Torafuku, a decade-old Michelin-recognized Vancouver spot, keeps drawing crowds with pan-Asian cuisine and natural wine

Despite a decade in Vancouver, Torafuku has managed to maintain an elusive sense of quiet discovery—an unlikely feat for a Michelin-recognized restaurant with over 12,700 Instagram followers. There's nothing precious about it: just thoughtful cooking and warm hospitality.

Chef and owner Steve Kuan was born in Taipei and came to Canada as a teenager. He worked his way up from server and bartender to culinary diploma at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, then cooked at Cioppino's (which closed last year) and the Hyatt Regency Vancouver before launching Torafuku. He knows the Vancouver restaurant landscape intimately.

The menu channels pan-Asian flavours, with contemporary dishes built from local ingredients alongside a tight wine list, local craft beers, and a cocktail program worth exploring alone. The dining room carries an industrial aesthetic that feels warm rather than cold, especially as evening light casts everything in an orangey glow.

A first visit in June revealed the tasting menu's appeal: choosing what to eat meant trusting the kitchen's instincts, and they're worth trusting. The Heirloom Tomato arrived as a fried egg salad with Chinese celery, herbs, almonds, and a spicy Thai dressing so compelling you'd want it with a spoon. Foie and Toast paired house-made shokupan with fruit gel and candy pistachio. The Crab and Uni—fresh carbonara pasta topped with uni, lap cheong (dried Chinese sausage), and Dungeness crab—arrived so pristine the table went silent. The Wagyu Maranggi followed: wagyu flatiron with garlic sambal, cucumber herb salad, garlic chips, and butter lettuce. Dessert, Sticky Rice, combined fresh mango, mango coulis, coconut cream, and house coconut sorbet.

The cocktails deserve their own visit. The Matcha Madness—brown butter-washed gin, white chocolate syrup, and premium ceremonial matcha powder—balances its dessert-like richness with the powder's slight bitterness.

A few months later, a special collaborative dinner with Victoria's Cafe Malabar proved irresistible. Malabar, founded by chefs Kiran Kolathodan and Karma Tenpa, specializes in Kerala's coastal cuisine and ranked fifth on Air Canada's Best New Restaurants list in 2024. The room was packed with hungry diners, and despite the energy, the team's attention never wavered.