And while the residents seem liberal and relaxed, the place couldn’t really be described as entirely granola or anything.

This is a big plus in my books.

There are great places to get a glass of wine and appies, and the happy hours (I love happy hours in the States!) are totally worth the drive from the Lower Mainland.

There are some great places there. One of my favourites is the Dirty Dan Harris Steakhouse (“Dirty Dan’s”) – awesome happy hours. I’ve never actually eaten dinner here because the draw of the cute little upstairs bar (overlooking the restaurant) with the super-friendly bartenders is simply too much to resist.

Another fun place is Jalapenos Mexican Restaurant- check out the “Big Mama” margaritas! The patio is so comfortable on a good day and it overlooks the Colophon Cafe and the little grassy area where outdoor movies are shown in the summer.

Anyway, the Skylark…with walls covered in floor-to-(high) ceiling gold-framed mirrors, the decor is unique and almost chic without the place seeming pretentious (I still feel comfy getting away with that hoodie)(mind you, I pretty much always do).

Starting at 5:00 p.m. Monday to Thursday, they have these dinner specials for $8.95. I had pork medallions and they also offer spaghetti and meatballs and a few other things for this price (I can’t remember them all and, frankly, their website sucks and I can’t see the menus).

All told, two dinners and a glass of wine came to $22. Take that, Earls/Cactus Club/Moxie’s/whatever.

Located on Scott Road, the place has had some decent reviews… check out some of the write-ups on Urban Spoon. We thought it was nice that the owner responded personally to many reviewers’ comments, too. So to Hot Millions we went!

The storefront is underwhelming…but CLEARLY, ever so clearly, marked with several signs indicating “$8.99 for any size pizza.”

And yet I somehow ended up being charged $9.99…

As you can see,the flyer is pretty clear — up to 5 toppings, any size, $8.99. The bills clearly shows no more than 5 toppings for each pizza.

Anyway, the price isn’t my only beef…

I personally did not enjoy my pizza. The tomato sauce was acidic tasting, like it was cheap and not fresh or something. The crust was gross too…it tasted like whole wheat* (in other words, like blah cardboard) but it wasn’t.

I had bacon on it, which usually makes anything great. Let’s face it, bacon on ice cream, although unorthodox, would probably somehow manage to be delicious. But it wasn’t able to save this pizza.

“I don’t think it’s worth it” — quote from a notorious journalista

I would rate this pizza 4/10. 4 because it was actually sort of edible. I threw the last few slices away though…it just wasn’t worth ingesting those extra calories for something so unsatisfying.

Overall, blah. I won’t go back. I’d rather spend twice as much and get Panago.

Oh, but it was at least edible, and SLICED and didn’t have entire cloves of garlic on it…which automatically makes it better than the much-praised (undeservedly, in my opinion) Nicli Antica in Vancouver.

*One of my biggest pet peeves: people who think eating ‘whole wheat’ stuff is healthier for you…okay, yes, whole wheat is healthier than white flour, but I’m talking about ‘whole wheat’ stuff (note the quotation marks) — the white flour-based stuff that has colouring added to it…more common than many people think. Plus let’s face it… you want healthy, don’t order fatty pizza from a place like this. OH, and let’s not forget how gross whole wheat crusts taste. YUCK.

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” –Abraham Lincoln

I dunno, reminds me of Bao Bei…people seem reluctant to say anything bad about this hipster joint.

I’ll go back to make sure, but when I went, 3 of the 4 dishes I tried were completely devoid of flavour.

I guess the reason it surprised me is just that the place is sorta blah looking…just another suburban pub, complete with bad 90s decor and people dressed in just-a-few-years-behind fashion. (I’m not saying I’m any better.)

The Hoover burger is really juicy and yummy…it has bacon and cheese and the whole thing just works!

The fries are really good too. They are seasoned and crispy but soft.

If you can put up with the cheese factor (not the stuff on the burger), I highly recommend that burger!

Anyway, I was in Seattle last week and tried a couple places, including BOKA Kitchen + Bar. Really good happy hour here!

We tried a few things, including the BOKA burger (this is described on the menu as Painted Hill’s beef, Beecher’s cheddar, pickles, onion relish and truffle fries). Really tasty! It is regularly $15, but is $9 at happy hour, which is a great deal.

Source: Yelp.com, added by Jessa T.

And they come with truffle fries…oh man. They are called “the Dons’ truffle fries” and have truffle oil, truffle salt and parsley. SO good. I love the taste of truffles but find it is super easy to overdo it…it’s so heavy that unless it’s used really carefully, it can overpower, and even ruin, anything it touches.

The fries by themselves are $6 regularly and $4 at happy hour. Totally worth it! The truffle oil is nice and subtle, but unmistakable.

The pretzel bites (house made pretzels, Wagyu hot dog, German mustard) were okay…not sure about the Wagyu part because it just tasted like a regular hot dog.

The crispy kale with lemon zest and grated parmesan was really awful! Kale is supposed to be healthy but these were deep fried (totally destroying any healthiness and making them gross and oily). The parmesan just somehow made it worse! Ugh.

They taste much better made in the oven with extra virgin olive oil sprayed on them! MUCH better!

But overall, the place was nice and the happy hour was good. Oh, they actually have two happy hours, one before dinner and one after, so there is a choice!

Source: hotel1000seattle.com

Remember that fable? Nobody wants to be the first to say the emperor is striding around naked because they are afraid they are the only ones missing something, and feel obligated to agree with what everyone else is saying…

Okay, enough rambling.

Nicli Antica has been raved about for a while. The latest push I got to try it came from the Georgia Straight paper’s Golden Plates Awards, Readers’ Choice.

I was pretty excited about it. And as they say, pizza is like sex…even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.

I can officially say it is possible to eff up pizza.

How? I don’t know. I don’t even cook, and I can throw some stuff on a crust and have it taste good. Somehow my $60 lunch (no booze) ended up displeasing two of us at once.

On the plus side: the place is pretty nice inside…trendy, stylish, what have you. Which I think is the reason people somehow feel like the food is actually better than it is…maybe?

Photo source: bcbusinessonline

The appetizer was pretty good too! Burrata cheese with some yummy stuff to accompany it.

Photo source: gastrophoria.blogspot.com — this is NOT the actual one we ate. And it’s not an egg — that’s burrata cheese.

Since the appy was so nice, we can be forgiven for expecting the pizza to wow us.

Okay, first off, I asked how big the things were because I really just wanted to split one (costly). The waiter said they were too small to share. Uh, yeah…maybe if you are a grizzly bear. They’re pretty damn huge. Way to make me spend more than I needed to.

So that kinda bugged me.

Anyway…garlic. I’m personally of the opinion a little goes a long way. But…apparently this place disagrees because they somehow felt it necessary and/or acceptable to put entire CLOVES on the thing, without chopping them at all. Entire cloves!

Speaking of not chopping… the pizzas (which were like nine or 10 inches across or something) were NOT CUT!! No slices! We had to use knife and fork to cut through a very tough crust. I hurt my hand a little, I kid you not.

I had the pesto. It sucked, frankly. There’s no other way to deny it. It was bland and oily, and it was hard to manoeuvre around the garlic (did I mention there were entire CLOVES on it?).

My guest had something involving some sort of meat…the restaurant’s website is too slow right now to wait for the menu to load to refresh my memory. Anyway, he was really disappointed, and I ended up eating his leftovers. The pizza was so hard the next day I nearly chipped a tooth. Unreal.

So, gotta disagree with all the hype here.

Having said that, of course I’d give it another go…until then…blech.

PHOTO SOURCE: bcshellfishfestival.ca

Manilla clams, prosciutto, fromage frais tortellini with sardines, red pepper confit and chorizo emulsion

The Comox Valley will play host to the 6th annual B.C. Shellfish Festival June 15 and 16, sponsored in large part by the B.C. Shellfish Growers Association.

With the goal of marketing and highlighting B.C.’s shellfish chefs and farmers, the annual event also provides an opportunity for those in the industry to network and come up with innovative ways of marketing their wares.

The event also aims to raise awareness about the quality of the province’s sustainably-raised shellfish and increase consumer demand by interacting with the public.

“The whole idea with this thing is we want to promote B.C. products as much as possible,” said Matthew Wright, executive director for the festival. “We’re celebrating shellfish.”

Last year’s festival saw between 1,500 and 2,000 guests, and Wright said they are expecting more this year.

The two-day event kicks off with the annual Chef’s Dinner on Friday evening, where 216 lucky guests eat a five-course meal prepared and served outdoors by B.C. chefs.

“It’s a really high-end event,” Wright said.

This dinner takes place at the Comox Valley’s Filberg Heritage Lodge & Park on Baynes Sound, which Wright said is the “oyster-growing capital of Canada.”

The five courses each feature a different shellfish or seafood, with scallops, oysters, mussels, clams and halibut being served.

The chefs themselves will pair each course with a wine of their choosing.

Guests will have the opportunity to sample from a raw bar and try raw geoduck (a large, long clam resembling an elephant’s trunk, pronounced ‘gooey duck’).

The public is welcome on Saturday at a number of events at Comox Marine Park.

One of the highlights is the B.C. Oyster Shucking Championship event, which allows competitors to test the speed and quality of their shucking skills.

“They’re timed and then they are judged on their presentation,” Wright explained.

Other activities attendees can take part in are the Comox Valley Chowder Challenge and cooking demos that run throughout the day.

Wright said there will also be educational booths for people to peruse, including one hosted by Ocean Wise, a program put on by the Vancouver Aquarium to educate consumers about conservation and sustainable seafood.

Many of the dishes that will be served at both the public event and the Chef’s dinner have had positive receptions in the past, but Wright said there are definitely some stand-outs.

“One of the more favourite dishes on the Saturday has been the oyster burger.”

The festival might hold a few surprises for those in attendance.

“We may have sea cucumber,” Wright said.

The French restaurant, which has received numerous recognitions for being one of Vancouver’s most romantic eateries, will begin with foods from the Burgundy region. The menu will include seared scallops with Burgundy snail risotto, which sounds pretty amazing to me as scallops, risotto and escargots are some of my favourite foods.

Coq au vin will also feature, which is almost equally appealing.

The full course menu goes for $49 and if you want to pair each of the four courses with a sommelier-suggested glass of wine, that costs another $49.

According to general manager David Ferd, May will feature spot prawns paired with rosé from the Provence region.

The Bordeaux and Loire regions also get a chance in the spotlight over the next months.

October will feature wines for the Playhouse Wine Festival.

The year will end with champagne and truffles.

Although I’m a student, I refuse to starve… and will likely try one of the upcoming feature menus. However, I believe I will have to forgo the wine pairings.

Sigh.

This is CARPACCIO GOUGÈRES from the bar in Yew at the Four Seasons in downtown Vancouver. It looks delicious, no? Touted on the menu as consisting of shaved tenderloin, black pepper lime dressing and parmasan, it sounded promising.

However, like many things on menus everywhere, it sounded better than it was! The carpaccio was nice but somewhat flavourless (although after having the carpaccio at CRU restaurant in Vancouver, which is served with caperberries, truffle aioli, shaved parmesan and crostini, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to enjoy it anywhere else again). Oddly though, the lime dressing and parmasan had even less flavour.

One other strange thing about this place: the male servers all wear plaid shirts and jeans. I don’t know how I felt about it…was it casually stylish or a failed attempt at irony? It’s a mystery!

Apparently the Black Tusk Ale (made by Whistler Brewing) has won awards and stuff.

Pictured above is part of an enjoyable dinner at Bayou on Bay in downtown Bellingham.

This is a Creole/Cajun restaurant that always seems to be full of happy diners, and is attached to a nice little bar you can wait in (because there is often a wait for tables).

There is also an alleged oyster bar, but I haven’t actually walked around trying to find it. I can, however, attest that Bayou on Bay’s Taylor Pacific Oyster Shooters are fabulous…these are oysters in a shot glass with cocktail sauce and an optional shot of vodka (who wouldn’t choose that option?).

On the right of the above picture is a plate that once contained frogs’ legs…I was too eager to eat them so I guess I forgot to take a pic when they were first served. Tasty (tasted like chicken!) but the texture was different so I guess they aren’t for everyone.

I enjoyed them but my fellow diner thought said texture was a bit too much (I was, however, impressed with his bravery for trying them as I realize not everyone is like me in wanting to try everything I can). He also dislikes mushrooms for their texture, so maybe there’s a correlation there.

Directly in front of me was an etouffe (sometimes spelled/written as “étouffée”) . Étouffée is French for “smother” and refers to a Cajun style of cooking that involves simmering food in liquid. Etouffe is a traditional Cajun dish involving seafood served over rice. Bayou on Bay’s interpretation involves cream, crawfish, mushrooms and tomatoes.

I really like this dish (this wasn’t even the first time I’ve ordered this there) but my favourite etouffe had more cream and less tomato, which I ate at a dinner party served by someone who had recently returned from New Orleans.

Bayou on Bay’s etouffe is, like many of their menu items, served with warm cornbread, which is really nice to dip into the sauce if you happen to finish the whole thing (I can’t).