A Weekend of Decadence

I didn't mean to write again so soon, but damn! I've been eating out all weekend (and it was a long weekend, too). And everything was so good, I feel like I need to share it with you. Plus now I'm sick, and the cats have finished their morning battle and are curled up in strategic warm spots all over the house and we are being quiet and sleepy all together, so it seems like a good time to sit and write. I have taken over the living room because my roommates are away and my bedroom is full of boxes. I got so excited about my upcoming move that I'm practically all packed, but my new landlady called this morning and hinted that they miiiiight need a little more time because they're painting and reno-ing down there and... So I'm going to keep calm (I REALLY don't want to delay my move, because I'll be flying to Saskatoon mid-March, which means there's a good chance I'll have, like, a WEEK to settle in before I have to leave noWHYblerggnashteeth) and I'm going to tell you all about the amazing food I ate this weekend instead of getting sad. 

First up: Bows x Arrows on Fraser is incredible, and you should really drop everything and go there RIGHT NOW. J and I rolled out of bed on Saturday and heard the siren call of Breakfast Cooked By Somebody Else, and I took a chance on BxA because I'd seen a brunch menu in their window one night as I walked by. Don't be put off by their coffee shop aesthetic: they DO serve real food, and they ARE licensed. (Although, should you only want a coffee, their cappuccinos are very fine.) For breakfast, J had the Welsh Rarebit: basically cheese-on-toast. BxA serves theirs with roasted mushrooms and a fried egg on top, and it was rich and delicious. I chose the smoked salmon scramble: delicate pink house-smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, thin slices of that very seed-y, heavy rye bread, and a side salad that was bursting with lemony dressing. I'm not usually a fan of salads with breakfast, but this one was so good I scarfed the lot. (It helps that they use some kind of green- watercress? that's much more interesting than lettuce.) While we waited for breakfast to arrive, we also shared a small almond-flour cake with a generous dollop of chocolate icing, and it was chewy and dense. The rest of their pastries looked just as good- definitely a cut above the usual coffee-shop fare.  
In fact, everything was so good that the very next day I took my mother there for our semi-weekly brunch date. We missed the brunch cut-off by minutes, but decided to stick around and order Happy Hour snacks. (Here's how it works: BxA serves brunch from 8:30-11:30 weekdays; 8:30-3pm on weekends. After that, there are snack-y things, and then they do dinner Wednesday-Saturday as well.) 
While we waited, we drank Caesars. 

Someone else's Caesars in the background, while my mom wrestles with an olive, and the herring tartine sits patiently. 

I'm not a giant fan of tomato/clamato juice, so I'm not a connoisseur, but these were very good, made with house-spiced jalapeño tequila and house-made anchovy tomato juice;  garnished with pickled onions and fresh-grated horseradish. In fact, that's the secret to BxA's success: they seem to make as much of their food as possible in-house, so you're going to taste the difference. Then came the snacks: smokey, creamy potato-ham soup, smoked herring tartine, homemade pickled veggies, and a lovely little heirloom potato salad. Everything was bursting with flavour. 

Look at those cute purple potatoes!

Potato soup with ham.

Oh look, there's a record with a naked Prince on the cover, nestled by the beer taps! 

We left feeling very satisfied, but not in that overstuffed, uncomfortable way, and to top it all off? The total for everything: four snack orders, 2 Caesars, and a glass of beer for me, was just over 40 dollars.
Bows x Arrows is at 4194 Fraser St @ 26th

Back to Saturday, where after brunch, the decadence was just beginning. Big Rock Brewery was having an open house, so J & I headed straight there (hey, at least we walked). In an impossibly generous bit of marketing, Big Rock had decided to open their doors from 12-5; giving away 2 beer tickets to each customer, as well as a free growler (with a gift certificate for a free fill), free canapés, and a brewery tour! Although we were still stuffed from brunch, we enjoyed our porter (a full pint for free!), and I also had a (free) pint of their Rock Creek cider, since I'm not much of a beer drinker. The tour was informative and fun, with a free sample of their Midnight Rhapsody porter and a chance to meet the brewmaster at the end of it. 

My sweetheart, being all cute and handsome. 

And as we left, the hostess urged us to take not one, but two growlers each! They were too busy to fill them up then (hence the gift cards), but I'll definitely be back to make use of them soon. It's about time as a Vancouverite that I learn to obsess about beers. 
Big Rock Brewery & Taphouse is at 310 W 4th Ave.

Finally... yesterday. I was hired to do a few hours of session work on someone's album, which is pretty much my favourite way to spend a day. Since the studio is in east Van and it was a gorgeous morning, I decided to walk there, but changed my mind as I saw the #22 bus approaching. My reasoning? If I jumped on the bus, I could probably fit in breakfast at Yolk's before my session began. Unfortunately I'd totally forgotten that it was Family Day, and even though it wasn't yet 9am, the lineup was already out the door. Oh well. I walked north and east, remembering that Scandilicious Waffle House was nearby and on the way. Ha- no lineups there! Just a cosy table in the corner, counter service, and the best waffle I have EVER had. No joke. I ordered the Valhalla, which came with maple-bacon jam, crunchy bacon pieces, and a generous slice of back bacon. Amazing. 

The Valhalla steals my heart by being so... bacon-y. 

I also had a cappuccino. Before I left, I had to try one of their double-chocolate cookies, which tasted as incredible as it looked: almost black; chewy and sweet and melt-in-your-mouth. The rest of the baked goods looked just as good, so it was with some disappointment that I realized I didn't have to do another recording session later in the week, as we got through all the songs that needed a backup singer. Good thing I'm moving closer to Scandilicious... whenever I do move. Sigh.
Scandilicious is at 25 Victoria Drive

Lest you think that my life is one big date with my plate, l must tell you that 
a) it's not 
    and 
b) I've just started up a bit of a support group for me and some friends who want to start eating better and getting healthy. My patterns are fairly predictable (and common): Get healthy in the summer: cavort and run and bike and play outside and eat all the good stuff, and then pack on the pounds each winter as I eat starches to stave off the wet, grey, cold weather and indulge my sweet tooth far too often. It's a pattern I'd love to break- I'm realistic enough to know that I'll never be perfect, but I'm hoping this'll be a step in the right direction. 
(Totally going back to Scandilicious for that lemon krinkle cookie though. Just sayin'.)

You Eat Where You Are.

Living in Mount Pleasant is great for so many reasons. MP is one of those 'hoods that, if you were a tourist from another country, let's say, you might not make it to, because it's not flashy like downtown, or ritzy like West Van, or famously alternative, like Commercial Drive. But it's definitely got a thing going. And one of the things that give it a thing, so to speak, is the food. 
I'm doubly lucky, because I also work in Mount Pleasant, so my commute is as, well.. pleasant as my neighbourhood. I seldom even have to get on a bus, unless I'm running late. And when I'm on a break, or after a long day of teaching music, or when I'm just mooching around the neighbourhood on a day off, I know the 'hood always has my back when it comes to places to eat.

Which is why moving away is a mixed blessing.

It's time to have my own place, at long last. I like to think of myself as an independent woman, since I left home at 18, but the truth is, very few of my adult years have been spent living alone. There was a mostly blissful 5 years in a basement suite off Main Street (also in Mount Pleasant, come to think of it). A year or two in my university days in a cute little Kitsilano bachelor suite, for which I think I paid a whopping $375 (it was a long time ago). Three months in a wonderful sublet just before I moved to my current location. But mostly it's been sharing: with roommates, friends, and even, for the last 3 years, family. 
So I've found the perfect place, and I love the neighbourhood: it's in east van (gotta be east van!), it's right off Commercial Drive (so much good food!), it's got a gas stove (lots of meals at home!)... But I'll truly miss my Mount Pleasant haunts, so I'm extra glad that I'll still have to come here all the time for work. Here are some of the places I know I'll keep coming back to: 

OKA-SAN KITCHEN
I'd been eyeing this cute little restaurant for a while, but it took a really snowy Saturday to propel me through its doors at last. I walked all the way from my house to the farmers market in some very odd (for Vancouver) weather... and all the way back, too. When I was almost home, hunger- and the need for warmth- hit hard. I wanted someone to coddle me just a bit. Well, I picked the perfect spot, because Oka-San has comfort food. It didn't take me long to choose the Carbonara Udon to warm me up from the inside out. If the idea of Japanese-Italian food strikes you as odd you're probably not alone, but it was delicious. Cream sauce, generous hammy pieces, and a sprinkling of seaweed garnish over udon noodles, with a nice green salad besides. I'm definitely going back to try the Spam Musibi as well... and that's the cool thing about Oka-San: there's definitely a Hawaiian vibe (think Poke bowls and the aforementioned Spam) as well as the Japanese food at play here. 
Oka-San is at 3578 Fraser Street

CARP SUSHI BENTO
Carp has been my go-to lunch spot when I'm working ever since I discovered one of my colleagues eating one of their rice bowls. The bright red salmon, crispy cucumber and smooth avocado looked so pretty! And they taste even better. Yes, they have sushi as well, but I'm a sucker for the rice bowls, especially since you can have a mini one for a mere $6. A mini will satisfy anyone looking for a light lunch; a full-sized one is great for those HUNGRY days. There's tuna, salmon and a few other options as well. I still love the spicy salmon bowl best (it's not very spicy), but I've loved everything I've had at Carp. The best thing is that their food always makes me feel great, since it's protein-rich and not greasy. Only one slight caution: they are not currently debit card-friendly, so bring cash or credit. 
Carp is at 2516 Prince Edward Street

Speaking of greasy... I have to give a shout-out to PEACEFUL RESTAURANT, which is just too damn close to my workplace to be safe for my waistline. I have loved northern Chinese food ever since I discover Shaolin Noodle House years ago, and Peaceful does it even better. Highlights include the green onion pancakes, which always burn my mouth because I can't wait for them to cool; the wonderfully-named Peaceful Beef Roll (beef rolled in flatbread with Hoisin sauce), and the Dan Dan noodles. But recently I discovered something even better there. It was another snowy day, and classes at the music school were cancelled, allowing me to leave four hours early! Another comfort-food day for sure... so I walked a few blocks to Peaceful. But what to have? I needed something warm and soothing as the day was dark and snowy. Not too much spice, not too much grease... I decided to try the Xi'an White Lamb Stew. "It's traditional Chinese dish," warned my waitress sternly as she took my order. "No noodles!" "That's okay," I said brightly, and quailed as I waited for my order to arrive. Would I not like it? Would it be filled with something that my Western pallet would find unpleasant? 
When the lamb stew came, the only problem was how to cool it fast enough to get it in my mouth. A light broth, packed with little chunks of lamb, cabbage, wood ear mushrooms (my favourite!), and many small pieces of flatbread, all flavoured with large sprigs of cilantro. It was a large bowl, and I ate the whole thing. 
Peaceful Restaurant is at 43 east 5th, among other locations

There are many more places I love to go in Mount Pleasant, and I hope to write about them in the future, after I cover some of the best nibbles on Commercial Drive. Stay hungry, everybody! 

3578 FRASER ST,