Kadoya
1063 Davie Street
202 – 1184 Denman Street (location visited)
Vancouver, BC
Sherman: “U working today?”
Me: “Yes, working today. Wait, do you know what that is??? 
”
Sherman: “LOL, Rich Guy and I are going for lunch in Downtown, if u want to join us”
Me: “Where?”
Sherman: “Not sure, was gonna go to Toyama… Do you want to join us? I can pick u up to give u more time”
Me: “What time are you guys planning to go? PO might join us; however, he has a call until noon”
(Couple of minutes later)
Me: “How about Kadoya if not all-you-can-eat? English Bay”
Sherman: “Have u been there?”
Me: “No”
Sherman: “The one in Denman right?”
Me: “They opened a second location in English Bay, across Raincity Grill”
Sherman: “Rich guy says he can make it around 12:30 p.m. Is that too late? Do we need a reservation?”
Me: “12:30 p.m. is fine. So Tomoya or Kadoya? Given the party size and despite I don’t like it, Tomoya might be a better option”
Sherman: “No, Kadoya is fine. I’ll make a reservation for 5?”
Me: “Sure, English Bay location, right?”
Sherman: “Yah”
Once again, if you wonder how some of us food bloggers get together for a meal, more or less this is how it works. One day, Sherman, dropped me that text message and that’s what ended up in Kadoya’s location in English Bay. Next question? 
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Tagged as:
Japanese,
Lunch,
Seafood,
Sushi,
Vancouver,
West End
Delightful Cuisine
1745 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC
For good or for bad, in the couple of blocks near the corner of Robson and Denman in the West End, you tend to get more ethnic restaurant than other parts of Downtown Vancouver. For Japanese, you have different ramen places like Santouka, Kintaro and Motomachi, izakaya like Kingyo and Guu. Then you have several Korean restaurants like Kim Bob Chun Gook, Nor Boo Korean Restaurant, Ap Gu Jung and so on. For Thai, you have Khunnai Chang and Tangthai. However, given there is only that much space in the West End, this growth has come to the expense of others restaurants. For example, Rooster’s Quarters in Denman closed some time ago to be replaced by Pomegrante, which failed as well to now be replaced by Dajia, a Japanese restaurant, which over saturates the existing market. Notice I didn’t mention some that, otherwise, would be ubiquitous like Chinese (there is Main Dining Restaurant, Chongqing, Hon’s and Legendary Noodles) and Vietnamese. Ah, Vietnamese, the one that a lot of times is overshadow by the other ones mentioned above. But, then again, their presence in Downtown is a bit muted and it seems they focus more in the Kingsway and Fraser Street area instead. So, to a certain extent, having one nearby seems to be a good thing. When Delightful Cuisine took over the former spot of a French restaurant (which confirms the above), the question was would it fulfill those expectations?
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Tagged as:
Downtown,
Pho,
Vietnamese,
West End
Great Wall Mongolian BBQ
717 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC
I have bashed at times the all-you-can-eat concept a little bit too much at times. You have to admit it: How much “quality” you can provide when you charge a fix price and there is almost no limit as to how much a diner can eat? OK, sure, hotel buffets charge an arm and a leg and the food can be quite good. But, then, they have mastered it to a certain extent. For the rest, it is a matter of balance things out: calculate based on the average case scenario (though leaning towards the worst case scenario) and hoping most of the customers won’t consume as much.
With that in mind, PO and I went one day to Great Wall Mongolian BBQ (name of the restaurant) for Mongolian BBQ (type of cuisine). The twist in this case is that you fill up a bowl with different meats, vegetables and noodles. Add some sauce and it is then cooked for you on a large griddle. What’s so funny about this? Because Mongolian BBQ (the cuisine), despite the pamphlet they provide explaining their cuisine, is neither Mongolian nor it is “BBQ”! Anyway, we were up for it…
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Tagged as:
BBQ,
Lunch,
Taiwanese,
Vancouver,
West End
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
The Dish
1068 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC
There are times when we “lament” restaurants do not do homestyle cooking. But, then again, why should it? I mean, if you can cook it at home, chances are, you might not want to get it in a restaurant! However, that is assuming you belong to that culture… For us Chinese, it is the issue of where you were born (or your parents were born) but, overall, you can find Cantonese and more recently Shanghai, Taiwan and Beijing. Some regions… Well, that might be more difficult. But, how about Western style home cooking? Given that “meat-and-potatoes” stereotype, I guess it would be “easier” to tackle that concept. And that’s more or less what is served at The Dish (plus, given we are in Vancouver, the concept of being “good” food).
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Tagged as:
Lunch,
Vancouver,
West End
Checkers Bar & Grill
1755 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC
OK, OK, the World Cup is over but I still have posts in the queue from those days… Sorry? ^_^;;; So, similar to my posts to Fogg N’ Suds and Dover Arms Pub, PO and I chose to go to pubs to watch the games – except that day there was no game. Despite that, PO was fine to visit a pub just for kicks (or drinks). At first, we were planning to go to some pubs in English Bay but, guess what? When we arrived, despite it had a sandwich board outside and the doors weren’t locked, there was absolutely nobody there! We took a peek around and there was absolutely nobody. So, without further hesitation, we just turned around and look for the closest pub and, among the several ones, we ended up going to Checkers Bar & Grill.
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Tagged as:
pub,
Sandwich,
West End
Donair Dude
1172 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC
Last week, I wrote this tweet:
Just noticed/realized something: There are a lot of shawarma shops open/opening soon in the West End! Boom of Middle Eastern food?
Years ago, when I was living in the West End, I remember only a handful of such Middle Eastern eateries. There was Falafel King (with a second location in Davie) and Mediterranean Grill. Now, there are a couple of Babylon Cafe locations, Donair King, Sammy’s Hot Wing (which, could fall into the category of being there a long time as well), etc. etc. So, when FOODgrl wrote about yet-another such shops – Donair Dude – I was wondering… Was there anything that would make them stand out from the rest? Yes there was…
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Tagged as:
Lunch,
Middle Eastern,
Vancouver,
West End
