Yesterday, I decided to pick up the Eating & Drinking edition of Vancouver magazine (pictured at the left). The last time I picked it up was in 2009, when I was researching a restaurant for our rehearsal dinner. I like getting it to see what are the latest and greatest restaurants and add to my "Life list" of restaurants to try. Groupon and LivingSocial have been very helpful to allow me to cross off restaurants on my list!
I think I've mentioned it before in a previous post, but one thing that I love about the restaurant scene here is how diverse it is. Just look at the listing of catergories from the magazine: African & Middle eastern, Americas, Barbecue, Belgian, Cafe, Casual Chain, Chinese, Contemporary West Coast, Diner, Filipino, French, Greek, Indian, Indonesian & Malaysian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Pan Asian, Portuguese, Pub & Lounge, Seafood, Spanish, Steakhouse, Thai, Tibetan, Vegetarian & Vegan, Vietnamese & Cambodian and Wine bar. This is just for Vancouver alone! They still have separate categories for the cities surrounding Vancouver (Coquitlam, Burnaby, etc). It makes for easy searching, because I just have to find the type of food and voila! A selection of the best of the best.
These are some of the restaurants that I've been wanting to try or will be getting to try:
Les Faux Bourgeois: This restaurant has been open for a few years now, and has been on most lists for classic country-style French food. The food is fairly affordable and they have a great selection of dishes. The problem is that they are very much out of the way in terms of transit. I was hoping hubby and I could go for our second anniversary last year, but we could not as they were not open that day! Maybe this year.
Black and blue: This is a brand-new restaurant courtesy of the Glowbal group (the same guys behind one of our favorites, Sanafir, as well as Glowbal and Coast). I'm a carnivore (I used to take my steaks medium well and now I tend to do rare), and this place caters to my carnivorous ways. A great selection of meat cuts, including Wagyu beef (Kobe beef). Hubby has already promised me that we can go there for my birthday dinner this year!
Hart House Restaurant: When I used to take the 144 bus from SFU, I loved the part of the route where it winds through Deer lake park and past the Burnaby Village museum. It has this great old-timey feel, and I've always wanted to play tourist there, but have yet to. It is also close to where you can find the Hart House restaurant. The house itself is from the 1920s and overlooks Deer Lake. It is considered to be one of the fine dining places to go in Burnaby. Hubby and I will be able to go during Spring Break with a Groupon that I purchased a while back. Maybe we can even play tourist at the museum!
Regional Tasting Lounge: I've actually never heard of this restaurant until LivingSocial offered a deal for them (and a darn good one at that!). It is located in trendy Yaletown and has a West Coast menu alongside a menu which changes every three months. Our West Coast restaurants are great for their variety and innovation, and I've read lots of fantastic things about this place. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint!
Have a great weekend and happy cooking all!
February 26-March 2nd
Sunday: Roast lamb leg (very loosely based on this recipe), potato gratin
Monday: Beef stew
Tuesday: Fish n' chips
Wednesday: Cornmeal crumbed chicken, salad
Thursday: Fettucine with ragu
Friday: Ham & potato frittata