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.
Ridge Gardens Chinese Restaurant (map, previous review, 3113 Arbutus Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-736-7006, fax: 604-736-5231) offers Chinese food delivery in the Vancouver area, as well as excellent banquet meals for large groups choosing to dine at the restaurant.
My family always goes there for big get-togethers and it is always a marvellous feast that satisfies everyone. This time, I brought my video camera along and took a video of the dishes as they arrived (see player below, or click here to view on Youtube). Because of the low light the video is kind of grainy, but you can get the idea!
Prices are affordable, within the $15 to $25 per person for a large banquet (or slighly more depending on how many crabs and seafood items you order).
Below I’ve also included photos of the crab and chicken hot pot that I took in my previous visit (see Part 1 of my review).
Chinese style hot and spicy crab from Ridge Garden Restaurant in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Chicken and black fungus hot pot from Ridge Garden Chinese restaurant in Vancouver, BC, Canada
Urban Thai Bistro (map, reviews, website, 1119 Hamilton St., Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-408-7788) is one of my favorite places to go for lunch in the Yaletown district of downtown Vancouver.
The restaurant has some great lunch specials which are $8.00 plus tax and tip, and include a salad, spring roll (with sweet plum dipping sauce), and a main course (such as a Thai curry dish) served with rice. Pictured below is the dish I ate, the pork with red curry paste, bamboo shoots, bell peppers, basil and coconut milk. It was really delicious!
The restaurant offers vegetarian versions of some of their curries, with Tofu instead of the meat, and they were also able to accomodate the special dietary needs of a person in our group requiring gluten-free foods. (For more information about Special Dietary Needs and restaurants in Vancouver be sure to check out Food Vancouver).
