KCC Thai Noodle Aroy, AKA: Thai Noodle AWRY

What do I know about Thai food? Absolutely nothing, other than the fact that Pad Thai is delicious. I'm the white girl who can barely handle pepper because it's too spicy, so don't take me too seriously. BUT in a rainy epic fail to try out the Kintaro Ramen place on Denman and Robson on a Monday (hint: it's closed), I spotted the KCC Thai place across the street thinking, "A noodle is a noodle" right? Wrong. Even I can tell by the color that there is not nearly enough of that magical Thai ketchup in this dish. 

 And there's only ONE prawn!

Lunch @ The Brass

A while back when La Brasserie started doing a lunch service during the week I went on my break and had one of my favorites from their menu, the melt-in-your-mouth lamb cheeks.

If you eat this on your lunch you will not want to go back to work, you will want to curl up into a ball, sigh, and have a nice little nap.

Kadoya #2

Kadoya has opened a second location! Formerly the location of Sakuri Sushi, it's above the Marble Slab Creamery on Denman and next to the Soho Grill. I went for dinner and it wasn't very busy. Because it's on the second floor, I can't imagine there would be a huge amount of foot traffic, but that's what makes it great. The Kadoya on Davie is my favorite sushi restaurant in the city, but because the seating is cramped and it's always busy, I prefer to get take-out. With seating that includes booths and more than an inch between each table, there is ample space to sit and even walk around. Bigger is better at this new Kadoya, so you can enjoy your tuna tataki in comfort on their ridiculously huge new plates!

The plate was so big that there was an odd collection of garnishes on the end to fill up the space.

Salmon Tataki

How Exactly Do You Pronounce "Mr. Kumpir"?

Apparently an establishment can survive selling only baked potatoes. Yup. Giant baked potatoes. This bright and friendly venue, Mr. Kumpir, serves Turkish stuffed potatoes at the South end of Denman. There are several options and a variety of toppings but I've opted for the Traditional (bacon bits, green onions, and sour cream) with added corn. Oh, and the potato part itself is a pseudo-twice baked kind, they scoop the warm potato out of the skin, MIX CHEESE INTO IT, and then put it back in! I know I shouldn't be getting this excited about potatoes, but it's one of my favourite combinations of all time. Potato + Cheese = Happiness. You eventually get past the initial shock of having to eat this thing that looks like a singed turd capsule, dehissing it's bowels of tasty toppings. Once you mix it all up, another satisfying carb experience.

Ps. Do not consume and then follow up with an ab workout or you will be puking up Mr. Potato Head. 

Hi, My Name Is Gillian, And I'm Addicted To La Taqueria.

Call me a slut, but at the intersection of  Hastings and Hamilton is an establishment that I have no shame in admitting I frequent several times a week. This little hole-in-the-wall is the Pinche Taco Shop, La Taqueria, undoubtedly one of my favorite places in the city. I arrange my week based on when I can get my next fix, and spend the rest of my time dreaming about it.

One step up from a taco stand, it's the real deal.  Using authentic recipes, authentic ingredients, and authentic staff ; it makes you feel guilty for being white. Don't worry, every second of awkwardness while ordering (in my case, shamefully trying to pronounce the menu items with what I'm guessing is my terrible French accent), is worth it because the result is sinfully delicious. The service is quick and helpful and they adorably call me "Juliana" when they bring out the goods. I don't even know how many times I've forgotten to take pictures because as soon as I get that plate within reach my hands start to move and my mouth just can't say no.  
  

You can get four veggie tacos for $7.00 or four meat ones for $9.50. I usually get the same three veggie tacos: the Raja Con Crema (roasted peppers with creamed corn and cheese), the Frijoles Charros Con Queso (re-fried beans and cheese), the Picadillo (sauteed ground tofu in a secret recipe), and trade up my #4 option, usually vying for the Al Pastor (pork marinated in pineapple) or the special (lamb, chorizo, chicken in peanut sauce, etc.). The kicker is the double layer of homemade corn soft taco tortillas, this enables you to mush half of the guts into the second taco shell, optimizing the time spent eating. 

 

With about 15 seats of the stool/counter kind, the venue is cozy, colorful and decorated with the requisite Lady Guadalupe paraphernalia. If it's too busy and/or sunny outside, I recommend getting your tacos to go and eating them on the grass in Victory Square Park next door. With it's reputation, I know that if I can't convince you to check out La Taqueria, then someone else will. 

 

Petit Lapin!

On Easter Monday I ate Thumper/Peter Cottontail/ The Easter Bunny. All of these near and dear to my heart, tasted as good as they looked. 

Ps. Do I really have to tell you where?

BUCK-A-SHUCK!

What? I'm talking about The Brass again? I know, it's not all that hard to believe, considering I have a huge boner for this place. In my quest to eat at all the places on Davie and Denman I can admit that I've gotten a little distracted by the shiny turquiose chairs at Corner Suite Bistro, the tacos from La Taqueria, and the cute boys at the Brasserie. But fuck it, this is MY Choose Your Own Adventure book.  And I'm not just going to mindlessly plough through all the food out there because that would be boring, I'm looking for the whole package. An intimate venue, servers who remember your name, deserts worth fantasizing about, and a menu that I have a hard time picking from because I WANT IT ALL. I'm looking for a place that makes my small-town ass feel welcome and serves food that tastes like heaven. That's not too much to ask right? 

So headed out on a Wednesday night with some girls from work to share the experience of buck-a-shuck. A little wine and poutine later, and as usual, I was not dissipointed.  

corner suite bistro de luxe

If it is ever appropriate to use the phrase 'nouveau-vintage-chic', Corner Suite Bistro de Luxe might just be the only place in Vancouver lucky enough to deserve the title I officially made up. And seriously, "Corner Suite Bistro de Luxe"? Why so verbose? And turquoise is your accent color of choice? Really? Anyway, I might forgive them for trying to be a little too bougie, because the food deserves some credit.

Originally slated to open in early November of '09, Corner Suite Bistro de Luxe finally opened it's doors on February 4th after waging a paperwork war with the licensing department of pre-Olympic Vancouver. Subject to an extraordinary amount of hype because of local boy, celebrity chef Antony Sedlack (from the Food Network show, The Main), I had to see what all the talk was about. So I ventured in not just once, but twice for dinner over Valentine's Day weekend, thus creating my Corner Suite Love List.

What do I LOVE you ask? Well. Even more than I love salivating over executive chef Antony Sedlack and his new extreme makeover (which may or maynot have included loosing 40 pounds and facial reconstructive surgery), I love his menu. French-influenced, it is beautifully balanced with West-coast flavor and top-notch ingredients. Love is patient, Love is kind, Love is delicious and in an edible heaven, Love comes in the form of a tuna nicoise salad. 

Undoubtedly #1 on my Love List at Corner Suite, the tuna nicoise has yummy little fingerling potatoes, egg, tomato, haricots verts, and olives. Such a great combination, but it's the dressing that ties all the scrumptiousness together.

Tied for #2 on the Love List is the beef tartare with quail egg and the crispy pig's ear with sweetbreads, onion soubise, and shallot & parsley sauce. The tartare is smooth, but it doesn't quite match the depth of flavor of the steak tartare from La Brasserie.  Whether it's curiosity or simply love of porcine, the crispy pig's ear is almost worth the $14. Exactly as it's labelled, the pig's ear is crispy without being chewy, but the small portion size leaves you wanting more. Not that I'm an expert on glands, but the sweatbreads seem way too rich.

Falling into the #3 position on my Love List is the skate wing with gnocchi in a lemon cream sauce. What is skate wing you ask? Well, as anyone with an iPhone would do, I googled the shit out of this while I was in the restaurant, so I didn't have to ask the server and look stupid. And because Love works in mysterious ways, I totally recommend eating this fish thing that looks like a sting ray because it is melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The meat is succulent and with the homemade gnocchi the combination of textures is genius.

My verdict? Corner Suite doesn't live up to all it was hyped up to be; the service sucks (it took over an hour get our food), the food is overpriced, and the place is riding on the coattails of Sedlack's fame. Maybe wait till they get their shit together, get dressed up, sit at the bar, check out the massive drink menu, and see for yourself. 

 

Crispy Pig's Ear with Sweetbreads

 

Tuna Nicoise Salad

  

The Veal Cheeks. A little too salty, and not as good as La Brasserie. 

 

The Steak with Blue Cheese Butter and Frites.   

 

The Duck Confit. Uninspiring.  

Mis Trucos

The phyllo-wrapped, deep-fried shrimp


The spinach, chestnut, raisin and parmesan dip with crostini's


Braised chicken with porcini mushrooms on papardelle

Don't let the Spanish confuse you, Mis Trucos ("My Tricks") is not the latest bordello on the block but rather the new eatery on Davie. The house that was formerly the Davie Village Cafe now has a new coat of paint, minimalist decor, semi-douche furniture, and extra-dim lighting. According to the website, Kits native Chef Kris Barnholden wanted to create a cozy venue with Mediterranean tapas influenced by French, Spanish, and Italian cuisine. In actuality the theme wasn't entirely cohesive; but the service was earnest and the place is trying to be that something-just-a-little-more-sophisticated that this end of Davie needs.

Not feeling like wine, I had the gin-gin cocktail which was gin, ginger beer made in house, mint, and something else, and it's freshness was very mojito-like. Although there were a couple of solid entrees, the menu is divided into single-servings and sharing platters of appies. This gave the meal a sharing, finger-food, lets!try!a!million!things! feel, as a tapas place should. Started out with the deep-fried phyllo-wrapped prawns with aoli dip, then moved on to the spinach, parmesan, raisin, and chestnut dip with some super salty crostini's. Finishing it off with the risotto with white truffle oil, creme fraiche, and seared scallops; and hands-down my favorite, the braised chicken with porcini mushrooms in handmade pappardelle. Kudos for the homemade pasta, fresh ingredients, and rich flavors. Reasonably priced, I felt like it was great quality without breaking the bank. This is the kind of place that I would go to for some tasty appies and creative drinks before heading out for the night.

I'm usually big on saving room for desert, or at the very least drawing out the meal with a few more drinks so that I have enough space to shove something sweet down my gullet. BUT. I didn't even look twice at the desert menu, I was set on trying the buck a shuck oysters (after 9pm) and indulging in a creme brule at La Brasserie. Have I told you yet how much I love this place? The creme brule has a super thin dish to optimize on the burnt sugar surface area, and is straight-up just vanilla, no shitty "mocha" or "berry" twist on the original. The perfect way to end the night, every night. So stoked that La Brasserie is now opened for lunch and half a block from where I work.

Ps. Don't check out the Mis Trucos menu online and get your hopes up, the ingredients are seasonal and frequently change, whereas their website does not.

Pss. Please forgive me for the crappy quality photos, it's hard enough to do discretely, never mind with flash.

Nook

The Rigatoni Boscaiola

















The Gnocchi



The wine



Melissa's Bucatini, aka hollow and unslurpable spaghetti.



Arthur's Orecchiette, which I did not try but thoroughly enjoyed watching him lick his plate clean.

I really have to stop getting so drunk when I eat out or all my reviews will be the same:
Guys. This place is ssoooooooooo awesome. This is like the best pasta I'VE EVER HAD....EVER.
Yayaya, lets totally get another bottle of wine.

I scoped out this little place on the north end of Denman when I was ending my sushi quest, heard great things about it from friends, and was happy to use it as an excuse to go on a double date. If you know me, you know I love Italian food. Olives, carbs, and wine; and I'm happier than a pig in shit. The service was thoughtful, knowledgeable, and patient with our disastrous pronunciation. I enjoyed the wine that she suggested and will probably hunt it down to have at home.

I shared the olives and meatballs to start, both were decent but nothing to write home about. (sidenote: I didn't find the menu tiny, but sort-of like a scrawny teenager that needs to fill out a bit). I ate the Rigatoni Boscaiola, which in all seriousness, might actually be the best pasta I've ever had. The Boscaiola is this incredible mushroom sauce with sun-dried tomatoes and prosciutto. Great ingredients, rich sauce, I will probably eat the exact same thing every time I go back. No jokes. My date had the Gnocchi with baby meatballs in a tomato sauce. And I personally love the homemade gnocchi, even if the texture leans toward the side of doughy. Finished off with the chocolate puddingy thing for desert, and as far as I remember, guys, it was awesome.

La Brasserie

This intimate venue is a very amicable union of German and French dining. When I asked the owner/chef why he chose those two regions specifically, he explained that his background was German and that they were looking for a continental feel for their menu. Usually there's a moderate wait on weekends, I recommend going during the week and reading the menu ahead of time to pick your Plat du Jour (I'll probably go back on a Monday - Rabbit!). I went with my lovely friend Laura, simply on a mission to have an authentic French Onion Soup and Creme Brule, which we had been salivating over incessantly at work. Not exactly heart-healthy, for good measure we had a couple glasses of red wine from their reasonably affordable list, and threw in some Steak Tartar and Bratwurst with onion jus and pommes purre (which I tipsily learned is not applesauce, but mashed potatoes). 


Second best thing of the entire night, if you have the option of sitting at the bar, DO IT. Not only do you get to watch your food being made in front of you, but you get to watch two gorgeous men make the food in front of you! Equally delicious, the best thing of the night was the Creme Brule. Retardedly fantastic, perfectly crisp on top, I had a hard time not inhaling the entire thing. Next time I will not share. The service was personal, the atmosphere soft, La Brasserie pulls off a continental menu with a local neighborhood feel. I will bring first dates there, I will go there with friends, and I will go there when I am desperately lonely and need to stare at the chef eye-candy while indulging in Euro sweets.

My newest favorite wine, the Minervois.

The steak tar tar.

The masterpiece, the creme brule.

Top 5 Best & Worst things to eat @ an all-inclusive resort in Cuba

Worst

5. Baloney
4. Stewed assorted fish heads
3. Boiled octopus (a la aquachicken)
2. Curried wieners
1. Shrimp chow mien (spaghetti noodles with crumbly gray shrimp on top, no sauce included)

Best
5. Fresh orange juice
4. Coconuts
3. Pizza for breakfast
2. Pastries
1. DEEP FRIED BANANAS!

Sushi IV

As much as I begrudge the fact that the hospitality industry in Vancouver is saturated with sushi restaurants, I must credit this experience for forcing me to look beyond my sushi no-fail dishes. Although the five-week renovation of Kadoya (it really needs the new coat of paint), has caused many disappointed adorers to settle for their second choice, I did discover a hidden treasure on the eve of it's closure. The kani salad. They may have been trying to get rid of all of the left-over crab prior to closing the place, but I'm not going to complain because the bowl came with a mondo pile of diced-up crab. SO DELICIOUS mixed with sunomono salad. And as many times as I have tried to duplicate this experience at other sushi places, it has been unsuccessful because there is no universal standard for the kani salad.

Tokyo Miyako Sushi Restaurant
I may have been high on Psuedophed when I ate here in February, but I think in combination with my cold-dulled taste buds, it all evened out in the end. This place gets lost in the strip-mall of sushi restuarants on Davie. Not too thrilled about the space, it's too big and bland, nothing about it really stands out from the crowd. I actually don't even remember the service or the atmosphere. Now that I think of it, I don't even remember what I ate.Sushi Maro Japanese Restaurant

I feel sorry for this business because it is right at the end of Davie, stuck in the construction warzone of pre-olympic Vancouver. Generally the closer you get to Yaletown, the higher the prices go, and in this case you get what you pay for. I had insanely fresh and tasty salmon sashimi, my new 'best-yet'!; homemade miso soup, and you could tell that it wasn't the freeze-dried variety because they used fresh ingredients; tiny inari; and lastly this place takes the crab salad to a whole new level. It was avocado, tiny fish roe, and huge chunks of king crab covered in a light sauce, well worth the seven bucks. Other than the horrible construction on the doorstep the atmosphere was alright. I think that Sushi Maro has the best ceramic ware by far, the tea cups had these adorable animated octopus on them blowing bubbles, I was more than tempted to slip one into my purse. 8.5 out of 10.
Oishii Sushi Japanese RestaurantThis little bastard brought my total to 17. Oishii is relatively new, or at least newly renovated or new owners, I'm not really sure, but in any case it's cleaned itself up. I was a bit skeptical to eat here because I had heard bad reviews about the previous establishment. Really really great green tea in the tiniest cups ever. I had the inari nigiri and kani salad. Good quality and medium-pretty rolls. I probably wouldn't go back, it's like a 6 out of 10.

So as I was walking out of Oishii, exhaling in relief that it was my final sushi stop, I spot a sushi take-out place directly accross the street. I'm done, finished, caput, I'm over it and I refuse to acknowledge it's very existence.

Sushi III

It's official. I have been converted! I actually like a sushi roll, make that plural, two rolls. It all started with a little visit from Kimmi and Naka on my lunch break, I was perusing through the shinny new menu at Downtown Sushi, the sun was streaming through the smudged windows and all of a sudden I saw it. THE DESERT ROLL, accurately titled "The Honeymoon Roll", was deep fried banana topped with sliced kiwi, strawberry, mango, and drizzled honey. And the dipping sauce? Whip cream! SO DELICIOUS. No gagging involved, nothing lodged itself in my esophagus, I didn't have to spit it out into a serviette, it was a magical moment. Round two was the spicy tuna roll from Kadoya. And I don't even like spicy food!! Now I might be brave enough to attempt the inari roll, who knows?


Honjin Yaletown Sushi Restaurant
Waaaaaay down at the end of Davie, in the heart of Yaletown. The best service I've had yet. Best Miso soup. Best salmon sashimi. Great atmosphere, totally loved the place. Nothing to possibly complain about, just a little to far from home for me to be a frequent flyer.


Jako Sushi
This place is a dive on so many levels. It gets nominated for worst renovations ever, weakest green tea on the face of the planet, and most frequented by bridge-and-tunnel douches. I was HANGRY (too hungry = angry), so I jumped the gun and tried the inari roll when I should have just stuck with my gut and gotten inari nigiri, which is my sushi no-fail dish. That's right, the Japanese junk food, the bean curd sac. My new-found love of rolls has been crushed and basically I reverted into my old ways and ended up eating only the inner contents of the inari roll. The service was nothing special, the place was hideous, the menu was greasy, but the reason that it was relatively busy? Everything was dirt cheap. Real crab sunomono salad was like two bucks and change, and it didn't taste half bad.


Yamato Sushi Restaurant
I am nearing the end. At this point there are only three venues left to visit, and before I have even finished this category, I am debating which one is up next. I am definitely looking forward to changing things up.

I dragged Naka to yet another hole-in-the-wall in the strip-mall of sushi restaurants between Granville and Seymore along Davie. This place had only 8 table settings to sit at and about the same number of bar stools. Don't let it's small size deter you because it is usually packed during peak hours. Theoretically, if a place is popular it's probably good, but it's also annoying when the server asks you every five seconds if you're ready to order and it feels like the people who are waiting for take out are hovering over your shoulder, watching you eat like it's feeding time at the zoo. It probably didn't help that I ate half of a patient's meal while at work, but anyway, in my second dinner of the evening I had salmon and tuna sashimi, inari nigiri and miso soup (I know, surprise surprise). Very yummy very salty miso soup. I had the innards of a couple rolls, apparently they are very fresh and a good bang for your buck. Tasty, cheap menu, cute atmosphere, persistant but bubbly service. This place gets an 8 out of 10.

Sushi II

I have been plodding through sushi restaurant after sushi restaurant and just when I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel, another little hole-in-the-wall appears on Davie. Four more down, seven to go.

SHIMA Sushi

Yet again - CASH ONLY IS BULLSHIT! Do profits REALLY skyrocket when you don't have debit? Seriously?! It took me really long to decide what I wanted, there were too many options, in a good way. I ended up ordering a Tempura rice bowl, ebi sunomono, and some inari nigiri, and no complaints all around. Okay so on the menu the sunomono is like $3.50 and Naka and I were like frick, three and a half bucks for a weeny bowl of vinegar water and 7 cents worth of rice noodles? So obviously this didn't deter me from ordering it, then it comes in a mondo cereal-bowl size and I realize it was worth the $3.50 because I got full on the liter of vinegar water. Cute service, faded atmosphere, definitely frequented by regulars. I'd go back to try some of the other options.

Samurai Japanese Restaurant

WORST GI IRRITATION SINCE THE BAD HOT-AND-SOUR SOUP SITUATION! Large and mushy portions. I had a terryaki chicken rice don bowl thingy (I think that the chicken was suspect). I didn't eat most of it because I was too busy eating Combination A. Great assortment, badly made. Indifferent service. I probably won't ever go back. Maybe for the Japanese barbecue food when I hit that category. Maybe not.

Sushi Sky

It's more of a take-out sushi place. Small, not-so-asian deco. Half-way between work and home, really what more can I ask for? As for the food, I had the Tempura Udon and yes, I had to ask if the tempura came floating in the udon soup. Nope, thankfully it's on the side. I also had two Inari pieces (there was an Inari roll on the menu that I was very tempted to try but the thought of seaweed lodged in my esophagus made my eyes water). I enjoyed it, this place makes my top five so far. If I ever want to eat sushi again after this escapade I would probably be a regular.

Mr. Sushi
I really want to pronounce it Meeesta Suuuushi, like Count Dracula. Other than that it was pretty boring. Bland service, medium-bland miso soup, medium-yummy salmon sashimi, medium-bad inari, and even medium-hilarious decorations.

Sushi

Instead of blogging play-by-play what I loved and hated about the sushi places, I thought that I would post once I was finished the entire category, but I've realized that that would be long and tedious. And it's taking a lot longer than I thought.

I'm not a roll person, so my assessment of sushi is probably skewed in comparison to the average sushi-lover's love of sushi. Don't get me wrong, I love sushi and eat everything but the rolls/maki. It's wierd because I like all of the separate ingredients of sushi; the cucumber, avocado and imitation crab in a calafornia roll seem really yummy in my books, but all rolled up in the rice and seaweed makes it all mushy and chewy. I think it might be the seaweed. It's not like I haven't tried! I have attempted to eat a piece of roll at almost every place on my list, the result is always the same and the other night was no different. I ordered one piece of real kani (crab) nigiri sushi, and it came like a really big maki piece with the seaweed on the outside. In retrospect I should have just picked the crab off the top and been happy at that, but no, I shoved the whole thing in my mouth and between choking spurts of laughter (thanks Naka) I managed to chew and chew and gag and chew and gag my way through it as the tears streamed down my face. Never again. That was my limit. I'm officially done in the roll department.

I'm still left with lots of other yummy sushi options, my favorites are: miso soup, edemame, all of the tempura varieties, beef/chicken terryaki, salmon sashimi (sometimes tuna), the eggy cones, and nigiri such as ebi, kani, inari, salmon, toro, and now tamago, the rice bowls, sometimes gyoza, the udon soups (except for the fishy ones), ramen noodles (which I've avoided until I get to the Japanese Noodle Category of my eat-a-thon), and the age dashi tofu.

My assessment thus far:

Kadoya
Local and staff favorite. Great, yummy, fast, close to work, very popular, I've never stayed to eat there and probably wouldn't unless it wasn't busy, just get take out. Great sashimi, avoid the sunomono. It's closed Monday's.

Yoshi

Gorgeous patio view, first experience of soba noodles, probably won't ever try them again. Went there for lunch. According to sushi experts I know, it's the best and a tad bit expensive, but the lunch menu is a good deal.

Downtown Sushi Bar
Sometimes I think that I go here because the service is so bubbly and consistently inconsistent, and it's the closest and most convenient. Don't eat the beef terryaki, I gave it two tries, it's gristly. They make very pretty rolls like the Davie Roll that I like to look at, or pick apart and eat the inner contents. Horrible decorations like year-round Christmas lights and mediocre sushi, but for some reason I keep going back.

Tanpopo and Kisha Poppo
Quality verses quantity in the all you can eat department. There is a science to mastering the all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant: Go there hungry, plan on spending a good couple hours eating, wear your stretchy pants, eat the rolls last so that they don't fill you up, avoid other ricey dishes for the same reason, at Tanpopo anyway don't order too much at once or they will forget half of the order, or you will get too much at once and be overwhelmed, eat too fast, and get full too fast. Take it slow, if you want to get the most bang for your buck, eat a lot of sashimi, it's generally the most pricey on the menu.

Tanpopo wins, even though it's more expensive and the service is not-so-smiley, there are more options, the view is nicer, and as a side-note they have a good happy-hour combo special if you don't feel in the mood for gluttony.

Azuma Sushi
I had salmon sashimi, inari nigiri, miso soup, and veggie tempura. Lovely orangey atmosphere, CASH ONLY IS BULLSHIT, lots of options, creative little twists on things. I'd go back.

Sakari Sushi
I had a beef terryaki bowl, miso soup, inari and real kani nigiri. We were the only people in the entire restaurant at 8pm on a friday night. Mind you it was blustery outside. Second floor, nice view, super-cute and polite server (she must be new and not-yet jaded), too many sesame seeds in the inari. perfect miso soup, lots of little tofuy bits.

It's All About The Process

I have taken this challenge to eat at all of the eateries on Davie and Denman very seriously. But geez how many sushi places can there be on two streets? Ten to be exact. Thank goodness I'm not taking-on all of downtown Vancouver! I formulated a plan to eat at all of the restaurants in an orderly manner by dividing them up into ethnic categories (ie: Greek, Japanese, Indian, Mediteranian (kindof a catch-all in the Falafal department), Italian, European, Chinese, French, etc) and Western sub-catagories (ie: Pizza Joint, Burger Joint, Breakfast Joint, Sandwhich Joint, Smoothy Joint, etc) and completing one catagory at a time. It seems easy right? But once I think about it there are multiple potential problems, such as: what do I do about the places that I have already eaten at? When it comes time for that specific category do I have to eat there again to freshen my memory? Naw, screw it, if it is unmemorable then it probably isn't worth a second time around. Or does it deserve a second chance? How many items off the menu do I have to eat? What if the categories overlap, like Italian restaurant that serves pizza? Or a "Greek Taverna" that serves Indian food? Deep Breath....I guess it's just all about the Process....Har Har.

To begin I divided the Japanese restaurants into three categories: Sushi, Izakaya, and Noodle, and started down the list of sushi establishments. Buuuuuuut I'm easily distracted. I've only eaten at half of them, but five out of ten is still relatively good progress right? A person can only handle so much miso soup! In this blustery-weather time of year I'm more inclined to be homeward bound and make up a recipie as I go along and throw a bunch of stuff into a crock-pot and cuddle up with a good book. Although this being my first winter in Vancouver I'm willing to forgive the rain because I'm still amazed at how mild it is here. I digress, in any case I still need to get through five more sushi restaurants. Any takers?

A 140-degree Soy Chai Latte With Half a Shot of Vanilla and Extra Foam.

It's really fun to say that when I get to the till. My prescription is once daily as needed.

Okay so I cheated. I went to Granville Island in search of tasty things to bring to Kelowna and I found a new favorite Coffee Shop. It's called Agro Cafe Coffee and Roasting House on Railspur Alley, hidden around the corner. The service took forever (I think that that's the theme on Granville Island) but it was worth it in the end. It has a beautiful and relaxed atmosphere, not too crowded like some of the good coffee shops, maybe even slightly undiscovered. And the Chai was a perfect balance of sweet and spice to warm me up on a chilly day! While googling to see if there was an Agro Cafe closer to home, I found one at the bottom of Davie on Hamilton, so I guess technically I didn't really cheat after all.

ps. DON'T eat the cabbage rolls from the Pierogi place in the Market.

Cafe Luxy

Okay so I may have had a wee bit of a stressful night-shift last night but three things cheered me up this morning on my walk home after work (if you can't already tell I'm a list-kinda person):

1. The fact that I don't have to go back to work till Monday.
2. The mild-ish-ness of my first winter in Vancouver.
3. The impending first lunch meeting of the Ex-girlfriends Club!

What I love most about Italian food, is that by the end of the meal, between the pasta and the garlic bread, I'm in a carb-coma. Downright sit back and sigh serotonin satisfaction. Today's lunch at Cafe Luxy on Davie was no exception. I havn't eaten at all of the Italian restaurants on Davie and Denman, and being a naturally impatient person I am picking a favorite before I've tried them all. I've been to Cafe Luxy now twice for lunch and once for dinner and it is definitely making my top-ten list. The dinner portions will last you several meals, the pasta list is endless, and all the options for lunch are only $7.98 with salad and garlic bread. I might not be able to hold myself back if someone dared me to try all of the pasta dishes on the menu. Today I had the Penne alla Luxy, which was penne with sundried tomatoes and assorted peppers in a rose sauce. After picking out all of the green peppers (they give me heartburn), I can't wait to wake up tomorrow morning and have my leftovers for breakfast.

Fat Guy in a Little Coat

You CAN eat your heart out, but don't be that guy. Don't knife and fork your way into a hospital. I don't want to have to suck the fat from your atherosclerosed coronaries while you whine to me about the low-fat low-salt diet (see tips about hospital food). It's called portion control people. And the gym.