The Top Of Vancouver Restaurant is located in the heart of Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Standing at 550 feet tall, this is the only structure in the city that can give you a 360-degree unobstructed view of the oceans and surrounding coastal mountain ranges.
Many metro cities have a tower of their own for locals and tourists to come and enjoy a meal over a scenic view. Through my travels, there have been a handful of these types of restaurants that I have visited. None have left the kind of impression that the "Top Of Vancouver" rotating restaurant leaves.
While the menus of these establishments tend to be higher in price than the quality of dishes, the TOV Restaurant has a decent balance of both price and quality if you are ordering the right items.
For anybody familiar with the terrain surrounding downtown Vancouver, you cannot help but feel excited walking up to the tower knowing how breathtaking the 360-degree perspective is. Even if this is not your first time, there is no denying that this bird's eye view of an abundant spectacle of nature is in a league of its own.
When I snapped the photo up at the tower, my daughter and I were sitting at a red light waiting to cross the street. I included this photo because she is just too darned cute not to!
Upon walking into the lobby of the tower, you will clearly see the sign for the restaurant. Just head down the escalator and press the button to call the elevator. This can take a few minutes depending on where the lifts are at that particular moment.
Here is some advice for 1st-time visitors to the TOV Restaurant. Be sure to book your reservation on a clear day. There is nothing worse than showing up in cloud cover for a meal that you could have eaten for a lot less money with equal scenic stimulation somewhere down on earth.
Also, when possible, book your table roughly an hour before sunset. Your table does one full rotation each hour. This allows the first hour to enjoy the daylight setting.
Once your food arrives, the day will be shifting to night providing a stunning sunset that may have your camera in your hand more often than your fork.
On this evening, our sunset turned into a purple hue over the horizon. Out of the many times I have frequented this place, this evening may have been the best sunset yet.
As I was insinuating earlier in this post, when visiting these types of restaurants, the price vs quality balance can be a hit and miss. I do not recommend springing for a large seafood platter as it is likely to disappoint when the bill arrives. The taste does not match the price; which is understandable given you are also paying for the experience.
This evening I ordered the Stuffed Salmon and we shared a Lava Cake for dessert. I found the meal to be quite tasty and the bill to be worth the experience.
As you are stuffing your face with the remnants of your dessert, the sun should be set by now along with smiles locked onto the faces of the entire table.
This photo above is my favourite one of the evening. It captures so much of what makes the GVA as amazing of a place as it is.
While the daylight amplifies the contours of the surrounding landscape, the city lights bring the buildings to life showing off the beauty of the city.
Everybody had a wonderful time. Our visit was about 3 hours which was just enough to take in all of the sights, eat our food and take our photos. The service this evening was impeccable.
In Closing
As I state with nearly every other Vancouver site I write about, I will say that the TOV Restaurant is a MUST try when visiting the city.
It is accessible by vehicle, skytrain, taxi or any ride-sharing company. Parking is available underground in the tower, although those spaces are limited. I normally find a metered spot on the street within a couple of blocks and walk up.
The dress code is casual although they list it on their website as "smart casual". It is fairly laid back but I would refrain from showing up in your track pants and flip-flops.
This place will not disappoint!
