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.

Section Three (web site, 1039 Mainland Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone 604-684-2777) is a trendy, funky restaurant in Yaletown with eclectic decor and a tempting menu with Pacific Northwest fusion cuisine. The restaurant is open late and has live DJ’s in the evening, as well as a popular patio in the summer.

I ordered the lunch special, a truly marvelous chorizo sausage wrap (pictured below) that was served with my choice of soup, salad, or fries for $7.95 (I picked the salad). The wrap was really good, much better than I expected, and I loved the combination of colorful ingredients that accompanied the sausage.

The restaurant is currently featuring a special menu for the Dine Out Vancouver event that runs until February 3, 2008 (view event website at Tourism Vancouver). Their Dine Out Vancouver menu is a complete three course meal that includes a soup or salad to start, a steak, chicken breast, or pasta as the main event, and fresh berries or chocolate cake for dessert, all for $25.00 (before tax, tip and drinks).

Chorizo sausage wrap served with salad for $7.95 (lunch special)