All entries in the 'Western' Category
L’Altro Buca in Downtown Vancouver
Since hearing about L’Altro Buca replacing Parkside, I wanted to go check them out. Their sister restaurant, La Buca, has always been one of my favourite places to go. They have great food, at a very reasonable price (for fine dining, or course).
L’Altro Buca has a unique location, being just outside of the main downtown streets. You probably won’t just stumble accross the place, unless you live in the area. I guess L’Altro Buca doesn’t exactly need a prime location though, because you would have had to make a reso anyways, it’s not quite the type of place that you stumble into after a day on the beach.
On the day of our reso, Jeremy told me that L’Altro Buca, since they just opened, would be using the exact same menu as La Buca for a while, then eventually changing it up so that they do their own stuff.
When we arrived, we noticed that the interior of the restaurant hadn’t changed at all from the Parkside days; it’s fairly dark, but provides a nice, possibly romantic, atmosphere, perfect for fine dining. The staff was friendly, and we were seated promptly at our reso time. Upon sitting down and taking a look at the menu, we weren’t too surprised to see that it was the exactly same as La Buca. And when I say exactly, I mean, literally, they are the exact same menus. The title at the top even said ‘La Buca’ instead of ‘L’Altro Buca’.
***A note about the pictures from Jeremy: I’m sorry!!! They are awful pictures! I didn’t want to use my flash, since it’s a little distracting in a fine dining restaurant. I also didn’t want to embrass Vanessa too much in the name of having good blogging pictures.
Earls on Kingsway in Burnaby
We played pitch and putt golf at Central Park on a beautiful Saturday morning. After golf, we decided to have lunch at Earls. The closest Earls is on Kingsway in Burnaby. I have eaten at most of the Earls locations in the Metro Vancouver area and found that the food at this location is the most consistent and great.
This Earls has gone through major renovations about 16 month ago to upgrade the decor and facade. After renovations, the restaurant improved its image to be inviting, up beat, stylish and modern.
We received a warm reception and great service from the staff. They were very informative on the specials and tentative to our food and drinks.
Pajo’s Fish and Chips in Richmond (Steveston)
So today we had planned to take the long way home from work on our bikes. The ‘long’ way home is about 50km, all around the edge of Richmond on River road. We took a few shortcuts, so it really only ended up being about 40km, but it was still a good workout.
Since our route passed by Steveston, we thought we’d pay Pajo’s a visit for some Fish and Chips. I hadn’t been to Pajo’s in a while since they usually close by sundown, but I remember them to be exactly what they’re remembered as: a local favourite.
Review: CHOP Restaurant & Bar in Richmond
I was about to go to EAT! Vancouver on Saturday to check it out, but instead decided to take up some friends on a dinner invitation to CHOP, a newer steakhouse in Richmond.
CHOP’s location isn’t exactly ideal, it’s located on a small street next to the highway between Cambie and Bridgeport, and sits right underneath the Sandman hotel.
Where CHOP does shine though, is in the decor and ambiance. CHOP looks good, it simply just looks really good. It has clean, yet fancy decor that is sure to please the eyes (and your date). Even the washrooms are extremely nice, equipped with large plasma TVs, leather sofas, and even a stone fountain in the middle. The washroom is probably the same size as the office at my workplace!
Unfortunately, the decor is where the good feelings end. Chop has a reasonable menu a number of appetizers, salads, numerous cuts of steak, and big Prime Rib portions (their ‘petite’ Prime Rib is a 9oz). It’s too bad that ‘big’ doesn’t also translate to tasty.
I thought I would try their Beef Tartare to start. It came in a decent portion for a ‘fancy’ place, but tasted like solid air. I could barely taste the beef, or anything really for that matter! CHOP was not making a good impression as I reached for the salt..
May 26, 2009 | Jeremy | Comments 2
