A Hike in the Topanga Canyon and two good meals

During our weekend in Santa Monica the weather was warm and sunny but not hot, the perfect weather for doing things.  I find when the temperature starts getting over 25 I really do not feel like doing anything other than sitting around, so with a high of 22 it was time to go hiking.

The Topanga state park is within the city limits of Los Angeles and it is amazing how away from it all you can get with in a city of just under 4 million.

The entrance to the canyon was a 15 minute drive from where we were staying, so we headed north on the Pacific Coast Highway for a couple of miles then turned inland at Topanga Canyon Boulevard and drove up to a parking lot Trippet Ranch and headed up to Eagle Rock.

A view of Eagle rock

It was a beautiful walk along a well groomed trails.

With out much shade this would have been a hot dry trail in the summer, but on this day it was perfect.  We made it up to Eagle Rock, where the views were magnificent, back to the Pacific Ocean and in the other direction over the San Fernando Valley.

We walked down going a different route that my husband assured me was a shorter way, this turned out to be not exactly true, but with the promise of a nice lunch I soldiered on.

Patricks Road House Santa Monica

My husband and I met in Santa Monica for a long weekend at the end of his trip to California and Arizona with our son.   We have been to Los Angeles many times, so we did not feel the need to go to any of the Los Angeles Icons. We rented a VRBO in the Santa Monica Canyon 1 block from the beach and the idea was to relax, bike, hike and of course eat. Unfortunately the first morning was spent with a frustrating trip to the Canadian Consulate and visa centre, due to some expired papers.  This was a fruitless exercise and ended with me having to book a different flight home.  This done we walked the block from our accommodation to Patricks Road house a Santa Monica Icon across the road from the beach

The first thing in order was a drink, but sadly they are BYOB only and even though the waitress helpfully pointed out that there was a liquor store across the road, we stuck to water and coffee. The speciality of the house are fresh made chips (crisps) with truffle oil and Parmesan cheese served with guacamole. I decided homemade truffle chips sounded decadent enough to wipe out the lost morning that I would never get back.

These were large fresh and truly delicious as was the guacamole.

We did not want to ruin our lunch so we ate half of these and took the remainder back and ate them with a steak and grilled asparagus we barbecued on our deck for dinner the next night.

Ruby lake resort

Over 20 years ago, my husband and then two small sons were going for a week on Texada Island along with my parents and were looking for a place to stop along the way.  We saw a sign for Ruby Lake Resort and so we stopped in.  It turns out that it had recently been bought by a family from Italy and they were serving authentic trattoria style Italian food right here on the Sunshine Coast. It was such an amazing surprise, and it was the first time my very picky eldest son tried eating something other than bread or pasta no sauce (penne with gorgonzola sauce).

We have been coming here ever since and the chef even catered my 50th birthday at my friends cabin in Pender Harbour. And from that gorgonzola sauce my son has moved on to be quite a discerning diner.  After an afternoon of swimming in Ruby lake we decided to treat ours selves with an early dinner there before taking the ferry home.

Ruby Lake

It was an extremely hot day and the shaded patio looked very inviting.

They grow their own herbs, gather wild mushrooms and generally try to serve local fresh and in season.  In fact while we were ordering the "free range chicken" wandered by.

To start we ordered The ocean wise seafood platter wild prawns, local clams, mussels, and scallops steamed in white wine-Pomodoro sauce, garlic, and Italian herbs which was served with bread for sopping up the delicious juices.

This was absolutely delicious and a very good way to start a meal.

Port Moody turns 100 and Vera's hamburgers

Saturday dawned cloudy but quite warm, a perfect day for a parade.  Port Moody turns 100 years old this year not a spectacularly long time, but a significant one. The City decided to celebrate by having an old fashioned down home parade, so we walked over to watch.

There were several marching bands, including one very enthusiastic Chinese drumming band, which was accompanied by their leader holding up a small red boom box playing rather tinny  Chinese music.

There were some nods to the past such as people riding penny farthing bikes, which when asked, told us that they used a ladder to mount, and really dismounting was the problem.

There was a fairly large contingent of first nations which seemed appropriate, because they had been here far longer than 100 years.

Bob likes Thai food

Across the road from work a couple of months ago the small restaurant Go Fish closed, and shortly thereafter a new restaurant opened up.  I checked the menu and it was a Thai restaurant called Bob Likes Thai Food.  So on Thursday night when Nancy my husband and I were going to the theatre and needed somewhere in the area for dinner I suggested this place as I was getting a good vibe about it.

The first thing that stuck out on the menu was Bob's poutine, Nancy and I decided we had to try it, so we ordered a portion to share.

These were amazing, tarot chips with a light fragarent thai sauce, hot peppers and a little fried tofu to emulate the cheese curds.  There was just enough sauce to make them flavourful, but not soggy and the chips were light and crispy with no hint of grease.  To say I loved them would be an understatement.

We each then ordered a dish to share, I ordered rather boringly beef coconut curry.

Vanilla Pod restaurant, Poplar Grove

On Wednesday in the middle of our week at Naramata each year, we go to a winery for lunch.  We have been to a couple of different ones over the years, this year we decided to try a new restaurant that had just opened. The Vanilla Pod situated at Poplar Grove Winery.

The winery moved to its new spectacular location and beautifully simple building last year, and the Vanilla Pod restaurant moved from Summerland very recently.  We got a large table outside on the extensive deck, which fortunatly was shaded by a large canopy as it was a warm sunny day.

There was a large dark cloud threatening to disturb our alfresco lunch, but for some reason it turned south and we avoided the storm that it undoubtly was carrying.

To start Connie, Nancy and I chose a garbanzo bean salad to share.

This was light and tasty with the beans and tossed with a little spinach, onion, tomato and fresh herbs.  The dressing was light and did not overwhelm the fresh ingredients.

Monk McQueens

If I was going to give a prize for the best deck in Vancouver, Monk Mcqueens would come very high on the list. It is set over the water in False Creek and is extensive, my only complaint is that on a very hot sunny evening like the one that we were lucky enough to have there is no shade.  Even the umbrellas are not the kind that bend.  I really think they should invest in some bending umbrellas.

They advertise themselves as a fresh seafood and oyster bar and the menu is very heavy on the seafood with a few non fish choices. We had trouble choosing a wine, and when we finally chose one, we decided that we did not care for it. They very accommodatingly said that as this was one that they served by the glass we could pick another one at no cost. We wanted to order a couple of appetizers to share as a couple of party were not staying for dinner.  But there are not a lot of choices on the menu that lent them selves to this.  We decided on panko coated calamari $14.00 and tuna poke $15.00.

The calamari was crisp and fresh and served with tatziki.  This was good but nothing out of the ordinary.  The Tuna poke was in fact soy marinated tartar with avocado and won ton chips.

Aroma Restaurant Port Moody

Aroma restaurant is my new favourite restaurant in Port Moody, and second only to Vj's as my favourite Indian restaurant.  It has taken over the space at 50 Spring Street in Old Port Moody that up to this point has been the home to one unsuccsesful restaurant after another.  Aroma has found the secret, serve really good food, friendly personal service and reasonable prices.  My Father and I went there a couple of weeks ago for dinner and I realised that though I have been there many times I have not posted about it, so I thought it was about time.

To start with we ordered shrimp pakora $11.95

These were lovely fresh plump shrimp marinated battered and deep fried they were very tasty, crisp and not greasy at all.

Suika West Broadway

I have actually been to this restaurant several times for lunch as it is close to work and very good.  This week it was a colleagues birthday, so 6 of us went for lunch to celebrate.  This is not your normal Japanese food that I am familiar with, so I struggle a little with menu not really knowing what things are.  But I have always been pleased with what I received even if sometimes as was the case this time a little surprised.

What ever you order the meal always starts with a green salad served family style in a big bowl.

This has a very tasty dressing, I have to say one of my favourite things to order in a Japanese restaurant is the green salad as the dressing is usually very good.

One member of our party ordered a sashimi rice bowl

This as the name would suggest was chopped up sashimi served on top of rice, I did not try any of this but he seemed very happy with it.

A couple of people ordered the spicy shrimp on rice.

Nu restaurant

I work on South Granville in Vancouver. There are a plethora of good restaurants for lunch and dinner, from extremely expensive to extremely cheap, of almost every ethnicity that you can think of. Last Tuesday I had an appointment after work, that meant I had to grab a quick bite to eat before going.  I did not want to spend a lot of money or time, so I decided to go to Nu restaurant. This little hole in the wall take out is owned by the same people as the upscale "C" restaurant.

The interior is spare and simple as is the menu. They advertise that they provide modern, authentic homemade Greek food. The choices are basically souvlaki with a choice of several meats and seafood with a selection of 4 salads and 3 dips.

I ordered the lamb souvlaki with chickpea and mint salad along with greek salad.

Vij's Restaurant

I don't think that there is any doubt that Vij's is the best Indian restaurant in Vancouver, possibly North America.  When he first opened up 18 years a go, I would eat there a couple of times a week for lunch. The food was amazing and cheap and Vij was always there greeting and serving and generally making everyone welcome. I went to Vij's restaurant this week for the first time in a while and it was as good as ever, and Vij was as welcoming as ever. I am afraid I did not take many or very good pictures, due to not wanting to embarrass my son too much.

We arrived at 5:15 and there was already a long line up to get in, Vij opened the door at 5:30 precisely and we all filed in.  We got a table for three, but we were near to the last table seated, the remainder had to wait until we had finished!  You can not make reservations and this was on a Wednesday night, it only gets worse on the weekend, but if you are willing to eat early it is worth the 15 or 20 minute wait in line.

My Father and Son both ordered spiced duck breast with fennel seed curry.

This cost $28.00 but the duck breast was very large and meaty, in the picture above several pieces had already been taken off the plate.  The duck was char grilled and still rare inside with the most delicious curry sauce and potatoes underneath.  I was jealous as this was very delicious, but they shared with me.  The food comes in serving bowls and everyone is given a small plate, so sharing is definitely encouraged.

Poets Cove Pender Island

I just spent 3 days on Pender Island celebrating a friends birthday, I won't out her but it lets just say it was a big one.  I have known her for 30 years and it was an honour to be included in this small group of women to mark this milestone.  Part of the celebration was a trip to Poets cove resort and spa for a massage and lunch.

We were ushered into the spa area by a very friendly young lady and while two of us indulged in an hour long aroma therapy massage the other three went to the steam cave and hot tub.  Totally relaxed and refreshed we went to join them in the hot tub which is set in the rocks overlooking the Marina.  Due modesty concerns and possibility of blackmail I have no photo's of this very pleasant interlude. So instead here is a picture of the view from the Aurora restaurant where we went for lunch.

Since this was mid March and not on the weekend only one restaurant was open and it was not very busy.  In fact I was a little concerned that the food might be a little tired and not too fresh because of this, but I was proven completely wrong.

The lunch time menu is casual and includes mostly sandwiches and burgers, which I understand are normally part of the menu of Syrens bistro which will reopen for the season on April 1st.

I ordered the home smoked salmon sandwich with salad (with a promise of some stolen fries from a friend)

A little education and a little Society

Saturday morning I woke to the worst of Vancouver winter weather, pouring rain, gray almost dark skies and not an end in sight.  So My friend and I decided to make the best of it and drive in to town and visit some of indoor sites that we had not seen before.  The weather was starting to clear up a little (only drizzling not raining) as we pulled up to the Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC.

My Father had been here when it first opened and raved about the building and the whale skeleton.  He was right it is a beautiful simple building and what greets you at the entrance is an enormous blue whale skeleton.

It is very striking and in a small theatre they have a movie telling the story of finding and restoring this amazing exhibit.  We joined a tour that just happened to be starting as we arrived and spent a very interesting 40 minutes learning a little about the collection and evolution.  I would highly recommend a visit especially if you are at all interested in the story of how we ended up where we are today.

Having thoroughly enjoyed our visit and with our brains brimming with interesting facts and information that sadly would vanish with no trace in a couple of weeks, we decided to go to Yale town for drink and some appetizers.

It had started to rain again and we stumbled in to Society this restaurant is part of the glowbal group of restaurants specializing in childhood-inspired menu. Pizza twinkies, cotton candy, meat loaf and fried chicken. The drink special was a strawberry mojito with cotton candy on top.

We were sitting up at the bar (as the restaurant was fully booked) and the couple sitting next to us not only let me take a picture, but even gave us a little cotton candy to taste.  Who doesn't want a little cotton candy as an appetizer. We on the other hand were very boring and ordered a half litre of very nice red wine.

Greens Restaurant San Francisco

If you are going to San Francisco, as well as wearing some flowers in your hair, you really should go to Greens Restaurant for lunch.

I say lunch because the view of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge is priceless.  I went to Greens for the first time about 20 years ago, and I have been back every time I have been to San Francisco. We went on Saturday lunch time and luckily we had a reservation, because even after all these years you still do need a reservation.

Greens Restaurant is located in a converted warehouse at historic Fort Mason only a 15 minute walk along the waterfront from our hotel adjacent to Ghiradelli Square. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were lucky to get a table right at the large window which takes up the entire wall facing the Golden Gate Bridge.

View from the table

Saturday and Sunday at lunch time the menu is in fact a brunch menu. Greens is a Vegetarian restaurant that serves creative vegetarian cuisine using seasonal organic produce. The restaurant maintains a close relationship with local farms and endeavours to serve fresh local and in season.

Lukes Corner Bar and Kitchen

I work on South Granville and have done for nearly 30 years, so I have got to know it very well and am on first name terms with many of the merchants.  There are so many options for eating out, it is only my wallet and waist size that stop me from eating at a different restaurant every day.  Lukes Corner Bar and Kitchen is situated on the corner of Granville and 14th.  This is a little further up than I usually get on my wanderings at lunch time so I am not sure when this opened, the last time I had noticed it was called the red door.

Any way we went there for lunch on Monday to welcome a couple of new members of our finance team and I was pleasantly surprised with the food.
macho chicken salad,   this was grilled spicy chicken with angry pecans chopped egg crisp salami-prosciutto and an avocado-rocket dressing

As usual I asked for my dressing on the side as I am trying to cut down calories and anyway I find often restaurant add too much.  This was a large plate and the chicken was freshly grilled and still warm. The salad was fresh and crisp with spicy pecans and crisp shards of prosciutto sprinkled through it.  All in all in very tasty fresh lunch.

Boudros San Antonio

We wanted to eat one meal sitting right on the river walk enjoying the bustle of all the people and the warm summer like evening.  I did a fair bit of research to find the right place as on our wanderings we had seen quite bit of rather bad looking Mexican food and really did not want sacrifice good food for location.  Boudros had come highly recommended both in a book that we had, as well as on the Internet. So with no reservations and high hopes we headed out.

Boudros by day

It does not have a large waterfront eating area and looked to be very full when we arrived, but we approached the waiter any way. He declared that he had a table for two inside, but when I said that we were willing to wait for one outside and asked how long it would be, miraculously a table for two appeared.  Feeling very lucky we sat down and ordered a glass of wine each.

It was very crowded and the waiter was making guacamole table side  for another table, but he was right next to me so I could see and smell everything.  And it smelt and looked very good.

It turned out that this was the house speciality and we had to order it as well, it was every bit as good as it looked.  After watching twice and asking some questions I pledge to try and replicate this guacamole for my friends back home soon!

La Villita and Guadalajara Grill

La Villita was in the guide books as an arts village just off the River walk, and sounded interesting so we went to check it out on our first day after visiting the Alamo.  The first thing was to find somewhere for lunch, the Fig Tree looked very interesting and very expensive, so we decided to try the Guadalajara Grill for some Mexican food.

we managed to get a table outside in the shade and the first order of the day was a Margarita my first of the trip.

This came along with some chips and salsa a pleasant way to start any meal.  I ordered pork tacos though that was not exactly what they were called.

The beans, rice and flour tortillas were fine, but the pork appeared to be cold roast pork cut in to cubes, not very tasty or fresh.  My husband ordered the tortilla soup.

This was very tasty and came with chicken, fresh fried tortilla strips, cheese, avocado and sour cream.  He thoroughly enjoyed this and had obviously made a better choice than me.

The Alamo and breakfast at Schilo's Delicatessen

The first morning in San Antonio we headed down river on the River walk to the downtown area, this is where the Alamo is, the number one tourist attraction in San Antonio.  As breakfast did not come with our hotel we were also on the look out for somewhere for breakfast.  We wandered for quite a while on the river walk, but it seemed that very few opened for breakfast, and there was not a coffee shop to be found.  After asking at the tourist bureau and turning down their first two suggestions of Denny's or Macdonalds we decided to try their third Schilo's Deli.

This was a couple of blocks from the Alamo and just 1/2 a block up from the river walk. When we walked in we realized this was just the sort of place we were looking for. It appeared to be an old San Antonio institution harking back to it's early German roots.

 Our coffee came quickly served in one of those thick white cups which always remind me of American diners.

My husband ordered a german sausage with scrambled eggs and grits, this was Texas after all.  The sausage was good and the eggs as expected, the grits were bland and unappealing.  But this is not the fault of Schilo's but the fault of grits which I am afraid I find bland and unappealing, I don't really like polenta either, it is something about the texture.