Vancouver Good

Here is my belated guide to help everyone visiting beautiful Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics.
I’m keeping everything to one post so it’s easy to reference and print off. I’m only covering Vancouver, not Whistler (although my friends swear that Rimrock Cafe is one of the best fine dining experiences ever. And of course there’s that [...]

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I have been trying to eat at Grub for way too long, and I finally made it there last week for a Friday night dinner.
Grub delivers on many fronts, while maintaining a funky, casual atmosphere with awesomely eccentric wallpaper.
What I like:

The menu and restaurant are small, yet have something for varying price points ($12-26) [...]

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Looking for an amazing, well-priced sushi experience? Give Ajisai Sushi Bar a spin.
Fresh fish rules here and the restaurant only services sushi, sashimi, rice bowls, miso, and a small selection of salads and appetizers. There’s no teriyaki or tempura or yakisoba here and you wouldn’t want it anyways because the fish is that good.
For nigiri/sashimi, [...]

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For a long time, I associated hotel restaurants with over-priced, average food. But with restaurants like Yew in the Four Seasons, Market in the Shangri-la, Voya in the Loden, and now Cibo in the Moda Hotel…the days of bad hotel food are over.
Dinner at Cibo was delicious. It’s a small, modern room that seats about [...]

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Fuel Restaurant served their final dinner at the end of November 2009 and re-opened a few days later as Refuel, a more casual, more price accessible neighbourhood restaurant.
While I enjoyed Fuel Restaurant (I had an excellent 7-course tasting and a few Fried Chicken Fridays), when I dropped by Refuel a few weeks ago I found [...]

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Happy 2010 everyone!
I celebrated the New Year with good company and food at the Pear Tree Restaurant in Burnaby. Why all the way in Burnaby? Chef Scott Jaeger is a past Vancouver Magazine chef of the year and represented Canada at the Bocuse d’Or competition in 2007. Really the question is – what took me [...]

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I went to Guu with Otokomae the other day and was reminded of how much I love all the Guu locations. I’m going to highlight my two favourites in the local chain, which is expanding to Toronto – it won’t be a Vancouver secret for long!
For lunch, one of the best deals in town is [...]

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My friends and I have a wonderful holiday tradition: our annual gift exchange over high tea at the Wedgewood Hotel.
There’s something incredibly luxurious about high tea at the Wedgewood Hotel’s Bacchus Restaurant. I think it’s a combination of the plush seats, gorgeous flower arrangements, and dressed up patrons that makes the atmosphere so special. During [...]

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Miku Japanese Restaurant specializes in aburi style sushi, which is basically nigiri sushi that is torched, giving it a partly charred, partly raw texture. This method is intended to bring out the flavours of fish while still giving you the fresh taste of sushi. When executed well with good quality fish, it’s heavenly.
I went to [...]

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A full-bodied americano with a light and flaky croissant filled with rich chocolate made by Thomas Haas? No better way to start the day – in moderation of course.
My visits to Thomas Haas are usually on a Saturday and go something like this:

Walk in and see huge line up
Gently push my way through to the [...]

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