North Shore Day Trip

[Zucchini Mama]

My son and I often go take the seabus to the North Shore and noodle in and around the Lonsdale Quay. I'm never sure where to have lunch. I was wondering if people could give me their favorite foodie stops in and around the Quay, (within walking distance). Is Thomas Haas' new place within hoofing distance of the LQ? (I'm hoping!!!) The last time I was there, I noticed the wine store is kaput, and there is a new buffalo meat vender.

Thanks!

Zuke

[annanstee]

Liberty wines is gone? Say it isn't so!

I like the Mexican place in the quay.

There is a greek place at the bottom of Lonsdale that is pretty good, and Thai house is only 2 Blocks away.

There is a dessert place up on 2nd or 3rd on Lonsdale,

and Cinnamon's Chocolates also on 2nd or 3rd and Lonsdale.

[Andrew Morrison]

Gusto di Quattro is within walking distance.

[*Deborah*]

Oh, my girlfriend took me to that dessert place once, reallly good cakes!

[snacky_cat]

Mr Cat and I often end up at Moodyville's for breakfast on the weekend. It's in the heritage building at the corner of 1st and Lonsdale, and does a great all-day breakfast (good news for those of us who never eat breakfast before 10am!).

It's a cute little pokey old diner with typical diner fare - the 2 eggs/meat/toast/tater breakfast with endless coffee, cheeseburgers, BLTs, etc.... It's not going to win any culinary awards, but it's cheap, cheerful, and the food is better than the usual greasy spoon.

[Chef Metcalf]

I've never eaten here, but you may want to check out the Candlestick Cafe. It's just a few steps up Lonsdale.

If you go on Saturday, make sure you check out the Farmers market on the East side of the Quay by the front entrance. Starts at 9 till about noon.

Glen Valley Organics and others have some excellent quality produce, but get there early.

Thomas Haas is quite a hike from the Quay....but I'm sure it would be worth it.

[sanrensho]

Liberty wines is gone? Say it isn't so!

The popcorn store, the vendor selling books across from Liberty Wines, and the malaysian place are also gone. To be honest, the place was looking a bit barren when we were there two weeks ago.

I hope management has the good sense to get in some new vendors before the peak tourist season.

There's a new pastry/cake shop on Lonsdale and 3rd, but I haven't tried it yet. The dessert place close to the Quay is Piece of Cake.

I think it's worthwhile to take a bus to upper Lonsdale and work your way down from there. Lost of interesting Persian food stores and bakeries along the way to explore.

Edited May 12, 2005 by sanrensho (log)

[Zucchini Mama]

Daytrip to the North: Gelati, Pretzels, and Buffalo Ribs

Well, finally, a nice hot sunny day to trek over to the Lonsdale Quay on the sea bus, with the usual flock of June tourists. As soon as I get inside the quay I have to check the snacks at Screaming Mimi's, but alas, we were too early-no fried oysters or salmon rolls or prawn triangles. Well, their loss. (I'm pissed off at them because I had a real kak bowl of seafood chowder the last time I was there.) We headed up the hill to our premiere destination- the comic book shop to search for a collectible figurine. They have hundreds: from movies, comic books, t.v. shows, hockey players...etc., etc. They might have one of your second cousin once removed. (I think I saw a Waiterblog action figure stuck in with the Star Wars dislpay in the window) I'm doing a project on female comic book heroes, so I'm always looking for new inspiration. I tried to convince U. he needed a Poison Ivy figure, but he had his own plans.

After this, we headed to the Artisan Bakery, where I had a vegetarian sandwich on pumpkin seed bread. It was about $4.50, which I thought was pricey for what I got, but then I remembered I was eating organic food. It was a good basic, tasty sandwich, (made freshly upon ordering) with avocado, tomato, onions, lettuce, mayo and Dijon. U. was too busy playing with his new toy to bother about eating so I got him one of those big fat pretzels to go. This must be one of the few places you can get the authentic German pretzel in Vancouver, no?

We headed up to the Sally Anne where we scored a couple of Peewee's Playhouse videos from the original series. Then we rounded the corner and walked to Presentation House Gallery, to see the current show. I was interested in the Althea Thauberger piece in particular called "A Memory Lasts Forever". I thought it was photos, but it turned out to be a video playing in a light-sealed room which was too threatening for Ullie, so he entertained the woman at the desk, while I watched about 10 minutes of the video. I watched part one of a four-part piece. I was disappointed. What she's done is put out a call for teenage girls to write songs to create a music video based on a story about the drowning of a pet dog. Girls in suburbia playing at being pop idols. Well, when I see that on t.v., packaged as Canadian Idol, or America's top Super Model, I turn it off. It leaves me cold. I appreciate that what this artist is doing is giving these girls an much more empowering and sensitive experience than they'd get on mainstream t.v., but the product makes me cringe- and why print the lyrics to the songs, when they are bad teenage poetry? It seemed like a valid exercise, but why package the product as art? I thought the poster for the art was much more powerful, full of pathos and melancholia and directing the teenage gaze back at the viewer.

Okay, bitchy rant is over. I liked the other piece better. The artist, Christine Davis, projects a series of slowly dissolving slides of a woman's body over a carpet of fake Gerberas. Once my eyes adjusted to the light (again, a dark, sealed room) I liked the lushness of the images, and there were two images I thought worked particularly well because they were more mysterious and evocative than the rest. I thought she could have played with scale a lot more.

Anyway, the show's on until June 5. Take a look, and draw your own conclusions.

So then I asked the gallery attendant where we should go for ice cream and she said go to Brazza at Lonsdale and 19. Of course, we went. U. had chocolate. I had low-fat coffee. This is more the soft-serve style gelati. Hmmm, after reading about J. Steingarten's trials and tribulations while making soft serve at home, I'm thinking why not just make the firmer kind? Anyway, I really liked the taste of my gelato, because it had a good strong coffee flavor and it wasn't too sweet. U. liked my flavor better than his, so we had to order a coffee scoop for him too. I think we ate too much because we both had tummy aches later in the day.

I stopped in at Yaas Bazaar and looked at the items in the warming trays. It looked tasty. Has anyone eaten there?

We picked up some buffalo ribs at the Quay on the way home. Very disappointing. Previously frozen-should have read the small print. No sauce. Should have read the small print that says "add sauce". Way over-cooked and very salty. It was like eating buffalo jerky.

Anyway, we had a lovely day, and I got that summer relaxed vibe thing going on. I love little day trips. Any other suggestions for day trips (with public transport) would be welcome.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I have figured out the route to Thomas Haas's place for next time.

Zuke

Edited May 27, 2005 by Zucchini Mama (log)

[Zucchini Mama]

The Zuke family headed up to North van on this snowy February Day. My mood plummeted when I realized Burgoo wasn't open yet, but as luck would have it, we discovered the Candlestick Cafe. The atmosphere is kind of like an apartment I lived in Quebec in university-powder blue and hypertension pink paint in a funky cobbled together space that is diner-like in its structure. The decor is tropical /country kitsch, with teddy bears, paper parrots and the Dreaded Purple Dinosaur staring at me from one corner of the banquette. I had a good strong cup of masala chai. It looked like the cook pulled some homemade concentrate out of the fridge and them heated it up on the stove, adding some more powdered spices. I like the gritty feel of fresh ginger in my teeth. Lots of nutmeg. It was presweetened.

Our son had a grilled cheese sandwich with a side of turkey bacon. The bacon was devoured, but the sandwich was not, only because it contained the dreaded mayonnaise, which he hates. Chef volunteered to make another sandwich, as she has three boys and understands the psyche of the picky eater, but I wouldn't hear of it. Mr. Zuke had the grilled banana roti, which he liked a lot, and I had the chicken curry roti, which was lovely. Everything is obviously home made, down to the multi-layered hot sauce the waitress scoops out of a jar without a label. The roti dough is thick and flaky-very stodgy in a good way. The curry filling was soul-food rich and moreish. I loved that my green salad had apples and bananas and a lovely creamy calamansi-type dressing.

There is only one cook and one waitress and the place was packed, so one has to be patient, but it's worth it!

We then hit the geek stores on lower Lonsdale for comic books, art supplies and costume bits before grabbing a shuttle bus to Mountain Mardis Gras. By the time we arrived, it was snowing, and unfortunately, we hadn't dressed warmly enough for the occasion. We did check out a few ravens on stilts, performing spiders, and of, course the food tent, which was artfully presented by

Edible Planet Catering. (website)

We had the "purple fairy cream balls" or whatever they were called--maybe it was "purple fairy dream balls", which were little cream puffs on a shish kebab. One was iced with white chocolate, one dark, and one with purple sugar. They were tasty fairy balls, but the one covered with sugar was a bit too gritty for me. My son loved them and wants to make these for his next birthday party. The other food looked wonderful and was well-presented.

I was sad that the weather didn't co-operate with the festival organizers, as it probably affected audience turn-out. I was also disappointed the media didn't give this festival more coverage.

Edited February 26, 2006 by Zucchini Mama (log)

[annanstee]

Zuke, Thanks for the tip on Candlestick Cafe, as I work on the shore and this is within lunch distance. Got to get me some Roti. I wonder if they have Ball of Fire Lemon Pepper Sauce or similar.

[baconburner]

Hi Zuke

Have you tried Screaing Mimi's in Lonsdale Quay?

Crab Louis, seafood chowders, oysters and a barrage of sandwiches made to order, and you get change from $5.00.

Cheers

Baconburner

My son and I often go take the seabus to the North Shore and noodle in and around the Lonsdale Quay. I'm never sure where to have lunch. I was wondering if people could give me their favorite foodie stops in and around the Quay, (within walking distance). Is Thomas Haas' new place within hoofing distance of the LQ? (I'm hoping!!!) The last time I was there, I noticed the wine store is kaput, and there is a new buffalo meat vender.

Thanks!

Zuke

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[Zucchini Mama]

Hi Baconburner, I know Screaming Mimi's and my son likes their salmon rolls.

Zuke