PaoPao

Last night my friends and I had the opportunity to have dinner at the newly opened "Tempest Steakhouse" on Main Street. One of the refreshing aspects of this place is that it is a nice but casual environment. The GM used to work at Morton's and has brought over to their menu the famous Sirloin Tip Sliders that were served in the bar at Morton's. We had a nice selection of appetizers for the table with drinks. Everything was served hot and tasty. Then on to the main course which for me was a Rib Eye with Peppercorn sauce and two side consisting of creamed corn and a potato gratin. The steak was delicious, perfectly cooked and tender. The standout of the two sides was the house made creamed corn .... just amazing. It was all we could do to keep one of our friends at the table to not lick his plate clean. Great service with very friendly staff and a reasonably close location to downtown will definitely have us going back.

La Brasserie, 1091 Davie Street. Went for Dinner on a Friday night and arrived at 7:30 PM to a packed house. No problem, we had a great selection of wines and beer to choose from while waiting about 20 min. Very nice and cozy atmosphere with great food. We had the Suckling Pig and the Hanger Steak. Perfectly cooked and delicious. Looking forward to going back and trying other things on the menu Voya, 1177 Melville St. Drinks. We had some amazing concoction that Jay made. Fantastic place to hang out and let Jay make up some creative drinks for you. Twisted Fork, 1147 Granville Street. Sunday Brunch we had spicy Ceasers, fresh squeezed OJ, baked scrambled eggs with gruyere and a meat pie (tortierre?). Excellent food and value with very friendly service. We went again for dinner the following week and ordered the Mussels & Fries, Snails, Strip loin, Lamb shank, and Crème Brule. Everything excellent. Duffins, 1391 41st Avenue East. This place makes 2 things that I love. 1) the Spicy Fried Chicken rocks, best I have had in the city by far. 2) The Vietnamese chicken and cold cut sandwiches are delicious. If you can put up with the sticky floor and construction workers driving their backhoe's into the lot to park for a cup of coffee and like the above 2 things, this place is great. Earls, Mainland Street. We really like the decor of the place. The food is alright, it's Earls. We had the Crispy Rib ends, Hamburger, and Beef Dip. Tasty but nothing memorable. On the radar for the near future: The Refinery Ping's Wang's Fatburger Two chef's and a table Crime Lab

Looks like a new place is going into the former Diner / Flite location on Hamilton St. Anyone know what it will be?

Never been in there but my wife and I while walking past it 2-3 weeks ago saw a sign that said "Restaurant Makeover" in the window. I have no idea if it was the show on Food Network.

We visited the Denman location on Sunday. The street was blocked off and a ton of people were walking around enjoying the sun. I was anticipating a huge line up but when I got there ... nothing. I just walked right up to the counter and ordered. Maybe the Beard Papa trend has yet to catch on with downtown residents. St. Germain Bakery still seems to be in operation as well with the upper space for Beard Papa and the lower St. Germain. The puffs were the same as I had tried in Richmond but at least this time I was able to try the éclair without it being sold out.

Was walking by the former Saint Germain Bakery on Denman by Davie and saw that Beard Papa will be occupying the space soon.

Rodney's is fantastic, especially during their "Low Tide" times between 3 and 6 pm on Weekdays. This is their equivalent to happy hour. It's hardly ever busy then, prices are about half off, the staff is friendly and the food is always good.

Pinky's Steakhouse (Hamilton St.) - What a great change from the LK dining room. It looks totally different and has a great updated Steakhouse look and vibe. Service, drinks, and food were very good and a decent value. We are very happy with this addition to the hood. Transylvania Flavor Company (West Broadway) - Great winter food when only something hearty will do. I had the Pork Schnitzel and really enjoyed it. Flite (Hamilton St.) - We really were impressed by the renovations from the old Diner. Beautiful interior and a great place to relax, share some small plates and a few drinks. A few wow items on the menu we liked alot, but for the most part the food was nothing special. Motomachi Noodle house (Denman just north of Robson) - This is the same ownership we learned as Kintaro just a few doors up the street. Excellent noodles and soup. Just delicious, one of our favourite places for a rainy, cold weather dinner to warm us up. Taco Con Chile (Davie and Burrard) – I still miss Chilo … anyway I had the lunch special with 2 Tacos, rice and beans for $5. Pretty good deal and I had the Carne Asada and Lengua tacos. If I was passing by and wanted a taco at that very moment I would probably go in, other than that I wouldn't go out of my way again. Cookies by George (Denman St.) - As the wife is a chocoholic I loaded up on the Chocolate chunk cookies, a brownie, and a few Oatmeal Cookies for me. She really did not like any of them but I thought the Oatmeal Cookies were great. Nuba ( Seymour and Davie) - Been to this place a few time now and it is really hit and miss. Decent fare for a decent price. So.Cial (Water St.) - We had lunch there and I tried the Burger with Foie Gras Bacon which was fantastic. My wife had the Salmon which she really enjoyed as well. I love the Sandwiches in the Butcher Shop and the lunch in the main dining room was every bit as good. Duffin's Donuts (Knight St. & ?) - Their Chicken Vietnamese Sub is amazing, just delicious. Firewood Cafe (Cambie St.) - I've become addicted to their Quattro Fromaggio pizza with the peppers. Nice crispy thin crust and great flavor.

Just saw in the Westender a Grand Opening ad for "Taco Con Chile" located at 1308 Burrard St. at Drake. $1.75 Tacos and also advertising "Vancouvers Best Burrito". Anyone been yet?

If your friend likes Italian food I would suggest "Nick's" on Commercial Drive, good food and huge portions. I have friends who have said the same thing about "Anton's" on Hastings too, haven't tried it yet though. Also, at the "Two Parrots" on Granville and Davie you can order their big burger. It's about $36.00 and is the size of a Basketball, pretty tasty too.

Just noticed that "Pinky's" is starting to remodel the old LK Dining Room space.

We went to Kintaro on Denman for Lunch this weekend and really enjoyed it as usual. I had the Miso Ramen (Medium Rich with Fatty Pork), the wife had the Forrest Fire Ramen. I didn't care too much for hers but loved mine. We were told that the Kintaro owners have opened a new place a few doors down that specializes in Ramen Noodles in Chicken Broth. It's so new that while there was a usual long line up at Kintaro, this place was only 1/4 full. We plan to go back and try it as the menu looks great. Dinner was Beard Papa Cream Puffs, oh man I'm in love. Lunch today was the counter at Save-on Meats on Hastings. I had an excellent Bacon and Cheddar burger, definetly recommend it. My buddy had the Buffalo burger which he equally enjoyed. Couldn't leave the place without getting a box of BBQ'd spare ribs and Meatballs at the Deli.

We happened to be at Aberdeen Center Sat, my bride wanted to see Daiso (the $2 Asian store) so as I was walking around and saw the buzz. When I got there and decided to get in line there must have been 100 ppl ahead of me. After 30 min. I was able to get a dozen. Unfortunately they were not selling the "Who's your Papa" T-shirts yet. Between the two of us the dozen only lasted till the next morning. I asked my chaquita how many she had eaten of the now empty box. She replied "half". I then clarified you mean 6? She said no, half of just 1 ... chock up 11 for me then , but damn they are good. I remember what must have been the owners, two guys in suits with their mouths wide open taking pictures of the mad rush and huge line-up.

My friend and I had lunch from the butcher shop in the lounge at So.Cial today. What a fantastic place! I ordered the medium Roast Beef Sandwich that came with home made potato chips. Best sandwich I have had in years. In it were choices of additions like Roasted pepper slices, garlic aioli, then the regular sandwich stuff (lettuce, onion, tomato, pickle) all on some great bread. I also had a fresh baked Chocolate Chip Cookie and a lemonada. Great portions, very reasonable prices, fantastic service, delicious food, all in a great location. My friend had the potato salad and pulled pork chili which when done, he loudly pronounced that this was his new favorite place. Be sure to get there before noon as the place was packed almost immediately with the lunch crowd. We had a chance to talk to Maureen who gave us some background on the space and what they did to restore / renovate everything. She and the staff were fantastic and we are looking forward to going back to try the food in the main restaurant and Oyster Bar.

Salsa & Agave Mexican Grill is now open at 1223 Pacific Boulevard in Yaletown. 604-408-4228, open Tuesday to Sunday 11:00 am to 9:30 PM. My wife and I had lunch yesterday here and we really enjoyed it. We tried their tacos (Carne Asada, Lengua, Chorizo, and Pastor), all delicious and a reasonable price of 4 for $8.00 . I also ordered their daily special for yesterday which was Beef Enchiladas, also very tasty. Their menu has all the usual suspects of a Mexican Grill and also a few carry overs from Banano's like the Bandeja Paisa and various types of Arepas. I am definetly looking forward to going back and trying more things. Also, next door the new Dairy Queen is open ...

Banano's on Pacific which was closed for renovations is no more. It has been replaced with "Salsa & Agave" which looks to be opening soon.

We had an order last night that was quite good at Honjin Sushi in Yaletown last night.

We tried Boneta last night and have nothing but praise for our entire experience. Beautiful room, very gracious, helpful, and friendly staff along with an interesting menu. We tried a cross section of the offerings and we're vey pleased with all the flavours and presentations. My only suggestion would be bigger portions. After having bread, an appetizer, entree, dessert, two glasses of wine and a cocktail I was still hungry. So on our walk home we passed a Subway and I got a sandwich.

Man I miss Chilo's .... he was the best taco in town IMO. Four of us went to Dona Cata last night and had some severely lackluster tacos that have had 3 out of 4 of us regretting it over and over in the washroom. Anyone know anything about Chilo and if he may open again?

Thanks for the great pictures and review! We tried to get in to try the place last week but it was past last call, it's definetly on my short list of places to go.

Chilos on Victoria is no longer and now in it's place is "El Caracolito" Taqueria which is the same owners of "El Caracol" Mexican restaurant two doors down. I asked the new owners what had happened to Chilo and nobody knew. The tacos were good but I still think Chilo's were better. For $60 the 5 of us had Nachos, Guacamole, pops and a ton of tacos and left very satisfied.

Someone told me there was a kick ass Mexican restaurant in Coquitlam but couldn't remember the name. We are heading out that way tomorrow and I was wondering if anyone knew of this place or has any suggestions? Thanks!

Previous Vancouver pizza threads: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=95784&hl= http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=64256&hl=

Is the Chilo's on Victoria Drive still there or did they move to Richards? I have a hankering for some really tasty quesadilla's ← As far as I know, Chilo still has his Victoria taqueria going ... my understanding is the Richards location was a franchise arrangement and Chilo was just supplying his name and the cooked food from his place on Victoria. Whomever is running the Richards location, I hope they get their act together and re-open soon.

Tried to go to Chilo's on Richards last night but they are closed for the near future. I spoke to a guy in the business next door and he said that the city had closed them for operating without a license and other health related issues.