ambitious kitchen pulls no punches with its mingling of Japanese and Italian cuisine.

Masayoshi (Japanese cuisine)
Chef Masayoshi Baba brings Japan’s luxurious, jewel-box sushi counters to Vancouver with this eponymous restaurant. The best seats are always at the counter, and guests seated there are in for a treat as the chef ceremoniously crafts each course. Chef Baba lets British Columbia’s bounty guide this omakase, spotlighting locally sourced fish in his Edomae-style nigiri.

Published on Main (Contemporary cuisine)
Timing is everything, but Chef Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson and his team have a preternatural ability for sensing when produce is at its peak. Whether showcasing it on the plate or pickling and preserving it (those jars even double as decor), they’re sourcing and foraging from local farms and forests. The contemporary fare bears the chef’s distinct imprimatur. This is food that is at once familiar and surprising.

St. Lawrence (French cuisine)
A hit ever since opening, this charming Québécois bistro shares a true sense of place — it’s even named for the region’s mighty river. Sit close enough to Chef/owner Jean-Christophe Poirier’s kitchen to experience the heady aromas of his rustic and hearty French-Canadian cooking.

Bib Gourmands
The Vancouver MICHELIN Guide inspectors found 12 restaurants worthy of the Bib Gourmand designation, which recognizes great food at a great value. These are restaurants where one can have two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for less than $60 CAD.

With seven cuisine types represented, there is no doubt that food lovers will have delightful discoveries among the Bib Gourmands in Vancouver.

Special Awards
In addition to the highly anticipated Bib Gourmand and Star distinctions, the Guide announced three special awards:

The Vancouver MICHELIN Guide Revelation event is presented with the support of Capital One.

The full MICHELIN Guide Vancouver selection is available on the MICHELIN Guide website and app. The restaurants join the MICHELIN Guide selection of hotels, which features the most unique and exciting places to stay in Vancouver and worldwide.

Every hotel in the Guide is chosen for its extraordinary style, service, and personality — with options for all budgets — and each hotel can be booked directly through the MICHELIN Guide website and app. The selection for Vancouver features the city’s most spectacular hotels, including design-forward boutiques like the Douglas, standouts from our “Plus” collection like Loden Hotel and Opus Hotel, and luxury legends like Fairmont Pacific Rim.

The MICHELIN Guide is a benchmark in gastronomy. Now it’s setting a new standard for hotels. Visit the MICHELIN Guide website, or download the free app for iOS and Android, to discover every restaurant in the selection and book an unforgettable hotel.

Watch as chefs and restaurant teams receive their awards at the MICHELIN Guide Revelation event!