Romer's Burger Bar

I'd forgotten to mention that last night Amy and I went to the grand opening of Romer's Burger Bar down in Kits (it is where Pinky's used to be). The grand opening was also a fundraiser for Pinups for Pink. We didn't win the 50/50 draw but we got a nice surprise when the owner, Jim Romer, treated everybody to a free meal (less alcohol), what a nice gesture.

As for the food, it was delicious. We both had.... burgers of course. Amy had the Maple Bacon Burger and I opted for the delectable Ultimate Kobe Classic. It was a $20 burger (no sides!) but it was delicious. We also ordered two types of fries on the side, the garlic fries and the truffle oil fries. Yum yum. And if that wasn't enough, we ended with what was called Drunken Doughnuts, 10 of them drenched with powdered sugar and then served with three sauces: Lemonchillo, Nutella, and Maple Whisky. I can't wait to go again!

Acme Cafe

Amy had heard about this nice little cafe near Gastown and we saw a writeup of it in the latest Food & Restaurant Guide so our Sunday brunch adventures resumed after a short absence. She had an Americano and turkey sandwich while I opted for a very delicious Chicken Pot Pie and something called an Affagato, which is two shots of espresso with ice cream. Mmmmm. I must say the chicken pot pie was one of the best I've had in a long time.

Then the server tempted me with something called the Double Rainbow pie. Nice.

Octopus Garden

Amy and I went to a nice little Japanese restaurant in Kits last night. It was a small restaurant with interesting decor. Other than the sushi bar (where we sat) and some rooms there were tables with chairs arranged so that customers had to cross their legs as there was no leg room underneath. Interesting.

Amy chose this restaurant because they served Wagyu Beef! Yay! The 4 oz steak (yeah that's it) was $35 but it was good. I could tell it wasn't the "real" Japanese-imported kind but it was well cooked nevertheless. We also had the usual Spinach Gomae, as well as a pan-fried Okara Cake, spicy tuna sushi, soft shell crab sushi, and bluefin tuna. Very nice.

Starry Night

Last week my family took me to Starry Night, an interesting new restaurant in Richmond. The restaurant was downstairs, and upstairs there were reflexology rooms (don't ask). I guess the best way to describe the restaurant is a higher-class Chinese-English cafe, similar to restaurants such as Cafe Gloucester and I Cafe. Unfortunately I was disappointed with the establishment. The service was very strange, as it seemed the wait staff had no idea what to do. We had to ask for bread and not once did they ask us if we needed anything, until the very end when we were just finishing up dinner.

As for the food, it was okay. I had a coffee-crusted ribeye, which tasted like a ribeye with coffee (depending on your taste this is either good or bad). My Manhattan Seafood Chowder was a bit too sour but adequate. Overall, for the price I would have to pay, I'd have to give it a fail.

Eat Vancouver

This was the second year that Amy and I have gone to this exhibition. Last year's edition was held at BC Place and I must say it was much better then. This year it was at the new Convention Center downtown. While the site was really nice, I thought the ballroom was a lot smaller. As a result, the place was packed with rude people who really didn't have any manner. Hey dipsh*t, we're lining up here for a reason, did you ask beforeod you rudely budded in? After a while I just pretended it was a Boxing Day sale and didn't even say "excuse me". What's the point?

Oh the food. It was pretty good. My favorite was salmon on a stick, so good I had two. Otherwise we enjoyed some of the samples but were not impressed with the lack of cleanup on the floor. There weren't enough garbage cans and they should have differentiated garbage bins and recycle bins more, as people were throwing garbage in the recycle bin. Oops. I'd say 2 stars out of 4.

Dine Out Vancouver: Beach House

Due to my schedule I'd never gotten the chance to participate in Dine Out Vancouver until last night when we decided to go to The Beach House in West Vancouver. There were other choices but unfortunately they were all booked up for the weekend. The rain ruined a very nice view across the water.

For appetizer, she went with prawns while I opted for a delicious carrot and ginger soup. We both decided on the Beef Shortrib for our main course (I wasn't in the mood for salmon or chicken). It was a generous portion of meat with creamy mashed potatoes. Toffee pudding and Napoleon Mille-Feuille completed a very beautiful evening. It's too bad that a) I have so many night shifts thereby making it unable to attend more Dine Out restaurants and b) all the restaurants are so busy!

High Tea, Ramen

This weekend our adventures took us to the Fairmont Vancouver downtown for high tea. My Mom had taken me here before so I thought Amy would enjoy it. Actually, we'd originally planned on going to the one at Sutton Place Hotel but that was booked full, and we discovered that the Fairmont had "walk-ins" so... we walked in. We chose our teas and then they brought us a nice two-tiered display of bite-sized sandwiches and delicious scones. Ooh those scones. Yummy. Afterwards we went for a nice stroll in Stanley Park. We couldn't decide on dinner (Kintaro again?) until we walked by a "new" ramen place on Denman called Motomachi Shokudo. It was a small little place. I had an "extra BBQ Pork" ramen which meant pork ribs were included, while Amy had some sort of a bamboo-based ramen. Delicious soup and ramen for me (Amy thought the ramen wasn't chewy enough) but not much in the way of meat. Still it was a good time.

Locus Restaurant

Yesterday the Vancouver Brunch Adventures restarted after a sojourn to Las Vegas. Amy had come across a small place on Main Street that I must have driven by many times. The Locus Restaurant is situated on Main Street close to King Edward. It has an extensive menu for all meals. Amy had a Classic Breakfast with rosemary chicken sausage (?) while I opted for an interesting Pumpkin Spiced French Toast with a side of bacon. Both were delicious, perhaps one of the best so far. We will definitely come back to this nice find.

Vegas 2010: Food

I had a variety of delicious eats at Vegas. The first night, Amy and I joined her godsister and boyfriend at Michael Mina (at the Bellagio). The chef Michael Mina has a number of restaurants in Vegas, and this one was called simply Michael Mina. Then again maybe it's called Michael Mina at the Bellagio. Amy had a lobster pot pie which had high marks for presentation and preparation. I opted for a nice 6 oz. American Kobe Beef. Both were delicious but of course for me, 6 oz. of beef is nowhere near enough. This was my overall observation of the restaurant; very nice atmosphere but the value was lacking.

For breakfast the next day the four of us went to J.J.'s Boulangerie at Paris. We had nice waffles and continued on with the day.

Night time was buffet time. We'd heard some good reviews about the Wynn Buffet so that was our destination. At a price tag of $34.95 I was hopeful that the food would be good and I was quite impressed. I don't usually go to buffets in Vegas because I guess I would rather have good, fresh food rather than pick from a large variety of not-so-fresh food. A prime rib just out of the roaster is amazing, but at a buffet that isn't the case. Nevertheless I liked everything. I had a few slices of prime rib plus some really good veal shortribs (my favorite) followed by some good creme brulee. It wasn't brilliant but it wasn't too bad.

Wednesday we woke up a bit later than usual and only had time for lunch at Caesar's, at a nice little cafe called Serendipity 3. I had a "Hangover Omelette" which had bacon, mushrooms, and fries. It came with a side of waffle fries (yup, that's fries and fries); Amy had a turkey and brie sandwich. It wasn't too bad.

At night we went to one of my favorite restaurants, Voodoo (at the Rio). Their menu had changed since my last visit. I remembered having a Wagyu Beef cut last time for $120 ($15 an ounce) but this time their best was a 8 oz. A5 Kobe New York for $80. It wasn't as delicious as the Wagyu but it wasn't bad. Amy had a yummy Filet Mignon.

There are a lot of other nice restaurants in Vegas I'd like to try. Is that a good enough excuse to visit again?

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

Amy told me about a new Ramen place downtown that was supposedly better than Kintaro. Well how could I refuse, since Kintaro is my favorite ramen place? I was told that they had some sort of a ramen accompanied by pork cheek (yes, that means a lot of fat).

We made our way down to Robson Street (near Bidwell) and ended up having an enjoyable time. Plusses for this restaurant were the soup bases and the quality of the meat. But I really didn't enjoy the noodles, which were much tougher than "my favorite restaurant". And the price of my pork cheek ramen was more than it should be. Overall, I would rank it below Kintaro, still the champion!

Maenam

What, Jason off on Saturday? Well after a week of unusual graveyard shifts, I managed to procure both Saturday and Sunday off. I took a nap after getting home at 8 in the morning than drove to Amy's where we started our weekend adventure.

Our first place of note was the 49th Parallel Coffee place in Kits. It was opened by the owners of Cafe Artigiano. She had an Americano and I had a single shot latte which was presented with the famed latte art.

After a short drive and excursion to Granville Island, Amy treated me to dinner at Maenam, an interesting "Asian fusion" restaurant. The menu was small but interesting. We started with a Hot and Sour Sloping Hills Pork Soup. I finally discovered what Sloping Hills pork was, as I'd seen it on a number of menus and never knew what it was. We shared three entrees: Chiang Mai Style Beef Salad, 8-Spice Fish (lingcod), and Pad Thai. In terms of taste I would rank the dishes as follows: Soup, Salad, Pad Thai, Fish. All were tasty but I'll have to say very small in size.

Dessert consisted of Carmelized Baby Banana Fritter with White Sesame Sorbet and a Dark Chocolate Pot de Creme. Both were enjoyable but once again small in portion. While I definitely enjoyed the flavors, I guess I wish there were larger portions!

Town Hall

I hadn't seen Sam in a long while so he called me up for lunch today. We decided to go to the newly opened Town Hall Restaurant (once Saltlik) on Alberni. It was very spacious with a pretty nice menu. I'm sure the night time scene is pretty cool. We started with a Chorizo Clambake, which we ordered mainly because we just wanted to see what it was. Basically it's clams with chorizo and double-smoked bacon. It was pretty good but we only got 6 clams so it wasn't that good a deal. Sam had the chilean sea bass and I opted for the bodacious rib-eye because I just wanted to see what it was. Basically it was a bodacious rib-eye with skinny fries that were quite tasty and numerous. It was a nice restaurant with fairly overpriced items.

Refuel Restaurant

Once called Fuel Restaurant, this establishment was renamed after some story that I'm not sure about. It was a small restaurant close to Kits. Amy and I shared some spiced pork ribs, then for appetizers Angela (who showed up late...) shared spaghetti carbonara and crunchy pork cheek (?). They were yummy! For the main, Angela had an ox tongue salad, Amy the seared rare albacore tuna salad, and I completed my pork theme with the sloping hill pork. While the dishes were small they were quite tasty. We couldn't stay for dessert, but hopefully we will soon. They also have a brunch menu!!

Abigail's Party

The first brunch of 2010 took place on Sunday at Abigail's Party, a nice little place on Yew and 1st. She had a Mescalero Scramble (chorizo, corn, peppers, cilanto, cheese) while I opted for a really delicious Short Rib Hash, possibly one of my favorite dishes during our brunch adventures. We'll definitely have to come back to this nice place.

Nuviews

It just so happened that there was a spot available at 6:15 for this restaurant tonight on Christmas Eve. I'd heard pretty good reviews for this place downstairs from Stonegrill. The restaurant was somewhat retro and the view was awesome as I remembered from the days of Anderson's.

Amy had a prawn bisque and the main course was albacore tuna. I opted for the Christmas Eve menu, which was four courses (technically six but more on that later). I started with a scallop appetizer followed by a salad. The main course was a prime rib eye of beef with a little meat pie on the side. Everything was excellent. What I enjoyed most was we also got two "Amuse", little palette cleansers. The first was an awesome slice of raw tuna (which actually tasted better than Amy's main course). The second was a pre-dessert (?) of a chocolate soup of sorts. Yummy! For dessert I had my classic creme brulee (vanilla bean) while Amy had a date pudding. Highly recommended restaurant!

P.S. Merry Christmas everyone!

Waazubee Cafe

This week's brunch adventure brought us to Commercial Drive, and a nice restaurant called Waazubee Cafe, a nice simple breakfast for me and chorizo omelette for her. The best part...the coffee! We both had an Americano which was of course better than the usual standard coffee. It's too bad these aren't bottomless.

Cafe Barney

Today our brunch adventures took us to another spot on Main Street, right across from the unfortunately burnt down Slickety Jim's. The pretty one had a sausage omelette and I went with a salmon and mushroom Benny. I found myself addicted to the potatoes (wonder if they were cooked in duck fat?). Yum yum.

Baker's Market

Before work, Amy and I went to the annual Baker's Market, a small little room with a variety of baked goods. We got to sample some yummy breads and chocolates and other delectables. I wish it was a lot bigger but it was neat, something I never knew existed. Is there a Prime Rib Market somewhere? Hee hee.

Burgoo

Our Sunday brunch adventures restarted after a little break. Today it was Burgoo on Main and 15th, a nice little restaurant which boasted comfort food from all over the world. Amy chose the Pain Dore (Quebec), which was toasted French bread with blueberries and banana. I chose the French Beef Bourgignon, a healthy helping of beef with carrots, mushroom, and mashed potatoes. Yum yum. As Amy said in her own blog post, I would definitely like to come back!

James' Cafe

We didn't have time for a long brunch this Sunday as I was scheduled to work at 2pm. But Amy had discovered a nice little cafe very close to her place which served pannekoek of all things. I'd only gone to the Dutch Pannekoek House and the Wooden Shoe in the past, but this was a nice little place. I ordered what was essentially a meat lover's pannekoek with lots of meat, while Amy had a trail mix and fruit one. Both were pretty yummy.

Anybody have suggestions for nice brunch places?