Restaurants in Delta

Nestled in a cozy brick building in Kerrisdale, Avenue Grill Restaurant has served a menu’s worth of diverse food since the 1920s. The head chef honed his knack for Mediterranean cooking in Europe—reflected in the eatery's Mediterranean sandwiches, with grilled eggplant and zucchini on focaccia—but also crafts pastas, fresh seafood, and three-egg omelettes. An ample wine selection complements Avenue Grill's sundry dishes, and seasonal specials incorporate only the freshest and most polite ingredients. In the dining room, vases filled with flowers top tables and vibrant paintings of blooming floras and lolling hills adorn the walls.

Eager to share the culinary traditions of both their culture and their family with fellow Vancouverites, Joanna and Nick Cruciat opened Transylvania Flavour in 2004. They have since been lauded by the Globe and Mail for creating “rib-sticking fare” and fostering a “cozy Old World charm” within their homey space. Upholding this dedication to authentic Eastern European eats are the restaurant's chef and European chef consultant, who join their culinary powers and Dracula figurine collections to forge traditional Transylvanian specialties including roasted beets, cabbage rolls, and perogies. Affable servers whisk these homemade masterpieces from the kitchen into the yellow and red dining room, setting steaming bowls and plates to rest on top of crisp white tablecloths.

Starting at 11 a.m. each day and continuing through the early hours of the next morning, The Dunbar Public House keeps mouths happily munching away at globally influenced fare washed down by local brews. Televisions broadcast the day’s sporting events as the wait staff lays down plates of yellowfin-tuna bites with wasabi ginger, or nachos piled with jalapenos and guacamole. A Snake Bite beer cocktail—a mix of lager, cider, and blackcurrant—pairs well with the signature Dunbar burger, housemade from either beef, chicken, or fish and topped with up to seven fixings, such as sauteed mushrooms or swiss cheese. Weekends greet brunch seekers with eggs and Harvey Wall Banger cocktails, which melt away workweek tension caused by stressful jobs or offspring whose names are difficult to pronounce.

At first blush, 9th Avenue Grill’s menu looks pretty standard: there's a denver omelet flecked with canadian bacon; buttermilk pancakes smothered with warm syrup and butter; and a couple burgers stacked with cheese, bacon, and onion. But then you notice the eggs benedict. 9th Avenue calls them Bennys and there are 10 varieties, from a Sicilian recipe with pesto-marinated feta, tender grilled chicken, and sun-dried tomatoes to a low-carb option served sans english muffin with turkey bacon on a bed of spinach. Build your own benedict with ingredients like roasted turkey, artichoke hearts, and havarti, and finally prove city council wrong for denying your proposed pancake tower to heaven.

Weaving a tapestry of authentic subcontinental dishes, the chefs at Maurya Indian Cuisine incorporated ingredients from across India’s varied regions. The country’s street food vendors are represented by the toasted potato and pea-cake appetizers; Goa is represented by spicy chicken, lamb, or beef vindaloo; and the tastes of South India make an appearance in the coconut- and poppy seed–flavoured chettinad paste. The restaurant’s base sauce—a mix of five sauces— flavours hearty, shareable portions of lamb, chicken, fish, and goat. The bistro also keeps vegetarians sated with eats that include black lentils slow-cooked overnight and several styles of naan, including one that is equipped with WiFi.

Food arrives with a choice of ambiance. One is the well-lit dining room decked out with long drapes suspended from a high ceiling. The other is served on the eatery’s patio, complete with its own chef who tends to the outdoor tandoor oven. Whether indoors or out, the staff maintains a high standard of professionalism, earning an array of positive press mentions, including Dine Out Vancouver's Best Bite award for service in 2010.

Working in a sweltering kitchen for hours at a time can be a struggle, but Chef Tracy Rowand has spent more than a decade doing just that. Since graduating with honors from Dubrulle Culinary Institute in 1995, Chef Rowand has been a mainstay of the Vancouver food industry. Currently, she helms Taste to Savour Catering, taking fresh, seasonal ingredients and turning them into customized spreads for weddings, corporate events, and weight-lifting competitions for tables. Sample menus stand as a tribute to Rowand’s training and talent, brimming with creative dishes such as mussels in green curry broth, salmon and chive fritters, and grilled lamb crostini with artichoke puree. Rowand also recently expanded her enterprise with a café, where visitors can sample plates of quiche, naan pizza, and other unique nibbles.