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.

Scroll down to see the yoga contest – I’m giving away THIRTY DAYS (one month!) of free yoga.

I thought I’d spend a little bit of time today honouring about some really amazing people in my life. Some really amazing women. They are friends, mentors, colleagues, classmates… and they are all women that I look up to. I spend way too much time on this blog talking about myself, and not thanking or talking enough about the people that made me who I am today.

KIM S – I don’t know where I would be without Kim. Kim has been my best friend since we were 7 years old and happened to live on the same street. My dad and I went over to welcome them to the neighbourhood with a purple balloon with Kim’s name on it, and well, I guess we just went from there.

Kim is an incredible women and a great friend. Kim is the same age as me, and at 25 she has already opened her first business – a hot yoga studio. What I most admire about Kim is that she had a dream and she made it happen. She’s been in love with yoga ever since it changed her life and her arthritis in her back, doing years of training as a yoga student and then years of training as a yoga instructor. She took it all on herself: finding and leasing the property, drawing up the business plans, managing the contractors to do the renovations, handling the marketing, hiring of new employees and launching the business. It’s now a thriving successful hot yoga studio (Moksha Yoga Vancouver).

Kim has also been an inspiration to me as an athlete. In high school we played competitively on the junior and senior basketball teams for several years together… she always encouraged me to play hard and practice more. Kim went on to play varsity basketball at McGill. She’s one of the best athletes I know – her determination and never-give-up attitude sparks any team she plays on.

More importantly, I can honestly say that Kim has had the single most impact on who I am as a person toady. Several years ago I sat down with her and she opened my eyes to the kind of person I was, and the kind of person I should be. I changed my outlook on life because of her and I wanted to become a better person. I can never thank Kim enough for inspiring me to make change in my life… and I know my friends, Allan, my parents, and even my career have benefited from her advice to me. She has always been able to give me practical advice and tell me the hard truth about myself. She is always there when I need her. Thank you Kim. I know we’ll be lifelong friends.

CHRISTIE G – Christie and I have been best friends since she moved to Canada from England in the middle of elementary school. With her wacky British fashions and her quirky sense of humour, I knew I wanted to be friends with her when she first walked into the school. Christie has always moved around, from Hong Kong to England to France… but no matter how many years or even days she is in Vancouver, we resume our friendship right where it left off and stayed in touch.

Christie is another one of my friends who has been able to follow their dreams… she knew she wanted to be involved in the fashion world and pursued those interests throughout high school university, and in her first few jobs. She did modeling in London and Hong Kong. She started out as a purchaser at a prominent department stores in London (Browns, Matches), and then her career exploded as she worked at the high fashion house of Mulberry, and now… premier fashion website Net-A-Porter.com. I couldn’t be more impressed with her ability to go after what she wants and get it. I’m pretty sure in a few years she’ll have her own fashion house or something.

Christie and I have been through a lot of tears and laughter, and she’s probably influenced my “coming of age” more than anyone. From teaching me about boys, how to kiss, school dances, men’s magazines, and all sorts of other hilarious experiences… she and I have been through some pretty funny times. But she’s always been someone I can call or talk to about my problems and she’ll always give me practical advice. So thank you Christie, for all your advice and for all the laughs.

NIKI T – Niki is someone I met in university, whom I always looked up to. We’re not best friends, but I’ve always seen her as a close friend, and sensed that we could grow into really great friends one day. I think more than anything I’ve always seen her as a role model, and I think she’s a great person to talk about in this post because she’s quite inspirational.

Niki and I first got to know each other in university when working on a business project with a few other classmates in our first two years of school. We all got quite close over the process, with long nights, fights, and the stress of making it to the championships of the business competition and doing many, many presentations. We both got into business school after that and ended up in the same class “section” (you stay in your section for almost all your classes for the first year). We ended up on many projects together, were on the same inner tube water polo team, and spent a couple summers together at her cabin and went on many double dates.

Her father is actually an extremely famous author, and despite having access to what I’ll loosely call “fame and fortune” (that’s a terrible way to put it, sorry Niki), she’s one of the most down to earth people I know. She works her butt off and does not take anything for granted. And ridiculously modest. Niki is the kind of woman that is going to end up as Prime Minister of Canada… I know it’s a potential aspiration for her, and I know if she ever decides to go for it that she’ll be able to do it. She speaks with confidence, makes friends effortlessly, has great fashion sense, is incredibly perceptive, and has a great sense of humour. She’s also very, very smart.

Niki got hired out of university as a consultant for Accenture. This is a very tough position to get and she’s already managed to make a big impact even at a company of that size. On a leave from Accenture, Niki is now working as an Associate Director of the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. Yes, she is 26 years old and is an Associate Director. CRAZY! Niki lives and works in Geneva with her boyfriend, Moritz who is also a very good friend of mine. Throughout my adult years, Niki and Moritz have always been wonderful friends and I’ve loved going on double dates with them. Niki is also a fashionista, an accomplished singer (she tried out for Canadian Idol, and has a band in Toronto), is an avid skier and surfer, and is always up for new adventures. Oh yeah, and she hob nobs with people like Stephen Harper.

Despite the fact that we’ve never lived in the same city, I think we’ve stayed close friends and I’m looking forward to our relationship growing. What I value most about our relationship is that she’s always up for anything, and she’s always someone I can count on when she gives her word that she’s going to do something. If we lived in the same city, I think we’d probably do a lot of snowboarding and surfing together and probably be really great friends. Thank you Niki — I’ve learned a lot from you about confidence, being yourself, and being down to earth.

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In honour of these wonderful women, I’m doing a fantastic giveaway on my blog to Kim’s studio, Moksha Yoga Vancouver which is an amazing hot yoga studio here in Vancouver.

MOKSHA YOGA VANCOUVER YOGA GIVEAWAY CONTEST

About the Studio: Moksha Yoga Vancouver is a hot yoga studio that Kim personally manages to make sure that it is run with integrity, energy, responsibility towards the environment, and kindness. She even teaches. She’s got some great instructors and classes and also a charity volunteer program that really gives back to the community. It’s located in Jericho Village at 4th and Alma and is one of the few dedicated hot yoga studios in Vancouver. They offer beginner-friendly classes that practice on a bamboo floor with infra-red heat panels at 38 degrees. Some classes are offered by donation and student rates too. Oh yeah — and if you go for their morning classes you get freshly baked muffins and scones. Yum! You can follow them on Twitter here.

What you’re playing for: A 30-day (one month) all access yoga pass to MYV.. enough yoga to get you all fit for the summer!
What you have to do: Leave a comment on this blog post by Sunday, May 9th at 10:00 PM PST, and then check back on Monday to see who won.

Good luck, and thanks for reading!

Update: May 10th, 2010: Congratulations to Comment #4… Nolwenn! I’ve drawn you as the random winner for the contest for one free month of yoga courtesy of Moksha Yoga Vancouver!

I am excited and proud to welcome the world to Vancouver and Whistler for the 2010 Olympics. It’s a truly magical time, as people come from all over the world, from all over our country and as Vancouverites come together to celebrate sports and the city.

For all the bad press that the Olympics has received recently and even since the bid, I still think that this is an amazing opportunity for our city and I think it’s going to do for us what Expo ’86 did.  Although I have heard grumbling, the majority of the people I talk to wear broad smiles on their faces when they mention the Olympics. I can sense it’s starting to reach a fever pitch as people snap up tickets, make plans for parties and start to wear festive Olympic merchandise.

Myself, I could NOT be more excited about the Games. Although I did not get any tickets in any of the lotteries, I have purchased a number of tickets because I really feel that this is a once in a lifetime experience, and I don’t think I will ever get to experience an international event, or any Olympics for that matter as I can in my own home city. So, buckle your seat belts… here we go, it’s coming and it’s going to be AWESOME! Many of you have asked me what my plans are for the Olympics and so I thought I’d lay out our itinerary so far…

Thursday, February 11th: We have our dinner reservations at the Holland Heineken House and we’ll be checking out the venue and partying afterwards!

Sunday, February 14th: Attending the Valentine’s Day event at the House of Switzerland. Unfortunately we couldn’t make the media event for this Friday’s grand opening (definitely go see it if you can!), so we got our media passes for Valentine’s Day instead, and it’s going to be a sweet (har har) day of chocolate tasting, Lindt, chocolate competitions and more!

Tuesday, February 16th: We are watching the Canadian Men’s Hockey team play Norway at Canada Hockey Place (GM Place). We got pretty decent seats in the lower bowl so hopefully we’ll be able to see some great hits and the players up close and personal. I am most excited about this game… I didn’t want to let the Olympics pass me by without seeing our men play for our country! I’m pretty much frothing at the mouth to go and cheer on Luongo, Crosby, and our boys.

Wednesday, February 17th: We’ll be watching the Canadian Women’s Hockey team play Sweden at UBC Thunderbird Arena! Wohooo! We managed to score Row 1 tickets Centre Ice in the lower bowl, so we will be right beside the player’s bench. I’m extremely stoked to see the women play. This was Allan’s Valentine’s Day present… I mean, what red blooded male wouldn’t want to see the Canadian Women play the Swedish Women right?

Monday, February 22nd: We’ll be watching the CAN-USA Men’s Curling game (among other countries) with a couple of friends, and then we will be heading over to the Molson Canada Hockey House to watch the Canadian Women’s Semifinals, checking out the Triple Gold Club Celebration and partying it up all night.

Wohooo! And we’ll be all decked out in our Olympic gear for sure. And now for the contest…

2010 VANCOUVER OLYMPICS TICKET GIVEAWAY AND CONTEST

What you are playing for: 2 tickets to the Men’s Canada-USA Curling game on Monday, February 22nd from 9 AM to noon (same one we are going to). Also playing at the same time is France and Norway, Germany and China, and Switzerland and Sweden. These tickets are currently selling for over $300 so it’s a really sweet prize!
Seats: Category A tickets, Section 201 Row 11 Seats 5-6
Rules: You can be from anywhere in the world, but you must be available to go to this game. You will not be able to sell these tickets as I will be meeting the winners in person before the event since we are also going to this event. You may take whoever you like as your guest!
What you have to do: Simply leave a comment on this blog post before Wednesday, February 10th 2010 at 10:00 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST).

That’s it, good luck!