Acme Cafe
51 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC
Depending on who might be reading this, it is possible I might be overstating the obvious but I will play safe. To those who haven’t visited Vancouver Downtown, it can easily be separated into West End, Yaletown, Gastown, Downtown Eastside, Granville, Coal Harbour and so on. For the most part, if you are savvy enough of the transit system, you can pretty much get from point A to point B in Downtown in less than 15 minutes. Driving? Well, let’s just say driving in Downtown Vancouver at lunch time might not be the best of ideas. As a result, my visit to restaurants in Downtown Vancouver are mostly restricted to West End (where I work) and Coal Harbour (with some odd ones in Granville). For the rest, I tend to go on weekends.
With that said, there are times I might be somewhat narrow minded. If there is a restaurant I certainly want to visit, I don’t even bother to make plan B. However, that’s was more I less I had to resort to when I tried to go to the Greedy Pig on a Saturday at around noon sharp just to find out that they didn’t open that day until 2:00 p.m. (despite their web site says they open at 11:30 a.m.). WTF?! While Bambo Cafe while just next to it, I wanted something… Different. Whipping out my iPhone and checking Urbanspoon app, I then went to Frannie’s Gourmet Deli just to find out they do not open on weekends and holidays. At that point, I was starting to think there was some sort of conspiracy against me. Now, there were a lot of places I could stop and get lunch; however, it just that I wasn’t really in the mood for burgers or similar fare (this is because I was driving the following day to Tacoma… Yes, posts for next week will be from Tacoma!). Tired, hungry and thirsty, I recalled Acme Cafe which Sherman blogged earlier that week. And, while I commented I wasn’t in a hurry, hunger prevailed and to Acme Cafe I went.
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Tagged as:
Downtown,
Vancouver
White Tower
1359 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC
If you are looking for Greek food in Vancouver, you can pretty much go anywhere. Probably you might have favourites but, if you go around town, there will be one every dozen or so blocks. In the case of Downtown Vancouver, for most people, there is even a “default”: Stepho’s, a restaurant that, in a way, has mastered the art of generating enough volume of customers to make it possible for them to lower there prices to an almost ridiculous level – to an extent that people are willing to queue up just for a plate of Greek food. But, then again, there is Takis Taverna a couple of doors from Stepho’s. If you move to Denman, there is Olympia Pizza and Pasta and Maria’s Taverna. After walking so many times in Robson, I thought there might not be any… That was until a day, PO and I were looking for something quick in the area and we ended up going to a place I believe has been there forever: White Tower.
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Tagged as:
Chicken,
Downtown,
Greek,
Italian,
Lunch,
Pasta,
Vancouver,
West End
Crème de la Crumb
466 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC
Whenever there are high notes and/or excitement when a new place opens, I approach it with certain skepticism. More often than not, it is hype; others, the “free” food factor. However, as I mentioned in my Bella Gelateria post, there are people I trust, like Mijune and Sherman. When Mijune wrote about Crème de la Crumb in her Granville Foodie Tour post, I knew I had to visit it, despite sweets are not my first option and a lot of what is sold here are pastries…
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Tagged as:
Downtown,
Pastry,
Sandwich,
Vancouver
Bella Gelateria
1001 W Cordova Street
Vancouver, BC
It is said that Vancouver is a “foodie” (and, darn I HATE that word) city. However, from what I have seen, to a lot of people, that “foodie” mentality is not related to that spirit of adventure on finding and trying new food/dishes but to go to places to been seen and/or follow a hype. So, whenever there is a lot of hype about a restaurant, for the most part, I am dubious about how good the food is – it does not necessarily help when they focus on how “nice” a bathroom is. In the grand scheme of things, chances are, if “a lot of people” like it and I sense some hype, chances are I don’t necessarily like it. Take, for example, Coast (my post here), which has been lauded by a lot but, to me, it is nothing but overrated. And, except for a couple of bloggers whom I have serious doubts about their opinions, I will have to say that, when Vancouver food bloggers say it is good, I have to check by myself. I certainly “help” when those bloggers are Mijune, whom I call the Queen of Desserts, and Sherman, whom we agree one time too many, say that Bella Gelateria is really good…
(On that note, Mijune’s post is here and Sherman’s post is here)
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Tagged as:
Dessert,
Downtown,
Gelato,
Ice Cream,
Vancouver
Salsa & Agave
1223 Pacific Blvd
Vancouver, BC
I know this might sound really belated but… Congratulations to fellow blogger Mijune, who organized Vancouver’s 1st Cupcake Challenge (winners here). Organizing such event almost out of nowhere is no easy task and the fact the event attracted over 1000 visitors is something to be admire, specially considering that all publicity was in the form of social media (oh, I hate that phrase!!!!).
Of course, that brings two questions… How it is related to Salsa & Agave and, more importantly, how come I didn’t blog that event? Well, let’s just say I was there but, due to other circumstances, I wasn’t able to taste the cupcakes (I won’t have been able to taste that many anyways) nor I was able to take any pictures. I have already talked to Mijune about this so, if you were expecting to read about it here, I apologize for that… As for the other question, I was looking for something to eat nearby and, aside from the usual Yaletown suspects, I decided to confront my daemons and go to a Mexican restaurant across the site of the event: Salsa & Agave.
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Tagged as:
Chicken,
Downtown,
Mexican
Fogg N’ Suds
10720 Cambie Road, Richmond, BC
1323 Robson Street (Location visited)
Vancouver, BC
Unless you are living under the rock, or probably an American or Canadian without any too much connection outside of North-America, the Football World Cup is currently going on in South Africa. Yes, football, as in that sports that you actually use your feet to kick a ball 90% of the time, unlike *ahem* American football. Go ahead, we can have a discussion about naming conventions and what not but, unlike, NBA, NFL, MLB or even NHL, where the “championship” is local (read: North-American minus Mexico), the FIFA World Cup is a global event. It is a simple sport and, if you want to play, you only need a team and some open space. Hell, at times you can even “improvise” a ball and some sticks to mark the goal. Rules are quite simple and, unlike the before mentioned sports, what is called on the field sticks. No instant replay, no fancy technology. (Sorry, England, you got your Wimbley Goal 30+ years ago…).
Now, putting all those issues aside, given the time difference and, in part due broadcasting, one of the games were scheduled around noon our time, which means going for lunch to watch the game! Going to a fancy type restaurant for lunch to watch a game sounds a really bad idea so, instead, PO and I went to more adequate places to watch the football games: a pub. In this case, we went to Fogg N’ Suds, located in the same block as Hon’s in Robson. In fact, it is right in front of Dea Bak Bon Ga on the second story!
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Tagged as:
Burgers,
Downtown,
pub,
Vancouver,
West End
Guu Garden
M101-888 Nelson Street
Vancouver, BC
Every once in a while, I notice new food bloggers dropping by and, well, since I am always up to meet more people, what better way than breaking bread with them? Of course, barring some wacky circumstances like feeling under the weather business trips, hey, I am always up for it! This time, it was Mariko “Mare-Bear” who writes 604 On the Go, who by sheer coincidence, lives relatively close to my workplace. Well, that means trying somewhere nearby, right? Wrong! Initially, we were planning to go to Kosetsu – a newly open izakaya in Robson and Cardero (as if we needed yet one more…); however, when we arrived, we found out they weren’t open yet. That was a bit of a curveball because the sign outside contradicted the waitress who was refusing us entrance. Oh, well, we said, how about we walk to some other place in Downtown? In a random turn of events, we walked by Guu Garden and, well, why not!
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Tagged as:
Downtown,
Izakaya,
Japanese,
Vancouver
