Restaurants and food are hot topics in Vancouver. Everyone has an opinion, a favourite, a “must-try”, and a “must-avoid”. There are few topics in Vancouver that spark people’s passion, outrage and emotions as much as food. It’s easy to see why: it’s a true foodie town with a multitude of options from different cuisines, different neighbourhoods, different price ranges, and different styles.

I’m running an awesome contest this week and giving away over $100 in gift certificates to some of the best restaurants in BC and some amazing cookbooks. Scroll down to enter.

The Georgia Strait’s Best of Vancouver voting is going on right now! Want to vote for me? Simply go here and vote for VancityAllie under “Best Local Blog” and “Best Local Twitterer”. and it inspired me to create my own restaurant guide… especially after having so many people ask me for my suggestions. Keep in mind that these are just my personal opinions based on my experience after being born and raised, and living in Vancouver for 20+ years. So here are my “Best of Vancouver” restaurant suggestions…

My Favourite Fine Dining Restaurant (and Favourite Restaurant of all time): West Restaurant
Why: Impeccable food, service, and drinks. One of the best managed restaurants in thecity, not to mention amazing food. Ask for the “Chef’s Table”.
What to Order: Any dish is fantastic… but the Pea Agnolotti from their currentsummer menu is to DIE for. One of the best pasta dishes I have ever had. Ask to add bacon.
What to Avoid: Nothing!

My Favourite Weekday Brunch: Cafe Medina
Why: Really unique, interesting selection… everything from waffles to curries, to adventurous skillets.
What to Order: No matter what you get, you should get at least one waffle. Order it with some maple syrup, dark chocolate sauce and/or one of the other interesting sauces such as raspberry compote or raspberry caramel. Mmmm! Don’t forget to order a side of bacon… they smoke and slice it there.. it’s thick cut with a drizzle of balsamic reduction. DELICIOUS! The daily curry is also very good.
What to Avoid: The salads. They aren’t bad… but they also aren’t all that exciting!

My Favourite Lunch Spot for Under $10: Grounds for Appeal at the Law Society Building (845 Cambie St)
Why: Amazing butter chicken, veggie curries, and daily specials at prices you’ll be stunned at. They do take-out and sit in as well. Come a bit before or after the lunch rush as they can be quite busy.
What to Order: Definitely the butter chicken. Comes with a full plate of rice and lots of delicious naan. They also make amazing chai tea.
What to Avoid: I’m not a huge fan of the sandwiches or salads.

My Favourite Out-of-Town Restaurant: Araxi
Why: Amazing local cuisine, Chef James Walt sources much of the food from “100 mile” producers such as from Pemberton. He lives on a farm there and really understands the quality and flavours of local food.
What to Order: Chef Walt’s soup creations are always incredible. When Elk/Venison is on the menu, it is not to be missed… as well as any beef or pork dish. If you get a chance to try the souffle, you will not be disappointed! Don’t forget to chat with Araxi’s Sommelier/Manager, Steve Edwards about the wine… ask him for his favourite Mesclat! He is one of the most knowledgeable sommeliers in the country.
What to Avoid: Nothing!

My Favourite Weekend Breakfast/Brunch: Tomato Fresh Food Cafe
Why: Located at Broadway and Bayswater, Tomato gets quite busy on weekends, but never as much of a lineup as you would see at some breakfast diners. It’s a great bright open space, and the food is always very fresh. It’s also one of the few breakfast places that uses free-range eggs.
What to Order: I love getting the french toast there with bacon, and Allan loves the classic Bacon & Eggs. Don’t forget to try a chocolate milkshake!
What to Avoid: We’re not crazy about the Eggs Benny.

My Favourite Cocktails: West Restaurant
Why: David Wolowidnyk is one of the city’s best bartenders, if not the best… His attention to detail, creativity, and extensive knowledge is unsurpassed in my opinion. David W. is the bar manager, but the other bartender, David is also quite good as well.
What to Order: The Noyeau Glacé — a jewel of a drink with interesting flavours including apricot, ginger vodka, lemon, other fruit juices and topped with chamomile flowers. Amazing (it’s actually my favourite drink to have when I’m sick)! It’s also worth trying whatever his seasonal “fizz” drink is, but David W. is so creative he will be able to come up with something new for you every time. Like simple sour apple martinis? Yep, he can do them to perfection as well.
What to Avoid: Well, they have a proper absinthe contraption. Whether you choose to avoid or not could be a good or bad thing

My Favourite Malaysian: Tropika (Cambie Street)
Why: Fast service, no fuss, and extensive menus. Food is always served hot with lots of flavour. We like the Cambie street location vs. the Robson or Richmond ones.
What to Order: You must order the Malay bread! Also good are the satays, fresh lime soda drink, Sambal beans, Tropika homestyle chicken, and the lemon chicken.
What to Avoid: The fish curries, the Haianese chicken.

Best Place to Take Someone on a Date: Hapa Izakaya on Robson
Why: Great ambience, delicious food, fun vibe, just the right amount of lighting, and the tapas aspect makes it easy to keep the date as short or as long as you like.
What to Order: The “Hello Kitty” drink is the perfect cocktail to suggest for your female date, and there are plenty of different beers for the guys. All the tapas are good, but I highly recommend the sushi, gindara (baked sablefish), beef short ribs, and the grilled asparagus when it’s on the menu.

My Favourite Japanese: Tojo’s
Why: Although quite pricey and considered “Japanese fine dining”, Tojo’s has been a long-time Vancouver legend for their creative food, traditional Japanese methods and flavours, and gorgeous dining room.
What to Order: The Chef’s Omakase menu is a must if you are brave. You set your price, and the Chef creates a unique menu for you based on your preferences and what’s seasonal/fresh. Myself, I always order the sablefish or Halibut cheek. It’s amazing. If you like beef, the tenderloin is incredible. The cocktails are also very good, from the lychee to the asian pear flavourings.
What to Avoid: The chicken dishes. They are a bit boring.

My Favourite Indian: Handi’s North Shore (Honourable Mention to Vij’s)
Why: You can’t get better Indian food than Vij’s in Vancouver. However, the no-reservations policy and lining up the door every day is a lot to deal with on a regular basis. The flavours are very traditional and the spices are subtle and complex. That being said, if you’re looking for a good Indian take-out or a great Indian experience, we like Handi’s on the North Shore. They also have a restaurant on Dunbar. The food is rich, flavourful, and always good.
What to Order: Butter chicken is amazing, so are the lamb curries, the vegetable curries, and the naan. Definitely order a mango lassi, they make one of the best in the city.
What to Avoid: The desserts.

My Favourite Dessert: Cheesecake etc.
Why: Amazing, creamy cheesecakes in a quaint little room with live piano music on weekends. If you like “creamy” soft cheesecakes, this is the place to go. If you’re looking for firm NY-style cheesecake, this might not be the place for you. It’s busy, so try to come early or don’t go if you’re in a rush.
What to Order: The chocolate cheesecake, make sure to add strawberries and dark chocolate sauce. There is no replacement. This is the only way to go here.
What to Avoid: Everything else. OK, the other desserts are good, but not as good.

My Favourite Fish’n'Chips: Pickwick’s Fish and Chips on Granville (Marpole)
Why: Okay, so fish and chips is probably the most hotly debated cuisine in Vancouver. EVERYONE is picky and has their own style. Pickwick’s is my personal favourite. Crispy, hot, fresh, and just the right amount of batter with great pieces of fish. What to Order: You just can’t go wrong with two piece Halibut/Cod and chips! Note that the Granville St location is the best, the downtown one doesn’t even compare.
What to Avoid: Anything that isn’t deep fried fish and chips.

My Favourite Milkshake: White Spot
Why: It’s chocolatey, always consistently good, and a good price.
What to Order: The chocolate milkshake
What to Avoid: N/A

My Favourite After Bar/Clubbing Snack: Megabite Pizza (Honourable mention to Fritz for Poutine)
Why: Cheap, greasy, and delicious. Great crust and toppings. Not to mention close to the clubbing districts downtown with multiple locations.
What to Order: Any of the pizzas! Don’t forget to squeeze a little “white ranch” sauce on top… it’s popular with the regulars.

VANCITYALLIE’S WORST OF VANCOUVER LIST

Worst Pizza: Whole Foods Cambie
Why: The pizza staff here knead every last bubble out of their dough consistently until it is rock-hard cardboard. It’s also extremely expensive. They generally let the pizzas sit out too long as well. Too much greasy cheese, not enoguh sauce, bland sauce, not enough herbs, and terrible, terrible dough/crust. I’ve tried it over 10 times, and have been constantly disappointed.

Most Overrated: Go Fish on Granville Island
Why: Long line-ups, bland and lacklustre batter, and overpriced. I realize I am probably going to take some heat for this one

Worst Buffet: UBC Golf Course
Why: Overpriced, bland, and food tends to be quite soggy.

Most Trying-To-Hard-to-be-Trendy: Society (Yaletown)
Why: Expensive prices, tacky decor and slow service. I’ve eaten here a couple times and the crowd itself is a bit pretentious. The food is made with a heavy hand… too much cheese/butter/salt in many dishes. Avoid the mac and cheese… the truffle oil is completely overdone and a poor substitute for real truffles at those prices.

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VANCITYALLIE’S BEST RESTAURANTS IN BC GIFT CERTIFICATE GIVEAWAY CONTEST

Grand Prize: $50 gift certificate to West Restaurant in Vancouver and a copy of the West Restaurant Cookbook and Blue Water Cafe Cookbook
How to Enter: Leave a comment on this post by Tuesday, July 20th 2010 at 10:00 PM PST.
Additional Entries: Tweet “I entered to win a $50 gift certificate to West Restaurant & 2 cookbooks from @VancityAllie … RT to win! http://tinyurl.com/2buhqgs/”
Prize will be drawn randomly on Tuesday night and the winner will be e-mailed details on how to claim the prize.

Best-of-Whistler Twitter-Only Prize Pack: $50 gift certificate to Araxi Restaurant in Whistler and a copy of the Araxi Cookbook
How to Enter: Tweet “I entered to win a $50 gift certificate to Araxi Restaurant & a cookbook from @VancityAllie … RT to win! http://tinyurl.com/2buhqgs/” by Tuesday, July 20th 2010 at 10:00 PM PST
Prize will be drawn randomly on Tuesday night and the winner will be e-mailed details on how to claim the prize.

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AND THE WINNERS ARE…

After 65 comments and over 250 retweets on Twitter…

For the Grand Prize: Comment #33 Vinci Au!
For the Twitter-Only Prize Pack: @kumii

Disagree? Agree? Have a suggestion for the “Best of” or “Worst of”… ? Just leave a comment here and you’ll automatically be entered into the Grand Prize contest.

Well, we’re finally back from our vacation! It’s so nice to get away from the city and spend some extended time in our favourite place in the whole world.

11 days of camping and surfing is a long time… I have to admit I was ready to get back home and have a shower by the end of it. It was the best shower EVER, that’s for sure. Still, there’s nothing that calms my soul quite like surfing and camping in Tofino, so I’m really glad we were able to be there for a long period of time. So what did we do?

… lots of surfing (Greg, Trev, Allan, and me) …

… hanging out at the beach until sunset …

… celebrating Canada Day …

… by applying tattoos …

…. and eating lots of cake …

… spent a lot of time enjoying our amazing campsite …

… and surfed with sea lions …

… we checked out our wedding venue again …

… and made sure our amazing menu was coming to life (yes, they did our recipes proud!) …

… we went crabbing (Nice work Crista!) …

… for Red Rock crabs and Dungeness …

… and it was a success …

… we celebrated Allan’s birthday (Happy Birthday my love!) …

… and we spend a lot of time just enjoying our favourite place.

What have you been up to lately?

Well, it’s back to reality after an amazing long weekend in Tofino to celebrate our three year anniversary! We stayed at Ocean Village Resort and arrived Friday night to some beautiful views.

Ocean Village Resort is a number of cabins with gorgeous beachfront views, basically right in Tofino on Middle Beach.

Our cabins worked perfectly for our surf weekend… cozy, a full kitchen, hot shower, great views, and close to the beach.

Not to mention that they don’t charge extra for long weekends unlike everywhere else in Tofino and they are quite reasonable.

Great location! They are doing some renovations for summer so I’m looking forward to seeing what they are going to be adding in or updating.

They also have an indoor salt water pool and hot tub which I thought was rad since I’m not a fan of chlorine.

Unfortunately I didn’t take many photos this weekend, especially not while surfing since we were just trying to enjoy ourselves so bear with me here.

On Saturday we spent some time exploring Ucluelet…

Then it was off to dinner at the Spotted Bear Bistro with our friends Liv and Rob. Wonderful company, good food.

Then we headed out to surf that night with Liv. Not too bad… small waves at Chesterman’s and a gorgeous sunset. Too bad we were super rusty after a winter away from the surf!

On Sunday we headed out with a number of friends to the Clayoquot Island Open House… on a boat!

This island is amazingly beautiful… maintained by two people, completely private, except for the open house that they host once a year. The gardens are stunning… they are fully self-sustainable with solar power, full vegetable and fruit gardens etc…

We had a lot of fun exploring with friends.

I loved that they grew their own mushrooms to eat!

So many beautiful plants and flowers.

Time to head home!

Then we had our special 3 year anniversary dinner at our favourite restaurant in Tofino, the Pointe Restaurant at the Wickaninnish Inn.

We ate way too much food…

I had the scallops and dungeness crab (a custom order I always get when I am there), Allan had the tuna in a miso broth, for entrees I ordered the Sloping Hills Pork three ways (so good) and Allan had the lamb two ways… we split an order of the pea and marscapone ravioli with our mains. The ravioli was incredible.

Then we headed out to surf again… this time at long beach with Greg. The waves were HUGE and while I caught one amazing wave… it was way overhead and much too big for our first weekend back in the water… so we dropped Greg and Sanazj off at our cabin so they could take a hot shower and then headed out to North Chesterman’s at around 10:00 PM and surfed till about 11 PM. Yeah, it was reaaaaally dark. Surfing by moonlight pretty much.

In the morning we woke up and surfed North Chesterman’s again and checked out of Ocean Village. We caught some amazing waves and the conditions were fabulous. Best surf session of the weekend.

Overall an amazing weekend… a great anniversary with the best man in the world, and we can’t wait to get in the water again soon!

Allan and I just got back from a FANTASTIC extended weekend up at Whistler Blackcomb for the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival.

We were invited by the amazing Whistler Blackcomb media team (thanks Michelle, Tabetha, Amber!) to check out some of the festivities and attend some events. This was our first year attending as “media”.

We rushed to Whistler Blackcomb after work on Thursday and checked into our hotel for the night — the Coast Hotel Blackcomb Suites (thanks Danny!).

The hotel had tons of amenities such as a gym, full breakfast room, outdoor pools and hot tub, not to mentioned located right on the side of a run for ski-in ski-out access.

We loved our room! Super comfy and had a full kitchen too.

Then, it was off to Araxi Restaurant for a dinner hosted by Cindy of the BC Ministry of Tourism and Breton from Tourism Whistler. Araxi has been one of our favourites restaurants for many years (long before Hell’s Kitchen and the crazy amounts of press it has been getting over the past year or so)… and still is.

As soon as we arrived I was peer pressured into “sabre-ing” the champagne… my first time ever! It was pretty scary but very cool. I got to use a real sabre to chop off the top of the champagne bottle. Videos to come.

Araxi is well-known for its seafood, sustainable food, and local and organic cuisine.

Chef James Walt makes some amazing dishes. He actually lives in Pemberton on a farm and partners with the producers out there to source seasonal foods. The gnocchi and souffle were to die for.

It was also my first time ever tasting venison… and I loved it. So tender. Allan also loved his lamb.

For dessert we had the pistachio ice cream covered in chocolate and an apricot cheesecake. Yum. Also to note — it was my first time ever really trying champagne, red wine, white wine and dessert wine. Steve Edwards (restaurant manager and sommelier) gave me tons of information and some really amazing recommendations. I may slowly be starting to be a convert.

Here’s Michelle, Steve (thanks for all the wine tips!), myself and Cindy.

The next morning (Friday) we woke up and had a hot breakfast at our hotel.

Then it was off to Scandinave Spas in Whistler.

I can’t say enough good things about this place. The eucalyptus steam room (mmmmm), the cold baths, the hot mineral baths and the waterfalls everywhere. We spent about 4 hours here before we were completely shriveled and jello-like, and then it was off to dinner.

We decided to try the Rimrock Cafe in Whistler (by Creekside) as it was recommended to me by one of my coworkers as her favourite restaurant in BC. The drinks we had were a great start — Allan had some wine and I had a kiwi lime Brazilian caipirinha . My drink was sooooooo good.

The appetizers were also pretty good… I had the scallop lobster capellini (very delicate… loved it), and Allan had the cariboo medallions (good, but not as good as the venison at Araxi).

For dinner we had the gnocchi, mushroom risotto with sablefish, and salmon stuffed with crab. I personally thought the gnocchi and the sablefish were pretty good but the mushroom risotto was terrible. Very acidic and not creamy at all — more like a rice pilaf. Would not order again. Allan liked his salmon but thought it was too rich and the crab overpowered the salmon. The dessert was the toffee pudding which was AMAZING. So basically — we would go there for drinks and dessert but probably not dinner again.

Overall… a pretty good couple days in Whistler so far! Next post coming soon with the last few days of the weekend. What did you get up to this past weekend?

Playoff fever is hitting the city of Vancouver, and even though I haven’t made a post about it yet… rest assured, I have been watching every Canucks game and following the team with dedication this year. After all, I did wear my jersey every single day of the playoffs last year as my “playoff beard”. You can check out some of my other posts on the Canucks.

I think the Canucks have a pretty good shot at the playoffs this year, despite some problems in the last two games against the Kings. I think they will pull through and get a win tonight, and we’ll see the Sedins step up again and hopefully Edler will come out hitting. It’s been a humbling time for Luongo and I think many fans are falling off the Lou bandwagon as his performance has been less than stellar as of late. Still — I believe in Blue and Lou (get it?  ha ha) and I’m rooting for my ‘Nucks all the way.

Go Canucks Go!

Anyway, in other news, this past weekend Allan and I cooked up some pretty ridiculous fish and chips. Yes, we cooked it in duck fat. Wait… before you recoil, know this: animal fat gets a bad rap but it’s actually pretty good for you. It doesn’t contain any of the chemicals that some butters, margarines and oils do… and it certainly tastes a lot better. Still, if you don’t want to cook using animal fat, simply modify this recipe and use canola oil instead.

Other compliments to the meal that we made?

Homemade aged-cheddar cheese buttermilk biscuits… (see recipe here) …

And dark chocolate chunk cookies (see recipe here) for dessert.

DECADENT GUINNESS-BATTERED FISH AND CHIPS COOKED IN DUCK FAT RECIPE

1 package of duck fat (approx 8 oz or more, you can find this at your local butcher or in Vancouver at Oyama Sausage on Granville Island)
Canola oil for frying (a few cups depending on how much duck fat you use)
2-4 large russet or other starchy potatoes, peeled and chopped into fry strips the size of a finger
1 cup flour
1 cup rice flour plus 1/2 cup rice flour for dredging
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder/cayenne/paprika (choose one or use a mix)
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley (optional)
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 can of Guinness beer or other dark beer (use about 75% of the can) .. THIS MUST BE COLD.
2 fillets of cod, halibut, haddock or turbot fish (approx 8 oz each, cut into half on an angle)
Tartar sauce, malt vinegar and lemon squeezes if you want

1. Heat the duck fat and enough canola oil (likely 1-2 cups, enough to cover the chips and eventually the fish) in a large bottomed pot or a deep fryer to 325 degrees F. Use a oil/candy thermometer if you have one, otherwise try and eyeball it on medium-high heat.

2. Place the chips in the oil/fat and dry for approximately 2 or three minutes. They won’t be fully cooked yet, but remove them to a plate lined with plenty of paper towel to drain.

3. Raise the temperature to 375 degrees F and then start mixing your dry ingredients.

4. In a large bowl, mix together the rice and normal flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper, chili powder, and about 75% of the parsley. Now, mix in the egg. Whisk in the beer until the batter is smooth. Now quickly coat the fish in the rice flour (on a separate plate) and then dip them into the batter, making sure you shake off the excess batter. Too much batter will cause your fish to be kinda mushy with overly thick batter.

5. You are now going to fry the fish and the chips in the same pot. If there isn’t enough space for both, do it in batches (fries first and then fish for 4-5 mins each). Otherwise, place the fries and fish in the pot making sure they are submerged completely. Fry for 4-5 mins until crispy brown. You may want to flip over the pieces of fish at around 2 minutes so that both sides are evenly brown. Remove to a plate. Let sit for a couple minutes (the fish will continue to cook inside and this will allow it to retain the juiciness).

6. Sprinkle with freshly ground salt and pepper and a little fresh parsley.  Serve and eat… yum! I ate mine with a biscuit instead of fries, but Allan had his with the chips. Both taste great! Sooooo good. It was really crispy.