Sunday, June 10, 2007

Westward Ho!

Vancouver, 1959 fig. a: Granville & Robson

"Wait a second. That's not Montreal." Right again. That's not Montreal because, come Tuesday, we're taking the show on the road again. As we did in 2005, we're heading west. And once again, Asian delicacies of all sorts (Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, etc.) and fresh seafood are near the very top of our list of priorities.

Ho Ho Chop Suey, Vancouver, BC I fig. b: Ho Ho Chop Suey

Only Sea Foods, Vancouver, BC, copyright Maurice Jassak fig. c: Only Sea Foods

Any guesses? No, we're not making a return visit to California (although it's tempting to get a car and just keep heading down the coast). This time we're staying north of the border for the most part. This time we're going to Vancouver.

We're going in large part to attend a wedding and to get some much-needed R & R, but this particular 7-day journey has the added of benefit of being a trip through time. You see, both Michelle and I lived in Vancouver in the late '90s. Funny thing is, though, we didn't actually meet until we found ourselves in Montreal at the turn of the millenium, even though we'd had a number of mutual friends back west. So we'll get a chance to catch up with a whole slew of old friends, eat and eat well, and see an ex-hometown of ours anew.

Our itinerary is already pretty chock-full--including a whole host of old haunts, like Gyoza King, Vij's, and Continental Coffee--but if any of you out there have any additional suggestions for us, please send them along.

aj

[photo credits: Vancouver, 1959: Fred Herzog; Ho Ho Chop Suey and Only Sea Foods, Maurice Jassak]

7 comments:

Aimée said...

Ah, you must check out my good friend Angus An's new restaurant that just won best new restaurant of the year and is making quite the waves in Van. It's called Gastropod and in on W 4th Ave.

www.gastropod.ca

Bon voyage!

Anonymous said...

for some reason it makes me very excited that you are coming here; i lived in montreal last year, my sister is friends with camilla, but i read your blog all the time and love it.
and i have a couple of suggestions of places to go to eat: it's one of my favorite things to do. you have to try the sushi shooters at honjins in yaletown, and then there is a cafe called finch's, for the best ramen go to kintaro, and then any of sean heather's places like salt, the salty tongue, the irish hearther or the lucky diner. and if you want mussels, go to chambar.
i hope you guys have a blast.

kelli ann & lorie said...

bon voyage! looking forward to reading about it...

Alison said...

For Chinese food, you should really try to get to the On Lok (2010 E. Hastings -- just east of Victoria). For Indian, the All India lunch buffet (at Main and 49th) is pretty awesome. These two places are neither new nor trendy, but they are two of the things I miss most about Vancouver.

aj kinik said...

hi guys,
So far, so good. Thanks for all the suggestions. Details to follow.

Anonymous said...

Legendary Noodles: soup with pork and preserved vegetables, panfried dumplings with pork and leek, soup dumplings, and garlic peashoots.
If you like congee, Congee Noodle House on Broadway and Main: congee with sea bass and cilantro, chinese doughnuts, and more pea shoots ("bean leaves" here).
The Modern Club: Okonomyaki and tuna tataki.
Also, Sha Lin, Kokoro Sushi in North Van (energy roll with tuna and lime and cilantro, and deepfried sushi tempura), yes Vij's, and Salade des Fruits for mussels, and hmmm, too many options...

aj kinik said...

thanks again for all the suggestions--as you'll soon see, we put quite a few of them to use--stay tuned...