4.49 Days in Vancouver
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
It was hot in Kansas City, like Africa hot and Vancouver was the embarkation point for a train to cooler climes.
Friday
7:05 p.m.
Boarded the SkyTrain (Canada Line) from the airport (YVR) to our hotel on the Waterfront. You can tell a lot about a city by how it transports you from the airport. In NYC they have the JFK Airtrain, which isn't bad except for having to pay two separate fares and transferring at Jamaica via a set of stairs because the escalator is broken (that is, when the entire train isn't). A fellow SkyTrainer mentioned that the Ben Gurion Airport train is similarly efficient. I replied, "I wouldn't know, as I flew into Israel on a Saturday."
If you take anything from this Report, when you enter the SkyTrain, move to the front of the first car and sit down for some great views of Vancouver and nearby mountains. At the second stop, I noticed out the front window a number of black bunnies frolicking. When Mrs. AAR asked me why there were so many, as I had done the research, I explained to her about the birds and the bunnies.
It was so obviously efficient that I didn't need to convince Mrs. AAR of its superiority to Uber.
9:11 p.m.
Per a Tony Bourdain recommendation, Japadog for a late night nosh. The staff was all Asian, which was a good sign, as were all my fellow customers until some guy from North Carolina walked in. The Kurobuta Terimayo was the best damn hot dog I ever ate: Kurobuta pork, teriyaki sauce, Japanese mayo, fried onions, seaweed, all for $7.15. The snap, the flavor, and the temperature were perfection. The owner, Noriki Tamura, moved to Vancouver from Japan in 2005 and opened up a hot dog stand without ever having cooked a hot dog in his life. He just kept making them until he got it right. Btw, Japadog is a portmanteau, nobody knew that until I pointed it out.
9:47 p.m.
Walked along the Canada Place waterfront, where I inspected The Drop and checked on the unloading of the GSL Alexandra at Centennial Terminal from across the Burrard Inlet.
Saturday
10:00 a.m.
Coffee at Slo. The minimalist interior, fluffy cheddar and chive scone, and people watching through the sidewalk windows made it a perfect way to kick off a sunny 22° C day.
11:03 a.m.
The 10th Top Attraction in Vancouver is the Vancouver Seawall and since it led to the 1st Top Attraction, Stanley Park, I was game. It's not the longest seawall I ever toured (like the one in Montevideo) nor the most musical (like the one in Zadar) but it was very nice. 25,103 steps that stimulated all the senses: Touch (the sun on my face), Sight (the Lion's Gate Bridge), Taste (a beer or four), Hearing (numerous Asian languages) and Smell (it was low tide).
Thought about making for the Hollow Tree which is a Western red cedar tree stump and a popular landmark in the park, but instead made for The Teahouse for a Parallel 49 Craft Lager and some edamame hummus. The server explained that, due to the obvious reason, there were no American spirits on the menu, and they were working with nearby distillers to come up with Canadian bourbon. There still were some American wines though . . . until they run out of inventory.
12:15 p.m.
The Stanley Park Brewing Restaurant & Brewpub for a Park Sesh Lager and conversation with two locals about the sandhill crane shirt I bought in Kearny, Nebraska. The place has a beer garden, which reminded me of Munich except for all the artificial turf.
2:49 p.m.
Lift Bar & Grill for a Red Truck lager, downtown views and then some very patient 3:00 pm happy hour "Shucker's Choice" oysters. Not sure what kind they were, but I'm quite sure the shucker chooses the best and freshest oysters available. The perfect accompaniment to a cold beer: a little salty treat that comes on its own utensil.
3:38 p.m.
Cardero's Restaurant is a large place surrounded on all sides by very large boats, with a guitarist singing the Eagles greatest hits. A place that might offer a $92 Dungeness crab or a $8.31 Wildeye Czech pilsner. I went with the latter and a little "Lyin' Eyes."
The cocktail menu looked very familiar, as it was the exact same one from the Teahouse. You see, they are both part of the Sequoia Company of Restaurants. I guess there are economies of scale to be had, though I don't know about you, but when I eat at a restaurant, I want to feel that I've just had a unique culinary experience, not just sampled a brand.
7:30 p.m.
The missus had a hankering for the best Pacific halibut in the Terminal City, which coincidently happened to be in the hotel lobby at Arc. The shrimp cocktail appetizer was underwhelming, and unfortunately, they gave us nine instead of six.¹ The halibut, which came on a delicious bed corn pudding and zucchini blossoms, was overprepared—as Chef Jacque Pepin and I say, "A young chef adds and adds and adds to the plate. As you get older, you start to take away."
9:30 p.m.
The Gastown Steam Clock is described as one of the few working steam clocks in the world. I marveled at the idea of a literal steampunk clock, until I found out it was electrically driven, with steam emanating from its top like a locomotive. I took a photo because everyone else was. I then waited around until 9:30 p.m. to hear and see it play four very shrill notes out of its steam whistle, then immediately felt like a fool for waiting and put my head down and quickly walked away, hoping that nobody saw me.
Sunday
10:09 a.m.
Guffo Cafe is an Iranian-Canadian coffee spot that made me a fine Americano to go with a Nutella pistachio croissant.
11:51 a.m.
After a 15-minutes free bus transfer, a $50 admission fee and a 20-minute wait in line, I walked across the Capilano Suspension Bridge that spanned the eponymous river. Capilano is Italian for "swaying rope bridge filled with tourists." While the swaying might give some motion sickness, I didn't mind as, it gave the impression of imminent collapse, which made it seem a little more dangerous and a little less tourist trap. On the other side was a 500-year-old Pacific-Douglas fir, a rainforest walkway and a banana slug exhibit.
2:37 p.m.
Stopped in at the Mounted Police Gift Shop for two official Royal Canadian Mounted Police postcards for two lucky Subscribers.
2:52 p.m.
Adjacent to the Waterfront Station, I inspected the Angel of Victory statue which was commissioned in memory of the 1,116 Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) employees who died in World War I. As similar statues allude to the sacrifices made by real men, this one is a little more literal as it shows an angel lifting a dead soldier to his final reward. Its craftmanship and message need to be appreciated.
3:14 p.m.
Back to Gastown for a Pourhouse lager Beer O'clock at the The Pourhouse Restaurant. We had the Confit Duck Poutine as nothing says Canada like poutine except for the Mounties, a Blackberry or a Canadian tuxedo.
4:04 p.m.
Executive time
7:00 p.m.
Guilt & Co, an underground live music bar, was hot! And by that I mean the air conditioning was broken. We had some excellent fish tacos, a cold Wildeye Czech Pilsner and bad live music: Too much talk and awful original showtunes. I felt like it was American Idol, with Randy Jackson saying, "Pitchy," Paul Abdul, "Keep practicing" and Simon Cowell, "That was terrible."
9:00 p.m.
We had our hand stamped before hurrying out, so we went back for some excellent New Orleans, Latin, funk jazz by the Tim Sars Quartet. The problem? There was some crazy Japanese guy, between us and Tim, dancing like he was having an epileptic seizure. He was so slight of build that I seriously thought telling him to "Sit the fuck down!" I didn't, not due to manners, but he was so tatted up, I thought he might be yakuza.
Monday
11:15 a.m.
Ferried over to North Vancouver to get some fine skyline views, a hot cup of coffee and a too fluffy oatmeal cookie at Shipyards Coffee.
2:31 p.m.
After ferrying back, then Ubered over to Mount Pleasant to see a different part of town. A part of town that is know for its craft breweries. Stopped in at Brassneck Brewery which doesn't brew a lager. I learned back in the beginning of the whole craft brewing craziness, that when a lager was unavailable, to go with a Kölsch. In this case, a Klutz! Kölsch.
The word Kölsch, of course, means "from Köln," with the word Köln being what German-speaking people call the German city of Cologne. Why English people call this city, that invented Kölsch beer, by its French name is beyond the scope of this post. Either way, Kölsch is a top fermented beer that tastes like a lager, which is a bottom fermented beer (and therefore more difficult to brew). It washed down a pleasingly piquant pot of pickles (golden beets, cauliflower, carrots & cuke).
3.13 p.m.
My Kölschtender then recommended we continue our brewery crawl at R&B Brewing where I had a Foino Lager, a West African grain lager. What is a West African grain lager? It tasted so bad that instead of finding out what it is, I should have made myself a note stating, "Don't drink West African grain lager!"² The kettle chips and garlic aioli did a fine job getting its taste out of my mouth.
4:30 p.m.
We had a 6:00 p.m. reservation at Blue Water Cafe, "Vancouver's top destination for seafood, cocktails, wine and unparalleled service" but we decided to show up early to ensure we ate the freshest possible oysters, sashimi platter and uni. Sat at the semi-circle sushi bar, where the hostess wanted to seat me at the end, up against the wall. Mrs. AAR, decided, "that nobody puts baby in the corner" and had them move us to the middle until we were joined by two other customers an hour later.
Tuesday
6:45 a.m.
In the queue for the motor coach that would take us deep into the Rocky Mountains via the Rocky Mountaineer.
Lodgings
When I walked in the door of room 1208 at the Fairmont Waterfront and saw a spacious, well appointed room with expansive views. I thought, Flack you've outdone yourself (again) before (reluctantly) remembering that Mrs. AAR had handled all the arrangements for this part of our Canadian getaway.
The next day, three cruise ships docked directly across the street, and now Waterfront Road W was swamped with tourists, all pulling their luggage behind them, and even though I was doing the exact same thing the day before, it was all a little annoying.
Endnotes: I wanted to provide some very specific details that, while vaguely interesting, did not contribute to the overall narrative. Perhaps just wait until the end to enjoy.
¹ I cannot understand how a chef at a fine dining restaurant can serve shrimp that are subpar. If they are not of sufficient quality, don't buy them and when a customer orders a shrimp cocktail, apologize and explain that that shrimp just weren't good enough. A win-win: you look like you care, and your customer doesn't get a crappy-tasting shrimp cocktail.
² I think I realized the problem. West African grain lagers utilize fonio, a drought resistant millet, instead of using a pleasant tasting barley.
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