Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Still thinking vegan and there were intriguing-sounding things on the menu, so I decided to try the Chickpea sit-down restaurant (not the food cart). Interesting choice of locations as it's right next door to also-vegetarian Meet on Main. Busy starting around 6pm till maybe 8.30pm, so best bet is to squeeze in early or resign yourself to a later-night snack. Table turnaround doesn't look that bad, though, but you might be waiting outside the door as the waiting area isn't that big. Style of food is similar to that popularized by places such as Nuba and Jamjar, so nothing too weird and meat-eating friends out for Lebanese probably won't care. A good gathering place as it's vegan with gluten-free option -- this is pretty lowest-common-denominator food nowadays. ChickTea ($3.50) mint, ginger, organic sugar, and lemon Pass on this if you are are used to stronger-tasting pouch teas. If you do get it, let it steep for a long time or it will taste like hot wate...

Wednesday May-10 was the second annual  Tonight for Tomorrow , the one-day proceeds-to-charity supporting Mealshare -- the charity that works without costing you anything . Our eating team of three dudes went to JamJar at their new location at Granville and 11th (where Vij's used to be, right next door to Rangoli). Their prices have gone up a bit since I was last at Jamjar's Commercial Drive location  but the sharing platters for two persons are still a great deal. How great? We were three persons and we were pretty full from the sharing platter for two persons. Part of the reason is the basically unlimited pita you get with your meal. They serve it sparingly each time (probably to guard against wasted pita) but you can ask for more, and you will definitely need more even tackling the first plate of dips. We went with the "Meat and Fish Tasting Plate for 2" ($65). No fish here but there were prawns. Some notes... Dips were tasty! Remember to swirl in t...

Portions at Zeitoon are comparable to Cazba with prices of mains is higher by up to a few dollars (partially mitigated by their weekday specials ). Also, you can apparently have "no rice" and shave $1 off the price of your main. A great option if you don't want the carbs. Still, price is okay for a filling meal as long as you realize a lot of that will be from the carbs (which is the same with Cazba). It's a smaller place with good table spacing and easily movable tables, and some outside seating. Since it is not right on busy Denman, curbside seating actually works. No real ambiance to speak of, almost like a diner or cafeteria. You can make reservations! If this is important to you, it may be worth the extra dollars per head on mains rather than hope for large-group seating at Cazba. Contrary to a lot of online reviews I've read, our first visit to Zeitoon didn't see any lousy service. We got an attentive server very patient with people new to th...

It's busy and with good reason: Price for portion is really good. In some ways, Cazba is like Chinese take-out noodles. You get some toppings on a ton of noodles. Except here, it's rice. For $12 or so you can be stuffed. Not much of a patio in terms of view, but you can sit outside in an enclosed space if you like, with reasonable privacy from pedestrians. Inside it's somewhat dim and OK. Nothing too special except for some interesting statuary and lamps, but they really didn't pretty up the space so much. Plus, there's so much server and diner traffic there's not that much they can do. Fesenjoon ($11.99 +$1 for half garden salad / half rice) Stew made with Pomegranate , Walnuts and Chicken Served with Basmati Rice; vegetarian option (no chicken) possible at no extra charge I went for the vegetarian option here. Very sweet stew! Quite delicious though so sweet you do really want to temper it by mixing it into your rice. Even so, I really only neede...

It's really hard not to compare Jamjar to Nuba  -- they even have a Makali appetizer which is similar to Nuba's Najib's Special  except way sharper with lemon. Speaking of which, it felt like most dishes had lemon. Sometimes a lot of lemon. Like Makanik (skinny lamb sausages) that were hot tubbing in some juice. If you got too much juice on your sausage, they tasted like lemon. It was that lemony. Lots of vegetarian, vegan, and/or gluten free options. However, there is only one vegan main; everything else has meat. And putting together a dinner with appetizers can be really pricey. Decor and cutlery is an odd combination of weird (uncomfortable chairs that swing out) and homey (orange-coloured ceramic plates that look rustic). Interesting items to look at on the walls, and water poured from what look like some kind of olive oil pourer. Taste of Lebanon ($38) hummus , baba ghanouj , mohamara , spinach dip; fattoush salad , makali, falafel (2), batata harra ; choi...

Tiny place with bar seating. Staff are friendly but maybe not so used to chatty folks instead of those who just order and go. Nothing too special here except decent/not-great-but-nothing-wrong-with-it CHEAP eats: For $6.50, you can get a wrap that is as big as two cheap burgers. You can choose the toppings, including "everything", which will give you a decent amount of veggie in your meaty wrap but which will also cool down the meat in your wrap so don't expect a piping hot meal here. Sorry to say, they are also somewhat lousy at wrapping OR maybe we asked for "everything" in our wrap and the filling was too fat for the wrap to be tight enough. The result was a mess trying to eat it UNLESS you asked for it to be cut in half. TIP: Ask for your wrap to be cut in half. They will put it under a panini grill briefly. When I asked why, I was told that it helps keep the wrap together when and after they cut it. Once your wrap is cut in half, you get to start e...