102 - 4501 Kingsway, Burnaby
For my 21st birthday, I went with my family to go have Italian food - probably my favourite cuisine, hands down! To celebrate, we went to Trattoria in Burnaby (close by to Metrotown). I was so impressed with the interior of Trattoria - it's so beautiful! The selection of dishes was so extensive and it all looked so good! We definitely weren't disappointed with our choices: a pasta platter that consisted of spaghetti and meatballs, garganelli pollo and linguine pollo; fusili funghi; lunguini cabonara and lamb shank. Everything was super tasty and I was so glad that we went to go check out Trattoria, and I also had a lovely red sangria! I was also treated to a complimentary tiramisu for my birthday, which was such a sweet gesture. The staff were polite, the service was efficient, and I definitely would recommend going back for a fantastic Italian dinner, either with family, friends, or for a date!
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2741 W 4th Street, Vancouver (Kitsilano)
If you ever wondered what Canadian cuisine was, The Oakwood Canadian Bistro may just be the place where you figure out exactly what it was. Located on bustling West 4th Avenue in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood, The Oakwood is like going to a friend’s house for dinner. Step past the outdoor patio and you are instantly greeted by a warm, candlelit room that brings together family dinners, catching up with best friends or romantic date nights. With leather booths, long communal tables and cozy fireplaces, it truly is like someone opened up their home to the neighbourhood - complete with a very fancy bar and kitchen, of course. The Oakwood offers an extensive wine list that features Canadian wines but also those from the United States and the rest of the world. With my dinner I had a Kettle Valley Pinot Gris, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Since I’m not a wine connoisseur by any means, I’ll leave it at that. If you are not a wine person, don’t worry: The Oakwood also has an extensive cocktail list that features some very unique cocktails, as well as a selection of craft beers. In terms of the food, The Oakwood serves each of their dishes in a share plate format, with dishes being served as they are ready. This means that patrons could potentially get their dishes all at once, one right after the other, or have long gaps of time between each dish, depending on what you order. Luckily for my friend Elaine and I, we fell in the category of getting one dish while we still were working on our first one. The dishes we tried were the fresh spaghetti and the ling cod. The spaghetti was absolutely delicious: fresh spaghetti with a roasted mushroom and brown butter cream, garlic pangrattato, pickled shemiji and topped with a poached egg. Let’s be real: I have no idea what some of these ingredients are. But what I do know was this spaghetti was unlike anything that I had ever tried. I’m so used to your stereotypical red sauce/white sauce pasta dishes that this was something completely different and out of my league. The butter smell was overwhelming, but in a good way. All of the savoury flavours blended so well together and were balanced out by the sourness of the pickled shemiji. Following the chef’s instructions, we cut open the poached egg and mixed it in, and it just brought the whole dish home. Despite it being served in a small bowl, the portion was perfect and definitely could be one person’s entree. Along with the fresh spaghetti, we had the pan roasted ling cod that had zucchini and cauliflower fritters, roasted garlic cream sauce, green beans, and topped with herb oil, pickled shallots, and puffed rice. This was another harmonious dish that, despite what I thought to be random ingredients, fit so well with each other. The ling cod was perfect and the fritters my favourite part of the dish. Aside from dinner, The Oakwood is a popular place for brunch, which I hope to one day return for. But regardless what course you are stopping in for, The Oakwood serves nothing but the freshest ingredients and showcases the great foods that Canada is known for. It is a bit of a stretch on your wallet, particularly if you are on a student budget; however, if you are looking to treat yourself to some good food, consider The Oakwood for a home away from home meal. You’ll feel right at home. W 33rd Avenue, at Cambie Street, Vancouver (Queen Elizabeth Park)
Part of the Sequoia Group of Restaurants, Seasons in the Park is located in beautiful Queen Elizabeth Park overlooking Vancouver. Surrounded by beautiful trees and flowers, the fare at Seasons is a tour of the great food and drink offerings from the West Coast. We went as a family to spend time together, and though the dinner was a splurge everything was incredibly delicious and just amazing. We started with steamed mussels and dungeness crab cakes. The mussels were incredibly fresh and the white wine was a great addition to the dish. The crab cake was a little underwhelming due to it's size but all in all was very tasty. For my entree, I had the 10 oz Fraser Valley Pork Chop that was served with a mango and green apple chutney, steamed vegetables and macaroni and cheese. The pork chop was delicious and the chutney went wonderfully with the pork chop. I was disappointed in the macaroni and cheese side dish though, because it was kind of bland! But the pork chop was undoubtedly the highlight, as it should be! Along with this entree I had a glass of Riesling wine, which was great! For dessert I had a warm carrot cake with rum raisin gelato and cinnamon sauce. Carrot cake is my favourite dessert and I have to say that this was delicious! Seasons is not a place that I will go back to any time soon, due to the fact that it's really out of my price point for a dinner, but it was great to spend time with my family and enjoy a good meal. 45 Blood Alley Square, Vancouver (Gastown)
Usually I would advise people to stay away from a place that is known as "Blood Alley sSquare". But you would totally be missing out if you avoided Salt Tasting Room. Located in an obscure alley sandwiched between Carrall and Abbott Streets, Salt Tasting Room truly is a hidden gem for fine wines, cheeses, and charcuterie. It is also the best place to really feel grown up, posh, and kind of like a mom. My friend Elaine and I came here before going to see a show, and she really wanted to go have a wine and cheese date. Upon researching for where a good spot would be, I came across Salt and decided to book a reservation to try it out. We definitely were not disappointed! After searching around for it, we finally walked inside and were greeted with a very homey interior. The original brick walls are still intact, side by side with wooden tables and shiny chrome appliances behind the bar. Two running lists of paper listed out the daily selections of cheese, wine, and meats. At Salt, you are able to create your own wine flight and leave it to the very knowledgeable servers to pair them with cheese and condiments, or the opposite. You can also be entirely in control or leave it entirely to them - the choice is yours! This freedom to do pretty much whatever I wanted (within the constrains of my wallet) was a very attractive quality in the restaurant. I am quite particular about my wine, so after choosing those I let our server surprise me with the different cheeses and condiments to go with them. Though I can't pronounce anything that I had that night, everything was incredible and delicious. Do yourself a favour and indulge in the wonderful wine and cheese that Salt Tasting Room has curated for themselves! Look out for the black banner that - wait for it - is a chef's hat AND an upside down salt shaker. You're welcome. 1583 Coal Harbour Quay, Vancouver
A lovely night out with my dad and sisters called for a fancy dinner on Coal Harbour. Thanks to my dad's collection of gift cards from travelling, we went for a seafood feast at Cardero's. Their tagline is "chops and a wok", and their dishes range from fresh seafood, exquisite meat cuts and their signature wok fried rice. From start to finish the dinner was delicious and felt incredibly expensive, beginning with raw oysters and finishing with creme brulee. The seafood was cooked well and the portions, while incredibly pricey, were the perfect portion: not too big and not just a few pieces of fish on a plate. Being an incredibly busy place, it is definitely recommended that you make reservations ahead of time. The meal will definitely put just a slight dent in your wallet, so be prepared for that. Overall, the presentation was beautiful and the food was delicious, and the service was prompt and friendly. 322-5300 No. 3 Road, Richmond Ever since my dad started cooking Singaporean food at home, we started to become more culturally aware of this new kind of Chinese food - so new that it needed it's own label for it. Singaporean mixes a fusion of Chinese and Malaysian food in it's cuisine, and in came a series of restaurants that we tried around the city. One of them was Tropika, in Lansdowne center. We tried a variety of ethnic dishes that my dad was a world expert on - different kinds of noodles like fried Hokkien Mee, curry, coconut rice, and satay skewers. There is a lot of vocabulary that even I am not familiar with, so I think I will leave it at the fact that this ethnic dinner was delicious. We also had a wonderful dessert that seems to be quite popular among these kinds of restaurants - friend banana with ice cream. Singaporean food has become one of my favorite cuisines, in part because of its expansive flavor palate as well as how unique everything is. If you are looking for something different from your usual Chinese take out, give Singaporean food a try! Clockwise from top left: coconut rice, beef curry, satay skewers, fried banana, Fried Hokkien Mee
1641 Commercial Drive, Vancouver Located in the Il Mercato mall, this Italian restaurant goes back to basics and creates traditional Italian dishes with a Commercial Drive-Little Italy flavor. The first thing I noticed walking into the restaurant was the stone oven that was behind the bar, where freshly tossed and topped pizzas are baked. The smells of spices and cheese fills the air and I know that I made a wise choice. After finding Lombardo's on a friend's Instagram page, I decided to give it a try. The awning over top of the "patio" of the restaurant and the simple decor made me feel like I was sitting in a pizzeria in the streets of Italy. The food was incredible - definitely any Italian foodie's dream! Elaine and I tried their hand tossed pizza Ai Due Formaggi (with two types of cheese, salami, ham and mushrooms) and the Shells Toscana specialty pasta (Pasta with pesto sauce, sun dried tomatoes and grilled artichokes), and everything was amazing. I don't think I have ever had "real" Italian food aside from frozen pizza from a supermarket, and maybe going to a fancy Italian restaurant here or there. But being a student, the price was not too bad and the food was definitely worth it - so worth it that Elaine and I returned with her family! The second time we tried their two pizzas The Drive and La Giulia, their lasagna and tiramisu. If you love Italian food like I do, then check out Lombardo's - you won't regret it!
If you're on a time limit but you still want to try out their awesome pizza, check out Lombardo's 2 Go, which is located at the front entrance of the Il Mercato mall to take out the same incredible pizza that you can eat while dining in. 2611 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver If there is one word to describe your experience at Dark Table, it would be mysterious. Eating at Dark Table is an entirely new dining experience because of the mere fact that you are eating in complete darkness. Not just with the light off or in a black room, but complete darkness. No phones, no electronics, no lights of any kind. Just you, your food, and your senses. They say that when one sense is taken away, all your other senses are heightened. I found that to be 100% true. Not being able to see your food at all enhanced the tastes and the smells of the high end 2 or 3 course meal. When you enter, you pre-order your 2 or 3 course meal in the only lit area, the outside waiting area. After that, you are guided into the eating area by a blind or visually impaired waiter/waitress. This is what really impressed me and made me value my sight. The service is quick, friendly, and very efficient. Having gone to O.Noir in Montreal and experiencing something very similar, I knew that this was a place that I had to take my friend to try out for themselves. Tips:
- Reservations are highly recommended, just because of how popular the restaurant is! - A Groupon is also highly recommended - when I went with Elaine, the original bill came to $92. but with the Groupon we only had to pay $12! Finding something on Groupon or Living Social Deals is definitely worthwhile to purchase so as to enjoy the experience and not make a major dent in your wallet. - You have to option to do the full 3 courses (appetizer, entree and dessert) or 2 courses (appetizer & entree OR entree & dessert). The 3 course option is definitely worthwhile though!
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