scilly

You're behind the times ............ Sobeys bought Safeway a couple of years ago, and we are now being forced to buy what Sobeys thinks we should not our accustomed Safeway.



As far as the OP is concerned ...................


I'm not sure what you're worrying about!

Yes, most supermarkets sell American style bacon .................. so buy from a butcher!

I know of the following ..........

Jackson Meats on 4th Avenue sells better bacon, also sell haggis, black pudding, lovely sausages, etc

Or there is a fantastic butcher on Granville Island, where you can buy all kinds of bacon, European-style as well as British

Windsor Meats, Mackenzie Street



Remember that the water can affect the taste of tea ......... I've seen complaints on this site that such-and-such a tea doesn't taste like home! You may find better teas than PG

scilly

I've lived in Vancouver for almost 50 years, and know most places around, but one thing I have never done is miss British food, except for good bacon ....... and I've given you some hints in my post above.

Just what is "brown sauce"? Does it differ from HP or Lea & Perrins??

One reference tells me that it is similar to Steak Sauce in the US


Baked beans ....... Heinz readily available

European-style chocolate .............. artisan chocolatiers abound in Vancouver. I'm sure you'll find a locally made alternative

Good whisky ........... depends on what you call a good whisky. My OH seems to find some excellent whiskies at the local liquor store. Try the Specialty Liquor Store on Cambie Street ..... you'll pay, but what the heck!

Paul_Shepherd

Most of what you have stated above is available in your local British shop...or as you say Amazon, so you shouldn't miss out too much. Even some stores like Walmart have a British selection and sell chocolate, tea and biscuits and cakes etc.

Bacon is an issue....I do miss British bacon.

Whisky not an issue...the liquor store stock a good selection of Scotches... I quite like some of the Canadian rye whiskys (usually with mixer) ...waaay better than the majority of American bourbon. urgh!

Beer....ahh sigh.... personally I do miss the UK for that, I was always a big real ale/cask ale fan in the UK, not really much of that here...however it is starting to get more popular, Canadian's beer tastes have changed since I have lived here..coming up to 9 years, so I think cask ale will become more popular.

But as some have said in other posts, what you miss from the UK you can make up for with what you never had as much access to in the UK....or simply never tried...namely restaurants offering cuisine from differing nationalities.

Also....beef its a lot cheaper too, so I enjoy a nice steak a lot more regular than I did in the UK.

I also miss British Chinese and British Indian food...but this depends where you live, some places are better than others for this.

I think whatever you lose/miss from the UK, you gain in another way in Canada.

Edo

I am not jealous that of all the places you have to do your grocery from Safeway.

However, I don't mind their beautiful soft moist muffins. And I will go there to get my PG Tips if Sobey's do decide to roll out their fine line of British food similar to what they sell in eastern Canada.

scilly

I forgot cheeses ................

blue cheeses available in many stores

Try Whole Foods on 4th Avenue for more specialty ones ...... they're pricey though.

There are also specialty cheese stores around, eg Benton Brothers on 41 st Avenue (but very pricey!), Whole Foods again ........ and there is always Granville Island Market.



In fact .......... it sounds as though you should make a regular visit to Granville Island




BTW ......... you can also buy things such as Branston Pickle, Heinz Salad Dressing, Roses Lime Juice, Robertsons Jams and Marmalades and such things from the local supermarket (Safeway in my case)

scilly

I must have been out of the UK for too long.

I've never even noticed their "fine line" on my very regular visits to NS and Sobeys!

I've always thought of them as el cheapo store, not worth going in ........... and what they're making us buy here is not changing my attitude to them!

Snowy560

Save On does a Tescos range, at least in North Van.

In North Vancouver there are also a couple of British shops.

Oink

It's not the food you'll miss, it's the people to eat it with.

Former Lancastrian

Might as well add in Canadian foods you might actually love

Nanaimo Bars, Poutine, Timbits, Tortierre, Beaver Tails, Bannock, Moose, Caribou, Pickrel etc etc

Now depending where you might have travelled to or ethnic foods you may have tried have you ever tried Perogies, Cabbage Rolls, Kielbasa. You will find in most major cities Ethnic grocery stores that sell food from all over the world so I wouldn't get hung up on what you will miss but looking forward to trying new things.

Partially discharged

I could live for the rest of my life and never have poutine again and I'd be fine with that. Now don't let me go the rest of my days without shawarma which is a big thing here in Ottawa.

Former Lancastrian

I can just imagine the average Brit from the UK having just arrived and asked do they fancy some Poutine?
What is it they say?
Its french fries but you know them better as chips
OK that sounds good so far
Then you pour gravy over the fries
Im still ok with that
Then you add cheese curds
WTF

Partially discharged

Yeah, the squeaky cheap cheese is the killer for me..plus I"m not a big fan of gravy on fries.....

Basically an inebriated state of mind makes it seem more reasonable.

Shard

Poutine available in the UK these days. Well, London.

MelVan

I did a thorough explore of supermarkets in Vancouver at Christmas in anticipation of my move. I've lived in the UK for a spell and go there regularly on business (staying with friends and living a more "normal" rather than business traveller life when I'm there) so have some understanding of the OP's concerns.

On the supermarket front, between IGA, Whole Foods and Save-On, and then on the specialty front at Granville Island, I could find basically everything we have back in Australia (including the English recipe Heinz baked beans, which is what I eat in Australia). One thing I think I noticed that had improved from previous visits to Vancouver was that unsweetened bread that tasted just like home or in the UK was readily available (particularly at Whole Foods). We also really liked the "Squirrely bread" which was a kind of granary loaf and which didn't taste too sweet to us.

One thing my (Canadian) husband was not happy about was the peanut butter. He reckons it is now different to what he had growing up in Canada. The "natural" varieties had varying weird consistencies and tastes, and the Skippy variety tasted way too sweet. I can see that we will be asking visitors to bring jars of Australian Kraft peanut butter as their gift to their hosts...

I've read a lot about cheese in Canada on BE. Again, between the supermarkets and Granville Island, I was able to reproduce most cheese tastes with which I'm familiar. This is in contrast to the place south of the 49th parallel, where I had a very unsatisfactory cheese experience trying to make cauliflower cheese for some friends last November (I got there in the end, but the cheese situation there is horrifying).

beckiwoo

As I said don’t forget about Cost-co. I find Granville Island expensive for everything except the tea (Granville Island Tea Company) - big fan of them!