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Shady Island Seafood Bar and Grill

So, my first trip to Vancouver – and on the first day right after I got checked into my hotel, I found myself wanting seafood! Calgary doesn’t offer anything great since we’re not near the ocean, and the front desk agent recommended us to Steveston which really wasn’t far away at all! We parked our car and took a walk towards the wharf and saw a restaurant called Shady Island Seafood Bar & Grill. How bad can it be? There was guests in the restaurant constantly at the odd hour we were there… so, we walked in for a try! Right at the door, it advertised Award Winning Seafood Chowder, so I knew I was going to get a bowl of soup!

This wasn’t really a meal and more like a huge sampling snack! So, the first thing we ordered was Mama’s Seafood Chowder which was really delicious actually! It was creamy with quite a few chunks of seafood in the chowder!

Then, we also had some BC Crab Happy Cakes which was a plate of crab cakes with a roasted red pepper aioli and tartar sauce to dip in. The crab cakes weren’t the best I have ever had, nor were they the worst. They were decent, but they were filled with lots of crab meat inside – without too much binding agent.

Our main was the Seafood Melt which was a patty made with baby shrimp & crab with mayo on foccacia – then topped with mozzarella and probably put in the broiler to melt the cheese. It came with a huge bed of fries on the side – which we never finished. Out of the entire meal, and if I had to pick something I didn’t like the most – it would probably be this main. It didn’t taste like there was enough taste to it and it was rather dry.

To our main dish, we shared a side dish, the Lobster Morsels which was lobsters and scallops on a cast iron plate – so it was sizzling! This dish had more of an Asian flair to it as it was seasoned with basically ginger and soy sauce.

My overall experience was decent. The place was a little dark, but it was a gloomy day. The bathrooms were on the upstairs, and it was a tad creepy. The food was quite good, so we left quite satisfied! We definitely can’t get anything like this back home, so we got nothing to complain about!

Shady Island Seafood Bar and Grill on Urbanspoon

Shady Island Seafood Bar and Grill

#112 – 3800 Bayview Street
Richmond, BC V7E5W3
(604) 275-6587
Steveston

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Radisson Hotel Vancouver Airport

We were invited to a very special wedding that took place in Richmond, British Columbia, and we wanted to find a hotel that was close to famiily, food, and other amenities. We found the Radission Hotel that was located at a perfect location – right at the intersection of No. 3 and Cambie Road. Right beside the hotel is the T&T Supermarket and behind that supermarket was another plaza Yaohan Centre.

We arrived into Vancouver quite early – around 10am, and got our rental car and decided to go and try to check-in before we go find some food. The front desk staff was extremely friendly and she made our check-in experience very memorable. She was also very knowledgeable and helpful when we asked her a few questions and recommendations regarding the local area!

We arrived into our room and we thought the room and hotel was beautiful! We had a room with a King Bed, with the sleep number system – which is something I really enjoy! There was a huge desk and lots of space in the room – complete with a small coffee maker and a mini fridge in the room, and a in-room safe in the closet.

The bathroom was large with again, tons of counter space! The bathroom amenities were quite nice as well – which is their line of products they use from other Radisson hotels. the bar bath soap is a massaging bar soap with a hint of almond scent. Their line of products was at a nice quality – even though I dug out my own products the second day – as my skin is more sensitive. My husband continued to use the Radisson products though – so you know he liked it! He did comment on the nice bath soap too! The shower doesn’t have a lot of pressure – so it’s a light shower. The water does get really hot, so that’s a nice treat! You don’t even need to wait a few minutes for the hot water either! The sink does drain quite slowly – so it’s important to turn the water off!

Parking at the hotel was complimentary to guests! We registered the car at the front desk during check in and there was no problem. There wasn’t a lot of parking in the front parking lot – but apparently there is an overflow lot which we didn’t have to use! Our car was left in the lot for the entire day for one of the days as we got picked up from another family member, and there was no problem with our car at all! Overall, the stay was really nice! The service was great, and the location was wonderful and convenient! We will probably be staying at this hotel when we visit again!

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The Naaco Food Truck – Calgary

So, I’ve been eying The Naaco Truck since the day it came on to the streets of Calgary! They were at the Calgary Stampede but I really wanted to eat “Stampede Food” at there as I knew I would try The Naaco truck any other time! Well, I found time to try, and it just happened to be at Calgary Farmers Market during their first annual Sundown Chowdown which was a great event! I would say it was really successful!

The line ups were insane the entire night!! We had some friends lining up for Fries and Dolls and after about 90 minutes, they were told that food truck ran out of fries, but they were going to replenish the stock soon… so, they waited a total of 3 hours for some fries. Then, some other friends waited in line at Cheezy Bizness, which was a little worse really! It was about a 2 hour wait just to put in an order and another 45 minutes before we got the product! Luckily, the line at Naaco Truck wasn’t as bad. It was about an hour wait to get to the front of the line and about a 10-15 minute wait for the food. I think it was very successful knowing that other trucks weren’t as quick – and worse, other trucks ran out of food!

We ended up ordering a Beef Vindaloo, which was really good, made with tons of fresh ingredients such as their fresh vegetable slaw! This package of good food came on a piece of naan, topped with braised beef, feta, sprouts, yoghurt chutney and of course the vegetable slaw! This treat is also called the Gutsy Goan, and we were expecting more heat to it, but it is catered to the average crowd which may not take as much heat in their food.

To kick up the order up a notch or two, they did have some flavour salts that you can sprinkle on top! By the time I realized it existed, I felt bad for taking up the counter space and wanted to move out of the way so the next customers could get their order – so I didn’t get a chance to try either of their Inca Fire salt or West African Citrus spice salt…

The other order that we had was their 5 Spice Pork, which is kind of strange as I don’t think of pork with I think of “East Indian Culture or Cuisine”, but it doesn’t matter! The other thing to me was, 5 Spice is more “Chinese Asian” cuisine, but I ordered it anyway! This was really delicious and I’m glad I ordered it!! In fact, I recommend this! It’s a naan topped with shaved pork, fresh veggies slaw, sprouts and apricot tarragon chutney! The mixture of sweet and savoury is undeniably delicious! I love the braised pork alone or together with the naan taco!! I will definitely be back to the Naaco truck again!

The Naaco Truck on Urbanspoon

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Double Zero Pizza

I’ve been on a pizza craze lately, and so we met up with some friends downtown to try Double Zero Pizza which is located across the street from Holt Renfrew. The environment of this restaurant is really warm, inviting and romantic. I really enjoy this pizza place, as everything we ordered tasted fantastic! The cost is on the upper end, but it’s decent for the quality and the location of this this restaurant.

Once we were seated, we were greeted really friendly and a bottle of water came to the table. The bottle looks spectacular and it tasted pretty good too! It’s a neat touch – creative and memorable!

We ordered a bunch of appetizers to share and we really enjoyed, and we ordered 2 appetizers! We tried their Tuna Crudo fennel crusted ahi tuna, roasted tomato relish, arugula. This was an excellent appetizer, and the tuna was perfectly seared, and the perfect balance of the tomato relish! This appetizer is a great sign of what’s to come!

The other appetizer the table ordered is their famous Double “00” Meatballs made with a house blend of natural pork and beef, tomato gravy

We tried 2 pizzas from Double Zero, and the first one was spectacular! It’s their Speck Pizza which is a pizza made with smoked speck, mozzarella, arugula. This pizza is really interesting as it doesn’t seem like there’s anything holding the arugula down on the pizza – so it’s the first thing to fall off! It’s simple to pick it up and place it back on the pizza though! The speck was amazing – with a hint of smokiness, and a texture much like prosciutto, it was a perfectly made pizza that is unlike any other!

The other pizza we had was on the bottom of the pizza stand, so the picture was taken in the shadows – but it’s the Margherita Pizza which definitely wasn’t a lousy pizza! It was simple and perfect! This pizza is made of fiore di latte, basil, tomato sauce! Fiore di Latte is essentially delicious and fresh mozzarella!

At the end of the night, it was so much food that we were too full to order dessert!! It was a fantastic dinner which I loved, and I would probably need to return to eat their pastas and desserts!

Double Zero Pizza on Urbanspoon

Double Zero Pizza

751 4 St SW
Calgary, AB T2P1E3
(403) 265-9559

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GlobalFest 2012 – Finale

So, the last night at GlobalFest 2012 as it’s the finale! Without a doubt, there was the most people watching this event! The place was actually packed! We got there around 6:30pm and found a good spot. We went to grab some food from the One World Cafe and returned – and already chairs were set up in front of us and people around us!! It was difficult as it was us 2 saving space for 8 people – which ended up working well! We were on the South side of Elliston park this time, and relatively close up to the water – right in front of the OneWorld stage!

I really enjoyed watching the dances from Ukraine, as I spent the most time watching them! It was really fantastic and everyone looked so happy – both performers and audience! I know I had tons of fun watching them!

The song list for this evening were as follows:
Wake – Linkin Park
The end of the Doubs – Stefano Mocini
Sail – Awolnation
Little Motel – Modest Mouse
Sinking Friendships – Jonsi
Sweet Disposition – The Temper Trap
Midnight City – M83
Chasing Cars – Snow Patrol
Waiting for the end – Linkin Park
Amazing Grace – GlolbalFest 10th Anniversary Tribute

The End of the Doubs by Stefano Mocini and it’s got vocals to it. I did find the firework presentation to this song kind of boring at first, but it does get better! It was the most “boring” display of the evening, and it was still very eventful – so altogether, it was a fantastic finale!