Vancouver, first time
 

OK, OK, it's not Vancouver, seems it's Richmond. We are
there four days only. What to do? We live in Japan but we
need to shop for things we can't get here. So,Costco is
a destination. You get the drift, this is not a regular tourist
post. We need food we can't get here or at least not at
reasonable prices, cheese, coffee, everything actually,
even rice. I need clothing, sizes I cannot get in Japan.
And I would really love some good Western food again,
a fattening pizza would be great, but a Souplantation
soup and salad bar type restaurant would be great, too.
Fresh seafood at ( not japanese ) reasonable prices would
just about be perfect. So, as I said, four days....Help!
I will stay at the Richmond ( Vancouver Airport ) HI.

Please continue the discussion in the Canada forum. Thanks for your understanding.

Jouy31
Travelbuzz moderator

HI as in Holiday Inn or Hampton Inn? Both are actually not too far a walk from Costco (within 5 minutes). You'll find Richmond is very asian (or rather more specifically, Chinese) thus food and shopping seems to reflect that. You can find the normal N. American chain junk/fast foods but most of the other individual restaurants will most likely be asian. You can get "western" seafood (think deep-fried) down in Steveston (SW corner of the 'burb). Chinese seafood can be found virtually anywhere. Finer non-Asian dining will be found in Vancouver proper otherwise. As far as women's clothes go, it seems anything bigger than size 6 in Richmond is huge. Not sure if it's the same for men but there are "big 'n tall" stores if that's what you need.

It will be the Holiday Inn. And the wife is size 0, so that would not be
a problem. But I am quite comfortable in XL, a size I cannot get in
Japan, certainly not in my neck of the woods. And please no fried
seafood.

Your wife and you can shop happily for clothes at Richmond Centre in that case: XL for men shouldn't be a problem in Richmond. Most of the better non-Asian restaurants in the great Vancouver area just happen to be in Vancouver. I'd avoid the Boathouse (it's a chain) and would recommend, if you want to track across the north arm of the Fraser, Aurora Bistro (Main/Broadway), Cannery (NE corner of town) and even C (spendy though). Fish House is o.k. but service can be awful. For smaller budgets, there's a Fish Cafe (or Fish & Company). Original branch is in Kerrisdale (2053 West 41st Avenue/West Boulevard) and there's another location in Kitsilano (new location of 1629 Yew Street - 4th Avenue one is old). Can't think of anywhere for good western seafood in Richmond.

I was at Hamilton Street Grill last night and the ahi tuna appetiser was excellent as usual.

If you are adventurous, you might want to have a look at the two T&T supermarkets (in adjacent malls). One is located where the Radisson hotel is and the other right next door at the Yaohan (possible blast from Japan's past) plaza. The other option would be Superstore on No. 3 Road which generally has the best everyday low prices.

Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but keep in mind you need a membership to shop at Costco: http://www.costco.ca/Home.aspx

I appreciate this reminder, and yes of course we are Costco members
for more years than we would like to remember. But now that you bring
it up, and I could probably look it up myself, is there a Sam's Club in
town, or even a Walmart? Are any of the U.S. discounters like Ross
or Marshalls up there?

I know the T&T supermarkets from L.A., and yes the Yaohan, long gone bankrupt, seems to stay alive in one form or another. I live in the woods
here in Japan and I have a Yaohan some 10 miles away from me. No idea
how they survived, certainly they cannot be part of a chain anymore. As for everything in your post rest assured that I have printed it out and intend to make good use of it. Should you ever come out to Shimoimaichi I would be
glad to show you around. Although I doubt you find us on a map. Thanks!

There are Walmarts but the nearest one is quite a ways away in Annacis Island (take the highway 10? east-west connector which starts as Alderbridge Way) towards New Westminster). Don't bother going out there during the afternoon rush hour. No Sam's Clubs in Canada within 2,000 miles but they're south of the line.

No Marshalls or Ross up here either. Closest to it is Winners (TJ Maxx clone that TJ Maxx purchased a few years back) in Lansdowne Mall. You can find all the U.S. chains down in Bellingham (75 Km away).

No entry into the U.S., so Bellingham is out. But we will
certainly try the Winner! Thanks again for all this information.
Where else but on FT? What a great community!

>is there a Sam's Club in town

No.

>or even a Walmart?

Yes, the nearest one is here: http://tinyurl.com/3deyo8

>Are any of the U.S. discounters like Ross
>or Marshalls up there?

No, but we do have a variation called "Winners."

http://www.winners.ca/

Winners - Richmond
Landsdowne Park
5300 No. 3 Road
Richmond, BC V6X 2X9
Phone: 604-279-9466

when are you coming?

If skytrain finishes, you can go to Metrotown or even Downtown?

Apr 24-29 are the dates. Based on all your info I got a lot
of things to do already and I also want to go to the museum
of anthropology. So, thanks to all of you for all your help,
I appreciate it. Looking forward to Canada!

I think most of the good info has been provided but I'll throw out a few...

If you make it to Steveston, try Steveston Pizza. They've got some interesting toppings. However, I don't think they sell by the slice anymore. Probably my favorite pizza in town.

If you make it to Granville Island, just off of it, west along the seawall, there's a "shack/trailer" called Go Fish! in False Creek Harbour area. Yes, the do fish and chips but they also do excellent grilled fish tacos and sandwiches. It's not exactly just another greasy spoon as it's the side creation of the owners of a set of fairly successful tapas restaurants.

Just to add on Fish Cafe... I haven't been to it in about a year but it's definitely one of my preferred value fish places. Could be an option on route between UBC and Richmond if you visit the museum of anthropology.
I probably wouldn't recommend the Cannery because it's probably be too confusing for you to get to.

Mountain Equipment Co-op on Broadway might be an interesting place for you to visit. Maybe check out their website www.mec.ca first.

In an interesting twist one of the neighbors asked me to bring back
a six pack Canadian beer. He said I need to go to a Government
liquor store. Is that true? Are they all over?