Food food food ! Yummy

You know me, I love to eat ! So it's no surprise that I would write about food ! =P

And we've discovered some really good food since we've been here, so get ready !

First of all, for those who are still not in the clear, Vancouver and British Colombia are located on the West coast of Canada, which means it's real close to... Asia ! And many asian people are now living in BC (Good to know, Vancouver hosts the third biggest Chinatown of America, right behind New York and San Francisco). Everywhere, you can see, taste and smell the asian influence, but especially in the cooking : savors, meals, fruits and vegetables, even drinks. So, as true explorers, we couldn't miss the gyoza, dim sum, dumpling and other ramen ! And guess what, it was delicious !

We started easy, on our first night in Vancouver, with some delivery Chinese noodles and rice... But we were quite disappointed, it was bad ! We lost that battle, but the tasting adventure continues... We then had some really good and fresh Vietnamese style spring rolls (uncooked, as opposed to the Chinese style, which is usually fried and eaten hot) : shrimps stuffed for Ronan, and salmon for me, and with a really good peanut sauce that made everything even better ! And to conclude that meal, a couple of delicious donuts !!! So gooood !

Our next tasting brought us into Chinatown, where we discovered a typical Chinese cafeteria : loud, busy and not so well decorated. But the humongous dumplings we had there were to die for : picture in your head a round ball of rice bread, about the size of your fist, filled with pork meat and vegetables ! We also discovered some Chinese donuts that were quite good, not as sweet as the usual ones. And just walking around the neighborhood was awesome : so many smells, so many colors, spices everywhere and of course, some very old lady guarding the store !

Every day, on the road our bus took to drive us home, we drove passed a Gyoza bar... So of course, we had to try it out ! After a long day of walking around, I convinced Ronan that today was the perfect day for Gyoza... Turns out is was quite good but not as yummy as we'd hoped... We had a dozen of gyoza to share plus some chicken wings. They were okay, but that did not fill our stomaches... So we found a fun sports bar further down the street and decided to have a couple of beers instead !

If you've ever been to any big American city, you have, without a doubt, seen those hotdog stands on the corner of a street. Well there are some of those in Vancouver as well... but guess what... it's Asian style hotdogs ! The most famous is Japadog, serving hotdog with a Japanese twist. And it was quite good : a different sauce, some seaweed instead of onions, but a great taste to it... The perfect snack when you're waiting on your next bus !

On our last night in Vancouver, we went for Japanese food again, with some really good Ramen noodles ! A first for Ronan who had never tried it before. He got the ginger Ramen, where I picked the chicken and a side of salmon. And to top it all off, what better than a Japanese beer ? A great discovery for the big guy and an awesome night for both of us.

But one thing I insisted on having while we were in Vancouver was... an all American breakfast ! Lucky for us, there was a diner down the street serving breakfast all day long ! I went for the plate of pancakes with a side of bacon and some fries and Ronan went for a healthier choice with pancakes and fruits... and fries !!

Of course, not all of our meals were in restaurants, and, added to the classic sandwiches for lunch, we've had our fare share of home cooked dinners in Linda's kitchen : Carbonara pasta, Chili con carne, Croque-Monsieur...

And if you haven't read our previous post, you should know that we are now living in the beautiful home of a great cook : Sunny is so gifted and we are really lucky to stay with her and Keith ! And guess what... her Chinese roots are in most of her meals, which is absolutely awesome ! She is actually cooking next to me right now... ;)

And what would a great adventure be without a couple of drink in fun and original places ? As true Belgian people, beer always is our first choice when it comes to alcohol ! and why go for a glass when you can have a jug ?! Cheers folks !!!