Havana Cafe
1212 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC
On my University years, my schedule was the usual crazy one for those who were working and studying. In my case, my latest class was 10:30 p.m. and, a lot of times, it mean grabbing something to eat. There were some “usual” 24 hours places and, in one of such places, I always went for one thing: a Cuban sandwich. What I liked about that sandwich was that combination of savoury, sweet (*), sour/acidic and gooey cheesy. While there are great sandwiches here in Vancouver, I haven’t been able to find anything that resembles it yet. Now, it isn’t necessarily a “bad” thing, as I have learned to “appreciate” the other sandwich types. Instead, well, I miss it. When Sherman went to Havana Cafe and mentioned they make this sandwich, I was all up for it. Alas, it partially fell off the radar but, on one night, I was near Brittania Community Centre and that gave me a good excuse to drop by for that Cuban sandwich.
(*) This might due to the use of a braided bread, rather than the traditional Cuban bread.
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Tagged as:
Commercial Drive,
Latin America,
Sandwich,
Soup,
Vancouver
The Reef
4172 Main Street
1018 Commercial Drive (location visited) 
Vancouver, BC
On Monday’s post of Luda, I made reference to a failed initial attempt. What I did not mention was that, to salvage this epic fail, Sherman and I were mulling about what to do next. In our cases, we were drawing blank until Sherman suggested we drive to Commercial Drive and go from there. We did and, even then, we were walking around and, for each suggestion, it was either me been there previously, Sherman been there previously or too shady for Rich Guy. Well, to badly misquote Sherman, there is a reason why he is “Rich Guy”, right? 
Fortunately, in our group was Viv also and, at least, she was the voice of reason when she gave sort of an ultimatum: establish up to what block to walk.
In the end, we ended up turning back and let Rich Guy decide: Britannia Sushi (which none of us have been but wasn’t too enticing at that moment) or, its next door neighbour, The Reef. While both Sherman and I have been to The Reef (my previous post here), we weren’t there for dinner so we opened to that possibility.
Update: Sherman’s post here. And, just for kicks, Elaine post here as well!
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Tagged as:
Caribbean,
Chicken,
Commercial Drive,
Fish
Uprising Breads Bakery
1697 Venables Street
Vancouver, BC
Note: Today, I have a two-post “special”. The “other” post – Vancouver’s Bakers Market, can be found here.
A week and a half ago, during Thanksgiving weekend (as a reminder for non-Canadian readers, specially if you are from the US: we celebrate Thanksgiving in the second Monday for October), I was invited to my family friend CL’s home. Wait, did I say family friend? Don’t my parents live in Panama? I have a long history with CL, since he has known me since I was a child, before he moved to Canada and my parents moved to Panama. And, what happened when I moved here to Canada? Originally I was planning to go to Toronto but my mother “suggested” me I should go to Vancouver and stay at CL’s place instead. I am very thankful for what he has done for me on all these years and there was absolutely no what I won’t accept his invite to have the Thanksgiving dinner at his home. But, but… Despite I was the only non-family guest and was assured there was no need for me to bring anything, I won’t show up empty handed. Originally, I wanted to go to Fratelli’s to bring a cake or pie but, alas, it was closed (I forgot they are closed on Sundays). I thought then “I guess I will have to fall back on buying something from Save-on-Foods…”. That was until I was driving north on Commercial Drive when I recalled another nearby bakery and that fellow blogger Sherman wrote about previously: Uprising Breads Bakery.
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Tagged as:
Bakery,
Commercial Drive,
Pastry,
Vancouver
Lime Japanese Cuisine
1130 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC
Feel free to call it alignment of the stars of just because an atom happened to be in a place at the exact time: This post had to do with two very strange topics: perception of sushi and omakase. The first topic is related to a post written by Foodosophy team regarding sushi – you can find it here. It is a really worthwhile read; it might even change your thoughts about sushi. Go ahead, this post will still be here… The second topic is that of omakase, a concept not that different of a tasting menu; here, you “entrust” to the chef to prepare a meal for you. So what Lime Japanese Cuisine has to do with both? It just happened that due to the comments regarding Lime, I was ready to dismiss it but, based on Foodosophy’s team, I was encouraged to give it a second chance. I went there one late night for regular sushi or for soba; however, when I arrived, I noticed they made mention of their omakase menu, at a base price of $35. It was a leap of faith but I knew I had to do it…
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Tagged as:
Commercial Drive,
Japanese,
Sushi,
Vancouver
Belgian Fries
1803 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC
Earlier this year, I wrote a post on poutine, that quintessential, unique Canadian “dish”. It has been some months already and I think I have recovered enough from that experience (and the bypass!) to try it again on a different place. So, for this one, I chose to go to Belgian Fries in The Drive, where, according to their banner (and quote from the CBC Montreal), they have the best poutine in BC. Are they? Let’s see!
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Tagged as:
Commercial Drive,
Random,
Vancouver
Dolce Amore
1590 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC
Feel free to call it odd, feel free to call it funny. There is a heat wave hitting BC and temperature records were broken not once but twice in the last week or so. The 35C/95F we had would be something akin to what I had to deal almost on a daily basis in Panama but there was something… different. Humidity? Whether it is or not, in both cases it felt really hot, just that in Panama, you would be sweating bullets and be soaked after you walk a couple of blocks; not necessarily the same here for me. Regardless, that does not mean I can use the same tactics to deal with the heal, like getting some ice cream – or, in this case, some gelato from Dolce Amore in Commercial Drive.
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Tagged as:
Commercial Drive,
Dessert,
Vancouver
Sake Maki
1414 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC
Here I go again, in the search of some interesting eats in one of the most “interesting” (for lack of a better word right now) neighborhoods in Vancouver: Commercial Drive. It was a hot night (Vancouver standards) and I just wanted something to eat. It was approximately 9:30 p.m., that gray hour in restaurant business. Since a lot of these shops close at around 10:00 p.m., it is inside the threshold of “last calls” but, since you are a walk-in customer at that point and time, you felt there could be a rush for you to finish and leave. What to do, what to do? Of course, I could go to one of the several clubs/pubs in the area that close later; however, I didn’t feel like going to a place where the main intent is to sell you over expensive watered down drinks (not to mention my low alcohol tolerance plus the fact I was driving). So, while walking by, I noticed something that might be “decent”, yet not that expensive: Sake Maki.
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Tagged as:
Commercial Drive,
Japanese,
Seafood,
Sushi,
Vancouver
Lime Japanese Cuisine
by KimHo on September 13, 2009 · 13 comments under: British Columbia,Comments,Food,Restaurant
Lime Japanese Cuisine
1130 Commercial Drive
Vancouver, BC
Feel free to call it alignment of the stars of just because an atom happened to be in a place at the exact time: This post had to do with two very strange topics: perception of sushi and omakase. The first topic is related to a post written by Foodosophy team regarding sushi – you can find it here. It is a really worthwhile read; it might even change your thoughts about sushi. Go ahead, this post will still be here… The second topic is that of omakase, a concept not that different of a tasting menu; here, you “entrust” to the chef to prepare a meal for you. So what Lime Japanese Cuisine has to do with both? It just happened that due to the comments regarding Lime, I was ready to dismiss it but, based on Foodosophy’s team, I was encouraged to give it a second chance. I went there one late night for regular sushi or for soba; however, when I arrived, I noticed they made mention of their omakase menu, at a base price of $35. It was a leap of faith but I knew I had to do it…
Read more…!
Tagged as: Commercial Drive, Japanese, Sushi, Vancouver