Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Just back from a little get-together at the Steel Toad near Main Street Skytrain Station. Nice airy space with very high ceilings. Tables a bit narrow especially if they are going to seat you opposite someone else, so full-on dinners for everyone can be tricky. I went with just drinks and test a couple of interesting-sounding items on the menu... which sadly didn't turn out so interesting, so I don't know if I'd go back for mains. Free WiFi! Look in the drinks menu near the bottom for the password. Chips & Dip ($5)  beer salt crisps with roasted garlic chip dip Salting very inconsistent. Random chips may taste oily. Chips generally large and in good shape. Presentation good. No crumbs or broken chips on the plate. Beer salt? Don't be swayed -- tasted like deep fried chips with a dusting of salt. Sometimes too much on the chip and you get a sudden salty overload. Dip was garlicky and OK. Not quite enough for the plate of chips. Dickie's Ginge...

Back to Pourhouse ! I had a sort of lacklustre experience last time, but I still have credit on my gift card, so I found another friend to come along. This time, I went for the veggie options. I was curious to try their vegetarian burger, but other things ended up intriguing me more. Maybe on my last attempt I'll get the burger. Cauliflower Steak ($22)  Stewed Lentils, Romesco Sauce, Crispy Kale (V) Looked really promising at first, but it just tedious later. The orange-red sauce was pretty tasty though. Could have used much more of it. The cauliflower chunk was pretty plain and very firm at the base of the stem. The slight browning looked promising but there wasn't really any aroma or flavour from it. Crispy kale deep fried and obviously you can't get away from the oiliness. Fun to eat but eat it with the cauliflower to mask the oil. A lot less sauce to use than it looks because there isn't as much underneath and I basically ran out. And there were tons mor...

Just got this e-mail today. NOTE THE FINE PRINT! -- "Valid for dine-in only on August 8th, 2016. *Create-Your-Own Pizza is limited to maximum of 4 toppings. " Join us in-store for Fan Appreciation Day!  As a thank you for being a Fan of Boston Pizza , we’re serving up $5 Individual Pizzas all day on Monday, August 8th!  It’s not a National Holiday… but maybe it should be.  Whether you’re a Fan of our Spicy Perogy Pizza, Viva Italia, or want to create-your own* on Fan Appreciation Day you can get them all for only $5! It’s our way of saying Thanks For Being A Fan. Find a Boston Pizza Valid for dine-in only on August 8th, 2016. *Create-Your-Own Pizza is limited to maximum of 4 toppings.

If you haven't signed up for Royalty rewards with Red Robin you really should. I just got another free birthday burger! Still feeling meat-guilty I went with their vegetarian Garden Burger although our server told me I could get any burger--which is actually not correct because their line of "Finest" burgers is actually not part of the promotion. These burgers use the special Angus beef patties and are have a special theme. Plus they among the priciest burgers. Garden Burger ($10.99) An amazingly delicious blend of vegetables, grains, and spices with a touch of cheese, topped with tomatoes, fresh lettice, pickles and Country Dijon sauce on our whole wheat bun. The patty here is a bit on the thinner side but taste is not bad. Otherwise burger construction is very basic. TIP: Immediately remove the pickles hiding underneath the patty unless all you  want to taste is pickle. Where this burger gets more than merely a passing grade is the bottomless fries. With t...

So my bill at El Santo was almost $30 after tax and tip, for one main and one non-alcoholic beverage. What you can definitely expect from El Santo is Vancouver fine-dining prices. Fortunately, you can also expect pretty interesting flavours in their Mexican fare. TIP: Larger groups can be put in a private room at the back that can easily seat 14 with OK spacing between diners. Enchiladas Flor de Jamaica ($18) Hibiscus flowers, jicama, carrot & cabbage, fire roasted tomato chipotle sauce, Oaxaca cheese & green rice I can't really rate this properly because it tasted way too much like my mom's spring rolls. She uses a lot of jicama, and that for me was the predominant flavour here. Lots of cheese but it hardened way too quickly to be fun. Not sure how that can be avoided, however. Green rice (possibly just rice with green herbs, such as cilantro) was al dente and had a firm, coarse texture in the mouth. Interesting for not being your normal tender rice. The...

Sad news -- July-30th will be the last day for the Hamilton Street. Your last chance to get their famous Gingerbread Pudding. Thank you for Steak Month every June . All the best to the captain and crew.

Here's why evevyone should download PressReader today: Hotspots. PressReader HotSpots are WiFi locations that let you download newspapers off PressReader for FREE. And they are as common and common sense as your local library, for instance. The nearest one to me is the Burnaby Public Library Metrotown branch, and just to test it out, I downloaded today's Financial Post: There's obviously more than the Financial Post, of course (there's over 5000 newspapers and magazines, in over 60 languages, from 100 countries). Whatever your culture you are likely able to find something relevant to you. Handy if the library doesn't normally carry it or if someone is hogging the only copy. You can squint at the newspaper off your smartphone if you like, but there are other options. Keep reading... Press and hold on the article and you get a pop-up with various options, including to have the article read to you. Newsprint too squinty even on the the real hardcopy n...