CA2011 - The Old Spaghetti Factory

Located in Gastown, 50 yards away from the birth place of Vancouver, The Old Spaghetti Factory that opened its doors in 1970, includes many authentic memories that was part of Vancouver as decorations into the restaurant.

 

 

Right in the middle of the restaurant is also the famous Street Car that was originally built in 1904. After working as a passenger car, travelling thousands of miles on Vancouver’s streets, the car was saved from destruction to be displayed at the restaurant.

 

 

Customers can even choose to dine inside the Street Car.

 

 

In order to stay “old”, their newspaper-styled menu also included advertisements for a $4 carriage, $3.50 wood box wagon, $1 corset, $1.40 leather shoes, and a $4.25 dress, all from the 70s.

 

 

After browsing through their interesting menu, we settled for their Clam Chowder, …

 

 

… Teriyaki Chicken Wings …

 

 

… Penne with Chicken …

 

 

… and the most unexpected, Red Thai Curry Linguine with Prawns.

 

 

Our dinner then ended with a serving of Spumoni ice cream each.

 

 

I really wondered if the restaurant was also known as “Old” back in the 1970s!!

 

 

The Old Spaghetti Factory
53, Water Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 1A1, Canada.
+1 604 684 1288
http://www.oldspaghettifactory.ca/

CA2011 - Trees Organic

Continuing on with our culinary tour of Vancouver, our next stop was at Trees Organic Coffee and Roasting House for their cheesecakes.

 

 

Voted as Vancouver’s best cheesecake, …

 

 

… the Orange Cream Cheesecake …

 

 

… is indeed one of the best cheesecakes that I have ever tasted!!

 

 

Trees Organic Coffee
450, Granville Street, Vancouver, BC V6C, Canada.
+1 604 684 5022
http://www.treescoffee.com/

CA2011 - Cupcakes

Globally recognized as the original cupcakes bakery, we decided to drop by Cupcakes for a little treat after our lunch at Japadog.

 

 

Offering 18 flavours of cupcakes in three different sizes, we decided to go for the mini Blue Hawaii and Koo Koo.

 

 

Can you guess which was which?

 

 

 

Cupcakes
797, Thurlow Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 3V5, Canada.
+1 604 974 1300
http://www.originalcupcakes.com/

CA2011 - Japadog

Started off as a street food vendor in Vancouver, Japadog had since expanded to three stalls and a storefront around the downtown area, bringing Vancouvens more hotdogs with a Japanese twist.

 

 

Offering a range of rolls with a mystery meat topped with Japanese ingredients, we decided to try their Okonomi and Tonkatsu hotdogs.

 

 

Much like the name implies, the Tonkatsu consists of a fried piece of pork in tonkatsu sauce topped off with shredded cabbage and mayo. The Okonomi on the other hand, was a black hog pork with okonomi sauce and bonito flakes. And we reckon that both tasted pretty good!!

 

 

We also tried their curry flavoured Shaked Fries, which was promoted as new. Other interesting flavours on offered included the Teriyaki, Aonori, Japa Shio, and Butter and Shoyu. Maybe next time.

 

 

But, if there’s a next trip back to Vancouver, I will definitely try their Sweet Dogs!!

 

 

Japadog
530, Robson St, Vancouver, BC V6B, Canada.
+1 604 569 1158
http://www.japadog.com

CA2011 - Empire Seafood Restaurant

With the typical so-called Chinese restaurants in the Western countries that prepare their food using instant sauces, the dinner that I had at Empire Seafood Restaurant was probably my very first proper Chinese cuisine in the American continent.

 

 

Among the dishes that we had during our visit included the lobster with noodles, …

 

 

… fried chicken, …

 

 

… and braised bean curd with eggplant, …

 

 

… before ending our meal with the red bean soup.

 

 

 

Empire Seafood Restaurant
7997, Westminster Highway, Richmond, BC V6X, Canada.
+1 604 249 0080

CA2011 - Gelato Express

Like the railroad restaurant in Kansas City, Gelato Express fitted out their gelato bar with train tracks too. But instead of trains serving us ice creams, it was real humans this time.

 

 

With 42 flavours of gelato and sorbet to choose from, it wasn’t an easy choice to make.

 

 

But the green apple sorbet did remind me of the desserts at Caveau.

 

 

Nothing better than having a delicious ice cream on a cool summer day!!

 

 

Gelato Express
4379, Gallant Ave, North Vancouver, BC V7G 1L1, Canada.
+1 604 929 6289