They restaurant did a great job with the room, turning it from its former life as a dark casual Irish pub to a light, airy, and natural setting. Really beautiful wood light fixtures and natural light streaming through the back room. A great setting for a get together or date.

My date for the evening was a girlfriend, and together we sampled:

- Dungeness crab and chickpea toast – A creative and fun dish. The toast is a rounded mold of toasted brioche that is so thin and crispy that it shatters into crispy pieces when your spoon hits it. Mixed with the crab and chickpeas, you have fresh, texture, and spice in every bite. A lovely dish.

- Warm steelhead and crunchy potato salad – So beautiful when presented, with the beautiful pink salmon, yellow potatoes, green herbs, and a white horseradish dressing. The taste was good, but not as good as it looked. I wanted to taste the salmon more, but got much more horseradish, herbs and pickled garlic…and not much potato either.

- Steamed halibut with Indian spices and chickpea fritters – perfectly cooked and delicious.

- Apple and olive cake for dessert – quite creative, but not my favourite. There was an awesome green apple granita with the cake, but it was soaked in this syrup that was way too sweet for my liking.

Overall, this restaurant has it going on. Nice menu, good service, and a nice bar area if you want a before/after dinner drink. It’s a nice change from going to Boneta and I will always expect an interesting menu when I go. Nice addition to this area of Gastown, which is mainly pubs and casual restaurants.

L’abbatoir
217 Carral Street,Vancouver
604 568 1701

The Keefer Bar is a dark, long, and narrow bar but it’s also modern and intimate -  they make the space work. Cocktails are king here and the bartenders all know what they’re doing. With a 4-month old at home, I am still alcohol free. I couldn’t try any of the cocktails, but my friends all gave them raves. I asked the bartender for something alcohol free and he happily (with no judgment – thank you!) fixed me a drink of fresh ginger beer and lime juice. Delicious, refreshing, and the perfect amount of ginger flavour. I’m looking forward to trying the cocktails here on a future visit.

We left the Keefer Bar as they were setting up for their weekly burlesque show since our stomachs were calling out to try  Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie. Bao Bei opened last year to great fanfare and long line-ups. Despite the raves, I was not in a hurry to try the restaurant because 1) I am always grumpy when I can’t make a reservation somewhere, and 2) With a Chinese background, I’m generally leery of hipster “Chinese” restaurants as the food is always underwhelming. Bao Bei was a nice surprise. The food is quite authentic, but refined and beautiful. The room is simple and funky with clean lines. Service is pretty good, and they were able to give a few options to my gluten-free friend dining with us, which is a challenge for a Chinese place since soy sauce is a no-no.

Bao Bei food highlights:

• Cold Chinese pickles and marinated cucumbers. A fresh version of what’s usually bought canned at the Chinese grocers. Refreshing with a spicy kick
• Poached chicken salad – tender and moist organic chicken, poached and served cold with a fresh ginger scallion dressing. This is one of my favourite Chinese dishes. My mom’s is better, but this was a great rendition.
• Tofu Duet – light and crispy tofu blocks with a sweet and garlicky sauce aside a cold tofu dipped in a soy and sesame sauce. Silken tofu texture and the restaurant brought great flavour to typically bland tofu.
• Shao Bing – when I get this a other Chinese restaurants it’s usually a denser bun with a crispy fried layer. I loved Bao Bei’s thin, light, and super crispy version. Sandwiched between the bread was a deliciously tender braised pork with Asian pear and greens.
• Mantou – steamed buns with braised beef and crispy peanuts. Pretty tasty Asian style mini-burgers, although my friend wasn’t big on the crispy peanuts (she thought they tasted like burnt meat).
• Fried rice of the day – ours featured squid and crab and was complete with lots of crispy rice bits from the wok. A substantial course for sharing.
• Sticky rice cake – I was expecting a literal rice cake, but this is actually closer to a common noodle-ish dish served at Chinese restaurants. Think of a really thick and wide rice noodle with a chewy (but tender) texture. Loved this dish. Bad versions of this are tough, chewy and feel like big lumps down the throat. This was light and melt in your mouth, yet still full of flavour. And we even had it without the soy sauce for my gluten free friend!
• Sauteed pea tips with garlic – The Chinese really know how to cook green vegetables. They always come out light, tender, and fresh. It always seems simple to cook, but I can never get it right at home. I could eat two plate of these greens all for myself.

The Keefer/Bao Bei combo is a grand way to spend a relaxing evening with friends. Just a couple notes: the area is slightly dodgy, but safe. And be prepared to wait at Bao Bei if you arrive during the dinner rush.

The Keefer Bar
135 Keefer Street, Chinatown (@ Columbia)
(604)688-1961

Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie
163 Keefer Street, Chinatown
604 688 0876

I’ve been to the Pourhouse a few times now, each experience memorable:

The first time at the Pourhouse was Saturday brunch last fall. I remember the Americano I ordered was great – the first coffee I’d ordered in Vancouver that was comparable to the heaven I drank daily in Italy for three weeks in October. And then I spent an embarassing 10 minutes waiting for the bathroom to be “free” only to realize the door wasn’t locked, the knob just didn’t turn! During my visit yesterday I noticed an added note that says “push” for people like me.

Another time at the Pourhouse was a warm winter’s evening, a friend and I decided to have our own little bar hop around Gastown, visiting four different bars that evening. But the Pourhouse was the best. We slid up to the bar and my friend, who’d recently decided to start drinking whiskey, asked for a good whiskey based cocktail. The excellent bartender started him on a gentle Old Fashioned, changing up the whiskey/bourbon with each round. Good times.

And yesterday I was at the Pourhouse for lunch, which was a crispy grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup – sounds basic, but was it ever good. The sandwich, buttery fried bread on the outside with gooey, oozing cheese on the inside, and you get that perfect “crunch” sound with every bite. A little greasy yes, but so worth it. And the tomato soup, garnished with a sprinkling of fresh chives, a rich (but not creamy) flavour and a  gorgeous deep orange/red hue. We added a little plate of fries to share too – thick cut, soft on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

The room – cozy, real old-school, and charming. A great place for meeting one person or a group of people for drinks or a meal.

The challenge for all my future visits? Ordering something other than that cheese sandwich.

The Pourhouse
162 Water Street (East of Cambie)
Vancouver
604-568-7022

Located in the former Tomato Cafe location, Stella’s looks nothing like its predecessor. It’s a sleek room with warm colours and soft lighting.  The menu is also different from the Commercial Drive location, featuring a few dishes local to the ‘hood plus a prix fixe dinner menu option.

But what you always do at Stella’s is order a beer. With an extensive Belgian beer list and lots on tap, there’s something for everyone. It was a smooth and sweet Leffe for myself tonight.

We opted to share a bunch of tapas, where I feel the kitchen is strongest:

• Cauliflower “popcorn” – mini florets roasted in butter and herbs, topped with cheese
• Tender chipotle lime dusted calamari
• Korean BBQ beef ribs with a pickled ginger and nori salad
• Belgian Poutine with a Blanche de Chambly & miso Gravy and topped with green onions – both ingredients give the poutine a nice zing
• Mussels – freshly steamed mussels with your choice of 8 flavorings. Make sure you order a side of bread too.

The tapas were tasty, fresh, and well executed. The food at the Cambie location is a little better than Commercial Drive, and a step above usual bar fare.

Cold beer, fresh mussels, frites, good prices…yeah, I’d go back.

Stella’s Tap and Tapas Bar on Cambie
3305 Cambie St (@ 17th Ave)
Open for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch.

The Eight 1/2 differentiator: their mantra that everything should be “simple, fresh, local,” which for Eight 1/2 means  a kitchen with no deep fryer and microwave. What that translated to was some good, different menu options. The room is nice and cozy with soft lights and a modern feel. We arrived at 7pm on a Tuesday evening and the restaurant was full. After enjoying a drink at the bar, we moved over to a table once space opened up.

Here are my highs and lows for on Eight 1/2:

• The restaurant offers a seasonal fresh sheet in addition to the standard menu – we sampled some excellent mini perogies with a mild chipotle sauce.
• Cedar plank halibut with mango salsa and spinach risotto. This dish was fresh, but fell a little short. One dining companion felt the size of halibut filet was too small. I was fine with the size, but it was slightly over-cooked and the mango salsa didn’t have much flavour. The spinach risotto was okay, but came cold.
• Steak Sandwich – while the Globe & Mail review slagged this dish, I quite enjoyed it. The bun was a little doughy, but full of butter and garlic and the steak was so good – medium rare, tender, grass-fed steak. Mmmmm. On the side we opted for a bowl of french onion soup (also off the fresh sheet), which had a nice flavour, but was not extraordinary.
• Dessert – apple crumble pie with ice cream, warm and comforting
• Service was friendly but the kitchen was quite slow (we waited about 20 min for appetizers and over 30 min for mains). I’ll forgive them for the wait time since the restaurant was packed and I had two friends to gossip the night away with. That said, don’t go if you’re in a hurry.

Overall, Eight 1/2 is a nice neighbourhood joint and the staff really cares about offering good service and food. I’ll return to try more menu items, like the oven-baked wings, pizzas, and 4-cheese macaroni and cheese.

Eight 1/2 Restaurant Lounge
151 East 8th Ave.  (@ Main)
604-568-2703

Au Petit Chavignol is part restaurant, part cheese & wine bar. You’ll find a menu with an excellent daily selection of cheese and charcuterie options, which you can order individually or as part of a tasting platter. But it doesn’t stop there! The hot menu items are memorable, with fondue, soup, pommes frites, poutine, mac and cheese, and croque madame & monsieur – all items that feature or accompany cheese and charcuterie. My highlights:

• I’d heard good things about the pommes frites here, and they are good. Big portion of freshly fried, crispy, salty goodness.
• Watercress salad with beets and a walnut vinaigrette was refreshing and a made me feel very healthy amidst all the cheese.
• Alpine blend fondue – a shareable blend of emmenthal, gruyere, comte, beaufort cheeses served up with bread, cornichons, and small pickled onions. I’m adding on kielbasa sausage next time.
• We tried a couple excellent cheeses – it was fun to have the option to pick a few and sample.
• Bonus: the restuarant is right next to the HUGE second location of Les Amis du Fromage.

As a small 36 seat restaurant located at 843 East Hastings St, Au Petit Chavignol is not in your standard, trendy neighbourhood, but it’s worth the trek. Judging by the packed restaurant, I’m not alone in this thought.

Au Petit Chavignol
843 East Hastings St (a few blocks west of Clark)
Tel (604) 255-4218
Limited reservations taken each night

But.

Walk into Gastown. If you are visiting Vancouver you’ll be walking through Gastown anyways. Keep walking a few blocks down Water St, past the clothing shops, the steam clock, the high-end furniture stores, and the Old Spaghetti Factory. You’ll come across Chill Winston, a beautiful, casual restaurant/lounge with one of the best patios in the city.

I was looking for dinner at 10:30pm last night and stopped into Chill Winston, which is open nightly until 1am. A few notable features:

- HUGE, round patio in the front. Fantastic for meeting friends and enjoying a sunny, summer day
- Interesting bathroom set-up. Communal, but not. Separate, private stalls with a communal sink. Kind of strange, but it’s a conversation starter.
- Beautiful room. Exposed brick walls. Big couches and tables that encourage chilling and conversation.
- Interesting beer and cocktail menu. We drank some fruity Blanche de Chambly beer last night.

Food is pretty good and they try to use local/organic. Last night we had a tasty poutine with cheese curds and a truffle gravy ($8.75).  My husband ordered the mushroom ravioli (sizable portion, but a little tough) in a herb sauce and sliced duck breast on top – a good deal at $15.  The menu is HUGE, but it works for the eclectic crowd they attract. Lots of vegetarian options and lots to keep the meat eaters satisfied. The menu is online – but beware downloading as it’s a 52 page pdf!

I have held many group events at Chill Winston – service is always professional and organized.

My only question…who is Winston?!

Chill Winston
3 Alexander St, Gastown
604 288 9575
Open everyday 11am-1am