320 Cambie Street, Vancouver (Gastown)
This little place is the perfect answer to those that are obsessed with meatballs. Tucked away on Cambie Street close to Victory Square, Kofta Meatball Kitchen boasts big, hand rolled meatballs in cute little bowls of pasta. I went with my friend Joshua and the whole concept of the restaurant was quite endearing to me. I personally am a huge fan of meatballs so I knew that a trip to Kofta was definitely needed. The space inside is super spacious and can fit a lot of people, and one of the walls facing the street is a garage door which can open during the super hot summer days. There is also an entire wall of little succulent plants which I love! At Kofta you can choose to have meatball baguettes (think meatball sub at Subway, but a little more refined) or a meatball bowl, either premade or one that you can build yourself. Being a huge fan of macaroni and cheese, I had the Six Pack Mac, which was macaroni and cheese and three savory beef and ricotta meatballs. The other bowls amazing too, such as the Kofta Poutine, the BBQ Feast, or a Low-Carbonara with zoodles (zucchini noodles) as opposed to pasta. I loved what I had and I definitely will make a trip back because I love the idea of the place! The only thing was that the meatballs were a little bland, but it was made up for with the sauce in the macaroni.
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151 E 8th Avenue, Vancouver (Mount Pleasant)
The neighbourhood of Mount Pleasant is known for its quirks and gems, and Eight 1/2 Restaurant Lounge is no different. Located inside a 100 year old heritage house, the exterior is absolutely stunning, and gives off the feel that you are going to visit someone at their home to have a family dinner. The interior is very cozy, with the restaurant and lounge area blurring together to create a very friendly and intimate ambience. Everyone is very friendly and the service was relatively quick, yet easygoing. Kim and I decided to share a craft beer flight (which featured beers from Coal Harbou Brewing, 33 Acres Brewery, Four Winds Brewery and Driftwood Brewery), the steak bites and a pesto prawn pizza. This was the perfect amount of food for the two of us. While I like craft beer, I personally was not a fan of the ones that were on the flight that night. They were all amber to dark beers, whereas my personal preference is more pale and light. I guess I have to work up to that tolerance! However, I will say that the beers went really nicely with the steak bites. The steak bites came with a salad on the side for us to share, and the bites themselves were very tender and marinated beautifully! The chili rub provided a lot of heat and that was cooled down by the creamy parmesan dip. The pesto prawn pizza was definitely my favouite though, and the highlight of the night! All of Eight 1/2's pizzas are 10", which makes it a good size for sharing but also a fair size for one person to enjoy on their own. The combination of pesto and prawn is not new to either Kim or I, but this pizza in particular had a nice balance of pesto and sauce, and everything meshed really well together. I just wished that there were more prawns on the pizza iself - it seemed a little lopsided that way. All in all, a really worthwhile place to check out and for me to go back to! Their large dishes look delicious and it just seems like a really fun place to be. Fun fact: Eight 1/2 is located halfway between E 8th Street and E 7th. Not sure how that happened. 1305 Commercial Drive, Vancouver (The Drive) I've always loved board games growing up as a kid, and when I found out that board game restaurants were actually a thing in the city, I knew that I had to check it out! On this holiday, Victoria day Monday, my friends and I checked out Storm Crow Tavern on Commercial Drive., which is dubbed by the restaurant as "Vancouver's original nerd bar". And they are indeed right - the vintage-y wooden furniture is decked out with Star Trek posters, Minecraft swords, comic book clippings, and a huge shelf that was filled with various board and card games. To combat the not so sunny weather, we deicded to check it out and play a classic, Monopoly. We got there right when it opened, so we were able to get seats right away. I heard that it usually gets quite packed in the evenings, so this was super nice to get a seat without having to wait! Due to the fact that it was a holiday, they were serving their weekend brunch. We each ordered Eggs Benny, which you could build yourself. The Benny came with the English muffin and the poached egg x 2, and you could two items such as cheese, bacon, sausage, avocado.. the list goes on. This dish comes with some fruit and super yummy hashbrowns. Everything was delicious! To add the already competitive nature of our Monopoly game, we ordered mimosas, which were also quite nice. Great atmosphere, friendly service, and definitely something unique in the city where you can have fun the old school way! However, one thing I did notice is that the brunch menu that they have on their website versus what I had in front of me in persion is completely different - online, they advertise that they have things like "Fantasy Frittata" or "Stuffed Banana Bread French Toast", neither of which I saw on the menu today. I'm not sure if the regular lunch/dinner menu is like that too, so I would defiitely suggest not getting too attached to a dish when you are checking out the place online, just in case the menu is completely different! Other than that, the place is an absolute gem and a whole lot of fun. 3289 Main Street (Vancouver - Mount Pleasant)
TASTE: 5/5 SERVICE: 3/5 PRICE: $ As part of a girls night, my friend Rebbecca and I made the trek out to The General Public for a simple sushi dinner. Or was it? Being greeted with colorful wind ornaments against a solid black canopy and wooden tables on the outside was an interesting sight to see. Upon entry into the restaurant, we were greeted with white character heads hanging on the walls, animals made from toys hanging from the ceiling and antlers. Antlers, everywhere. We quickly found that this was no ordinary Japanese restaurant. It definitely was anything but authentic - it was unique and one of a kind. Despite it's lack of authenticity, the sushi was able to hold it's own twist of sushi which was just as delicious as rolls from other places. With funky named rolls such as Found Nemo, the Bob Marley, and the KFC roll (yes, Kentucky Fried Chicken), it was truly a memorable experience. The owner of The General Public described the restaurant as "a hunting lodge... with sushi". I guess that's where the antlers come in. With another equally unique location in the Kitsilano neighbourhood called The Eatery, "funky sushi" is definitely a one of a kind dining experience.
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