Motomachi Shokudo Ramen

We love ramen.  There's nothing better on a cold day than I nice hot bowl of noodles, soup, and pork.  Typically we alternate between our favourites, Santouka and Kintaro.  But last week we decided to hit up a ramen joint we hadn't been to in awhile (and hadn't blogged about yet), Motomachi.  Owned by the same people as Kintaro, Motomachi uses chicken broth instead of pork broth for their noodles which makes them quite unique.  It also makes their bowls a bit lighter than a normal ramen place.

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Stackhouse Burger Bar

Stackhouse Burger Bar is a newly opened burger joint located on Granville and Drake. Back in January, I saw their "Opening Soon" sign and I made a note that I would like to try their burgers when they opened. After much debating of what to eat on Friday, my boyfriend and I decided to try Stackhouse.

The types of burgers that Stackhouse serves aren't your normal run of the mill beef burgers that you will find at other burger joints (like Veras or Fat Burger). The burgers are made with freshly ground Alberta AAA prime rib and are topped with specialty toppings like pancetta (instead of bacon!), portabellini mushrooms, Guinness cheddar cheese, Camberet cheese, fried fennel, and many other toppings. The types of toppings on the burgers depends on what type of burger you order. There are many different types of burgers here: beef burgers, lamb burgers, chicken burgers, ahi tuna burgers, veggie burgers, dungeness crab burgers, and venison burgers! All burgers are served on a brioche bun with butter lettuce and tomatoes.

I arrived first at the restaurant and decided to wait inside for my boyfriend. When I entered Stackhouse, I was greeted and they let me have a choice of where to seat. I decided to sit at one of the tables by the window. The restaurant had high ceilings and the decor was simple, and nice. After I sat down, the waiter handed me paper menus. I looked through the menus, contemplating what to eat while I waited for my boyfriend to arrive.

Menu

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Khai Thai

Wanting to go for dinner somewhere close to where we were, we settled on getting some thai food from Khai Thai.  We'd both been there for lunch before and liked what we had there, but never for dinner.  The restaurant is nice and home-y looking and the servers were quite friendly.

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Cafe Medina

We've been to Café Medina before, but haven't blogged about it yet, so we decided to rectify that last weekend!

As usual, there was a lineup, and we ended up having to wait for about half an hour before we were able to get a table, but it was worth it for the food that awaited us inside.

 

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Go Fish Ocean Emporium - Granville Island

My co-worker and I didn't know where to go for lunch, so we decided to wander around Granville Island to see what we could find. After walking for a bit, my co-worker remembered the fish and chips shack, Go Fish. He mentioned that that place can get pretty busy during the summer but not so much during the winter/spring season since there isn't a lot of tourists here yet.

Go Fish is located just off the entrance of Granville Island (by the docks) and it is quite easy to spot the small blue shack sitting by the water. Their menu has soups, sandwiches, fish & chips (of course!), fish tacos and daily specials which are listed on a chalkboard. The prices listed also include the HST.

Go Fish - Pick-up window

There were quite a few people there that day. Good thing that the line wasn't too long. :)

I've heard that the line could stretch out down the pathway by the water.

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DB Bistro - Last Brunch

We decided to go to DB on their final day of service for brunch.  Over the last 6 months, it has become our favourite brunch place, and we were very sad to see it go. 

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Afternoon Tea at The Fairmont Pacific Rim

We bought a Social Shopper coupon for Afternoon Tea for Two at The Fairmont Pacific Rim for $35 and decided to use it one weekend. The coupon was a good deal as it would normally cost $70 for two people. After reading that they serve "sushi-style" sandwiches for tea, I wanted to try it! This certainly didn't sound like typical afternoon tea with the egg salad sandwiches, pastries and scones.

The tea at Pacific Rim is served in their lobby of the hotel. It's a spacious area with cozy chairs, a fireplace and a Fazioli piano! That piano was gorgeous! I loved the design that is etched on the inside portion of the cover. Apparently, that piano cost $225 000! If I had that kind of money, I would buy a piano that looked like that! 

After we were seated, we were given a small box with the different tea selections. The tea leaves were in a small glass bottle where you can open up and take a whiff before deciding which tea to have. All the teas smelled really nice, but I decided to have the Vanilla Roboois. My boyfriend couldn't decide at first... but he finally decided to get the same tea as I did.

A selection of teas from T

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WE. Coffee

WE. Coffee is a small coffee shop located on Robson right next to Santouka After eating at Santouka, my boyfriend and I decided to go head next door for some coffee and dessert. WE coffee has a variety of different coffees, teas, and waffles! We were quite full, but decided to go anyway :) One word of warning... do not go there if you just had a big dinner. The portions are quite large...

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Lumiere, One Last Time

As you may have read in our very first blog post, back in August we had what ended up being the best meal of our lives at Lumiere.  When we heard the news that it, along with its sister restaurant DB Bistro were closing, we were extremely saddened at the prospect of never being able to dine there again.  We immediately made reservations to have one last dinner there to see if we could recapture our experience.  The verdict: not quite.  But I don't know if that first meal will ever be topped.  

Food-wise, this actually may have been better overall than last time, but it was busier, and so they were a bit less attentive.  Our first time there, we had the amazing Sommelier Drew Walker check up on us several times.  He was one of the key ingredients to making that such an unparalleled experience.  I have never met anyone in the food service industry that was so pleasant, friendly, and knowledgeable.  As we did not order any wine, we did not really get to chat with him this time, and that was detrimental to our experience. It's pretty incredible that one person could make that much of a difference, but when it comes to Mr. Walker, that is indeed the case.  

One last time

Just like last time, we went with the intention of ordering either the three or five course offerings in order to keep the price down.  Then we started debating on whether or not to add the wine pairings, as I was interested to experience how their selections would enhance their already amazing food.  Neither of us are big drinkers, however, so in the end, we opted to get the seven course menu and skip the wine pairings to make up for the expense.

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Tojo's

I've always wanted to try Tojo's and finally gotten a chance to when my boyfriend surprised me by taking me there for our anniversary! <3

The restaurant is really spacious, modern Japanese decorations and surprisingly not too noisy for the amount of people that was inside. We sat down at our table and looked quickly through the menus. We knew that we wanted to try the omakase (chef's choice). I wished we sat at the bar as it would probably make the experience dining at Tojo's just a bit more special. We also saw Tojo busily working away at the sushi bar. When I took out my camera to take a photo of the restaurant, our waiter came by and asked if I wanted a photo with Tojo. He told me "You want a picture with Tojo? I can take. Go now. Don't be shy". I chuckled to myself before getting up and following the waiter up to the sushi bar where he snapped a photo of Tojo and me. After taking the photo, we placed our orders. We ordered the 5 course omakase ($80 per person). The waiter asked if we had any allergies before leaving to get our teas.

 Tojo's Restaurant Interior

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