The Place: Vancouver, BC – Foodie North!
Gringo G’s Experience
Summary: Before
arriving in Vancouver, British Columbia Gringo G entered the city with little
knowledge of what to expect, in other words a clean palate. My oh my, was that
palate taken on a wonderful ride of views, culture and above all sumptuous
culinary delights of all kinds.
The Eats: The first stop on this foodie rollercoaster was The Oakwood Canadian Bistro, where
the Gringo had the pleasure of eating a dinner after a long ride up from
Seattle. The ambiance was very refined with pleasant lighting that mixed well
with the Oakwood finish on the tables, bar and walls along with very nice music
that was upbeat but not overwhelming.
The service was excellent, friendly (our server recommended a
place for drinks afterwards) fast and professional. Then the food started
coming and it was all exceptional and very fresh.
The Flying Pigs, which are pork meatballs elevated on very long
skewers above a piece of oak wood, were exceptional. The mixture of the maple
mustard sauce and the nice salty meatballs was a fine start to the meal. The
main courses of Canadian Poutine and Halibut were amazingly fresh, perfectly executed and
very creative. The brisquet on top of the Putín melted in your mouth and
combined perfectly with the traditional gravy and curd fries below it. The
Halibut portion was ample and perfectly blackened; leaving a nice crispy crust
around the perfectly cooked fish inside, this was laid on top of a nice bed of
lentils with bacon … fantastic.
To top it off came the fusion carrot ice on top of a nice pound
cake for dessert. This is what LePigeon should have been in Portland, OR in the
Gringo’s opinion.
Moose Horns ... Nice Ambiance!
Full on a Wednesday Night ... Good Sign!
Flying Porks!
Canadian Poutine
Halibut
Funky Fusion Dessert!
The second place on the gastro-ride was Banana Leaf
(West Broadway location) which we happened to see on a bus
ride down Broadway to The Oakwood the night before. What a find. The setting is
simple, but refined and is aimed towards the lunch and dinner crowds. The
Malaysian food being served has been given awards by the Malaysian government
and I can see why. For a very reasonable price we were regaled with a
five-course lunch meal. First was a nice light salad with some nice Asian
fruits mixed in accompanied by wonderful Pork Rolls
PS: The fifth course was an enormous tempura banana plate …
awesome as well, but almost overload!
Fresh Asian Salad
Tiger Beer
Pork Rolls with Curry
The Main Dishes!
Gulai Tiger Prawns and Scallops
Rendang Beef Curry
Tempura Banana
PS: The Gringo’s last stop before getting off the rollercoaster
was a nice late night drop-in at Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ (Uptown Location) which
was pleasant. The assortment of rather affordable meat cuts are sizzled and
cooked by the customers themselves at every table. The Beef Tongue accompanied
by the assortment of sauces on one side of the table was very nice and almost
crispy.
The cold beers are very affordable and make this a very nice late
night stop in Vancouver!
Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ
Beef Tongue
SIZZLING Beef Tongue ... mmmm!
Kobe Beef
SIZZLING Kobe Beef
Spicy Beef Udon
The Lodging: Gringo
was pleasantly satisfied with his experience at the Best Western Plus Uptown Hotel
which is located in Uptown away from the hustle and bustle of
Downtown Vancouver, but is close to public transit (the way to go in Vancouver
in the Gringo’s opinion … it was fast, safe and cheap) and has complimentary
parking and hot breakfast. The price was below average as well, the cherry on
top of this hotel sundae.
Things To Do:
Stanley Park and the Vancouver Aquarium are a must. The Park is
expansive and has meticulous gardens and humongous trees and makes for a nice
walk. The recently renovated Aquarium was the best aquarium the Gringo has ever
been to (he has been to the Monterrey Aquarium, Birch Aquarium and many others
so he has something to compare it to!!). The exhibits are refined and well
organized and the 4-D IMAX experience was exciting.
The campus of the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the
B.C. Museum of Anthropology (MOA) were both visibly beautiful and interesting.
The MOA has extensive exhibits on First Nation Culture in B.C. and was an
interesting look into Vancouver’s past. Towards the end of this time in
Vancouver the Gringo strolled through Gastown and Chinatown which both form
part of Downtown Vancouver. Gastown has nice old buildings but is overrun with
tourist shops and tourists which the Gringo did not like much (although the
Steam Clock was pretty cool).Chinatown was underwhelming.
.jpg)
Stanley Park
Jellyfish
MOA Totem Pole!
Orca Carving!
Overall Vancouver was enjoyable both for its foods, culture and
wonderful attractions!
Coming
Next: Americana Series
Part VI: Exploring the Pacific NW with Gringo G ... Bend, OR Beer Country!
No comments:
Post a Comment