Vancouver/Kitsilano

From World travel guide

The Kitsilano area (often referred to simply as Kits) is the northern part of the Vancouver west side.

Technically Kitsilano is the neighborhood between Burrard and Alma, from the beach to 16th Avenue. However, locals tend to refer to a larger fuzzier area as 'Kitsilano'. For the purposes of this guide we will refer to the northern half (from about King Edward) to the water as the Kitsilano area. This includes the neighborhoods of Fairview Slopes, Kitsilano, West Point Grey and portions of Dunbar, Arbutus Ridge, Shaughnessy and South Cambie.

Contents 1 Get in 2 See 3 Do 4 Shop 5 Eat 5.1 Budget 5.2 Mid-range 5.3 Splurge 6 Drink 7 Sleep 8 Contact 9 External links

Get in

Kitsilano is well served by Vancouver's trolley bus system. It is also possible to take little aquabuses from a number of locations on the downtown side of false creek to the Kitsilano side of False Creek.

See

• H.R. MacMillan Space Centre and Planetarium located in the area of Kitsilano Beach. The Space Centre is not unlike Science World, with most activities fascinating primarily to pre-teens. The planetarium, however, is a more interesting excursion, and will not be so fascinating to children. It is a small planetarium staffed by volunteers whose knowledge of all things space will stun and amaze you.
• Van Dusen Botanical Gardens 5251 Oak St. Open 10am to around sunset (varies from 4pm to 9pm depending on time of year). Van Dusen has a very large collection of plants in the outdoor gardens. Adults $7.50, Seniors, and Youth less.
• Queen Elizabeth Park includes the highest point in the City of Vancouver with a view of the entire city. There are a number of gardens within the park as well as the domed Bloedel Floral Observatory with tropical plants and birds.
• Vancouver Maritime Museum 1905 Ogden Avenue in Vanier Park. Open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm Noon to 5pm on Sunday, Closed Monday. Canada's premiere western maritime museum. Covers the maritime history of Canada, includes artifacts, models and the St. Roch ship. The museum apparently has far more things than space to show them, so they frequently rotate their exhibitions in fascinating thematic arrangements. Previous exhibitions included such familiar topics as the history of the Vikings, to the less familiar "1500 years of Croatian sailors." Adults $8.00, youth and Seniors $5.50.
• Vancouver Museum is a relatively small museum with a collection of mostly west-coast aboriginal artifacts.
• Arts Club Company is a locally-based theatrical company producing various plays and musical theatre. Again, a nice night out at prices not that much higher than a visit to the cinema.

Do

• Kits Beach is the beach for the young to hangout and be seen at. Also at this beach is Kits pool which is a huge outdoor salt water pool.
• Jericho Beach is a more family orientated beach with a large picnicking area. This is also a great location to go windsurfing or dingy sailing.
• Spanish Banks is further west towards UBC. When the tide is out you can walk way out on the mudflats. This is a popular spot for skimboarders and kite boarders.

• Ride the Historic Railroad A restored tram car runs from Science World to Granville Island. Runs only on weekends 1pm to 5pm. Adults $2, Children/Seniors $1.

Shop

• 4th Avenue has many different eclectic shops. Street parking can be crazy along 4th Avenue. There is an underground parking lot in the 2200 block under Capers Market (east of Safeway).
• Granville Island is home to an excellent public market, and a number of other shops. Includes the Kids Only Market which is a collection of some of the best toy stores around (very few plastic toys here).
• The best places for outdoor equipment are Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), 130 West Broadway, 604-872-7858, and Taiga 301 West Broadway, 604-875-6640. MEC requires membership to shop, lifetime membership is $5. Both are very large stores with a huge selection of outdoor equipment. There are numerous other smaller shops in the area if you walk between these two stores along broadway you will be able to check out the whole range of outdoor stores.

Eat

The Kitsilano area has one of the highest densities of restaurants you will find anywhere. There are a huge number of restaurants of virtually every ethnic food you could imagine. Most of them are along 4th Avenue, Broadway, or Granville Street.

Budget

• Nice n Spicy Reggae Cafe, 382 West Broadway (Tel: 604-877-0189). Open Tue-Sat 11am to 9pm. Great Jamaican food in a relaxed atmosphere. Lunch specials are available for under $7.00 and dinner is likely to run into the $10 to $12 range.
• The Naam, 2724 West 4th Ave (Tel: 604-738-7151). Open 24 hours. Excellent vegetarian restaurant. Service is sometimes a little 'laid back', but the food makes it worth it. Most meals in the $7-12 range.
• Capers Community Market, 3 Locations: 1675 Robson Street (Tel: 604-687-5288), 2285 West 4th Avenue (Tel: 604-739-6676), 2496 Marine Drive ( Tel: 604-925-3316). Open Mon-Sat 8:00a.m.-10:00p.m. Sun 8:00a.m.-9:00p.m. Self service take away or eat in. A great place for vegetarians and vegans. Food is charged by weight.
• Cheesecake Etc., 2141 Granville (Tel: 604-734-7704). Open daily 7pm to 1am. The etc is coffee and tea, the only food is cheesecake, which is excellent. Dark atmosphere and usually packed full. The next door Tigers is really the same restaurant, but sometimes has poetry readings and a little brighter of an atmosphere.
• Thai Terrace, 2800 Block West Broadway. Excellent Thai food in a small casual setting that gets a lot of take-out business. Lunch specials run around $5-6 with dinner entres in the $7-10 range.
• Planet Veg, 1941 Cornwall Avenue (Tel: 604-734-1001). Excellent Indian inspired vegetarian food. Small number of tables, including a few outside. Just a few blocks from Kits Beach, so great for take-out picnics. Most meals in the $4 - $8 range.

Mid-range

• Annapurna, 1812 West 4th Ave. (Tel: 604-736-5959). Open daily for Lunch and Dinner. Although the decor may be a little bit "tacky," it is nonetheless charming. Furthermore, their exclusively vegetarian Indian food is great. Expect to spend between $10 and $15 per person.
• Memphis Blues BBQ, 1465 West Broadway, 604-738-6806. has wonderful ribs and spicy/crunchy fries.
• Nyala, 2930 West 4th Avenue, (Tel: 604-731-7899). Fine Ethiopian food and the perfect place when you are craving something different. Dishes are $9 to $13. Veg. Buffet Su/M/W for $11.
• Rugby Beach Club is a student-favourite on Broadway St. A la carte menu, very nice atmosphere and good food.
• Chianti's is another student favourite on 4th Avenue, serving excellent pasta dishes for only $6.95 on Mondays and Tuesdays. The same dishes will cost you around $10-12 on any other day.
• Rasputin's is a Russian restaurant on Broadway St. Not the cheapest place, food will cost you about $20 for a decent meal, but the live music and the singing owner are worth the money.
• The Eatery, 3431 West Broadway. This fusion Japanese restaurant is a typical trendy Kitsilano treat. The food is anything Japanese with a North American twist to it. The crowd can best be described as your 20-30 year old Ultimate player or University student.
• Velvet Cafe, 1453 W. Broadway (near Granville) 604-736-3312. Tuesday through Saturday 12pm-2pm for lunch and 5:30pm-10pm for supper. This is a funky little restaurant serving South Asian cuisine. It's small, and painted purple. The flavour is superb, and sometimes you'll even have the proprietor serve you dinner.

Splurge

• Tojo's, 777 West Broadway, second floor, serves innovative Japanese cuisine made from local ingredients. Specials depend on what is in season and what is fresh that day, it is recommended that you order the omakase: a tasting menu consisting of 5-7 dishes chosen by Tojo-san. The decor, while not opulent, is attractive with a splendid view of the Vancouver skyline. Price is $250-$300 Canadian for dinner for two (and a bargain at that price!).
• Kirin Seafood, 555 West 12th Avenue (in the shopping center, across the street from City Hall). Another opulent Hong Kong style restaurant, visitors are greeted by the aquarium containing such offerings as giant crabs and live fish. The menu is very creative. For example, the dim sum menu includes "abalone chicken buns" and "geoduck congee". Price is $10-$15 Canadian per head for dim sum, more for dinner (probably in the range of Sun Sui Wah, see above).
• Lumiere, 2551 West Broadway, serves innovative and elegant west coast food with a French flair, master chef Rob Feenie operates both the up-scale Lumiere restaruant and the more economical bar Feenie's. Prices for a dinner for two range upward of $200.

Drink

There are a few nightclubs in Kits, but most of the nightclubs in Vancouver are Downtown.

• Kits Pub, 1424 West Broadway (Tel: 604 736-5811).. Despite its name is really a nightclub (now torn down).
• Nevermind, 3293 West Fourth Ave (Tel: 604-222-0023). Funky basement setting with a good selection of tap beer, martinis, and the best Pad Thai (1/2 price on Thurs) this side of the Pacific.

Sleep

There are not many hotels in the Kitsilano area. People tend to stay Downtown.

• HI Vancouver (Jericho Beach), 1515 Discovery St. (Tel: 604-224-3208). Open 24hrs May 1 - Sep 30. Located 100m from the beach and between UBC campus and downtown. Beautiful and quiet park setting but the 10-15min bus ride downtown leaves some feeling isolated. $18 - $22+ for a bed in the dorm.

Contact

External links

This article is still a stub and needs your attention. Plunge forward and help it grow!