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).

Prima Taste Restaurant (570 Robson St. Vancouver, BC, Canada, phone: 604-685-7881) serves authentic Singaporean cuisine in a modern, stylish Robson street location, just east of the Future Shop on Granville and Robson. I enjoyed the Seafood Platter ($17.95, pictured below) which included a wonderful selection of seafood including prawns and squid, as well as spring rolls, rice, a tasty Singaporean condiment served cold (that I think was made of chilis), and a garnish of carrot.

A reviewer on Dinehere.ca writes (click here for review link):

I had lived in Singapore for 30 years before transplanting myself to Vancouver. For years I craved the savoury and south-east Asian flavors that uniquely belonged to Singapore, because of its modernity and ability to fuse cosmopolitan flavors. Anyway, I got really excited when I heard that this new restaurant opened. I had been disappointed many times by establishments flaunting the “Singapore” brand of food […] TEARS ROLLED DOWN MY CHEEKS and dripped into my soup as the first spoonful of Hainanese Chicken Rice entered my mouth…My only complaint is that the condiments of chilli, dark soy and ginger were too little.

Singaporean Seafood Platter ($17.95)

Prima Taste interior – the decor is sleek and modern

Another closeup of the Seafood Platter ($17.95)

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.