Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Met up with a friend on a rainy afternoon here. We dropped in shortly before Noon and it was maybe 1/3rd busy. Shortly after, the place was packed -- all tables and bar seating pretty much occupied. As there were vegan options, I went vegan to try it out. DISCLAIMER: I am NOT vegan. Vegans, vegetarians, and other limited-diet people sort of have a beggars-can't-be-choosers position so they may rate the vegan fare here higher. I'm omnivorous so I'm probably more critical here. My friend's spicy meatball ramen had a much tastier (and spicier) broth, so overall you will probably have a tastier time here than if you go vegetarian. After all, flavourful broth is one of the main things about ramen. TIP: Be careful ordering drinks and extras as there's a lot of soup here. The bowl is sharply tapered so there *may* be a bit less soup than other ramen places, but probably not by much. Price seems pretty steep but is only a couple dollars more than say, Fat Mao Noo

Casual get-together with a friend at The Festal Cafe today, during a weird limbo dead time between lunch and dinner so there were just a couple of patrons in the otherwise spacious diner of communal benches. The food was actually surprisingly good, and not much to complain about for the price, especially considering it's downtown location. Spicy Chicken & Waffles ($14.55) local free-range chicken breast, wild boar bacon, real maple syrup, no grain waffle bread, coleslaw, side of cassava chips I would really have liked to know it was going to be a cold sandwich. Not skimpy with the slab of chicken, and for all white meat chicken breast, it was actually fairly moist and tender. Overall I thought this was really not that great in composition. If you deconstruct it you do find a nice slab of chicken sitting in coleslaw. Those cassava chips are winners. Really good crunch to them without any oil. Butternut Lasagna ($14.95) local grass-fed beef, butternut squash, spin