La Belle Patate

A while back, I had mad cravings for a poutine and decided to try La Belle Patate after a run on the seawall. The idea of having a poutine afterwards actually motivated me and I finished about ten minutes earlier too! Le Belle Patate is known for their poutines and offers 26 choices, which is great for the adventurous along with the indecisive. As for myself, my hair stylist calls me "vanilla" along with Plain Jane so of course I stuck with a traditional poutine.

Other than poutines, the restaurant offers "authentic Quebecois cuisine" which includes smoked meat sandwiches and steamies. So obviously I had to order the smoked meat sandwich! As for the seating arrangements, there are half booth seats along the wall, stools by the window for those who like to people watch, and around five tables in the whole restaurant.

The poutines are served in an aluminum container however, so eating on the go is fairly comfortable and not bad because the food stays warm.

Dunn's Famous

BF, let's be open minded - with smoked meat, Montreal smoked meat. Our favourite and go to place for Montreal smoked meat sandwiches is Estrella's in Langley. And that is it. We have no back up plan in case Estrella's closes or a runner up if we are too lazy to go to Langley, and that scares me. So we decided to try Dunn's Famous. When I saw some photos online, the smoked meat did not look good and I gave the restaurant the benefit of doubt, thinking perhaps some people ordered the lean meat which make the sandwiches look dry.

We decided to have a quick snack on a game night and the restaurant was not busy. There are comfortable booth seating arrangements, comfortably spaced out tables and bar seats, along with large televisions. I do not do the bar or pub scene but this is what one would look like to me, a more luxurious one I guess.

Estrella's Montreal Deli

On the way to a barbecue in Langley, my friend gave me strict instructions "no food stops". Umm excuse me? I guess some people are really into their barbecuing… Do not even get me started on the horrible 200th Street too and I cannot stop for food?! Madness! I never complain about Richmond or Downtown traffic, but WTF is up with 200th Street? I hate it. The traffic can range from a mere ten minutes to a forty five minute difference off the highway to anywhere I have to go! So of course to treat myself, I had to stop at Estrella's.

Estrella's has been my go-to place for many years, as in half a decade! A couple of my friends from Montreal first introduced the restaurant to me during my SFU years and I fell in love. I even used to come here at least twice a week whenever I was in Langley.

Walking in, there is a nice smoked meat aroma which is not to be mistaken with greasy or the non well-ventilated kind. The restaurant is clean and there are a good amount of seats for this type of joint. Although during busier hours, Estrella's does get busy and a wait can be expected. As for the organized chalkboard menu, it is posted on the wall and customers order as well as pay at the front.

Edible Canada at the Market

The last Travelzoo voucher I purchased was for dinner at Bridges, where my experience seemed to be a true representation of the restaurant; food and service wise. So, when I noticed another good deal on Travelzoo which included two appetizers, entrees and dessert at Edible Canada in Granville Island for $59.00, I snatched it up. Normally I am not a fan of bistros because there are not many amazing ones in Vancouver, but with many positive reviews on Urbanspoon; I had to try out Edible Canada. Plus, it was the perfect opportunity because of the voucher.

Edible Canada has outdoor seating along with a dining room, and seating arrangements at the bar. Furthermore, there is also a retail store at the back of the restaurant. When we walked in, the hostess was friendly and mentioned how she remembered taking my reservation a couple of hours earlier.

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.

Fatburger : Burnaby location

I have been to Fatburger around only five times and from what I remember, the burgers are nothing special and can get pricey with an additional purchase of a drink as well as a side. So why the revisit? Asides from convenience, the Burnaby location offers "Buffalo's World Famous Wings" and I have always wanted to try them. It also kind of sucks because Fatburger was offering a Groupon or SocialShopper voucher that I could have gotten a few days before! And I was even thinking pshh, I would not be going there LOL.

Walking in, the burger joint is well ventilated and the staff is extremely friendly, especially the manager (gotta love a friendly staff!). Basically customers order at the front, receive a number, pay and take a seat. Then a cashier brings the food out to the table.

Fatburger offers breakfast burgers as well as specials, shakes, beers as well as alcoholic beverages, baby to double king burgers as well as speciality ones, and turkey as well as chicken to vegetarian patties. A pretty extensive menu for a burger joint. In addition, the Burnaby location offers wings, chips, curly fries and dessert!

The Spud Shack Fry Co.

When I found out about Spud Shack, a little joint located at New Westminster skytrain station, I was pretty excited to introduce my friend to what may possibly be one of the best places for poutines. She loves her poutines and always orders them. So, after claiming that she will love me even more for where I am about to take her for a late night snack, she says "poutines? I don't even like them". LOL what? Yeah, apparently when she orders a poutine at the food court or movie theatre, it is because there is nothing else that she wants. Oh well, already paid for parking so too bad for her. I even raved about this "surprise" place to her for days too!