Edible Vancouver

The Gourmet Warehouse is sold out but they suggest that any of the Iranian stores on Lonsdale in North Vancouver will have it. Cheers, Eric

I am having dinner there on Saturday night so I will let you know! Cheers, Eric

I have been amiss in not keeping up with this thread, but here are a few places from early last week. Lift – a great room and view, personable service but the seafood dishes I ordered were a very overcooked (scallops and prawn skewers). I am also not a fan of having my wine in the new “O” glasses and I forgot to ask for a real wine glass.  However, I look forward to hanging out on the patio for drinks this summer! Umami – what a great place that seems to be flying under the radar. I had appies and drinks with Debora there last week and was very impressed with the quality of the food. The crab spring rolls with avocado salad were amazing as was the salmon sashimi which was served with tiny dollops of Japanese mayo topped with pink peppercorns. My new favorite place for dinner (going again tonight). Shiru Bay – a large and noisy room where we took some out of town guests for a Vancouver Happa experience. We chose the 11 course tasting menu for $30 which was a great value and we left stuffed. Some very interesting selections that evening by the chef, but overall a good experience. Relish – another place that is hidden below an office building and seems hardly be mentioned, but the food was surprisingly good. I am always a little nervous of a place the bills itself as a restaurant and lounge with a clubby kind of feel as Relish does, but the chicken satay skewers with Asian slaw and a prawn dish (which I can’t remember) were both way beyond my expectations and the prices are very reasonable. The service was also very good! Cheers, Eric

This past week I managed a short but busy trip to Vancouver Island to check out what the area had to offer in terms of culinary treasures. All I can say is that I was not disappointed! I will give you a quick rundown of what I discovered. Accommodations I spent my first night at the Marriott Downtown, which is the newest hotel in Victoria. It has a great location just off the inner harbor and the rooms are spacious and well appointed. The hotel also has a great restaurant called Fire and Water which is presided over by Chef Keenliside, the original chef from Brio. It is a great place to stay and eat! On my second night I had the pleasure of staying at the Sooke Harbour House. Still rated as one of the ten best hotels in the world, it is not hard to see why. Prompt, attentive service, fantastic rooms and then there is the food (which will be discussed below). While the rooms can tend to be on the expensive side (especially during peak season), it is a great place for a weekend get away in the shoulder or off seasons. My last night was spent at Spinnaker’s Guesthouse which is comprised of residences that have been purchased in the blocks surrounding the Brew Pub. Accommodations range from rooms in a heritage home built in the late 1800’s to rooms in contemporary homes built less than 10 years ago. I stayed in the heritage house but found it to be quite noisy although very well appointed and a good value. I would suggest requesting a room in a new house or on the top floor. I also had the opportunity to tour, although not stay in a few other properties. Bear Mountain Golf Resort now has a 60 room hotel that has opened. It is situated right next to the clubhouse and will cater to all types of golf fanatics. The rooms are very spacious and well appointed, but may be a little dark and cold for my taste with lost of dark wood and muted colors. Currently there are plans to add another wing to the hotel and a restaurant, spa, etc. which should be open in the middle of 2006. While I was in Sooke I also took a drive out to Point No Point and had a look at the cabins and restaurant. This is a rustic type of set up although the cabins are well appointed and have great views of the ocean and the pounding surf can be seen and heard right from your private hot tub on the deck of each cabin. The dinner menu looks a little limited although I understand it is very well done. Two other notable places of mention would be Hartmann House and Cooper’s Cove which are both B&B’s in Sooke. Hartmann House (which is where I stayed on my honeymoon 7 years ago) still has one of my favorite rooms anywhere. A huge king sized bed is made from a single tree and an extra large Jacuzzi tub for 2 is situated beside a fireplace. The property is located in East Sooke and is a short drive from Sooke Harbour House for dinner! Cooper’s Cove is also located in the same area and is owned and operated by Angelo Prosperi-Porta who was a member of Culinary Team Canada in 1994. As you can imagine the food gets rave reviews and he also conducts a cooking school which can be included as part of your stay. Restaurants My first stop in Victoria was the new Fire and Water restaurant in the Marriott Hotel for drinks. The restaurant and lounge are nicely appointed but still a little too Marriott corporate in style for my taste. The restaurant is headed up by Jeff Keenliside (ex Brio) and focuses on fresh local ingredients. On my first night I had dinner at Brasserie L’Ecole which is under the guidance of Sean Brennan (another ex Brio chef). The menu and wine list are small and focused and the food is very good. I had a endive salad with bacon, apple, hazelnuts and a mustard wine dressing followed by the braised lamb shank with merguez sausage, Moroccan chickpeas and cinnamon/honey roasted squash. Both dish were very well executed and incredibly flavorful. My dining companion had a French Onion Soup and a red-wine braised duck leg with lentils du puy and roast parsnips. His soup was very good although the duck was not overly inspiring. My favorite part of the restaurant is the wine list as anything is available by the glass as long as you order 2 glasses. Just take the bottle price and divide by 5 – a great concept! The next day I had a number of meetings so it was a sit down breakfast at the Ocean Point for a tourism meeting that is not even worth mentioning. For lunch, it was off to another meeting and a quick bite at the Grand Pacific Hotel. Grilled Halibut skewers on a mesculin salad was simple and tasty, but not overly exciting, especially when compared to dinner that evening. Dinner on Thursday was another memorable meal at Sooke Harbour House. As usual the food and service was perfect. The meal was paired with all BC wines, 4 of which came from Venturi Schulz. I don’t even think this needs comments, just read the menu for the evening: Carrot Cream Soup drizzled with rosemary oil, accompanied with pumpkin seed crusted goat’s cheese, beet jellies and garnished with peppercress. Trap caught smoked sable fish and leek terrine with a grilled grand fir marinated baby onion, a sour dough crisp and a julienne of pink lady apple, and a red wine vinegar, apple juice, fruit sage reduction with leek oil Coriander seed dusted and roasted Maple Wood Farm lamb loin with a red wine meat stock reduction and a sour cherry, oxeye daisy compote, a wild rice, morel mushroom and spinach perogie, with sweet and sour braised purple cabbage and bok choy Dungeness crab crusted Petrole sole in a miso, ginger, lavender, shrimp and porphyra seaweed broth, with a celery root fritter, a ruby beet and maple syrup, pear cider braised rutabaga A cheese course then followed with more than 8 different Canadian goat, sheep and ewe’s milk cheeses (we skipped dessert) The next morning it was so sunny and warm breakfast was served in my room on the patio (and I made sure to call my friends in Toronto and let then know)! Other notable places to eat in the Sooke area include Markus’ Warfside Eatery which was closed during my visit as he is in Mexico until the end of the month, but from all accounts, it is worth a stop as he really focuses on regional ingredients as well. Also stop at the Little Vienna Bakery in Sooke for pastries (apple strudel and croissants is you are hungry after a walk on the Galloping Goose Trail. Another interesting place to eat according to one of the staff at Sooke Harbour House is called Sushi on the Sea where you are actually taken out on a sailboat into Sooke Harbour and served sushi while you enjoy the sites. After my morning in Sooke it was back to Victoria to check out more of the places on my list. Dinner that evening consisted of a Dine Around Victoria on my own schedule with a couple of dishes at 6 different places. My first stop was Spinnaker’s where I sampled all of the local brews (just a little of each though) This is another place that is committed to local island products and really focuses on quality, not only in their beers but also with their food. A great place to stop for a pint! Next it was off to Canoe – another pub just down the street with a great patio for summer. The food was okay but the room and patio would be great once the weather warmed up a touch more (Victoria was not quite as warm as Sooke). Now that I was getting warmed up it was off to Paprika. I was able to sample two dishes – the house made smoked pork sausage and a crispy octopus salad with cannelli beans and a lemon dressing which I washed down with a glass of Alderlea Chardonnay. The food coming out of this kitchen is amazing and the service is just a good. This is my number on choice to eat in Victoria the next time I go. I need to try a full meal! After Paprika I headed over to Zambri’s which is known locally as a great spot for lunch, but was relatively quiet for dinner on a Friday night. I managed a plate of spicy tuna Carpaccio and a few fresh oysters while watching Peter Zambri work in the open kitchen. The food was fresh and very well presented. This is a great place to have lunch when in Victoria a grab a quick bite for dinner at the bar, but it is a little low on ambience for a romantic dinner. Next stop – Café Brio. Still the leader in the fine dining segment in Victoria and with good reason. The room was packed, people were having a good time and the food is amazing! I nibbled on a beef Carpaccio and some terrines which were sent out by the kitchen (pigs trotters and rabbit ballontine) both of which were excellent. The menu is very regionally focused and the wine list offers some great hard to find BC wines. My last stop for the evening was Temple. Friday nigh at 11:00 pm and the place was still bussing (which is a lot to say in Victoria was Brio emptied out while I sat there at 9:30!!!). Temple is a very loud and sparsely decorated restaurant with more of a bar focus, although almost every table had food. The food was interesting but excessively salty from the two dishes I tried however, the martinis were excellent! This is a great place to go for drinks after dinner if you don’t mind the noise. The one place that I did not get to that I would like to try on my next trip over is the new Rosemead Dining Room at the Old English Resort. It is a five-minute drive outside of the downtown core but it looks like it may be another great place to dine in Victoria. Other Places of Interest Some of the other places I visited that are worth a stop for a food focused visit included: Ottavio – a great café and deli in Oak Bay with a fantastic selection of local and Canadian cheeses. Charelli’s – another cheese shop started about a year ago by a mother and daughter in a residential area of Victoria. They have a great selection of cheeses from around the world. Engeler Farm – Mara Jerinigan and her partner Alfons run Engeler. Mara is just in the process of setting up a new culinary B&B, cooking school and farm of which the details should be available in about a month’s time. Some of the local vineyards I visited included: Cherry Point Vineyards – the new owners (local native band) have continued the operation and have plans for expansion in the near future. Try the blackberry port. Make sure you ask which wines are estate grown (on the island). Blue Grouse Vineyards – a small vineyard that is open on weekends and sometimes during the week during the winter. One of the few vineyards with estate-grown grapes. Try the Ortega. Alderlea – hard to find, hardly ever open to the public, but yet well worth the effort. This winery is so popular with high-end restuarants that they generally only open for four months a year to the public as they sell out of everything during that time due to allotments to restaurants. If you can get in to see them, buy the Angelique which is great with Thai food. The Pinot Gris and Viognier which they produce can only be found in restaurants such as Sooke Harbour House. Glenterra Vineyards is another very small vineyard with only four types of wine (2 of which are sold out). All of the grapes used are estate grown and they have some unique blends. Try the 2004 Pinot Gris which will be released in the spring – I had a barrel sample and it is amazing for an island wine! Zanatta is closed until sometime in March. Two other places also worth a stop are the Merridale Ciderworks which produces some great cider products, both traditional and modern. My personal favorite was the Cyser which is great with spicy food as it has a touch of honey added to it. Another good stop in Sooke is the Tugwell Creek Honey Farm and Meadery where you can sample local honey and drink mead. They are only open very select hours at this time of year so call ahead. If you want more details on any of the places mentioned above, please feel free to send me a PM or email. Cheers, Eric

Thank you all for your great suggestions! I can't wait to give them all a try (when time permits). Cheers, Eric

I was just over there on the weekend and spent a few hours with Mara discovering the backroads of the Cowichan Valley. Engeler is an amazing place - right next door to Venturi Schulz. Mara has plans for a new venture in the coming months, which I will keep you aprised of. I will also post a quick trip report in the coming days regarding a four day tour I took last week which took me to the Cowichan Valley, Sooke and Victoria with stops at many of the great establishments over there. Cheers, Eric

Aside from Vij's and Rangoli - both are great but I need somewhere new... Thanks! Eric

Good morning, I am trying to find the most authentic Indian restaurant in Vancouver that has great food. Service is not the number one priority! If a thread has already been started on this I apologize as I could not find one, but if so, could you please point me to it! If not, I would appreciate any feedback that you can offer. (Distance is also not an issue, anywhere in Greater Vancouver is fine.) Cheers, Eric

The restaurant is called Ba Guo Bu Yi Szechuan and Yu Miao turns out hundreds of these buns a day! In an article by Tim Pawsey last year, Yu was quoted as saying: "You see, the secret is how we keep the juicy in. Almost everywhere else makes dumplings too. But they're usually frozen. And that makes all the difference because they'll stick to the steamer when you try to take them out." And lose "the juicy." The restaurant and the buns are fantastic! Stephanie Yuen hosted a dinner there for a group of 10 of us last November and paired a 15 course meal with wines for us (a very interesting experience). It is located at 8130 Park Rd. just off 3 Road. Cheers, Eric

I have had a few meals at Oysi Oysi and have never been dissapointed, but I do agree that Kamei is probably a more consistent venue. If Perry, the owner, is not on shift I have heard that service levels drop. As for the rice, I have never had that experience and I am a person who scrutinizes the rice as my wife is Japanese! It has been a few months since I was last there, so I am not sure if it is still up to the same standards. Cheers, Eric

If she likes Asian food I would go with Oysi Oysi (by the liquor store on Alberni) or a nice salad at Saveaur on Thurlow (ex Picolo Mondo).

I second the vote for the Raven - the best watering hole on the North Shore! I also like a place called the Arms Reach Bistro which is just a little further down the road right in the Cove. The have individual wine lockers and will order in your favorite wine(s) (the owner's wife works for an importer) and keep it ready for you with a very minimal mark-up (they had 1999 Nota Bene for $45 a bottle recently). Nice glassware and a leather couch to hang out on -my idea of a perfect place after work. As a side note - Andrew mentioned the Red Lion Pub in Dundarave. The ex-owner of the Park Royal Hotel, Mario, will soon be taking over the helm and welcoming his many generations of customers from the hotel pub that is being missed!

I have just returned from an evening of gracious hospitality at the Irish Heather. Sean went above and beyond and everyone in my party was most impressed with the evening. The soup and smoked white salmon on the first course were fantastic (Sean prepared a smoked white salmon for me to cater to my allergies). The smoked tomato soup was rich, dark and nicely flavored and the smoked white salmon was simply perfect! It’s nice to find a place that can dress a salad properly. The salmon pasta was a little disappointing in both flavor and texture, but the member of my group who ordered that was more than happy to help me with the smoked salmon on my plate! The ribs and polenta were a hit as well, although more so the polenta. I finally now have an idea of why people were making the comments they did about the ribs. I think when everyone reads the menu they are thinking of ribs that are sticky and glistening with a dark beer sauce that has been reduced to a thicker consistency, and not a broth. However, the broth and the ribs were both flavorful and tender, just not what we were expecting based on the menu description. The vegetables were perfectly cooked and seasoned as well. Overall, a very nice “Irish style” dish! While the first and second courses were good, the highlight of the meal had to be the desserts. The sugar nut pie, the chocolate pot and the tarte tatin with the cinnamon ice cream were all very good – although the sugar nut pie was declared the favorite. Great coconut ice as well! Overall the food was very good and for $15 it was an incredible value. I look forward to going again to try the regular menu. Thanks for a great evening Sean! Cheers, Eric

A group of 8 of us went to Gotham last night as part of DOV and had a pleasant experience. The room was very busy but they only take 120 covers a night for DOV and the rest of the room is regular clientele (about 150 covers according to our server). The menu was very simple and not very exciting but it was well executed. The starter choices were either a Ceasaer Salad or Sauted Garlic Prawns both of which were well executed but neither was overly exciting. The main course featured a choice of a 10oz New York Steak or Seabass with roasted potatoes, green beans and sauteed mushrooms. Everyone at our table had the steak and they were all perectly cooked and seasoned. The potatoes were a touch on the dry side, but the beans and mushrooms were well done. For dessert it was Belgian Chocoloate Bourban Cake or fresh berries (which should never be served at this time of the year)! The cake was hit as it dissapeared very quickly around the table! The service was probably the best part of the evening as everything from the greeting to the departure was perfect. Our server was funny and informative and very well versed on the wine list which I felt offered some pretty good values. My only dissapointment with the evening came due to my allergy as I had called ahead 2 days in advance to let them know I was allergic to wheat and dairy. When they called to confirm my reservation that had told me that they had taken care of everything. However, when my main course arrived it was just a steak with 3 times the amount of green beans to replace the potatoes and mushrooms. While I love green beans, I would have really prefered to have a starch of somekind with my steak. I have now been to Morton's and Gotham in the past few months and in my mind, Gotham wins the battle hands down. A much better room, better service and more reasonable prices for both the steaks and the wine. No one needs to eat 20oz of meat as is typically served at Morton's! Cheers, Eric

I agree with Andrew as these people create a negative impression for those of us with legitimate allergies. And it is only because of great chefs like Neil that I can dine out as often as I do without worrying! I really appreciate it! Thank you! Eric

This is in defense of all people with allergies... Food allergies do exist and for some people like myself, they can be extremely unpleasant! That being said, there are some general rules that people with an allergy should abide by. If someone has a food allergy, generally they know about it long befoe they get to a restaurant. I generally call ahead (as much as 3 to 4 days depending how far out I am planning) and let the restaurant know that I will be coming in for dinner and that I have allergies to wheat and dairy. With advance notice, most restaurants are more than capable of adjusting a menu or creating a dish that meets my requirements. I have been to four restaurants thus far for DOV and each one has taken great effort to provide me with a great meal - but all were very appreciative of the advance notice. A food allergy can be very unpleasant, especially for someone who loves to eat out as much as I do. I would prefer to not have an allergy and rememeber the days when I could eat whatever I want, but that is not the case now. It has changed my travel patterns, and limited my sweet tooth, but it is because of the great chefs in Vancouver that I am still able to indulge in my passion for food on a frequent basis. The bottom line is that it is all about respecting the restaurant and its staff. Other than a couple of exceptions in Vancouver, I have encountered very few restaurants that cannot cater to a special diet, and if given the appropriate notice, they generally do such a fantastic job that my dining companions comment that they wish they had an allergy too! Please don't lump all of us together will the self-absobed people who just don't like something and tell you at the last minute! Cheers, Eric (a.k.a. MrGourmet)

What a great evening! Gail and I had a fantastic time, great conversation, and even learned what a "blog" is! The staff at West are definitely the best in the city (IMHO) and the food Chef Hawksworth prepared for my special diet (as I am allergic to wheat and dairy) was outstanding! I started with an amuse bouche of duck confit topped with a twice roasted fois gras and a crab apple jelly, followed by the terrine which I matched with the Petit Verdot from De Bartoli. Gail had the Smoked Sablefish and Quadra Island Honey Mussel Soup that she said was excellent paired with a French wine whose name escapes me at this time. For the intermittent course, the kitchen provided me with an endive and walnut salad with a lemon vinaigrette which was perfectly prepared which was then followed by the Steelhead with Pumpkin, Sunchoke and Shellfish Essence. It was with great confidence that our food runner pronounced that it was a perfectly cooked piece of salmon - and he was right! This was paired by Kevin our server with the Burrowing Owl Chardonnay that matched the fish nicely. Gail had the Wild Mushroom and Ricotta Ravioli with Truffle and White Mushroom Broth which was fantastic - you can never go wrong with truffles!!! Dessert is always a bit more of a challenge without dairy and wheat, but a kiwi sorbet and fresh fruit was a perfect ending to the meal. However, the look on Gail's face as she ate the Caramelized Lady Apple with Fig Compote made me think I might be missing something! Many, many thanks to Tricia for organizing such a great night! Three dinners down and a few more to go! Cheers, Eric

Gail and I, along with four of our friends were also in for dinner on Friday night at 7:00 pm and had a very similar experience to those mentioned in this thread. Late seating, very poor service, average food and to boot we were asked to leave at 9:00 pm even though it was 7:40 before we even received a glass of water! See my post for Coast Restaurant with a comparison of our experiences. Cheers, Eric

I am embarrased to say that my wife and I love to use DOV as en excuse to get together with friends who we rarely see and to meet new ones so we have booked a table of 8 for nine of the nights. We are heading to... 1) Bis Moreno 2) Coast 3) West (Egullet) 4) Five Sails 5) Cafe de Paris 6) Gotham 7) Parkside 8) Raincity 9) Irish Heather 10) C Restaurant We still have some seats available for Irish Heather (Feb. 2), Raincity (Jan. 31) and Five Sails (Jan. 24th) if any Egulleters want to join us. See you all at West! Eric

I finally have time to catch up on some of the things I have been meaning to post. Mrs. Gourmet and I, along with her sister, headed up to Cornucopia last weekend for Friday and Saturday and had a great time. We started our Friday morning listening to Memory Walsh and Tim Palsey banter back and forth about wines at “He Said/She Said”. The session was entertaining and more intimate than we had expected with only about 10 people who signed up for the tasting. The most interesting part of the tasting was a blind comparison of the first two wines. We tasted a Chardonnay (RH Phillips 2003) and Merlot (Tinhorn Creek Oldfield Merlot 2001) both from a corked bottle and a screw cap bottle. While there were some similarities between the wines, not one person in the room guessed that the first two glasses of the Chardonnay were the same wine. The nose and flavors were very different due to the closure method. A similar experience was had with the Merlot. The nose on the screw cap bottles was so much more pronounced than that of the cork, and even the finish of the wine was different. It was a very interesting experiment. These four wines were followed up with 8 more wines and some interesting discussions from many of the restaurateurs and writers in the room. After our tasting we wandered over to Trattoria di Umberto which is one of my favorite places for a quiet lunch in Whistler (quiet being the key word). We had an antipasto plate followed by courses of wild mushroom and truffle risotto, veal stuffed with wild mushrooms and a sausage pasta which I don’t really remember. All of this wash washed down with more wine – a bottle of Chianti if I remember correctly! My afternoon was spent at the Trade Tasting in the Whistler Conference Center where I was lucky enough to get to taste 100 or so wines, some of which were straight from the barrels and have yet to be released. What a great way to spend an afternoon and it just made me think of how great the Playhouse wine festival will be next year – 3 straight days of tasting!!! If you want details on the wines, etc. please send me a PM. Mrs. Gourmet and her sister spent the afternoon shopping. We had opted to skip the CRUSH event as I had heard that it was over crowed last year and that you stood in line for everything so we decided to relax in the hot tub and have a quick dinner at Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub. The food was simple, but well prepared. I enjoyed a nice steak with fluffy mashed potatoes and a great demi, while the ladies shared a bowl of butternut squash and almond soup, and a crab and shrimp sandwich which they said was quite good. The prices were a little on the high side ($18 for a plate of Nachos) but no more than expected in Whistler. We were lucky enough to wrangle tickets to the after party at Araxi on the Friday night called Bubbles, Jazz and the Deep Blue which had amazing food with a sushi bar, Oyster bar (more than 800 oysters shucked), a chilled seafood bar, other assorted hors d’ouvres and an amazing dessert buffet. All this was complimented by more than 12 different types of champagne all rated 90 or higher! A copy of the menu can be seen at http://www.whistlercornucopia.com/cornucop.../Araxi_Jazz.pdf There was a great jazz band and lots of drinking, eating and dancing into the wee hours of the morning. On Saturday morning we had hoped to make it to the Recovery Room to listen to everyone recount the events of the past evening, but we did not make it out of bed in time. Instead we opted for a late brunch at Wildwood Bistro at the Whistler Racquet Club which we had continually been told had the best breakfast in Whistler. Well I can report that the place was busy, the food was very cheap (even by non-Whistler standards) but you do get what you pay for. The Eggs Benny and omelets were average at best and the service – what service??? Overall, the weekend was lots of fun and we wish we could have stayed longer. We will just have to plan better next year! Cheers, Eric

I have been making an effort to try and get out to try some of the restaurants I have been wanting to try for some time, so Mrs. Gourmet and I took a few days off and managed to try a few in the last week or so. I know this is more than the requested 3, but I will save having to write some later as I never seem to have the time. I stopped for a quick take-out dinner at Rangoli on south Granville last week. I was pleasantly surprised to find enough choices without wheat or dairy to make a full meal for myself while enough variety to keep Mrs. Gourmet happy. We ended up with a fabulous lamb curry, yummy yam patties, sautéed kale and potatoes, cumin rice, 3 chutney’s and naan for $30! A must stop on the way home from Meinhardt’s! We had lunch at the Smoking Dog in Kits on Monday and we quite disappointed with the quality and service. Details are in the Westside lunch forum. Phnom Penh was a great recommendation from Mr. Maw and was a cheap and wonderful lunch on Sunday. We tried the requisite Pho just to find out how it compared to other Pho restaurants, followed by the squid (grandmother’s recipe), and a fried rice patty in coconut topped with ground pork and fried onions. Highly recommended! Kansai Sushi at 15th and Lonsdale has out standing order ready at least a couple nights a week if not more. We have tried everyone of the sushi restaurants on Lonsdale and a lot of the other ones located on the North Shore and no one makes better rice than Kansai (and my wife is Japanese so she is a little picky about her rice! ) I stopped for a quick lunch at Cassis on Thursday and got what I expected; a nice small bowl of Coq au Vin with the Dijon on the side. The dish was flavorful but only warm and the service left a little to be desired, but overall, it was okay. Where else can you go and have lunch for two for $20 in DT Vancouver! Another new place we like to stop for a bite to eat is Brown’s on upper Lonsdale. We have been a few times and usually get good service and pretty good food for a very good price. Don’t laugh, but I usually have the Pad Thai for $10 and a glass of wine – in and out for less than $20 – a great value in my mind and the Pad Thai is not too bad either. Last weekend we made a long awaited trip to Richmond which meant shopping at Yaohan and a snack at the fabulous Food Court. I love the fact that most of the signs aren’t even in English and that it doesn’t seem to matter what you choose, it is authentic, cheap and incredibly good. Another frequent stop for me lately has been Chambar. I know it has been having issues with services, the wine list, etc. but in general I still find it too be a great value with good food and a nice room in the evening. I am not a big fan of the room during the day and the lunch service tends to make the night service look much, much better. On the positive side I have been told that they have hired a consultant to get the service levels up to par. All I can say is – two lamb shanks for less than $20 with amazing cous cous! As mentioned under the Hanger Steak forum, the Hamilton Street Grill was a great place for dinner on Friday night and I can’t wait to go back. Chef Neil is the consummate host! I will also post some details on the meals we enjoyed in Whistler at Cornucopia last weekend (Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub, Araxi, Trattoria di Umberto and Wildwood Bistro) as well in the Cornucopia forum. If anyone wants more details on any of these places, please send me a PM. Happy eating! Eric

Jamie, Do you know if Saveur is open for lunch? Eric

I would second Sam's recommendation for West, especially over the Smoking Dog as my wife and I went there for lunch today and had one of the worst meals I have had recently. I ordered a lobster salad (I probably should have known better) and the lobster that came was in two pieces smaller than my thumb and it was so tough I could barely cut it with my knife and had feezerburn so bad it was visible. I told our waiter it was unacceptable, but given that my wife had already started her lunch, I opted to eat the salad. The salad consisted of some sliced apple and mesculin greens and was smaller than a typical cup of soup. The waiter then proceeded to charge me $8 for this tiny plate of lettuce, which was a discount off the $19 it was supposed to be with the lobster. A terrible value anyway you have it! My wife's food on the other hand was good but not outstanding with a bowl of tomato soup and a leek and onion tart. Two glasses of Sylvaner rounded out the bill which was just above $50. Hardly a deal for what we received and the service was not a reason to rush back either. Hopefully this was just a one-off occasion as the menu looked promising but I would certainly have a hard time recommending this restaurant to anyone else.

I would like to make a reservation when it comes in too, as now I am very keen to try it. Neil - please let us know when it arrives!

That would be the Mrs. who is the bottomless pit! We need to change your name to MrBottomlessPit! A. ←