WATER ST. CAFE: HAPPY HOUR

Across the street from the famous Gastown Steam Clock (literally) and in the heart of Gastown, Downtown Vancouver situates a west coast cuisine restaurant Water St. Cafe. The restaurant has an Italian influence as well and offers pasta made from scratch. However, we were here to take advantage of their happy hour menu and to try as many plates as we could! Happy hour at Water St. Cafe runs 7 days a week (yes, including weekends!) from 3:00pm to 5:00pm.

The atmosphere at Water St. Cafe is very bright and inviting. Outdoor seating is available now that patio season has arrived and there are private rooms upstairs for larger parties.

Shirakawa by Itoh Dining

RESTAURANT IS NOW CLOSED

It is pretty evident that I fell off the blogging world for a while and writing about older restaurant experiences do not always work out, especially in this case because Shirakawa closed their doors. Shirakawa was a Japanese restaurant located in Gastown, Downtown Vancouver that offered modern and traditional cuisine. And of course the authenticity of the restaurant appeared to be a wow factor as well.

Floor to ceiling glass windows, an open kitchen and the irezumi mural were my biggest eye catchers when I walked in to the restaurant. The atmosphere also makes Shirakawa one of those Japanese restaurants that are not on the top of my list to visit because I worry the quality is not there or the quality does not match the higher prices, but I decided to make a visit for lunch. You never know until you try right?

Nicli Antica Pizzeria

A friend from Toronto was visiting and she loves Neapolitan pizza, LOVES. Her favourite Neapolitan pizzeria in Toronto is Pizzeria Libretto. So when she asked me to take her somewhere good, Nicli Antica is the first place that came to my mind. The reason is because Nicli is the first pizzeria in Vancouver to be certified by the Verace Pizza Napolenta. Although to be honest I was skeptical about taking her here because when I skimmed through some photos online, surprisingly a lot of their pizza lacked that nice charred leoparding! Moreover, even some photos on their official Instagram account lacked that beautiful blistering!

Nicli is located on East Cardova in Gastown, next to sibling restaurant Nicli's Next Door. The layout of the restaurant is long, but neither narrow nor cramped. The seating arrangements are fairly comfortable and the restaurant has a nice atmosphere. There is a spacious bar, a high ceiling, and a clean modern look. We arrived right at opening (11:30am) and the staff were friendly and welcoming. The restaurant filled up fairly quick too.

La Casita : Gastown Location

After rescheduling a few many times with FoodinYVR and asking her for restaurant suggestions only to decline them all… I settled on La Casita. La Casita is located in Gastown on the corner of Abott and Cardova, and appears to be a very busy restaurant. I say very busy because on a Thursday late afternoon, we were the first to arrive at the empty restaurant but within thirty minutes, La Casita was packed! The restaurant had a full house by 5:00pm.

La Casita is a Mexican cuisine restaurant that offers a very extensive menu, from ceviche to tostadas, taquitos, fajitas, enchiladas, flautas, tacos, quesadillas, chimichangas and burritos. But how is the quality of food? With regards to the interior, La Casita is a very large restaurant and the seating arrangements are not too cramped. There are also plenty of staff and our server was friendly.

Lily Mae's Comfort Café

Lily Mae's Comfort Cafe is located in Gastown and the interior looks very cute, resembling a french bistro with a homestyle atmosphere. The comfort cafe has been on my list since the beginning of the year, but my interest to visit has been delayed since there are some negative comments regarding the service. However, Lily Mae's was still my first choice when looking for a cute breakfast date with a friend. My friend actually suggested going to Cafe Medina's new location for an Instagram worthy photo, but I gave her a dirty look because she agrees that the food is only average.

When I walked in to meet my friend, our server provided us with menus within minutes. I was a bit sad she did not say hello to me or one word in fact, considering the restaurant appears to be a family operated business. In addition, as she poured water in our drinking glasses, I could not help but notice the red pigment at the bottom of the jug inside. She also spilled some water on the table which was left alone, so my first thoughts were that the little things are overlooked here.

My friend mentioned she was greeted and offered any table in the restaurant upon arriving however, and the server was friendly throughout our breakfast.

Every table is set up with white cloth napkins, cutlery, water glasses and a mini vase. We seated near the window and of course me being OCD, took a look at the window sill and was very pleased to not see one speck of dust! Doing the "finger swipe" is actually more accurate… lol. Dining at "historic" or old places are not really my thing, but I certainly do not mind clean restaurants such as Lily Mae's. I could not help but think back to how the The Pie Shoppe looked too, which I visited the day before here. Both restaurants have a homey atmosphere but one looks clean.

Rodney's Oyster House Gastown : Low Tide

The last time I came to Rodney's Oyster House was most likely back in high school and a second location has opened since then, in Gastown. An out of town guest actually reminded me to revisit the restaurant after many years, but our schedules did not match so I went without him! BF and I arrived during happy hours, which Rodney's calls "Low Tide" and people can order off the dinner menu too.

When entering the restaurant, there is a set of stairs to walk up before arriving at the bar and dining room. We waited at the front for only a couple of minutes and there was no greeting while the manager and another waiter looked for a table to seat us. I like how the staff was actually looking for a table to seat us rather than asking if we had reservations and when hearing the answer no, acting like having no reservations troubles them (which has happened at restaurants that are not even busy!).

There are two levels of dining area in the restaurant and the lower level has a few tables along with bar seats, and an open kitchen. The atmosphere at Rodney's is very upbeat, non-rushed and casual. Although maybe a bit too casual… as the manager sits on the counter by the preparation area and bar seats. As for the upper level, there are more tables and the seating arrangements are not cramped.

After settling down and looking at the menu, we waited a while for someone to take our order. At the time, there were four waiters at the front and only two seated tables in the restaurant. The service was not an issue later on though because one of the waiters stayed upstairs. He also checked up on us a couple of times and was the friendliest waiter of them all. There are quite a few negative comments regarding the service at Rodney's especially during the Low Tide, but the none of the staff was rude (although we did visit the restaurant during a slow period).

Acme Cafe

Choosing to pass on dessert at Save On Meats, C’est la vie a Maggi and I were saving our bellies for Acme Cafe, specifically for their pies! When we walked in, our eyes were immediately drawn to the pastry bar and after taking a look at their selection, we were seated at a comfortable booth. As we were frantically looking for the dessert menu, a friendly waitress came by and mentioned Acme's desserts change daily and had the menu written on her notepad.

So, deciding to use our eyes rather than ears, we headed back to the pastry bar. Here was a selection of red velvet cake, pies (banana cream, orange creamsicle, raspberry rhubarb, blueberry, sailor cherry rum, and individual sized pecan pies), chocolate chunk croissant bread pudding, chocolate brownie with chopped walnut, croissant, loafs and plenty of cookies along with bars. Being the indecisive person that I am, I was deliberating between the strawberry rhubarb and the blueberry pie.

Why the indecisiveness? I worried the strawberry rhubarb would be too sour and the blueberry may not even be that good. However, to help with my indecisiveness, the friendly cashier scrapped a bit of filling off of both pies for me to sample, and I went with the blueberry. In addition, she also recommended the croissant bread pudding since it is a favourite of hers, and provided us a sample to try as well. We found the bread pudding to have a soft croissant texture along with a nice sweetness from the chocolate, it was neither mushy nor too sweet.

Save On Meats

Do we dress low key? Will I get mugged? No Louboutins right? Do I leave my purse in the car? These are some questions that crossed my mind when C'est la vie a Maggi suggested Save On Meats for our next food date. Jokes aside (sort of), I did not mind trying out the restaurant because honestly without her, I would never even think of going to Save On Meats. Plus, I was set on ordering a burger way in advance to prevent wasting twenty minutes of her time when we arrived, since she knows I am indecisive.

After spending the morning at a spa together and Maggi giving me numerous chances to choose another restaurant for lunch, we finally walked to the restaurant after parking in front of a, clinic.

Save On Meats is located in the Downtown Eastside and serves homestyle diner food. In addition, the restaurant has a diner atmosphere as well. There are bar seats as well as booth seating arrangements along the wall, and a few tables at the back of the restaurant. Furthermore, the restaurant was fairly clean. I really did not know what to expect when coming here but it was something along the lines of a run down restaurant, which was not the case.

Taishoken Ramen 大勝軒

After grabbing a snack at Pourhouse, we headed to Tinseltown to pick up sunglasses. On the way there, we noticed an extremely long line up outside of a ramen restaurant, Teishoken. As it turns out, people were lining up to try a newly opened ramen joint while taking advantage of a great promotional value, $5.00 for a bowl. This is a great marketing strategy; lose a little, gain a lot.

As two hours passed, yes, two, it was finally our turn. In general, I would never line up for any restaurant but because my schedule is extremely busy with business, working out and making sure my dogs get enough exercise, I considered the two hours as a time for me to "relax". Sad, but true. Taishoken was offering three types of ramen, shoyu (soy sauce), shio (salt) as well as miso, and we went for the miso along with the shio.

On every table, chilli pepper, pepper, chilli oil, vinegar and soy sauce is provided on the side. As for the interior, the table as well as chairs are all wooden and like most ramen joints, diners can peak into the kitchen. The kitchen has an organized assembly line with a cook cooking the noodles, another dealing with the chashu and one adding the broth. As for the seating arrangements, there are window seats to shared tables, and half booth seats.

Pourhouse Restaurant

After shopping at a few local boutiques in Gastown, I needed a snack and remembered C'est la vie a Maggi instagramming a photo of a large bone marrow from Pourhouse. In addition, she mentioned it was only $12.00! So, since BF and I were in the area and needed something light, it was pretty much meant to be.

Walking in on a weekday around 4:30pm, the restaurant was not very busy and a couple of people were drinking at the bar. After waiting at the front for a while, the bartender asked if we were here for drinks or food, along with providing us a choice of a table or bar seat, before calling the waiter.

The atmosphere at Pourhouse is very homey and feels like a relaxing place to socialize, although of course the restaurant will get loud during busier times such as dinner through to late night. Asides from the comfortable atmosphere, the high rustic wooden ceiling along with the pillars to the bricked walls, resemble a traditional European style interior. As for the seating arrangements, there are comfortable booth seats, padded chairs and stools by the bar. Furthermore, asides from the squeaky clean restaurant, I like the laminated wooden tables.

The Juice Truck

Apparently a lot of people love this juice truck! My friend and I came today around noon which is right when they open.

The menu

My drink is THE PATIO, BLUEBERRY PRESSED WITH PEAR, MINT, LIME, ALOE VERA JUICE AND COCONUT WATER WITH ADDED GINGER ($7.50) and her drink is THE COCONUT, COCONUT MEAT BLENDED WITH COCONUT WATER, COCONUT MILK, LIME, RAW VANILLA AND COCONUT NECTAR ($7.00).

I think we may have ordered the wrong drinks because neither of us enjoyed them. The patio tastes like warm (which is not a problem) watered down fruit punch with a slight taste of ginger. I cannot really comment on the coconut since I do not like coconut in general, but my friend loves coconut and says it is nothing special and not the best. She would have liked it if they charge a higher price and used real coconut meat.

If they had a simple drink with carrots, celery and ginger, I would have gotten that. I really think they should add a customized drink option for $8.00 and you can choose what you want. I love the idea especially since I am sure some people hate cleaning their juicer (like me) and the customized drink option would make it better for picky people or people who know what they like!

Food: 1/5
Service: N/A

Nuba : Gastown location

The first time I came to Nuba was last year when my friend came back from Peru. Everything we ordered was amazing, except the chicken skewers which were really tough and dry. And the only other issue was the scallops, we had 3 pieces for a table of 4, but the couple beside us had 4 pieces. If our server told us it comes only with 3 pieces, we would have ordered 2 orders instead of 1 so there would be enough. Anyways, I remember the duck breast and roasted chicken was AMAZING, seriously. THE BEST. So I forced my boyfriend to make time to see me earlier and take me here. I was here for 2 things, the roasted duck breast and chicken.

We came on a weekday without reservations, and waited around 45 minutes for a table. Our server brought our drinks after we waited 20 minutes, which is pretty long. I was kind of already cranky since I was hyped to come here and it has not been a great start. 

We ordered the chicken, duck breast and lamb shank.

The first entree is the pan seared duck breast with jewelled couscous, crispy duck skin and grilled asparagus ($22.00). The duck is really chewy and I was surprised because I came here specifically for this. It is a bit on the luke warm side and really hard to eat. My boyfriend was making fun of me for coming here for this. I swear the first time was really good. The asparagus is average and not over or under cooked.

So about after 45 minutes... yes 45 minutes.. our second entree came.

The second entree is the braised lamb shank on roasted mushroom israeli couscous "risotto" with cardamom raisin relish ($25.00). My boyfriend wanted to try this and was disappointed. The lamb is not tender and it is tough. There is nothing special about it and if anything, it is below average. I enjoyed their risotto because it is just couscous. Meh, it is always good to think you can enjoy the sides if the main is not really good.

So as I am defending for my life to my boyfriend, justifying why we are here and that the first time the only complaint was the chicken skewers... another 30 minutes pass and our last entree comes.

The third entree is the fraser valley chicken glazed with honey, cinnamon and cumin, served with roasted carrots and potatoes ($21.00). Yay! Finally after 2 bad dishes and waiting for over an hour and half, my favourite entree came. When I say favourite, I mean meant it. I remember the first time I had the chicken, it melted in my mouth and the sauce was so flavourful and delicious, I wanted to lick the bowl. This time, the sauce is super thick and tastes like sweet honey and caramel (not in the good way). The texture of the sauce is almost 100% the texture of pure honey. The sauce tastes like pure caramel watered down, it is not pleasant. I do not know if they changed chefs.. but all the dishes are different then a year ago. When I told my friend who came with me the first time, she was shocked and speechless. She even thought I was joking, I kid you not.

Anyways, I will not go into more detail about the food because as you can tell, we did not enjoy them. I will admit that the first time was literally so good and a 4.5/5.

Service wise, what happened? It took 20 minutes for our drinks, and when we got our first entree, there was a 45 minute gap for our second entree, then another 30 minute gap for the last entree. I can say that the first time I came here, there was only about a 10-15 minute gap between every dish. But this time? On a weekday that is not busy after we were seated? To make things worse, a random server or hostess (I do not know what she does)  came to us and started clearing our plates without saying a word, that shows literally how long we waited. We did not even get our second entree before she cleared our plates. It was pretty embarrassing and awkward for me to say that only one of our dishes came.

Nuba is a place to relax, have a couple of drinks and share some dishes. If I came for some appetizers and wanted to drink, I probably would have been happy. But if I came for 2 specific dishes that I swear were the best and is now not edible, obviously I am pissed.

By the way, the hummus at the Kitsilano location is 10x better than this location, the hummus is pretty bland here. On my first visit, my friend was still eating the hummus and our server tried taking the plate as she was dipping LOL awkward.

Food: 1.5/5
Service: 2.5/5

Wildebeest

If I do not know anything about a restaurant, I will not check their website just to write a little blurb about them. However if I am impressed, I may check their website and mention what I discover. But other then that, I rather just write about the food and service.

My sister wanted to try Wildebeest and we came here without reservations. When we walked in, the manager looked at us like we were crazy without having any reservations, on a Tuesday evening, and was 100% firm on not giving us a seat. At the time, it was 5:45pm and he mentioned the restaurant is expecting people to arrive 7:30pm. Not going to lie, I was confused and probably even had a confused face because out of the whole restaurant, there were only two occupied tables. So, after we were about to leave, he then mentions we can be seated but will have to leave by 7:30pm. It just felt awkward, we have no problem leaving by 7:30pm but why not just mention that in the beginning?