East Garden Restaurant (map, 2888 Belmont Avenue, Victoria, BC, Canada, phone: 250-598-1232) is a Chinese restaurant hidden away in a residential neighborhood in Victoria, near the Hillside shopping centre.

The restaurant is very popular for take out and is a local favorite. The restaurant has a large, bright and well-kept dining area that would be suitable for large groups, families, or friends looking for casual dining. We ordered the Dinner Combination for Two, which was around $15 each and also included rice and soup (items pictured below).

The waitress kindly allowed us to substitute some dishes in the combination at a small extra price. I thought the food was really tasty, as well as generously portioned. Our total bill before tip (but including tax) was $33.99, which is quite reasonable considering how many dishes were included. We had lots of food left over, almost enough for another whole meal!

(For a photo of the exterior of the restaurant please visit Tourism Mall.)

(above) Won ton soup at East Garden restaurant

(above) Chinese Beef and Broccoli from East Garden restaurant in Victoria.

(above) Chow Mein noodles from East Garden restaurant

(above) Deep fried prawns and pork from East Garden Chinese restaurant

(above) Breaded chicken with peanuts

Taking the ferry over to Victoria is a popular day trip for tourists to Vancouver. And for some people, a ride on BC Ferries is inevitable, whether it is to attend school at UVic, visit family, or simply return home. In my case I was going over for a vacation, which also involved performing in a piano concert (click here for free recording of my performance in the concert).

Naturally, during the 1.5 hour ferry trip, I got hungry. There are several food options available on BC Ferries, one of which is the Pacific Buffet, which BC Ferries describes as offering “elegant ocean-view dining on sailings from Vancouver to Victoria and features a wide selection of hot and cold items”. The buffet costs $16 to $21 depending on the time of day.

The line up for the buffet seemed long, so I headed over to the main cafeteria, which is branded as “White Spot”, a popular chain restaurant with several locations in Vancouver. The ocean-going version of White Spot has a simpler menu, but still has some attractive choices, such as the Roast Chicken with fries or Caesar salad, various burgers, salads, or their signature entree, the baked maple-glazed salmon ($11.99, pictured below).

The salmon was surprisingly good, and unlike some restaurants where the actual product looks a lot different from the picture in the menu, my salmon looked very similar to the enticing poster-sized photograph at the cafeteria entrance. My only problem was that I was really hungry, and I could have easily eaten two orders of scrumptious salmon. Maybe next time I’ll try the Pacific Buffet!

(above) BC Ferries Salmon Entree ($11.99)

Beatty Street Bar and Grill (765 Beatty Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-688-3504) is one of my coworkers’ favorite lunch spots for Friday afternoons, and it’s also a great place to grab a beer or some food before (or after) a BC Lions football game at BC Place Stadium or a Canucks hockey game at GM Place. This restaurant / bar is located very close to both stadiums, and is decorated with sports memorabilia. The many TV’s tuned to the sports channels make it easy to keep an eye on the current games.

The Beatty Street food menu is fairly basic, but quite well executed, with daily specials such as Fish and Chips on Fridays, a soup and sandwich special, burgers, pastas, and the usual appies. Prices for lunch are in the $10 to $15 range, which are quite reasonable considering the downtown location. I especially enjoy their pastas, such as the Chicken Pesto Pasta ($13.99, click here for photo), and the Prawn Linguini ($14.99, pictured below). The Prawn and Mussel Linguini was prepared in a simple way, with a basic tomato sauce, lots of yummy cheese, several prawns that were hidden throughout the pasta, and some mussels which I quickly devoured. My only suggestion for this dish would be to add even more prawns, but I was quite satisfied regardless.

This restaurant is located in the Georgian Court Hotel, a popular downtown Vancouver hotel for tourists and business travelers alike. For some more photos of the Beatty Street Bar and Grill please view Part 1.

(above) Prawn Linguini pasta at Beatty Street Bar and Grill ($14.99)