Restaurants

Last night, Barb and I had a fine meal at the Raga Restaurant on Broadway. Yet another good restaurant within walking distance from where we live!

The highlight of the meal was the tandoori chicken and the Paneer Vindaloo (cheese in a hot chili sauce which was yummy!). In addition to this we had the Punjabi Fruit Chat (banana, apple, and potato with tamarind and spices), the Raga Special (tandori chicken with lamb curry and dal and dessert) and a beer all for $41.

Here's a photo of the front sign of Mario's Amato Gelato Cafe home of the wonderful Gelato that Barb and I both love.

My brother-in-law Ted comes to town approximately twice a year from Toronto on business. Most of the time, he stays at the Granville Island Hotel.

Last night we tried the restaurant attached to the hotel, The Dockside Brewing Company. It was a beautiful night so we started out at the bar which has a panaromic view of False Creek.

We then moved to the patio which is nicely set up for al fresco dining.

This weekend I visited Mario's Amato Cafe twice! Mario's Gelati has been a long time establishment in Vancouver serving, in my opinion, the best gelato and ice cream in town. And in the brief Vancouver summer, what could be more refreshing than a delicious scoop of authentic gelato?

Here's my review.

Last night, Barb and I went to the Velvet Cafe for the first time. And we had a great time!

We are so blessed to have another great restaurant within walking distance from where we live. The Velvet Cafe serves tasty Indian food in an intimate, cozy, small and well appointed room!

A great place to escape from the summer heat and the hustle and bustle of Broadway.

Caterina Fake, a Vancouver based writer, weblogger and web designer, linked to our review of Vij's in 2000 as well as to an interesting discussion of its interior. Thanks Caterina! For a more up to date perspective on Vij's, check out our recent newsitem about Vij's from 2001.

Today, for the first time, we had dim sum at Spicy Court (on Cambie just north of 41st avenue on the east side). We've been there many times but never for dim sum.

We stuffed ourselves (5 people) for $61. We had about twelve dishes. All were good! The highlights were the chickens feet, peppery chicken knees, flakey egg tarts and the Szechuan chili dumplings. And to top it all off, the scallop shrimp dumplings were wonderful: huge scallops with big chunks of shrimp! Yum! Highly recommended. Here's a photo of the Scallop Shrimp Dumplings!

Here's a picture of the awesome crab at Banana Leaf that we enjoyed last Thursday.

Since Roël, my best man, for our upcoming wedding is in town, we have been dining in a fine style as part of our wedding preparations :-) !

Tonight, we went to Vij's and it blew us away again! Check out my new mini-review of Vij's!

Here's a picture of our starters: grilled mutton (the meat was flavourful and the sauce even better), garlic pastries filled with ricotta cheese (an awesome multi-textured delight!) and Crimini mushrooms.

I am happy to report that the food at the Banana Leaf is more delicious than ever and has stepped boldly in to the new millenium!

Tonight we ordered their Thursday night crab special and it was awesome! Just over two pounds of sweet crab in a delicious chili sauce for $24. The Kang Kong with sambal was great; texture and flavour perfect. And their hot sauce was still killer; bursting with flavours and just the right amount of heat!