YVR: A Traveler’s Plea for Noodles

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  06.22.09 | 1:23 PM ET

Photo by stu_spivack via Flickr (Creative Commons)

I flew into Vancouver International Airport last week with a craving: I wanted pad Thai, or some vaguely similar, spicy, wok-fried noodle dish, and I wanted it bad. On the five-hour flight from Toronto, as images of tofu bits and crushed peanuts danced in my head, I didn’t fret—I was confident I’d be able to satisfy the urge during my one-hour layover. After all, I thought, where better to find some airport noodles than in a foodie city that’s home to one of the most vital Asian immigrant communities in North America?

I thought wrong.

Sure, YVR has plenty of Asian food offerings—in the international departures area. For us poor souls waiting on domestic connections, there were only soups and sandwiches to be found. I ate some watery minestrone before boarding a plane to Whitehorse, Yukon (where Thai food is in decidedly short supply) and nearly a week later, my craving is still going strong. So YVR officials, if you’re out there, won’t you help future traveling noodle-cravers out? I’m not asking for a lot—no fine dining necessary, just a small, mall-style counter would do.

In the meantime, I’m headed over the border to Alaska next weekend—I hear there’s a decent Thai restaurant in Skagway.

Tags: Airports, Airworld, Food, North America, Canada, Vancouver, Shrinking Planet

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


3 Comments for YVR: A Traveler’s Plea for Noodles

Alisa 06.23.09 | 3:13 PM ET

Hi Eva,

Alisa from Vancouver Airport Authority here responding to your plea for noodles. If only the craving had happened later this summer, because that’s when we’ll have our new domestic terminal’s C-Pier open with restaurants and shops, including a healthy Asian noodle bar called Rice Tales.

Rice Tales’ menu looks rather tasty with thick noodles and rice vermicelli served with a variety of sauces, vegetables and meats. If you’re flying back through YVR later this summer, check it out and let us know what you think.

Once C-Pier opens later this summer, we’ll be posting photos and video of the new facility on our blog: http://www.yvrconnections.com

cheers, alisa

Eva Holland 06.23.09 | 3:33 PM ET

Hi Alisa,

Thanks for stopping by! I’m thrilled to hear about Rice Tales and will certainly look forward to giving it a try next time I pass through.

Leigh McAdam 07.05.09 | 8:51 PM ET

I cannot comment on the Thai food but can tell you that I have recently published an eguide for a Vancouver airport layover. So next time you visit Vancouver with at least a 4 hour layover consider leaving the airport and getting some excellent food at any of a number of restaurants on South Granville (a 20 minute taxi drive) or head to Granville market (25 minutes away) and see if there isn’t something there to catch your fancy.  For a listing of more things to do while on a Vancouver layover consider checking out my website at http:// http://www.hikebiketravel.com.

And if you are fit and have 4 days while in the Yukon consider hiking the Chilkoot Trail on the Canada/USA border.

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