Inside Vancouver

Vancouver’s Chinatown Night Market gets a makeover

by eliannalev in Family Friendly on April 8, 2013

When Ken Tsui decided to take on the revamping of the Chinatown Night Market, he was clear in his vision: It had to be its own thing. While he enjoyed spending time at other night markets, like the gigantic one in Richmond, he was confident and determined to create something unique to Vancouver. Set to re-launch in May, the Vancouver Night Market will be an event that not only celebrates the richness of Chinatown and traditional Chinese-style markets, but will also incorporate distinctly Vancouver culture that can’t be found anywhere else. Continue reading:
Vancouver’s Chinatown Night Market gets a makeover

Bittered Sling Bistro

by Shawn Conner in Food & Drink on March 25, 2013

The Keefer Bar’s Danielle Tatarin at Bitter Sling Bistro Jan 24 2012. Robyn Hanson photo

One of Vancouver’s most charming and most unique food-and-drink events, the Bittered Sling Bistro series, is back.

Now in its third season, the food-and-cocktail pairing is not only a treat for foodies and cocktail lovers, it’s also a competition pitting some of the city’s top mixologists against each other as they push the boundaries of Vancouver’s cocktail culture.

Hosted at Legacy Liquor Store (1633 Manitoba) in Olympic Village, Vancouver, the dinner party is hosted by award-winning mixologist Lauren Mote and Chef Jonathan Chovancek, who together own and operate Kale & Nori Culinary Arts, a catering and events company. At each Bittered Sling Bistro, guests are seated at a long table, which encourages sociability. The food-and-cocktail pairings, meanwhile, spark lively conversation.

The 2013 series began March 6, but the series continues bi-weekly until Oct 23 (the next one is April 3). Read on to see what’s in store, and what you can expect.

Continue reading:
Bittered Sling Bistro

Forage brings sustainability—and a little bit of Main Street—to Robson

by Shawn Conner in Food & Drink on November 19, 2012

The savoury clams at Forage Restaurant. Photo credit: Robyn Hanson

A new restaurant on Robson is making efforts to be one of the most sustainable in the city. That, along with a cozy and intimate atmosphere and creative menu items, make Forage more like a place you might find on Main Street in Vancouver than on the busiest shopping district in the city.

Forage, which opens Tuesday Nov 20, is located in the Listel Hotel. The privately-owned hotel, one of two Listels in B.C.—the other is in Whistler—has been christened Vancouver’s “most artful hotel,” owing to sculptures, paintings and other objets d’art in the lobby, halls and rooms. The Listel is also notable for its association with the Vancouver International Jazz Festival; since the fest’s beginning in 1986, the hotel’s former restaurant O’Doul’s had been a hub for musicians and fans.

Continue reading:
Forage brings sustainability—and a little bit of Main Street—to Robson

Vancouver’s Best Yakiniku Japanese BBQ Restaurant? You make the call

by Remy Scalza in Food & Drink on September 5, 2012

Photo credit: Rickchung.com | Flickr

Vancouver is justly famous for its sushi, with hundreds (if not thousands) of restaurants around the city. We’ve also got plenty of izakayas, the Japanese-style pubs that became popular in the late 1990s. And we’re no slouch when it comes to ramen restaurants, which serve exclusively the popular Japanese noodle soup.

But I was surprised to discover another Japanese import in the city last week: a yakiniku barbecue. In yakiniku-style restaurants, diners cook up raw, bite-sized chunks of marinated meats and veggies over a grill built right into their tables. It’s an interactive, hands-on form of dining, quite similar in many respects to Korean barbecue (a controversy rages to this day about whether the practice originated in Korea or Japan).

Considering how fun the experience is (and how tasty the results are), I was surprised I hadn’t tried a yakiniku restaurant in Vancouver before. I know there must be a bunch out there, but they don’t get much attention.

Do you enjoy Japanese yakiniku barbecue? Do you have a favourite yakiniku restaurant in Vancouver? Let us know below.

I’ll start things off be describing my first yakiniku adventure in downtown Vancouver. Continue reading:
Vancouver’s Best Yakiniku Japanese BBQ Restaurant? You make the call

Top 5 Artery-Busting Foods at the PNE Fair in Vancouver

by Remy Scalza in Food & Drink on August 22, 2012

Photo credit: tormentalous | Flickr

The PNE is in full swing once again, delighting crowds with the usual assortment of hair-raising rides, barnyard exhibits and, of course, the most decadent food imaginable.

This year, there are some new additions to the deep-fried smorgasbord at the fair, as well as many favourites from past years. Without further ado, here are the Top 5 Artery-Busting Foods at the PNE. Hope you’re hungry.

Do you have a favourite PNE snack? A deep-fried, sugar-coated delight you enjoy just once a year? Let us know below.

Deep-fried Kool-Aid at Granny’s Foods: If the PNE has taught us anything, it’s that anything can be deep-fried – even Kool-Aid. Syrupy juice concentrate is battered up, then fried in boiling oil and coated with sugar. No nutritional value whatsoever and absolutely delicious. Continue reading:
Top 5 Artery-Busting Foods at the PNE Fair in Vancouver