Our Story
Vikram opened the original 14-seat Vij’s Restaurant in Vancouver in September 1994. In December 1994 he married Meeru, who then joined him at the restaurant. Our cuisine has stood out from others in that we do not serve what is typically expected from an Indian restaurant. We prefer to stay away from the tandoor oven since it’s already being used in so many other restaurants. Our philosophy behind the food has always been to keep our spices and cooking techniques Indian—from all regions of India—while using meats, seafood and produce that are locally available. To this effect, we change our menu seasonally.
Vikram was born in 1964 in India and grew up in Amritsar and Bombay. His most vivid childhood memories revolve around food and family, and he pursued this further by studying Hotel Management in Salzburg, Austria. After his studies, Vikram continued working at various fine dining restaurants in Austria and, in 1989, moved to Canada to work at the Banff Springs Hotel.
Meeru was born in India but moved to Washington, D.C. at a very young age with her parents. Prior to marrying Vikram and moving to Canada, she worked with various organisations in human rights and international development projects. She received her Master’s degree in Development Studies from Bath University in England.
Along with the kitchen staff’s dedication and our love of experimenting, Vij’s blossomed quickly and won its first award from Vancouver magazine for Best Asian restaurant in March 1995. In September 1996, we moved to a larger location and Meeru took over the kitchen and the recipes for the most part, while Vikram focused his efforts on the overall running of the restaurant, the presentation of the food and the wine list. In October 2001, Vikram became a certified Sommelier.
Along with a passion for our cuisine, we have established very close working relationships with many local farmers, wine makers, brewers, and artists. Marc Bricault designed Vij’s with a beautiful Indian jewellery box in mind. And this jewellery box was custom made by Vancouver based artisans.