Teahouse in Stanley Park is located by Third Beach with a gorgeous view over the water. We went for Dine Out 2015 dinner which was $28 with the option of upgrading to a $38 menu. Parking was free after 6pm.

Appetizers - Tuscan Salad with sherry vinaigrette and Roasted Butternut Squash Soup. The salad was mediocre with a mix of greens and an overly sour dressing. The warm and creamy soup was the better choice of the two appetizers.

Tuscan Salad

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

 Mains - Almond Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin, Pan Seared Steelhead Salmon, 10 oz Prime New York Striploin

The pork tenderloin was accompanied by pan fried gnocchi, ratatouille and a garlic rosemary sauce. I liked that the meat retained some juiciness and wasn't overly dry and the gnocchi was great to soak up the sauce.

Almond Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin

The salmon was a pleasant surprise as it was more delicious than I expected with the skin pan seared to crispiness. The roasted potatoes made it a heartier meal.

Pan Seared Steelhead Salmon

The 10 oz striploin was an upgrade to $38 from the $28 menu. The smokiness of the grill added great flavour to the meat. I thoroughly enjoyed the sides of fried onion rings and thin cut fries as well.

10 oz Prime New York Striploin

Desserts - Raspberry Sorbet and Blonde Brownie

The sorbet was creamy and fruity without all the seeds that come in raspberry frozen yogurt which is great!

Raspberry Sorbet

The Blonde Brownie actually contains no cocoa despite it's brownie name. It is made from butterscotch and drizzled with an orange marmalade.

Blonde Brownie

All in all, the ambiance of the restaurant is beautiful and service was quick and professional. I definitely recommend coming here for special occasions!

I've been craving for raw oysters since I ate it last year at Joe Fortes. Surely more than a year wait is too long! Chewies Steam and Oyster Bar has daily buck-a-shuck (aka $1 per oyster) from 3 to 6pm. We went around 4pm on a Friday and there were only a few tables. Online I read that the service can be spotty during happy hour but our server was very attentive and we didn't have any problems.

The oysters for a buck that day were from Vancouver Island though I forgot the name. It came with horse radish and four house-made sauces that ranged in spiciness. Even the spiciest one wasn't that spicy to me though I enjoyed all the sauces with some made with red wine and others more vinegar based. The oysters were very fresh and well cleaned.

Raw oysters ($1 each)

During happy hour the appetizers, called first bites, are half-priced so we tried two. An appetizer name that stood out to us was Chicken Fried Gator and Hush Puppies. After asking the server, he confirmed that it was alligator meat deep fried like chicken and hush puppies are fried corn bread. The alligator meat was like a cross between fish and chicken, it was chewy but more moist than chicken. It came with jalapeno jelly to dip which wasn't that spicy.

Chicken fried gator and hush puppies ($13.5)

The other appetizer we got was the Pork Belly Cracklin' which reminded me of Chinese BBQ pork but thoroughly deep fried. The skin was crispy and the layers of fat and meat melted in the mouth. Though some pieces were tough because it was overly fried. I liked the Cajun sweet and sour apple sauce that came with it because the sourness made the pork belly a little less filling.

Pork Belly Cracklin' ($10.5)

Overall it was a great small meal at Chewies. Correction, small but very filling since it was mostly fried food. They're building an outdoor patio which I'm not sure will be finished by the end of this summer. If not I'd surely go visit it next summer.

Hurricane Grill at Darling Harbour offers a nice view of the harbour while you dine. However the prices are on the higher end but I really enjoyed my dining experience here.

Steak and ribs combo: The combo comes with a sirloin steak and choice of lamb, pork, or beef ribs, and a baked potato or fries. We opted for the lamb ribs which were very tasty. The meat was not over cooked so it fell off the bone easily but was still tender. The steak was tasty as well and cooked to medium rare like we ordered it but was the underdog compared to the ribs. Each diner was given a bib to eat the ribs which I found useful.

Steak and ribs combo

Fish of the day: I was surprised when this whole grilled fish arrived at our table since I have never had whole fish at a western restaurant before. Usually they are deboned or sliced. This fish dish didn't come with any sides and cost AUD$34. It was grilled quite nicely and gently seasoned with lemon juice and herbs. Probably will not order this again.

Fish of the day

Overall, Hurricane Grill at Darling Harbour offers the food and view if you are willing to pay. Our server was friendly and food came quickly.

I was at Moxie's Grill and Bar with a party of 20 and their restaurant accommodated us very well. Our water was refilled regularly and dishes were taken away promptly.

I ordered a Chicken Quesadilla which came with some tortilla chips and a choice of soup, salad or fries. I opted for the daily soup which was Chicken Chowder that day. If you've read other posts on my blog you have probably come across quesadillas because whenever I see this or fish tacos on the menu I have a tendency to order it. 

This quesadilla had a good amount of cheese without it falling out of the tortilla and the chicken was quite tender. I enjoyed the generous amount of salsa and sour cream provided and the tortilla chips were still hot when the food arrived. 

The chowder was only mediocre with bits of chicken, corn, and bell pepper in it. It was definitely filling but not especially flavourful or unique.

Chicken quesadilla

The nachos dish was large and came with the usual tortilla chips, jalapeno peppers, bell peppers, and cheese. It came very hot and satisfied our hunger quickly. Tortilla was fried in the shape of small cups to hold the sour cream and salsa which were unique accents.

Nachos

Overall, this Moxie's location is good for hosting large parties. There is a room in the back that is linked to the hotel that can seat probably up to 50 people. The food came hot and quickly and there was no problem with the service.

Parking at Steveston is pretty horrible. On this weekday night I had to drive around for at least 15 minutes before I found free parking. There are plenty of paid parking spots though.

Hog Shack was pretty full even on a weekday which is always a good sign. The following food was shared among 10 people and we all left full!

Hog Shack interior

The Big Share Platter: kalamari, garlic shrimps, shrimp cocktail, order of wings

The kalamari and wings were good because they were freshly fried. I didn't care much for the shrimp cocktail though.

The Big Share Platter

Allan's Mammoth Platter: baby back ribs, St. Louis Side Ribs, Dino Ribs, chicken quarters, smoked brisket, pulled pork, smoked sausages, choice of 6 sides

Sides we chose: coleslaw, yam fries, Spanish rice pilaf, potato wedges, corn bread

The side were all pretty delicious, especially the yam fries and the corn bread. The rice tasted similar to the fried rice at fried chicken fast food chains.

Sides

The platter of meat all started to taste similar after awhile due to the barbeque sauce. The gem of this platter were the ribs so if I come here again I would just order back ribs and skip the chicken and sausages!

Allan's Mammoth Platter - meat

Overall it was a good dining experience here and the restaurant seated our big group comfortably.

I've been curious about Joe Fortes since I saw it on the Dine Out Vancouver website so I did not hesitate to take advantage of their lunch special for the month of March. This post compiles photos from two visits: lunch and happy hour.

There was complimentary baguette with lobster oil and sweetened vinegar. My friends and I all agreed that the lobster oil reminded us of XO sauce!

Complimentary bread

The Salmon Cakes was a carb loaded dish with its buttery mashed potatoes and squash plus all the buttery oils in the cakes themselves. Unhealthiness aside, this was a great dish! Each bite was smooth and effortless comfort food.

Salmon Cakes

I believe last summer was the first time I've tried fish tacos and now every time I go to a restaurant and see it on the menu, it is my immediate choice. The freshly deep fried tempura style fish strips smelled so good as the dish was placed in front of me. I also appreciated how there was plenty of chipotle aioli, guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo because some restaurants only give a very small amount of sauce for their dishes. Don't forget the tortillas in the top left corner to wrap it all together! The dish made four tacos and I was happily full after the second one.

Fish Tacos

The Ling Cod and Chips was made with the same crispy, light batter and served with tartar sauce, ketchup, and coleslaw. The size of the piece of fish definitely outcompetes any fish and chips I've seen before!

Ling Cod and Chips

Now onto the Happy Hour menu items. These are just appetizers that you can order during restaurant hours but during Happy Hour (4-6PM) they are 50% off. Our server for lunch was very friendly but our server for Happy Hour was more dismissive. I couldn't help but think that it was because our bill total was lower with the discount so that was why the service was inconsistent.

Anyways, onto the food. This is the first time I've had raw beef and I'm happy to say that it was a delicious experience. The Beef Carpaccio included grainy mustard, roasted garlic, grana padano and crispy capers. The beef slices were very tender with absolutely no tough veins and a great match with the spinach and cheese.

Beef Carpaccio

I didn't catch the name of the raw oysters but they sure were fresh. I've had raw oysters before at an oyster farm where the fisherman opened it in front of us almost directly from the sea. Those were very salty from the sea water.

Raw oysters

The Tempura Prawns were fried as nicely as the fish tacos and ling cod above. There was an excessive amount of togarashi mayo on the side considering that there were only three prawns.

Jumbo Tempura Prawns

Overall, the food at Joe Fortes is definitely worth the hype and even better with their promotions. Since I use social media often, I like that Joe Fortes engages in good social media use to answer customer questions and release news. For example, I learned about their lunch special on Twitter.

We came across Kisamos Greek Taverna after discovering that Hog Shack was closed that day. As a party of twelve, we were quickly seated and brought menus and water in a prompt manner. 

AIESECers from UBC, Calgary, and Ryerson

Like many Greek restaurants, the portion size was large so three girls (including myself) shared a seafood platter for two.

The seafood platter included Greek salad (not pictured), rice & baked potatoes, and assorted seafood. I thoroughly enjoyed all the food and it tasted right unlike the last Greek food experience I had where everything was too salty! I liked the shrimp the best because they were large and juicy.

Rice and baked potatoes

Seafood platter: shrimp, salmon, cod, kalamari, tzatzki and humus

There were many other options at the restaurant including steak, lamb, chicken, and pasta to name a few.

Steak meal

Other than celebrating post Coastal Conference 2013, we came out to eat to celebrate Amanda's birthday! Happy 21st birthday Amanda!

Cake from La Patisserie

I am fortunate enough to have my birthday during the two weeks of Dine Out Vancouver, so every year I get to eat something delicious to celebrate!

This year my family and I ate at Harold's Bistro and Bar located in a Sheraton hotel. There was a hockey game on that night, otherwise it seems to be a quiet restaurant on other nights.

Appetizers

Lobster & Shrimp Rolls: Lobster, shrimp, taro root, carrot, shitake mushroom, mango relish, mango sauce

I did not expect spring rolls when we ordered this dish but that is exactly what they tasted like! They came pretty fresh out of the fryer so it was so nice, warm, and crunchy.

Lobster & Shrimp Rolls

 Caesar Salad: Crispy romaine, herbs croutons, parmesan cheese, garlic dressing

Caesar Salad

Shrimp Gyoza: Pan-fried dumpling with olive oil, sweet soy glaze, cilantro

These gyozas also came very hot which I appreciated. The shrimp was well blended with the filling so I could not really tell if it was there.

Shrimp Gyoza

Entrée

Grilled Halibut: Blackened halibut with succotash, cilantro butter, served with vegetables, red pepper sauce

Grilled Halibut

 Lamb Shank: Slow braised, red wine sauce, mashed potato, green beans

I thoroughly enjoyed my lamb which was very tender. The meat fell easily off the bone and was not try at all. The green beans could have been cooked a little longer.

Lamb Shank

 New York Steak: 8oz Angus beef, crispy onions, peppercorn jus, mashed potato

New York Steak

Dessert

Double Chocolate Cake: Dark chocolate cake with ganache icing

Both desserts we tried were not stellar. This chocolate cake was a bit stiff and tasted like ones I could find at any grocery store.

Bread Pudding: homemade caramel sauce

I was excited to try the bread pudding after I read Lindsay Anderson's raving review on it. I was quite disappointed because it was OVERLY sweet! I am a person who loves to eat dessert with a big sweet tooth but I could not take more than two bites of this dessert. The cake itself was extremely sweet and with the caramel sauce, the sugar factor just went overboard. I was also not particularly fond of the texture.

All in all, the appetizers and entrees were delicious but the last impression of the meal (aka dessert) was not as great.

After a long day in the car (I was just the passenger) we finally sat down to dinner in Canmore, Alberta. Whenever my family and I are in a new city and we don't know what to eat, we choose the restaurant with the most people and hope that is an indication of its food quality.

This time we stumbled upon The Grizzly Paw which had a full patio and we were seated at an indoor table on the second level. We were next to the window facing beautiful mountains which were everywhere in the Rockies.

Steak Sandwich: 6 oz NY grilled steak on a garlic toast

There was a choice of fries, caesar/house salad or both which I found convenient because sometimes I just want fries AND salad! The steak was ordered medium-rare but came practically well-done.

BBQ Chicken Quesadilla: sliced chicken, BBQ sauce, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, cheese
The quesadilla came hot and every bite was juicy but the one at On the Border was better. The slices were cut too large so the fillings began falling out when you lift to take a bite making it a messier meal than necessary. Otherwise, it was a good quesadilla (although not authentic Mexican).

Canmore's Meat Deluxe Pizza: black forest ham, chorizo sausage, salami, bacon

The 9" pizza came very hot as well which was appreciated. The crust is made with organic flatbread from The Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company which made the pizza crust slightly soft, doughy and chewy. It was a fine pizza but for personal preference I like thin crust crispy pizza crusts more.

Grilled Salmon Sandwich: salmon filet, Kaiser bun, mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion
House salad: garden greens, beets, carrots, eggs, cheese
I enjoyed the salmon with its grilled smoky flavour although it was a tad overcooked. The house salad was delicious with the mix of ingredients and the dressing seemed to have a hint of beer (just a guess) since The Grizzly Paw has a brewery.

Overall, it was satisfying comfort food after a long day's drive from British Columbia to Alberta.