Seasons in the Park
Queen Elizabeth Park
W 33rd Ave & Cambie Street
Vancouver, BC
In a way, this might be my last post. As mentioned previously, I will be hanging my camera and keyboard and call it quits once my queue of pending posts is done. While I am sure I have stirred something in that previous post and might one day disclose the actual details in that post, in the meantime, I can only say I am grateful of what this blog has provided me. I wandered to new restaurants, met new people (some on-line only, some in real life), established friendships. Some of them closer than others, of course. So, similar to my Octopus’ Garden, this post wasn’t supposed to happen. Instead, while I was at Seasons in the Park, my friend whom I was having brunch with (and whom I met via this blog!) likewise suggested I should end up with a bang. Well, when such request is made, I guess I can’t say no!
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Tagged as:
Brunch,
Eggs,
Lunch,
Steak,
Vancouver
Bob Likes Thai Food
3755 Main Street
Vancouver, BC
We have had discussions about authenticity for a long time. How important is it? Does it matter if it is authentic is people enjoy the resulting dish? Over the last couple of years, my perception has changed: If people is enjoying it, I think that some leeway can be given. But, at times, when the modified version is a hacked job that you simply can’t help but shake your head. Such is case with Thai food, specifically Pad Thai. For the longest, we have “complained” a lot of restaurants serving Thai food making that dish using catsup rather than tamarind sauce; but, would people “know” any better? In fact, what if a restaurant make it the original version. Would people accept it for what it is? With that in mind, I kept hearing about Bob Likes Thai Food and that meant I should drop by one of these days…
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Tagged as:
Lunch,
Thai,
Vancouver
Zabu Chicken
1635 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC
I might be overstating the obvious here: Restaurant business is a cuthroat business. Even more so in Vancouver where restaurants seems to come and go. Restaurateurs blame the economy, HST, drinking laws, etc. However, what they forget is that eating out is not a necessity; is a luxury. If you can’t make people come to your restaurant and generate revenue and income, probably you are doing something wrong. While I do miss some restaurants that are long gone, those empty spots are usually filled up by something else down the road. Or, in some cases, just close for a week and reinvent themselves. Fuel, in Kitsilano, for example, turned into Refuel. Am I digressing here? Maybe; however, thoughts like these came to my mind when I saw Zabu Chicken…
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Tagged as:
Chicken,
Downtown,
Korean,
Lunch,
Vancouver
Hida Takayama Ramen
203 – 1610 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC
Wow… How long it has been? Almost a month already since my last post of Vancouver! Anyway, after I came back, it was time to check with people from right here and food that makes Vancouver sort of well know. One of those is Japanese and, among the different options, is ramen. Given I work near Robson and Denman, I have easy access to the popular ones: From Santouka to Benkei to Sanpachi. And then there are Kintaro and Motomachi Shokudo. However, in a case of “me, too!”, some smaller places have opened and today’s post is one of them: Hida Takayama Ramen, located in, out of all strange places, in the food court at Robson Market.
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Tagged as:
Downtown,
Japanese,
Lunch,
Noodles,
Vancouver
Culina
6509 112 Avenue (Culina Highlands)
9914 89 Avenue (Culina Mill Creek)
9626 96A Street Northwest (Culina at the Muttart – Muttart conservatory, location visited) 
Edmonton, AB
Before my trip to Edmonton, I checked with several people who lived there as well as natives for points of interests. Me being “me”, there were some usual “caveats”, one of them, for god’s sake, please, do NOT tell me West Edmonton Mall (WEM)! (And, yes, I indeed went there and, due to bad timing, I could skate in the rink at the Ice Palace). But, once they knew what I was looking for, i.e., walkable areas (with the warning Edmonton is not as walkable as Vancouver), something outdoors (yes, again, call me crazy…) and things that, because you are “local”, you tend to overlook it. One of such places ended up being the Muttart Conservatory. But, in addition to the flowers and plants, I knew there was a new location of Culina, a restaurant that seems to be well regarded. So, that’s how Dumbfries and I ended up having a brunch there.
Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of how Culina looks from the inside...
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Tagged as:
Brunch,
Chain Restaurant,
Edmonton,
Lunch,
Sandwich
Delux Burger Bar
9682 142 Street NW
West Edmonton Mall (Location visited)
Edmonton, AB
I have an issue with restaurants which takes something “simple” and, for the heck of it, they complicate it by changing its name. Such is the case of gastropub. What is wrong with pub fare? OK, if you want a fancier environment, fine, just call it a “restaurant” instead of a pub. Of course, that’s my line of thought and it hasn’t stopped anybody from opening fancier versions of regular fare. In this case a “burger bar”. So, while in Alberta, which produces tons of beef, well, why not give this a try? And that’s how I ended up going to Delux Burger Bar.
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Tagged as:
Burgers,
Edmonton,
Lunch
Tau Bay Restaurant
10660 98 Street NW
Edmonton, AB
To most of us, pho appears to be that quintessential Vietnamese dish, along with banh mi. It is can appeal to almost everybody and can easily be adjusted to even neophytes to this cuisine. After all, if we break it down to basics, it is noodles, broth and some meat. Toppings in the form of bean sprouts, Thai basil, ngo gai (sawleaf herb), jalapeño, et al, plus some lime are on the side for the dinner to adjust to suit his/her taste. However, because a lot of people haven’t been to Viet Nam, myself included, I have no yardstick; instead, I can only make assessments base on what I like. However, there are also times where you have fanatics, people who deem that a restaurant has a certain je ne sais quoi… That is the case of Tau Bay Restaurant. How popular is this place? How about it not being open year round and, as a result, people have even created a site just to confirm it is open/closed… At that point, well, you simply can’t help to find out why people has reached that point. I guess the only way for me to find out is to visit it.
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Tagged as:
Edmonton,
Lunch,
Pho
