Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Had a wonderful time at Maurya Indian Cuisine tonight with wonderful dining companions. Surprised that even closer to 7pm, this restaurant with excellent food and that had been honoured by Dine Out patrons two years running (they were Best Overall Menu and Best Appetizer in 2009) was less than half occupied. The in-restaurant menu was different from the initial menu posted on the Dine Out website (and there were reports of website hiccups later on, which made the menu inaccessible): Entree choices were trimmed, and the Goa Fish Curry is gone! But the helpful server asked the kitchen, and they made it available for me anyway. Dessert choices were dropped from three to two, with the Kesar Phirni off. Read the Gulab Jamun entry carefully as it differs from the typical offering (something about sitting on bread -- an oversight on my part meant I didn't catch that our party of four all ordered the ice cream, so we didn't get to see it at all). Anyway, for appetizers, ...

Stepped out tonight for my first Dine Out Vancouver 2010 dinner. Bit of a dud, it turned out, but maybe that's just my palate not used to French food. Anyway, it was Bistro Pastis (on West 4th, near Comic Land, which is participating in Free Comic Book Day on May 1st) tonight, with a dear foodie friend and very fine dining companion. On their Dine Out Vancouver page, Bistro Pastis offers a $28 menu , but once you get there you'll discover they are also offering a $38 menu. (My guess is the Dine Out website's too rigid to accomodate a second menu.) Same desserts on the $38 menu. Boo. You can also order additional sides for ~$5, selecting from what's typically available off their regular menu, with the addition of "famous" macaroni and cheese. We were intrigued by this and did end up asking for the macaroni and cheese. I could have sworn it was $5 on the menu but came out $6 on the bill. But with the bill ~$70 for both of us (including two mint teas a...

Hi Everyone! If you haven't been frozen-pizza-shopping at Superstore in the last few months, you may have completely missed out on what appeared to be a price war among frozen pizzas (or, Superstore struggling to clear out stock?). It was only recently, however, that things got really good for the consumer when Kraft Delissio pizza was, briefly, offered at a low $4.98 (and over 800 grams), not advertised in the weekly flyer. I suppose since they flew off the shelves like, er, "hot cakes", SuperStore quickly increased the price to almost $7 now. Still, it was really tasty stuff (my mom especially liked the Bruschetta). Things got even better this week when Save-On-Foods trumped them price-per-pound with Wild Mike's Ultimate Pizza . 15-inch , and $10 for two (2) , weighing in at up to 1.05 kg, and working out to a supposed savings of almost $4 per pizza off the regular price. I've tried the Pepperoni one so far, and although it looks horrid (meat ingredien...

For Dining Out for Life on March 25th, I picked two places to try: Emelle's Catering for breakfast, and Nook for dinner. My good friend Lynn who lives downtown recommended Nook as one of her favourite places quite a few months back, and I had been meaning to go for quite a while. I had reports of it being a terribly busy place, frequently with lineups and no reservations taken, so it was awfully kind of my dining companion to drive out for an early 5pm dinner. It didn't get really busy till closer to 6pm, and then the ~30 seat restaurant was full and had diners waiting at the door. (There isn't much room to wait, either, and in case you're out on a rainy day, bring your umbrella as the awnings outside aren't contiguous enough between stores to provide proper coverage against rain.) Our server took his time with us (ah, the advantages of having the restaurant to yourself!) and patiently satisfied my companion's curiosity about the restaurant (open only ...

For Dining Out for Life on March 25th, I picked two places to try: Emelle's Catering for breakfast, and Nook for dinner. I didn't have any particular recommendation for Emelle's, but rather chose it because it was very close to where I volunteer for the Vancouver Crisis Centre and could pop by in the morning after my shift. I had a look at their website beforehand, and had picked out their Corned Beef Hash and Jumbo Buttery Croissant. When I got there and checked the menu again (in case of something new -- websites can be notoriously outdated, like Le Gavroche 's, which makes no mention of their Lobster Fest as the "latest news" on their website is from November 2005), there was mention of butterhorns and I thought to ask about it. Sadly, I was told that it wasn't being made anymore, and should have been taken off the menu. No problem. Jumbo buttery croissant it is! Oops... No, that wasn't on the menu either. In fact, I was told that the ...

Look what I got in my e-mail box today! "...Come into the restaurant and mention that you are a "LOCAL" and receive 50% OFF your food bill Sunday till Wednesday for the month of March (not in combination with our "weekly specials")." Here's the link , which takes you to their March/April 2010 newsletter. Scroll down for their weekly specials.

Dine Out Vancouver -- It's coming! Hurrah! Reservations start Monday, April 19th.