Meet Hannah

Surprisingly Cosmopolitan

Fifty-one is not a big number.

Until it is.

Because fifty-one happens to be the number of restaurants and food trucks threaded through Prince Rupert. A quick scan of the edible landscape and you see that 50-plus-one is also a world atlas of cuisines: Chinese, Indian, Middle eastern, Vietnamese, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Ukrainian, Tsimshian, Nepalese, Canadian … the kind of list that feels improbable for a town pressed between ocean and rainforest.

“It’s shocking how much food diversity we have here,” says Hannah Philippson-Madill, a foodie, blogger and pescetarian. “Especially, if you come from the Albertan suburbs like me where there’s nothing but chains. Boston Pizza and Tim Hortons. Here you find a wide range of cuisines at different price points, all across town.”

“Especially, if you come from the Albertan suburbs like me where there’s nothing but chains. Boston Pizza and Tim Hortons. Here you find a wide range of cuisines at different price points, all across town.”

We have the Chain Staples, too

Worth mentioning we do have a Tim Horton’s , McDonalds, A&W, Subway and Pita Pit. But there the list begins to thin and local independents take over.  Asked for her recommendations, the conversation drifts to corner stores and gas bars: the huge scoops of ice cream at Henry’s B-Y Market, fried chicken at Park Avenue Foods, bánh mì at PNL Asian Market.

Philippson-Madill eats out every week and keeps a running list of favourites, shaped by tips from friends, family, and visitors across the full range of local cuisine. But she also orders in through Uber Eats, Skip the Dishes, Door Dash and locally owned Spyce which offers the broadest menu in town.

Seasonal Eating

She will tell you the seasons shape the appetite. In the winter, Philippson-Madill is searching for warming comfort food, which might mean a Thai chili tofu bowl at Java, a matcha oat milk latte at Cows, or a chowder at Dolly’s as the rain beats steadily against the windows. The kind of meals that feel less like dining and more like shelter.

Summer tilts toward the views.

“When old friends visit,” she says. “We go to Opa Sushi for the sun on the back deck which is in the middle of the rainforest, or to Oceanview (OV) or Wheelhouse Brewing for the ocean. Then, its Bob’s on the Rocks for the fish and chips.”

To be fair, there are many views to behold. And, often coastal flavours show up on the plate too. Seafood bowls, seaweed, halibut, crab, prawns, cod, salmon. Then you head to The Crest, Fukasaku, The Salty Crab, Smiles, Pavilion, Breakers, even Moma’s Mess House at North Pacific Cannery in Port Edward … the list is both long and delicious.