More Noodles from Vancouver!

The entrance to Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodle in Aberdeen Centre.  The kitchen is visible to all who enter the restaurant.

With virtually another full day spent with the grandparents, my parents and I were admittedly beginning to get tired with the usual haunts my grandparents went for lunch, so my father successfully suggested them to join us and try a different and fairly new place.  It was a bit of a gamble, as the restaurant he had in mind was more casual and budget-friendly than the places my grandparents usually frequented.  Fortunately, partly because it was a newer establishment and partly because it was well managed, my grandparents seemed comfortable to give Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodle a try.

100-Mile Fine Dining

The bar and kitchen of Raincity Grill.

 Before my trip to Vancouver I realized that my father's birthday would come during my trip.  Thankfully my sister was more in the know of the food scene in Vancouver as she had been there the previous year.  After poring over a few possibilities I ended choosing to treat him at Raincity Grill, a restaurant located at the south end of Denman St. in the English Bay neighbourhood.  Not only were the menu choices suitable for both his tastes and dietary concerns, and not only was this restaurant a reputable one, but it was unique in featuring a 100-Mile Menu.

More Than Just Noodles

After a long day of exploring the city on my own, including lunch with some friends I knew from Brandon, I was getting exhausted and hungry.  Fortunately I'd made arrangements to meet my parents near the end of the Canada Line at Lansdowne Station for dinner in Richmond.  It was a few days since we were able to enjoy dinner on our own, and we decided to do so at a restaurant that features more casual Chinese dining, Michigan Noodle Restaurant.  It was a nice change of pace as it also reminded me of my childhood and teenage years when we'd go to these types of restaurants for lunch or dinner when visiting the Toronto area.

A serving of Green Radish and Carrot Soup.

A Taste of Malaysia on Vancouver's Broadway

With so much time spent with relatives, finding time for me and my parents to eat by ourselves, let alone me and my friends living in Vancouver, was a challenge.  With a little bit of luck, though, I was able to meet up with two friends and their daughter in spite of our respective hectic schedules.  With one of them working at the major health care complex near W. Broadway and Cambie St., and that intersection right on the Canada Line, my main transit route from my grandparents' to downtown, it was a no-brainer to have lunch in that area.  Out of a few possible choices, we ended up going for a Malaysian-style lunch at Banana Leaf Malaysian Cuisine, a local franchise.

Kalamansi Soda

Of Pigeons and Winter Melon Soup

Another dinner with the Vancouver relatives was in order, but this time one of my uncles realized dinner should be had at another place partly for variety and partly to allow us out-of-towners to try something different.  For that, it was decided that dinner should be at Sun Sui Wah Seafood Restaurant on Vancouver's Main St.  Though this restaurant does specialize in dishes made with fresh, live seafood, it also specializes in Roast Squab, or Roast Pigeon.  I'd first discovered this dish when I travelled to Hong Kong at the age of 10.  A restaurant just north of Sha Tin was famous for its Roast Squab, though at that age I was perhaps more enticed by the carp-filled ponds in the courtyard.

Roast Pigeon/Squab

Lunch in the Park - Part 2

The open part of the kitchen at Seasons in the Park.

Once again my grandparents wanted a big extended family lunch, and it was decided this time to try a restaurant closer to where they lived.  It's not often one can have a house with a front yard facing a major city park, but Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Park, arguably second in significance only to Stanley Park, makes the surrounding area's real estate market, hot as it already is, possibly even hotter.  Though the distance to the restaurant was absolutely walkable, chauffeuring duties for the grandparents dictated otherwise on an overcast yet pleasant day

Seaside Seafood Lunch

I had heard of the historic village of Steveston, but I had no recollection of visiting there, so a stop there was in order during a driving tour of the coast between the Canada-US border and Vancouver itself.  Steveston is now really part of the urban fabric of the City of Richmond, but in its glory days Steveston was a major fishing and seafood canning town.  The Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site stands as testament to Steveston's rich history of the fishing industry.  Fishing boats still dock at this village today, oftentimes bringing back fresh hauls of seafood to sell directly from the boats.

Beer-battered oyster from Sockeye City Grill.

A look inside a deep-fried oyster.