Saturday in Vancouver

Ready for a lot of photos?  No matter, you're getting them.

One thing I love about being in Vancouver is that it's a familiar city with which I'm comfortable but it's also not the city in which I currently live.  What that means is I can go for my early morning walks and feel fairly at ease, but also that I'm not seeing the same old thing day after day.  Last Saturday morning in Vancouver, I was up early enough and out the door to take advantage of that.

It's a cool way to get shots of buildings,

public art,

nice gardens and parks,

the natural surroundings (such as they may be in a city),

and more. 

Accordingly, I walked and snapped.  I think I did a little over four miles that morning. 

It truly was a weekend for getting my step count in!

And then it was off to my first meal of the day with other folks.  Steven and Patrick

and brunch in New Westminster.  Man, it's been a long time since I last saw them.  Pre-pandemic!  And that's the shame of the visit:  seeing people I haven't made time for in far too long.  I felt badly about that, truly.

Anyway, I

hopped SkyTrain out to meet up with them, enjoying the last seat on the train, getting a view out the back window as we went along. 

Patrick was at the station,

waiting for Steven

(who snuck by him somehow and was waiting at a nearby corner outside of our lunch destination, Piva), and so I got a big hug right off the train.  Yay!  Brunch was nice.  A breakfast pizza (tasty, maybe needed something a little saltier on it) was my choice,

and much catching up ensued.  Always such delightful guys to hang out with.

I let them go on their way after brunch - Steven is an avid knitter, and he had a yarn shop he wanted to get to.  I took myself a short way uphill,

and in a few minutes I was ringing the buzzer to get into Marie's apartment. 

I hadn't seen her place in years, and that's even considering she hasn't had a cat for a while.  She and I gabbed, then headed back onto SkyTrain and downtown where we turned up at Open Outcry for the start of their happy hour. 

Alas, the bar seems to be a shadow of what it was before the pandemic, and after that drink, we headed to the hotel so that I could get ready for dinner.

Marie and I had dinner with Chris

and Allister

over in Chinatown.  I was a little surprised that Chris and Allister hadn't been to Bao Bei

before - they don't live far from it, it's been around for at least 15 years, and it has a good reputation still (I hope!).  I've only been the once, a long time ago, and I've always intended to go back.  They were having a special Year of the Horse menu,

and we were excited for it.  Here's a rundown of it:

Seafood "Bing".  Nice start.  A simple pastry, a turnover.

Lobster crudo.  Lovely.  Reminded me of amaebi.

Lucky dumplings.  Tasty!  Don't be shocked, but I liked the mushrooms with this dish.

Taiwanese knife cut noodles with clams, mussels, and pork.  Really good.  More of a seafood dish than a noodle dish, and we had no problem with the generous portion.

Crispy whole branzino.  Loved loved loved the sauce especially!

Dark chocolate leche flan.  I usually don't go for chocolate desserts, but this turned out to be an excellent way to finish the meal.

We opted for drink pairings which started with the 12 Knots,

included two bottles of wine for the table, and then a finishing cocktail

whose name I didn't catch but that I liked so much that I (and Chris!) ordered another each.  Dinner and drinks done, we walked Marie to the SkyTrain then headed home ourselves on foot.  That was my indulgent meal for the trip, and it made for a lovely Valentine's dinner away from Conrad and Van (and Olive!).

back at Zarak

Conrad had to miss Chris and Allister's wedding this past summer, so we decided we would celebrate it again with a meal together when we were in town last week.  The timing was fortuitous:  Chris had a birthday just days ahead, and Van had had his birthday just days before.  Add in Marie, and we had the makings of a good dinner out.

Zarak has become my new ViJ's when I come to Vancouver - a place that I like to go to because the food and drink are good, they're interesting, they excite me.  I mean, the menu

hasn't changed substantively in the few times I've been there now, not really, and yet, I can't wait to go back.  Any excuse.  So go back we did.  Hooray!

Cocktails were up first.  This past summer it was Marie having the smoked negroni, but that night it was Chris. 

Quite a show!  I went with the clarified mango martini,

something I was a little dubious on until the waiter persuaded me, but which proved to be not as sweet as feared.  I liked it a lot, in fact, and if it wasn't for Conrad wanting a bottle of wine, I would have stuck with it.

And then on to food.  I didn't photograph it all.  We also didn't do what we did last time with the "feed me" option on the menu, good as that was.  We kept it under control and enjoyed several dishes.  Mantu - beef-filled dumplings - were up first,

then came our US Thanksgiving nod:  buttermilk fried chicken. 

I wish we had had more of that one.  Among the other things were the Uzbeki palaw

and the beef cheek. 

It was all excellent.

Dessert was essentially one of everything with an extra trifle-like dessert thrown in along with candles. 

We each tasted the others but mostly stuck to our own, so it was the deconstructed baklava for me. 

A terrific choice.

But the night was good because we had a great group of six of us enjoying food and conversation together. 

And that is why I want to go back again - to enjoy a group of us enjoying such tasty food and each other's company.  In 2026 I will for sure!