New Restaurant Friday: Rain City Grill-Vancouver, BC

Happy Monday all!!! I am getting a late start today. This weekend the hubby and I were busy, busy on date nights and just spending time together and with the teenager so I wasn't on the computer too much...which honestly was fine I was feeling like I needed a technology hiatus!

Anyway...I wanted to give this review it's own post because as you all know we typically do "New Restaurant Friday" where we pick a new restaurant somewhere in town and see if we can have a new favourite! The past couple of weeks we have actually been going back to some favourites so we haven't been trying anything new. But, since I am doing the 21 Day Sugar Detox, I was looking for something a little more paleo friendly. This definitely was! Here is some info about it:

Rain City Grill is located in Vancouver, BC. It is about a 20 minutes walk from us. It is in what is called the "West End" neighbourhood, where as we live in the "Coal Harbour" neighbourhood. This place was much nicer than I had anticipated. We went at 5pm when they opened for dinner and were extremely casually dressed (jeans, t-shirts, nice shoes...decent, but had I known we probably would have dress up a bit more). Also, make sure to make a reservation. I was also a bit ticked that we weren't offered the "Dine Out" menu, I didn't realize it was available until after we had placed our order and heard the hostess ask someone if they also wanted the "Dine Out" menu. Since we had a child with us it would have been nice to get a prix fixe price.

Everything was very good and we even go to try something new-Cornish Hen! We were a bit disappointed thought because we checked out their menu online and they are listed as having a Wagyu Beef Burger, but apparently they hadn't had that since the summer. So I think I should take the time to mention their menu does change weekly as it is a "farm to table" restaurant so all the food is local.

So, here we go. We started off with some bread. It was quite delicious. They brought butter that was very soft (this is a pet peeve of my husband when we go to a restaurant and get cold butter that can't be spread so they got about a million points here in his book) and some sea salt.

I started with the butternut squash soup.

It said on the menu it came with a walnut and apple cookie. It was just crumbles of a cookie in the bowl so that was a bit disappointing as I was looking forward how that would taste! It also came with some apple panna cotta, which was amazing. It was all quite delicious and not terribly sweet like many places tend to make butternut squash soup. 

For my main I had the salmon. It was quite delicious and cooked very well. The mushrooms it came with were delicious, and it had a little sauce with kale underneath. The little squares on top are cauliflower puree hash-browns! I didn't realize it until my very picky husband said they tasted "vegetable-y" lol It was very delicious I still have half of it in the fridge to munch on for lunch.

This is the teenager's plate. I will say she was quite disappointed by the serving size. Being american and used to eating at such places as Chili's and Red Robin the fact this didn't take up even half her plate was a bit surprising to her. But, she ate most everything. She loved the Cornish Hen. She said it just tasted like chicken, but was tinier. It came with some tasty fingerling potatoes.

The husband had a rib eye. It wasn't overly expensive for a local steak. Places such as Coast & Black & Blue charge much, much more and theirs are not local to my knowledge. He got a delicious sauce over it and it came with fingerling potatoes. They were delicious. But, being picky he didn't care for them and instead opted for french fries. They came in a super cute tiny looking fry basket. I forgot to get a picture unfortunately.

We really enjoyed the restaurant. I can't say the wait staff was very friendly. They were helpful, but not very friendly. They also didn't seem to pay a whole lot of attention. I ordered a drink and then the husband and daughter ordered cokes and I asked the waiter to put Grenadine in their soda's and somehow my drink came with grenadine. I know they were going to be busy that evening and we didn't have a reservation but in that case they should have just said they couldn't seat us, where as it almost seemed like we were more of a bother. It was a bit frustrating. I do hope to go back and try their brunch or lunch menu and hopefully get a better feel of the place.

If you have been to Vancouver or live here and have a suggestion of a place we should try please fill me in!!!

What we ate in Whistler

When we were in Whistler last weekend we obviously had to eat! So, this is dedicated to all the delicious food we had that evening! If you want to read my reviews of each place you can visit my yelp page and check them out. 

On our way out of town up to Whistler we stopped in Squamish at The Campfire Grill. We ate here once during the summer and it is the best BBQ we have had outside of the southern U.S. It really is amazing. The guy who runs the kitchen (maybe the whole place, not real sure) definitely knows what he is doing...everything we get, every single time is amazing. If you are out that way you HAVE to stop there, seriously, it's not optional! LOL During the summer you can eat outside and view the mountains, during the fall this time we ate in doors and the have an adorable wood burning stove, it is all quite charming.

Our view out the window, the hotel is a little weird,
but very small town. Love the mountains though!

Inside of the place, it's small, but that's why we like it!

View out the back windows, that is where we ate this summer when we came.
They also have heaters set up all over the place, it can get
chilly in there so I was glad for the heater!

The food! It was so delicious! There was chicken, pork, brisket, ribs, roll, sweet potato mash, and mac and cheese. I wish the mac and cheese was creamier, but I honestly think that is the southerner in me because no mac & cheese I get up here is like southern mac and cheese.

The first place we ate at Friday night was 21 Steps. They managed to seat us right away, service was meh, they definitely could use to work on that, food was average. It was good, but not spectacular. Definitely a great place to chill and enjoy company. What drew us here was the meal special they had going on it was 3 courses for $35...really great for around here!

Starters:

Caprese Salad

Some sort of chicken wings, sadly the sauce they put on them was cold so we only ate one.

Mains:

Fish, veggies, and rice & beans

Ribeye...was cooked just right, the husband enjoyed it!

 Desserts:

Espresso Mud Pie! I pretty much just ate the giant chocolate chunks!

Creme Brulee

 The next morning we ate at the restaurant that was in our hotel, Elements. When we got on the wait list they said it would be about 10 minutes, but I don't think we waited quite that long. Once we were seated the service seemed a bit slow, but our waitress was great and given how busy they were I don't think it could be helped. Of course we hadn't eaten since about 6pm the night before, so by 10:30 am we were pretty much ready to chew our own arm off, 5 minutes felt like an eternity! So, take my "slow" service comment with a grain of salt ;) Here's the food...

Coffee! This was very, delicious. I find it hard to find
good coffee at restaurants, this was delicious though!

Crab Eggs Benedict. Can you believe that in my 32 years of life this was the first time I had ever had eggs benedict! It was a great first time!

Saturday night we dined at a great little Italian place called Quattro Formaggi. This was pretty good! Servings were HUGE!!!

Giant pepper grinder (found a Winners lol) highlight of the night I think! ha!

Spaghetti bolognese with beef and lamb and herbed ricotta. It was really good, but a huge portion, I only ate about a quarter of it! 

Fried polenta with fried prosciutto. Quite tasty!

Sunday for breakfast we went to Wildwood Cafe, but I didn't get any pictures, it's right near the village so it is worthwhile going over there. Prices were good and the food was amazing! Sunday night we ate dinner at Ric's, it was awful. I do not at anytime recommend eating there. Service was terrible, food was terrible, just an all around terrible time. Completely disappointing.

However, just around the corner from Ric's is Bear Foot Bistro. Inside they have an Ice Room with many, many different vodka's for tasting! The guy running it is a gem...full of personality and ready and willing to answer any and all questions. This was my favourite vodka of the night....

My favourite vodka at the tasting in the ice room. It tasted like pie, I thought apple but others thought cherry and pecan, we all felt like it tasted different...it sure was good though!

To wrap up this spectacular weekend I ended it with nothing but...

These are from Crepe Montagne . They were amazing and a great way to end the weekend!

All the places, with the exception of Ric's were really good and we would definitely dine at them again if we visit Whistler again.

Traveling to: Austin, TX

Austin, TX

Img Credit

Austin is a great city. It's actually a "city within a park", at least that's what it says on all the signs throughout the city. Austin is the 7th city my husband and I have lived in since we got married *way*  back in 1999. It was a fantastic place to live. It is a large city and many people say "Austin" but really they are referring to North Austin which, in my opinion, is way too far out to actually be Austin proper. I worked in North Austin for a while and it was quite a drive each and every day. I wish we had known more about the city when we moved there as hubby's work was also a 30 minute drive, mine was easily 45 minutes on a good day!

But, traffic aside, if you live in Austin proper and pretty much stay in that area there are some amazing things to see and do, which is what I want to put together and address here. If it is bold and in coloured text, it is something that you honestly cannot miss. Seriously, it will be one of your biggest life regrets ;)

Attractions

Barton Creek Green Belt

This is a great hike! It’s really beautiful. It is a swimming hole if it’s been raining so wear a bathing suit as there is nothing like swimming in a natural watering hole!!! It was mine & Cammi’s favorite place to go & I’d run often there with a girl friend.

Mount Bonnell

When we moved to Austin everyone talked this place up. When I was done I was a little underwhelmed as I expected the “climb” to be much tougher!  Of course I was also coming off a half marathon & P90X bender so my expectations for difficulty were pretty high! But, it is a beautiful walk & the view you get at the end is spectacular! It’s a must see for sure! It's also a great place for exercise because of the stairs.

Barton Springs Pool

Go swim at Barton Springs Pool.  It’s a beautiful area of town & there is a lot of history around the pool if you go to the link it will tell you all about it! The pool is cold though, so be prepared!!! There is a concession stand within the park.

Zilker Park

A super cute park with lots of walking trails. Barton Springs pool & Zilker Botanical Garden a located within the park. There is a fun train you can ride through the park. The train is good to do once your legs are tired from hiking all the trails! This park is also a great place to play catch, frisbee, or fly a kite! There is also a frisbee golf  "range", so if you are into that I hear it's a great course!

Austin Nature & Science Centre

Austin Nature & Science Centre is within Zilker Park as well. It's a fantastic place to take the kids, my daughter could spend hours upon hours there! The last time we were there they had a dinosaur trail that you could walk and then at the end there were sand pits the kids could dig in & "excavate" different bones! There was also a wildlife refuge in the back area. It was interesting to read about how the different animals came to live there and why. Inside there is lots of info about the earth with live in and space, fossil's, etc. It's very much a hands on place and will keep everyone busy for hours on end!

Zilker Botanical Garden

Zilker Botanical Garden is a just off a main street. The first time we went there I was very skeptical because I figured our experience would be marred by all the traffic. However, when you walk in it's like being in a quite perfect oasis. It's almost like you temporarily leave the city. The different sections of gardens are amazing. I don't want to give any spoilers because seeing them all for the first time absolutely makes the whole experience.

Lady Bird Lake

This is a nice later afternoon walk or great for a nice run! While you are there see if you can check out the bats under the Congress Avenue Bridge. If you catch them on a day they fly out at sunset it's a pretty spectacular sight!

Texas State Capitol

You never want to miss seeing a capitol building. We've lived in several different capitol cities and we always go to check out the capitol buildings and learn more about the history of the city. If you can catch the legislature when it's in session it is well worth it! The experience will never be forgotten.

Texas State History Museum

Visiting the State History Museum was an incredible experience. I got to spend it on a field trip with my daughter's class. Their exhibits are constantly changing and are really well done. After, if you get the chance to walk around the University of Texas the campus is beautiful!

Hamilton Pool

This natural pool with a little waterfall I hear is well worth the visit. We never managed to make it there, sadly, but if we ever make it back to Austin it is at the top of my list of things to do.

Sixth Street Bars & Clubs

If you are going without children, are visiting friends/family and can get out without the kids, going down to Sixth Street is worth the adventure! We loved to start at a little dueling piano bar then hop from club to club after that. It is a bit of a younger crowd down there, but that is what we liked about it! After a certain time in the evenings the street itself is 18 and up only, so be forewarned if you are downtown with the kids!

Alamo Drafthouse
The Alamo Drafthouse I feel is an Austin staple. I didn't put it at the top of the list though because when it comes down to it, it is just a movie theater. If you are going for an extended stay, I'd say a week or more it's definitely worth going and catching a movie there. If you are just going for a long weekend skip it and get it next time. It's a cozy theater, where you can dine while you watch. You can catch new releases or old flicks that are set to a theme such a heckling, sing alongs, etc. It's a super fun environment and the food kicks ass! Getting a $5 milkshake is 100% worth it!!!

Food

Regular Food

The Salt Lick

The Salt Lick is a can't miss place. Seriously, you cannot miss it, I can't stress this enough! Also, I linked to the Driftwood location, only go to that location. It is the original location and I think serves the best food and has the best ambiance. Hubby tried the location once in North Austin, and another friend tried the location at the airport and both agreed those locations are just not the same as Driftwood. Driftwood is also a bring your own beer/wine place. Don't be shy, people often bring in whole coolers full of beer/wine. There is also a winery on site that they had just opened when we first visited there in 2010.

Rudy's Bar-B-Que

This is a staple chain around Austin, not sure if they are anywhere else in Texas. But, the brisket is out of this world! If it is your first time there, tell them as they have a really special tradition they do for newbies. I didn't get it as hubby knew I'd be super embarrassed but I've seen it happen to other's and it's worth the experience. Highlights: Mr. loves the extra moist brisket, I prefer the lean. The creamed corn is a must have, you'll never taste anything like it again in your life. Also, just because you're having bbq you should grab a banana pudding-delish!

Perry's Steakhouse

There are quite a few really good steak houses in downtown our favorite was Perry’s. They had a live piano player & sometimes a bassist. The patio is really nice in the evenings, even in the summer. 

Dessert

Amy's Ice Cream

Amy's  is a local place that has grown by leaps & bounds. The quality has not decreased with the success of the business, however. If anything the flavours have become more unique and delicious. Plus, since we lived there we were able to get a stamp card to earn free ice creams and whatnot. Customer service is always top notch and the employees have their own unique personalities they are allowed to share with their customers.

Gourdough's Doughnuts

These are the most insane doughnuts you'll ever have in your life! I promise you, you will never have anything like it again in your life. Also, you can go and split one with someone, but I recommend getting your own & trying one another's that way you can try a couple of different ones. Each one has it's own unique combination. You'll never finish a whole one, so don't even try, but they are absolutely worth every. single.  penny.

Coffee/Adult Beverages

Mozart's Coffee Roaster's

Seated right on the water, Mozart's  is one of the few coffee shops with a view this amazing. It's a great place to go sit, have a coffee, and read a good book or get some work done. There are two restaurants on either side that are quite delicious as well, but I don't know the names of them. 

The Oasis

The Oasis is an Austin staple I think. It sits on Lake Travis and has amazing views. When we learned we were moving to Austin, the first thing my Aunt did was go through her Southern Living magazines & sent me a small article on the Oasis and how wonderful this place was. I'll be honest if you go, just go for drinks. The food was mediocre, at best. BUT, the sunset's are truly amazing!!! Going for a beverage & maybe an appetizer is a very good idea to get to sit outside and enjoy the view.

Texas Wine Trail

When you think of Texas you certainly don't think of wine! But, Texas does have it's own Wine Trail right down in the hill country! I did not have the pleasure of enjoying it as my Mr. doesn't drink and I feel bad dragging him on excursions where he's basically there to be my driver. But, the hill country itself it beautiful so if you have a group that is super into wine tasting taking a tour of the different wineries in the area is a great idea!

North Austin

Originally I wasn't going to include things to do in North Austin, but I do realize if you are going to visit family many of them may not live in South Austin or Downtown like we did. Most of our friends actually lived in North Austin, so I figured I would highlight a few of the things we did while there.

Round Rock Donuts

My Mr. tells me these donuts are pretty amazing. People used to bring them into his work frequently and he loved them. So, if you're in the area...get some!

Rock'N River Family Aquatic Centre

I took the kiddo here once. It was super fun, she really enjoyed it. They have all kinds of fun stuff for people of all ages. The water slides were her absolute favourite.