Tri-ty Cafe (map, 130 – 8100 Ackroyd Road, Richmond, BC, Canada, phone: 604-231-8997) is a Taiwanese cafe and bubble-tea house located near #3 Road and Westminster Hwy in Richmond. The restaurant has trendy, modern decor, and serves casual Taiwanese dishes as well as a selection of teas, slushies, ice cream or yogurt shakes, and lots more. I tried the Pudding Ice Cream Smoothie (pictured below, around $5) which was gigantic and the perfect sweet refreshing treat for a hot day. The ice milk that they use is like a slushie, and I was slurping on the cold pudding and ice cream so quickly that it gave me a “brain freeze”.

Cooking Nerd writes (click here for her review, with some more photos):

At most tables you get this little LCD screen that continuously flashes food porn a la Tri-ty, making you wish you had ordered that noodle dish instead of the one you did, then actually making you order more. This is a great tactic!

(above) Large Taiwanese style Pudding Icecream Slushie (around $5)

Shanghai 1949 (facebook, 1215 Davie Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone 604-699-8878) is a modern Chinese bistro located in Vancouver’s downtown West End neighborhood. It was almost 10pm on a warm Monday evening and I happened to be meandering around downtown with a friend, taking in the sights and sounds of citizens at leisure (the next day being Canada Day). The modern decor of this restaurant always intrigued me and we decided to pop in for a quick bite.

The 1949 Spring Rolls ($4.00, pictured below) were quite frankly the best spring rolls I have ever had. I believe they were made with pork, and were incredibly juicy.

The restaurant was all out of Cod fish, but instead the chef prepared a special Malaysian-inspired spicy Tai (snapper) fish, which was bursting with flavor and was quite a generous portion ($12, also pictured below). We also ordered a plate of steamed white rice ($2). Not bad for a late night snack, and I’ll definitely be back to try some of their other selections.

(above) Spring Rolls from Shanghai 1949 Chinese Restaurant ($4.00)

(above) Chef’s special Tai fish (also known as Snapper, $12) from Shanghai 1949 Restaurant in downtown Vancouver.

Nu Restaurant (web site, 1661 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-646-4668) is an award winning Vancouver waterfront restaurant with fabulous views and upscale, modern food. The style of cuisine at Nu has definite French/European influences and a west-coast twist. The decor is space-age, the atmosphere is light hearted, and the patrons are stylish!

Nu Restaurant is located right out on the water on the north/downtown side of False Creek, underneath the Granville Bridge. There is ample free parking available in a lot shared with the Stonegrill restaurant (another restaurant worth visiting which is located in the same building, one floor above Nu).

To start, I enjoyed the Pan Seared Bayne Sound Scallops, with pickled mushrooms, cauliflower puree, and red wine jus ($16.10, pictured below). The scallops were really tender and tasted great! As a main course, I tried the Roasted Cornish Game Hen with smoked local gouda, braised swiss chard, wild BC mushrooms, and rich chicken jus ($26.10, also pictured below). The serving of Game Hen was fabulous, with a really prime cut of meat and a great combination of the cheese, mushrooms, rich jus and vegetables. I finished off this fantastic meal with a Passion Fruit Sponge Cake ($7.90, pictured below) which was light and refreshing.

The restaurant also features live jazz for Sunday brunch with Juno nominee Melody Diachun. Please call the restaurant (604-646-4668) for more info about the live music, or check out their web site for their menu.

Pan Seared Bayne Sound Scallops ($16.10) at Nu Restaurant in Vancouver

Cornish Game Hen at Nu Restaurant in Vancouver ($26.10)

Passion Fruit Sponge Cake at Nu Restaurant in Vancouver, BC, Canada ($7.90)