Become a Local Champion in Vancouver

A Local Champion in Vancouver has rated five different Vancouver places, answered three Top 3 questions about the city and made one list with a Vancouver place on it in the Mosey app. The title is earned by doing, never by what you say, and Vancouver's mix of dim sum, salmon, sushi and street food gives you a lot to do.

How do you become a Local Champion in Vancouver?

Rate five places, answer three Top 3 questions and make a list, all in the city. A card on Home tracks the three steps, showing Done or To do and counters such as "2 of 5 rated". Because five ratings of one favourite count as one place, mix your neighbourhoods and your meals and the five arrive quickly.

Rain is no obstacle. A bakery stop, a lunch and a weekend dim sum table are three different places, whatever the weather.

What does Vancouver dim sum add to your ratings?

Chinatown is home to historic dim sum rooms, and downtown has dim sum and Japanese fusion too. Tourism guides describe Chinatown's strength as affordable bites rather than splurges, with congee, Chinese barbecue meats, bánh mì and a long-running family bakery. Richmond is known for its own dim sum belt, and the dim sum guide covers both.

Rate by the dish, naming the dumpling or the bun. The title never reads what you write, so an honest shrug counts as much as a rave.

What can salmon and Japanese-style hot dogs teach you?

Salmon in Vancouver comes smoked, candied, Japanese-style or as a seared fillet, and the tourism site calls it a comfort food of the coast. The Japanese-style hot dog, sold from carts, shops and food trucks around the city, is the street-food classic. Poutine, maple-flavoured donuts and a good wild-salmon plate round out a list that is distinctly west coast.

All of these are easy ratings, and all of them make good list entries for a friend visiting. The tourism site also points out that maple turns up in donuts as well as in a cream ale, so a Canadian sweet is never far away.

Which Vancouver neighbourhoods suit your five ratings?

The tourism site's food itinerary names Strathcona, the West End with its South Indian crepes, Yaletown, Kitsilano with Thai street food, Gastown, Chinatown and downtown. Commercial Drive is a central East Vancouver stretch of cafés, Mexican food and a historic Italian neighbourhood, and Main Street offers Latin American street food such as tacos and arepas. Granville Island is the market island. The neighbourhoods guide covers more.

What does a first Vancouver week of ratings look like?

Start on Granville Island with candied salmon or fresh bread from the market, one place. Rate a bowl of congee in Chinatown on Tuesday, a taco or an arepa on Main Street on Thursday, and a plate of South Indian crepes in the West End on Saturday. Sushi downtown on Sunday makes five. Every stop is a different place, so the five add up without a single repeat.

If you prefer a walk, Commercial Drive is a good one. Cafés, Mexican food and a historic Italian neighbourhood sit along one stretch, and a few quick ratings there count exactly like a trip across town.

What are the Vancouver Top 3 questions about?

Every Top 3 visit gives you a single question to answer, and the next one waits at least four hours. The questions are about kinds of food such as sushi, Chinese, coffee, brunch and poutine. In Vancouver, sushi and coffee are the questions with the most opinions. You name up to three places, ranked, and you need three different questions answered here for the title.

Only answered questions advance the count; a skipped one keeps the streak and nothing else.

What belongs on a Vancouver list that counts?

A list of your own with a Vancouver place on it. Ideas: "Dim sum Sunday", "The Drive on foot" or "Visitors get salmon". Make it by hand, because the My Favourites list and the Top 3 list do not count. Add a place, write a note and share it with a friend who is visiting, and they can add a place you missed.

How do dishes, tags and friends help in Vancouver?

Rating by the dish is a gift in a city with so many cuisines on one street. Name the dumpling, the roll or the arepa, add tags to say what stood out and tag who you were with. Follow friends and their picks show up on Home under This week with friends. None of it changes whether you earn the title. The earned, not bought guide explains why.

What do you get once you earn it?

A thank-you says "You are a Local Champion of Vancouver", and the title then sits on your profile and beside your name on ratings of Vancouver places. A share button turns three plain numbers into a picture card. There is no prize, discount or payment. The how-to guide has the rules and the Local Champion page the screens.

Mosey is free for a place to list, with no hidden fees and affordable tools, and supporting local in Vancouver means telling people which window, counter or kitchen you keep returning to. The Toronto page shows another big city's version, the British Columbia guide has more of the province, and the Canadian food guides have more.

Eating your way across British Columbia? The Food in British Columbia page links every town we cover.

Get the Mosey app, rate your next dim sum by the dish and begin the Vancouver list that finishes your title.