I made another lunch time visit to Zachary’s on Robson (map, web site, 121 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC, phone 604-605-1472) and was very pleased with the food this time. Apparently the restaurant is under new management, and I think the chefs are really on the ball now.
(please read to the end for the free coupon info)
Their menu is almost the same – a selection of pastas, sandwiches, burgers, and fancier items such as seafood, steak, and appies, priced quite reasonably for the downtown neighborhood. (The restaurant is part of the Hampton Inn and Suites hotel and is immediately across the street from BC Place Stadium.)
I had ordered several different cream-based pastas from Zachary’s on my previous visits, but for some reason the flavors of the sauce seemed a bit off, maybe a strange aftertaste -it’s hard to describe, but I can tell when a restaurant does its pasta sauce right. This time I was extremely happy to take the first few bites of my gorgonzola penne ($12.95, pictured below) and finally encounter a pasta sauce that frankly delighted my tastebuds with honestly good and sophisticated creamy sensations. The aftertaste was clean and faded away quickly, preparing my palate for the next bite. I made it through the entire, generous dish without getting tired of the ingredients, which is a problem I run into when eating huge amounts of pasta at places like Antons in Burnaby. (Well, thinking again, it was good except to maybe the third or second to last bite, but this was pretty much the best as I could expect for a pasta costing $12.95).
Gorgonzola Penne Pasta from Zachary's on Robson ($12.95)
Free Coupon! I was given two coupons by the restaurant in my bill, and I would like to give them away to some readers of this site who are interested in trying the food. The first coupon has $3 Off Lunch (“Join us for lunch and receive $3 off per couple or $1.50 for a single lunch, Valid until June 30th, 2009”), and the second coupon has $5 off dinner for a couple on one side, and on the other side, a pre-game event prime rib dinner special for $13.95.
Please note that in order to get these discounts you’ll need to get the actual coupon from me, since they won’t accept printouts. If you’d like a coupon, please email me (geoff@gpeters.com) and first person who emails me will get one coupon. Second person will get the other coupon. You can pick the coupon up from me in Yaletown.
I’ll post a message here when the coupons are gone.
Pacific Centre Mall in Vancouver (map, web site, 700 W Georgia St Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone 604-688-7236) is an upscale shopping destination in Vancouver’s trendy downtown core. Close to the Vancouver Cruise Ship Terminals (Canada Place), the business district, Vancouver Art Gallery, and a short walk from Robson Street, Pacific Centre is a place to browse the latest fashions and then indulge in some good eats at the food court.
The mall closes at 9pm most weekdays, and if you head down to the food court at around 7:30pm or 8pm you can fill up on some really cheap food, such as the “buy one get one free sushi” (pictured below) or a heaping plate of Chinese fast food for $5. The sushi pictured in the video below was $10 for everything, including all-you-can-drink Miso Soup.
The food court has sleek, modern decor with cool lighting and funky chairs.
Ebi (shrimp) sushi, salmon, tuna, and unagi (BBQ eel) from Pacific Centre mall food court.
The food court has sleek, modern decor with cool lighting and neat chairs.
California Roll from Pacific Centre food court in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
I made a visit to the Vancouver Flea Market (web site, map, 703 Terminal Ave. Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604.685.0666) and tried their cafeteria.
In case you haven’t heard of the Vancouver Flea Market before, here’s a little description from their web site:
The Vancouver Flea Market is a thriving environment where all kinds of dealers and sellers propose their treasures. Here you will find all kinds of things from collectibles and memorabilia to everyday household items as well all the things you thought you didn’t need!
The market is a 5 – 10 minute walk from the Main Street Skytrain station. Admission to the market is only 75 cents, and that lets you into the main showroom where you can browse all the tables of endless cool stuff (I picked up a piece of fools gold crystal for $8), and into their busy cafeteria which serves filling, hot American-style food at very low prices.
Speaking of the food, we tried the Traditional Burger (an amazing deal at $3.85, shown in video below) and the T.O.C. Omelette ($4.50, also shown in video below), which was a 3-egg omelette with tomato, onions, cheese, toast, and a small coffee. I opted to get an apple juice instead of the coffee and it only added about 40 cents to the price. The food is quite similar to Denny’s restaurant but is cheaper, and the atmosphere is not as fancy as Denny’s.
