My new domain is at VictoriasFoodSecrets.com
If you’ve wandered over to my blog here, please note that I’ve changed to a new domain name a few days ago. You can now find my blog and all of my upcoming adventures at http://victoriasfoodsecrets.com.
Hope to see you all there and happy eating!
The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant on Granville Island
Yesterday we thought we’d get out of the usual downtown bubble and take the Aquabus to Granville Island to have a late lunch at Sandbar. I used to work in the Pacific Culinary Arts School office building about five years ago, and used to frequent this place for dinner quite a bit – by now it’s probably been about two years since I’ve been back for a visit.
We went and sat on the covered patio at one of the tables right next to a fireplace. They have great heated lamps as well, so even though it was below freezing out (or at least felt like it), we all managed to stay warm and I was just wearing my sweater during the whole meal. In case that isn’t enough, there are also warm blankets over most of the chairs.
We all felt like trying a bunch of different things, so we decided on a few tapas and an entree – but all to share. The classic dish to get here that’s a popular favourite is the Wok Squid (or calamari). This is fried with chilies, garlic, cilantro, ginger, and I’ve had it quite a few times in the past. I would definitely recommend this as a starter or one of the items that you get if you head over to Sandbar.
We also got the Pork & Vegetable Potstickers These had a tasty filling, and I also enjoyed the sweet chili-garlic & soy dipping sauce, but around the edges of them, the dough was a bit thick and too hard and crunchy – it kind of hurt the inside of my mouth a bit. It also made it feel like the dough was a bit stale or something.
The BBQ Ribs forno baked, mongolian style, were not too bad, but I’m not a huge ribs fan. Another person at the table really loved them, but I’m just not huge on BBQ sauce. The meat did fall off the bone and was quite tender though.
We also had the Asian Lettuce Wraps, which comes with chicken, iceberg lettuce, and hoisin sauce, along with some shredded carrots and beets and some other greens. I actually preferred the lettuce wraps from Azia that I tried a couple of weeks ago. The mixture was less flavourful here, unless you added a lot of hoisin to the wrap.
The one main dish we ordered was the Cedar Plank West Coast Salmon. This is baked right on the cedar plank, with brown sugar, soy & lemon, and comes over a bed of rice with a roasted tomato and asparagus. Again, I found the salmon a bit overcooked and not overly flavourful. The rice was a bit soggy as well, but the tomato tasted alright. I wouldn’t order this again, and it’s one of their signature dishes.
Overall, I was disappointed in our meal. Although the patio, view and service was wonderful, I feel like the food itself has gone downhill quite a bit since I last ate at Sandbar. I still liked the Wok Squid, but everything else was just mediocre and I left feeling a little bit unfulfilled about it all. The location is great and they likely still do really well with the tourist crowd, but I can’t say there is anything else really special about the food anymore.
I hope their fresh sheet of daily fish and sushi is still worth the visit! Please chime in if you’ve had a recent good experience.
The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant
1535 Johnston Street
Granville Island,
Vancouver, B.C.
604.669.9030
La Terrazza Italian Restaurant in Yaletown
The night before last night I had an amazing dinner at La Terrazza in Yaletown. It was a launch party for one of the really challenging projects I’ve been working on all year that has finally come to closure recently. Our group was booked into one of the restaurants two gorgeous private rooms, and we were given a set menu to choose from along with a large selection of the chef’s popular hot and cold appetizers for a tasting to start.
I started my meal off with a Ketel One Dirty Martini (the olive juice is what makes it dirty, in case anyone is wondering), and it was delicous. I’m not sure what they did to this drink to make it so good, but it’s probably due to the quality of the olive juice in it. Following that, we ordered several bottles of Australian Cabernet Sauvignon wine for all of the tables, called Pretty Sally. This was $85, which is a lower price point on their extensive wine menu (that went up well over $1,000 for some bottles), but the general consensus was that it was quite good (I’m not much of a wine connoisseur, but I know what I do and do not like).
The Chef’s Tasting included the following: portabello mushrooms in phyllo pastry, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, prawns with lemon, bruschetta, risotto with a split pea reduction, pickled eggplant, and mixed olives. These were all really amazing, but I especially thought the prawns were delicious. I could’ve been full after just this course alone, as they brought three of these plates to our table of 7 people, but we were only getting started! (You’ll have to excuse the off-centre pictures, I think I was already a little tipsy by the time the tasting made it to the table.) The bread with the olive oil they served it with was to die for – to DIE for. I asked what was in the oil, and our server said it was a pink peppercorn salt. The guy sitting next to me loved it so much that he was regretting it for the entire next day as he had some terrible heart burn after mopping up a couple plates of it with his bread.
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The second course for the meal was the Strozzapreti Bolognese, which was a ‘Strozzapreti noodle with a tomato meat ragu topped with grated parmigiano reggiano.’ I’m not much of a pasta person at all, but the pasta tasted really fresh and was cooked just right – a great firm texture. The meat sauce was also very tasty, and I had to force myself to only finish half of this course because I knew there was still a lot more food coming.
For our third course, we had a salad with organic mixed greens, the Insalata Mista, with a light red wine and Dijon vinaigrette dressing. There was also a small scoop of avocado on the side. This salad was fine, but I’m not really big on salads, especially when you can do something so much more interesting with your veggies.
For the main course, there was a selection from five different items. There was a Duck option, the Peto D’anatra, along with a free range chicken option that I can’t quite recall, but I didn’t actually see anyone order that in our group.
I enjoyed the Sablefish, or Merluzzo, which had a delicious crispy panko crust, and truffle oil over top of green beans with a mushroom rice cake. When I took my first bite, it took me a moment to figure out what flavour I was tasting that was so amazing, and that is what turned out to be truffles. If you enjoy seafood, and regardless if this is one of your favourite types of white fish or not, I would very highly recommend that you order this dish, and savour every single last bite.
The fourth option was a AAA beef tenderloin from Alberta with scallop potatoes and infused with a red wine reduction, or Manzo. I was able to sneak a taste of the meat, and it was so flavourful and tender. All I kept hearing from the rest of the table was a steady hum of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ – its safe to say that everyone was very content with this choice as well (although I did prefer the fish myself).
The vegetarian option they provided is shown below – the Eggplant Lasagna. I didn’t have a taste of this one, but the person next to me seemed quite content.
And now on to dessert (as if we hadn’t already had enough).
I ordered the White Chocolate Marscapone Cheesecake in Phyllo, or La Creazione. There was a strawberry sauce on the side with sour cherries and a sprig of mint to top it all off. At this point I was so full I didn’t think I could have a bite more, but this cheesecake was light and just so delicious that, yes, I ate the entire thing. And could’ve had more.
The signature dessert from Chef Gennaro Iorio for the evening was a classic Italian Tiramisù. I’m usually not a fan of this, as I find that the taste of the alcohol within is usually a bit too strong for me; however, I took one bite of this and wished I had ordered it (when I later tasted the cheesecake, I wished I had one of each) – this was the best Tiramisù I have tasted, by far.
This set dinner option was required in order to book a private room with such a large group, and with all of these options to choose from it came to $65.88 per person. As mentioned throughout, that included the Chef’s Tasting sampler, a pasta, a salad, one main, and a dessert. Needless to say, we were all thoroughly satisfied by the end of this wonderful meal, and also way too full to get any actual sleep that night. Well worth the sleepless night!
La Terrazza is definitely a great place to take a date for a special occasion or to celebrate an event. Excellent wine list, great service, and amazing fine-dining food.
La Terrazza
1088 Cambie St
Vancouver, B.C.
604.899.4449
Sha Lin Noodle House on West Broadway
When my company’s office used to be located near Cambie and Broadway a few years ago, we would wander down the street about once a week to Sha Lin Noodle House. This place has been an old favourite of mine for quite awhile now, with it’s fresh, in-house hand-made noodles.
After reminiscing about it last week, a few of us decided to head over the bridge from downtown yesterday during lunch to have some of the dishes we used to often eat, and also to introduce another couple co-workers who hadn’t been at the old office with us at the time.
We all decided to share and order multiple dishes (well, maybe a couple of us forced it on the others), and I was so happy to be eating some familiar goodness again.
Of course, you have to try the noodles if you are going to a place known for them, my favourite of which are the Cuttings Noodles with Beef and Black Pepper.
After our meal, everyone came to the overwhelming consensus that this was the best dish we ordered, and I smiled with satisfaction for showing them the ropes (note the sarcasm in my tone). These noodles have a great firm texture, and there is an abundance of black pepper, some white onions, red and green peppers, and beef (you can also choose pork or chicken or veggies only).
Something I hadn’t tried before were the Green Beans with Garlic, which lived up to its name and definitely had a lot of garlic! The green beans were cooked slightly more than I usually prefer, but otherwise, it was pretty good. Thanks to this dish, we were all pulling out our gum after the meal, so as not to turn off everyone in our afternoon meetings.
Another menu item that I’ve gotten on several occasions is the Beef with Green Onions. The meat is really tasty and the dish is basically exactly what it’s named. How can you go wrong with that much beef (well, I can think of many ways, but you know what I mean)?
One of my longest standing favourites has got to be the Fried Eggplant and Tomato. I can’t recall it ever having red and green peppers as well before, but it did this time, and I think it tasted even better than when I’ve eaten it before. The eggplant is slightly crispy on the outside and not too soggy on the inside, and the sauce has a lot of delicious ginger in it. Ginger has always been one of my favourite spices to throw into a stirfry.
One new item that I hadn’t tried before that one of my fellow diners suggested was the Sticky Rice Cakes with Pork and Cabbage. The first thing she wanted me to mention in my post was that the veggie in this was not in fact cabbage, but pickled mustard greens, so the description was a bit misleading. This wasn’t too bad either – I’m not sure I would choose to order it again over everything else I’ve already had and loved at Sha Lin, but it was interesting to taste a sticky rice cake nonetheless.
I’ll have to make sure I don’t wait another year before going back again and having a meal at Sha Lin - it’s great for takeout too. The service is straightforward and you can get in and out quickly, even though it’s always busy. It is a bit greasy, as Chinese food tends to be, but if you’re looking for quick, no-nonsense noodles and other good food, you’ll find it here.
Sha Lin Noodle House (no website)
548 West Broadway,
Vancouver, B.C.
604.873.1816
List of Top Ten “To Do’s” in Vancouver
So this is basically taken from my compiled list of things ‘To Do’ from my foursquare account, but since I don’t have a lot of followers there just yet and this seems to be perfectly suited to my blog, I thought I’d revamp it slightly. Here we go, in no particular order…
1. Sala Thai Burrard (Thai Restaurant): Go to Sala Thai and have the Spicy Drunken Noodle (pad kee mao) with a Thai iced tea to drink. (To see more details, read my review on Salathai).
2. Juno’s Kitchen (no website): Go to Juno and try their fresh selection of sashimi and make sure to drink their Japanese roasted rice green tea. They also have the best tamago I’ve had (even for those that don’t usually like it).
6. Dragon Ball Tea House (no website): Go to Dragon Ball and get a green tea ice cream bubble tea with pearls. If you’re not into green tea, try any fresh fruit combo instead, with milk, half slush and pearls (my fave is strawberry and mango).
7. Blue Water Cafe: Go to Blue Water and have the Seafood Tower. Order a bottle of Nota Bene from Blackhills Winery if they have it available (not necessarily to go with the tower, but just because I love it so much).
8. Vancouver Vietnamese Restaurant (no website): Go to the Vancouver Vietnamese Restaurant at Main and King Edward (4136 Main Street) and order the Roll Dip and the Wonton Soup with egg noodles.
9. Earls Restaurant: Go to Earl’s (anyone will do I’m sure) and have a Sundae with caramel topping for dessert. The ice cream is Mario’s vanilla bean gelato. Try a Lemon Meringue cocktail on the side (well, maybe not at the same time – they’re both quite sweet).
10. Lumière. Go to Lumière on West Broadway and order anything that Executive Chef Dale Mackay cooks for you. And I mean anything.
A Need to Try Salathai (on Burrard)
As a half-Thai person, I am reeeally picky about my Thai food. As a half-Thai person with an excellent cook for a mother, it’s even worse. I have yet to find someplace that comes close to the real deal in Thailand, but since I don’t live there, I really have to take what I can get (but please do share if you have any other wisdom here for me).
The best I have found in Vancouver to date is at Salathai Thai Restaurant on Burrard, especially when it comes to their lunch specials menu. (I have other favourites as well that I will share for other particular dishes, but this is the one I have been frequenting the most lately).
Now here are a few of my favourite things from the lunch menu (I think I hear the Sound of Music soundtrack in the background):
Spicy Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao) - This is my longest standing favourite. This is a newer dish (meaning it’s not an old traditional menu item for Thai food), and ’kee mao’ basically means that you’re drunk so you just throw whatever is leftover into a pan and cook it all up. This has basil, red peppers and jalapenos, white and green onions, and your choice between chicken, beef or pork. Mmmmmm…I can’t seem to find anywhere else that makes this dish come even close to how good it is at Salathai.
Spicy Drunken Noodle (Pad Kee Mao)
Kwia-Thew Num Ped (what I call Duck Soup) - When it’s a cold, rainy day outside and I need something to warm me up, I often turn to this soup. There is a lot of duck meat, and it’s not overly fatty like a lot of duck can be, along with thin rice noodles, and bean sprouts. The broth itself is already great as is, and the only thing I usually add when I eat it is a few chillies to spice it up a bit more.
Kwia-Thew Num Ped (Duck Soup)
Yen-Tao-Fo – This is another soup that I really enjoy. It has more of a tomato based broth, but includes thin rice noodles, spinach, and a mixture of tofu, seafood and pork. For this one, ask for the ‘condiments’ and add a little bit of dried chillies, fish sauce with chillies (prig nam pla), and the vinegar and jalapeno sauce. Please make sure to do this when you order the yen-tao-fo - it really makes a difference to the overall taste, and very much makes up a part of the flavour experience.
Condiments for Yen-Ta-Fo
Salathai Rice Special – This is a stir-fried rice dish that includes a pan fried egg on top, and has the delicious flavour of Thai basil, green and white onion, and red and green peppers. This one can also be served with the meat of your choice. It also comes with a small appetizer sized soup (although I’m not a huge fan of this, as the veggies in it don’t really give you the right Tom Yum soup taste).
Khow Tang Na Tang – Here is an appy that you can’t find on the online menu for Salathai, but is on their current lunch menu. Basically, it’s rice ‘chips’ that are crispy and served as almost crackers on which you put a pork and shrimp dip. It’s very flavourful and delicious and even though I usually am too full to eat both, I’ll order this first before my lunch. I definitely recommend giving this one a try.
Khow Tang Na Tang
And other key dishes I have enjoyed and would recommend:
Tod Man Pla – These are essentially fish cakes that are deep-fried and come with a cucumber salad. A great appy choice.
Larb – This is basically some sort of ground meat – beef, pork or chicken at Salathai – and this comes in a delicious sauce that includes lime, fish sauce, and mint, along with some ground up roasted rice and onions (or you could always make my version of larb at home, which is still my favourite).
Plus, there are a wide variety of curries, noodle dishes – you name it. When thinking back to all of the meals that I’ve had at this place, I can’t recall anything that I didn’t end up liking so far. Here are a couple of others I’ve had recently:
Lard Na
Pad See-Iw
One thing to keep in mind though if you’re going there for lunch – if you aren’t getting a noodle dish or the Salathai rice special, the rest of the dishes (mainly those served over jasmine rice, like the curries), are not all that large. However, you will definitely enjoy the food and come back again. The other great part – most of the staff there are all Thai, and have the charm of the people from the Land of Smiles.
I’ll continue to update and add pics to this post as I gather more – I frequent this place at least once a week, so it shoudn’t take too long. Just make sure you try the Thai Iced Tea while you’re there. You won’t regret it.
Thai Iced Tea
Salathai Thai Restaurant
102-888 Burrard St.
Vancouver, B.C.
604.683.7999
Kam’s Place – Singaporean Restaurant on Davie
Today I tried out a restaurant at lunchtime that I’ve never been before. I’ve heard from a few that this place is quite a bit better at dinner, so we’ll have to take this into consideration with my review (and I’ll have to try it out for dinner another time).
There was a very inexpensive lunch menu available, which included dishes ranging from as low as $5.25 up to $6.50 and that comes with rice, soup, and a “salad” (basically head lettuce leaves with a sweet vinaigrette).
The items that we ordered today included a few things: the Long Bean Spicy Chicken (and the same dish but with Pork), the Black Bean Sauce with Pork and Veggies, and the Spicy Tofu. Each one came with a sort of hot and sour spicy soup (not sure what it’s officially called), which contained tomatoes and bean sprouts.
First to come to the table was our appetizer-sized Hot and Sour Soups. None of us actually finished these, as they weren’t really all that good. They were spicy, and almost too sour in flavour in my opinion. I just couldn’t be bothered to finish it up when I wasn’t sure what was yet to come.
Next was the Spicy Tofu. This I didn’t try. But here is a lovely picture for you all to see.
The next items to show up were the Long Bean Spicy Chicken and Pork. I enjoyed the fact that there wasn’t too much sauce in the dish, although the beans were a bit overcooked for my liking. I still like them to have a bit more crunch to them than they did, and then they don’t look so shrivelled – makes it a bit more appealing as well. The chicken and pork was cooked well though.
So it’s pretty funny, but I got my food last after everyone else had already eaten half of theirs. I think they forgot about me and I had to ask if my food was still coming. This actually happened after a co-worker started eating what seemed to be my original dish that I ordered (the Long Bean Spicy Pork). I think it was a bit of a miscommunication with our server. So, once the Black Bean Sauce with Pork came along, we burst into laughter as we realized we had our meals switched up. Regardless, I’d already tasted the others, so I went along and ate what came. The problem with dishes that have Sauce in their name, is that they usually have too much sauce on them! I liked the zucchini in the dish, but had to pick out pieces of red and green pepper and kind of wipe them off a bit so that it wasn’t too much. I found that the ‘salad’ actually tasted okay because it was lighter and more fresh in taste to counteract the overpowering black bean flavour. Sorry about the awful glare in the pic – the sun came up suddenly (wow, sun in November!) and I couldn’t get the lighting to work right (and was already starving by then after all the waiting).
I’m hoping that this place is actually much better for dinner, although I have to say I am a bit skeptical now. I was disappointed by both the service (slow, and food mix-up) and the lunch itself. Although I know the meals were very budget-friendly and often you get what you pay for, so really, it’s difficult to not try this again for dinner at least once more.
Please leave me a comment and let me know if my experience was unusual, and if it is in fact worth going back!
Kam’s Place (sorry, couldn’t find a website)
1043 Davie St
Vancouver, B.C.
604.669.3389
A Taste of Azia in Downtown Vancouver
On Friday I went for lunch with several co-workers, and decided to go to a place nearby the office that we hadn’t been to for awhile – Azia – in the Scotiabank Theatre building in downtown Vancouver. I have been a few times now, for both lunches and dinners, and have found that the food is fairly good, but it does depend on what type of dishes you’re ordering. So today, I’ll run through a variety of what there is to offer so you can decide for yourself if you choose to go there to dine before a movie, or just check it out for a random meal.
At lunchtime, there is a lunch specials menu available which has quite a large selection of items that you can pick, all of which are served with a couple of sides (I believe it was spring rolls and / or perhaps a soup of some type). Unfortunately, I can’t find this anywhere in the lunch section of the current website, and I can’t quite recall the exact options since none of us ordered from this part of the menu (sorry, I may have lost a few brain cells after my company holiday party on Friday night).
I’m lucky to have a lot of co-workers and friends who also enjoy trying a variety of dishes (and are also super patient with my newfound picture taking before eating), so I managed to try quite a few different things. Our order included the Peking Duck Spring Rolls, the Singapore Laksa, and the Chicken Lettuce Wraps, none of which I’ve had before at this place.
Peking Duck Rolls – These spring rolls were served with hoi sin sauce on the side, and were a bit on the greasy side (a bit of a hazard of eating deep fried fare, but I’ve definitely had other spring rolls that didn’t seem to soak up quite so much oil in the cooking process). I’m also not a big fan of hoi sin sauce, since I find that it can be quite overpowering to the food you’re eating it with, and would’ve been happier with a lighter sweet chilli or plum-type sauce. As a result, I opted out of dipping this at all after the first bite, but still thought they were nothing special (my mother makes the meanest spring rolls you would probably ever taste, so I do feel kind of sorry for any others that I’ve tried).
Singapore Laksa – This spicy curry-based soup was filled with vermicelli noodles, cucumber (a bit soggy), a variety of seafood (some type of white fish and shrimp), tofu, and a hard-boiled egg (always tasty). Compared to others I have had, I found that the broth was not quite thick and rich enough (maybe some coconut milk would help it out?), and had a slightly different taste than I was used to – although I still can’t quite put my finger on why.
Chicken Lettuce Wraps – I found these to be my favourite dish of the day. Again, these were served with hoi sin sauce on the side to put into the wraps, but after trying it in one, I opted out for the rest. The chicken and veggie mixture already had enough flavour in it to skip the sauce (I’m not a huge fan of ‘over-saucing’ any food). Besides the fact that the chicken actually looked and tasted a bit like pork (which I still enjoy), the wraps were nice and light and fresh.
There were a variety of other dishes on our table, and the other one I tried was the Beef and Black Bean Sauce Chow Mein. What I enjoyed about this was there wasn’t an overwhelming amount of black bean sauce over the dish, so you got to enjoy a bit of a different texture as there was still some crunch to some of the chow mein noodles.
Others ordered the Wonton Soup (he gets it every time he goes, so there must be something to it), the Beef Fried Rice Noodles in X.O. Sauce (she ate the whole thing and said she enjoyed it), and the Singapore Noodles (no comment on that one). Although I didn’t try these three items, I thought I’d include the extra pics for your viewing pleasure anyway.
Beef Fried Rice Noodles in X.O. Sauce
Wonton Soup
Singapore Noodles
In the past, other dishes that I’ve tried and enjoyed were the Roti Canai, which is Malaysian bread that comes with a curry sauce to dip it in, and a variety of Japanese and sushi dishes (namely the Ebi Chili Mayo). I would have to say the Japanese food at Azia is what I’ve liked the most, although I’ve tried other better options in town (see my recent post about Juno).
All in all, this restaurant will provide a wide range of variety in terms of Asian food if you’re feeling indecisive or just want to try many things at once. The prices of the food seem a bit high overall for the quality that you’re getting, but it gives you a chance to try something a bit different if you’re in the area.
Azia Restaurant & Sushi Bar
990 Smithe Street
Vancouver, BC
604.682.8622
Coast Seafood Restaurant: From Coast to Coast
Yesterday, I went to lunch with a couple of female co-workers and we decided to head over to Coast Restaurant in their newer location on Alberni. I’m not sure if it was what I chose to eat, but I think I liked the food at the old Yaletown spot better. Somehow, even though the atmosphere was larger and more modern and they have a great patio at the new place, it just felt like the food could’ve been from…well, anywhere that served seafood really.
The other thing that we all really noticed was that the service at this particular lunch was not up to par. We waited for awhile to order (of course it was prime lunch hour and really busy), but then the server didn’t even ask for our drink order first. I think he just completely forget and when he took our food orders, we just threw in what we wanted to drink. We then had to wait 20 minutes until our food had come, and remind him to bring us something besides the water on the table. Other than that, it was just really slow to get our bill after asking, and I think he may have forgotten the sushi until we checked in on that too. I do have to say though that the other two times I’ve dined at the new Coast (one other lunch and once for dinner) the service was better, so it could’ve just been an off day, or that person in particular.
So here’s what we had to eat:
Mango California Roll and Eel and BBQ Salmon Roll – These rolls were definitely the best part of our lunch. Mango puts a great spin on any roll since it’s always nice and fresh, and having real crab is a must-have for me to eat any type of California roll. The fish roe on top was a great touch as well. As for the other one, I’m not usually a fan of eel, but the sauce on this roll (bbq sake) was better than most since it wasn’t too thick or overpowering, and the eel tasted quite good as well. What I really liked about this roll (and what my co-worker also mentioned), was that the portions of all of the components of the roll fit well together.
Lobster Hot Dog – Now this was interesting. The idea sounded so great when you looked at it on the menu – who wouldn’t want a whole chunk of lobster! The problem is, it was literally a ‘hot dog’ in the sense that the lobster was ground up and made into something in the shape of a weiner, which ended up with a similar texture to a fish cake. There were also fairly large pieces of regular lobster on top, along with the dijon mustard and the sauerkraut, but it just wasn’t quite what my co-worker had in mind. Also, it did look kind of funny – let’s just say my friend lost her appetite partway through, and when I asked her why, she just pointed and made a face. I’ll let you use your imagination and leave it at that. The lobster dog was served with a chowder of some sort (which I didn’t taste), but was told was “good, especially since it had real chunks of lobster in it.”
Cod Burger – We were told that halibut season just abruptly ended this past weekend, so although the menu item was originally a Halibut Burger, another co-worker was able to substitute this with cod. Again, this was served with the same lobster chowder. The burger was a bit spicy, in a pale ale batter. We were trying to figure out if it was the patty itself, or the sauce in the burger, and I’m pretty sure it was the cocktail sauce within. Although I didn’t try this myself, I did want to include some info and a pic about it so you have more examples. She did say that her meal was good and would order it again.
Cod Fish and Chips – I have eaten this on another occasion when I was at Coast for dinner a few weeks ago. I was nursing a bit of a red wine hangover from Wednesday night, so I felt like something greasy and carb-heavy, and this definitely fit the bill! The batter was a bit thick in some parts, and I ended up peeling some of it off. I picked at the coleslaw once or twice to try to get some vegetables in me, but that’s something I would suggest skipping next time around - it was limp and pretty tasteless. As for the fries, they were fairly average in my mind. They were great in terms of fulfilling my need for greasy carbs at the time though!
Other items I’ve had when dining here in the past were the Hers lunch box – this comes with tuna sashimi on a salad, a shrimp wrap, and a bowl of Manhatten clam chowder. This was definitely a better option, but it was somewhat small (just something to note if you’re usually a big eater like me). At the dinner a few weeks ago, I had the Signature Chilled Platter. This was fairly tasty as well, but I’m not sure if it was just my expectations going in were too high or what, but I didn’t find it to be anything special either. We also tried out the Signature Seafood Platter, which includes a wide array of hot items. I thought that the best part of this was the potato gnocchi and the wild sea tiger prawns.
Overall, I would suggest going here for dinner and trying out the platters and other seafood options rather than lunch. I remember that I enjoyed the food at Coast a lot more when I went to the old Yaletown location, but that was over a year ago and a bit of a distant memory at this point (so I’m not exactly clear on the details). The atmosphere was great, and so is the heated patio (but watch out for the bench seating as you’ll be looking up at your dining partners the whole meal since the ground is on an upward slant). I would go back again for drinks one night.
Coast Restaurant
1054 Alberni Street
Vancouver, B.C., V6E 1A3
604.685.5010
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A Tapastree of Flavours in the West End
It was Wednesday night, and what better way is there to get over the mid-week hump than by trying a new restaurant?
After aiming to go to a newer place in town and not being able to get in so last minute, we decided on trying out Tapastree, which I’ve heard from many friends before is a must-try. They’ve been around for about 12 years now. Unfortunately they’ve exceeded their web traffic limit for the month at the moment, but hopefully you’ll be able to check out their website in early December. 
Anyway, there were 6 of us that decided to venture out last night and do some catching up and celebrate a couple of recent engagements. I had no idea we were in for such a treat, and we had a really great time – so great in fact that we’re thinking of going somewhere new every Wednesday moving forward.
Since there were so many of us, and this is a tapas restaurant, we were lucky to be able to try a substantial amount of items and shared everything that we ordered. Let’s get started, shall we?
Tomato, Bocconcini & Avocado with Fresh Basil – This was fairly tasty, but wasn’t anything special compared to similar salads I’ve had at other places.
Sauteed Wild Mushrooms on toast with goat cheese – The mushrooms were delicious, and there was just the right amount of goat cheese in this dish so it wasn’t overwhelming.
Bruschetta, tomatoes, olives, basil & garlic - The bruschetta was delicious – I could’ve eaten every piece. The garlic wasn’t overpowering, but complemented the rest of the dish perfectly.
Beet salad with brie cheese (someone grabbed a bite before I managed to get in there with my camera). I love beets – this one included red and yellow beets in it, and the cheese on top was great!
Ahi Tuna seared with ponzu & hot Chinese mustard – my other favourite of the night. The tuna was so fresh and soft and again, melt in your mouth deliciousness. I loved the way it tasted dipped in the mustard – very complementary flavours.
Chicken Livers, pan-fried with lemon, tomatoes, brandy & black pepper – I think I scared off most of the people at the table with this one, but I wanted to try it as soon as I saw it on the menu. The texture of chicken liver is great – so soft and flavourful. This would’ve been great if there was some extra bread to dip in the sauce, but we were getting a bit too full by then to add anymore carbs to the meal.
Buttermilk Fried Chicken with spicy aioli - This chicken tasted great. It was like eating small pieces of popcorn like chicken that you could dip into the aioli sauce and eat by hand. I wasn’t a huge fan of the sauce though – it wasn’t really all that spicy or flavourful to me (but then again, everything else was sooo flavourful that my palette may have been a bit underwhelmed).
Flat Iron Steak with Peppercorn Sauce – the meat was nice and tender and wasn’t overcooked. I also enjoyed the sauce, but not sure this would be one of my top picks when I go back.
Sablefish marinated with a miso vinaigrette - tasted like butter. I love the way that sablefish just melts in your mouth, but my favourite way that it’s served is when it’s marinated in miso. There’s just something about that combination that couldn’t get any better. This was my favourite dish of the night – I had to order another one to fully satisfy myself.
Lamb Chops in a gorgonzola demi-glace – these were cooked just right, and the sauce was tasty too.
Macaroni & Cheese – I’m not a huge fan of this dish at the best of times, but I do have to admit that this version was really tasty. It had a great cheesy flavour and was nice and creamy. This was on one of their daily specials, so note that it won’t be on their regular menu.
Chocolate Fondant – I’m not a huge fan of chocolate in desserts after dinner because they’re usually so rich and I’m pretty full at that point. I enjoy it more just as a separate snack during any other part of the day. The fondant, however, was so creamy and delicious, especially when eaten with the whipping cream and a slice of strawberry.
Creme Brulee - The creme brulee was diviiine. Everyone loved this one – you could taste the vanilla and it was such a perfect end to the meal. We all kept fighting over the last spoonfuls and I’m almost surprised that no one actually picked it up and licked the bowl.
Beyond the food, the service was also great. The servers were very friendly, were there whenever you needed anything, and were very attentive, but not intrusive.
Overall, Tapastree is a great casual dining restaurant, with a terrific atmosphere for a date or a smaller group of friends to dine and have share plates.
1829 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC V6G 1E4, Canada
(604) 606-4680
