Renaissance Cafe
1746 Pacific Ave
Tacoma, WA
Back when I was in University, I never had to go through one of those stereotypical late night assignments ending at wee hours of the day and, as a result, the next morning going around for a substantial breakfast. (That does not apply even if you change it to a night out drink). Let’s just say I have my own way on having things done but there was one thing I did have with a certain frequency: After finishing class past 11:00 p.m. (yup, call it crazy!), I went to a mini-mart where they made some killer Cuban sandwich. Alas, last time I checked that place was gone (then again, it has been eons ago). So, when I was in Tacoma, on my last day, I wanted to check some local spots where students would frequent (University of Washington at Tacoma was a couple of blocks away from the hotel) for the same purpose and that’s how I ended up going to Renaissance Cafe. Now, not late night eats but early ones instead.
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Tagged as:
Breakfast,
Tacoma
To those who do not know yet, last Friday was the opening ceremony for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. During the next two weeks, in addition to my regular food/restaurant blog posts, I will try to do photo essays of the city, specially of the Downtown Vancouver/Yaletown area and probably some of the other installations across town. Sorry, no Cypress or Whistler… I mean, you can watch the sport events themselves in TV and news you might not necessarily see the rest that Vancouver has to offer. And that brings the topic of this post…
In the last week or so, I have been receiving emails asking for suggestions on places to eat, things they have to try, restaurant they should visit and so on. And it goes all ways, some for cheap, something they should spare no expense and so on. The commonality of the request is the Downtown/Yaletown area of town. I tried my best answering those emails but, as explained in my response, in my opinion, Yaletown is full of expensive restaurants where the focus is not always in good food. Instead, I suggested expand a little bit more. Based on the couple of emails I have replied, I thought I should compile what I have written and put it in a post.
Update: The topic of price gouging has popped up in the comments section. I thought I should include some links here, as a caveat emptor for out of town customers. I love Vancouver but despise that restaurant owners is taking advantage of the Olympics to obtain additional revenues.
- An article in The Globe and Mail from Alexandra Gill, the newspaper’s food critic.
- A site maintaining a naughty or nice list of restaurants.
- An article (and video) from CTV.
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Tagged as:
Breakfast,
Dinner,
Lunch,
Olympic Games,
Random,
Richmond,
Vancouver
Fraser Park Restaurant
4663 Byrne Road
Burnaby, BC
A lot of times, accessibility to a restaurant is an issue. If it is near main roads or near transit, chances are people will go there rather than a place located in the middle of nowhere – literally. One day, I was running some errands in Market Crossing, a mall in South Burnaby, almost New Westminster when hunger stroke. Sure, there is White Spot and some other restaurants but they weren’t that inspiring. That’s when I remember a post from Karl (of The Friday Lunch) of a cafe nearby: Fraser Park Restaurant.
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Tagged as:
Breakfast,
Burnaby,
Pork
OK, here is something I am not afraid of admiting: I used to like to eat breakfast sandwiches in McDonald’s. Specifically, I liked the folded egg with sausage in a biscuit (just in case – the American definition of biscuit). However, they phased that one in favour of the Egg McMuffin. Not that it is not good, I just preferred the other version. In a way, it was a good thing, as ever since, I stopped going and started to prepare breakfast myself. Enter Tim Hortons Breakfast Sandwich. For the most part, it was almost example the same as that breakfast sandwich I used to like; however, because I changed my diet, rather than jumping directly to have it every single day, I would have it once in a while, specially when I am in Vancouver International prior to a flight. Since comparing a discontinued product (or, at least, not available here, as far as I could see) is unfair, I thought it would be a good thing. That is… Until Tim Hortons released their new breakfast sandwich: instead of using a biscuit, it was made of an English muffin. So I couldn’t help it… The battle of Breakfast Sandwiches… (And borrowing that line from Iron Chef:) Whose cuisine reigns supreme? 
I am no food stylists, nor I will try to make it look as good as shown in ads! 
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Tagged as:
Breakfast,
Chain Restaurant,
Sandwich
Three Lions Cafe
1 E Broadway
Vancouver, BC
If you have noticed the trend of the posts this week, there was that chance that it would have been Asian after Asian after Asian post. While I could have (I have a post in the queue for Honolulu Cafe), I would rather switch and shuffle them around before anybody “complains”, hehehe. Again, during the end year break, I did something I seldom have the chance to do: go out for breakfast. I normally eat breakfast at home but this day, I woke up “late”. After going through the usual routine , it was already 10:00 a.m., which is way past my normal breakfast time and way too early for lunch. And while I have no particular love for brunch, I guess, by that time of the day, there is not much you can do (other than starve until lunchtime). While I could have gone anywhere open (keyword here: open!), I wanted something more particular. That was the reason I went to The Three Lions Cafe.
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Tagged as:
Breakfast,
European,
Vancouver
Hello, New Jersey! Yes, my business trip required me to travel to the US again, this time to its Garden State: New Jersey (EWR being the code of Newark Liberty International Airport). Since I am flying to the East Coast, there are your usual caveats: If you want to arrive “early” (as in late-afternoon, early night), you have to leave early from Vancouver. In my case, I usually try to catch the flights between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. In a way, that is a semi-sweet spot: It allows me to sleep almost normal hours and, depending on the destination, by the time I hit the hotel, it is dinner time.
Since I was at the airport at around 6:15 a.m. and the security check queue wasn’t that bad, I had plenty of time. In the past (depending on the gate), I would end up going to Tim Horton’s and get their breakfast sandwich. However, this time, I was in a different area – the “new” wing and it had a new assortment of food options. The bad? Too early and they weren’t open yet… So, I back traced and the one that caught my attention was Legends, aka, White Spot. Too early for burgers but, at least, it gives me the chance to finally try their breakfast!
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Tagged as:
Airport,
Breakfast,
New Jersey,
Vancouver
Bacon
4175 North Goldwater Blvd
Scottsdale, AZ
Confession time: Depending on how far in advance I am aware of a customer engagement, I might do some on-line checks of the restaurant near the hotel/workplace. Sometimes, of course, it does not work that way. However, for this trip, while checking nearby restaurants, I found Bacon. At that point, I told myself: I HAVE to go there! I mean, I like pork and, with a restaurant name like this, why shouldn’t I?
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Tagged as:
Breakfast,
Sandwich,
Scottsdale
Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games – Where to Eat?
by KimHo on February 14, 2010 under: British Columbia,Comments,Random,Restaurant
To those who do not know yet, last Friday was the opening ceremony for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. During the next two weeks, in addition to my regular food/restaurant blog posts, I will try to do photo essays of the city, specially of the Downtown Vancouver/Yaletown area and probably some of the other installations across town. Sorry, no Cypress or Whistler… I mean, you can watch the sport events themselves in TV and news you might not necessarily see the rest that Vancouver has to offer. And that brings the topic of this post…
In the last week or so, I have been receiving emails asking for suggestions on places to eat, things they have to try, restaurant they should visit and so on. And it goes all ways, some for cheap, something they should spare no expense and so on. The commonality of the request is the Downtown/Yaletown area of town. I tried my best answering those emails but, as explained in my response, in my opinion, Yaletown is full of expensive restaurants where the focus is not always in good food. Instead, I suggested expand a little bit more. Based on the couple of emails I have replied, I thought I should compile what I have written and put it in a post.
Update: The topic of price gouging has popped up in the comments section. I thought I should include some links here, as a caveat emptor for out of town customers. I love Vancouver but despise that restaurant owners is taking advantage of the Olympics to obtain additional revenues.
Read more…!
Tagged as: Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Olympic Games, Random, Richmond, Vancouver