Dining options in Vancouver

Shoppers stroll through Vancouver’s Granville Island Public Market, a prodigiously polyglot and blissfully chain-free food court.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Shop for fresh chilis at Granville Island Public Market, where you also can purchase reasonably priced pirogis, sushi, German sausages, double-wide pizza slices and fresh pressed juices, and enjoy them at the market’s indoor-outdoor dockside tables.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Tarts, cookies and other pastries are available at Stuart’s Bakery in Granville Island Public Market.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Go ahead, satisify your sweet tooth with a treat from Stuart’s Bakery. The owners aren’t likely to mind.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Musicians are among a variety of buskers that provide entertainment at Granville Island Public Market in downtown Vancouver. To see the coastal Canadian city at its most eclectic, head to Main Street in the southeastern section of the city that’s home to block after low-slung block of Asian cafés, French bistros, Singaporean street food, dance and yoga studios and vintage clothing shops.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

There’s plenty of Indian food at Rangoli, a modernist space with red tile floors and stainless steel bathrooms where Bollywood videos pulsate from tiny screens. Vij’s, Rangoli’s famed sister restaurant, is nearby in Vancouver’s South Granville neighborhood.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Vij’s is to India’s cuisine what Wolfgang Puck‘s empire is to California‘s cuisine: stylish, taste-defining establishments that have spawned cookbooks and packaged foods. At Vij’s, which is open only for dinner, a “no reservations” policy is strictly enforced, meaning that even celebrities like Martha Stewart must queue up.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Wine-marinated lamb popsicles in fenugreek cream curry is the signature dish at Vij’s.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Yearn for a fancy Italian dinner no longer: Try Vancouver magazine’s restaurant of the year, Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill in Yaletown.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

At Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill, Chef Pino Posteraro proudly prepares pulled pork, above, local spot prawns (with arugula and Grana Padano tol), sablefish (pan-roasted with soy sabayon), and Dungeness crab (in risotto).  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Busy even when other spots are empty, the Blue Water Cafe is a Yaletown hot spot that specializes in local seasonal catches. The restaurant features a sushi counter, a raw bar and a busy open kitchen.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

If you’re in Vancouver’s South Granville neighborhood, lunch at renowned fish-and-chips stand Go Fish, where the grilled Qualicum Bay scallop sandwich comes with a side of coleslaw.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Although Vancouver has a Chinatown just east of downtown, it’s rather raggedy. For safety reasons, most locals warn tourists to stay away from the area at night.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)