Hummingbird604.com » dining out

Joey Broadway (South Granville)

Raul — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 18:45:52 +0000

I have always liked the Joey Restaurants chain but I have really never eaten there. I am usually at Joey restaurants (either Bentall or elsewhere) for media events, or wine tastings. But this weekend I wanted to take JT and my Mom out for dinner and thus we went to Joey Broadway. As dinner was served, I told JT that I was totally shocked, and pleasantly surprised. I did not expect (a) food this good and (b) service this amazing at Joey.

Our menu is designed to bring people together. We combine unique flavours from around the globe with your favorite classics to create simple but unforgettable dishes. From can’t-stop-talking-about share plates to need-more-right-now entrees, there’s something to please even the most critical of palates.

We got excellent food at Joey Broadway at a very reasonable price with an outstanding level of service. We arrived at 6:30pm, and the great thing about Joey Broadway is that it’s so spacious that you really can’t feel cluttered or overwhelmed. We were sat promptly and our order was taken literally within 10 minutes of arriving. Our food might have arrived around 10 minutes or 15 later, but I did not even notice. It was THAT fast.

I ordered a Spaghetti with Kobe Meat Balls (seasoned with rosemary, toasted fennel & fresh basil with rich tomato sauce at a decent not too expensive $18). My own preference is usually Glowbal Grill or Italian Kitchen Kobe Meat Balls, but Joey did an excellent job of providing large portions of al-dente spaghetti noodles, generously showered with spicy tomato sauce and fluffy and filling meat balls. I would come back for this dish any time.

My Mom ordered the BC Halibut & Prawn Spaghettini, with tomato, Kalamata olive and fresh basil (at $19 a slightly higher price point than for example, the Classic Fettuccini Alfredo, generously showered in garlic-infused Alfredo sauce, $14). I did not try my Mom’s nor JT’s dishes but they both said they were extremely tasty. Mom did complain that the spaghettini was a tad too spicy but maybe that’s because she’s not used to Pacific West Coast cuisine.

Overall, as I mentioned, I’m positively impressed with Joey Broadway. And from now on, I’ll definitely consider coming back for dinner, not only for wine or drinks.

Disclosure: I paid for my, JT’s and my Mom’s dinner on my own dime.

Bayside Bistro & Lounge (Parksville, BC)

Raul — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:30:26 +0000

I recently gave a workshop for the Oceanside Volunteer Association in Parksville, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island, invited by the Executive Director, my good friend Luba Plotnikoff. It was a great audience, albeit rather diverse. I would have wanted to have more time to speak to all the topics I wanted to address. But I digress… the event was hosted (as was I) at the Quality Inn Bayside.

It was really my very first time staying at the Quality Inn Bayside, as almost every single time I come up to Parksville I either stay at the Beach Club Resort or at the Tigh-Na-Mara. Now, when you think of a hotel restaurant, many people don’t pay as much attention to them. With the amount of travel writing I do, I can tell you that’s a big oversight.

I’m glad I didn’t skip on Bayside Bistro & Lounge, because I had a really good meal. I could notice that there were many patrons there that just wanted to swing by for the food (e.g. that were not hotel guests). That speaks volumes to the quality of the restaurant, in my opinion.

The menu at the Bayside Bistro & Lounge is quite varied, and I was pretty impressed.

For starters, I ordered Pacific Crab Cakes ($10, house smoked corn salsa, chili aioli). I found the crab cakes delicious, albeit they were a tad too hot and I almost burned my mouth. But once I gave them some time to cool, the crab cakes were really flavourful as combined with the chili aioli. The smoked corn salsa provided a nice strong flavor to compliment the crab cakes.

For my main meal, I ordered Chicken & Prawn Penne in full size plate ($16, grilled local free range chicken breast, prawns, nut free pesto sauce, pine nuts, garlic with foccacia bread). For the size of the plate (and how easily the restaurant could have charged extra simply because it’s a hotel restaurant), I was pretty impressed with the price. But I was even more impressed with the quality of the penne.

Generous portions with large chunks of chicken breast and prawns give even a very strict palate the taste of a nicely done penne. The pesto sauce was spectacular, creamy with a hint of garlic that accentuated the richness of this pasta. And I sprinkled a splash of lime on top just to make sure that the flavours were enhanced.

I loved having dinner here at the Bayside Bistro & Lounge, quite honestly. The service was kind and generous to a fault. Even if I stayed next time at a different hotel, I probably would come back here for dinner.

Disclosure: My dinner was complimentary courtesy of The Bayside Quality Inn hotel. While my dinner was on the house, I paid the monetary equivalent of a full dinner item as gratuity on my own dime as the service was absolutely fantastic. I am neither obligated nor required to blog about the restaurant, but I’m very happy to do so. As usual, I retain full editorial control over what is published on my blog.

21 Steps Kitchen & Bar (Whistler, BC)

Raul — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 23:19:52 +0000

Best way to enjoy a new-to-you-restaurant? Don’t even think about what the restaurant may bring you. JT and I were walking around Whistler Village looking for a place to eat and we found this cute place with two floors that didn’t even seem that exciting. The decor was nice, admittedly, but it looked like standard fare. What a cute hidden gem we found in 21 Steps Kitchen & Bar.

We ordered a fixed price ($35) menu which was fantastic value for our dollar. My starter was Garlic Chili Prawns ($11), which were absolutely delicious and very well served. My advice, though – don’t eat garlic chili prawns if you are planning to have a full meal. While extremely flavourful and strategically including nuts and other spices to mellow the chili down, I was full by the time my “Small Plate” was done.

My “Large Plate” was Moroccan Spiced Chicken ($23), which normally would be delicious to me. But with the overpowering (and tasty) flavour of the garlic and chili of my starter, I almost felt my Moroccan spiced chicken a bit bland. Extremely well cooked and flavourful, but sweet, I missed the power of garlic. Advice for next time – order something less overpowering for a Small Plate.

For the dessert, we totally went all the way and we both enjoyed what we love the most: in my case, the pie shown below.

A hidden gem and a really nice surprise for both of us. We’ll be back to 21 Steps next time we are in Whistler.

Disclosure: Both of our dinners were paid for by JT on his own dime, within the trip to Whistler to check out what to do when you’re not a winter sports person. However, I covered every other single expense I incurred during this travel, including (but not limited to) breakfast, lunch, dinner and transportation (except when explicitly indicated). I wasn’t paid to write this review, nor was I required to do so either. The purpose of this blog entry is just to describe and document my experience at a restaurant I really liked. In any review I write or publish on my site, I retain editorial control at all times. Should you have any questions/concern feel free to contact me via e-mail through my contact form.

Pacific Prime Steak & Chophouse (Parksville, BC)

Raul — Tue, 24 May 2011 14:45:15 +0000

You know when you realize that you’ve got A LOT of content still left behind? That’s seriously been the theme of my weekend, and it looks like it’s going to be the theme of THIS week. I have eaten dinner and breakfast at Pacific Prime Steak & Chophouse (the restaurant of The Beach Club Resort in Parksville, on Vancouver Island) at least five times, and I have NEVER written about it. Ridiculous, I know.

The first time I think I ever had dinner at Pacific Prime Steak & Chophouse I think was last summer when my Mom visited me. We went on a holiday to Parksville and Qualicum Beach and we stayed at The Beach Club Resort. And as you can imagine, we had a fantastic time.

The dinner menu is really solid, with a variety of seafood, vegetarian and meat-based dishes.

In my opinion, despite its name (Pacific Prime Steak & Chophouse), the dishes that are the most delicate, savoury and delicious at this restaurant are seafood-based. When we had dinner here for the Parksville Uncorked Wine and Food Festival 2011, we ate a number of seafood dishes and these were amazing, same thing when I had dinner here with my Mom.

Pacific Prime’s linguine with giant prawn is absolutely stellar.

And yes, I know I’m weird. I hate cheese but absolutely love cheesecake. And look at this cheesecake!

I would strongly recommend that, if you are ever in Parksville, whether you stay or not (and I’d recommend you DO) at the Beach Club Resort, you should try Pacific Prime Steak & Chophouse at least once in your lifetime. It’s totally worth it. And the prices for entrées, appetizers and drinks are on-par with great restaurants in Vancouver, so not too expensive. Good value for your money.

Disclosure: The first time I ate at Pacific Prime with my Mom, our dinner was complimentary courtesy of The Beach Club Resort. We had breakfast there twice and I paid for that on my own dime. I attended a Burrowing Owl Winemakers’ Dinner there in 2010 that was also complimentary, but then I also had dinner there one night afterwards and I paid on my own dime.

Tasting Vancouver Interview

Raul — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:25:52 +0000

As a personal blogger who happens to love food, I am always intrigued by new sites where restaurants are reviewed. Recently, a Vancouver-based effort has been launched (Tasting Vancouver) so I asked them if they’d answer a few questions and here are their responses

1.- So TastingVancouver.ca is online now…what IS Tasting Vancouver, in your own words?
Tasting Vancouver is Vancouver’s newest online restaurant guide that set’s itself apart. Offering restaurant profiles with photos, contact information, menus and reviews.

2.- We have a number of online restaurant guides (DineHere.ca, UrbanSpoon, etc.) – how do you plan to distinguish yourselves from the others?
I do yes, but they are either way to big, or way to small… I am focusing on downtown Vancouver and it’s surrounding area’s for the time being. Focusing all our efforts to make the most of the local restaurant scene first before expanding (if we decide too). One thing that we’re going to focus on, is listening to all food lovers and restaurant owners and build a real food social network.

3.- What are your plans for embedding more social media in your site? Maybe create an iPhone app?
That’s funny, because we have already started with a simple iphone application, allowing people to search for their favourite restaurant or cuisine directly from their iphone.

4.- It seems to me that the first focus of Tasting Vancouver is downtown restaurants – What are the most popular so far?
Right now our most popular restaurants are the Water Street Cafe in Gastown, and Yaletown Brewery in Yaletown.

5.- Is the site “a labor of love” or do you plan to make some money with it? (e.g. to support the activities of the site)
I love food, and so for now its a labor of love.

6.- Anything else you’d like to add?
Just pass on the site to all your friends and get them to help build this new online restaurant guide!

So, I’d recommend that you check them online!

Restaurant review – The Crime Lab (Vancouver, Coal Harbour)

Raul — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:44:26 +0000

As many of you know (both my offline and online friends), I absolutely adored The Crime Lab in its previous incarnation. The restaurant was sophisticated, had great food, an amazing list of martinis and everything in the restaurant was crime-themed (but with a very posh flavor, if you can believe that!). The decor and ambience were those of a Paris night bar, yet the food and drinks had a crime theme. Apparently, or so does MartiniBoys say, the former location had previously housed a police crime lab.

One day, someone woke up with the great idea that the spot where the Crime Lab was sitting (the strange convergence of Pender and Georgia, which normally run parallel) was prime spot for condos and thus my beloved Crime Lab disappeared.

There is also a story behind my love for this spot, as my very close friend JT and I had a really important conversation there, and I asked what has become now “The Crime Lab question” (it’s a synonym with tough questions now).

So when I learned from Jeffery Simpson that The Crime Lab was coming back, I knew where I wanted to go for my birthday dinner. The new location is in Coal Harbour, at 100-550 Denman St. The place is very much like I remembered it, great decoration, affordable food, amazing list of martinis (also dangerously sweet) and most definitely, the same flavor they had before, with the crime theme.

The food is definitely affordable, with a range between $17 and $25 for a main course (abundant portions, and very tasty). I chose the risotto with chicken and we all shared a vegetarian platter (for 7 people, nobody really left hungry). There were varied choices for dinner – from burgers with fries AND salad to ravioli to salad with salmon. Very nice menu. The dessert menu is also amazing, in my humble opinion.

There were many details that made my experience very good. While at some points our server struggled a bit with too many tables (I think they were understaffed for a couple of hours), I never felt that we were left down. The service was excellent, and at the end, a very classy gesture by our server: since it was my birthday, she offered to comp my dessert. While I was afraid that if I chose one that could be shared amongst 8 people (the chocolate fondue) they might not see me with good eyes, I was very pleasantly surprised to see that she didn’t even blink. She smiled and proceeded to bring me a “Happy Birthday” chocolate fondue. Now, THAT is classy

Admittedly, we did consume abundant alcohol, but the martinis are also in good price range $ 8.00, actually slightly less expensive than other Coal Harbour spots. But don’t raise the prices! Keep them there! I have to say that I had a fantastic experience at The Crime Lab, and if it sounds as though I’m gushing, I actually am.

If I had to rate my experience at The Crime Lab, I’d say it was pretty much a 9.5 out of 10. I can’t wait to come back!

Your favorite restaurant?

Raul — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:36:31 +0000

A significant portion of my traffic in the past couple of years has come from my restaurant reviews and from cross-linking with UrbanSpoon Vancouver. My page on UrbanSpoon has received about 4100 views (which has put me in the top 25 blogs worldwide).

UrbanSpoon recently launched their iPhone app, which I find very cool. However, people still rely on word-of-mouth (or word-of-tweet) when it comes to restaurants. Lots of people ask me “so what restaurant would you recommend for…”

Thus, I’m going to ask my readers to let me know what their favorite restaurant is. Go crazy. Don’t limit yourself. If it is an expensive restaurant, go for it. If it’s a hole-in-the-wall joint, tell me about it. JUST DO IT.

Oh and if you could visit my UrbanSpoon restaurant reviews about 400 times so that I can overtake Kitsilano.ca again, that’d be awesome (just kidding!)

Restaurant review – Capone’s (Yaletown)

Raul — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:49:19 +0000

This past weekend was without a doubt one of the most challenging I’ve had in a long, long while, not only because of Blogathon Vancouver 2008 but also because I’m so behind in my own work. It was therefore very nice to see that my body decided to still respond on Sunday night despite the fact that I was severely sleep-deprived.

Gus had offered to take me out for dinner, and coincidentally, JT and I had agreed to skip this Sunday as we had spent Friday together because of previous commitments on Sunday night, so it worked out perfectly. After a few naps, I met Gus and Russ in Yaletown and we proceeded to scour the streets of Vancouver in search of some good Italian food.

Let me tell you one thing – if you think your favorite restaurant is going to be open, you are WRONG. We tried for Scioppino’s and they were CLOSED. Wierd. But luckily for us, Capone’s was open. To say that this was good times would be a gross understatement. This was GREAT times.

The service was good, although at some points our waiter kind of seemed to wander around. But I can’t complain, the company was really outstanding and I had a really great time. I have to say that my sense of humour is really very similar to that of Gus and Russ’ and that’s something that makes a nice meal even better, to share it with friends that can relate to you and to whom you can relate as well. Ah, good times!

We all ordered different varieties of pasta (after an antipasto platter that was really delicious, but unfortunately contained cheese so I had to skip on that one). If I recall correctly, we ordered chorizo and prawn fetuccine, ancho chicken linguini (this was my choice) and AAA tenderloin & mushroom linguini. Mine was really good, particularly because I love ancho chile.

As for drinks, Capone’s mojito is REALLY good but their martinis are weak. And they don’t have a Bellini (shame on them). My photos don’t do our dinner justice as it was late-ish at night and I didn’t want to use my flash.

Apparently, Capone’s has live jazz but we didn’t stay that late. Oh, and let me tell you. There is a LOT of eye candy in Yaletown Thanks to Gus for taking Russ and me for dinner as this was a highlight of my weekend!

Restaurant reviews, UrbanSpoon, and some math…

Raul — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:00:42 +0000

I was showering the other day and meditating about the things that I have accomplished with my blogging. Amongst the reasons why my blog is moderately popular (I’m not going to be conceited and say that it’s very popular, but there are some people out there who read it with some frequency), is that I have built some sort of reputation as a decently-trained palate, and a good restaurant reviewer. My friends (both bloggers and civilians) seem to trust my instincts in regards to places to eat.

Nevertheless, my blog isn’t exactly a food blog. It is a repository for my thoughts, the things I do, the concepts I am analyzing, etc. A journal and a memoir. It’s Raul’s life seen through his own eyes. As Barbara Doduk put it, it’s a blog with a Raul theme… [Urgh, that sounded self-absorbed]

Nevertheless, I am kind of proud of my current place at the top of the Vancouver UrbanSpoon Leaderboard. With over 70 blog posts and about 4700 views, I feel really happy when people tell me (either on the street, or through email/comments) that a restaurant review has helped them make a decision on whether or not to eat at a certain restaurant.

The interesting thing is that, while I think it was me who suggested some type of ranking for restaurants, etc., I feel somewhat uncomfortable with the whole idea. Not that I want to hold on to the top spot forever, I am pretty sure I’ll relinquish it at some point. Particularly because, well, let’s be honest – I’m just one guy and there’s only so much money I’m willing to pay for dining out on my own dime! It’s just that I don’t want to be in some sort of competition.

I did some math recently (yes I am a geek, tell me something I don’t know), and came up with the View Density Factor (calculated as follows)

VDF = (Total number of views)/(Number of posts)

My current VDF is about 60 views per post, and I was talking recently to Karen Hamilton about her VDF (which is about 90 views per post), so I mentioned that she should be proud.

Quite frankly, I couldn’t care less about my ranking, even though it’s kind of nice. It’s a neat element to discuss whenever people ask me “so what is that you blog about” but I’ll be fine if/when I relinquish my # 1 spot. Throughout my life, I’ve grown used to relinquishing the # 1 spot. And you know what… it’s not all that bad. In the mean time, I’ve SpoonBack’d a number of reviews that I didn’t have linked back to UrbanSpoon, so we’ll see how those do.

I’ll take the Buzz challenge :-)

Raul — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:30:08 +0000

After having had an absolutely lovely afternoon of meetings from good friends whom I’ve met through the blogosphere (lovely Phaedra at Our Town Cafe for yerba mate tea and poppyseed muffin, and adorable Isabella for very early dinner at The Locus), I got back at home, rushing for an interview that got rescheduled at the last minute.

So what do I find when I turn Twhirl on? A challenge by local news power blogger Buzz Bishop (of 95Crave fame) to review The Brave Bull. The restaurant may be in the seedier part of town, but I am never one to back off of a challenge, so I agreed to review it. Since tomorrow – Thursday, and Friday are potentially already booked for dinner, I might end up going on Saturday night. Unless they have brunch, in which case I’ll go in the morning.

Any readers/bloggers/twitterers want to join me? Drop me a comment and let me know So, you can expect a restaurant review as early as Monday morning! YAY! He also challenged Karen from Tiny Bites, so she may join me (potentially, so – Karen, don’t feel obligated!)

Restaurant review: Boneta (Gastown)

Raul — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:01:34 +0000

Not sure why this review was still on my drafts, but here it is now.

Phaedra had been raving for a good couple of months about how great this place was, so we decided to finally take the plunge and go there for lunch to celebrate a couple of weeks ago. Phaedra has been there many a time, and I know that Rebecca and Keira have gone down there for dinner and have also raved about it.

Since we were there for lunch and I rarely order shellfish when I dine out, I took the plunge with a spaghetti with mussels. Phaedra had a scrumptions beet salad (both shown below). The service was impeccable. We had some champagne since we were celebrating, and the owner came to talk to us several times throughout the lunch, making sure we were being given the best service possible.

I will have to come back for dinner at some point, but for now I can sincerely say that whatever my expectation was for Boneta, it was fulfilled. It is on the ‘upscale’ side of pricing, but also on the same side of service AND quality of food.

The owner of Boneta with Phaedra

Overall, it was a great afternoon. I always enjoy my time with Phaedra, and how often do you get to hang out and have a lunch date with one of Vancouver’s hottest bloggers (and newly-minted professional counselor!)? Not very often, so I am happy to seize the opportunity as soon as it presents itself!