a little bit about travel, a little bit about food, a lot of everything in between; as seen, tasted and experienced by different points of view..
Name: The Jammery Address: 8038 BC-97, Lake Country, BC Date of Visit: May 12, 2019 Description: Right smack in the middle of nowhere with no other nearby food establishments in site, this jam factory slash breakfast and lunch spot is a happening place on a …
Name: Gasthaus on the Lake Address: 5790 Beach Avenue, Peachland BC Date of Visit: May 12, 2019 Description: Of the many times we’ve visited the Okanagan, we’ve never ever been to Peachland, the view of the Great Okanagan Lake from the other side of the …
My new fave poke place is nestled inside the Lonsdale Quay market, very accessible and convenient from the Seabus terminal. Poke & Co, originally from California, opened in December 2017 and has been a hit since then.
Just like every other poke place, ordering here means you are greeted by an assembly line of base, proteins, toppings, crunchy add on and a few other extras. You can opt to build your own bowl or try their mixed creations with different pre-selected ingredients.
There are three main sizes to choose from – small with two proteins, medium with three and large with four. I always opt for the large one with mixed brown rice and salad as base and I usually get the salmon, shrimp, scallops and either the ahi tuna or the spicy tuna for the protein, there’s a tofu option for vegetarians too. The toppings are too many to list down so I just tell them to put everything but the beans (yeah I don’t like beans). There are four main sauces as of this writing – house, ponzu, sriracha, wasabi, I mix and match but every combination seems excellent when paired with fresh seafood and veggies. For crunchy add ons, there’s garlic, onions, wakame and peanuts, you pay extrat dollar for a slice of avocado, which I always get.
If I could eat this everyday, I definitely would! But waistline and wallet complains a lot so I opt for a once a week sojourn. If you’re ever in the quay area, don’t forget to give this spot a visit, you absolutely won’t regret it!
Verdict: 4.5/5 – there’s not a lot I would nitpick about this place, maybe a few improvements would be adding that burrito style sushi option or having more proteins, toppings and sauces to choose from, otherwise this is a solid place to go to and it’s interesting to note that I’ve almost forgotten to visit any more sushi places since this store opened 🙂
I’ve always liked the Marine Gateway complex because it has (almost) everything I want in one place. If I can afford the condos here then I would probably move into this neighbourhood haha I don’t remember when I first tried out the Ban Dao restaurant …
An underrated Yaletown gem. Sushi places in Vancouver is a dime a dozen, I seriously ate more sushi in Van city than in Japan. So in a city of raw fish on rice, it’s hard to find one that stands out, enter Bistro Sakana. I …
The test of a good restaurant is if it is consistent in pushing out good dishes and if it improves in the stuff they need to work on based on customer reviews or well just based on their experience. I’ve been to Captain’s Boil five times in the past 8 months (yes that’s why I can’t fit in my jeans anymore haha) three times at their Kingsway branch, once at their Richmond location, and once at their Yonge branch during my Toronto visit last month. I’ve ordered different items from their menu on each occasion and I think the only ones I haven’t tried yet are the clams (because I’m afraid they’ll be chewy) and the chicken slices (because hey why go to a seafood boil if you’re going to get chicken!! haha).
This review is a summary of all those dishes I tried.
Sauces:
Captain’s Boil – probably the best choice to have a balanced taste of spicy buttery and garlic goodness
Cajun – hotter than the Captain’s Boil
Lemon Pepper – a bit bland for my taste, might be good for those who don’t want to overpower the seafood taste or those afraid of chili
Garlic Sauce – I tried this on the shrimp but I missed the spice, this should be the choice for the faint of heart.
If you like eating with your hands wrapped in plastic gloves and devouring seafood swimming in sauce served inside plastic bags then this is definitely the place for you. The first time I tried this kind of dining was in California at Kickin’ Crab and Craw Daddy and Boiling Crab, what can I say, I’m not a fan of getting food inside plastic bag but it works if you don’t mind getting messy, which is probably what’s gonna happen anyway when you’re eating seafood and cracking shells here and there.. is it worth another visit? Sure! Especially if you don’t want to have that mess in the comforts of your dining room, otherwise I say just go buy fresh seafood from the market then cook them at home.
Verdict: 3.5/5
Louisiana inspired seafood boil
I’ve been waiting for the opening of this restaurant since winter last year, mostly because I wanted to try the lobster roll! We visited this place a couple of times and as much as I like their lobster rolls, there’s a few other dishes that’s worth trying, like the fried frog legs! which, not surprisingly, DOES NOT taste like chicken at all.
Just like Captain’s Boil, this seafood restaurant servers their food inside plastic bags, and you will have to use those plastic gloves unless you want to dirty your hands.. am still not a fan of that but hey that’s their style.
Ordering here means picking a seafood – lobster, crawfish crab, crab legs, shrimp, clams, mussels, then choosing the sauce: cajun or garlic pepper, and finally choosing the spiciness level – mild, medium, spicy or holy moly, guess what I picked! There’s a variety of sides and snacks and I usually pick the calamari and the soft shell crab if I’m not feeling too adventurous.
Although I enjoyed the fare here, and the fact that they don’t split the lobster in half, which makes it more instagrammable, I find that the sauce is somewhat lacking. I would definitely prefer the seafood to be swimming in sauce rather than just coated at the top.
However, despite its misses, the staff at their Robson branch is far more attentive that the ones at Captain’s boil. I would probably come back just to try the crab roll next time and a few other sides.
Verdict: 3.5/5
arguably the best fish and chips in the island Sitting on wooden stools by the harbour and watching kayaks and seagulls while devouring your crispy fish and chips is a quintessential Victoria scene that is similar to drinking ice cold beer on a patio on …
