Vancouver Lee

We had one of these last night, too.

I disagree with this and if you have ever had a chronic medical condition, you probably know that the experiences of other people with the same condition who do research looking for answers and have tried many treatments are almost always more well informed than a GP. ← I agree - I was trying (and not succeeding) to say that if you need a professional medical opinion then you don't turn to the Internet. If you want to opinons and experiences of a wide range of people common, not all of them professionals, the Internet is a great place to turn. Most people would do both, I expect, and then decide for themselves, Just like reading people's experiences of restaurants here on eGullet.....

We had dinner last night at Shiru-Bay. 9 months later, they continue to offer exactly what JHiroshi described: "casual, not about the service, interesting food, loud, busy atmosphere". We tried a total of 12 items: only 2 were so-so, two were excellent (the carpaccio and one of the scallop dishes - forgive me for not having more detail... ) and the rest were very good. The place certainly is loud - concrete walls and a cranked up stereo system with nary a soft surface in sight - and hopping, which wasn't exactly what we had in mind, but hey, that's part of the experience, I suppose. One note about the service: I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but the server did an excellent of job of presenting our dishes in an order that made sense. Spicy followed by savory, light followed by heavy, etc. If it was intentional, someone there has a nice touch.

Paul, it's the Internet, and the very nature of it is that it's open to all. You can almost always find some expert, totally accurate information out there, but you have to wade through a lot of specualtion and uninformed opinion to find it. It's all about context. If someone needs medical advice and turns to the Internet to get it, well, they're looking in the wrong place. It's the same way here - eGullet is NOT a forum for professional reviewers, its a bulletin board for people who are interested in food to discuss food-related topics of interest. And what average everyday diners think of a particular restaurant is fair game, IMHO.

From my Inbox this morning, it turns out I'm not the only eGulleter who posts on both boards.....Anybody else out the post on FlyerTalk as well?

Really????!!!!! I'm one of those who thought this was a myth.....I've got to check that out.

Yep, pretty f'ed up indeed. You can see for yourself what goes on... Clickity As someone who travels extensively, the things I have learned from this forum have been invaluable....

Does anyone know who will be competing in the Master Chef Competition? A look through the web site did not show a list of participants...

You know. that would fit right into the theme of the event... This other web board is for frequent flyers, and is full of people who are just as obsessed about frequent flyer points, upgrades and airline schedules as everyone here is about food....hard to believe, I know. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions so far.

I'm planning a dinner for a group of about 30 people (all members of another web board I participate in) on Friday, May 6th at 7pm, and I'd like some advice re a good choice of restaurant. This isn't a fine dining crowd (the last get together was at Le Bifteque in Toronto), and something like Earl's would probably be fine, but I was hoping for something perhaps a little more interesting. Earl's-type pricing is about the range we're looking for. We'll be spending the day at the airport, so any location in Richmond or Vancouver is fine. Many people will be from out of town, so it would be nice to find a location that shows off Vancouver, but that isn't a hard and fast requirement. HSG springs to mind (Neil, YGM) - any other ideas?

This post just might get me expelled from eGullet. My last three meals were as follows: Smitty's in Regina for lunch on Tuesday. Smitty's in Regina for breakfast on Tuesday (yes, the very same Smitty's). Denny's in Regina for dinner on Monday. I'm not even going to try and describe what I ate or it's relative suckitude, to use another eGulleters expression, and it's a long and frankly boring story about why I ended up eating truck stop food three meals in a row. I'll just beg not to have my secret decoder ring taken away! I did, however, eat at one noteworthy place on the weekend: The Moose's Tooth Pub and Pizzeria in Anchorage, Alaska last Friday night. I was in Alaska for a short visit with my brother, and we were in the mood for pizza. It was surprisingly good, for Alaskan pizza - the crust was a bit bland and doughy, but the sauce, cheese and toppings compensated well. The Moose's Tooth brews their own beer, and I tried the Alpenglow Amber - very good. Sadly, I did not get to visit any FD places in Anchorage as my time there was limited, but I'm planning to head back up there in June for a week or so. Hopefully I'll be able to try some of Anchorage's nicer places. Toronto, Alaska, Edmonton and Regina, all in the last 6 days. Man, it's good to be home.

I can't speak for everyone, but a little pink never bothered me. Nobody sees your underwear, anyway...

I disagree. Revenue and market share (which is what you meant by "the business it holds", I assume) is just one way to measure success. Otherwise, it would be like saying the measure of a successful person is their income... Kudos to Afterglow!

I agree with you 100% - great vibe at LMB that starts with the professional and approachable staff. They have a way of making you feel welcome there without being solicitous. The Opium Den......is that the official name?

There hasn't been much dining out for me of late, but we made up for that on Saturday night: First it was sushi at Shin Ju, located at the corner of Broadway and Heather. I work just around the corner and this place is my default lunchtime sushi to-go place, and we decided to try it for dinner. The highlight was a light and airy wild salmon nigiri. We couldn't find anything drinkable on the wine list (Piat D'Or, Blue Nun, etc.), so we inquired about the house white. We had neer heard of it, so we decided to give it a try - turns out it came from a box. Somehow we managed to spent $60 on dinner here. In desperate need of a good glass of wine, we walked a few steps West and grabbed two seats at the bar at Cru. I had two glasses of the Blue Mountain Brut and Tricia had....something red that I can't remember! The couple sitting next to us ordered the awesome Papardelle, and when we smelled it, we just HAD to order one for ourselves. And of course, you can't order just one thing, so we kept it company with a place of wild mushrooms. Then off for a nighcap at Lucy Mae Brown, or more correctly the lounge downstairs from LMB. Does it have it's own name??? Anyhow, one nightcap turned into three (Hawaii-Five-O martini's - I ate the garnish so this stop qualifies as having eaten there!!!), and then Sean arrived and offered us this amazing toffee/caramel liqueur......OMG was I one hungover puppy Sunday morning.

It's a gift, Dave. Interesting. The very attractive young lady working the cash register while we were there was Vera's Regional Manager, so perhaps the staff were on their best behaviour that night? So HE'S the guy in Vancouver who hasn't heard of Feenie!

Hmmm, perhaps a scouting trip for a future Burger Club outing is in order.....

Butter, my wife and I have a tradition that whenever we move into a new place, our first meal, eaten on the floor and surrounded by boxes, is pizza and champagne, usually Veuve. Glad to hear we're not the only ones to give this combo a try. If you didn't like it, clearly you had the wrong pizza....... Edited to add that this is a tradition started in our post-university days, NOT becuse it's a wonderful taste combination!

Ha! A burger NEEDS some form of vegetation. It's a Ying/Yang thing. Balance ... that and the juice of the tomatoe adds to the moisture of the patty IMO. And no Lee, onion rings do not count as veggies A. ← I agree, but I've usually gone for pickles or lots of relish to provide the Ying to the meat-cheese-bun Yang. But my bite of Moosh's AWESOME BBQ burger got me thinking I'll try having a salad on my burger next time. If I can eat horse, surely I can give lettuce and tomato a shot! Onion rings don't count as veggies???? Sheesh - next you'll try and tell me that ketchup doesn't count as a vegetable, either.

The latest installment of Burger Club visited Vera's on Denman last night. Deborah (with friend - Shannon, I think?), HKDave, Butter, and the Mooshmouse family were in the house. Just like Deborah I, too, ordered WAY to much food. I had a G-Burger. which is a double patty of meat, two slices of cheese, and a double order of mushrooms. It's a huge burger, but quite good. The patties were cooked a little past where I would have done them at home, but were still just slightly pink in the middle which left them juicy enough to be tasty. The cheese was excellent - nicely melted but still thick enought to taste. I topped mine with ketchup, mustard and relish, and regret not choosing pickles as well - all that meat and 'shrooms needed something sweet to balance them. Fries were exactly as I like them - nice and soft (that's not to everyone's liking, I know). The onion rings that I sampled from Deborah's order were fantastic, although they did have me scanning the room for a portable defibrulator. Here's what it looked like: I washed everything down with two Boylan Grape sodas, and topped the meal off with gelato from Mondo. Many thanks to Olivia and Matt from Vera's for their hospitality. For next month's burger club, we're heading to the North Shore. Sunday May 1, 7pm, at Brown's on Lonsdale.

I'll post my review of Vera's shortly, but before I do, guess what movie my wife was watching on TV when I arrived home? Super Size Me. After the G-Burger (double meat, double cheese), fries, 2 Boylan grape pops and a double scoop of Mondo gelato, I can not bear to watch.....

Unfortunately, two of my last three restaurant meals were fast food with Ryan. When a six year old wants something, he really wants it, and on the last few days of March break, I'm in no mood to do anything other than give in. I tried to have lunch yesterday at Go Fish!, but it was too crowded. Tonight, we had dinner at a great pizza/pasta place in Mount Vernon, Washington. We drove down to check out the tulip festival this afternoon, and stopped at Pacioni's Pizzeria/Trattoria on S 1st Street for dinner. We had a terrific greek salad to start (with super-garlicy home made dressing), and pizza, of course, as the main. No wood-burning oven, but a nice light crust and super-fresh ingredients (like real kalamatas, not those horrible plastic rubber-gasket-shaped canned olives). Ryan had spaghetti with a great homemade meat sauce. Great place for kids, BTW, they give each kid a piece of paper and ask them to draw a picture of a pizza, and then they put it up on the wall. It was a HUGE hit with Ryan! ANyway, we smuggled the leftover pizza back across the border, and I can't wait to have the other half of my pie for lunch tomorrow. Great place, great food, but alas, driving 90 minutes and crossing an international border for great pizza is a little bit much, even for me....

While we're discussing baby vegetables, does anyone know where I can find baby beets?

I was thinking the exact same thing, about HSG. I, too, bought an Entertainment Book in support of my son's school, and didn't know there was a coupon for HSG in it. But I can't imagine visiting there for dinner and whipping out my discount card. I already know the place is good, I'd be eating there even if I didn't have the coupons, somehow whipping out the discount card feels like I'd be shortchanging Neil.

My son and I hit GIM at 8:30am on Saturday, and found it almost empty. What a great time to shop. Breakfast was hot donuts from what my son calls "Daddy's Donut Shop". I used raspberries from the vendor beside Longliner to make the raspberry coulis I served with the gingerbread for dessert Saturday night with the Mooshmouse family. Click here for a photo. Sunday night I made rack of lamb that was purchased from Tenderland Meats. Photo here. Tonight will be lamb burgers stuffed with goat cheese, with the ground lamb coming from Tenderland.