Cactus Club is a trendy, fun restaurant chain with outstanding service, cool decor, and great food. I made another visit to Cactus Club in West Vancouver (web site, Park Royal Village, 855 Main Street, West Vancouver, BC, phone, 604-922-1707) and I enjoyed the “Hawaiian tuna poke” (pictured below, $11.50), which their menu describes as, “sashimi grade ahi tuna, prawns, tropical fruit salsa, fresh avocado, macadamia nuts, sesame ginger vinaigrette & crispy wonton chips”. This dish was a refreshing combination of flavors and quite delicious. Cactus Club is also famous for their steaks, seafood, and specialty drinks.

Cactus Club’s West Vancouver location features a live jazz band, the Geoff Peters Trio, playing on selected Tuesday nights. Please call the restaurant to confirm about the live music. (More info: view part 1)

Simon Fraser University (web site, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada) has a student-run pub (the “Highland Pub”) in the centre of campus, that serves a good selection of food as well as the usual drinks. The pub’s web site (click here) is the place to go to check out the upcoming events, which include live music nights, promotional fund-raisers, and televised sports events. The menu has been recently revamped to compete with trendy spots such as Cactus Club, and the prices have been lowered as well. I enjoyed my prawn curry rice bowl (around $8.00, pictured below) which was quite tasty!

Prawn curry rice bowl at the SFU Pub

The SFU Jazz band performing at the SFU Highland Pub.

Another visit to Zachary’s on Robson (121 Robson St., phone 604.605.1472), and I enjoyed the Beef Stroganoff (around $12, pictured below), as well as the Calamari (deep fried squid) which was served with tatziki sauce (pictured below, around $7.00). More photos: Part 1, Part 2

Zachary’s is located a stone’s throw away from BC Place Stadium in the Hampton Inn and Suites Hotel. It’s also very close to Queen Elizabeth Theatre and GM Place Stadium.

Beef stroganoff

Calamari