Danube European Restaurant
102A-3701 Hastings Street
Burnaby, BC
It is “fortunate” that, so far (and knock on wood), nobody has complained that I blog a bit too much about a particular cuisine. *cough*Sherman*cough*. While it is true that most of us have favourites, in my case, my mom’s home cooking, I try to go outside of my “familiar zone”. Korean, for example, is a cuisine that I have started to slowly explore (though I sometimes ask myself if it is a good idea to go to a Korean restaurant by yourself). I am sure there are others – a lot others… So, when I “met” (on-line, so far) Darina who blogs Gratinée – Musings on Food & Culture and became aware of her Eastern European heritage, I had to ask that question: What restaurant(s) and dishes would she recommend? After a couple of emails back and forth, I ended up going to Danube European Restaurant.
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Tagged as:
Burnaby,
European,
Lunch
Yoshoku-Ya
774 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC
During the sort-of coldsnap we had in the last couple of weeks, I was looking for something warm for lunch. While I have had my share of soups from Safeway (which, I will admit can be a really cheap lunch – soup and a sandwich bun is barely $5), I wanted something heavier. That is why I went initially to Kintaro. But, alas, pretty much everybody had the same idea and, as a result, it was full with a queue outside. While looking for options, I noticed a place almost next to it I haven’t meant to go previously: Yoshoku-Ya. Similar to Barefoot Kitchen and as the name might suggest, they serve Western dishes, Japanese style.
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Tagged as:
Downtown,
Japanese,
Lunch,
Vancouver
El Centro Mexican Restaurant
Robson Street
Vancouver, BC
Right now, one of the most “talked about” restaurants in Vancouver is La Taqueria. Personally, I am not in a hurry to visit them, as other fellow bloggers already have that covered, not to mention my bias against Mexican food and because it is a bit too far to be considered walking distance from my workplace. But, in some really odd twists, while walking in Robson Street, looking for a spot for lunch, I noticed a just-opened restaurant: El Centro Mexican Restaurant. I won’t go to La Taqueria yet but here is this other Mexican restaurant I can check. Oh, well… There it goes!
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Tagged as:
Downtown,
Latin America,
Lunch,
Mexican,
Vancouver
Aree’s Dawg House
1740 W Broadway
Vancouver, BC
I usually try to avoid taking one-off days off because, more often than not, when I go back from that one day, a lot has happened, which translates into having to take some time to catch up. As a result, if I take days off, I take them in a one-week block – if not two weeks block. However, since my work requires me to travel, I have days in-lieu in the case I have to fly on a weekend/late night. After my trip to Scottsdale, I had one such day and, given the opportunity, I tried to go to a place that, otherwise, I normally won’t have an opportunity to. However, by some odd twists of destiny, I had to drive around and ended up getting a hot dog. Was I pissed? You betcha! But, why a hot dog out of all possibilities? Considering all the hype given to Japadog (check here, here and here, not to mention Tandoori Tikka Dog and Mexidog), I wanted to try a “normal” dog. Not any “normal” hot dog, though. Rather, it was the one some periodicals hyped/voted as best hot dogs in Vancouver, even above Japadog: Aree’s Dawg House
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Tagged as:
Hot Dog,
Lunch,
Vancouver
Following my visit to Van Dusen Botanical Garden (click here to check that post – will open in a new window), on the following weekend, I chose to go to another local park/garden. In this case, Queen Elizabeth Park. I must mention it was raining on the prior days and started to rain again an hour or so after I left the park so I was really fortunate I took advantage of that small window of opportunity. So, without further ado, enjoy this photo essay!
Note: For a larger version of the picture, just click on it – will open in a new window.
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Tagged as:
Photo Essay
Mambo Cafe
3020-4151 Hazelbridge Way
Richmond, BC
I have mentioned one too many times, I have no love for Richmond (*). Sure, there are some good eats but, darn, those crazy drivers… To add to that list, I must also say those crazy architects. Yes, I must be nuts because I drove to Aberdeen Centre rather than taking the Canada Line. But, in my defence, I also went picture taking that day. Why the architects? Because of the darn parkade! It is among the most poorly laid out parkades I have ever seen (and I have seen one too many). I will spare you with the details other than to say there was such a back-up, to the point it was even getting to the street and, as a result, took me several lights just to enter the parkade plus almost a dozen minutes to find a spot. Of course, those crazy Richmond drivers do not help…
Anyway, because it took me longer than expected to find a parking spot (OK, not really, it just took me time to go to the higher levels because most people did not want to go past the second parking level or far from the mall entrance) and it was noon (originally I wanted to go somewhere else for lunch), I thought I might have lunch there as well. Most people must admit, despite it is a food court, they have hell of good options. Wo Fung Dessert, anybody? Of course, that is just one example and the other stands are not necessarily the best but, c’mon, it beats some fast food chains… (On that note, it is “funny” there is a Triple O’s there…). While I could have gone to those places I knew of, there were two problems: It meant I won’t be writing about it and the most problematic issue… There were really long lines! So, I after a quickly browsing the stands, I settled for Mambo Cafe.
(*) – I guess I should start visiting other places as well. Coquitlam/Port Coquitlam/Pitt Meadows? White Rock? Abbotsford??? (Yes, all the way to Abbotsford for pizza!).
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Tagged as:
Chicken,
Food Court,
Richmond
