revisiting restaurants and other Vancouver stuff

Last post from the Vancouver weekend - I started this at my sister's this morning, but I'm finishing it sitting on the bed at home here in Chicago.R It's good to be home. I'm sorry to be home. Ah well.

I took advantage of the trip to revisit a couple of places from earlier this year and get another try of them. First up, Raincity Grill.

I'd been there for dinner back in January, but Conrad had never tried it, so we did a big long walk on Friday morning down to the West End and settled in for a good lunch. The shared appetizer of fried oysters was a good start.


From there we moved on to separate dishes.
Chicken for Conrad, served atop a nice couscouswhile I had a ham and Gruyere sandwich.BC wines capped the meal - I think we drank BC all weekend, in fact.

Saturday night was date night at O'Doul's. We'd been there in April, though the raging cold I had at the time meant I hardly noticed what the food and wine were like. It certainly has a prime location on Robson Street for people-watching, and the wine list is excellent. Conrad started with a salad of heirloom tomatoes - gee, that's a shocker!
I opted for the corn veloute with seared scallop - NIIIIIICE!
We each then had the chicken served in a natural jus with chanterelles and pine mushrooms. Yes, once again I eat mushrooms if they cost a little more.
Dessert was the star, and simple thing of beauty: pistachio and coconut panna cottas, layered and topped with a few berries. Wonderful.The wine pairing (we had pairings with each course) was not so successful, alas, and we finished the night with wine and cheese down at Bacchus instead.



But we ate elsewhere this weekend, I assure you. Saturday brunch - I managed to walk around some that afternoon, surprisingly! - was at Locus on Main. A little pokey in service, but nice. Good menu for brunch.




I was especially thrilled to see halibut cheeks on the menu, and so I ordered them.

We got around a bunch this weekend, seeing some familiar areas and new ones. It's always fun to see the sights of the city, like this along False Creek: the Time Top sculpture.Whoops, that's Conrad. Here's the top:



Another great piece was outside O'Doul's. Okay, maybe not superlative art, but a few families stopped by so the kids could clamber all over it.

Friday month we were headed back to Marie's with sushi and gelatto for dinner (not mixed together!) when we encountered the monthly Friday night bicycle protest - traffic clogged by those who want more bike lanes. Marie fretted, we found it amusing.


Vancouver is still abloom, too.If only I could blog how the scent of end-of-season blackberries on the seaside brambles was when I encountered it during my run.