The Teahouse

Date Visited: Lunch on Friday Jul 3, 2015

Company: Walk-in for 4

This summer during the Canada Day long weekend, I finally got a chance to visit +Will's hometown of Vancouver, BC. I was especially excited to try their restaurants as I was told they had amazing fruits and fresh fish! We tried to plan our days and meals accordingly to try some local spots as well as his family's homemade dishes. We had one morning designated for tandem biking around Stanley Park and co-ordinated with his brother Sam and girlfriend Beth to meet-up for lunch at The Teahouse, situated within the park. They were hanging out the beach just down the road from the restaurant and we were lucky that they spotted us biking up a large hill to get to there. 

We didn't have a reservation so they had to give us a buzzer to wait for a table as it was really busy. Luckily, the view and surroundings is beautiful to check out while you wait. We got a table about 20 minutes later and I have to say that the decor inside is equally as beautiful... There were a ton of windows to bring in light and even a sun room section of the restaurant. Teahouse would definitely be a good way to describe it or even like a fancy garden party, the crowd was on the older, well-dressed side. 

To start, we got some non-alcoholic drinks as they sounded really good. I can't exactly remember what I got but it was a Strawberry and Pineapple drink rimmed with Cinnamon. It was so refreshing and delicious, +Will wanted to order his own after he tried mine.

We were also given some fresh bread to start which was great because we were starving after a morning of biking. We also saw that they had a Charcuterie Board on their specials menu and decided to have that as an appetizer. It came with some mustard, salami, prosciutto, pickles, mustard, and crisps. Everything was delicious and had it's own character. The mustard was a big hit and the meat was extremely fresh. The crisps had some raisins to give it some flavour.

For my main, I couldn't decide between the Salmon Burger or Caesar Salad, I knew I wanted to try salmon since I hadn't yet while in Vancouver. In the end I went for the Salmon Caesar since I knew I would get full from the starter and drink. Sam got the burger so at least I could see what it looked like also. I was a bit surprised how thin the salmon was, especially on the burger, I thought it would be more like a steak. On the salad was fine since it is a lighter dish. The flavour really stood out especially with the way they cooked it, really crispy on the outside. The flavour of the dressing was on point as well and they didn't put too much on it. They left their leaves long on the salad which I do enjoy being able to cut them yourself with the fresh salmon.

Overall, a lovely lunch in a beautiful restaurant. Definitely worth the visit if you're planning a trip to the park and don't mind paying for a fancier meal.

Food: 4/5 - Extremely fresh, my dish was pretty simple though.
Decor: 5/5 - Loved everything about how this place looked :D
Service: 3.5/5 - Great service, pretty friendly waiter from what I remember.
Willingness to go back: 4/5 - Would definitely come back if I was in Stanley Park.
Overall: 4/5

Website: https://www.vancouverdine.com/teahouse

The Corner Place

Date Visited: Breakfast on Sunday Jun 21, 2015

Company: +Will

After an interesting night at the New Pornographers NXNE show at Yonge-Dundas Square, Will and I got up surprisingly early, hungry for some breakfast. Apparently it was too early for +Stuart, so we left him to sleep as we headed out to find a place to eat. I was around 10AM so I thought there wouldn't be a line at George Street Diner, but I was wrong. Next we went to try Le Petit Dejuner but it was randomly closed. We finally just kept on walking towards the St. Lawrence Market to try to find a place that was open. After passing the Jason George which wasn't open until 11AM, we came upon The Corner Place, somewhere I've never really taken notice of before. It was empty but they said they were open which was good enough for us. It was a bright and sunny day so we decided to sit on their beautiful patio overlooking the St. Lawrence Market.. 

Their board on the street advertised $3 Mimosas so we obviously had to start with one of those. They were a pretty good deal for the price, it was served in a champagne flute filled to the top and I've paid much more for a mimosa that size. It was delicious though which was most important of all. They had a lot of interesting options on their brunch menu, most containing a Mexican flair. I chose to have the Market Breakfast which was a Brioche with Peameal bacon, Fried Egg with Onion, Cheddar Cheese, Dijon, Tomatoes and Arugula. Our orders didn't take very long this early in the morning as the patio just started to fill up now. I loved the colours on the plate of my breakfast, it made me very excited to eat everything. The potatoes seemed pretty greasy but I like that they cut up bigger pieces of red potatoes. The brioche was quite the sandwich to try to eat, I didn't realize the egg was over easy so when I smushed it together, the yolk ran everywhere. I wasn't really expecting to get a sandwich in the first place when I ordered this but I was very happy with what I got, everything was cooked perfectly and good flavours. The fruits were a nice addition to have overall. 

I wasn't expecting much with The Corner Place as it was basically a last resort for brunch but I would definitely return! I was pleasantly surprised on how good our food was and at reasonable prices for the area.

Food: 3.5/5 - Lots of cool things to try here at good prices, especially drink specials!
Decor: 4/5 - Awesome patio for people watching.
Service: 3.5/5 - No complaints, really good.
Willingness to return: 4.5/5 - Definitely would come back for brunch or any other meal.
Overall: 4/5

Website: http://www.thecornerplace.ca/about

Burger's Priest

Date Visited: Lunch on Saturday Jun 27, 2015
Company: Take-out with +Will Ives

+Will, +Alex, +Brian, and I had plans to see Jurassic World on a rainy Saturday afternoon in the Entertainment District before heading to a Birthday BBQ for the evening. After meeting at Scotiabank Theatre and seeing that our showing was sold out already, we decided to grab lunch before catching the next show. Will remembered that a new Burger's Priest had opened up in the area right by the Burrito Boyz/Smoke's Poutinerie building so we headed in that direction. Will and I went over to get burgers while Alex went to get a burrito.
Will and I climbed the steps and entered new and shiny new Burger's Priest location complete with a flashy sign outside. It had ample standing room on brand new hardwood and limited tables around the perimeter of the space. We walked up and took a look at the menu for a bit, I was a bit confused on what The Option and The Priest were. Apparently, The Option is two breaded and deep-fried portabello mushrooms with cheese in the middle. The Priest is The Option + a Cheeseburger which is what I ended up getting with a few more condiments. We found a table to sit at to wait for our burgers to be made... timing was an issue due to our movie so we headed straight back to Burrito Boyz once we got our orders. Surprisingly, Alex hadn't gotten his burrito yet... I thought ours would take longer but it must have took about 10 minutes (seemed forever!).

I unwrapped my burger to see a monstrosity of a thing to eat, I was dumbfounded on how to even begin the first bite! Nonetheless, I went for it, and it was amazing... cheese oozed out of The Option like lava... what a sight. Bite after bite, more cheese kept on coming out of no where, it was heavenly for me. I was very impressed on how contained and structurally sound the option was, hardly messy! The cheeseburger part was simple but also delicious, it was incredible how great these two paired up together. We shared some fries from Will's combo and they were pretty good too. Very standard but I enjoyed the size and soft texture, not so much on the crispy side.

I think everyone should try Burger's Priest, it's definitely worth the $10 you spend on the burger. I can't imagine coming here very often unless I wanted to become obese so prepare yourself for it!

Food: 4.5/5 - Wish I didn't have to eat it in a rush so I could savoir each bite!
Decor: 3/5 - Very clean and fresh, not much decor going on yet though.
Service: 3/5 - Wait time was pretty standard.
Willingness to go back: 2.5/5 - Worth bringing noobies to try it but I wouldn't regular the spot!
Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://www.theburgerspriest.com/