Cactus Club (web site) is a chain of trendy, popular restaurants with great food, fun atmosphere, and awesome service.

Their downtown Yaletown location (357 Davie Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone 604-685-8070) is conveniently located in one of Vancouver’s most upscale and chic neighborhoods, a short taxi ride from any hotel in the downtown core. They also provide valet parking.

As an appetizer I enjoyed the Westcoast Pocket ($4.00, pictured below), which is an inventive creation that is made from sushi rice, salmon, Japanese Inari (bean curd wrapper), and is garnished with pickled ginger and Japanese masago. The Westcoast Pocket is one of my favorite menu items at Cactus Club and I seem to order one every time I’m there.

As a main course, I selected the 9oz Sirloin Steak (with four mushroom demi-glace: shitake, portabello, button, and crimini mushrooms, $27, also pictured below). The steak was juicy and tender – truly satisfying!

To finish this fabulous meal I enjoyed the fresh baked apple pie ($7.50, also pictured below). If by any chance you have some room left over for dessert, I highly recommend the apple pie! It was made with sweet and slightly tart ripe apples, and the flaky crust was heavenly.

If you’re interested in Live Jazz, be sure to check out their West Vancouver location (855 Main Street, West Vancouver, BC, phone, 604-922-1707) which features the Geoff Peters Trio on select Tuesday nights.

Westcoast pocket at Cactus club- like sushi but better! ($4.00)

Sirloin steak at Cactus Club (with four- mushroom demi glace) – $27

Fresh baked apple pie at Cactus Club ($7.50)

The Sandbar (web site, 1535 Johnston Street, Granville Island, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-669-9030) is an upscale, trendy seafood restaurant on Granville Island with waterfront views. (Granville Island is an arts, culture, and food mecca in the centre of Vancouver, just across the Granville Bridge from downtown Vancouver.)

I tried the Linguini Vongole, which was made with fresh clams, garlic, olive oil, and parmesan (pictured below, $14.95), and this dish was frankly one of the best clam linguinis I have ever tasted. Sometimes the juice from the clams can make the pasta soggy, but at the Sandbar, my pasta had the perfect texture and the clams tasted great with the combination of garlic, olive oil, and parmesan cheese. 

We also tried one of the signature appetizers, the Wok Squid ($8.50, also pictured below) which was a level above the usual calamari you’ll find at most restaurants around town. We were given chopsticks for this dish, and the squid was pan fried in a light batter with chilies, garlic, cilantro, and ginger. Very tasty!!

Linguini Vongole (with fresh clams, garlic, olive oil, and parmesan) $14.95

Wok Squid appetizer at the Sandbar restaurant (with chilies, garlic, cilantro, and ginger for $8.50)

(for interested camera buffs, I shot the first photo above using candlelight, with my Canon Digital Rebel XT, a Canon F1.4 50mm lens, at ISO 1600, 1/25 sec. and F1.8. I shot the second photo at ISO 1600, 1/30 sec. and F2.2. I had to take quite a few shots because the candle was flickering a lot, casting a different light every second. It so happened that I got a couple shots that I liked. We were sitting in the lounge at Sandbar and there were a number of TV’s surrounding us that were tuned to the sports channels, and these were also casting a variable light on the food. In this situation, with such unpredictable light, the trick is to just take lots of shots and then by chance you’ll get one you like. (I took 18 shots of the pasta and 7 shots of the squid.) I also calibrated the camera’s manual white balance setting by taking a picture of a white piece of printer paper, held up near the candle on the table. For another photo that I did in candlelight, please check out Stephos Greek Restaurant on Davie).

Milestones Restaurant (web site, 1109 Hamilton Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-684-9111) offers contemporary Pacific Northwest cuisine in a trendy, upscale atmosphere. Pictured below is the Seafood Fettucini ($16.99), which was really yummy! More photos: Part 3, Part 2, and Part 1.