Morocco West Restaurant popped up earlier this year in the West End just off Robson on Jervis. The team behind the venture, Chef Nourdine Majdoubi and Kevin Lin are a worldly crew, having worked in restaurants and hotels throughout Europe and Asia, and, now settled in Vancouver, have chosen to bring guesst a Moroccan experience with West Coast…
Category: Good Life Samplings
Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria
Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria does true Neapolitan pizza out on Commercial Drive and recently added some innovative toppings just to mix things up on the largely traditional menu. The pizzas are all made all made with‘00’ Caputo flour and are hand-stretched and tossed. Excellent crispy and thin crusts and are then topped with tomatoes imported from Southern Italy’s Campania and often fresh fior-di-late whole-milk mozzarella along…
Holiday Lunch at Forage
Happiness and Cheer at Forage This Year Stop in to Forage this holiday season for their excellent holiday lunch, served Monday to Friday, beginning December 1st through to December 19th. Chef Whittaker offers a four-course menu for $35, with the added bonus of house made cranberry preserve for each guest to take home. This is…
Cioffi’s Cucina
Whenever I go anywhere near Burnaby I always make a point of hitting up Cioffi’s Meat Market to restock my pantry with uber authentic Italian items such as San Marzano canned tomatoes, Arborio rice and olives. I’ve often grabbed a sandwich or one of there prepared items and some sort of meat was always on the…
Cafe Medina
Cafe Medina first opened in 2008 on Beatty Street and was soon the it place for brunch, often, and deservedly so, called the best in the city. Now it’s nestled into the L’Hermitage Hotel on Richard’s Street in the Library District and fortunately offers much more seating, although line ups are still seen, even on week days.The…
Buckstop BBQ
If you are a fan of a proper classic BBQ, be sure to check out Vancouver’s Buckstop as they are serving up some damn delicious fare. This authentic BBQ spot smokes all in-house so be prepared to leave with the aroma of meaty goodness lingering in your hair; you may not ever want to wash it out!…
Wild Game and Mushroom Festival at The Abbey
‘Tis the season for all things wild and forest-like and that definitely includes mushrooms and game meats. Several restaurants around town are celebrating the bounty with ingredient-forward menus . At La Buca, Pied a Terre, The Sardine Can and The Abbey, the Wild Game and Mushroom Festival takes place October 16 to November 2 with three or…
Lower Mainland Casinos – Not Necessarily a Gamble
Many years ago I dated a man that really knew how to play Black Jack.; he’d almost always come out far ahead. Recently I met a group of guys on a food tour that play online poker for a living, and did nothing else for cash. They mentioned to check out casino games such as poker, roulette or blackjack online…
Taste Of Yaletown Restaurant Deals
This is the tenth year for Taste of Yaletown coming up from October 16 – 30th, 2014 and features 25 Yaletown restaurants. Check out menus in either set prices of $25, $35, and $45 for both the lunchtime and dinnertime scenes. Chefs whip up some pretty interesting dishes that aren’t usually on the menu during the festival and…
Crave More with President’s Choice
President’s Choice had something to talk about and they wanted me to be a part of it. Honoured, I headed out to Toronto to meet their marketing team and was treated like a star as I waited to see what the big news was. I flew out a few days early to check out Toronto…
Turn on the Rajio Vaneats
From the same folks that own some of our favourite Vancouver Japanese Izakayas, both the downtown Kingyo Restaurant and Kitsilano’s Suika, came Rajio, replacing Pair Bistro last year, just west of Alma on West 10th. Raijo’s room is much smaller that its sister’s spaces, but there’s the same high energy vibe and shouts back and forth from…
Trivia, Beer and Fish Fry – Samuel Adams at the Irish Heather
Last week the Samuel Adams crew hit Gastown’s Irish Heather for an evening to celebrate some of “The Classics”; in this case a beer & fish fry with a large dose of trivia. Ten teams of four gathered to answer questions in four trivia sessions and compete to win some great Irish Heather and Heather Hospitality gift certs. We were…
Feast of Fields Craft Brewers
#MVFeastOf2014 Chef GoodLifeVan (Michael Smith) I was told that I could come to Feast of Fields this year to sit on a blanket, read a book and drink craft beer. Well I only managed to do one of the above but that one was the best part! The beer sampling of course. The BC craft…
Moon Festival Tea Service The Urban Tea Merchant
The Chinese Moon Festival is on Monday, September 8 this year and until then The Urban Tea Merchant is serving up their Moon Festival Tea Service. Always a fan of afternoon tea at The Urban Tea Merchant, I was excited to mix it up a bit with the addition of Moon Cakes and a few extra Asian-influenced items on…
Visiting The Royal Thai Consulate General
The Royal Thai Consulate General, Sutthiluck Sa-ngarmangkang, is now settled at her residence and invited media into her home for a preview for this weekend’s (August 23/24, 2014) Discover Thailand Festival. Discovering Thailand Festival 2014 (www.worldculinary.net/thailand) is taking place at the Vancouver Art Gallery, North Plaza. The presentations included a cooking demonstration of very tasty and not too spicy…
Burgers at Hamilton Street Grill
Before Yaletown was abounding with restaurants, a few innovators set up camp in the area that at the time was still fairly industrial. One of the first to open was Chef Neil Wyle’s Hamilton Street Grill at 1009 Hamilton Street and it’s still going strong. Recently we purchased the Social Shopper Hamilton Street Grill Burger special that features two beef…
Canadian Cheese Rolling
Do you fancy running down the hill to chase a cheese wheel? It’s not really for me, but I would run for cheese if I was assured something cheese-filled at the end. Thankfully I didn’t have to do much other than catch a cab to get down to Forage Restaurant for the media preview of…
Left Bank Menu Tasting
Left Bank Restaurant and Bar is now open at 751 Denman Street in the location that once housed Le Parisien and previously Cafe de Paris. The revamp was more than just a room spruce up,this time around and both the menu and the interior are very different. While there will still be some of the classic French dishes…
Vancouver Foodster Tasting Plates North Vancouver
Finally made it to Vancouver Foodster Tasting Plates as I’d missed the last few due various annoying occurrences. While the weather didn’t cooperate and I ended up with rather wet feet, I still managed to enjoy a night roaming the North Shore with some transportation assistance from Jay Minter and Billy Hur when it came to…
Dinner at Lily Mae’s Gastown
At 12 Powell Street in Gastown lies a sweet little bistro cafe with a super cozy room and a very European feel to both the room and the food. They’ve recently revamped their menu so we stopped in for dinner to check it out and try a few bites. The restaurant is owned by Armand Tencha and Jeff Jefkins and…
