Happy US Thanksgiving dinner at Denny's

Today is Thanksgiving in the United States. Hubby and I thought we should have dinner somewhere that serves turkey. I checked Foursquare for "turkey," and one of the viable suggestions is Romer's Burger Bar and Denny's. We did a toss coin, and Denny's won.

They have a Festive Holiday Feast menu, which includes turkey. We also found that they have a pot roast, and I think both items are something my aunties in the US cooks during this time of year.

Hubby had the Turkey and Dressing Dinner while I have the Slow-Cooked Pot Roast.

Slow-Cooked Pot Roast
Menu Description: Slow-cooked pot roast, sautéed mushrooms and caramelized onions covered in rich gravy. Served with Fresh Sautéed Zucchini & Squash and Sweet Petite Corn

Turkey & Dressing Dinner
Menu Description: Tender carved turkey breast, savoury stuffing, turkey gravy and cranberry sauce. Served with Garlic red-skinned mashed potatoes and wavy-cut fries

For dessert, we ordered the Pecan Pie from the Festive Holiday Feast menu.

Pecan Pie

After dinner, we walked home. It's a bright, cold, beautiful night, and we discussed things we're grateful for.

Top 3 Breakfast Spots in Fairview

I'm a morning person, and I love breakfast, brunch, and breakfast-for-dinner. Perfect eggs benedict, chicken and waffles, stuffed omelette, fluffy pancakes are some of my favourite morning food.

When I say "Fairview" in this post, I really mean between Hemlock Street and Granville Avenue and north of 10th Avenue.

The Breakfast Table

This place will close soon (based on the announced plans for the new Skytrain station), so be sure to try their breakfast offerings.

Update: They moved to Granville Street (between 14th and 15th Avenue). Complete address is 3014 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC V6H 3J8

 A personal favourite is the Fried Chicken Omelette. I'll go back just for those fried chicken, and I think it will perfectly go well with half a waffle for a Chicken & Waffle meal.

Fried Chicken Omelette

Paul's Place Omelettery Restaurant

I'd like to think of Paul's like a breakfast institution in South Granville. This is what I envision a traditional breakfast spot is. Though, their menu is really extensive going beyond breakfast. Of course, when you're in an omelette restaurant, you get an omelette.

Veggie Omelette

Slickity Jim's Chat & Choux

Why is Slickity only third? Because they open as late as 9 AM (I know, the horror!) while Paul's is already serving omelette at 7 in the morning while The Breakfast Table opens at 8 AM. What I love about this spot is how it feels like home. The servers are super friendly, and the food is yummy.

Update: The Slickity Jim's Chat & Choux in Fairview (7th and Hemlock) closed last November 2020. They still have a branch in Main Street, though.

Avocado, Roasted Red Pepper, and Goat Feta Eggs Benedict with roasted potatoes.

McDonald's

If you need a quick and relatively cheap breakfast, there's a McDonald's between Hemlock and Granville along West Broadway.

Company Holiday Dinner at West Restaurant

Tonight our small team of eleven people went to West Restaurant to celebrate the holidays. I know it's earlier than most companies, but this is the only night where all remote team members are also in Vancouver.

Why West Restaurant?

West Restaurant is closing by the end of the year. I want to support the business before that happens.

Great food from West Restaurant!

Ambiance and Service

The place was beautiful and 90s upscale, which I like. Thankfully, almost everyone in the team dressed up for the occasion, and we didn't look like we belong don't in such a place. The service was excellent, from the time we sat down until we leave, everyone was friendly, and we were taken care of.

The Food

We had a healthy budget per person, so this is what I had.

Appetizer

After we placed our orders, they provided this one-bite hummus thing (I hate that I can't remember what it's called). It was delicious, and it set the tone for the meal for the whole evening. Instead of ordering from the appetizer section of the menu, I picked the "wild and foraged mushrooms" from for the table section.

The Hummus Thing

wild and foraged mushrooms

It's not the best mushrooms I've tried (I thought the Seasons of the Park mushroom is still the best), but it's a close second.

Main Course

I knew from looking at the menu that I'm getting the salmon, and I loved it! The Keg had my favourite salmon meal from any restaurant, but this meal just dethroned that.

BC Salmon, olive oil pomme puree, leek, broccolini, and chorizo sofrito

The skin is crispy and crunchy. The salmon was perfectly cooked and fresh. Lastly, chorizo sofrito was a pleasant surprise.

Dessert

The most important part of the meal is dessert. I decided to pick the banoffee over chocolate souffle, and my colleagues are puzzled with what a banoffee is. It was a great banoffee just not presented the way I thought it would be.

Banoffee
Menu Description: Banana Curd, Graham Cracker, Cinnamon Milk Jam

Drink

I had a non-alcoholic Coliah (I think that's what its called). It was not as sweet as I thought it will be, and I love it. It has coconut milk and hibiscus.

Will I come back?

Definitely! I know they are closing before the end of the year, so I plan to have a dinner date with hubby to West before they close and try that souffle two of my colleagues were raving about.

Dinner at Vina Vietnamese

Mall food court is a challenge or an adventure, depending on your take on it. It's a love or dislike kind of situation.

I don't love eating at a food court, but when I do, I make sure to try each location from "start to end" (with multiple visits). As such, we have tried all the food stalls at the CF Pacific Centre Urban Eatery (food court).

After watching Frozen II at Scotiabank Theatre and playing more Pokemon GO, we went to Urban Eatery and decided to have dinner at Vina Vietnamese. It seems to be only available at food courts.

I love the beef stew because it's so tender and flavourful. It pairs quite nicely with the crunchy spring roll that comes with the meal.

#13 Beef Stew

Hubby had the lemongrass chicken.

#11 Lemongrass Chicken

If you don't want a meal, the spring roll is pretty decent, too, for a Vietnamese spot in a food court.

Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake from Trees Organic Coffee

I saw this Tweet from Trees Organic Coffee account and asked hubby that we go to the nearby branch after we're done with errands to try a slice of their  Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake.

Side view

Front view

Top view

Far view

Dinner at Royal Seoul House

We had desserts first and was thinking about where to have dinner. I used my trusted Foursquare, which showed that two blocks from where we are is a Banana Leaf (Malaysian Restaurant) and a Johnny Rockets, either sounds exciting dining options.

We started walking in that direction when I saw the Royal Seoul House across the street. We've wanted to eat there, but I find the food items on the menu expensive. I realized that all Korean restaurant in Vancouver is costly (comparing to the Philippines).

Haemul Pajeon (Seafood Pancake)
Menu Description: Flour pancake with green onion and assorted seafood

We still decided to have dinner there. The design from outside looks excellent already, and what's inside doesn't disappoint. We were asked if we had a reservation, we said. The host asked if we will be having a BBQ because a table with a grill will be a long wait. We said no, we're not grilling tonight.

We ordered the Man Du (because Korean dumplings are my favourite!), Seafood Pancake, and Japchae.

Japchae
Menu Description: Stir-fried Potato Noodle with Assorted Vegetables and Beef

Honestly, the food we ordered could have been better. I prefer the Seafood Pancake from Dai Jang Kum in Richmond, BC. The Japchae is the blandest I have tried while the Man Du is unexpected - it's tiny. The reason I love Korean dumplings so much is I am used to them to be bigger compared to the Japanese and Chinese dumplings.

Kalbi Mandu

This is the Mandu I love (photo was taken in 2014 when I went to Korea with friends)

Though, the highlight (life-changing) event of the evening is when I had the kimchi. I remember disliking kimchi. It was too sour for my liking (at least the one I tried years ago). For some reason, I tried the one they served and loved it! I added the kimchi to the seafood pancake and japchae, and everything tasted so much better.