Vy Eats in Whistler and Vancouver

Well, actually, Vy snowboards. But a girl's gotta eat as well, right?

I looove Whistler. I would move there if I could. I appreciate it so much more this time around, after having been to a few other mountains out west. As great as the others are, Whistler really is the complete package. Absolutely breathtaking.

Our first stop in Vancouver before the drive to Whistler was Japadog. Where we almost got a parking ticket because Tai forgot to shut off the engine of the ginormous truck we rented.

The very many choices at Japadog, including ice cream dogs, which I have not been brave enough to try.

Three kurobata terimayo dogs and one hot and spicy dog.

Close-up of the kurobata terimayo. I know, seaweed on a hot dog? But it works. And it's damn delicious.

 Close-up of the hot and spicy.

My black pepper fries. We also had the butter & shoyu fries (very buttery) and the shichimi & garlic fries (a hint of spiciness). The black pepper is really nice and subtle though.








After the drive, we were exhausted, so I had salad and the others had instant noodles. Not very exciting, hah.

Thursday we spent on Whistler. Peak to creek is the most numbing 4 mile trail I've ever experienced. Seriously, ungroomed trails get no love from me. But we managed to ride over 15 miles for the day, which is pretty good considering we got to a late start after getting our passes.

For dinner, with sore legs, we went into the Village to 21 steps, where there are 21 steps leading upstairs to the dining area. Not very original, I know. The restaurant itself was really nice and relaxed, perfect for our post-slopes, you're lucky I changed, not so polished attire.

Tai's still on his mussels kick, so we had them with the white wine and butter sauce. Pretty good. Even better that they served it with a good 7-8 pieces of bread, instead of the 1-2 toast points you usually get.

 Edmund's scallops and prawns.

Tai's ribeye - really good piece of meat and cooked very well. Huge though - I'm pretty sure we all had a piece and he still didn't finish.

Rosa's short ribs - good, but the ale used as a braising liquid left a pretty bitter aftertaste.

My boring Caesar.

And my crab cakes - decent. I've had better.



















Friday we were on Blackcomb, which is definitely more our style. Especially after the workout Whistler was, it was nice to be able to speed through wide trails.

Plus, I got to eat this for lunch:

Oh Poutine, how I have missed your cheesy deliciousness.

After 19.3 miles of riding and then driving back into Vancouver, we went for a no-frills and quick dinner at Hokkaido Ramen Santouka. I have yet to visit the one in Harvard Square, but the Vancouver branch was really solid. They're small, but very efficient. And thankfully we didn't have to wait more than 10 minutes to be seated (the line was well out the door by the time we left).

Tai's toroniku kara-miso ramen - I didn't try his broth, but that pork was really good, if on the salty side.

My shoyu ramen - I really enjoyed the noodles and broth, but gave my pork to Tai. Way too fatty for me.

Rosa and Edmund both got the char siu kara-miso. Rosa thought it was a bit too much meat, but I think they both enjoyed their ramen.

And gyoza, which is generally never outstanding and only memorable when it's horrible. This was not horrible.









Saturday was our day for eating and shopping. The day was supposed to start with brunch at Union, but that never materialized because the workers were really rude. We arrive 6 or 7 minutes before they opened at 10am, the front door was open, so we walk in. It's raining outside, and instead of saying something like, "Hey, sorry, we're still prepping for service, would you mind waiting for a few minutes" we are greeted with, "Guys, we're not open. We need ten minutes," as she motions us towards the door we just walked in from. No thanks. I'm not waiting in the rain. I don't need to be served, but I'd have liked the offer to let us stand inside while you dry your dishes for 5 minutes.

Instead, we headed over to Granville Island and inside their Public Market, where I proceeded to eat:

Double smoked sausage, egg and cheddar on a bagel - it lacked flavor. But it was filling.

Banana and nutella crepe - yum.











After roaming around Richmond Centre, we head over to Aberdeen Centre and eat some more:

 Milk tea and watermelon smoothie with grass jelly.

 Egg waffles.

 Curry fish balls.

 Scallion pancake.

Pork and cabbage dumplings.











And just a couple of hours later, it's time for dinner. We go to Ebisu on Robson, and it's that weird time of day between the after-work crowd, but before the big dinner crowd. The atmosphere was a bit weird, lounge-y but Asian hipster-ish with bitchy staff. Maybe typical for Vancouver, but my Bostonian self is just not used to that.

Seaweed salad - really good, but really small.

Toro inferno - this got torched tableside, which was really cool. But it was not as delicious as toro usually is, which was sad.

Lemon and pepper chicken wings - solid wings, crispy with good flavor.

 Sashimi platter - fresh, but really giant pieces.

Oyster motoyaki - this was beyond weird. Not bad, but more gooey than I thought it'd be? And so I really do think they need to serve more bread with it, because how else are you supposed to eat it?

 Beef tataki - also solid.

Volcano roll - unlike any volcano rolls I've eaten, but I liked it. I did not, however, like the mountain in the middle that was composed of starting to stale panko.

Takoyaki - really good, but really filling. Tai said they're similar to the ones he ate in Japan, which is a good thing, I would imagine.

Crunch and munch roll - honestly, I don't even remember this much. Probably passable. Apparently it didn't make much of an impression.


















And so ends my trip to Vancouver. So sad. :( Until next time, Whistler...