Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Just back from a Groupon dinner at the Café Pacifica . The Groupon offer comes on periodically and the menu may change, so what you get may be different next time. Tonight, our menu was: First Course (choose one; those who opt for four courses get both) Thai-curry-infused Nova-Scotia lobster chowder with vegetable confetti Seasonal mixed greens and marinated hearts of palm with lychee gel and herb vinaigrette Second Course (choose one) Duo of beef: 48-hour-braised, horseradish-dusted short ribs and butler steak with smoked potato puree, pearl onions, and spaghetti squash  Seared arctic char on a bed of B.C. rock crab risotto with braised fennel and snap peas Roasted pumpkin and Salt Spring Island goat cheese raviolis, root vegetable fettuccini, and arugula and brown butter sauce Third Course (choose one) Warm and moist sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream, scotch-infused crème anglaise, and candied ginger  Pina colada cheesecake with fresh ...

Spoon Kitchen is on a traffic-busy section of West 4th street-parking-hell. Small 50-seater restaurant with fairly good table spacing. Chairs = revenue in restaurants (and airline) but they aren't putting you in an Economy Section squeeze. Place looked tidy and clean. I was too busy with my dining partner to really have a good look at the decor. I went with a $35 Groupon Nine-Course Thai and Malaysian Tasting Menu , and although you will read my mixed review of the menu items, overall it is a good deal. At $35 for two persons, you will leave full but not stuffed. You will also probably feel you got a very good deal for sampling so many items: After tax and tip you'll come out close to having spent $24 for a two person dinner (assuming a 15% tip on a $70 value dinner). Nowadays, especially in a neighborhood like West 4th, a $24 dinner for two is a better deal than you'll get during Dine Out Vancouver or Taste of Yaletown, where the prices have been inching up year af...