Eating out in Canada - cost compared to UK?

[Mykingdomforanickname]

Can anyone advise on how the cost of eating out in Canada compares to the cost of eating out in the UK? Thinking in terms of low to medium price range, not Michelin star type places! Thanks

Similar I’d say.

Thank you.

I'd say cheaper
Though I visited a smaller island rather than mainland.

Slightly cheaper and like USA you seem to get loads more food. We often didn't order fries for everyone and shared between the 5 of us.

In the Vancouver area I would say costs of eating out at moderate places is less than the UK although my experience in the UK is in a pricier area. Vancouverites are spoiled for choice if you want authentic, reasonably priced Asian food. I miss it when we are away.

Big chains like Moxies, Earls etc have their menu online.

Where are you visiting? There’s a few Canadians on here and we might have recommendations for you.

We were in Quebec province last year (both on and off the tourist route), and found eating out to be a lot more than here. Particularly when you factor in decent tips. We thought supermarket food was expensive too. But accommodation (AirBnB / hotels) were very reasonable, as were entrance fees/museums etc.

Found Toronto very cheap recently, even cheaper than USA and chain restaurants were a better standard than here with excellent portion sizes and service. A good example would be Swiss Chalet, cheap/budgety no frills type place but huge portions and piping hot, fresh food that everyone enjoyed and the servers were incredibly nice.

We stayed on PE Island and found the food to be quite reasonably priced. Chains slightly cheaper and bigger portions than we were used to.

Thank you all for the replies. In answer to the question about where we are going, we are doing a tour of the Rockies, starting in Calgary and ending in Vancouver.

If you end up in Canmore I can recommend The Crazy Weed, Blake and Tank 310 at the Grizzly Paw Brewery. Communitea and Good Earth are good cafes there.

There are a couple of distilleries too. Park in Banff (which has a bar/restaurant attached) and Raw and Wild Life - both of which are in Canmore.

VetOnCall any recommendations for YYC? It’s a while since I’ve been. I liked Charcut. Not sure if it’s still good?

I. E. Tour of the Rockies - food is way cheaper in Banff for example than Lake Louise. Not sure if you're self catering but if you are I'd stock up in Banff as there are supermarkets etc.

Also, you need to be smart about where you eat, just like in the UK. A bakery is going to be cheaper than a place with linen table cloths, for example.

Like PP said, portions are generally larger at cheaper places, but just remember that there is tax on resto bills in BC at least (not sure about AB). And decent tipping is expected, 15% or so, it's not necessarily added but please factor it in.

If you want Vancouver resto recs let me know.

We live in Vancouver where there is lots of choice, especially if you like Asian food. We probably expect to spend round about $25-30 per head for a nice Japanese/Korean or similar meal including drinks which is roughly 15 to 20 pounds, and a bit more at a North American style restaurant. Expect to be taking some food home, servings are usually large.

At the cheaper end of things I spent $42 yesterday on three meals (niceish salads and juice) at a foodcourt yesterday.

Canmore also has a Farmers market every Thursday until October.

As a PP mentioned, unlike the U.K., display prices don’t include tax. BC is 12%, AB is only 5%.

If you would like to try some authentic dim sum, you might want to try the Continental Seafood Restaurant in Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver. It is a huge noisy place on the weekend, full of Asian families enjoying each other and the food. We often line up to get in. They use the traditional carts to bring the food around and you choose what you would like. I love their har gow (shrimp dumpling) and their sticky rice. A family favorite for us is their tofu/aubergine/shrimp with black bean sauce.

There are lots of veggie choices, like Chinese broccoli. (Gai lan), and my favorite Dow mu which is pea shoots cooked with garlic.

Don't let the location in a strip mall put you off. It is in Cambie Plaza. Gets quite good reviews.

Making myself hungry here!

Thank you all v much for helpful information! We are vegetarian so any recommendations re places with decent vegetarian options are welcome.

We went to Canada in a three week trip last year - all 4 of us including two primary aged kids are vegetarian. We travelled around the Rockies, Vancouver island and Toronto. I’d say the cost of eating out was a little less than the UK. I downloaded the Happy Cow app which gives info on restaurants and cafes worldwide and near you which have good vegetarian and vegan options. I can recommend specific places if you’d like but we used the app to find good places to eat.

We were in Vancouver last summer. We found eating out to be a fair bit cheaper than in the U.K. but thought the supermarkets were very expensive!

Our hotel was on Denman Street and there were lots of good reasonably priced restaurants there. Some don’t do desserts but there are also lots of dessert only restaurants!

Nourish Bistro- Banff
Meet in Gastown - Vancouver
Bravocados - Tofino
These were ones which stood out and I can remember off the top of my head...

Crazy Weed usually has veggie dishes on the menu.

Communitea cafe has lots of Vega and veggie options.

We’re actually in Banff right now. We’ve eaten in Touloulous (very good, not sure of veggie choices but it was 17 $ for a very substantial burger, and $18 for mussels which is about the same as UK. We’ve also eaten in a sports bar (Elk and Oarsman) which was fine too, prices about the same.

There’s an excellent cafe called the Wild Flour which does good veggie stuff, lunches etc.

I am also Canadian, in Alberta.

Calgary will have lots of options and is reasonably priced.

My husband is vegetarian and we didn’t find Crazy Weed to have good options for him.

I suggest going on TripAdvisor for a variety of Banff restaurant suggestions as you will find links as well. Banff is not particularly cheap for food, and menus will give you an idea of price and variety.

As mentioned, Nourish Bistro in Banff is very good, but it is expensive. My husband likes Earls in Banff-not expensive and lots of choices. But it isn’t as good as Nourish. Coyotes is ok as well.

Most Banff restaurants have their menu listed outside the door, so you can decide what you’re in the mood for, as well as prices. It’s usually crowded, though.

You can also buy some groceries (bread, cheese, fruit and vegetables) at Banff’s Safeway for the drive/train to BC.

@winterlife is the Safeway the IGA? Just been in there this evening - I found it a bit expensive compared to the UK.

Very envious of you living here - what an amazing place.