Food (and Drink) for Thought

So we've now been here a whole month already, and in that time we've had a veritable smorgasbord of food! Ian and I are big on meals out, we like our food, and since we've been here we've tried quite a few places to eat and drink at, mostly around the Downtown area.

So here's the lowdown on our findings so far!

Blenz

Discovering Blenz - and on my bday!

The first place we stopped off at to get anything to eat or drink in Canada...and we found Blenz. A great Canadian owned coffee company, we dived into their protein shakes with gusto - the peanut butter one is immense but ridiculously calorific. They also have a great selection of green teas, I love the Citrus one, but found some of the other flavours to be a bit lacking. My new favourite is the Americano Misto - I'm loving the steamed milkiness - and since Ian is now working there and learning the ropes, he's made loads of suggestions and got me to try all sorts of variations, hello agave syrup!

Zefferelli's Spaghetti Joint
This place is amazing. Really amazing. If you love Italian, even if you just sorta like Italian, this place is a must! We went on my birthday back in May as I'm a massive Spaghetti fiend, and I must say it was perfect. The orange juice tasted freshly squeezed (don't judge, we weren't drinking that day) I had a Caesar salad, yes you read that correctly, I think for the first time ever, I ordered a salad  along with a gd ol' Spag bol, while Ian had a meatball dish to start and a carbonara. We were both very impressed, each of our dishes were delicious and really decent portions. We enjoyed Zefferelli's so much we went back to celebrate our first month in Vancouver recently and I opted for the Caesar again, it's that good! (What's happening to me, salad and no pudding??) For a main I had a Penne Michelangelo, and the sundried tomatoes were so packed with flavour it gave the dish an almost meaty taste. Ian had a simple pizza to start, very cheesy, they don't scrimp on ingredients for sure, and a sausage pasta dish. I also opted for a glass of the house red, and it was divine! I love this place. I want to go EVERY month.

The Lamplighter
We've been to The Lamplighter a number of times now, as we've been partaking in their weekly quiz on Tuesday nights and making the most of the $11 beer and burger deal. the burgers are simple, the fries that come with the burger are alright, but ask to upgrade to yam fries instead and BOOM its an amazing meal. Its an extra $1.50, but oh my goodness is it worth it in flavour, those blighters and great! And every time we go we get a different combination of dips, you never really know what you'll get. The main pull for The Lamplighter for me is the quiz, and catching up with other IECers. Oh, and last week I won a pitcher of beer...

It rather made my day!

 

The Templeton
This is by far one of our favourite places to eat at. Its got an old school diner vibe, with leather clad booths, and bar stools, a jukebox with some great music, and a great vibe, and huge portions of food that really doesn't disappoint. When we first went tere I ordered a chicken burger, as we've found chicken is quite expensive as a meat out here we've not been eating much, and I was missing it. It was the most ginormous chicken breast I've ever seen, with the most delicious focaccia bread and BBQ sauce I've ever had, washed down with a $6 milkshake! The next time we went, we both ordered the chicken burgers, added bacon, and finished with peanut butter and chocolate pie. The third time we visited it was pecan pie.
Then this morning... we went for breakfast. We both chose a dish called the 'Big Ass Breakfast.' Eggs, sausage or bacon, pancakes or french toast, potatoes cooked in rosemary and toast. Oh and maple syrup. (There is photographic evidence of my excitement, but I have yet to upload!) If you want a chilled, sort of greasy spoon kinda vibe, but with huge portions, great staff, and just an all round cool food experience, go here, you will NOT be disappointed.

The Flying Pig 
I really enjoyed our meal here, The Flying Pig has locations in Gastown and Yaletown, and a great little menu. I tried the chilli rubbed steak for a starter a) I love steak and this was done to perfection, still quite pink in the middle, just how I like it b) it came with a mountain of matchstick potatoes, which were lovely too. Ian went for a cheese board starter, and I think he rated most of them! For mains, Ian went for a simple roasted half chicken with mash and veggies, it was a large portion (great for Ian and his appetite) and I had a BBQ'd Salmon with risotto and a dill sauce. It looked small on the plate, but was incredibly filling, and the sauce was incredible. I'd definitely have it again.

Japadog
Ah Japadog! What a concept! The basic idea is thus, hot dogs with a japanese theme. Yeah, its almost as weird as it sounds. We dropped into the store on Robson street, as we'd seen a smattering of the stalls across the city and were intrigued. They must be doing well, they have 4 stands and a store in Vancouver, and a recently opened store in New York. I chose a Kurobuta Terimayo, a Kurobuta pork sausage, with Teriyaki sauce, mayo and seaweed. It was...interesting, I enjoyed most of it, the pork and sauces were lovely, however I wasn't quite sure on the seaweed. If had another, I would chose a different hot dog I think. I also really liked the Shichimi and Garlic shaked fries, and would have those again for sure, I loved the idea and they turned out very flavorsome. My only complaint would be the portions. For myself it was a reasonable lunch, but for a big guy like my other half it was more of a snack, it hardly touched the sides and for the price probably not worth it. I'd go again for a novelty, but it wouldn't count as a dinner!

Tim Horton's 
I finally got to try a Tim Horton's! If you like coffee, and not just any coffee, swwet coffee, or coffee with chocolate, sugar, vanilla or lots of cream this is your place. It's sweet heaven, the place is stuffed with ice cream, doughnuts, muffins, cookies and their signature 'Tim Bits.' I had a Cafe Mocha and even for me it was crazy sweet! Its a cool treat I think, but my goodness the calories I coudl eat in there!

Tony's Fish and Oyster Cafe
Last week we made an attempt at Granville Island. But after the whole smashing a glass bottle on Ian's foot thing we didn't get far. We decided to go there just for dinner and chose Tony's as it was supposed to be the best Fish and Chips in Vancouver. We were quite disappointed. We had some Calamari and Clam Chowder to start, they were decent, my Calamari had actual tentacles which I've not seen before, Ive only ever had it as rings so I enjoyed that, and the chowder was tasty. But unfortunately the fish and chips were really not to our taste, I found the batter so thick, dense and over fried, it actually made me feel ill, and wasn't great tasting. If that's seriously the best Vancouver has to offer, I vow not to try any more!

Granville Island Brewery 
We did finally get to do the Granville Island Brewery tour and test out some of their beers. We did the tour first (We got 2 for 1 on the tour price and pretty glad we did, the tour was quite short) and then got to taste a few of the beers. Due to the laws, they were only allowed to serve us 12oz alcohol though, so we only had a few small tasters.
Pictured left to right, the three we tried were Uncle Monty's Best Bitter, Ginga Ninja Ginger Beer and then Cloak and Dagger Cascadian Dark Ale, I particularly enjoyed the Ginger Beer, I liked the Bitter, but the Dark Ale was not to my taste at all! Following the tour we bought a few bottles from the shop and later tried the Imperial IPA (eurgh) the Maple Cream Ale and the Honey Lager (my favourite!) Overall there are some interesting flavours, and the alcohol is actually pretty reasonably priced in the shop, but the tour was a little short and lacking for me.

Anyway, that's it for my foodie round up (unless you want to hear about the Subway across the road that does $5 foot longs!)

Week 3

I haven't done a 'what we've been upto' post for awhile so here's a quick rundown on last week, our third week here in Vancouver! (I can't believe that on Thursday we'll have been here a whole month!

So last weekend was the big move to Downtown, and now we've been here awhile I can safely say we love it. We're going to save so much on transport for a start, busing it back to Shaughnessy everyday was beginning to cost and arm and a leg, and now we're right were we want to be. Ian started work on Monday, and its about a 15 minute walk for him, so that's easy, and it's easy for me to get everywhere I need to in my job hunting quest. The view we have will never get old, and I still love our cosy little room!

Still loving our view - Granville street looks amazing at night!

 I love that because we share an apartment we don't have to worry about things like buying furniture or decorations or cutlery etc. We just use what's already here and have our own little space. It's perfect for us!

So Monday was back to job-hunting for me, but I discovered that there is a beach about a 15 minute walk away from our apartment... much time was/will be lost reading there! Since its discovery Ian and I have gone for a few evening strolls there, there's something incredible relaxing about wandering down a quiet beach (on weekdays its heavenly empty!)

Sunset Beach, Vancouver, BC.

Tuesday morning I stayed in and listened to a friend on the radio back in the UK over the Internet, and then popped out for coffee with a fellow Brit IECer, and finally got to try a Tim Hortons - delicious I must say! (More on that later, I have a food/drink orientated post in the pipeline!

The rest of the week passed quite quickly, one day I popped out of Downtown with the lovely lady I had coffee with earlier in the week. We visited Metropolis shopping mall at Metrotown and it was ridiculously huge! I've never seen anything like it to be honest, it has everything you could possibly want. I bought writing utensils and stationary, as I intend to write letters home to people soon!

This weekend was...interesting, things didn't quite go to plan. We were going to visit Granville Island Brewery and do the tour (we got a cool 2 for 1 deal) however a mishap occurred on Friday! While cooking dinner a glass bottle of olive oil fell and smashed on the kitchen floor and poor Ian cut his foot open. So instead we took it easy round the apartment, and I kept dashing out for crappy food and snacks. Hello Subway and 711! Yesterday we took a short stroll on the beach and then decided we would take a small trip to Granville Island for dinner. We took the bus and found a place to eat (an Oyster and Fish bar, again wait for the food post for a proper verdict!) Slowly over the evening I began developing shin pain, I had shin splints about 2 years ago so after eating we hastily came home and I propped my leg up with pillows and iced it regularly. This morning I'm feeling much better, I'm going to attempt a short walk and see how it goes!

Anyway, as long as my leg stays pain free, back to job hunting for me!

10 Days in Vancouver!

So we've been here a grand total of 10 days, and I already feel like this city is kinda home. So much has happened, we've been darting around the city in all directions, and everything is just so easy!

Here's the highlights of our last week or so in Vancouver! Early last week we took a chilled few days to relax a bit after our hectic first few days and weekend, we did barely anything, transferring our UK money over to our new Canadian accounts was about the most energetic thing we did. Tuesday was spent at the cinema to see the new Star Trek film (great film by the way) and then we spent an evening in the Lamplighter pub in Gastown. We were invited by the lovely Natalie and Nick of ourcanadianadventure to join them and a whole bunch of fellow Brits and IECers for a quiz night. We also came 2nd in the quiz, which apparently is the teams best score to date.

Around Wednesday we decided to crack on with the job hunting, so we tracked down one of the many branches of Vancouver Public Library, our first stop was the Oakridge branch, but later we also discovered the Downtown one, and it's immensely HUGE! I was in heaven :D So we spent a few days wandering the city and handing out our resumes. In Coal Harbour I found some luck, I enquired into a chocolate shop, and they asked me to pop back in on Monday for a chat with the manager... more on that later!

Friday we took a tourist day, and revisited Coal Harbour, and made our first foray onto Granville Island. We loved this area, and will definitely be going back. Tonnes of little goslings running around the area, and very protective parents.

Rather cute goslings running around.

Granvile Island with Downtown in the background.

Saturday we needed to do a food shop...a job I loathe to hell and back, so Ian and I have struck up a deal. He does the weekly food shop thing, I do the laundry, which he hates! It's a fair swap, one I'm ridiculously chuffed about, no more trudging round supermarkets! Woohoo! So while Ian happily went round Safeway, I spent the time wandering the mall, and splashed out on myself. It also means I eat really well, Ian has us on a $5 a day each budget so I'm eating so low cal, I'm losing weight like a mad woman, and loving how lean I feel. That night we'd been invited out to Chinatown with some of the people we met earlier in the week, and discovered Chinatown is actually really cool. In our first few days in Vancouver we made the mistake of going done East Hastings and on finding it to be rough as hell had avoided that whole area like the plague. But Chinatown is actually pretty awesome looking, and I'm keen to go back and visit the night market which runs till September, and the Jimi Hendrix shrine, which was developed at his grandmother's house where he stayed during the summer and apparently learnt to play the guitar!

Today I had my meeting with the chocolate shop, and Ian had an interview with the coffee company Blenz. I didn't have much luck, the guy wanted me to do a load of research and come up with recipe ideas for a high tea concept he wanted me to bring into the shop, which really isn't my forte to start with, and then asked me to do a whole load of research then come back to meet with someone else to discuss my ideas. I just want a job dude. Ian had more luck! We met up a few hours later and he has a full-time job at Blenz, starting Sunday/Monday!

Exciting stuff! Lots of things to be doing, I have another interview tomorrow, and we're hitting up a gallery, which I'm excited for! Still loving Vancouver, even today's constant downpour hasn't dampened my spirits. Oh yes, despite the photos, we have discovered the rain here too. We definitely need to buy an umbrella...