The Bon Vivant Blog

If you are strolling along the seawall, Provence Marinaside is a good place to stop for a bite to eat. If it is nice outside, one of the patio tables is a great place to eat, drink and people watch or be watched. Although it can be crowded, so be prepared to wait if you don’t have a reservation.

We happened to eat inside as it was a rainy (surprise) winter day in Vancouver. Inside, the ambience is relaxed and comfortable with most tables quickly filling up although we didn’t feel squished in like sardines, possibly because we had a table for 10. I had the baked eggs florentine (two eggs, pancetta, spinach, velouté, gruyere cheese, toasted baguette) which was good but nothing special. We also tried the basked of fresh baked goods which was not bad but again nothing special – in fact, I thought the croissants were slightly disappointing. Overall, the food was average – not bad, not great – which is not unlike many restaurants scattered all over Vancouver. It is the location and convenience to Yaletown yuppies which is what makes this a busy spot to eat. Service was attentive and friendly.

Provence Marinaside Seafood Bar and Grill
www.provencevancouver.com
1177 Marinaside Crescent
Vancouver
604-681-4144
Cost: Brunch $9-17 mains, not cheap but you are paying for the location
Verdict: good place to eat along the seawall in Gastown, average food, make a reservation

We decided to use one of those entertainment book coupons for a free entree at the Tropika in Aberdeen Mall for lunch. The place is relatively nice and modern inside and the service is fast – since there were few tables occupied during this weekday lunchtime. Overall, the food was below average except for the roti canai (malay fried bread with a delicious peanuty sauce for dipping). The kari lembu was a beef curry where the quality of the beef was sub-par leading to tough pieces of meat in very average curry. The mee goreng was slightly better but also underwhelming. I don’t think I would come back here again particularly since there are so many other asian food options in Aberdeen Centre

Tropika at Aberdeen
1830 Aberdeen Centre
4151 Hazelbridge Way
Richmond, BC
604-233-7002
Cost: $20 with coupon (so really more like $30+) with water only
Verdict: average/below average, the tropika downtown is better but overall I prefer Banana Leaf for Malaysian food

This bubble tea house is supposed to have some of the best tapioca balls around and once we tried it, we would agree. There are a huge variety of flavours but I personally prefer mango or some combination of mango – such as mango/lychee, mango/pineapple – with slush and tapioca balls.

How it works – you walk up to the the counter pick a flavour (or two) then add coconut jelly or tapioca balls. You can choose to add milk to make it creamy or have it as slush. You can also choose to have black tea added or not. Note that some of the drinks are hot and some are cold or some can be either, depending on the flavour – eg. taro can be hot or cold.

The service is fast and efficient but it can get quite busy with long line-ups particularly later in the evening. We usually take our drinks to go since there are only a handful of tables and the atmosphere is – well, there really isn’t any. Note the drinks are large and can be quite filling.

Dragon Ball Tea House
1007 W King Edward
Vancouver, BC V6H1Z3
Tel: (604) 738-3198
Cost: $3.50-5
Verdict: great tapioca balls, a few simple tables and chairs inside a small space, can have long line-ups
Hours: 5pm – 11pm?

Apologies for the quality of the photos, we only had our camera phone on us at the time…

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of eating options that aren’t expensive and/or mediocre in Whistler – with dining options mainly catered towards tourists.

Splitz is one of the exceptions, which also means the line-ups can be quite long, particularly since they make the burgers to order, so be prepared to wait.

We had a Splitz burger ($6.75) with cheese (extra $1.50) and fried onions ($1.25) with splitz sauce, which is some sort of delicious mayonnaise-like special sauce. We also tried the lamb burger combo ($10.50 with fries and a drink) and took the server’s dressing recommendation of splitz sauce and tzatzkiki sauce. In fact, one of the things I liked was the variety of toppings (over 20) available – some traditional (eg. mustard, ketchup, tomato, lettuce) and others not as commonly seen in burger joints, such as hummus and tzatziki. Both the burgers were delicious with the juice/sauce literally running through our fingers. Unfortunately, the fries were nothing special and I wouldn’t order them again (I don’t know there is just something about McDonald’s fries that just can’t be beat).

Splitz Grill
www.splitzgrill.com
104-4369 Main Street
Whistler, BC
604-938-9300
Cost:$7 and up for a burger
Verdict: a good option for whistler dining, the burgers are worth the wait

Our personal korean food connection, brought us to this place on Broadway which I am sure that I have walked by too many times to count without even noticing. Granted it is on the second floor of the building and it is quite unobstrusive. A bonus is that there is free parking on the roof.Although the restaurant is nothing special to look at from the outside, the inside isn’t bad and actually offers a fair amount of privacy since most of the tables are private booths. The place can get quite smokey with the korean bbq grill in the middle of each table and most booths cooking something on the grill. There is an efficient system of a portable ringer in each booth so you can summon the waiter/waitress without having to stick your head out of the booth and wave your hands around.

We left the ordering in the able hands of our Korean friends and ended up with, as usual, way too much food for 5 people. We tried the tang soo yuk (sort of like sweet and sour fried pork), galbi (marinated beef short ribs) which we grilled at the table, dolsot bibimbab (rice stone bowl – one of my favorites, a tasty mixture of rice, vegetables, meat and egg that comes in a hot stone bowl), and haemul pajeon (seafood pancake). All the food was good but the best for me was the stone bowl. I thought the seafood pancake was a little bit on the soggy side and would have liked it slightly crisper. If you like sake, you might want to try the soju which is clear in color with an alcohol content varying from 20-45%.

The service was relatively fast. Some of the servers do not speak english that well but it doesn’t seem to be much of a problem. It is a good sign that a lot of korean people were eating there.

Choon Ha Choo Dong
36 E Broadway
Vancouver
604-874-4131
Cost: $130 more than enough food for dinner for 5 including a bottle of soju and a beer
Verdict: Good food, Reasonable cost

So we had a few hour layover in Madrid so decided to head into town to try some tapas. It was easy (about 45min) by metro to reach La Latina – the area in town to try tapas. Just remember that lunch doesn’t start until about 1:00pm (at the earliest) and more likely, 1:30pm. La Latina is known for its streets full of tapas bars so is a good place to start.

Get to Alamendro early since it filled up quite fast, possibly as a testament to it being one of the better tapas restaurants (no-frills) in Madrid. This is a self-service restaurant and bar. Go to the food window and order one of their specialties – rosca (large bagel-like sandwiches which they grill to order filled with a filling of your choice – easy to pick out since they are piled in the window in front of the counter) and the huevos rotos (deep fried potato chips covered in a sunny side egg and cured ham bits). Delicious but heavy. Head to the bar to order any drinks you want. Then wait for them to ring the bell and call out your order – go pick it up and pay for it – enjoy.

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Calle almendro 13, Madrid, Spain
Tel: 913654252
Cost:18.80 euros for two large dishes (more than enough for two people) and bread

Located in a small square close to Jeaume station, this place was recommended to us by our cooking class teacher. It is quaint inside and there is a nice terrace outside with a few tables – although it was pouring rain the day we went so everyone opted for the inside option. The brisk business of this place with both tourists and locals attests to its popularity. In fact, I suggest that you show up early (at the beginning of lunch hour – 1:30pm or at the beginning of supper – 8pm) to ensure you get a table. By about 2-2:30pm, the place was packed.

The menu of the day (lunch only) was 14E at a table and 9.80E if you sat at the bar. I prefer to sit by the bar to see the action as well as watch all the food coming out to see what everyone else is eating. On our particular day, the menu of the day included, patato puree soup with salted cod ( a hearty tasty soup), sausage and white beans with a delicious green sauce (olive oil and parsley? garlic?) and dessert (choice of hazelnut cake or fruit cup), and a drink was included. In addition, the provided bread actually included some nice whole wheat bread (not just white bread) and a generous cup of tiny olives

For the quality of the food and service and the price, this place is a very good deal.

Cafe de L’academia
C/LLedo 1, Barcelona
tel: 933198253

Cost: 20.97E (incl service charge) for two set lunches.
Verdict: Excellent food quality to price ratio, particularly for the set lunch. Arrive early or expect to wait for a table as this place is popular with tourists and locals alike.