Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Waffle and Berries specializes in large waffles that are basically $4 ($3.95), plus simple toppings (around $2). If you are even thinking of going to pricey-store-rent downtown Vancouver for a waffle, then you're probably not balking at the price, which is on par with Cafe Medina and less than Jules Bistro . You get a freshly made waffle, fresh fruit, lots of whipped cream, and pleasant ambiance ( picture by qasic ). This latter is up to you to decide of course, but it's clean, bright, and feels spacious: For a small store, they have rather large tables and comfortable chairs. They aren't sandwiching you in with the seating arrangement, and your table is big enough to not be crowded by your plates and drinks. This may sound like a trivial point, but seriously, just notice how tight things feel next time you're at different diners and restaurants. They use liege waffles . Despite the picture on their sidewalk advertisement, the waffle is slightly long rather than s...

Previously I mentioned having $1-off coupons from All You Need is Cheese , and I purchased two Boursin cheeses on sale at Superstore. The cranberry and pepper flavoured "spiced fresh soft cheese" is very much the same in consistency as the Boursin shallot and chive , except the flavour is more disappointing: If there were any pepper flavour, it was very subtle. To get any cranberry flavour, you really need to have at least a chunk of cranberry. Otherwise, the cheese tastes like cheese only. It's not so much flavoured cheese as it is dried cranberry bits mixed into the cheese. If you do get this, I recommend being generous with the portion to ensure that you have a good amount of cranberry included in whatever you have spread the cheese on. The cheese does have a richness which lends well to thicker spreads but won't give you that sick feeling from too much fat.

Fable Kitchen  has added themselves to the Mealshare charity, and I decided to drive some business their way to appreciate their participation. Initially I had thought to make a late-seating reservation for 8 persons (second seating typically means no busy third seating behind you and you can take your time, especially if you are in a larger group). However, the restaurant policy has sort of thrown a wrench into things, with not just a group menu, but requiring deposits. I should first say that I am not upset at the restaurant. Every restaurant has to contend with no-shows, and the busier the restaurant, the more upsetting it is for them since those seats could have been easily snapped up by another party or a few walk-ins. Fable does have quite the comprehensive policy including deposits, which in turn means you really need to be able to count on your party to show up. That, sadly, is pretty hard to do with the dining club I am in. Over a year ago, I tried the buy-to-share Prem...

Saturday brunch is typically pretty slow at Jules Bistro, so if you're thinking of a walk-in, you probably have a good chance of it up till 1:30 pm or so. Before 1 pm or so, it will probably be empty, giving you a great chance to walk about a bit and look at the posters, paintings, and old piano on which are a collection of intriguing flasks and brandy warmers . Also be sure to check out the chandeliers with blue birds. On this last rainy Saturday, I arrived very early for my brunch reservation, and it was happily very brightly lit inside. While I was waiting, I also got to witness an aspect of running a business in Gastown: Vagrants. The large umbrellas on the patio were apparently a great place to stop for a cigarette, and one casually dressed person did just that. While he was idling for his smoke (rather too close to the door based on current smoking laws , which require a 6-meter buffer zone), an even more disreputable-looking person stopped to talk to him. That was enoug...

My free Spring 2014 copy of All You Need Is Cheese  included a number of expires-in-June coupons for cheese products. Somehow I ended up with two copies of the magazine, so I decided to get two different flavours of Boursin Spiced Fresh Soft Cheese .  Boursin is a type of Gournay Cheese . Red Chili Pepper flavour was sadly not available at the Metrotown Superstore where they were selling for a whopping $5.57 per 150-gram box. It is apparently not a particularly hot selling item because the ones I got had an April 2014 expiration and they were being discounted to $8.98 per two boxes. After applying the two manufacturer coupons from the magazine, the price still came out to a rather pricey $3.49 for each small portion. (Right now, Save-On-Foods is advertising Western Family cheddar cheese at $7.99 for a 700 gram block, and Safeway is advertising Kraft Cheez Whiz at $4.99 for a 900g bottle). The cheese itself is rather inconvenient to use. It crumbles easily, and can also ...

Last year I mentioned a free cheese recipe magazine  and you can subscribe to for a non-Quebec Canadian address . The Spring edition came recently, with interesting recipes as promised, and showcasing twelve cheeses, including grilling cheeses, and a variety of common and not-so-common cheeses. You won't get the $1-off coupons from the inside flap if you don't subscribe, but you can get all the recipes online, some of which have instruction videos. If you're into recipe books, I highly recommend subscribing for the hardcopy. Each recipe is accompanied by beautiful pictures, and the magazine itself is mostly recipes, with just a few articles. The only recipe not in the magazine is the Canadian Blue Cheese Crème Brûlée .

Bubby's Kitchen  is quite a nice restaurant featuring interesting decor and local artwork, and several paragraphs on their menu about the intriguing corner bench featuring rough-hewn wood picked locally. On a sunny day, you can expect a brightly lit room with an energetic vibe. You can expect it to be quite busy, so try to avoid the lunch rush. The menu is quite extensive and features many vegetarian items and gluten free options. Truffle Honey Chicken Burger ($14) Grilled Rossdown chicken thighs, slow roasted roma tomato & garlic relish, pickled onion, lettuce, feta cheese & roasted garlic aioli. All of our burgers, wraps & sandwiches are served with your choice of soup, salad, or fries. Upgrade to Caesar salad, Yam or Truffle fries for $1. Substitute a gluten-free bun for $1.5. As expected, the gluten-free bun was on the dry and grainy side. If you're not celiac, you're just paying to ruin your burger. Stick with the regular bun. The truffle fries were ...

Il Terrazo is hidden in an alley that can look a bit dodgy at night. You might then expect it to be a smallish place, but it is actually rather expansive, though the area behind the bar is quite tight, including a wine "cellar" accessed by a ladder. Depending on which Italian restaurant you go to, you might be recommended to order according to the traditional Italian five-course dinner . You'd be in trouble with portions if you try that at Il Terrazo, and plates are not really structured for sharing. Even an appy + main might leave you too full for anything but a sharing portion of dessert. Despite not seeing any buzz outside the doors, you can still expect the restaurant to be buzzing and busy as late as 8pm. Seating is not tight, but sight-lines mean little privacy pretty much no matter where you sit. It is quite noisy with the buzz of many patrons, and dinner lighting is on the dark side of dim. Order-taking waitstaff might be a bit busy trying to keep up, but d...

Chocolate is obviously a feminine product because you can buy one and get the other free. Yes, this is a REAL COUPON I got from a London Drugs store in Victoria (Vancouver Island).

SkinnyTato is a Polish restaurant that prominently features gluten free and vegetarian options. For Dine Around and Stay in Town 2014, it seemed they went out of their way to have both options, including a gluten free version of Polish poppy seed cake. It's a really tiny place, more like a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop. Seats maybe 16 comfortably. As a small operation, it doesn't have the usual flight of floor staff like a full-time waitress or busser. You might find the service a bit awkward, but their care and sincerity comes through. My dining companion went with the $20 Dine Around menu while I opted for the regular dinner menu. Dine Around 2014 ($20) Starter Cup of polish borsch soup Or White sausage European style sausage cooked & served with sauté onion and mushrooms Entree Spinach Crepe A large crepe stuffed with spinach and goat feta cheese smothered with rich creamy white mushroom sauce served with Nature or Skinnytato salad Or Plate of pierogie...

If ever a storefront didn't match the interior, Avalon definitely qualifies. The signage is more suggestive of a bookstore. The interior is a colourful place with interesting artwork on the wall. It is also a tiny diner. Price for portion is fair here, and the food is properly done but nothing special. My friend got the skillet (good choice) and I tried the veggie burger (stupid choice) and split pea soup (rather like lentil soup). The veggie burger is a simple affair with lettuce and a fat slice of tomato. The savoury patty is rather tasty on its own, and too perfectly shaped for any likelihood of being made in-house. Sadly, the rest of the burger somehow smothered the taste. If you order this, open up your burger and eat the lower half with the patty as an open-faced sandwich. With the top, you can fool around with it a bit. Maybe make another sandwich with whatever else you ordered (e.g., steal some of your buddy's skillet order) or zap some of their rather nice not-to...

Smoken Bones is a rather large restaurant that apparently specializes in BBQ meats. Nevertheless it has a fairly substantial menu of choices. Decor is simple and spacious and has televisions. The only thing to watch out for is the location of the washrooms. Large signs attempt to point you past the passage to the kitchen, but because these signs are both to the left and right of that corridor, sometimes people see only the one that points right at the corridor. Various condiments are available. The house blend of spices is pretty decent -- not too salty, and it actually has a slight sweetness to it. Strangely, they did not provide a change of utensils between appetizer and main. $20 Dine Around Menu 1st Course Smoked tomato soup with creme fraiche or Beet salad with Salt Spring Island Goat Cheese Main Flame-grilled pork buckeye with reduced demi and oven-roasted vegetables or Pork belly & beef meatloaf with a potato croquette Dessert Bread pudding with honey ...

Afternoon Tea at the Empress Hotel is talked about like a sort of institution, a place that you "must" go if you are in Victoria. Sadly, marketers inevitably get their tentacles on anything that is a "must", and put the squeeze on anyone who "must" experience it. Afternoon Tea here mainly distinguishes itself from other afternoon tea services by being in a heritage dining room in a heritage hotel, though its exotic tea blends might be (or just sound) more exotic than others available -- for example, the intriguing Quangzhou Milk Oolong Tea: "A most unique character best described as 'premium oolong with sweet milk and light orchid notes peeking out from camellia depths'. The milky flavour of this tea is a result in a sudden and rare shift in temperature during harvest. This silky and smooth tea is produced in relatively small quantities from December to March. An amazingly profound tea indeed." Other than that, it is not particularl...

Victoria's parallel to Dine Out Vancouver is Dine Around and Stay in Town , which seeks not only to lure foodies to downtown Victoria, but also out-of-towners. This year, it happened to coincide with an old friend of mine recently come back to Victoria, so I finally made my way over there. I'll post a few dine outs that I had there, but in this post I'll have an overview of getting to Victoria, staying there, and impressions of Dine Around and Stay in Town. First, if you are going to Victoria specifically for Dine Around and Stay in Town, have a look at the menus first! I cannot emphasize this strongly enough if you are vegetarian or vegan! The choices are very weak, bordering on non-existent. This is not to say that there are no vegetarian or vegan restaurants, or that restaurants do not have vegetarian choices. But for the Dine Around menus, the vegetarian options are lumped together with gluten-free options, and you might be hard-pressed to find yourself a veggie thre...

One week from now, on Monday, March 17th, 2014,  Freshlice Pizza (only at the 771 Davie location ) is having a "block party" starting at 10 AM. The back page of their recent flyer shows various goodies, including free whole pizzas to the first 10 customers, and free large pizza slices between 3pm and 4pm.