Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Back to Joe Fortes for Happy Hour! Last time I was there specifically for their 4pm-6pm happy hour was way back in 2013  and the food is still just as good. Buck-a-shuck oysters are off the happy hour menu due to current oyster conditions, but its place they added Prawn Tacos, Three Cheese Bacon Mac & Cheese, West Coast Clam Chowder. There were some service hiccups this time, but based on their record with me and my parties so far, I'm going to assume it's a one-off. But here are some tips: TIP: When they ask you about water, "flat water" is probably bottled water and in any case costs $2 per person. TIP: If you go at happy hour and are seated at the bar, you *may* get the bar menu, which is incorrect and does not list the new happy hour menu items. Immediately ask for the Happy Hour Menu . No, it is not the same as the Bar Menu, even though they look the same. Even if you work off the wrong menu, you will still get happy hour prices, though. TIP: For ...

Last time I was at the Coal Harbour Cactus Club  was in December, and I remember not being impressed, but I also didn't have any Rob Feenie specials either. I vowed to only order "RF" marked menu items, so when I got dragged over there for brunch today, that's how I read the menu. Location is great except you probably don't want to linger outside too long during the day because the exhaust from the float planes does drift up. Patio seating is very good on a sunny day. If you are early enough for brunch, you can ask to retreat further in under more shade if the sun gets too much. Don't be put off by no-reservations-for-brunch as the location is big enough for there to be ample seating. Larger groups should definitely try a reservation, and I did see a couple of parties of 8-10 with outdoor sunny seating. BBQ Duck Clubhouse ($17.75) peking duck, roasted chicken, prosciutto di modena, pecan fruit bread. Created by chef Rob Feenie. Not the worst sandwic...

If you haven't had "Indian Style" pizza, definitely give it a go. And Non-Stop Pizza is a pretty decent place to try it. It's interesting not just because it uses Indian menu ingredients like chicken tikka or tandoori chicken and the like, but also because it doesn't have melty cheese blanketing everything--which means re-heating it isn't going to be quite so bad. The Fraser Street location of Non-Stop Pizza  is a dive that thankfully you won't have to eat in -- because there's no seating! It's just a take-out counter, really. I tried it on Thursday, and there was the one extremely bored (?) person bordering on possibly being surly. He blandly and negatively answered my questions. Egg Pizza? Nope. We have no eggs. (WTH?) Tandoori Fish Pizza? Nope. Butter Chicken Pizza? Nope. That is the same as Chicken Tikka Pizza. (Really? Then why is Chicken Tikka Pizza a separate menu item?) Anyway, we got a single large, half-and-half pizza (half one ...

The latest sample sent to me by SocialNature is Neurogenesis Happy Water . Happy Water is available at IGA, London Drugs, and other stores . At IGA and London Drugs, it is $9.99 (same as the suggested retail price on the website) plus 20 cent BC environmental deposit. Also, when I picked it up today at London Drugs, there was a buy-one-get-one Manager's Special (which sadly did not allow me to pick up two with the coupon sent to me by SocialNature). Happy Water also comes in 500 ml bottles with a suggested retail price of $1.99. If you feel that "water is water", you could compare this to Nestlé® Pure Life® , which is one of the pricier bottled waters available at Superstore, which sells it at $4.99 for 35 bottles, plus $1.05 ecology fee, plus $1.75 "deposit", for a total of $7.79 or roughly 45 cents per two bottles (1 liter). Happy Water's 5L "bulk" size gives you some savings on price in exchange for a box that doesn't really allow ...

The concept is pretty simple: A BBQ meat sandwich that uses round burger buns and gives you roughly the same amount of meat as a patty. For $4 more you can get twice the amount of meat (the "II" option on the sandwich menu). Quiet, shady place that's quite big. Looks simply decorated on the inside, but take some time to look around and you'll spot some curious things like vintage cameras. Mostly tables and a curious mix of chairs all spray-painted white. Plus a low table with couch! Tables look easily movable, so this place could probably accommodate fairly large groups. It's planted in a residential area, but only a 35 minute walk from the nearest Skytrain. Plus there's parking. Price for portion is decent at mostly $9 per burger. Despite the interesting descriptions, it isn't really a gourmet burger, but it is tasty enough. Considering most dedicated burger places are charging about $12-$15 for a supposedly gourmet burger, this is OK value. ...

MùiNgòGai  is a simple restaurant without much ambiance. But basically clean and spacious. Price for portion is fairly good as most things come with rice or noodles, making it easy to get a filling meal.  Free wifi but you need a password. SHAW wifi as well. Thịt Kho tộ  Caramelized pork,  越式炆豬肉煲 ($12.95) A special dish in which the delicate sweetness of a light caramel balances the vibrant saltiness of fish sauce.  You can have it spicy or not, as it is cooked to order. Quite salty so eat with a lot of rice, this was a Vietnamese way of stretching a little meat a long way. The "detailed description" of "salty caramelized meat" on the website reads: "Made in a metal pot so that the sugars in the sauce can caramelize. The pork can be ordered lean, half lean and fat or fatty; also you can order with less or more hot peppers The taste is rich with the caramelized sugar, spices and hot pepper. Slightly sweet and salty with a spicy tingle from t...

Sliders is a fairly spacious restaurant with a simple cafeteria / communal table layout. Clean and simple. Order at the counter, get a number, wait for your number to be called. Sliders also features a lot of money-saving deals: 10% off for local businesses and hospital staff 10% off takeout orders after 5pm 20% off orders over $50 20% off on all combos after 4pm Slider "passport" -- stamp card to try all the different sliders. Fully stamped card gets you a free slider. NOT automatically offered to you, so ask for one and remember to pull it out. The sliders themselves are small burgers, but not super-small. They are actually about the size of a McDonalds burger, maybe slightly smaller but taller. The design of the burgers are also really nice with good buns and interesting fillings. Three sliders work out to be slightly more than a single gourmet burger elsewhere. This is great value as a 3-slider combo is $13.99 for three sliders plus fountain drink ($2) ...

I am always on the lookout for interesting investments. I read a bit on Binary Options and how it is likened to gambling  where you have approximately a 55% chance of losing your investment with each trade/bet. But there is also "social trading" where you can mirror the trades of "successful investors". Enter iFollow.Club , one of these "social trading" sites. They tout an "autopilot" way to make money over 7 days: So did it work for me? NOT EVEN CLOSE. And I say this WITHOUT HAVING MADE A SINGLE TRADE. You are probably thinking, "WTF?". Read on. Once you do the free sign-up portion on the website, you start getting e-mails like this one, offering "free cash" when you fund your account with the minimum $250. I waited and wanted to know more. Eventually I got this e-mail explaining iFollow.Club's social trading structure. Read it carefully and you will spot all sorts of interesting details: It su...

AnnaLena has a simple, clean space with tables a bit tightly packed but spacing for seats not that bad. Nice, spacious washrooms that reminded me of hotel washrooms. Interesting use of LEGO and creepy bears all over the place. TIP: Girls, the waiters are cute. That was the consensus at our predominantly girl table. They also use Bookenda for online reservations, which has a nice advantage over OpenTable in that you can "chat" with the restaurant on the website in a sort of Facebook comments way, whereas on OpenTable, once your reservation is made, your options are more limited. I recommend using Bookenda over actually calling or e-mailing the restaurant. Annalena basically has two seatings of about 2 to 2-1/2 hours. And for now, they are packed even at 10pm. Also, while a 2 hour seating may seem like a long time, we were early by about 15 minutes but our table was still late by about 5 minutes. So while you can expect an unrushed experience, you can also expect ...

Here's my cellphone plan: SKYPE . No, really. Skype CANNOT be used for emergency calls, so you have two options: Rely on goodwill and no plan. Cellphones let you make emergency calls no matter what , plan or not. Go with the cheapest "normal" plan: Speakout 7-Eleven is $25 and the minutes last 1 year . This lets you have not only emergency calls but free incoming text and the ability to make calls if you are really stuck and have no Wifi access. Otherwise, get a $2.99/month subscription with Skype. You still need Wifi, which means you need a data plan... or do you? Just go to any Starbucks (and thankfully they are everywhere) and mooch their wifi. Or try your luck anywhere, really, since so many places offer free wifi . By 2016, the city of Surrey should be offering free Wifi . And Vancouver, of course, is moving toward the same. To use this Skype cellphone plan, NEVER answer your phone. Your missed calls log will show who's calling you. Then, when you get ...

Railtown Cafe is offering their Tailgate Summer Barbecue Series . They've already done three but there are two more to go: September-12 and September-26. With the BBQ there are two options: Meat-Lovers ($16, $18.85 after Eventbrite fee and GST) 35-hour Texas-style beef brisket Applewood-smoked pork shoulder (pulled pork) Beer-brined Fraser Valley Chicken D'Original Sausage Haus Brats Tabatha's Jalapeño Cornbread Corn on the Cob Choice of two sides: Carolina Coleslaw Creamy Potato Salad Classic Caesar Salad Farmer's Market Field Greens Gluten-Free option available!  Skip the cornbread and the sausage and you are basically safe. Still, best to double-check by calling ahead . Vegetarian ($10, $12.09 after Eventbrite fee and GST) No meat, obviously. You get the cornbread, grilled corn, and all sides For $18.85 including tax but excluding tip (which you basically could get away with not paying), you got a pretty heaping plate of stuff. It s...

The Spud Shack Fry Co.  has (among other things), "poutines" -- fries with stuff on them. It's kind of like Chinese noodles at a budget Chinese restaurant -- lots of cheap carbs with a pile of stuff on top. It's a small, dim place with simple seating. They are presently slightly understaffed, so don't expect all tables to be wiped down during or shortly after their dinner rush. TIP: When you walk in, look up. It says "Order Here". We totally missed that and instead went to secure seats for our party. Only later did we wander over to the counter, and we still didn't see the big sign right over the counter. Duh. TIP: If you can get to New Westminster Skytrain Station before 6pm, they have $5 drinks on Happy Hour special that ends at 6pm. Also late-night "Last Call" $5 drink specials (the one hour before closing). Their Large Poutines are mostly $15 and you get a heaping plate of fries. We're talking probably 3-4 cups of frie...