Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Thanksgiving Weekend, and I dragged my out-of-town friend to Seasons in the Park for dinner with a view. So many things wrong with that. First, the view. Yes it's there, but once it's dark out, the reflections on the window glass can obscure some of it. If you're not taking pictures, that's not a problem and there are the city lights and skyline to make for quite a nice view. Still, I'd recommend not going before sundown if a view is what you are after. Second, Thanksgiving dinner. You're not locked into the set menu with Thanksgiving turkey, but there's only so much they can do to the traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner that what will end up being special is likely to be the appetizer and dessert. In short, before you go to any restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner, make sure it's not going to be about the food. About the view, the ambiance, the service -- sure. For turkey dinner, do your research first. Seasons served up a very traditional ...

DISCLAIMER: I grew up eating Chinese food and my mom's wonton soup, so Chinese food is comparatively mundane for me. If it's a delicious novelty for you, then you might want to rate this restaurant higher. NOTE: This is a vegetarian Chinese restaurant that uses meat substitutes. Part of my positive tilt on how I rate them is in the quality of the fakeness of the meat. B14 Assorted Vegetables and Wonton in Soup ($12.95) Overall pretty ordinary tasting. In fact, I'm a bit inclined to give it bonus points for tasting just like my mom's home cooking. Not exactly thick with wontons since this is mixed wontons and vegetables (and it says so right in the menu name), so if you're looking for tons of wontons and just token veggies, you might want to check with the server for something else to order. The wontons are themselves quite interesting from a fake-meat point of view. They actually taste fairly close to pork. But more than that, they actually make an effort...

Commodity Juicery has been open only four months, and with the new season, they are rolling out new developments. They are of course still a juicery serving cold-pressed juices, and with a huge emphasis on raw, to preserve and maximize nutrition -- for example, they claim their #2 "All Greens" has the equivalent of 3 pounds of vegetable nutrition in their 16oz bottles. Some things they already have, but which you may not know about are: Anywhere-in-the-Lower-Mainland delivery. They'll even go across the bridge to West Vancouver and North Vancouver. Free for orders of $50+ (but watch out for this cost to change). Free (!) consultations with their in-house nutritionist Carolina. Best to call ahead. Her schedule is presently Monday 12pm-6pm; Thursday 2pm-7pm; Saturday 12pm-5pm. Honestly, that's a lot of value for free and this scores them bonus points. They would like to have a nutritionist available more often, but staffing a specialist costs money! They are...

I had a black winter jacket on ('cause it was cold!) and black toque and black jeans. Hardly dressy casual on the outside but definitely not trashy or looking like a bum. Nevertheless I was met at the door by an older man who walked up very close (as in, inside your private space bubble close), with arms crossed and a voice tone that challenged me to be in his restaurant. WTF? Fortunately I was part of a reservation. Never have I felt this sort of turn-you-away-at-the-door "welcome" before anywhere, even in Vancouver, though I've seen it happen to my very casually dressed friend at Jules Bistro in Gastown . My friend convinced me to try their Burgundy Beef Fondue  claiming that the amount of meat was way more than pictured online. It is $36 online but $38 in the restaurant and you must have a minimum 2-person order. I haven't felt so ripped off on meat since Wildebeest's tiny meat portion on their supposed 32-oz ribeye for $93 . The portion of meat in ...

So the fat cute-ish cat with no neck that is their logo actually does NOT love you. According to our kawaii and sweet server (who was the only person running the show in the somewhat dilapidated shop out in the middle of nowhere yet close to Oakridge Mall), "bu" means "not". Mimi NOT love me. To rub it in, their free-wifi password is Mimi[not]loveyoutoo. Are you feeling the love yet? Also, their web presence is useless. Menu pictures on Mimibuloveme's Facebook site are outdated and it looks like no one has been there since August-2014. Their actual web page is also uselessly "under construction". Customer service is A+. Server is attentive. I had no sooner sat in my seat when a glass of water slid onto the table right in front of me. Totally un-rushed service (although at the same time, it was 6pm and the place was dead dead dead). The concept is like Chicco Coffee and Dessert Bar on Robson , except the parfaits are a bit cheaper and they a...

On Saturday I did a Hot Chocolate Crawl  for Hot Chocolate Festival 2015 with a fellow Yelper and we hit three places. Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France  was the first stop. We got in shortly after they opened as there was concern they might sell out, as they did last year. It's a tiny store that's basically slightly more than half kitchen and the rest is maybe a 20-seat area of mostly benches as well as some space outside. Has sort of a rustic feel and a decor that includes lots of chocolate molds. Strangely it felt quaint. All drinks are prepared with milk or almond milk. A selection of flavours is also offered in bags to prepare at home. No drink service on Feb 14th, to accommodate their Valentine's Day lineup. #17 - "Marocchino" Classic Italian drink: half drinking chocolate, half espresso. Served with a meringue of your choice. Our recommendation: cardamom, anise or vanilla. Available: every day of the festival that the shop is open. #18 - ...

Meet on Main is a rather busy vegan/gluten free eatery that has apparently positioned itself very well geographically to grab the vegan / gluten-free demographic. We were there this past Friday for a 7pm dinner. Out at 9pm and the place still hadn't slowed down. The kitchen is a bit slow but the servers do keep up quite well otherwise. Décor is spacious and simple, with a remarkable amount of what looks like furniture lifted from an old high school. Not much to look at but not off-putting per se. Food generally looks "normal" -- that is, if you weren't paying attention, you might think this a regular restaurant. Some of it doesn't taste "normal", though -- mostly the pretend-to-be-meat items. Vegan pretend-meat often involves soy or tofu or something else that has a bitter aftertaste. Texture isn't bad, but taste is too far off for a meat-eater to pull a fast one on them. For vegetarians and vegans, beggars can't be choosers and they wil...