Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

The famous picture has pretty much gone around the world, but depending on which picture you saw, your Checkmate Caesar may not be exactly as shown. The incarnation as of last Friday night was as pictured below: roasted chicken Score burger ( certified Angus Beef, monterey jack, bacon, organic greens, tomato, horseradish aioli and grainy dijon aioli on a brioche bun ) sriracha glazed pulled pork slider ( braised pork marinated in our pineapple sriracha glaze, avocado, slaw and jack cheese ) onion rings chicken wings (covered in Frank's Hot Sauce) a pulled pork mac&cheese hotdog a brownie The components probably add up to about $60, so value for your money is okay. There's food enough for two persons, three if you're all looking for just a light meal. Your drink is "included", so to speak, so dinner comes to about $20 to $30 per person before tax. It's certainly fun to look and order, but overall I'd warn against it for various reasons, ...

As you may know, I subscribe to the free all you need is cheese magazine . In addition to the spread of beautifully illustrated recipes and a bunch of coupons, they also showcased this contest to win a trip to the Canadian National Exhibition 2014: Be the 4th Judge at this year's Grate Canadian Cheese Cook-Off. We challenged chefs to compete against each other by creating their own unique mouth-watering Canadian mac & cheese recipes, and we need a fourth judge to help choose the winner. You could win a fabulous getaway to sit at the Judges' Table with 3 Celebrity Foodies. Apply online for a chance to win!  AllYouNeedIsCheese.ca/Tasterwanted No purchase necessary. From May 26, 2014, to July 5, 2014, at 11:59 p.m. (ET). Open to adults residing in Canada (except Quebec and Territories). The prize consists of a getaway package for two to the Canadian National Exhibition 2014 . Winner must be available from August 26, 2014, to August 28, 2014. See contest rules at www.allyo...

What used to be Chinois became West Oak. Their pricey menu of Chinese food has now changed to someting fresh, local, and honestly not-very-exciting sounding. Except the "Chinois Prawns". I still remember those prawns being so darned good two years ago during the Taste of Yaletown that I wanted to go back and see if they were still good here -- and at $10 less. Chinois Prawns ($14 for 5 prawns) housemade spicy aioli, candied walnuts Yeah, I know -- that's $2.80 per prawn. But it's tasty. Get this. Besides, when this place was Chinois, these prawns would have cost you $24 instead of $14. Don't be put off by the "spicy" aioli. There's just a bit of a kick from it, and not even any bite to it. Be sure to get that spicy aioli AND bits of candied walnuts onto your prawn before you put it in your mouth. The candied walnuts have a tendency to fall off forgotten. West Oak Tomohawk Platter for 4 ($185) 48 oz on the bone ribeye chop, Alberta rack of l...

After a good experience during Dine Out Vancouver , I had it in my mind to go back to Graze  for their regular menu and just this past Friday I dragged a back-to-vegetarianism friend there. She invited a gluten free friend and an unsuspecting I-love-KFC meat eater. Between the four of us, we tried quite a few items, and my experience of it was that there's a lot of hit and miss. At your table, some people will love some things and not really care for others. Portion sizes for mains can also differ wildly. The menu online is also mostly correct but not necessarily updated. Marinated asparagus, sunchoke chips, and grilled brussels sprouts This was a daily special 3-item starter. They did something to each of the items to make it tasty. The others really loved this but I thought it was kind of blah. The asparagus tasted like picked whatever; and the brussels sprouts just tasted bitter (which brussels sprouts already are on their own) and slightly burnt but my back-to-veggies...