Fresh seafood served West Coast style is a staple on many Vancouver, B.C., restaurant menus, including Aqua Riva

Jacob Harkins is a Colorado-based travel, food and wine freelance writer who now lists Vancouver as one of his favourite cities to visit. He is also editor of ColoradoWino.com.

While the wine I tasted several times in my first day or so in British Columbia was decidedly local, Vancouver is an international city. While true Canadian cuisine can be difficult to define, Asian food and fresh seafood served West Coast style is in absolute abundance.

Throughout the course of getting to know Vancouver, I tried them all. The cashew-crusted halibut at Aqua Riva on the waterfront near Canada Place was delicate, full of flavor and rested on a bed of perfectly prepared risotto.  I had my first dim sum experience at Imperial Chinese Seafood Restaurant downtown. Course after course of dumpling-style Chinese goodies were dropped off at my table. It was intriguing, exciting and eye opening — although not really perfect for just a table of one. Bring friends.

The Lift is a tony eatery on Coal Harbour that offers great cuts of seafood, steaks and poultry. The seabass fused modern Asian techniques with its hari nori crust and yuzo-miso sauce. In a word, it was delicious. (Note that West Coast Air offers a fly and dine package for those wishing to finish a flightseeing float plane tour at the Lift.)

The Lift is one of many Vancouver, B.C. restaurants to offer great waterfront views.

But the true highlight of this trip to such a foodie paradise was a whirlwind tasting tour of the Gastown neighborhood. A local food writer, Melody Fury, who also operates citywide food tours through her company Vancouver Food Tour, showed me some of the great spots, many of which remain hidden from the average tourist.

The food in Gastown is fantastically creative, fresh and indicative of Vancouver’s food diversity. While this wasn’t an official tour — it was more two foodie pals hitting the town — she asked that I not reveal all of her favorite spots.

Here’s what I can say about Gastown without hurting her business: It could possibly be the cocktail capitol of Canada. There are also some great things happening behind the bar at numerous eateries and lounges in the area, and we tried a few during our adventure. It is also a mecca for anything involving seafood.

Gastown restaurants also serve fantastic izakaya, which are Japanese-style small plates that often feature raw fish. We nibbled on an octopus infused with wasabi root that served as a palate (and nostril) cleanser, before trying a tasty salmon-belly sashimi. We also sampled delectable lamb cheek wrapped in steamed cabbage with a drizzle of white truffle oil and a divine scallop tartare from a posh Mediterranean-style tapas lounge overlooking the somewhat seedy, but awesomely trendy, Blood Alley. Cocktails and a shao bing dish (a pulled pork sandwich with some Asian flair) at a nearby modern Chinatown hot spot served as intermezzo before we finished with cocktails at two Gastown haunts.

One was simply called Boneta, and it looked to be the upscale neighborhood joint of choice for food and drinks. Too full to eat more, we relied on the creative bartenders to lead us to selections such as the Mr. Samuels — ginger beer, bourbon, maple and blueberry in one stellar glass.

The same cocktail praise can be sung at a hidden upstairs lounge Fury picked for our nightcap. Cocktails at this posh bar were separated on the menu by flavor profiles — “boozy” or “refreshing,” for example — much like an easy-to-comprehend wine list.

It was all almost too much. I consumed thousands of calories in a few short days and still feel that I hardly scratched the surface of the food town that is Vancouver. I didn’t even get a chance to devour a plate of poutine — cheese curd and gravy served atop French fries.

Next time I’ll just have to clear a few more days, and possibly consider bringing some stretch pants.