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Vancouver Trip July 2010
My first trip to Vancouver. His third or fourth. These were all the spots we hit up. He's been to most of these places. I picked out some of these places using Yelp. To thank Yelp users for guiding me in the right direction, I am posting my own reviews for others to read. Had a great time in Vancouver. Look forward to returning and experiencing more of what the city has to offer!
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9 Places
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Emily’s 5-star review: Oh Finch's...what can I say about you that doesn't make me gush like a little vegetarian school girl?!? We came here twice during our short vacation in Vancouver. With so many options to get good food in Vancouver, that has to mean something, right? As all the other women have already explained, the decor is "cute" "quaint" and definitely "unpretentious". There is something so simple yet complex about the decor - with the mismatched antique furniture, the chalkboard menus, the sunny and vibrant atmosphere, the elevated seats on the platforms by the windows, the adorable tea cups, the jars of loose tea, the smatterings of color and so on. It's obvious that everything was picked carefully yet was decorated to look nonchalant and inviting. It's unassuming from the outside but stepping in felt like entering into a different world - one where you can just relax and de-stress. The food was equally as unpretentious as the decor. With seemingly simple descriptions, the freshness and quality of the ingredients were allowed to shine. Judging by the vibrancy of the yellow yolk, it was a very fresh egg. After a few unsuccessful attempts to re-create their baguette sandwiches when I got home from the trip, the importance of the quality of the food is all the more apparent. Their food seems simple enough but very much exceeded my expectations. The service was friendly and quick. When I went to pick up our drinks, I double checked to make sure they were soy. They were not. Our barista re-made our drinks with no hassle. Maybe I've been in NYC for too long but I was expecting at least a heavy sigh. She calmly said, not a problem and recreated them from scratch. We got: Full vegetarian on baguette Free range egg salad on baguette 1 soy latte 1 chai soy latte (sweet jesus that was one of the best I've had!) 2 chai soy lattes to go I loved that the "egg salad" was sliced up soft boiled eggs w/ just a layering of mayo on the baguette. The egg was so fresh and so full of flavor. I hate how a lot of egg salads taste more like the mayo than the egg itself. They top the sandwich with fresh cracked pepper. The full vegetarian was absolutely delicious, though a big cumbersome to eat. Definitely worth every bite. After we ate every last bit of the sandwiches, I realized I hadn't taken a picture of them. I liked that chai soy latte so much that we had to get 2 more to go. Second trip (to go on our way to drive up to Whistler): Free range egg salad on baguette Breakfast sandwich on baguette 2 soy chai lattes On our second trip we gobbled up the sandwiches in the car. So excited to eat them I again forgot to take a picture. I'm back in NYC now and I woke up today wanting to walk down to Finch's...for that I give it 5 stars. Don't expect magic. But fully expect fresh flavors & quality ingredients. It's amazing how many places can't get simplicity right. -
Emily’s 5-star review: I was taken here and at first skeptical of its location in a mall. Coming from the US with a predisposed hatred for cookie cutter malls, I didn't expect too much. As soon as I walked in I was extremely impressed with the art. I'm not an art critic nor do I pretend to know what's "good" or "bad" but I know what I like and don't like. I find mainstream art boring. Some modern art requires too much thinking or are just beyond my scope of understanding (ie large dot on the wall = art?) This place was definitely not mainstream and definitely not boring. It had a vibrancy to it. I liked a lot of the pieces that were being displayed. They were contemporary, unique, different...all the things I value in life. Interspersed among the pieces was clothing and jewelry. I tried on this fantastic sexy unique denim dress that would have been worth the high price tag...but it was not built for my body type. Such a shame. I'm still thinking about it a week later. I did get a great t-shirt & a tank top. The tank top was made of eco-friendly material which made the buy even easier. I look forward to wearing them both. This place offers more than just art. It's seems more like an exhibition for local artistry in general. The people were friendly. We wanted to check out their Larger Than Life event but got too tired towards the end of the night to make it back. Their website is worth checking out. You can see what is currently being exhibited. As usual, it's significantly better in person, bigger scale and up close & personal. If it looks in any way interesting, hit this place up. Definitely worth the trip. -
Emily’s 4-star review: This was my first dinner in Vancouver on my recent trip and I'm so glad it was. Yelp reviewers, you did not lead me astray! Though we got there around 9 on a Friday night, there was only a 5 minute wait though the place is small. Maybe we just got lucky. There's a great ambiance inside. From the outside it doesn't look like much. Inside it was full of color, lots of little tables, yet enough space to have some privacy. It's a great date spot. The plating was nice and simple. The waitresses were friendly and the food was quick. I've been to many-a restaurants in NYC for SE Asian cuisine and this was definitely on par with the best in NYC. For drinks I had a thai iced tea and he had a virgin lychee mojito. My iced tea was strong and delicious, sweet but not too sweet. His mojito was so good that you didn't miss the rum. Really. Roti Canai: I've had really good & really bad roti canai. This was definitely one of the best I've had. The roti was thin and moist but not oily or greasy. The canai was slightly sweet, slightly spicy - perfect. Vegetable spring rolls: Very fresh tasting - but a bit too oily and big for me. It was like an egg roll sized spring roll. I like mine a bit smaller so the paper doesn't soak up too much oil when frying. The filling was fresh tasting though. He polished them off! For my main I ordered the Assam Curry Tofu & Vegetables. It was so good and not too heavy. Spicy but not overpowering. The portion was huge so I ended up only finishing half of it. I prefer my fried tofu soft in the center, not spongy like some places. This was perfectly cooked outside so it was crispy but the center was so soft. When I cut a piece of tofu in half, it almost melted, just like my favorite korean dubu. He got the Alaskan Black Cod in carmamelized ginger sauce platter. It sounds bigger than the main dish but it's actually smaller portioned for one person. When it arrived it certainly didn't look like a single portion! I didn't try the cod but the sauce was very good. He loved it. We were so full afterwards that we didn't want to even think about dessert. We walked out very happy and very full. Great food. Great ambiance. I think they do a great job of blending authentic with healthy. I would definitely recommend and definitely come back. -
Emily’s 4-star review: After a long day of exploring along the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver, the Boy and I were suddenly famished. We wandered around the area, checked out some yelp reviews and were unsure of what to eat. We stumbled upon Elements Urban Tapas and as soon as we looked at the menu, we both knew this was the spot for us. We came here around 5 or 6pm on a Saturday. It was relatively empty with only a few tables being served. The ambiance was rustic but modern. Dark wood. Comfortable seating. Warm lighting. Our server was friendly & attentive. He warned us these are "tapas on steroids" and he was right. I've been to several tapas places in NYC and have always had to order at least 3 or 4 each to feel some what full. Not only were these portions large for tapas, they were also extremely reasonably priced. I spent probably half of what I normally would at a tapas place. We ended up ordering 4 tapas to share and 2 desserts. We ended up eating 1 dessert too much and stumbled out of this place in a food induced coma. When we walked out we realized we had been eating for 3 hours. When we left the place was packed and it looked like there was a wait. It wasn't until we went to the restrooms that we realized it's part of a hotel. Nice looking hotel, by the way. I'll go into further details below but one thing I did notice about our tapas was how fresh the food tasted, especially the veggies. I took a look at their menu on their website and I'm pleased to see that the menu we got a few weeks ago does not match exactly what's on the website- my guess is that it changes based on the seasonality of the ingredients. Because of that I can only describe what I got based on my memory. Okay, this is what we got: Panko crusted goat cheese, beet carpacchio w/ spinach salad: I really liked this. The beet "carpacchio" was so good. The Boy doesn't like beets and he thought it was really good. The panko crust was crispy . The goat cheese was warm. It complimented the spinach and slightly sweet beets very well. Very great start to our meal. Spinach & artichoke bruschetta w/ sun dried tomato: it was good but not my favorite nor anything really special. The Boy really liked this. I probably wouldn't order again but we finished them all. I think I like my bruschetta more on the traditional side with fresh tomatoes & basil. Spinach & Ricotta gnocchi w/ green peas: the best gnocchi I've ever had. I'm not an expert but it's definitely one of my favorite foods so I try it everywhere I can. It wasn't too mushy and it wasn't too dense. The flavor was intensely fresh, not too salty, not too bland. The peas tasted like they were locally grown - so sweet. I could have had three bowls of this (would have been sorry afterwards) but it just was that good. Crusted fish (white) on a bed of pureed peas: I'm a vegetarian so I didn't eat this. I took a bite just to taste it. I thought it was okay. I like really tender fish and this had a bit of a chew to it. The fish itself didn't have any flavor but the crust and the pea puree made up for that. The Boy ate it all and really liked it and finished every last bite. Rubarb & almond cake w/ strawberry ice cream: It was good, moist, not too dense. I think there was something else on the side but I can't remember what it was. The ice cream was so-so. It tasted like ice cream you'd buy at the store. Slightly disappointed. But again, we ate most of it. Trio of crème brules: Crème Brule is one of our favorite desserts so of course we had to try. I thought it was good but way too sweet. I could only take a few bites. I think the flavors were supposed to be coconut, ginger and mint. I'm not 100% sure if it was our mistake but 2 of the brules tasted exactly the same to me and I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be ginger or mint. If you like sweeter desserts you'll probably like this. All in all we left very full and very happy. I deducted 1 star because of the desserts. They weren't bad but did not match the freshness of what I thought the tapas had. On a serious note, I need that gnocchi recipe. Please. -
Emily’s 5-star review: We came on a Sunday afternoon around 1ish during my short vacation to Vancouver. There was a small wait, of course. We weren't in a rush and judging by the Yelp reviews I had a feeling it was going to be worth it. I'm glad we did. We were seated in the back near the kitchen. Great ambiance, very low key and relaxed. Our waiter was a trip. The food was fantastic. I don't think I have a single bad thing to say about the place. The other yelp reviewers were on point. This might be the first place I'd return to the next time I'm in Vancouver. I take brunch very seriously since it's one of my favorite meals ever. Fresh ingredients. Homemade jam. Fresh bread. I support all places that use organic, cage free, free range meats & eggs. I had: Asparagus scrambled eggs served with toasted sourdough & homemade jam, roasted roma tomatoes, rosti & sauteed spinach. It was simple and fresh. The eggs were perfectly cooked. The rosti was salty and fried deliciousness that complimented the eggs perfectly. The jam was outstanding. I should have bought a jar. The Boy had Eggs Benny with toasted brioche, poached eggs, hollandaise and served with sauteed spinach, rosti and baked beans w/ smoked salmon. It was fantastic. The baked beans were obviously homemade. The hollandaise was spectacular. Our friend had: Bacon & brie frittata (he spied this on the way to our seat & it was love at first sight for him) served with fresh greens & sweet corn relish. It was delicious & a monstrosity. I didn't try it because of the bacon but it looked great. I had the french press coffee pot. Yes, just me alone. I think I made it of the way through. We were there for awhile, me buzzing on a caffeine high, talking about life and politics. The coffee was not just large but it was the smoothest french press I've ever had. We left very happy. Great prices for such huge portions. Great ambiance. Just can't say enough good things about this place. What a great experience! -
Emily’s 3-star review: I'm going to keep my review short because I commited the ultimate sin of eating out. I went to a place known for one thing and ordered other things expecting it to be equally as good. *slaps head* duh, of course it's not going to be that great. It's like going into a Ramen place and asking for sushi. One thing I don't like about some Korean restaurants is having a limited amount of banchan. What is that about? Sometimes I'll go to a specific korean restaurant JUST for good banchan! That's what makes the price worth it to me. With that said, the banchan they did have was good. We had: -dol sot bibimbap no beef: maybe I've been spoiled with great dol sot veggie bibimbap in NYC. There was barely anything in my bibimbap. It was like eating mostly rice with a smattering of veggies. C'mon. Am I paying $15 for hot rice? Other than that it was decent. -bibimbap - same deal as dol sot. Was decent. -I can't remember what he had but it wasn't spicy and it had meat in it: he said it was okay but nowhere near as good as Jang Mo Jib. If I start eating chicken again, maybe I'll go back. All in all we were very underwhelmed by this place. But that's to expected when you go to a place called "Red Chicken" and don't eat the damn red chicken. For that I added a star to my actual 2 star rating because it's just not fair to poorly rate a place if you don't taste its specialty. -
Emily’s 4-star review: I'm not sure what happened to my first review of The Templeton but I think it was user error. :( so this will be shorter and not quite as fun as my previous review. I liked the ambiance of The Templeton despite my distaste for diners. Perhaps I've been to one too many bad diners with the oily heavy greasy frozen food. Normally it's just good for a cheap bite. But the Templeton far exceeded my expectations of a diner. The inside most certainly looked like a diner but was clean and spotless unlike the sticky rundown places I've been to on my travels in the North East, including NYC. The lone waitress was friendly and considerate. She gave us the entire carton when we asked for soy milk and when a booth opened up (all were full when we walked in so we sat at the bar) she offered us the option to move there. Much more comfortable by the way. The food was fresh & you could taste the good quality of the ingredients. The breakfast menu was impressive with the Tofu Scrambler. Very vegetarian friendly. I had the Farmers Breakfast with eggs over medium. The eggs tasted free range and very fresh. The rosemary potatoes were perfectly seasoned. The salsa was definitely fresh & complimented the entire dish well. The toast I ordered on the side was yummy. It was a huge portion but I think I did pretty well. He had the Mangled Eggs w/ veggie bacon. Oh my that croissant was fresh. He loved it. He also ordered french toast on the side. I'm a french toast snob so I thought it was great for diner french toast but not the best french toast I've had. We were stuffed by the end of our meal. I've been to Twisted Fork and personally don't like people comparing the two. You don't compare a self-proclaimed diner with a place like Twisted Fork. I think The Templeton does an equally good job of fresh food, great ingredients and service. I think The Templeton does simple food very well. I would definitely return. -
Emily’s 4-star review: We were taken to this place for dinner because its our friend's favorite thai spot and he knew a few people who worked there. We were lucky and snagged a seat outside. Seemed like a small space inside. The waitress was cool peoples but remember I am biased :) I got the Tofu Pad Woon Sen. The brown rice vermicelli in the description won me over. The taste was even better. It was not heavy or oily at all. It was light, refreshing, perfectly seasoned. I shared some of it with our friend but ate most of it up. It was just so delicious. And unlike a lot of cheap thai places, I didn't feel sick or too full afterwards. The Boy got the Vegetarian Wok with garlic sauce. It looked great, tasted great. Not too oily. Good garlic flavor. Our friend had the spring rolls. They looked good! I didn't try because I didn't want to get too full before my dish. I thought it was great taste and great value. Sitting outside was nice. Not crazy busy like it is on Davie but great spot to people watch. All in all a great experience. -
Emily’s 5-star review: This rounds out my reviews of breakfast/brunch places I went to during my trip to Vancouver. 5 days. 4 places. All spectacular. The Boy and Yelp have yet to disappoint me. Unfortunately we got here too late for the breakfast but all my fault. It's hard to get up early on vacation. The ambiance was retro but classy. Very hipster. The waitress and waiter were very friendly and accommodating. We got seated towards the back. We didn't have to wait long to get our order in. Everything came in good time. It was a no-rush attitude in here and I dug it. It was a place I could just chill, relax, chat up the waiters & waitresses and not feel rushed to leave. Nice vibe. As for food, they have 3 dishes that they serve all day and luckily for The Boy, Fricasse was one of 'em. I'm a vegetarian so the menu was a bit more limiting than some of the other places I've been to. I did have a good handful of choices, though. I haven't had grilled haloumi cheese in such a long time so I chose Les Boulettes despite the olive & rosemary sourdough. I hate olives. Let me start with reviewing the food and then finish my review off with our drinks. The Boy has been here several times and loves the Fricasse. I'll take his word & the word of other yelpers on that. It certainly looked delicious. As for my food, it was quite good and quite filling. There were 4 large pieces of sourdough with different toppings on each. The haloumi cheese was as good as I remember. I like to eat the best part last so it's the taste I remember the most. I took a bite of this and immediately saved it for the end. For those who don't know, haloumi is like a saltier mozzarella that tastes much better when it's warm. The marinated shredded carrot salad was sweet and refreshing. I am not a huge fan of tabbouleh and often leave it untouched when I eat at falafel places. But this was one of the better ones I've had and I ate the entire thing. The hummus came topped with a cucumber tomato mixture, if memory serves correctly. It was a perfect light lunch on a relaxing weekday afternoon. Now, lets get to the star of my experience...the lattes. I like lattes. I love coffee. I like all different types for different reasons. Sometimes I'm in it for the taste. Sometimes I'm in it for the kick in the a$$ it gives me. I don't like it too sweet but I do put a little raw sugar and milk into my drinks. I'm not a huge fan of strange things in my coffee or espresso but everyone was raving about these drinks ... including the boy ... so I just had to try one. I fought my better judgement and went for what I thought would be the strongest and the most interesting. I don't really like fruit + coffee mixed together so I dismissed the raspberry and opted for the lavender soy latte. He got a white chocolate pistachio mocha. I took one sip of that lavender latte and I instinctively let out this loud moan of pleasure. Not to be dramatic but I'm positive time stopped for just a moment. I'm sure I startled some people around me...or maybe they're used it by now? If I were to taste this on its own, I would not be able to tell it was lavender. I wish everything lavender tasted like this. It was all I could do to sip and savor and not chug it like I really wanted to. It was just so damn good. I don't want to go on and on about it because I think plenty of people already have and it's really making me upset that I'm so far away from it. I'll just end my rave there. We came back the next day after brunch (my last day in vancouver) JUST for this lavender latte. I went on an epic journey for an HSBC bank because I needed cash (turns out Google Maps needs to update their information) and even though we walked for probably an hour, my heart was set on getting this lavendar latte so we continued our trek there. We made it with 15 minutes to spare. The waitress remembered us and welcomed us back. My eyes were wild with longing. All I could think was lavendar latte lavendar latte lavendar latte. I was half panicked when she said something about them closing in 15 minutes. I didn't hear what she said the first time and barely understood the second time. I felt like a babbling idiot and just wanted to reach out my hand and shout out "LAVENDAR SOY LATTE GIMME!!" Luckily they were still serving drinks & waffles. As soon as I heard that everything in the world was okay for a moment. We got those lattes and it was worth every step. I'll always remember you. Please don't change. Until next time Café Medina...
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