Afghan Horseman Restaurant: the first Afghan restaurant in Vancity

This was my first time trying Afghan food and I assumed it was similar to other middle eastern cuisine I've tried before (i.e. Lebanese, etc.). I was surprised to find out that it was middle eastern cuisine with a Greek twist to it. I believe this restaurant is the first Afghani restaurant that opened in Vancouver and it's been open for 41 years now. If they've been open for that long, they must be doing something right!

Maenam: pomelo salad for days!

I've heard of Maenam for a long, long time but frankly, I never understood the beauty of Southeast Asian food until recently. I think it's because I grew up eating JUST Korean food and I was very much used to the flavours and ingredients used in Korean cooking. Korean food is delicious but we don't use ingredients that are used in Southeast Asian cooking (i.e. coconut milk, cilantro, limes, lemon grass, curry leaf etc.). More recently, tried a couple of recipes with coconut milk and realized that it wasn't so bad. I also went to Laksa King a couple of weeks ago and tried laksa for the first time and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I've  heard that Maenam is Seth Rogen's favourite place to eat in Vancity (I may be completely wrong) but a couple of my friends did see him at the restaurant here and there. So when I saw Maenam on the Dineout list and I knew that it was my time to finally try it (not because of Seth Rogen). The lunch menu was only $25 so I booked a reservation and went on a Saturday at 12:30. It was empty when we arrived and we were provided with an option of ordering from the normal menu or the Dineout. The Dineout menu was basically 1 appetizer, 3 main dishes (one salad, one stir fry and one curry) from the regular menu. These dishes are normally $15-16/ dish so by choosing the Dineout option, we saved about $10. Unfortunately, the lunch menu did not come with desserts but they were on the menu for $3.  In the end, it would've been cheaper even with desserts to go with the lunch option versus. dinner.

I wasn't a big fan of these tables... and the restaurant was a lot smaller than what I thought! They had a beautiful bar and it was big enough to sit several people.

Torafuku : Worth the hype?

 This was my second time at Torafuku and I was excited that my friends wanted to come here for Dineout 2016. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed for the first two weeks of January so my friend had to make the reservation through e-mail. Those without reservation were turned away. Apparently no one picks up when you call even when they are open. So if you're still wanting to go.. e-mail them.

Another interesting thing was their water! They put a cinnamon stick in it so it had a hint of cinnamon flavour which I actually enjoyed.

Dine out at Brix

I looked at this year's Dineout menu and one place I really wanted to try was Brix in Yaletown.  I also wanted to go to The Refinery but it was booked on the night we were planning to go.

For more information on Dineout 2012, please click here

Brix is a restaurant/ wine bar with modern cuisine using local ingredients.  It's located in a 1912 Heritage building in Yaletown.

  When we got there, it said at the front "Please come through the curtains".  At first we were super confused but when we open the curtains, it led us into the courtyard. The courtyard seemed like a place out of a fairytale with candles everywhere!  It's a perfect place to take your loved ones.

You can sit inside or outside.  The courtyard has a roof and a lot of heaters so you don't have to worry about getting cold.

There were two choices on the dineout menu.

Menu A and Menu B.

Menu A was $38 and menu B was $48.

We decided to get Menu A. 

We all got prosciutto wrapped scallops, barbeque duck fried risotto, scallions, crisp garlic and shallot for appetizer, and my friends both got 5 oz Alberta beef tenderloin, pomme puree, olive oil poached asparagus and I got mushroom risotto for main.