Shellback

I popped into Waves on Hastings last week for a quick cup of Americano. The coffee was pretty good, rich flavour and not bitter. They are open 24 hours with free wireless internet access. I didn't notice any food menu except for the pastries and sandwiches in the glass counter. For hot chocolate, you can order either "dark" or "milk" chocolate. They have nice sitting areas in the back and side with leather sofas. It's not too busy (Blenz is just across the street) - perfect for a place to enjoy coffee, surf the net or read without the crowd/noise.

Went by the library yesterday, there is a new pub in the old Fox and Fiddle location. It's called "Library Square Public House". Very modern and sleek looking with billiard tables in the back. A couple of customers inside, but I didn't have time to check out their menu. They were advertising $3.00 sleeves daily.

Salathai on Burrard (across from the Sutton Place) is my usual recommendation for a downtown Thai restaurant. The food is very good, nice ambiance and friendly staff. Apparently, the Thai Royal family caters from Salathai when they are in town. So, I think they must do a decent job. I also enjoy Simply Thai in Yaletown. The food is excellent - very authentic and flavourful. The only draw back is the room can be a little cramped and may be hot.

Would this be a sit down dinner or reception style? Was recently at Cincin's 15th anniversary party, they did an excellent job. Have no idea what the capacity was, but it was definitely 100+. Considering the room size/configuration and cuisine, other suggestions: Savoury Coast, Don Francesco, Bridge's Upstairs, Imperial Seafood...

Yes, that's true. In Chinese, there is no one specific word for the term "buffet", so the translated term is "self help meal" (zi zhu cang). Speaking of "I Love Sushi", I heard that Miki Nakashima who used to own "Bon Japanese Restaurant" is working there now.

Went up to Whistler for a couple of days earlier this week and celebrated my husband's 60th birthday at Bearfoot Bistro. I must say, the $29.95 3-course lobster dinner was a steal! I had the carrot & ginger soup (rich tasting and light on ginger), steamed whole lobster served with perfectly prepared asparagus (and other veggies) and finished off with the Lavender Pavlova. My husband had the mussels and fries (excellent honey brown mussels - $10 extra charge), steak in peppercorn sauce (he said my lobster was tastier) and finished off with house sorbet (apple, pear and ??? I can't remember). Oh, we also started off our meal with a dozen oysters at the special price of $9.95. I thought I had read somewhere in this forum that the oyster special was just between 5:00pm and 6:00pm; but looking at the menu, there was no mention of time limit and we ordered it well after 6:00 pm. I had a couple of martinis that night and my husband had a few highballs (no expensive wines). Our bill came to $150 with tax and tip - unbelievable! The room was cozy and intimate (a little on the dark side as I was having some trouble reading the menu). The service was friendly - not hovering. Bearfoot Bistro has always been one of our favourite restaurants in Whistler. At this price, it certainly cannot be beat!

I will second Rodney's Oyster Bar for their crab cakes (and also pan fried oysters).

Went by the library today and noticed that the Fox and Firkin is closed. Don't know what is going into that space.

Yes, I agree that going to Lumiere is an "event". If you have had Lumiere's 10 course tasting menu before, the 3-course is a bit of a let-down. Especially if one of the courses is not as good as expected, there are not many other courses to redeem the experience. Of course, the portions are larger and good for sharing, but the "special occassion" effect is somewhat diminished. I took my mother to Lumiere last month and have posted on this site: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=929524 I can understand Foodie-Girl's disappointment especially after hearing so much about the place and having high expectations. As I stated in my previous post, my mother had a great time - it was her first time (she has no idea who Rob Feenie is and does not care), I've been there many times before and felt the 3 course dinner was not as satisfying as the original 10 course tasting menu. It's all so subjective.

We usually go to Ning Du on Kingsway (a block and a half east of Victoria - on the right-hand side) for our Shanghainese Dim Sum. They have excellent beef noodle soup and the XLB are very good as well. I believe the owner used to be the chef at Spring Garden (was on Main/29th Ave - now closed) so you can see the similarity in the menu selection.

Intrigued by the review in Terminal City on the new all-day breakfast place "Hatch" (317 E. Broadway), friend and I decided to check this place out. As the review noted, the menu itself was "cryptic" and needs some translation. For example, "stuffed eggs" are omlettes and "poach and sauce" refers to eggs benedict. We both had the "Benny's been a bad boy and are about to be punished..." with "transformation" toppings: my friend had the tomato/ham and I had the bacon/cheddar/maple. I was looking forward to some creative presentation, but our dishes looked quite conventional. My eggs were done just right and the bacon tasted like Chinese BBQ pork. It came with a nice crisp salad with home-cut potatoes. The portion was very generous for $7.95 and they served organic coffee. Hatch has been opened for just 3 months, but it is going to be a busy place. We got there about 10:00, only counter seats were available. Until we finished our meal, there was a stream of people lining up at the door. This place is owned by the same people who own "Foundation". The decor is retro-mod, comfortable and funky. The service was friendly and efficient too! Wanting to use the Entertainment Book before it expires, we went to Romio's on Fourth Avenue for dinner last night. I had the Chicken Souvlaki and my friend had the lamb shoulder. She said her lamb was excellent. I thought my chicken was not bad either. The Greek salad had no dressing, just vegetables chopped together with feta sprinkled on top. The restaurant was busy with a large group of Buddhist monks, all other customers were squished in the downstairs area. I think I will probably only go back with a coupon.... Took my mother out for a belated Mother's Day dinner last week. We went to Lumiere. The menu has relaxed quite a bit. The only tasting menus were the 10 course "vegetarian" or 10-course "kitchen" menus. Otherwise, it is a 3-course for $100 menu where you would choose one item from each of appetizer, main and dessert selections. If we wanted the tasting menu, we would both have to order it. Since neither of us has a very big sweet tooth, we decided to choose 2 appetizers and an entree each. Mom had Green and White Asparagus with soft poached eggs and smoked portebello mushrooms, Dungeness crab stuffed ravioli and finished with Braised Halibut Caserole with lentils and pearl onions. I had a salad, Roasted Sable fish in a Thai style broth and coconut foam (delicious) and finished off with the Pan Seared Mediterranean Dorado with Prawn Brandade. My main dish was okay. I found the Dorado a little too fishy for my taste (I don't know if it was supposed to be this fishy or not...) and ended up eating my mom's halibut (excellent). We shared everything and found the portions to be quite good for sharing. Maybe because of the relaxed menu, the atmosphere is more relaxed than the last time I was there (6 months ago). The place was full and actually quite noisy - almost like "Feenie's" noise level. It was the first time for my mom, she thought it was great. I think I prefer the previous tasting menu only format - it was more formal - somehow, more suitable to its Relais Gourmand status.

I've always enjoyed Coast in Yaletown - interesting menu, nice room, friendly/professional service. The only thing to keep in mind is that Coast could be very busy on weekends, so be prepared to carry on a loud conversation.

Hi Zuke, Rime is on Commercial between Napier and William. The restaurant is quite spacious. There are two sections to the restaurant: The smaller section has tables along the windows on one side and the wall on the other side (for dining); the larger section is a big room where there is a "stage" area (not raised) surrounded by smaller round tables and a "mattress" looking thing in the middle of the room for people to sit on. It really looks nicer than it sounds. Here is a link to their website: http://www.rime.ca/album.htm I think it might be a very nice venue for word-type reading. BTW, are you a writer? I really enjoy your posts

The other day on the Drive, I noticed a new restaurant going into the space where the old Santo's Tapas restaurant used to be. I think the name of this new place is "Stella". Does anyone have any scoop on this new place? It was still under construction/renovations, but it looks promising.

I was at Rime (1130 Commercial Drive) last Saturday for lunch and enjoyed it very much. The menu was so interesting, I have to go back a few more times. The price was reasonable and portions generous. We had the lunch special for $6.99: Tavuk Izgara (Turkish BBQ chicken with oregano and spices) served with basmati rice-orzo combination and a Dijon vinaigrette salad. The service was very pleasant too.

I believe Salathai downtown opens daily from 11:30. I'm not sure about the Cambie street location.

Hey Shelley ! What up ? All parties come to Neil's place ! Why are you pushing the Sandbar ? Any egulleters there ? I don't think so ! Out of towners love the Yaletown loading dock looking to another brick building view ! The ocean is sooooo over-rated. All that seafood ! Yuk ! ← You're right, I didn't see any egulleters there... Hmmmm, I guess I was trying to find something that would fit Vancouver Lee's parameters of a place that could accomodate 30 people on a Friday night @ 7:00pm, not a "fine dining crowd" and "Earl-type pricing and style", somewhere between Richmond and Vancouver and would show-off the beauty of Vancouver.... somewhere "tourist" friendly. For me, since I can enjoy scenic Vancouver anytime, my parameters might be a little different and I would probably choose another venue.... perhaps HSG???

I was at Sandbar the other night and there were a lot of large parties there. They have a lot of space (2 floors), so I think it might be good for your group of 30. Also, the Granville Island location is great for out-of towners since it is very representative of Vancouver. They have a large selection of tapas type of dishes and the entrees are not overly priced. Something to consider.

I have yet to try Le Crocodile, Vij's, Aurora Bistro, Kolachy Shop, Fiction.... and new additions to the list: Lilykate, Savoury Coast, Chi.... But the past six months, I have crossed off Il Giardino, Chambar, Lift, Arbutus Grille (in Brentwood Bay Lodge), Sobo and The Pointe (Tofino) from my list of "must try" restaurants.

Thank you all for the quick feedback. I thought about Kolatchy.... but since I haven't been, I don't know what else they have other than the stuffed buns. That night, I did a Google search, found Gambrinus and gave them a call. The woman on the phone told me that they bought out the business around 7 years ago and they are no longer a Czech restaurant. I did asked the guest whether or not if a Hungarian restaurant would do, but she said Czech food is TOTALLY different. Checking with the community/cultural centre is a good idea - maybe I should take a look today for future reference. Thanks again!

As a concierge, we are constantly asked by guests for dining recommendations. But, I was really stumped the other night when a hotel guest asked for a recommendation for Czech food here in Vancouver. I told her that we no longer have a Czech restaurant here in Vancouver (Kafe Europa on Denman is closed - I think they served Czech food). She was very surprised and said, "Vancouver has the largest Czech population outside of the Czech Republic, how can you not have a Czech restaurant?" I asked for a description of the food and she said that she's looking for "dumplings in soup". Did I misinformed her?

Walked by Le Magazin building in Gastown around lunch time today and the new Italian restaurant is now open. It's called Capri 19. Only a couple of tables by the window, but otherwise it looks quite empty. The menu looks fine, prices reasonable. I wonder how it will do, since there is Al Porto across the street, Water Street Cafe at the end of the block, Rossini's on the next block - all similar type of food. I'll have to pop in one of these days. Royal India is gone, but a new Indian restaurant "Copper Chimney" opened (about a month or two ago) in Oritalia's location in the Le Soleil Hotel. They have retained the decor of Oritalia, but made a total change in menu. Went there a couple of weeks ago with some people from work and found the food to be quite tasty, although not the traditional Indian cuisine. Prices a little on the high side - similar to Maurya and wine mark-up seems high as well.

Maybe off topic, but I heard Daniel Frankel recently bought Delilah's too. I'm not sure when...

Just checked with my husband who is in the seafood wholesale business, he said that there are only about three main suppliers to Japanese restaurants. For imported fresh Japanese fish (eg. Hamachi, kampachi, aji, hirame, tai snapper, blue fin) Tuesdays and Thursdays are the delivery days. All other local fresh seafood, eg. salmon, albacore tuna, oysters, etc. can be delivered on any day wheneve the restaurants place their orders. So, generally speaking, Wednesdays and Fridays are good days to visit sushi bars. Personally, I like busy restaurants, you know that there is a good turn-over of inventory.

Hi Brian, We live around 59th and Cambie too. You're right, there doesn't seem to be too many choices - especially places like Salade de Fruits, Parkside or Cru. Here are some places that we freqent: Japone for Japanese tapas and sushi (Oak and 61 Ave), Au Petit Cafe (Vietnamese) and Sawadee (Thai) on Main Street, Kun Lock (Chinese) and Kedah House (Malaysian) on Fraser and Flamingo (dim sum) on Cambie. Let me know of anywhere else in the neighbourhood that is worth trying.