Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Just back from a little get-together at the Steel Toad near Main Street Skytrain Station. Nice airy space with very high ceilings. Tables a bit narrow especially if they are going to seat you opposite someone else, so full-on dinners for everyone can be tricky. I went with just drinks and test a couple of interesting-sounding items on the menu... which sadly didn't turn out so interesting, so I don't know if I'd go back for mains. Free WiFi! Look in the drinks menu near the bottom for the password. Chips & Dip ($5)  beer salt crisps with roasted garlic chip dip Salting very inconsistent. Random chips may taste oily. Chips generally large and in good shape. Presentation good. No crumbs or broken chips on the plate. Beer salt? Don't be swayed -- tasted like deep fried chips with a dusting of salt. Sometimes too much on the chip and you get a sudden salty overload. Dip was garlicky and OK. Not quite enough for the plate of chips. Dickie's Ginge...

Back to Pourhouse ! I had a sort of lacklustre experience last time, but I still have credit on my gift card, so I found another friend to come along. This time, I went for the veggie options. I was curious to try their vegetarian burger, but other things ended up intriguing me more. Maybe on my last attempt I'll get the burger. Cauliflower Steak ($22)  Stewed Lentils, Romesco Sauce, Crispy Kale (V) Looked really promising at first, but it just tedious later. The orange-red sauce was pretty tasty though. Could have used much more of it. The cauliflower chunk was pretty plain and very firm at the base of the stem. The slight browning looked promising but there wasn't really any aroma or flavour from it. Crispy kale deep fried and obviously you can't get away from the oiliness. Fun to eat but eat it with the cauliflower to mask the oil. A lot less sauce to use than it looks because there isn't as much underneath and I basically ran out. And there were tons mor...

Just got this e-mail today. NOTE THE FINE PRINT! -- "Valid for dine-in only on August 8th, 2016. *Create-Your-Own Pizza is limited to maximum of 4 toppings. " Join us in-store for Fan Appreciation Day!  As a thank you for being a Fan of Boston Pizza , we’re serving up $5 Individual Pizzas all day on Monday, August 8th!  It’s not a National Holiday… but maybe it should be.  Whether you’re a Fan of our Spicy Perogy Pizza, Viva Italia, or want to create-your own* on Fan Appreciation Day you can get them all for only $5! It’s our way of saying Thanks For Being A Fan. Find a Boston Pizza Valid for dine-in only on August 8th, 2016. *Create-Your-Own Pizza is limited to maximum of 4 toppings.