Vancouver - A gastronomic adventure - Part I

*lots* to catch up on, this last week has been way too busy!

So, last weekend was a long-awaited trip up to Vancouver - delightful as always. Obviously, we stayed at our fave hotel - Pacific Palisades where Vodka was treated like royalty - he even got his own doggy basket of goodies! :)

We've never really explored Gastown before, so Vodka and I wandered off to check out the oldest neighborhood of Vancouver - reminds me a lot of Pioneer Square - paved stone streets, some derelict buildings, but oozing old world charm. We hit this really fun restaurant/lounge - Chill Winston. They have a great cocktail list and some really fun food too - a thin-crust pizza with a garlic-chickpea base with cauliflowers, broccoli and onions - very different, very tasty. But the killer was the organic greens salad - one of the best I've ever had - the fig and grapeseed oil vinaigrette was fabulous.

And obviously, we hit Vij's for dinner! And it was divine, like always. Seriously, Vij's is the biggest inspiration for the restaurant that I hope to have someday. I love everything about this place - hanging out at the bar sipping a Mangalore (or my new fave - the Dark Army), nibbling on the delicious snacks from the trays that are constantly passed around, chatting with the staff there who are more than happy to share their incredibly imaginative recipe ideas, watching Vikram wander around his restaurant constantly checking on his guests. And to top it all, the food is *divine*. Like always, I ordered the jackfruit in the cardamom and cumin masala - this is definitely in my top 10 appetizers ever. And this time, we tried a new entree - zucchini koftas in a pomegranate curry - fabulous. And the laddoos were to die for - freshly made khoa blended with sugar and crushed almonds. *yum*