Meat & Bread and Autumn in Vancouver

Just before Halloween, I finally took the time to head off to Gastown to drop by Meat & Bread.  This visit was highly anticipated because I came down about a month ago with my friends just to eat their sandwich and they were closed. It was a big disappointment for us but hurray for finally making it this time around! I've heard so many good things about this place, I was really excited.  You can visit their website by pressing here

The menu

The place was packed when we walked in, almost to the point where we didn't have a spot to stand. We thought we would have to take the sandwiches to go but the tables surprisingly cleared up quickly. 

What I really liked about their menu was its simplicity.  You have 4 choices to choose from. I've heard amazing reviews about 'the' porchetta sandwich so I ordered that one without any hesitation.

 

hello there, sir

L'abattoir in Gastown

So I've been trying to go to L'abattoir for about 4 months now.  It didn't work the first time because we thought they don't take reservations (silly us)  and the 2nd time, my friend made a reservation on a wrong day.... ha... ha... We were even deciding on what to order on our walk over to L'abattoir on that day... We did end up going to Bao Bei, hence my previous post and my friend who made the mistake got crapped on my a bird on our way to Bao Bei.  XD (karma?)

I finally got the chance to make a reservation just before my departure to Korea.  I really wanted to sit in the atrium so I wrote it down in the little blurb while making the reservation through Opentable and we did get the seats in the atrium!  L'abattoir is beside Blood alley and it was originally the site of Vancouver's first jail.  In the 19th century, the restaurant apparently supported the city's meat packing district hence the name L'abattoir (The slaughterhouse).

The menu

Après-Midi Teahouse (Closed)

THIS CAFE IS CLOSED NOW 

My friend brought me to this place last time but I didn't end up ordering anything because I was in a hurry but I've always wanted to come back for a cup of tea.

 This place is definitely special.

 I don't drink coffee very often and I would describe myself as a tea person so I was quite happy to find a place like this.  It's in the middle of gastown and it's quite difficult to find at first because you have to go through several alleys but if you come straight through the Blood alley, you'll find it easily.

Après-Midi has over 80 kinds of loose leaf tea from all over the world and people working here were very knowledgeable about their teas.

Variety of choices

You can open these cans and smell the tea leaves and choose the one you like.

My favourite type of tea is rooibos or red tea.   Everywhere I go, I always get rooibos tea.  Rooibos is Afrikaan for red bush and it originated from South Africa.  The rooibos plant is used to make herbal teas which pertain high levels

Acme cafe

I have been a hermit for about 2 weeks now and it felt great to go out for a day and hang out with my girls.  We decided to grab brunch at Acme cafe which had great reviews on urbanspoon.  I really wanted to order breakfast but we went to the cafe at 3 o' clock and I was disappointed assuming I won't be able to get my eggs and potatoes.  Fortunately, Acme serves breakfast all day on weekends!  Lucky me!

 

The menu

The ice cream float and milkshake sounded good but we wanted to go grab dessert somewhere else.  

Acme cafe has a cozy feeling it to it with white walls.  Loved the minimalistic/ diner interior design.

 

Random photo of Olivia and I with our gorgeous mustache

Nicli Antica Pizzeria

 

 The owner Bill McCraig opened this pizzeria in Gastown in February 2011 and it's already a popular location for many pizza lovers.  My friends and I got to the pizzeria around 5: 50 and it was already packed and we had to wait about 20 minutes to get our seats. 

This picture was taken from the waiting area.  The brick oven was near the back of the restaurant and there was a bar near the front of the restaurant.  The bar doesn't have seats, so people who were waiting to get seated were just chilling around the bar area. 

 The Wood fired brick oven.

The pizza is cooked in 900ºF wood-fired oven for roughly 90 seconds. This creates a light and fluffy crust, flame blackened blisters and soft thin centre.  You have to eat it when it's warm because it will start to lose its distinct traits when it cools down.

The menu was very simple with only pizzas and insalate.