Category: Vancouver

After a short stay at the Sheraton Wall Centre, it was time to go home and I promised my kids breakfast. However, the hotel breakfast was too complicated and too expensive for my children’s tastes and my wallet. So my tech savvy iPhone addicted older child looked for breakfast places near Burrard and Nelson. It was a bit further than I wanted to limp, but we arrived at the Nero Belgian Waffle Bar at 1002 Seymour St. It’s not that big inside, but they use the outside space well with effective heaters to offset the chill of an October morning. […]

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The Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver is located on Burrard Street across the street from St. Paul’s hospital. It’s walking distance to a movie theatre, downtown Vancouver. I had the fun of using the hotel as a post operative recuperation zone. For reasons too boring to go into, I could not make it home after some abdominal surgery. Booking.com had some deals and I booked in advance, making sure I confirmed the date before the cancellation date of the reservation, which was 3 days before the scheduled surgery. There was a small line up at the front desk in the […]

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There’s a 19+ years of age movie theatre in Vancouver at 5th and Burrard (Fifth Avenue Cinemas). For the people who don’t want to deal with children, there’s an option for you. For my friend and I, children aren’t the problem (we have our own) it’s the choice of movee. Dunkirk is not for pre teens. At 5:30 PM on a Friday we managed to get a table for two outside at Trattoria in Kitsilano on 4th Avenue. We did not have reservations but what I see on other sites tells me that if you are tight for time, reservations […]

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Sometimes you have too many meetings and things go late and you are gripped by strange food urges. In this case my urge was for seafood chow mein. Also, sometimes, you find yourself not in your usual neighbourhood and you have to take a risk. Main Street from 13th to 16th in Vancouver is slowly gentrifying and certainly gives the rough-and-tumble neighbourhood feel but you see the creeping in of branded stores and eateries. In this particular case, I found Kwong Chow Congee & Noodle House. I tend to test a Chinese restaurant’s authenticity by the number of anglo-looking faces […]

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I received a call for non traditional, non chain restaurant recommendations in Vancouver. The audience is a newlywed couple wanting to be a little different. Since I have children, and have seen more grilled cheese sandwiches than I like, I reached out to a foodie friend. Here’s what he said: If you can get reservations … Kissa Tanto in Chinatown (Japanese/Italian). It sounds weird, but it works. Depending on how big their appetites are, you may need to order a few more dishes than you think. www.kissatanto.com Distance from downtown: 2.5 km Les Faux Bourgeois -French, in the Kingsway/Fraser Street […]

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It was a hazy day in Vancouver. Sadly it was not fog, it was smoke from horrible forest fires far north of the city. The air was smoky and I was in Yaletown for a mundane appointment and when I was done, the thought of regular transit back was unpleasant. Walking was my normal thought, but with the hot temps and bad air … why not ride the waves instead? Right at the foot of Davie Street is a small dock from which The Aquabus and False Creek Creek Ferries have tiny little boats that take you to Granville Island, […]

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Sophie’s Cosmic Café is always a treat for us. At 4th and Arbutus in Kitsilano in Vancouver. It can be relied for its great burgers (including a very satisfying vegetarian nut burger) plus other items including good perogies, a great nacho plate, falafel and more. Perhaps the standout item is the milkshakes. So far in experience, the milkshakes are the best in town. They had R&B Brewery products on tap that included a good lager and cream ale. The décor is always wonderful. It gives you the impression that starting in the 1960s the owners gathered up all their play […]

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Surrey BC is a community in the Greater Vancouver Regional District that is a rapidly growing city. It’s profile in the news is the home to some nasty gang violence. I think therefore those like me with less knowledge of Surrey will be wonderfully surprised by Crescent Beach, which is in South Surrey on the way to White Rock, BC. What fools you about Crescent Beach is that once you are there and have parked the car, the vibe is of an isolated beach town … the type where the population is about 40 in the off season and peaks […]

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I was cycling in Vancouver on a busy hot summer day with a young lad who was new to his larger bicycle. We wanted a ride that would be challenging at this level but not overwhelming. Another consideration was to stay away from vehicle traffic as much as possible. So we thought of going around the world, Science World, that is. We started in the Kitsilano area right near Museum of Vancouver and Vancouver Academy of Music. The objective was to take the road down to where the Coast Guard Station is and then turn right to sneak underneath the […]

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Kits Beach, which is located in Vancouver, on the south side of English Bay, across from the West End neighbourhood can be full of surprises. Yesterday morning at around 11 AM, I took a stroll to pick up a coffee from the Starbucks at Cornwall and Arbutus and then walked across the street, headed to the water and this was my view. Walking about 10 metres down the path I discovered that Volleyball BC was having a tournament. There was seating in the bleachers and I have never seen beach volleyball up close so I sat to enjoy my coffee. […]

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