Yaletown Brewing — Yaletown Brewing was mid-day snack stop plus a chance to sample their beer. I had the raspberry wheat and Leandra tried Downtown Brown- both were enjoyable but not particularly memorable, especially the raspberry whose flavor was not as intense as the color. We also tried their short-rib sliders on pretzel rolls (below) that were tasty. Overall, we found Yaletown to be fine but overpriced for pub food.

note the pink of the raspberry beer in the background

Steamworks — We met Leandra’s elementary school boyfriend Amin for a beer at Steamworks. The Frambozen was their raspberry infused beer, and while better than Yaletown’s it still wasn’t remarkable. Leandra tried the Heroica Oatmeal Stout and found it flavorful and strong.

Jules Bistro — We found Jules Bistro on Yelp due to it’s close proximity in the Gaslamp district, and our hotel made us a reservation. Arriving a few minutes late we were still seated next to an open window with a nice view of passers-by. The restaurant has a comfortable old charm to it and feels like a French bistro. Leandra choose the moules frites (shellfish was a recurrent choice for Leandra on this trip) and I had the entrecote with a peppercorn sauce and frites. Both were served in under 15 minutes and, thankfully, delicious. Somehow we still had enough room to try the melting chocolate cake.

Our bill was clothespinned to an old postcard, a unique touch. All in all would certainly recommend Jules to other visitors.

Jules

(so tasty)

Commune Cafe — We first tried to get a table at The Templeton, but after waiting 30 minutes without anyone in line ahead of us being seated and dealing with a huffy hostess who was no help, we gave up and tried Commune instead. We’re glad we did- Leandra’s vanilla bean latte pepped her up for the day, and our tasty breakfast kept us full until our late dinner on Vancouver Island.

BierCraft — We returned to Vancouver the night before our early-morning flight with enough time for a late dinner at Biercraft, known for their selection of craft beers (surprising, no?). It was quite crowded for a Tuesday night at 9p, but we were seated quickly and soon each had a Belgian beer in hand. I ordered the pork with quinoa and Leandra ordered the half dozen local oysters. Both were quite flavorful, and Leandra *almost* ordered a second plate of oysters. Since both items are on their two-course prix fixe menu our server was gracious enough to combine our orders without being asked – a nice touch.